Literally, ‘eternal charioteer’. The monthly magazine published by the Sri Sathya Sai Baba Books and Publications Trust. (Glossary for the Vahinis)
From Kasturi’s Pen – courtesy Sri Sathya Sai Books and Publications:
I got the good news pretty quick; Baba had come to Bangalore. He was staying in Sri Vittal Rao s house on the 9th Cross Road, Wilson Gardens, only five minutes away from my residence, ‘Ashoka’ on the 12th cross. Knowing that there was a possibility of His coming to His place, I had tipped the dry cleaner, who attended to the washing and ironing of his door and window curtains, to inform me as soon as he delivered the wash to Vittal Rao. I had noticed that he had the curtains washed and ironed as part of house cleaning, preliminary to Baba s visit. When the news leaked at last, I posted the little daughter of my domestic help on a slab of stone facing his house, with directions to keep watch for a big car and an orange robe. So, within ten minutes of Baba s stepping into his house, Vittal Rao was amazed to find me on his verandah! ‘Wait! Wait! He pleaded. But Baba spotted and came towards me with His palm ready to fall on my shoulder. ‘Now, you have work at Puttaparthi’, he said. ‘A monthly magazine will start soon. Guess! How is it named?’ He asked. I confessed I could not delve into His will. Yet He drew out from my reluctance a few names. ‘The Godward Path’, ‘Karma Dharma’, ‘Prema Yoga’. He waved aside the titles I suggested and announced that he had decided to designate it as ‘Sanathana Sarathi’.
That name is a clarion call. It is the conch of Vishnu, awakening the sleeping. It is the drum of Shiva challenging the unruly to shed their waywardness. Sarathi means he who holds the reins , Sanathana means Eternal . So, that title would announce to the world that Baba is the Omni-will, which is moulding and manipulating, since Times began, the wills of living beings from the amoeba to the astronaut. ‘Recognise God as the Sarathi, yield wholeheartedly to His direction, reach your Destination in good shape’, was the message Baba was conveying through that Name. I was elated, elevated.
‘This is the 32nd year of the Avataric Career and it is time He stood forth as the world Teacher,’ I said to myself, recalling His first public discourse during Dasara, 1953. It was while the Lord was the Sarathi for Arjuna that the Bhagavad Gita was conferred on mankind through him. The Lord is therefore known as Partha (Arjuna) Sarathi. Baba is now standing forth as Sanathana Sarathi the Sarathi for everyone, everywhere.
A few days prior to the release of the first number of the magazine, Baba declared before a gathering on the Chitravathi sands, ‘The Bhagavad Gita is a guidebook, a map for the aspirant to peace and liberation. The Lord has installed Himself in every heart as the charioteer. Ask Him for the proper direction and He will answer and lead. You can hear a Gita specially designed for you, if you call upon the Lord’. The ‘Sanathana Sarathi’ was therefore intended as the ‘Bhagawan Uvacha’ (Thus saith the Lord) for a world that has jumped the rails and is in fatal jeopardy. (From Kasturi s Pen)
Baba s campaign of spreading the message of love has only just begun, and all who have heard His message can clearly visualize the significance of the declaration He made on the opening page of Sanathana Sarathi, the monthly magazine He inaugurated on February 16, 1958, the thirty-second year of His earthly career. On that day, the Sanathana Sarathi, the charioteer, started out on the campaign against falsehood, injustice, wickedness and evil - the minions of the spirit of egoism. The victory to be won is the welfare of the entire world. When the triumphant drums are beaten in the joy of success, humanity will have achieved happiness and peace, prosperity and bliss.
Already the outlines of the plan of campaign are clear on the horizon. The clarion call for the great task is Baba s fourfold program of ‘Be True, Be Just, Be Quiet, Be Love.’ His Plan is for all humanity, for He says, ‘It is not mentioned anywhere that the Grace of God is available only for certain classes or races or grades of people. From the smallest to the biggest, throughout the world, all are entitled to it. The Lord is everywhere, everything. He can be realized by steady practice of truth and love. Truth is the highest justice and love is the only path to peace.’
Baba has also taken up the task of educating seekers and aspirants and correcting the teachers and guides who are largely led astray by greed for name and fame, for success in the competition for public support, and for the evanescent glory of international fame or newspaper renown.
‘Test everyone on the touchstone of sincerity; see how far each has renounced, not merely in words, but in actual deed; then accept their advice and bring it into your daily conduct and behaviour. It is the practice that matters, not the puffed pomp of scholarship,’ He insists. (SSSm Vol.1)
(The Inaugural issue of the Sarathi in February 1958, Front and Back Covers) (November, 1959 issue)
In February 1958, on the sacred occasion of Shivaratri, Baba inaugurated the monthly magazine to convey His Teachings into every home, a magazine which He named, ‘Sanathana Sarathi’ (the Timeless Ever-present Charioteer) ever intent on taking us to the goal of Peace, Everlasting Prasanthi. This magazine is published in English and many languages other than the Telugu original; it has brought Baba into thousands of homes and hearts. It has also been the vehicle for a series of books from the Divine Pen, as well as for the inimitably wise and simple discourses that Baba gave in the cities and villages He deigned to visit, at the request of devotees. (SSSm Vol.2)
Sanathana Sarathi - these two words taken together spell the function that Baba has taken upon Himself. Sanathana denotes His being the very source of all this becoming . In a written message to Shri. R.R. Chatterji of the Sathya Sai Seva Samiti, Calcutta, announcing the mission for which He has assumed this human form, Baba made a declaration which nobody since the days of Lord Krishna had the good fortune to listen to:
‘There was no one to know who I am till I created the world, at My pleasure, with one word. Immediately earth and sky were formed, mountains rose up, rivers started flowing, sun, moon and stars sprang out of nowhere to prove My existence. Came all forms of life - plants, insects, beasts, birds and men. Various powers were bestowed upon them under My orders. The first place was granted to man, and My knowledge was placed in man s mind.’
Sanathana means timeless, eternal . Baba has said that He always was, is, and ever will be. He is Sanathana, now limited in time and space, so that He can be availed of by us. The Upanishads speak of embodied beings as chariots which are drawn along by the senses (horses) through the objective world. Safety lies in choosing a knowledgeable Sarathi (charioteer) and installing him with unimpeded authority in the chariot. By taking upon Himself the role of the Sanathana Sarathi, Baba has revealed that He is the eternal Inner Motivator in all-recognized or unrecognized, acknowledged or ignored, respected or slandered. ‘My knowledge was placed in man s mind,’ He says. But the mind allows itself to be covered by veils, so that pure knowledge becomes warped or is denied.
The first issue of the magazine contained a message from Baba wherein He spoke of the high purpose which it had set out to fulfil:
‘From this day, our Sanathana Sarathi will lead to victory the cohorts of truth - the Vedas, the Shastras and similar scriptures of all faiths - against the forces of the ego such as injustice, falsehood, immorality and cruelty. This is the reason why it has emerged. This Sarathi will fight in order to establish world prosperity. It is bound to sound the paean of triumph when universal Ananda is achieved.’ (SSSm Vol.4)
The very first article in the inaugural issue of Sanathana Sarathi was Bhagavan’s ‘Prema Vahini’, or the ‘Stream of Divine Love’. What else could it be, when Bhagavan has declared that if you ever want to give Me any appellation, call me ‘Prema swarupa or the Embodiment of love’, for ‘Love is my form; Love is my instrument.’ And each devotee’s life is a testimony to this unconditional all-encompassing love of Bhagavan.
(The first page in the first issue) (Prema Vahini in Telugu, Feb 1958)
While the monthly serials of Prema Vahini in the Sanathana Sarathi were percolating like fresh water into desiccated hearts, another series of Baba s articles was published in the same magazine to remove the weeds of doubt growing wild therein. They were collectively entitled Sandeha Nivarini . Even in His teens and twenties, Baba took delight in prodding those who gathered at His feet to ask Him questions on spiritual matters. These became the cues for dissertations, short and long, with many an interspersed parable, poem or song, to lead the questioners from darkness to light. (SSSm Vol.4)
(The Vahini Series)
In Sandeha Nivarini Baba says,
‘I am happy when anyone asks Me about things he has not understood. Of course, you have every right.’ Then he asks the pupil, ‘But are you reflecting on the answers I give and are you practising what has been told to you, with the conviction born of faith?... What am I here for? Is it not for explaining to you things you do not know? Ask me without hesitation or fear. I am always ready to answer. Only, the enquiry must be earnest, emerging out of a genuine desire to know and to practise what is good.’
It can be revealed now that the bhakta who visits Baba with questions - personal, philosophic and religious - in every chapter of Sandeha Nivarini , is a creation of the divine pen. Baba reveals through this character, His infinite compassion towards the Samsayatma, the person afflicted with doubts. He poses the problems and provides the answers. He writes, ‘bhakta! I converse with you about every point you place before Me, and allow many to take part in this conversation. The sun s light falls upon the mirror, the light from the mirror upon the walls of the bungalow and the light from the walls upon the eye. Similarly, this Sandeha Nivarini has been planned in order that the illumination of My teaching may fall upon you and thence on to the pages of the Sanathana Sarathi, so that the effulgence may illuminate the world and bring light and harmony into the heart of mankind.’ (SSSm Vol.4)
The next book to be serialized in the pages of the Sanathana Sarathi was Dharma Vahini . Baba says, ‘Dharma is like the river Saraswati, flowing unseen beneath the deeper levels of human consciousness, feeding the roots of activity, filling the springs of thought, cleansing the slushy eddies of feeling. When the river runs dry or is clogged by greed and hate, the Avatar comes to let in a torrent of grace and restore its fresh, free flow.’ (SSSm Vol.4)
The next Vahini to be published serially in the Sanathana Sarathi was the Jnana Vahini (Stream of Wisdom).
‘Whenever the gross and even the subtle are transcended, when the intelligence is clarified, when the self is free from feelings, impulses and instincts, what remains in the consciousness is the true self only. The person, then, is one with the eternal truth, the one beyond everything. He becomes Brahman or Paramatman,’ says Baba. (SSSm Vol.4)
The Sanathana Sarathi is the bridge which leads you to Me and brings Me to you.
The Sanathana Sarathi is the result of My Sankalpa (Will) My Uthsaha (Enthusiasm) and Ananda (Bliss). Nothing can stand in the way, once I have decided on any step in My Mission. Readers must value the instruction and inspiration it imparts.
May Sanathana Sarathi flow on the ‘Santosha Dayi (Granter of joy! May Sanathana Sarathi reach in fruition in ‘Sarva Jiva Samaikya Varathi (The divine ocean in which all beings merge into Unity!’ (SSSm Vol.7 pp. 333-334)
Sanathana Sarathi, will lead the army of spiritual scriptures against the evil forces of injustice, disorder, falsehood and wickedness led by the demon, ego. This Sarathi will fight for the firm establishment of peace in the world; it will proclaim the victory through resounding drumbeats. It will ensure by its triumph, Ananda for all of mankind.
From this day, our Sanathana Sarathi is on the march, at the head its spiritual cohorts – the Vedas, the Upanishads and other scriptures – to subdue injustice, viciousness, falsehood and licence, the minions of ego. May Charioteer fight for the world prosperity and achieve victory! May it spread joy among all mankind! (SS Nov ‘07 p.364)
Baba s 41st Birthday came soon after. In the birthday message He graciously wrote and gave for publication in the Sanathana Sarathi, Baba said, ‘What do the many wars, that man has indulged in, teach him? They teach that lust, anger, hate, and envy are evil forces that haunt him. Examine the anarchy and the lawlessness, the chaos and the killings that are raging in the world today. They are the consequences of these evil forces. Why, even the illness your bodies suffer from and the unrest nestling in your homes are, due to the viruses of lust, anger, hate and envy. He condemned those who ‘impute faults and foist failings on others and indulge in blaming and hurting them. Hate and envy distort the charm of the human face. A person having greed, lust, anger and envy will suffer digestive and nervous illness. Therefore, learn to expand your love and your devotion to God, until the whole of mankind has entered that fold’, He advised. (SSSm Vol.2)
When I approached Him for directions about a cover design for the 1967 Shivaratri Special Number of the Sanathana Sarathi Magazine, Baba seized His pen and drew on a piece of paper a five-disked design, with petals in between, enclosing a circle, inside which I could print His own portrait. On the disks, He Himself drew the symbols of the major religions of mankind: The Pranava or Om to indicate the Hindu faith; the Wheel to symbolize the religion taught by the Buddha; A sheaf of flames, the Sacred Fire, which the Zoroastrians worship; the Crescent and the Star, as a reminder of Islam, and the Cross as the symbol of Christianity! He said, ‘All faiths are facets of the same Truth, which can be spelt as Love or as Purity or as Charity or as Sacrifice or as Surrender of the Will. Even those who deny God or decry morality, love some one or some thing; they speak the truth so that they may be believed; they have to be pure so that they may satisfy their consciences and the conventions of society. They seek peace and joy. That truth, that love, that peace, that joy is God’ Baba says. His Grace is so vast and limitless that He claims the whole world to be His mansion, every state being but a hall within it. (SSSm Vol.2)
(Assamese) (Hindi) (Sindhi) (Tamil)
He inaugurated the Sanathana Sarathi, the monthly magazine in eleven languages, Telugu, English, Tamil, Malayalam, Kannada, Marathi, Gujarati, Bengali, Hindi, Assamese and Nepali: the clarion for His call, the conch that awakens and arouses, the banner for humanity s campaign against its inner foes, lust, anger, greed, attachment, pride and hate. (SSSm Vol.3)
The below portion of the article has been taken from, Courtesy - Sanathana Sarathi: An Eternal Stream of His Love
While all this took the magazine to great heights and it lived up to its mission of ‘Moral and Spiritual uplift of Humanity through Truth, Righteousness, Peace, Love and Non-violence’, in the days of old when Puttaparthi did not even have a good road, let alone electricity, transport, a decent post-office, etc. and with the old manual typesetting letter press machine (which would take a skilled person a minimum of two days to compose one page), for Prof. Kasturi posting the magazine by the 16th of every month with the help of just one assistant in the first two years was an ordeal of gargantuan proportions for which he prayed for the Almighty’s blessings every minute. How complex was the process? And how did it actually get done every month in time? Over to Prof. Kasturi for the interesting first-hand account from his biography:
The Enterprising Editor’s Labour of Love
‘For about a year, Narasimhachari, the sole helper at the treadle, put together the types, prepared the pages and pedalled away, to get two pages printed at a time. I offered to help him in the composing and in the footwork when I found him delaying or dozing. I was shocked when he accepted the offer whenever I made it! The job was really hard, though he lightened and brightened it singing Bhajans to himself.
‘I was kept busy most of the day and even a few hours of the night, since the number of subscribers increased fast. Money was sent by post or paid direct by devotees and pilgrims, who realised that the Sarathi was the link between the Chariot and the Charioteer.
The Register of subscribers became more voluminous with every festival at Prasanthi Nilayam; thousands who came to the holy Presence mired to ensure that the voice of the Lord should enter their doors at least once every month.
‘For over two years, I and Narasimhachari bore the yoke. We were anxious to post the numbers at the newly opened Prasanthi Nilayam Post Office, on the 16th of every month, as announced in the very first copy. Devotees, we knew, would welcome it even more reverentially when they find, on the wrapper, on the right-hand corner, the circular frank-mark of the Post Office with the euphoria-filled name ‘Prasanthi Nilayam’ (Prof. Kasturi was himself the post master for eight months!).
But a cutting machine which could trim the edges of the magazine was acquired only much later, long after a cylinder press was installed to cope with the 3000 copies we had to print. They had to be trimmed at Bangalore City, 100 miles away.
The Amazing Journey Borne by the Chariot
‘Every month, therefore, after the printing was over, I stuffed the quantity of English and Telugu magazines into two gigantic boxes, took them to Bukkapatnam on a bullock-cart, had them lifted to the roof of the bus proceeding to Penukonda, and ordered the bus to stop near the level-crossing about 300 yards away from the Penukonda Railway Station. The boxes were brought down from the bus and a Tarzanian porter, Narasappa, carried them as head load to the platform.
There, I awaited the arrival of the passenger train to Bangalore, 85 miles away to book the boxes as freight. Reaching Bangalore, porters loaded them into horse-drawn vehicles, which I directed to a Press that had a cutting machine. The boxes filled with trimmed copies were then taken to the house of a devotee in the heart of the City. I spent the night there with a dozen young men who volunteered to put the magazines into wrappers (with the addresses on) which I had brought from the Nilayam. The copies were thus ready to be posted and we could sleep through the short hours of the night.
The next day, I repeated the schedule while returning – horse, vehicle, porters, railway journey, Penukonda station, Narasappa, level-crossing, bus until Bukkapatnam, bullock cart, and finally the Prasanthi Nilayam Post Office to receive the Holy Name affixed and allow the precious Prasadam to travel to more than 3000 homes! The devotees received it with reverence, thanked the postman who brought the magazine and put it in their altar before reading it.’
Creating the Ideal Editor out of Kasturi
So that was the ‘behind the scenes’ story of perfecting and posting the beautiful Sanathana Sarathi. But it was not drudgery all the time, with the divine beside lightening and brightening the burden at every available opportunity. Prof. Kasturi narrates a very entertaining yet enlightening incident that happened in the second year of the magazine in his ‘Loving God’ which goes like this:
‘I remember one evening in 1959 when He sent someone to bring me to His room at the mandir. Baba told me that the Editor of a daily published from Hyderabad had asked for my photograph, for he was announcing me in his paper, alongside a nice write-up as the Editor of the ‘Sanathana Sarathi’. Baba had promised to send him my photograph and He asked me to prepare myself for being shot within minutes by Baba Himself, with a brand-new camera He had specially selected for the purpose. O! My joy knew no bounds! I rose to the eighth heaven. I rushed down the eighteen steps to reach home for a quick face lift.
‘I returned to the Presence, within minutes, shaved and starched, with a big broad smile on the frontispiece. Baba held me by the shoulders and positioned me at an appropriate distance. He peered through the lens and congratulated me on my ‘photogenic face’. I was elated that my picture will catch the eye of at least 30,000 readers all over Andhra Pradesh. My smile swelled into a toothless grin! Baba gestured and I swallowed the grin in one gulp. He cautioned me with a ‘steady’, followed immediately by a ‘ready’.
He clicked…. A black hairy blotch with a flashing tail bounced on my neck from inside the camera! With a shrill screech, I hopped into the corner of the room casting away the horrid, hirsute….was it a rat? Was it dead? No. It was a cotton mouse….that was cunningly tucked inside the dummy camera, to be released when clicked. Baba had a hearty laugh at my panic. I too laughed to relieve the tension.
‘He reprimanded me mildly for swallowing the story He had invented to deflate my ego. He reminded me that my being the Editor was not the kind of ‘news’, which the world was interested in. Lasting fame is to be sought not through newspapers, which turn into the very next morning, but through dedicated service to God and the godly. I left His room, a leaner and wiser man.
‘Baba mercifully helps us, slowly and subtly, to shed the burden of the ego….He advises that we should be just ourselves and not wear masks behind which we hide. ‘What greater status can you attain than being the medium for packaging and posting My message to thousands of devotees every month?’ He asked me. Baba is too bright a Sun for human eyes; we can bask and bathe in sunlight but we cannot gaze at Him.’
This was how Swami was ‘chiselling and creating’ the ideal editor out of Prof. Kasturi after bringing into existence the magazine a year ago. The Sarathi then was half the current size and bilingual with articles in English first and then in Telugu. The cover picture, a telling sketch of Krishna holding the reins of the galloping horses and directing Arjuna’s chariot, was in direct consonance with its name and mission. After the first anniversary, the cover pages portrayed beautiful sculptures of the earthly manifestations of the Lord through different ages, thus, covertly conveying the divine declaration of Lord Krishna - ‘Whenever there is a decline in Dharma and rise of wrong conduct, the Lord incarnates to save the pious, destroy the evil and restore righteousness.’ And the inside pages overtly had a beautiful and benign image of the current and happening incarnation – the Sathya Sai Avatar.
By virtue of his auspicious assignment and also his amazing adjacency to the Lord, Prof. Kasturi was witness to many eye-opening events concerned with the Avatar and His literary mission. One incident recorded by Mr. G V Subba Rao which cannot be missed narrated here, though it happened in such a nonchalant way, is this.
‘Once just on the eve of my departure from Puttaparthi in a hurry to catch a plane that very morning in Bangalore , I was called by Swami to His modest living-cum resting room in the upstairs of Prasanthi Mandir,’ writes late Sri G V Subba Rao who served in the UN Energy division for many years.
‘Without being told that I was studying Taittiriya Upanishad (a sacred Vedic text) during my weekend spare time in Delhi (where I was then a resident representative of a UN agency) Baba, in His infinite Grace expounded for nearly one full hour the essence of this famous Upanishad.
‘When I began to write it all down, Baba remarked that there was no need to take notes; He assured me that whenever the need arose, I would automatically recall His teachings!
‘While Baba s instruction was thus proceeding, Sri Kasturi, the editor of the Ashram magazine, came up to request Baba for Swami s article for the monthly ‘Sanathana Sarathi’ issue which was just then going to the printer. Swami, then, with a wave of His hand, produced the article and gave it to Sri Kasturi in my direct presence!’
The Sanathana Sarathi, is therefore, a creation, an extension, a ‘manifested missionary’ of Sai. Just like the name and the form, the Lord and the message are inseparable. ‘Sanathana Sarathi’, verily, for all its readers, is Sai in black and white. And Swami personally took great care of its purity, sanctity, authenticity and affordability right from its inception.
And this perennial source of strength, support and spiritual light was sustained by the Sai Sadguru Himself because the cleansing cascade of divine wisdom from Swami’s heart flowed, uninterrupted. It was Dhyana Vahini (the stream of Meditation) and Prasanthi Vahini (the Stream of Supreme Peace) from Jan 1959 to February 1961. Later, followed Jnana Vahini, Dharma Vahini and Upanishad Vahini – Streams of Knowledge, Righteousness and Supreme Philosophy, offering wisdom, and widening minds for thirty-four consecutive months.
In 1964-65, amidst touring the length and breadth of Andhra Pradesh and establishing the ashram in Brindavan, Bangalore, Bhagavan continued to take the pen and out came the glorious Stream of Divine Gospel – the Gita Vahini.
‘The Gita is as a boat, which takes man across from the self-imposed state of bondage to the freedom which is his nature. He is taken from darkness to light, from lustreless-ness to splendour,’ Swami said and explained, ‘The way it begins and the way it ends, that gives the clue to the subject which it expounds. The very first verse (of Gita) starts with the words, Dharmakshethre, Kurukshethre..., the word Dharma being the leading word. The last verse of the final eighteenth chapter speaks of Yata Yogeswarah Krishna and this word, ‘Yogeswarah’ sums up the Dharma that is taught. Thus, it is clear that the objective of the teaching in the Gita is just this: ‘Remember Dharma; practise Dharma.’
Simultaneously with Gita Vahini in February 1964, Bhagavan also started Prasnottara Vahini which was a stream of answers to questions on duties of man in various stages of life (who is superior – renunciant or a householder?), clarifications on procedures and principles of social and spiritual practices (Is caste system relevant today? Is the man of action wiser or is the man of devotion? Can women aspire for the highest? etc.) – all in the form of short and crisp dialogues.
It was now mid-way through the sixties and Prasanthi Nilayam Ashram was separated from Puttaparthi to form a separate township which Swami inaugurated on August 1966. In April next year was held the First All India Conference of Sri Sathya Sai Seva Organisations. In November 1967, Swami laid the foundation for Dharmakshetra in Mumbai and after six months returned to inaugurate the building.
Four days after this, in May 16, 1968 was held the First World Conference of Sri Sathya Sai Seva Organisations. Hardly eight weeks and Swami was on the plane on His first and only trip overseas. He returned from East Africa in the same month and inaugurated the Sri Sathya Sai Arts and Science College for Women in Anantapur. It was now July 1968. Palpably, Swami’s schedule was busy, but, in spite of so many engagements and emergence of new projects, Swami never deprived the readers of Sanathana Sarathi their monthly share of ambrosia. As the Avatar’s mission in the present era was unfolding at break-neck pace, in the Sarathi Bhagavan was thrilling the hearts of the devotees with the sweet and syrupy story of His previous Incarnations, especially the Krishna avatar.
The Bhagavatha Vahini, replete with the scintillating divine sport of Lord Krishna, was as liberating as it was enthralling. And even though the Sri Sathya Sai Arts and Science College for Men was opened in Brindavan, Bangalore in June 1969 and thousands gathered for the third All India Conference of Sri Sathya Sai Seva Organisations in the November of the same year, Swami’s ‘Stream of the Lord’s Story’ continued ceaselessly. The complete series which was later compiled into a book of 338 pages, says, Prof. Kasturi, ‘is not just a book; it is a tonic, a balm, a pilgrimage, a hallelujah, a clarion call, a beacon light.’
The Language of Love in Many Tongues
What started as a tiny brook had now become a roaring river, with many tributaries too! Many states in India started their own vernacular versions of the magazine – Hindi, Marathi, Oriya, Tamil, Malayalam, Sindhi, Assamese, etc.
On the cover page, the 32-page magazine always had a simple drawing of spiritual significance. But this was until 1970 when during the Shavaratri festival of that year, Swami drew with a pen of the back of a used envelope, a figure with the holy symbols of the five-major religions of the world, with the Lotus Pillar in the centre, indicating the spiritual aspirant climbing through any one of these paths and achieving success. Since then, this became the ‘poster symbol’ illustrating the universality of Swami’s message and disseminating the mantra - ‘There is only one religion – the religion of love’ from the front covers of Sanathana Sarathi.
The Sarathi grew at a gigantic pace in early 70s with new wings added to it from every state of India . This was heartening, but at the same time there was a hidden danger too. Because of its sudden expansion with editions in different dialects located in distant destinations, there was a certain element of disharmony creeping in between various vernacular versions. Bhagavan nipped this incongruity in the bud in His benedictory message to all members of the organization assembled for the Fourth All India Conference of Sai Organizations in November 1971, when He said,
‘In almost all the languages of India and in English, we have a number of periodicals, under different names - Shanthi, Prashanthi, Sudha, Sanathana Sarathi, etc. - causing confusion and complications. So, we shall have only a single monthly magazine in each language called everywhere, Sanathana Sarathi.
From now on, it will not be possible for these periodicals to be published according to the will and pleasure of people. If they are left as they are, there is likelihood of lowering of standards and even financial loss for the parties, and consequent distress. So, it has been decided to place the Sanathana Sarathi of each linguistic area, on sound footing, both financially and in the range and authority of content.’
Just a few years back, Bhagavan had then formed the Sri Sathya Sai Education Trust to aid the publishing of books written by experienced devotees, and the Sanathana Sarathi too came under this banner. Until 1973, the Sri Sathya Sai Press, which was located on the Eastern Side of the Prasanthi Mandir (which is now called the Pathashala block) had only a foot-operated treadle machine which was later upgraded into a cylinder machine.
Both these machines were manual intensive to the maximum. Each page of the magazine received by every single reader had to be hand-fed into these inept equipments to print. (Imagine printing tens and thousands like this every month with uncompromising deadlines!)
With only a couple of workers and the rest volunteers, it was indeed a miracle of sorts every four weeks how copious copies used to roll out of this primitive press. Of course, there was the divine intervention. Swami used to often frequent the press, sometimes many times in a week, and goad and guide, encourage and enliven the spirits of the dedicated workers. The boys’ college in Puttaparthi still was in the womb of time, what existed then was a ‘Veda Pathashala’ or a ‘School of Vedic Learning’, and all these students in their spare time would contribute their mite to this holy mission.
‘We used to do typesetting, composing, cutting, covering them in envelopes and every other sundry job,’ recalls Sri Ramesh Kasturi, grandson of Prof. Kasturi and one of the first students to join Swami’s Veda Pathashala. ‘But the amount of work was never a burden…in fact, it was our ticket to bliss,’ continues Ramesh with a satisfied smile, ‘because Bhagavan used to visit often while we were working and spend lot of time joking, rewarding, instructing and inspiring.’
But as the subscription numbers grew to stratospheric heights and the need for a more efficient infrastructure was strongly felt than ever, Swami shifted the whole printing and posting operation to Bangalore. Thus, was born the Brij Brindavan Press, Bangalore in 1973, thanks to the enthusiasm and spirited initiative of an ardent devotee couple, Mr and Mrs Ratan Lal. Interestingly, this was the fifteenth year of the magazine and commemorating this, in March 1973 issue Swami gave a special message to all the readers which said:
‘Readers are aware that Sanathana Sarathi has been assiduously propagating, during the last fifteen years, unconcerned with decorative display, or the calculation of benefit; that the Integration of the Human Race cannot be achieved by the provision of facilities for mere outward contacts for, it can be realised only by the inner conviction of essential Unity; that Man must need transcend his mental, vital and physical levels of experience and attain the spiritual depths, where the Atma, the Divine is; and that the strength surging from this awareness nourishes the physical, vital and mental levels and raises man to a status above and beyond mere human-ness, into the Divine itself. Sanathana Sarathi is happily entering the sixteenth year, offering to all who yearn for mental, moral and spiritual riches. Sanathana Sarathi celebrates the day as a Festival, with both Form and Feature, endowed with a new splendour.’ Yes, the magazine had a novel ‘form, feature… and splendour’, a new Avatar, so to say, on its fifteenth birthday. It had now become double the size; in printing terminology, its dimension was now crown quarto (7 ½’ x 10’) from the earlier crown octavo (5’ x 7 ½’). It had the Stupa adorning the full length of the cover page and after a lot of persuasion, Swami had very reluctantly agreed to increase its annual subscription from rupees four to five.
In His special message on this occasion, Swami also reminded all the mission of this one-of-its-kind magazine and stated:
‘Man can liberate himself, only by knowing himself. He may master the Universe; but, what can he claim to have known, when he has not mastered himself? When he has no awareness of himself, he has no knowledge of the Knower. Sanathana Sarathi has, as its Mission, the assertion of this Truth, its installation in the heart and its establishment in actual practice….
May Sanathana Sarathi flow on, as the Santhosha-Dai (Grantor of Joy); may it swell and surge as Prema-Sai (Bringer of the Love that Sai embodies); may Sanathana Sarathi reside in and find fulfillment in the Sarva-Jiva-Samaikya-Varidhi (All-Beings-`Equality-Unity -Ocean)! May Happiness, Peace, and Prosperity be attained by all.’
Telling the Tale of the Lord, Anew
It was a downpour of blessings from the divine. Meanwhile, Swami’s Bhagavatha Vahini series had ended and yet another serene stream of the Lord’s story had begun to flow from His fountain tip – The Ramakatha Rasavahini. This series, which Swami continued to write for an overwhelming 91 continuous months spread over eight years, was the most lucid narration of Rama story’s ever.
And why not? The same Rama was narrating His own story, and not surprisingly, it was decorated with dialogues and diversions not contemplated by Valmiki (the first author of Ramayana) or any subsequent author. Filled with intricate details and hitherto unknown events regarding Rama’s and Hanuman’s birth, the insightful circumstances related to Rama’s marriage, the never-heard virtues of Sumitra, Urmila or Shrutakirti, and many other such additional events and encounters, the Rama story retold by Swami explained many lacunae and missing links that have long disturbed admirers of this great epic.
Swami, indeed, revived the epic to its pinnacle of perfect idealism that it exemplified for mankind. By the time Swami concluded the series in August 1977, readers’ who were avidly lapping up every word of this series had their hearts saturated and minds sublimated with the glory and profound purpose of the Lord’s earlier earthly sojourn. In fact, they could now understand and appreciate the Sai Avatar better.
Even after this marathon tale, Swami did not stop or take a break even for a month. After the great epic from India , it was now the turn of India, her precious values and sacred spirituality. In September 1977, Bhagavan penned for all humanity the Bharatiya Paramartha Vahini or the ‘Stream of Indian Spiritual Values’ - a topic very close to His heart. In the first article in this series which had the title ‘The Supreme Reality’, Swami revealed, ‘The supreme secret is that man must live in the world where he is born like the lotus leaf, which though born in water, floats upon it without being affected or wetted by it. Of course, it is good to love and adore God with a view to gain some valuable fruit either here or hereafter; but, since there is no fruit or object more valuable than God or more worthwhile than God, the Vedas advise us to love God, with no touch of desire in our minds. Love, since you must love for love s sake; love God, since whatever He can give is less than He Himself; love Him alone, with no other wish or demand. This is the Supreme Teaching of the Bharathiyas (ancient Indians).’
His Stream Of Grace Continues…
For sixteen contiguous months Swami explained, through enlightening essays, the basic truths that foster and feed Indian Culture since ages before history began. Given the immense importance of these precious eternal truths for the muddled mind of man living in the modern world, Bhagavan, in January 1979, decided to continue the flow of illumination and instruction under a more comprehensive and meaningful name, ‘Sathya Sai Vahini’ - the Ganga from the Lotus Feet of the Lord - ‘The Flow of Divine Sai Grace’. Inside these pages lay strewn pearls of perennial wisdom resurrected by Sai. Sample this. Swami wrote, ‘Three types of activity reach God and earn His Grace. First, activity not prompted by personal desire; Second, activity emanating from unselfish Love; and finally, prayer arising from pure hearts.’
The January 1979 issue, venerating the 21st year of Sanathana Sarathi, was indeed a landmark one because of the exceptional message that Swami passed on to the devotees while inaugurating the rechristened series of Sathya Sai Vahini. He wrote, nay embraced all, stating, ‘Moved by the urge to cool the heat of conflict and to quench the agonising thirst for knowledge about yourself that you are afflicted with, see, here it comes, the Sathya Sai Vahini, wave behind wave, with the Sanathana Sarathi as the medium between you and me.’
Truly, Sanathana Sarathi, with its series of invaluable Vahinis, had become every devotee’s soul support. When the Sarathi arrived, they missed Sai less, because it was as if He was sitting next to them, showering His love and shaking off their earthly burden, as Sridevi from Kuwait says, ‘It transformed our day to day outlook towards life and started making us feel the presence of Our beloved Baba all the time.
Apart from leading us into the right path, the Divine messages from Sanathana Sarathi used to console us at the right moments of depression, correct us when we were wrong, motivate us when we were lethargic and shower words of love. We knew, we felt that He is always with us, around us, above us, below us, in us.’
In February 1981, Bhagavan concluded the Sathya Sai Vahini with the last article on sociological basis of ancient Indian culture and society. ‘The four varnas (occupational divisions in society) are the limbs of the Divine body, of the one and only Lord. Caste is the Cosmic Person Himself manifesting as Human Society,’ He explained and emphasized, ‘There is only one caste, the caste of Humanity.’
Elevating Education to Ethereal Heights
By 1981, it was two decades and three years since Bhagavan had started writing for this holy magazine. But the Divine Hand continued to exert to exorcise the evil tendencies embedded in man for centuries. And so, in March 1981, Sai, the Eternal Educator, started yet another series ‘Vidya Vahini’ – or, the ‘Stream of Thought Which Illumines’. In the nineteen essays that Swami penned, He candidly enumerated: what is true learning? What is the purpose of learning? And which is the best procedure to learn? The duties and responsibilities of both – the teacher and the taught too were clearly elucidated. Interestingly, this was the year when Swami inaugurated the Sri Sathya Sai Higher Secondary School along with its Primary Wing. Not only that, November 1981, also marked the opening of the grand ‘Temple of Learning ’ – the Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Learning. Many of the articles in this series were partly due to appeals to Swami by educators and academicians for the elucidation of the principles which must guide one while rehabilitating education as an effective instrument for establishing peace and freedom within oneself and in society.
‘Bhagavan Baba’s Vidya Vahini is the most authentic version of His interpretation of Education for Life and total Education,’ says Prof. S Saraf, the second Vice-Chancellor of Swami’s University, in his book ‘Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba – the Eternal Educator’. He further states, ‘It (Vidya Vahini) presents the basic philosophy and concept in its multi-dimensional form covering the entire gamut of life-long education in its various facets from childhood to adulthood; containing beautiful elucidation of methods for reaching the goal.’
The Sagacious Sutra Vahini
With the opening of the deemed university in Puttaparthi, Swami, the Chancellor, was well-occupied with shaping this edifice, still His role as the ‘Chancellor of the Universe’ and His compassion for mankind propelled Him to continue to communicate the essence of spiritual wisdom, and that is how, in October 1982, Swami put to paper the ‘Sutra Vahini’. ‘Sutra’ means ‘that which, through a few words only, reveals vast meanings’. ‘Brahma Sutras’ of ancient India are the multi-coloured flowers gathered from all Upanishads, and in each syllable it contained a volume of profound philosophical thought. Swami, in His sixteen serial essays, unrivalled these precious spiritual wisdoms and placed it in a manner a layman to a litterateur could appreciate and apply them in their daily life.
After twenty five years, fifteen series of spiritual volumes and three hundred twelve months of continuous writing, Swami was still not done. As His divine mission was unfolding with the Inauguration of ‘Trayee Brindavan’- the new Temple at Brindavan, Bangalore and launching the Seva Dal conference in ‘Shivam’ – His temple in Hyderabad in April and May 1984, respectively, Swami, to the devotees’ delight, dished out another divine gem – ‘Leela Kaivalya Vahini’, the name itself was so ethereal to the ear. True to its name, which meant the ‘Cosmic Sport of God and Eternal Universal Being’, this series of Swami was meant to purify man’s consciousness in all its facets and fill it with bliss. In March 1984 issue, Swami Himself stated, ‘From the coming Ugadi (New Year) Festival Day, this series under the name Leela Kaivalya Vahini, will dissolve all such obstacles and fill you with Ananda (bliss). It will lead you to the path of spiritual progress.’
That is what precisely, not only this Vahini but every single page in Sanathana Sarathi, has done to thousands world over. ‘I eagerly await the monthly arrival of Sanathana Sarathi, and read every word of Avatar Vani, and everytime it gives me a new meaning, a new understanding. I must have read most of the Vahinis time and again, in English and in Gujarati, alone and in group. I read the Bhagavad Gita repeatedly but after I had the nectar of His discourses, every time Gita lends me new meaning and deeper understanding,’ says Sri Chandrahas Shah from Mumbai.
Dr. Joseph Phaneuf, a MD from USA , says, ‘The Sanathana Sarathi is my living Bible. Reading the words of the Lord who is walking on earth at this time is the greatest opportunity of many life times…Swami s nectarous words are so simple, straightforward and practical, they go straight to my heart.
I try to take at least one point and put it into practice. I have so many opportunities to put His teaching into practice in my daily work as a physician. When I am successful at putting His teachings into practice everything just goes smoother and taking care of my patients is much more enjoyable. Swami reminds us time and time again that service to our fellow man is the same as service to God. This awareness brings reverence, humility, love and great joy to my work with my patients.’
Even though Swami stopped writing comprehensive articles for the magazine after October 1984, His involvement and interest in the magazine was as spirited as ever. Be it the front cover, the inside photos, His discourses or devotees’ articles, every detail was Swami’s concern and under His directions, the Sarathi improved and evolved to even sublime heights. For example, after the mid-eighties, Swami wanted a makeover of the front cover of the magazine.
It transformed from various shades of blue, green, maroon, etc. in various previous issues to the sublime and sacred orange. ‘Swami liked the orange very much and directed that this should be maintained for all future issues without any change,’ recalls Sri C M Prakash, a former student of Swami’s college, whom Swami had appointed to serve in the press as early as 1979. ‘Even a slight deviation in the shade of orange would not be acceptable to Swami,’ he adds going down memory lane.