Bank Balance
Drama on December 10th 2009 in His divine presence
A Humble Offering to Bhagawan with reverence and gratitude from Sai Spiritual Education students and youth, Singapore
This article was first published in the 85th Birthday Issue of Sai Vahini, a journal by the Sathya Sai International Organisation Singapore (formerly Sri Sathya Sai Organisation of Singapore), November 2010
The script was based on a beautiful discourse delivered by Bhagawan on the occasion of the inauguration of a branch office of the State Bank of India in Prasanthi Nilayam on July 14th 1966, forty-four years ago. The play highlights the concept of a Spiritual Bank where one deposits good thoughts, words and deeds and draws upon them in times of need. This is depicted by the story of Sathya Harishchandra. It also highlights the Anugraha, divine grace of God, which is granted to us as an overdraft even though we have used up all our deposits. This is depicted by the immense grace Lord Rama showers upon Ahalya a scene taken from Swami’s Rama Katha Rasavahini.
The performance consisted of three parts – the Youth Choir, the dancers and the actors. The Youth Choir practiced three songs in Tamil, Hindi and Telugu to be sung between the various scenes of the play. The dance students practiced Chinese, Malay and Indian dances. The songs and dances depicted the multi-racial and multi-cultural background of Singapore. The students underwent an audition and were allotted suitable roles in dance or acting. All those who committed to come to Parthi were given a role to perform. The practice sessions commenced in July 2009 and went on until end of November with a break during the November exam period.
Every practice session started with chanting the Gayathri Mantra nine times and the singing of bhajans by students. Though discipline was the undercurrent, students enjoyed the sessions. We had sharing their experiences by students after the practice sessions which were inspiring to all. Thus while we concentrated entirely on work during the practice, starting and ending the session with thoughts of Swami helped everyone direct their focus towards Him. This was important as the Omnipresent Lord had Himself told the coordinator of the performance in December 2003 when another play was to be staged in His presence, that He had watched the drama practice sessions in Singapore!
Most of us arrived at the divine abode of Prasanthi Nilayam on 3rd December 2009. Some came before and some after. Through His infinite compassion and grace we were all given comfortable accommodation and a shed to continue our practice sessions. The greatest blessing was indisputably, Swami’s lovely Darshans. He only seems to grow more and more beautiful day by day! Occasionally glancing at us, signalling us to wait patiently, tossing a vibhuthi packet on to the drama card that we thought He would accept, He played hide-and-seek with us during the Darshans. His every move truly reminded us of His saying, “Love My uncertainty”. He kept us guessing until two days before the performance, when He lovingly obliged and fixed the date with one of our office-bearers, Dr Ravi Pillay, that we could perform on Thursday, 10th Dec 2009. Our joy knew no bounds. The practice sessions continued with greater zest.
The incessant and sincere efforts of the team of Gurus, students and parents, who worked hard with the sole purpose of pleasing the Lord, finally bore fruit. On the afternoon of 10th December, it was like a flood of divinity after a drought, as Swami, gently moving through the rows of devotees approached the Kulwant Hall stage. He asked the coordinator of the performance the name of the play. While all plays in Parthi have divine names – ‘From Humanness to Divinity’, ‘Ananya Bhakti’, ‘Sai Mahima’, ‘Power of Devotion’ etc., she gathered her courage to say “Bank Balance, Swami”. He showed His amusement at the peculiar name and she then took the opportunity to explain to the One who knows everything that it was based on His discourse. He then proceeded to the veranda and blessed the office bearers seated there with Pada Namaskaram. The performance began after Swami gave permission to the SSE coordinator to introduce the play to the audience.
Seven students approached Swami with cards and flowers. Swami spent a lot of time reading the cards that was presented to Him and also with the students. This reminds me of His statement, “With children I am a child”!
He asked them many questions about their names and their role in the performance. He teased Lord Rama, played by a student named Ramana, asking him curiously what Rama had to do with Bank Balance and saying, “Ramana is Rama!” He accepted all the cards and flowers and graciously gave Pada Namaskaram to all the children.
Swami seemed engrossed in the performance, intently looking at all the performers- the actors, dancers and singers, occasionally bringing a smile that lit up His face and in turn the faces of all those watching and even shedding a tear in the Sathya Harishchandra scene, reflecting the emotions of the actors. Swami always speaks of Harishchandra’s wife, Chandramati, as an ideal for chastity and purity and this was the scene that moved Him. He is of course the greatest Dramatist ever! Indeed beautiful is this unique relationship between the Divine Director and His actors.
The play began with two Sai Youths introducing the concept of Spiritual Bank to three of their friends who were affected by recession. The concept of depositing good thoughts, words and deeds and the overdraft granted to us in times of need, in the form of God’s Grace, was depicted through stories from our scriptures. Explaining the concept, the Sai youth introduced the currency accepted by this Spiritual Bank which is the 5 Human Values of Truth, Right Conduct, Peace, Love and Non-Violence of which Truth and Love are of the highest value. They explained that all deposits made through good thoughts, words and deeds could be drawn upon in times of need.
The play highlighted the following:
- Through one act of pure Love, a little boy deposited a huge amount in his spiritual account.
- By adhering to the Truth at all times, Sathya Harishchandra made huge deposits to his account, using which he redeemed not just himself but his entire kingdom too.
- Though Mother Ahalya’s deposits were not sufficient to get her out of a crisis, Lord Rama showered His grace as overdraft, to redeem her from a curse, due to her good deeds, good thoughts, good feelings, good company and constant contemplation on the name of God.
- A mean and miserly wealthy man led a happy life because he was drawing from the accounts of previous births and cumulative deposits. But he was only drawing and not depositing anything. So he would soon go bankrupt.
The Sai Youth encouraged their friends to open a fresh deposit account with the Spiritual Bank in order to lead happy and purposeful lives.
When all the performers, Gurus and parent volunteers assembled at the soul-stirring finale Telugu song ‘Sai Krishna, won’t you come to us’, Swami came down to pose for photographs with the entire group.
Rewinding a little at this point let me add that Uncle Bhanoji Rao, who was invited for the dress rehearsal at Singapore, had suggested that we put all the little ones in the front row. At the finale, in His divine presence, we got to witness Swami as the perfect Director planning every detail though we may not be aware what to expect as the story unfolds. Looking at the little children seated in the front row, Swami beckoned to a little boy named Sashank, to come to Him. The little one was too afraid to move. This prompted the coordinator of the SSE program to bring him to Swami. Swami asked little Sashank what his role was. When the boy replied, “Dead Boy, Swami” meaning Harishchandra’s dead son, Swami said, “Ayyo Paapam” meaning ‘poor little fellow’ and let out a pun, “Only he can be dead and alive at the same time”. Saying so Swami materialised a gold chain for him! He got sarees distributed for all girls in the play and for the Gurus, and white pants-shirt materials for all the boys in the play. He also got prasadam distributed for all. He gave Pada Namaskaram to the student who played the role of mother Chandramati.
Two of our younger students presented ‘Thank-You’ cards to the One we can never thank enough, and He blessed them with Pada Namaskaram. He also called little Sashank again to give him the photograph of the materialisation so promptly developed by Swami’s boys from the digital studio. How beautifully the busiest God of all times demonstrates that when He is with us He is completely with us!
After spending so much time with the group, the One who is beyond the limitations of time went back to the veranda and asked the Sai youth to sing bhajans. It came as a pleasant surprise to all! The youths started rendering soulful bhajans and once again Swami seemed engrossed in the bhajans. He seemed amused at the enthusiastic clapping for the second speed of the bhajans, which is the specialty of Singapore. After a few bhajans, He turned to leave. But looking at the suddenly apprehensive faces of the youth, a loving Mother Sai that He is, He signalled them to continue singing and that He would be back. He took a round in the inner veranda for a while answering other sincere prayers and upon returning asked for Aarati.
Aarati was performed by the five youth who discussed the concept of Bank Balance. Swami, with the love of a million mothers, showed His concern for the boys as they held the Aarati plates with flames much bigger than usual, which the coordinator of the performance confesses was a mistake on her part. He patiently waited for the whole Aarati and then raised both His hands blessing all before He left. Overjoyed by the immense blessings they received many of the performers couldn’t hold back their tears.
The next morning we sat in silent contemplation with the expectation of Darshan but Swami decided to come only in the afternoon. That afternoon all the ladies and girl students draped the sarees He presented to them the previous day, even the tiny 4-year olds! Fortunately the weather forecast was ‘bright skies’ for the ladies because though we were seated in row 4, there was not a single person in front of us! Swami decided to come very early and the security asked us to move up from our ‘special seating’ row 4 to fill up the VIP row 1. He had promoted us! Swami always says ‘God is very simple’. And the simple God finds simple ways to bring us all sitting in about 7 columns from row 4 onwards, to the front row! When He wills it everything becomes so effortless! But without His Will, not even a leaf can move. Doesn’t this sound paradoxical? We are always confused about His Will only because we in our daily lives are seldom able to accept it and hence keep complaining. Acceptance of everything as His Will keeps us in peace and silence.
The apparently moving (chara) and unmoving (achara), the active and inert, are both willed by the Divine. That Divine Will is a conscious act (chetana); it is not a form of inertness (achetana). Whatever arguments and counter-arguments are advanced by any person, the truth that Divine Will is the root of everything stands unshakeable. People who argue about this either are deluded by appearances or are only trying to bolster up their pet fancies, avoiding deeper probes. – Baba, Sutra Vahini, Chap 3
Out of sheer love and compassion, sometimes He makes His Will very obvious so that we notice it and derive joy out of it; and this was one such occasion.
The Supreme Being in His most beautiful form with eyes brighter than the sun approached the group and asked the coordinator of the performance when they were leaving – yet another demonstration of His love. She replied that the group was leaving the next evening and thanked Swami profusely for the love He showered on all. She highlighted that all ladies were wearing the sarees He gave. He smiled and blessed her with Pada Namaskaram. He also went on to the veranda and gave Pada Namaskaram to one of the office bearers, the husband of the drama coordinator, who had missed the performance the previous day.
As one of my dearest friends mentioned, the fact that the Avatar spent so much of His precious time exclusively with the group is most memorable. Swami connected with every single member of the group, some externally and some through the inner quietude of the heart through a look, a glance, a smile, a gesture, a word or even by ignoring! In fact, I feel He has to pay greater attention when He ignores to make sure that He doesn’t look at us with His physical eyes! That proves to us that He is thinking of us but at that moment has to teach us a different lesson. Everything He says or doesn’t say, does or doesn’t do conveys a message. Many letters were accepted by Him. Many wishes were fulfilled. Many dreams were realized. Many were given the opportunity of Darshan, Sparshan and Sambhashan. With Swami, the wonderful thing is everything looks beautiful and thrilling for He is the One who renders beauty and grace to everything.
He is the script writer
He is the director
He has chosen the cast
He is the actor
He is the musician and the singer
He has prepared the costumes and props
The message is His
We are His.
He is my most beloved Jagannaataka Sootra Dhaari, the Divine Director.
Offering myself at His Paada Padmamulu, Divine Lotus Feet.
~ Padmashree