By Jullie Chaudhuri 

Beloved Bhagawan…my Precious One…
The soul…
…has taken on the garb of a pensive Bedouin…
…thoughts of You, Oh! Sweet Mother Sai…
…within the mind does perpetually surge and whirl…
…swirl and spin,

Tumult and turmoil in worldly tiers…
…add to the clamour and din,
In the middle of life’s journey…
…devoid of You…this void…
… this hiatus…however temporary… 
…makes life suddenly appear sullenly like a ‘has been’…
Having received with immense chagrin,
That dreadful bulletin…
…of 24th April 2011,
When the joy of humanity… 
…discovered fate to be its stealthy assassin…

Perforce then to go on enacting the drama of existence…
…as tormented as a bird without wings…
…or a fish without fins…
…in spite of outer smiles…
…through the chores of daily living…
…unknown to all…
…uninterrupted are the silent gasps… 
…of tears within…
…perfectly akin to the heart…
…swinging between the yang and the yin…
…sweltering in a scalding cauldron…
…or perhaps… 
…perpetually smothering in a flaming kiln…
Awaiting...

Through the years, whenever any person has asked…enquired as to the incarnation of Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai - ‘…is He Shirdi Sai come again…?’

The natural response that would greet this question would be – Oh! No, not at all, my dear…He is not just Shirdi Sai come again…absolutely not…for He is much more than that…

…the One Who ‘came’ as Shirdi Sai…That Supreme Principal…That Indivisible Pure Absolute Consciousness…Sat Chit Ananda…That Eternally Infinite One…That Singularly Perfect Primal Being…That Transcendental Ocean of Love, wherein every drop exudes as well as manifests matchless compassion…That All Powerful, All Knowing, Omnipresent Sacrosanct Almighty Spirit…Whom all scriptures and religions adore, worship and extol in rapt exultation…That Blemishless Source of Creation…that knows no beginning nor any end…Ananth and Ananya…replete as Shiva and Shakti…chose to incarnate at Parthi and reside at Prashanti Nilayam as Sathya Sai… 

…‘That’ is Who He is!

He is the One Who has no flaw…
He is the Architect of every Law…
The Only One ever deserving…
…to be regarded with any kind of Awe...

Bhagawan scripted a play while attending High School at Uravakonda entitled – Cheppinatu Chestara…Do Deed Match Words. The lead role too…of the boy named Krishna, a stickler to the path of Truth, symbolically enough, was played by little Sathya. 

Each pronouncement from the Divine Lips…every word…along with His enchantingly glorious and inimitable persona…through the later years…when ‘little’ Sathya took to the universal centre stage as Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba…riveted and continues to captivatingly fascinate mankind…resplendently illuminating…radiating…emanating that brilliant effulgence…a crystal privilege and attribute only the Supreme-most Highest Being can demonstrate and exhibit …as the Cosmic Drama progressively unfolds - a mesmeric harbinger of golden times to come… 

Nothing can hold Me up or agitate Me or cast a shadow on Me, come in this Human Form - be certain of that. Forces of calumny or distrust or ignorance can touch not even a hair, My sankalpa must prevail. My task must be accomplished. My mission will succeed. I have come to illumine the human heart with the Light of Divine and to rid man of the delusion that drags him away from the path of Shanti, the perfect equanimity born of realisation. – Baba (Venkatagiri Town 09/09/1958)

Divine words ring in the ears every moment…words that are waiting in the ether for the right time…to achieve its fulfillment…since they have been uttered by no ordinary mortal…but the Embodiment of Truth Himself! Certainly in awe am I…of those utterances and so too…of the One Who had not an iota of self-interest…Who uttered those words with such confident fluidity…

Only He can do so…for He has the exclusive prerogative to do so…

…for…He is Who He is…

Let us proceed further…and hear some more of these forcefully dynamic and potent declarations -

I shall certainly achieve the purpose of this Avatar.

What I will must take place. What I plan must succeed.

Every step in the career of the Avatar is predetermined.

As a matter of fact, Puttaparthi is a name revered and remembered with gratitude by millions today and it will be treasured in history as an immortal name. There have been many occasions in which Bhaktas have pleaded with Me to move out of this miasma and settle down in Bangalore or Madras or some such town, or if I preferred, some other quiet rural spot. But let Me tell you here and now - this tree has to grow at the very spot where it sprouted, it will not be transplanted - I shall not give up this place, no, not I. This place will be transformed into Tirupathi and those who are little boys and girls today will surely see it in all its magnificence. – Baba (Puttaparthi, 23rd November 1960)

My word will never fail; it must happen as I will.

Again, how fortunate you are that you can witness all the countries of the world paying homage to Bharat; you can hear adoration to Sathya Sai’s Name reverberating throughout the world, even while this body is existing - not at some future date, but when it is with you, before you. And again, you can witness very soon the restoration of Sanathana Dharma to its genuine and natural status, the Dharma laid down in Vedas for the good of all the people of the world. The revival of Vedic Dharma is the Sai Sankalpa (the resolve that Sai has) not only drawing people towards Me, attracting them by the manifestation of My Shakti (Power) and Samartya (capability). This is not a Bhramatatwam (phenomenon of delusion). This phenomenon (Tattwam) will sustain truth, it will uproot untruth, and in that victory may all of you exult in ecstasy. This is the Sai Sankalpa. – Baba (World Conference of Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Seva Organisation, Bombay, 17th May 1968).

I shall not change my course even by a hair’s breadth, as a result of what people may say about Me. I am not afraid of anyone or anything. Truth has no fear; untruth shivers at every shadow. This body of Mine is named Truth (Sathya); the principle that is in this body is also Truth. Truth enclosed in Truth has been rendered the Truth of Truths (Sathyasaya Sathyam). This form has been assumed, in order to lead mankind from untruth to truth.

You have not known even a fragment of My reality.

Let me tell you one more thing: Nothing can impede or halt the work of this Avatar. – Baba (Guru Poornima day, 6th July 1963)

Thus, having perused such gospel assertions and affirmations from the Foremost One…Who is the Eternal Embodiment of Truth and Who consistently, constantly emanates phenomenal grace…it is downright emphatically unacceptable to the being…to believe in…and label the April 2011 ‘episode’ in this nonpareil Avataric Advent…as an exit or…a departure…

Would our Beloved Master choose to ‘bow out’ in this manner…? 

Whatever the colossally catastrophic impact of manmade calamities humanity needed to be saved from…somehow for the heart, mind and soul to accept this occurrence in the Celestial Drama as a ‘divine adieu’…there is no significant inner sanction…

Have confidence in Me. I shall look after everything for you. Regarding the question of the difference between faith and confidence: “Faith in God means faith that He is God, that He is Omnipresent, Omnipotent, Omniscient, and so on. Confidence means trust in the Word, Will and Work of God. If I say something, there is a reason; if I will something to happen, it is for a reason; if I do something, it is with reason. You should have this implicit trust – that there is always a reason for what I say, will and do. And you should have confidence in every Word and Act of Mine. Whatever I say is the truth, whatever I do is the truth, whatever I will is the truth – this is the confidence you should have, even though things may appear to be otherwise. – Baba

Sweet Lord…Beloved Swami…dearest, dearest Bhagawan…when, with everything else that You, Oh! Adorable One, pronounce, declare, state or communicate…the heart posthaste resonates a deep response and acceptance too…then, why references to this particular act of Yours, Oh! Precious Lord…as a ‘leave taking’…is rejected forthwith by the core…?

As though…out of sync completely were the colours of a rainbow…

Is it because there is more…much more…?

That feeling so firm…so very sure…that in leaps and bounds every moment does grow - This is not the way Bhagawan would choose to ‘go’…convinced and confident is the soul…there is more…there is more…presently astoundingly to be unveiled, revealed and be visible at the fore…proving true ever sacred word of yore…enhanced abundance is as yet to flow from that Enigmatic and Timeless Reservoir…

The stormy ocean even as we endure…Beloved Bhagawan will ensure…a Homecoming upon the tranquil shore…and so must we ceaselessly implore…our gracious Lord…His superlatively sublime grace to bestow…then steadily, consciously revel in the soul feeling that sets our heart aglow…a deep knowing…that the era of Sathya Sai has much more in store…