The dead Radhakrishnaiah smiled. A true story extracted from the book
“Sri Krishna, Sri Sathya Sai” by Dr. J. Suman Babu
There lived in the village called Kuppam, a sixty-year-old industrialist named, Radhakrishnaiah. He suffered from a chronic ulcer in the stomach and came to Prasanthi Nilayam with his wife, daughter, and son-in-law, with the hope that Swami will provide solace or relief to Radhakrishnaiah. They came to Prasanthi during the Dasara festival, and there was a large number of devotees. Despite the large crowd, Swami provided a room for Radhakrishnaiah.
One evening Radhakrishnaiah lost consciousness and was breathing feebly. His wife reported to Swami about the poor condition of her husband. Swami responded lightly and asked her not to worry. Doctors at the hospital within Prasanthi Ashram reported that Radhakrishnaiah’s condition is hopeless. His body became old and turned black. However, Radhakrishnaiah’s wife kept faith in Swami’s words and kept silent. Two days later Swami arrived at the hospital and went into the patient’s room after asking everyone to leave the room. A few minutes later Swami Himself opened the door and asked the family members of Radhakrishnaiah to come in. What they saw was truly shocking! Radhakrishnaiah was sitting on the bed, smiling.
There was another case of Waler Cowan who was medically declared dead. But Swami brought him back to life.
This miracle-filled story tells us many important things:
- Swami’s view of the individual is infinitely wider whereas the mundane man’s view is much narrower. The mundane man observes through his limited senses and decides using limited intellect. Our senses are poor instruments. For example, our eyes can see only a few meters afar, ears can hear only a limited range of sound vibrations. Not only Swami’s Vision is infinite, but His capability of performing what is a miracle to us is also unfathomable.
- Swami never uses these miracles to glorify Himself, but these miracles help devotees to develop Faith and Bhakthi which shortens the road length to Moksha.
- Swami’s ways are unfathomable. Swami often advises us that when you pray for something, you cannot, and should not worry about the process of My creating the end result. “ A man gave a piece of raw gold to the goldsmith and asked him to make a gold ornament. The goldsmith heated the gold in the furnace and hammered it to form the shape of the ornament. The man then shouted, hey, do not burn my gold and do not give hammer blows to my gold.” Similarly, when you pray, it is imprudent for you to “instruct” Swami on how Swami should act.
