Brian Steel  October 2002

The year 1999 marked the beginning of a new phase for the SB Mission. In the first months of that year came the alarming news of the defections of two prominent devotees who had been very close to SB and who had enthusiastically promoted his image in their books and public lectures. They were David Bailey and Dr Naresh Bhatia. In the ashram and in other SB circles rumours about the imminent appearance of unfavourable revelations were rife. The tense expectation was to continue for over a year, until in March/April 2000 the Bailey "Findings" were finally published and quickly broadcast via the Internet. What was to prove to be an ongoing crisis for SB and the SSO, involving sexual allegations and waves of other disturbing revelations and allegations had begun.

Coincidentally or not, in early 1999 public Lingam "materialisations" were resumed by SB on Sivaratri Day - for the first time since their discontinuation in 1977. During this same difficult period, many Indian and overseas devotees have been offered the opportunity of reading Internet transcriptions (in several languages) of Professor Anil Kumar's Sunday satsang talks in English at the ashram: <www.internety.com/premsai>. The eloquent and humorous Prof. Kumar is a prominent member of SB's entourage and the latest spokesman (and interpreter) of the somewhat 'English-challenged' guru. In his popular (and populist) talks, Prof. Kumar regales his rapt ashram audiences (and now a much wider public) with intimate and revealing reports about the conversation and tales of his spiritual master.

Having only recently read Kumar's web offerings to the world, I recommend them for study by those who wish to see contemporary evidence of a dubious pattern of publicity employed by trusted associates of SB which goes back almost to the beginning of the SB Mission, to the conversion of Prof. N. Kasturi (1948), and then Prof. Gokak, Dr Bhagavantam, and a number of others, both Indian and foreign. Such zealous spokespersons (along with many writers of SB literature) have been particularly instrumental in projecting and sustaining a unique public image of SB far beyond the geographical restrictions of his native Telugu language.

After reading many of Kumar's web-published unquestioning endorsements of SB and his Divine claims (but also of his boastfulness and his peculiar anecdotes), I had intended to divide the following excerpts into sections: claims, exaggeration, far-fetched comparisons, adulation, etc. but the popular style of the talks is so transparent that no reader requires such guidelines. Given this transparence, it is quite sufficient to present a selection of quotations from the satsang of this obsequious devotee (and highly efficient 'stand-in' for SB) which clearly reveal the parameters of his devotion and a few of his over-enthusiastic and uncritical contributions to the SB myth (as well as some injudicious revelations which point to a rather different picture).

Kumar says that his Internet page of satsangs is unofficial, and, strictly speaking, this may well be true. However, such is SB's trust in and reliance on Kumar (as with the long procession of previous human 'interfaces' with masses of devotees) that he must know that the professor would not risk jeopardising his extremely privileged position or incurring SB's well-documented 'displeasure' by reporting anything that SB himself would not approve. And, because of his known proximity to SB, as well as his lively style of lecturing in English, Kumar's narrations (like Kasturi's, Gokak's, Hislop's, etc., etc.) - however bizarre some may sound - are accepted without demur by most devotees as accurate and authentic pieces of the SB story: in other words, as officially endorsed. Much of the SB legend has been strengthened and sustained in this indirect way.

"The ISD, the STD. the courier services or fax or e-mail, they are all slow when compared to Sai Baba. Sai's Will runs faster than all these latest electronic gadgets and Concord Airways because Sai functions instantaneously. Sai responds immediately. May we grow more and more in faith, all in Bhagavan."

"Swami was telling in a discourse the other day that Narada was once asking Lord Vishnu, "Vishnu, where are You? I know You have branch offices. But You are not seen there at any one of Your branch offices. I want to know where is Your head office. Please give me Your latest visiting card." And God gave him a visiting card. What was that address? "My devotee whenever he sings My glory, I install Myself there. O Narada, take My address! I am found wherever My glory is sung." So this is the experience of Shankar Narayan and friends who could see Swami's presence whenever they started singing the praises of Sri Sathya Sai Baba."

Kumar regurgitates (from a booklet) the old tale about the two (unnamed, of course) East African devotees who come to Puttaparthi and when they take a swig from their beloved whisky bottle in their ashram room there is only water.

"So Swami said: ... 'But remember, I hear everything. I listen to your prayer. I see from there. I see all over, everywhere.' This is a Divine assurance."

"So, Bhagavan's discourse caters to the requirements of the entire society. It is not meant for a particular part of the society. It is not meant for scientists alone, doctors alone, engineers alone, or intellectuals alone. No, no. It is meant for A to Z, for everybody."

"Is there anybody living in the world who can satisfy people of all age-groups, people of all languages, people from all over the world, of different vocations, vacations, allocations, provocation, professions, all being satisfied at the same time? It is only Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba who will satisfy the whole of the audience at the same time!"

"Baba said, "I am not new. I am Eternal." It means that Bhagavan has been following us over many, many lives. He has been with us from ages past."

"I don't break empty pots like you, but pots full of milk and curd." 'He's recalling old habits like Krishna long back.'"

"Swami said: "... Believe Me or not, I don't know what sleep is. I don't know what appetite is. I am 75. All these years I am never hungry. All these years I have never slept."
"Softly and delicately I asked Him, "Why do You switch off the light at night if You don't sleep?"
"He said, "If I didn't switch off the light, many people would be here and they wouldn't go. They wouldn't sleep."
"So I asked, "Then why do You have a dining room and table?"
"Baba responded, "Several people join Me at times. To make them eat, I also pretend to eat." "He has transcended food and sleep."

"Swami, Your Creation is defective: You created a woman like that, as to resist, and created man so soft, he cannot take it.

He said, "Nothing wrong with My Creation. It's your vision that's defective. Your outlook, your vision, your sight is defective. Nothing is wrong with My Creation."

"So, let us be aware of this awareness. Awareness is the gift of Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba, the Divine Master with whom we are living. Awareness of what? Awareness of Reality, awareness of Divinity, awareness of the Knowledge of the Self, awareness of Immortality, awareness of the soul, awareness of the spirit, awareness of the conscience, awareness of the Consciousness, awareness of life, awareness of the Eternity. This is the gift of the Divine Master."

'Muslims Come To Prashanti Nilayam'
"Two days back you must have watched Muslims here in Prashanti Nilayam. Muslims wear a special white cap with embroidery. So from a distance you could make out that they are Muslims. My impression of Muslims is this - that they do not usually go to any temple. They are very, very rigid about it. They do not accept prasadam (blessed food), none whatsoever. (That's my observation, subject to correction by anybody.) They are very rigid and they don't attend any other discourses referring to other religions and faiths. That has been my experience so far.
"But the moment I saw them in large numbers, I could not believe it! I had to put on a 'question mark' face. When Swami passed by me He said, "Come here. You distribute prasadam to those people."
....................
And then I said, "Swami, it's really wonderful, unbelievable to find Muslims here in Prashanti Nilayam."
He said, "Why not?"
"Why not? Because my experience goes that usually they don't go to any other temple and they are very rigid about it. Fundamentalists."
"Then He said, "No, no, no, no." He didn't like my comment.

On SB's humour (and his own clear admission that news of Miracles, and most particularly Howard Murphet's first book, Sai Baba. Man of Miracles, attracts people to him):

"Do you ever find Bhagavan so serious anytime? I have not found it. Always happy, always blissful, always joking, fun. There's one gentleman by the name of Howard Murphet. Most of you must have heard his name. He wrote about four books. The first book, "The Man of Miracles", is popular all over the world. Most of the devotees of the Western hemisphere have gone into the mansion of Sathya Sai Divinity through the gates of the "Man of Miracles", his book. Beautiful work." [Italics added]

What non Telugu-speaking devotees miss:

"That's the reason why when Bhagavan passes by the darshan lines and whenever anyone wants to have padnamascar, He says in Telugu, "Do it within! Do it within! Do it within!" Do padnamascar within."

Kumar often chants a bhajan at the end of his satsang, just like SB. Also his frequent humorous (court jester) touches are sometimes quite revealing: "I have told you a number of times that, "In this age of BBC, British Broadcasting Corporation, I am ABC: Anil Kumar Broadcasting Corporation!" (Laughter)

SB's omniscience:

"... Bhagavan Baba, who ended his formal education at the level of seventh standard, can talk to Nobel Laureates, can talk to the highest scientists of the day. He gives minute details of the body, of the heart, to the cardiologist himself, so that the specialist falls flat (in namaskar) in front of him. (Laughter) He can tell certain special engineering skills to an experienced engineer such that, if he is honest enough, he admits his ignorance on that very subject.

He talks to a computer expert, telling that he is only a computer, saying that computer is nothing but rubbish."

[But see recent dissenting www.exbaba articles on SB's knowledge of magnetism, atoms, etc.]

Compare these contradictory reports by Kumar on a controversial topic:

"Then Bhagavan said, "... I just take a morsel. That's all. I don't eat much. My weight is same." (7 January 2001)
and:
"Baba responded, "Several people join Me at times. To make them eat, I also pretend to eat." "He has transcended food and sleep." (20 August 2000)

"And then further He said, "You know what happened? The Siva Lingam came out by force - like that! Not slowly." You must have watched. All of you must have watched. It came out forcefully like a jet, just like that!

And Swami explained why it happened: In the body of every one of us, all the metals are there, including gold. That's the reason why in Ayurveda (Indian school of medicine) even gold is also given as a curative medicine. So, all metals are there in our body. All these things are there in a liquid form.

Bhagavan said, "When the liquid gets transformed into a solid, a heat is generated. Liquid becomes solid at that time. Heat is generated and therefore the Linga came out forcefully."

"Not only that, I was sweating. You must have watched." That's what Baba said. "I asked two or three lecturers just to fan Me like that. They were doing it. You must have watched. I was sweating because heat is generated when the liquid gets transformed into solid. So it came out forcefully. Because of the heat, I was sweating. So many boys had to fan at that moment." "Oh, Swami."

"Then He said another point. "In your case, solid is transformed into liquid. But in My case, liquid is transformed into solid. That is the difference. Gold is there in you. The solid is transformed into liquid. It remains like that. But in Swami's case, liquid is transformed into solid. Therefore it came out in the form of Siva Linga. "Ah! Swami!"

"Then He said, "This is a demonstration to all of us to know that Siva Linga is there in every one of you."

"But in Bhagavan's case, it is not like that. You are not giving Him any new information. You are only telling Him what He already knows. Yours is knowledge, while He is the Source of all knowledge."

"It is a kind of experience to everybody to know that Bhagavan is all-encompassing, all knowing, that He is omniscient, that He is omnipresent, and that He's omnipotent."

1.

"I already told you about my weakness, my inquisitiveness. I always want to know. I want to be informed. Why? I want to tell everybody. Why? 'Yes, this is our Swami! This is what our Swami has done to the universe! This is what our Swami has done to humanity.' Unbelievable things have been happening. Unimaginable things caused by Bhagavan are happening. They are all happening while He is moving in our midst."

2.

"I always tell my friends everywhere and in every congregation, if given the chance to be born again, I don't want to be a millionaire or a politician or a minister. No, I want to be born again only to speak like this to devotees, to Sai devotees. That's all! I don't want any other thing in life." (Applause)

In his total unthinking devotion to SB, Kumar reiterates (or paraphrases) some of SB's exotic and unproven statements about Christ [See Chapter 5, 'Omniscience and Truth'] and he also ploughs laboriously though the New Testament, grasping at straws and endeavouring to "prove" all sorts of flimsy and far-fetched connections between Jesus and SB. Without giving all the details (they are embarrassingly available on Kumar's website!), here are a few "lowlights":

Kumar also gets very excited in this satsang as he "proves" in great (imaginative) detail that certain references in the New Testament Book of Revelations (Chapter 19) must predict the Advent of SB. Some of his crucial points of reference involve "crown of crowns" [= "many diadems"], "red robes" ["a robe dipped in blood"] - even Kumar knows that SB usually wears an orange robe nowadays -, "white cars" ["white horses"] and so on. The flimsiness of Kumar's thesis beggars belief - but will still be swallowed by gullible devotees until they begin to wake up to the fact that their devotion (like Kumar's) is clouding their judgement.

(At one point where he is comparing SB's 'afro' hairstyle to the Biblical "crown of crowns", Kumar gives free rein to his poetic vision: "As Bhagavan walks giving darshan, when the wind blows, His beautiful hair tosses like the golden daffodils along the Milky Way of William Wordsworth. How nicely and beautifully our good Lord adjusts His hair, ah-ha! It is a sight for the gods.")

 16 December 2001

In an attempted explanation of alleged predictive elements in the Gospel of John, Chapter 14 verse 12, Kumar comments, with unjustified confidence: "So do you see the point? What does he say? Christ said, "Greater works are going to be done by Him because I'm going back to my Father." What does it mean? Christ made certain things happen. Christ did certain miracles and he said, "In future, greater works, more works, in multiples, are going to be done by Him." By Him? Who is He? Sathya Sai Baba! "As I go to my Father. As I go back to my Father, greater works are going to be done by Him."

And on and on, with countless forced comparisons with the New Testament. What educator Kumar performs here is a caricature of "scholarship", tantamount to brain-washing.

 All of which leads up to the familiar but quite unjustified claim:

"My friends, this morning I take leave of you, emphasizing once again that the gospel of Truth then, according to the Holy Bible, is the very same gospel repeated by Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba. Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba is the Second Coming of Jesus Christ, for whom the entire Christian world has been eagerly awaiting. Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba is the Second Coming of Christ. He's the Cosmic Christ. He's the very Father, who had sent His only Son to earth. He's the Cosmic Visitor."

 23 December 2001

In his third talk on the parallels between Christ and SB, Kumar includes the following:

A contradiction of SB's usual advice to devotees NOT to give money to local beggars:

"Well, most of you will be wonderstruck if I tell you that Bhagavan gets down from His car on His way to Kodaikanal, rushes toward a beggar who is standing in a corner, and gives money to that beggar. How simple, how compassionate our Lord is!"

Two resounding endorsements:

"As is Jesus Christ the Savior, so is Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba the Savior. As is Jesus Christ the Protector, now is Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba the Protector. As Jesus Christ is the Eternal Teacher, so Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba is the Teacher of teachers!"

 "Shirdi: It was Lord Shirdi Bhagavan, the earlier Incarnation of Sathya Sai Baba, who said, "My child, I shall go on giving you all that you want, until you want Me."

 An interesting hint that Kumar (or his Master?) and the SSO may not always see eye to eye:

"A few devotees were blessed with an interview. Then they asked Bhagavan, "Bhagavan, tell us the way to serve You." They are all members of the Sai Organization. Such people only get doubts. (Laughter) Devotees will never get doubts. It is because of their position or cadre. "How shall we serve? Tell us so that we can prepare and give circulars, 'Do this, do that' (all excepting this self)! So, how shall we serve God? Swami, let us know!"

Bhagavan said, "I do not need your services. I am serving you. Look here! Day after day, morning and evening, I walk all along. I come out of the Poornachandra Auditorium and walk a number of times. I move amongst you to serve you."

For SB's Omniscience, Kumar offers 2 resounding but dubious endorsements:

1. 23 December 2001

"If you just go through Bhagavan's discourses from 1950 until 1980, you will be finding them full of jokes, full of stories and parables. In the recent times, He has been speaking of laser scientists, magnetism, electricity, heat and all that. Wow! Those subjects go above our heads - bouncers!" (Laughter)
2. 10 March 2002

"Baba, the mathematician; Baba, the scientist; Baba, the chemist: He tells things with perfect precision and in a correct sequential order. This is what is called 'chain reaction' in chemistry. It is what they call 'equation' or 'derivation' in mathematics. Whatever it may be called, Bhagavan Baba is the Scientist of scientists. He tells it in such a scientific rational, logical, sequential way, which is appealing to every modern mind."

[Once again, the reader is referred for a different verdict to recent commentaries at <www.exbaba.com> on SB's "knowledge" of atoms, magnetism, and other scientific topics.]

"Swami said, "You know, these Rajas visited Me long, long ago, when there were absolutely no facilities at all, no approach roads, no comforts, and no buildings. These Rajas, the kings of those days, walked along the sands in the hot sun from Bukkapatnam. They reached here, stayed under the trees, and spent their time here - all the Rajas or rich, kingly people of those days."

"He said, "No, no, no! I know everything." Then Swami laughed and made this statement.

My friends, I'm telling you this only to reassure you, to reconfirm the Divinity of Bhagavan. It has to be reaffirmed. It has to be strengthened continuously. It is for this reason that I share this with you today.

"Then Bhagavan said this statement: "Because I know everything, so many people are coming here."
"Because I know everything about everyone, people are rushing to this place." "This is the second beautiful statement that He made."

'All Want To Be Here'
[This includes a brief insight at the beginning into the difficulties of being close to SB.]

"Thirdly He asked, "Did you notice this morning the VIPs there on the veranda?"
"If I had said, "Yes, I noticed," I was afraid that He might point out, "Have you come to see Bhagavan or VIPs?" (Laughter)
"If I had said, "No, I have not seen them," He might say, "Did you keep your eyes closed?"
What am I to do? Then I found one convenient answer, "The VIP must have come after I left, Swami (Laughter), so I did not notice."
"Then Bhagavan said, "The President from Sri Lanka came this morning and yesterday. Her brother was here. He is to become President very soon." Swami was saying this, "President from Sri Lanka, she and her brother - they're all here."
"Further, He said, "Very soon you'll find the Prince of Kashmir, Sardar Karan Singh. He'll be visiting here. Do you know Karan Singh?"
I said, "I know, Swami."
"How do you know?"
"That is the problem! (Laughter) If you say you know, then He says, "How do you know?" If you say you don't know, then He says, "Don't you know that much?" (Laughter) Sharp on both sides, it's like talking on the razor's edge. It's not that simple!
"Ah Swami, I know!"
"How do you know?" "Ah-re, Karan Singh is known to everybody, Swami. He was the Minister for External Affairs for some time and Ambassador to the United States for some time." Then, the most important point I'm yet to mention. "Then he addressed the International Cardiologist Conference here in Prashanti Nilayam. The International Conference of Cardiothorastic [sic] Surgeons Conference - heart specialists - was held here twice, and Karan Singh was Chief Guest once."
"Uh-mm."
...........

"Then this is important, the third important statement: "All want to be here. All VIPs, heads of governments, many, many people want to be here. But still I'm not giving them ample chances. I am not permitting them to be here. They're all waiting ... waiting for Swami's permission."

If you need to read more for yourselves, visit <www.internety.com/premsai>.

(See also: 'Notes on the Responsibility of Writers of Sathya Sai Baba Books', Chapter 3 of The Guru from Puttaparthi:Sathya Sai Baba's Language and its Perception by Devotees and Misleading Evangelism.)

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