Meerabai and Sathya Sai
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Mirabai's love for Krishna is an
ideal for how a devotee must love the Lord. |
It was a rainy day in the summer of 2006. The 11th day
of May showered unexpected cooling drops on the
simmering city of Bengaluru in India. As the gathering
of more than 4000 people in the Sai Ramesh hall at
Brindavan felt the coolness in their bodies, a gentle
music filled the air, announcing the arrival of Bhagawan
Sri Sathya Sai Baba. The
darshan
and
bhajan
session was about to begin and everyone in the hall
seemed to experience a cooling in their minds and hearts
as well!
As I sat in the front with the students of the
University, I was filled with joy and excitement at the
sight of the figure in orange. Needless the say, the
energy of the bhajan session went up several notches.
Five bhajans later, Swami asked for the bhajans to be
stopped. He beckoned to renowned singer,
Begum Parveen Sultana
who was seated on the ladies side. The ever-ready
devotee that she is, she took the microphone and,
saluting Swami, began singing. It was an excellent
rendition which included a couple of Meera Bhajans
(songs composed by the legendary devotee and singer,
Meerabai). The session concluded after half an hour with
Swami receiving the Aarthi.
That day, during the Trayee session,
Swami walked into the jhoola
room (the room with the ornate swing) and congratulated
all the students who had accompanied the artiste during
her musical performance. He called out a group of boys
whom all the students had come to recognize as the
“Meera Boys”. This was a group of students of whom Swami
always asked for Meera bhajans to be sung. Each of the
four singers had specialized in a song of his choice and
every time, Swami made each singer sing his song. So
numerous were the occasions when we had heard this group
of boys sing their song that whenever Swami asked for
them, the whispers that would go around were,
“Swami has switched on MTV - Meera TV.”
That was the code that the students had mischievously
developed. But the fact that a ‘code’ had developed
showed that Swami had indeed been very intent on
listening to the Meera Bhajans on a regular basis.
Lord of the Rings in Trayee Brindavan
Even as Swami called these boys, He began to encircle
His right palm. He materialized two rings in a go and
gave one to a singer and the other to the boy who
accompanied the singers on the tabla. Once again, He
waved His palm and materialized two more rings for the
two other singers. Then, another wave and another ring
followed for the fourth singer. Each of the five rings
fitted the ring fingers of each student perfectly.
“Perfect size”, Swami said with a gleam in the eye and
all of us just smiled in joy and wonder.
Swami turned to one of the singers, Koustubh Pare, and
told him to sing his Meera bhajan. Koustubh closed his
eyes, sat comfortably and began with the
Alaap,
the introductory notes,
“Krishna... Krishna... Krishna... Krishna” in the
heart-rending
raga,
Darbari. I was in tears as I heard those introductory
notes after which Koustubh began the actual song,
“Darshan
Deejo Aao Pyare”
(Dearest Krishna, Come and grant your darshan to me).
Even as he continued singing the song, something magical
happened.
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| Swami tells Koustubh Pare to sing the Meera Bhajan in Trayee Brindavan |
Swami began to sing along with him - word to word! Swami
also told the other singers to join in the song. It was
a mesmerising experience. It is one thing for the
devotee to sing out to the Lord, but to have the Lord
reciprocate in the same measure with the same intensity
is not something everyone gets a chance to see because
the Lord is a silent lover and a silent worker. But
today was a special day. Swami sang along,
“Life without you, for me, is like a lotus with water; a
moon without the moonlight...How can I stay happy
without seeing you my beloved?”
As He sang, Swami’s face became emotional. The intensity
of feeling of the Lord for the devotee, Lover for the
beloved and the Master for the disciple seemed to be
echoed in His words. Ah! The bliss of that vision of the
Lord pining for the devotee can never be suitably
described. When that song was complete, Swami was not
satisfied. He asked the other singers to sing the other
bhajans as well. And once again, He was lost in those
bhajans composed by
Meerabai.
I could not help thinking thus,
“Meerabai’s life is sanctified multiple times. She pined
for her Lord and such was the intensity and love that
she put into the songs that five hundred years later,
the Lord seemed to be pining for such devotees. Blessed
are you Meerabai...”
After those songs, Swami materialized two more rings for
two more boys. It was evident that He was very happy.
And it was clear that something about the Meera bhajans
made Him so.
Meerabai’s matchless love for God
I remember on another occasion, during another Trayee
session, Swami had explained beautifully to Koustubh the
meaning and emotion of every line of the song which he
used to sing. In fact, it had been Swami who had
inspired him to compose the tune for that bhajan in the
Darbari raag.
He explained about the climax of the song in this
manner,
“Meerabai feels that her life is worthless if she is
unable to glimpse her Lord Krishna. She rushes to the
threshold of the sanctum and begins to bang her forehead
on it. She implores to Krishna that she is His servant
forever and curses her mind and intellect that are
blinding her to her heart where her darling resides. She
continues to bang her head...”
As Swami explained this to Koustubh, He moved His head
vigorously to show how Meerabai banged her head! He
seemed to be totally lost in her devotion. He continued
to say,
“Instead of death, she gets the vision of Krishna. She
feels she cannot live without Krishna but even Krishna
cannot live without her...”
And there is a tear in the divine eye!
I still remember, the very next day in Trayee Brindavan,
a screening of the movie, Meera, with the legendary
M.S.Subbalakshmi playing the lead role, was arranged. MS
was an ardent devotee of Baba and Swami couldn't contain
this double-devotee (Meera-MS) delight that the movie
was. It was a moving session for all.
It made my respect and awe for Meera grow. I wished to
develop an iota of her love and pining - something which
even the Lord thirsted for!
As Koustubh confesses, many were the occasions when
Swami had spoken to him about Meera’s pining. And on
every occasion when he sang, Swami made it a point to
tell him,
“You are singing Meera’s bhajan but you do not have
those feelings.”
The force comes from the source and not forcibly
Such was Swami’s adulation of Meerabai that soon she
grew into Koustubh's role model for devotion and pining.
But try as hard he did, he was unable to plumb into the
depth of his heart when he sang that Meera bhajan. And
yet, every time he sang it, Swami would taunt him for
the lack of feeling and intensity.
“You have to feel like Meerabai... You must have that
intensity of love... It is not seen at all on your
face...”
That was too much for Koustubh to take. He constantly
prayed in his heart,
“Swami, you are the one who filled Meera’s heart with
love divine. You must fill my heart too in the same way.
Then alone will I be able to have that intensity.”
But at the same time, he put in his efforts too. The
next time Swami told him to sing that bhajan, he began
to contort and distort his face in a desperate attempt
to build intensity and emotion. He was not feeling
anything in his heart but he had to show intensity! So
he literally ‘acted’ out the song. Everyone around were
thoroughly impressed. Not Swami though!
“You got so many feelings on your face but there is not
a single tear in your eye...”, He pointed out much to
Koustubh’s embarrassment.
“Only if you feel like Meera, can you sing like
Meera...”
That statement only redoubled Koustubh’s enthusiasm to
develop along the lines of his role model. He began to
spend more time dwelling on the meaning of the song. He
related various lines of the song to his relationship
with Swami.
In his own words,
“I developed an irresistible pining to become like
Meerabai. Seeing how moved Swami would be, thinking of
Meerabai, I too wanted to become dear to Him like
Meerabai. I wondered when that would happen...”
This intense pining to develop a pining for the Lord had
been a result of Swami’s constant taunts. However, the
beauty lay in the fact that Koustubh had not got
pressured to develop such pining. Swami’s taunts had
only inspired him to become so. This is one subtle yet
lovely aspect of Swami. He never tells anyone directly
to do something and express disappointment when he/she
fails to do so. Instead, He showers him/her with so much
love that he/she gets overwhelmed. Then, Swami only
states what He likes and dislikes. That is enough to
make the student pine to do what He likes and keep away
from what He dislikes!
His love is the reason why anyone gets inspired to do
something. Nobody ever feels that he/she is doing
something for Swami forcibly. Love is the Force that
comes from the Source!
Koustubh had no idea then that he would be picked and chosen to accompany Swami to Kodaikanal in the summer of 2007. He had been to Kodaikanal in 2006 when Swami encouraged him to sing Meera bhajans. A second trip in a row was unimaginable for him. He had an even lesser idea that he would get his first opportunity to experience Meerabai’s love and devotion first hand during the trip. But as the saying goes, everything with the Lord happens at its perfect time.
to be concluded in the next part...