This was a trip to Puttaparthi in 1943!!! And on one of these trips, my grandfather was asked to go with the ladies; because they couldn't go by themselves without a male escort on these journeys that were so difficult those days.
And he was an orthodox Brahmin gentleman. He said; "I am not coming to see some 16 year old! He is not even a Brahmin! He has never gone to school! He doesn't know Sanskrit! I am not coming!" So the ladies pestered him, they said: "No, you don't have to come. You just escort us all the way to Puttaparthi because we want to see Him again. He has asked us to come."
I am not coming to see Him. I believe in my Lord Shiva that I worship everyday. I will drop you off all there and go to my relative's house and spend my time there and that's about it!" So they finally convinced him.
They were happy to have a gentleman to go with them. And they did this whole trip of the bullock cart, and the train, and the bus, and being stoned in Pennakonda and everything else! He was scolding them as the time went by - as he saw what the journey was like - and finally, they arrived in the old mandir!
They arrived there around 5.30 in the evening, and Swami in those days, used to sit on that stone and there was no bhajans as we have it; no devotional singing the way we do it these days. They used to just sing long songs one after the other, one person would sing a song and a second person would sing a second song, and Swami would sing the third one, but Swami would join in the bhajan too!
At that time in the evening while the bhajan was going on, these people - my grandfather, and my two aunts – arrived, and as they entered the compound of the old mandir; there was Swami, sitting on the rock.
And here comes the gentleman who is supposed to be helping these two ladies - this is my grandfather, Sheshagiri Rao. He takes one look at Swami that he had vowed not to - because he was going to go away - he takes one look at Him; two seconds, and bang! He has fainted on the floor.
So you can imagine these two aunts! He was supposed to be protecting them and here he is on the floor in a dead faint! Swami gets up from the middle of the bhajan and says: "Don't worry, don't worry!" He gets up, and helps them carry this 58 year old man into Swami's room and puts him on His bed. Swami says "Don't worry; he is going to be like this for two days. You people go and attend the bhajan."
So these poor ladies, this is the 2nd time they're seeing Swami; they have a father who has fainted away, and they are sitting and trying to sing bhajans! Talk about concentration! And there is Swami, happily sitting on the rock continuing with the bhajan. As the bhajans are done, they say: "What has happened to our father?" Swami said: "Don't worry, he'll tell you when he wakes up. But he is alright, I'll look after him."
So, for one and a half days, Swami looked after this old man - 58 years old, puts water in his mouth every 2 hours, materializes vibhuti, puts it on his head every 2 hours. This goes on for 2 days.
2 days later he gets up and he is a completely changed man! He said: "You ladies, you two daughters of mine, you can go back to Bangalore, but I am not coming back." They said: "You said you were not going to come here! What do you mean you are not coming back with us?"
He says: "No, when I walked into that compound, and I saw the young boy sitting on the rock, in His face, I had the vision of Lord Shiva. In His head, I saw the moon, and on His forehead, I saw the third eye! This is the Lord Shiva that I have been worshipping for the past fifty years. And now that I have seen Him, why would I leave Him? I am not coming back."
So he resigned his job and he never came back. He would visit Bangalore; he would visit us with Swami - when Swami came to Bangalore - and he lived there till 1965, until he passed away.
http://media.radiosai.org/Journals/Vol_04/01JUL06/wonderful-swami.htm
This is a partial transcription of the talk given by Mrs. Geeta Mohanram during a Sai Retreat at Stourbridge, UK.
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