By: Seetha Vijayakumar
It was December 1977. I was just married and accompanied my husband to Calcutta as he was given an examination assignment. Mother Sarojini Devarajulu who was a pioneer Sai devotee came to the University Guesthouse and welcomed me to stay at her residence in Calcutta South.
At that time, she was in the process of establishing a Sai Baba Mandir at 29, Jatin Das Road. Within a few hours of my reaching her residence, Sarojini Deavarjulu told me about a ‘Satsang of Sai devotees in a neighboring bungalow, and little did I know that we will meet a great Saint Anandmayi Ma there.
Sarojini Devarajulu introduced me to the holy Mother as a young Sai devotee from Bangalore. As I offered my Pranams, she enquired about Sri Radhakrishna Swamiji and asked me to convey her ‘Namaskarams’ to Swamiji.
It was a big bungalow and the devotees sat on the lawn. On one side was a podium on which a photograph of Sai Baba and Krishna were placed with floral decorations. Anandamayi Ma spoke in Bengali about Sai Baba as ‘Parabrahman’.
The Satsang was an informal one. Anandamayi Ma’s smile was infectious. A devotee asked Anandamayi Ma: “To what caste do you belong and where is your home”? She responded, “From your worldly standpoint this body belongs to East Bengal and is Brahmin by caste; but if you think beyond these artificial distinctions, you will understand that this body is a member of one human family”.
Anandamayi Ma’s approach transcended all barriers of caste and religion and endeared her to all.
Little wonder that wherever she went, people from different walks of life thronged just to have a glimpse of her. Though I did not understand Bengali, Sarojini Devarjulu told me that Anandamayi Ma taught profound spiritual truths in simple language, devoid of jargon and complexity, which an average person could easily understand. These were based on direct experience of Truth in deep meditation and were not from books. I was told that even as a child, Ma showed signs of being highly evolved spiritually; the moment she heard the Divine Name being chanted, she would spontaneously slip into a spiritual trance for hours together.
With her intuitive knowledge, she declared in that ‘Satsang that everything that one perceives is because of Divine Light, that the outer light originates from an inner light, and that the light of the Self is the same in all. “Whether one worships Sai Baba, Krishna, Rama or Kali, one worships that one Light which pervades all things”.
During this informal interaction with Sai devotees, she spoke of a mystical experience that
culminated in the realization of the eternal Self. Seeing her own body as a luminous figure expand infinitely in all directions, she simultaneously saw other forms of light emanate from the Divine Light which appeared in different hues—sometimes bluish, sometimes yellowish, and at other times crimson. Seeing these lights of great brilliance, she experienced a dazzling luminosity encompassing the entire cosmos within her being.
A realization then dawned upon Ma, that which remains unchanged and eternal is the Supreme Truth, and to realize this Truth is the supreme calling of every human being. Through regular practice of meditation and contemplation on Lord Sainath, combined with chanting ‘Om SaiRam’, the seeker will get Sai’s Ashirvad.
The path of Divine contemplation, said Ma, is akin to walking on the razor’s edge; only a Sai devotee with implicit faith in Sai Maharaj who remains steadfast in his practice and adopts an attitude of unconditional surrender, will have the free flow of blessings from the Supreme, Lord Sainath, “just as a bucketful of water comes out of a well only when the rope to which the bucket is tied is being pulled”.
Anandmayi Ma invited us to visit her Ashram. She presented me a sky blue color saree with a thin red border and a shawl to my husband. As we were leaving, Anandamayi Ma said “I am coming to Bangalore”. She blessed us at Bangalore too in 1979.
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