Virtuous Swamy (Dharma Murthy)

Ancient Scriptures say that Dharma(Virtuous Conduct) is inevitable for every individual on this earth. Every person has to follow rightous conduct and no one is an exception for it. In this chapter please read the incidents in Swamy's life which show that Sri Swamy always practised Dharma.

One day Sri Swamy told Korrakuti Bujjaiah "Ayya! you should take care of those who take care of me. " So after Sri Swamy's Mahasamadhi he is serving those who had served Sri Swamy. Real Sadguru seva will continue even after the Mahasamadhi of the sadguru. So our Sastras advised, a naistika bachelor should always stay with his guru and when his guru attains niryana, he should take charge of his Guru's sacred fire in the place of his Guru and serve it all through his life. Sri Sai followed that principle. Sri Swamy also has done the same thing. Perhaps this might be the reason for Sri Swamy's referring Sai as his brother. In the same way a worthy disciple should treat all the guru bandhu's with love and effection.

One day Sri Swamy said to Rosi Reddy, "Ayya ! I have brought crop of all to fruition. See that the thieves do not steal the crop." Sri Swamy has blessed them all spiritually. They should guard it from the natural internal enemies(Samskarams).

Some servants did not follow the teachings of Sri Swamy and started to fight among themselves. Once Sri Swamy spoke so heart rending words. "Poor stuff, Mundas, Randas. All are taking credits and becoming paupers. Are they earning atleast a paise? Sadguru is support to the creation and for everything in the universe. They forget this truth and the Sadguru and give place to other thoughts in the mind. Sri Swamy spoke this as the giving up of the Pathivrathyam(Celibacy).

Raghava Reddy was suffering from an incurable disease. The doctors could not cure. He came to Sri Swamy. Sri Swamy did not speak to him. Reddy told Sri Swamy's servants that he would give lot of money if his disease is cured. At once Sri Swamy replied, "What is it? When we are giving every body, what is it that he gives us? Really every thing in the creation belongs to Sri Swamy. Forgetting this truth thinking thing "I am giving this to others" is ignorance. If we do not recognise the truth our bhakti will never get stabilised. Then how can Sri Swamy respond to our prayer even when the devotee offers?

Genrally, Sri Swamy will not go to any body's house. In 1978 Swamy stayed in the house of Narasreddy(Kalichedu Village) and lit his sacred fire in the centre of the house and sat there. This is a special feature. On the fourth day he asked to bring bullock cart to go to Siddalayya hill. After loading their luggage they asked Swamy to start. But Sri Swamy said that it was not possible to start at that time and asked them to give six rupees to the cart driver. He repeated the same for 4 or 5 times. They could not understand why they should pay the cart fare even thought they did not travel in the cart. Usually, the cart driver went to the mine and got his wages. But now, on that day he was absent for his work in the mine. So, Sri Swamy must give that wage to him. That was Sri Swamy's idea. Sri Sai said "Do not take gratis, the labour of others. We must pay liberally for any service, when we agreed to make use of them."
This incident explains how minutely Sri Swamy followed the above principle. Sri Swamy again and again enquired them about the payment of the care fare. Sri Swamy's servants gave him 6 Rs and asked him to bring his cart the next day. But will Sri Swamy leave them unless they pay the cart fare for that day also?
On that day a devotee called Seshadri came for Sri Swamy's darshan from Vidyanagar. It was only then that all the people came to know why Sri Swamy suddenly cancelled his journey on that day. While Seshadri was starting from Vidyanagar he prayed Sainath to grace his darsan in the form of Sri Venkaiah Swamy. Exactly, at the same time Sri Swamy postponed his journey. So Sai and Sri Swamy are not different from one another.

Sri Swamy used to take his food mostly with red chilly chutney. He would drink buttermilk only when it is offered otherwise not. He never commented on the taste of the food nor the cooking of the food. Once they were preparing Sazza Sangati. It was only half boiled. Eventhough it was not properly boiled Sri Swamy asked them to serve it for him. He also asked to serve him the red chilly powder into the Sangati. He relished it with great satisfaction. Food is only for hunger and not for the taste. This is the main principle in medicine as well as Sadhana.

Sri Swamy's sister Mangamma used to look after Sri Swamy with great affection. She used to keep food for Sri Swamy and wait for Sri Swamy's arrival till mid night. In return Sri Swamy ordered his brothers to give his portion of property to her. They did so. Sri Swamy has practically showed us how one should express his gratitude.
He not only practiced dharma but ordered his close followers to follow it. Korakutti Bujjaiah's younger sister looked after her unmarried brother with great affection. One day Sri Swamy said to Bujjaiah "what I have done to my sister, you too must do to your sister". As Bujjaiah garu remained a life long bachelor, perhaps, Sri Swamy might have asked him to give away his share of property to his sister.

When every body paid fifty paise for a shave Sri Swamy used to give two Rs for each shave to the barber. In the same manner he paid double the remuneration to the washer man. Sri Saibaba also gave 2 Rs to Balanai for each head shave. One day Baba gave 2 Rs to a person who brought a ladder for him. Those days that was a big amount. Devotees asked baba why has has paid so much of money for a such a simple service. Baba advised "We should pay liberally for any service and we should not take gratis anybody's service".

One day Sri Swamy said "Ayya! we must look after the welfare of those who give a morsel of food in the name of Venkaiah". People forget Sri Swamy after giving him little food. But will Lord of Dharma forget them? He will protect them day and night like an eyelid that protects the eyeball.

One day Mopur Dasaiah said "Swamy! you will be wandering on hills and forests. I am unable to obtain your darsan frequently. What can I do, Swamy?"
Sri Swamy said, "Oh! What is there. Climb the hill and keep the mirror on the stone and see straight. The distance between you and me will be only 3 inches." Here the hill means the brain the upper portion of the body. Seeing in a mirror on a stone means the mind will always be engaged in the worldly thoughts. We must keep our brain free from these worldly ideas for a while and concentrate it on Sri Swamy. The we can see Swamy wherever he may be. In our body, the elevated stone is our brain. Above that there is yoga center called Sahasraram. In that yoga center like the sacred feet of sadguru. So, Sri Swamy said that the distance is only 3 inches. That means Sri Swamy has openly declared that he himself is the sadguru.

Some people are cured of their scorpion bite simply when they came to the presence of Sri Swamy. Some others got relief only when they make certain number of Pradakshinas to Swamy. Some others got relief on the spot when they simply prayed for Sri Swamy's grace. "What is the cause for this difference of your grace Swamy?" asked some people. "I will be responding according to one's faith "I will be responding according to one's faith" answered Swamy. At another time Sri Swamy assured, "There is no dying or living. Even If a person dies and becomes to ashes, he should come back to life, if ordained to come".

One day Sri Swamy wants to shift his venue and ordered his men to start at once. His servants were not willing to start before lunch at about 12 noon. They told Swamy that they can start after lunch or in the evening. But Sri Swamy insisted on his decision. All the servants except one or two went out. One of the servants, Barigala Nagaiah thought in his mind "Why are these people with Swamy? They do not follow Sri Swamy's words. Why is Sri Swamy not commanding them strictly? What is this farce?" At once knowing all this Swamiji said "Let them go as they like. There are none to stop."
Great souls only advise us and they do not compel us. If we do not follow their advice, they leave us to our fate. We commit forbidden things and say "Sri Swamy will look after every thing". It is foolish to say so. Really he will be looking at every thing. He will sanction good to good karma and bad to bad karma, without any partiality.

One day Sri Swamy advised Guraviah "See that Mala, Madiga, Jogi, Jangam do not enter you. Serve the Sadguru with Sampannatvam". Here Mala Madiga etc are not the castes that are referred to. The reference is to our internal enemies or instincts like greed, anger, pride and the desire for enjoyment of the sensuous pleasures etc.

The same idea was expressed by Sainath when he said "There is a low caste fellow in us. We must drive him away."

Smt Kantamma of Anikepalli village used to lend paddy and in return collected more paddy in the name of interest(namu). Once there was accident in her house and she lost a lot of paddy. Only a few bags of paddy were saved by her neighbours. One day when she complained her grief to Sri Swamy. he said "Only the profit is lost. You have saved your principle. Isn't it?

Once Sai said "Oh Sait! you go home. The loss will be adjusted in some other business." Sri Swamy's ways of dealing with people is similar to that of Sainath.

Rosi Reddy the oldest man was in the service of Sri Swamy for a number of years. At present due to old age he could not do hard work like fetching fire wood etc., One day he wanted to go home leaving the seva of Sri Swamy as some one has spoken some thing ill about him. Sri Swamy called him alone and said "Do you want to gather scrap leaving the field in fruition?" With that, he gave up that idea of leaving Sri Swamy. The immediate presence of Sadguru is the "field in fruition". Living in the colorful world and doing Sadhana is like gathering scrap.

One day his son and son-in-law were coming to take Rosi Reddy to their home for 10 days. But at that time Rosi Reddy was unable to move alone due to lack of eye sight. But on that day Sri Swamy ordered him "Go ahead on the way" Rosi Reddy who had unflinching faith in the orders of Sadguru did not care for his old age or his lack of sight. His only aim was to carry out the orders of his Guru. Without informing his colleagues he started alone and walked 8 KMS on a road full of traffic and reached Golagamudi safely. His son and son-in-law reached Golagamudi by bus before his arrival. They enquired for him and went back home without even meeting him.

If Omniscient Swamy had not advised him like that Rosi Reddy would have yielded to the sweet words of his son-in-law and son and would have fallen in the work of "Scrap gathering" (Sadhana) at home. Without falling into whirlpool, staying in the service of Sadguru is indicated by the Swamy in his words "Go ahead on the way". The same truth was told by the christ "I am the way, I am the truth, I am the eternal life." On the other occasion when a devotee asked Swamy "How to cross the ocean of Samsara?" Sri Swamy replied "What is there? Look straight and go ahead". That means we must tread the path of our Sadguru, doing his service.

The comments made by Sri Rosi Reddy garu in our dialogue on yet another occasion are note worthy for sadhakas. He was asked "Why dont you ask Sri Swamy about the place to which you have to go?"

Rosi Reddy replied "If we begin to question the order of Sadguru, we will be having a lot of questions and doubts. Even though he explains all the question and doubts we can not grasp the meaning of his statements in the right perspective, In addition, there is the danger of understanding it in the wrong way, This is the main trouble with the auditory communication. So the best method is to surrender at his lotus feet and beg him to guide us on the proper lines, so that we might obey his orders. He is not an ordinary man like us. His skill in handling things is unimaginable. He can manipulate the things and our hearts in such a beautiful way as to take us to the goal. But, for his full co-operation, we must surrender at his lotus feet whole heartedly and take resort in him as our only saviour, without depending on our own petty intellectual abilities.

So when I was ordered by Sri Swamy to go on the way I prayed at his lotus feet to guide me in carrying out his order to his utmost satisfaction. This is the only thing that I have done. The rest of the thing was accomplished by the all pervading Swamy. To speak the truth I am not strong enough to walk even eight kms distance. In addition I do not have proper eye sight to move on the traffic road like Nellore. How did I walk? It is just a miracle. I cannot explain more than this."

One day a farmer of Kantepalli village collected 4 Rs from Mallika Venkaiah for bringing one cart load of fire wood from the forest. In addition to this, he extracted from Venkaiah one day's manual labour during the harwest of his fields. One day that farmer came for the darsan of Sri Swamy. Before anybody introduced him to Sri Swamy, Sri Swamy said "Is he that cart man? He is due 150Rs for us. As a penalty he must visit Tirupati and come". Sri Swamy gave this direction on a piece of paper. He went to Tirupati and the said amount was stolen by the thieves. The service enjoyed by us without payment of proper remuneration do not go waste. Those services will have their own returns. Further the servants of Sri Swamy are property of the Almighty, our lord. So, that debt relates to god. The debt which is not repaid to the Guru or his servants will be made good in the form of certain losses and the recipient of such free sevas will have to atone for his work.

Koduru Venkamma lost her husband at the age of 15. She was bedridden with grief. Sri Swamy removed her grief with his wonderful spiritual teaching.

Sri Swamy said "Ma! If a mango is infested with an abscess how much of yield would it give? It will be rotten and wither away. If that fruit withstands the abscess bravely, then that abscess cannot do it any harm. That mango will ripen and yield a good number of fruits. After taking a number of such births as plants that fruit will be born as a man. A man after many births will take the birth of a man with discrimination. A wise and intellighent person after a number of such births will be born as a devotee. After a number of births as devotees, he will become righteous ruler of a state. After manysuch births as a dutiful Rajah, he begins to work for the grace of God. After a number of birhts he will be in immediate presence of god. Then our lord, the God, blesses this pious soul through the corner of his eyes, Then god operates the lever under his leg and shows the devotee the puppet show in this colourful and illusory world. Then the soul enters into the viswathma or the universal soul. So Venkamma thought "till now I have taken a number of births and experienced a lot of pain in every birth. This little pain in this birth is not a big thing" So she decided to live bravely like the mango fruit with an abscess and she was hale and healthy from that time.

One day Mopur Dasiah asked Swamy "How are we to get rid of ocean of samsara?" Sri Swamy said "If greed is lost every thing is lost".
Once Sri Swamy said "Either do hard work or spend your time uttering God's holy name or endure patiently the suffereing granted to us by God".

Perhaps, he might have meant that man always remembers God in four situations. When we are faced with troubles and problems or suffering on account of serious ill health or having a very bad time struggling in poverty, the evil effects of our misdeeds are spent over that karma sesham is wiped off. And by constant meditation, no addition of fresh karma is credited in our account.

Once a crane along with its off springs was living in a nest on a tree in the premises of ashramam of Golagamudi. One day a hunter was getting his bow, ready to kill that crane. On seeing that the inmates of the ashramam reprimanded the hunder and asked him to go out. Inspite of their repeated warnings he was trying to shoot it down. At atlast they brought it to the notice of Sri Swamy. Sri Swamy simply said "The arrow will not hit the crane". Actually when he shot the arrow, it missed the aim and the crane flew away. That hunter who never missed his aim broke his bow and threw it away. From that time onwards he never shot any bird again in his life. There was a transformation in his heart. Sri Swamy's protection is not only for the crane but also for the cruel hunter.

Achieve nobility, simplicity and service to sadguru. Never go from the path of truth and Dharma. One day Sri Swamy was very weak due to dysentery. The servants requested Sri Swamy to take medicine.
Sri Swamy said "Should we not experience what God had granted us?"

One day a crow was crowing continously on the tree. Guruvaiah hurled a stone at it. Sri Swamy at once reprimanded Guruvaiah. "In the presence of Sri Swamy we should not hit even a dog".

Sri Swamy referred to his servants to be "Sampannatwam, Sadharanatwam and Sadguru Seva". Here Sampanatwam means the above mentioned Daivi Sampada and Satvaguna. Sadharanatvam means not behaving proudly with the false notation that "I am endowed with such qualities and I am great Sadhaka or sadhu. I am a pious one". He will never regard his fellows as very low and mean. The life of Sri Swamy stands as an unparallel example for this. Due to this reason the Sastras declare that one should take the life and teachings of such great Mahatmas as the authority.

One day Sri Swamy said to Rosi Reddy "I do not know what a comfort is? and what discomfort is". Now and then Sri Swamy used to ask Rosi Reddy "Ayya, go to the village and ask any body for rags. They will be useful for us and the donors of those rags will get rid of their diseases. In the life history of Sri Shiridi Sai he received nine yard old sari and blessed them with an improvement in their financial position.

One of the devotees asked "Swamy! which is the auspicous day of the week for commencing new work?" Sri Swamy said "If you know the techinique Tuesday is the good day.(Mandala Kanukonte, Mangalavaram Manchidi)".

Like Sainath, Sri Swamy also patiently bore the pain without taking any treatment whenever Sri Swamy's was ill. Also he would tell his servants "Bear the pain patiently and you will be surely be benefitted by it". At times, boiled garlic, karivepaku (corriander powder) etc were used by Sri Swamy for getting his stomach disorders cured. He used to advise some people to take certain leaves and roots for their ailments.

Vallapureddy Audi Narayana Reddy (son of Mataji Tulasamma) purchased a car at Madras. In the matter of issue of licence, there were some troubles. Inspite of his repeated trips to Madras the work was still pending. After 3 days, he wanted to go to Madras for that work. Before leaving his house standing before Swamyji's picture he prayed Swamy "Swamy! again with in 3 days I am going to Madras. Atleast in this trip, kindly see that the license work is completed and is issued." On the third day while going to Madras he visited Sri Swamy at golagamudi and told him about the license work. At once Sri Swamy replied "Ayya! your work is already completed, even before 3 days" That means Sri Swamy had managed to get the work done on that day itself when Mr. Narayana Reddy prayed Sri Swamy standing before his portrait in his house 3 days back.

Once Sri Swamy said "I will respond according to one's faith." Instead of thinking that his picture is only a portrait if we remember that due to immense grace, Sri Swamy came and sat in our house in that form and worship with due respect, it will yield and same result as we worship in his actual presence.

One day Narayanreddy requested Sri Swamy to come to Golagamudi in his car. "The Gods above will not accept. I cannot come like that" said Sri Swamy. Reddy garu after a little thinking said "Swamy I will accompany our men in the bus. Kindly you please go in my car." At once Sri Swamy accepted and started saying "if so, let us go". If Swamy went with him in his car, Sri Swamy thought that his servants would have to walk to Golagamudi. It is aganist the regulation of dharma and so the gods above will not accept that. That was the idea of Sri Swamyji. When Reddy garu assured Sri Swamy to take his men along with him in that bus immediately Sri Swamy accepted. In the same way one day Sri Sai was on the floor. A devotee wanted to offer a cot to sainath. Then sai denied his offer saying. "How can I leave my man Mahalsapathi on the floor and lie on the cot. Real Satpurusha do not observe any difference between them and their fellow men. A number of such situations are seen in the life history of Sri Ramana Maharshi also.

Sri Swamy assured his devotees that who ever visited Golagamudi with sincere devotion will have their desires fulfilled.