How Kaleshwar Found His Dharma
Sri Sai Kaleshwar (1973-2012) was born in the South Indian state of Andra Pradesh. A brilliant student from his earliest years, he became very interested in science. One day, aged 14, he went to study in a small temple situated in the middle of a rice field near his home. Preoccupied, he noticed nothing odd until, looking up from his books, he saw an old man sitting before him dressed in beggar’s rags (19-20). Reaching into his garment, the man produced a tin cup filled with rancid food. ‘Eat,’ he urged, offering the battered cup. ‘You don’t need to eat that,’ Kaleshwar countered. ‘My mother is an excellent cook. I’ll get you something from her kitchen.’ Tears appeared on the old man’s cheeks but he remained adamant. He took a stick and stirred the cup. A wonderful fragrance arose and Kaleshwar knew the food was somehow cooking. Reluctantly, he took some and was amazed to find that it had the most delicious taste. Moments later he rose to wash his hands at a tap just yards away. Turning back, he found that the old man had vanished. He climbed up on the temple roof but there was no-one to be seen in any direction.
The old man returned in a dream the following night and identified himself as Shirdi Baba, a venerable saint who is now very famous and had spent his entire adult life in a once tiny hamlet called Shirdi. Born in 1838, Baba died in 1918 having prepared the ground for an epochal spiritual transformation in which Kaleshwar was also destined to play a leading role. Already his life was starting to change as a result of that temple encounter. Although he didn’t know it then, avatars awaken at age 14. This usually involves meeting a master who oversees the process. Kaleshwar quickly lost interest in his studies and turned his attention to spiritual texts that began finding their way to him. Over the following years he would accumulate a whole library of palm leaf manuscripts. All featured mantra-heavy spiritual knowledge etched by ancient rishis onto palm leaves as far back as 10,000 years before. This happened as fears arose for the survival of teachings that had been orally transmitted by masters to trusted students over many generations. Written in Sanskrit and Telegu (Kaleshwar’s mother tongue), the texts are coded so that only eligible eyes can decipher them. His task would be to reintroduce their content to the modern world after millennia of neglect. This and his special affinity for Mother Divine had been foretold centuries before.
He turned his attention passionately to this task. Schoolwork suffered, prompting his father to an angry and sometimes violent response. Nothing could dissuade him however and he was eventually expelled from the family home. With Baba’s inward reassurance, Kaleshwar went travelling, staying in ashrams, asking questions and learning from every possible source. More palm leaf texts were presented, drawn by his increasingly apparent light. Once while he was meditating in a temple, a burly sadhu entered and, manifesting ash from his hands, began covering a Shiva lingam with it. Afterwards the man approached Kaleshwar and struck him forcibly. Kaleshwar, knocked sideways asked why. ‘I saw you trying to steal my power.’ ‘I wasn’t. I don’t need your power. I have my own master.’ The yogi’s angry front dissolved. ‘Your master told me to hit you.’ It is said that Mozart was touched by God. By comparison, it would appear, Kaleshwar was rightly whacked. In any case, he began from that moment to recollect past lives and remember what his life mission would be. By age 24, he was ready to come to the West.
[Note: I have come across variations of ‘classic’ Kaleshwar stories at nth hand from different sources, so whispering telephone effects may have crept in. I remain wholly satisfied, however, as to their essential accuracy and Truth value.
