Today, a pall of gloom has descended on Puttaparthi. The “living god,” whose spiritual influence has transcended oceans and continents and attracted millions of devotees across the world; and the man who made hundreds of high profile politicians, industrialists, film stars, sports persons and bureaucrats to prostrate at his feet, is no more, making one wonder whether Bhagwan also cannot escape the inevitable – the death.
Eighty five years ago, Ratnakaram Sathyanarayana Raju was like any other ordinary person belonging to a poor family of cowherds, representing Bhattaraju community (a backward class of Rayalaseema).
After he severed his worldly relationship with everybody at the age of 14 in 1940, declared himself as Satya Sai, a reincarnation of renowned saint Sai Baba of Shirdi, who died in 1918, he became the most powerful and influential spiritual leader in the world.
Unlike other saints and gurus like Ram Dev Baba or Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, Jaggi Vasudev or for that matter, Swami Ranganathananda of Ramakrishna Mutt, Satya Sai Baba was not articulate or nor did he display his profound knowledge in Vedas or rituals.
He never made extensive quotes from Sanskrit scriptures like Bhagawad Gita or Upanishads; He never made elaborate speeches in English to attract foreign devotees; nor did he preach any philosophy like Shankaracharya. Yet, he managed to attract millions of devotees, who never hesitated to donate thousands of crores for his ashram. He was a self-made preacher. His words were very simple and convey a simple message: “follow the path of love, gain the virtue of love, perform the duty of love and have the obligation of love.”
He does not proclaim himself to be a god and there is no mention of any religion in his talk. “You can worship Christ or Krishna or Allah and still believe in Baba,” he says.
It was this unique feature that made Satya Sai appeal among the devotees over decades. But it was “miracles” and “divine magic” that brought him instant recognition. Even before he declared himself as Baba, Satya Sai displayed miracles in his childhood itself: of materialising objects such as food and sweets out of thin air.
After he attained sainthood, Baba traveled to different parts of the country and displayed his “miracles.” He was often found producing vibhuti (holy ash) and other objects like rings, necklaces and watches from out of thin air. Besides, there were instances of Baba producing holy water, Shiva Lingams, statues of deities (brass and gold), sugar candy, fruits, herbs and gems in the presence of huge crowds. People also used to come to him seeking relieving of physical pain and misery and they claimed to have found relief after having Baba darshan.
Sai Baba developed huge following within no time and his spiritual empire, too, started growing. Donations began pouring in from all parts of the country and within four years, his devotees constructed a mandir for him. In another four years, Prashanti Nilayam came up in about 100 acres of land in Puttaparthi. The swelling number of devotees to see his miracles and listen to his unique message of love and spirituality began attracting politicians, bureaucrats and even members of judiciary.
In the last six decades, almost every prominent personality, whether it was in politics, film industry or sports, visited Puttaparthi and turned staunch devotee of Sai Baba. From Indira Gandhi to PV Narasimha Rao to AB Vajpayee to Dr Manmohan Singh, almost every Prime Minister paid obeisance to Sai Baba. It has been a routine affair for Presidents of India from Shankar Dayal Sharma to Pratibha Patil to visit Puttaparthi and spend time with Baba. It has become a practice for either President or the Prime Minister to attend the convocation of Sri Satya Sai University at Puttaparthi as chief guest.
The followers of Satya Sai include a large number of chief ministers, ex-chief minsters, union ministers, state ministers, bureaucrats, IPS officers, retired and serving judges of Supreme Court and High Courts and even scientists and officials of Indian Military Services. They have been regular visitors to Puttaparthi.
Interestingly, Sai Baba traveled to only one country during his life time and that was Uganda in June 1968. His discourse brought him instant recognition overseas and the international community, which always looked at India as a mystic land, treated Sai Baba with reverence. And the spiritual empire of Sai Baba spread to 114 countries in which there are over 1200 Satya Sai Seva Centres.
According to Satya Sai Central Trust claims, there are over 10 million devotees in 178 countries. There may be people who may not believe in Sai Baba miracles and brush them aside as cheap publicity tricks, but they, too, admire Baba for his philanthropic and social service activities. The Sri Satya Sai Central Trust runs a number of educational institutions, hospitals, and other charitable institutions in over 166 countries. The Sri Satya Sai Institute of Higher Learning, now called Sri Satya Sai University, provides free education at all its three campuses Puttaparthi, Whitefield (Bangalore) and Anantapur. It also runs Sri Satya Sai Mirpuri College of Music.
The Sri Satya Sai Super Specialty Hospital, Whitefield and Sri Satya Sai Institute of Higher Medical Sciences, Puttaparthi are the world-class medical institutes. Besides, the trust runs several general hospitals, two speciality hospitals, eye hospitals and mobile dispensaries and conducts medical camps in rural and slum areas in India.
It has also funded several major drinking water projects in drought prone Anantapur, Mahbunnagar, Medak and Chennai. In Latur which was struck by earthquake in 1994 and Orissa, which was affected by cyclone, the Sri Sathya Sai Seva Organization has built houses for the affected. The trust also runs several schools in Canada, Australia, Mexico, the UK, Zambia and Peru.
In the last seven decades, Sai Baba created assets worth crores of rupees. Though nobody knows the exact value of the assets, it is tentatively believed that the Trust owned immovable property including lands in and around Puttaparthi to the tune of Rs 4,000 to Rs 5,000 crore. “Conservative estimates say the Trust holdings touch a mind-boggling Rs 1.3 lakh crore if their assets in various countries are also taken into account,” sources said.
Sadly, it is this huge wealth that has become a bone of contention in the final days of Baba. We have to wait and see whether the trust members and family members would keep up the image of Sai Baba and maintain his spiritual empire.