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'Baba’s name - a mantle of protection' is the 60th 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
The next two experiences are of a judicial officer, whose name is not mentioned. He states, “I have a great deal of reverence for sages and saints. One summer, I was fortunate to meet Bala Swami at Virudhachalam. He looked like a boy, though he was much older. He was a linguist, but had taken the vow of silence. When we prostrated before him, he was writing something on paper with his left hand, as his right hand was held up above his head for many years as a form of penance. We sat in his presence for about 10 minutes and then wanted to take his leave. At first, he nodded his assent. Then as we were leaving, he signalled to us to stay. He then turned to me and gave me a scroll of paper, on which was written Sai Baba’s name 108 times. He instructed me to keep the paper with me at all times, and to write Baba’s name 108 times daily.
“While parting, he distributed Udi to all of us, then we proceeded to worship at the Virudhachalam temple. I was not inclined to follow any of his instructions and I gave the scroll of paper to my son. After worshipping the deity in the temple, we were circumambulating Shiva in the big temple. By then, it was dusk and soon got quite dark when I got stung by some noxious creature on my big toe. I used my flashlight to see what it was but couldn’t see anything. Rapidly, the excruciating pain ascended to my hip joint. As the pain was unbearable, my relatives wanted to fetch a carriage for me as our room was about two miles away. It was then that I realised that I had made a mistake by not keeping the scroll of paper with me. I took the paper from my son and kept it in my waist cloth. Within a few moments of doing this, the pain rapidly decreased in my body, except on the toe where I had been stung. Thus I was able to walk back and slept well that night. The lesson was learnt, and I kept the paper with me as Baba’s mantle of protection. Needless to say, I became devoted to Baba.”
The power of Baba’s name struck home a month later. The officer was on a train going to Tirupati. He states, “At a station, a peon of the Department of Railways got into my compartment howling with pain. He was stung by a scorpion on his right forefinger. It was swollen and the pain was travelling up to his shoulder. He pleaded to all and sundry to do something to relieve this intolerable pain. He begged us to pronounce some Mantra for relief. Not being a Mantravadi, I kept quiet for some time. But the heart-wrenching cries of the peon touched my heart as I remembered my own experience a month ago. I resolved to try the effect of my charm, i.e., the scroll with my Sai Mantra.
“I called the peon to come sit near. I took out the folded scroll and touched him with it. I started with his neck and made passes down to his right forefinger, all the while, mentally repeating Baba’s name 108 times. As soon as this was done, the man’s pain started subsiding. It became localised to his wrist. I repeated the procedure a second time, and the pain became localised to the area that was stung. I told him that the localised pain would remain for 24 hours, and I put the scroll away safely. I now have sufficient proof and faith in Baba’s name, and I write His name 108 times daily in a book. I have also realised the power of Naam Jap.”
This Leela was taken from the Sai Sudha magazine, vol. 3, parts 1-3, October 1942.
A special podcast series by Dr. Vinny Chitluri which is on Baba's leelas and life history.