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'How Baba pulled Vishkanta into his flock' is the 56th story in this series.
'Sai Baba's Divine Leelas' is a new audio series compiled and recited by Dr Vinny Chitluri. Repeated hearing of these Leelas will deepen one's faith and love in Baba.
Transcript
Professor R. Vishkanta, a resident of Bangalore, was fortunate to be blessed by Baba when he was just seven years old. The professor states, “Way back in 1944, when I was seven years old, my father passed away under tragic circumstances on June 30th. After the eleventh day rituals were performed, I went to school on the twelfth day. I returned home at about 12:15 p.m. My mother was in the kitchen preparing lunch for us. As lunch was not yet prepared, I started playing in the corridor of our home. Our home was situated at the rear end of a huge plot of land. Suddenly, I saw a young lad of about nine years standing at the front gate. He was very handsome, with a light complexion. He was wearing a white Kafni and had a white cloth tied around his head. At that time neither my mother nor I knew anything about Sai Baba. Possibly Baba thought that I would be scared if He appeared as an old man wearing a Kafni, hence He appeared as a young lad.
“The young lad approached me and said in a very pleasant voice, ‘I would like to meet your mother.’ This he said in Kannada, the local language of Bangalore. At that time, we were residing in Gandhinagar. In those days, needy boys would come to our home at lunch time, and my mother provided them with a nutritious, satisfying meal. They were referred to as ‘Varada Anna’ which means ‘he who comes once a week for a meal.’ I thought the lad was one of these boys, so holding him by his hand, I dragged him all along the corridor and stopped a few yards away from the kitchen. Then I shouted, ‘Amma, someone has come to meet you.’ This young boy was standing on my left side and had placed his right hand on my shoulder. His foot was crossed at the right ankle and was resting on top of his left foot. He was standing exactly as Baba is seen standing in the photograph on his way to Lendi Bagh.
“On hearing me call out to her, my mother came out of the kitchen. In dismay, she said, ‘Oh, you have come on a very wrong day. I have nothing to give you at this moment. But if you can wait till the meal is cooked then I will surely feed you.’ My mother was full of anguish and despair because after my father passed away, the creditors from whom my grandfather had borrowed money had seized everything that we owned.
“We were virtually left with nothing except the clothes on our back. In a very pleasant voice, the young lad said, ‘Amma, that is why I have come. I know you are in deep trouble.’ Then he handed my mother a small photograph of Baba in his ‘Abhaya Hasta’ pose (with his right hand raised in a blessing posture). He then said, ‘This is Sai Baba of Shirdi. Worship Him and all your troubles will cease.’ He then patted me on my shoulder and left.
“Unfortunately, that photograph got lost when we moved from the affluent Gandhinagar to a less affluent neighbourhood in Malleswaram. In reality, without our knowledge, Baba had drawn us close to him, as we had moved to our new home that was very close to a Baba temple.”
These are Baba’s words: “My man, even if he is in another country or thousands of miles away, I shall bring him to me by tying a rope to his legs” (Ovi 15, chapter 28, Shri Sai Satcharitra). Just like a small boy would draw a sparrow to himself by tying a string to its leg and pulling it, so also Baba drew his devotees to Himself in a similar manner.
Once you are drawn into His flock, worship Him earnestly by placing Him in your heart. Then all your troubles will cease, and when troubles persistently crop up, Baba will pull you out of them in His own incomparable way.
This Leela was narrated by Professor R. Vishkanta in 2015.
A special podcast series by Dr. Vinny Chitluri which is on Baba's leelas and life history.