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'Baba Grants Vishkanta the Gift of Life' is the 57th 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
Life is never a bed of roses, and after Prof. Vishkanta’s father passed away, life was extremely difficult. His mother was unable to make both ends meet.
Prof. Vishkanta recalls, “The following years were riddled with hardship. Poverty was killing us. My mother, who fed so many poor Brahmin boys, was unable to provide a square meal for her children. More often than not, we had to go to bed hungry. I had two elder brothers, and one elder and one younger sister. On one occasion, my elder sister made us sit and explained our plight. She said, ‘Now we are in deep trouble because of father’s death. Promise me that come what may, even if you have to go hungry for long periods of time, you will never ever be.’ At that time, I was only eight years old. I decided to take up a job, and I started working in a printing press that belonged to my father’s friend. The owner, knowing our plight, gave me this job against his will, as I would not accept alms.
“My job was to sort out ten thousand lined sheets per week, and to discard the sheets that didn’t have straight lines. For this, I was paid one rupee per week. Whenever I came home and handed the rupee to my mother, she would cry. My mother, who used to live like a queen with numerous servants to serve her, was now cooking food in different homes as and when opportunities arose. However, I continued my education, and graduated from school and joined college.
“When I was in the 2nd year of college, my health was in shambles. The food deprivation and the state of near starvation had taken their toll on my health. Due to hyperacidity, my intestines were riddled with multiple ulcers which were confirmed in the x-rays. I was admitted to the Government Victoria Hospital, where they treated me for a few days. In the hospital, I was fortunate to receive two square meals. However, the doctor in charge asked the superintendent to discharge me, saying, ‘Why kill the poor boy in this hell? Let him go home and die peacefully.’ When I overheard this, my spirit was completely shattered, and I was sent home.
“The doctor had prescribed some antacids and sedatives upon my discharge. My family was not of much help to me, and I felt that I was more of a liability than an asset to them. In utter desperation, I decided to end this wretched life. Over the week, I collected a handful of sedatives from various pharmacies. Then I wrote a letter stating: ‘To Whom It May Concern, I am ending my life and no one is responsible for my action.’ Then I swallowed the entire lot of sedatives late one night.
“My mother, who used to get up very early in the morning, came to my room to check on me and tried to awaken me. Then she saw the letter that I had written and it dawned on her what had happened. She started shaking me vigorously and started sobbing. As all this was taking place, I was ‘out of my body’ and looking down at my mother. In vain, I was trying to tell her that I was fine and happy now. But she couldn’t see or hear me. But what surprised me the most was that an old man, who resembled Sai Baba, was standing there. I could clearly see that he was not at all pleased; in fact, he was quite vexed and angry at what I had done.
However, the ambulance was called and my body was put in it and taken to the hospital. Since the link between my body and soul was not severed, I could perceive the pain of being dragged along with the body. In the operating theatre of the hospital, my body was laid on a table, while I was sitting on top of a steel cupboard and gazing down at everyone. But most importantly, Baba had come along and was standing next to the cupboard, very close to me or my soul. The doctor and his assistants first cleaned out my stomach. Then they used a defibrillator and gave me electric shocks on my chest. At that moment, Baba, who was standing next to me, thumped me on my back and commanded, ‘Get in at once.’ I was sucked into my body and slowly woke up. I was kept in the hospital for observation and in the afternoon, the doctor discharged me.
“After this terrible experience, everything started improving. I and all my siblings are well educated and well settled. But most importantly, we all are ardent devotees of Baba.”
Baba absolutely disapproved of any devotee contemplating suicide. In chapter 26 of the Shri Sai Satcharitra, the story of Ambedkar is given, who was fed up with his wretched and destitute life, and decided to end his life in Shirdi. However, at that juncture, Sagun Meru Naik came to him and gave him Swami Samarth’s Charitra. Ambedkar read it and did not follow through on his plan.
We are given this body and are responsible for all the happenings, good or bad. We have to undergo the cycle in this life and clear the debt. This should be done in this life only. Otherwise it will be carried forward to our next life. We cannot escape the cycle of Karma.
This Leela was narrated by Prof. R. Vishkanta in November 2014.
A special podcast series by Dr. Vinny Chitluri which is on Baba's leelas and life history.