Posted on: 17 Sep 2022
[By Shri Pavan]
Sri Guru Datta
I am 43 years old and my association with Shri Datta Swami dates from my childhood – precisely when I was in 8th standard (1992). In the past 30 years of association with Shri Datta Swami, I’ve seen Him always in a pure & selfless giving state and He never aspired / asked for anything from any of us. He imparted devotion, knowledge & enlightened us to understand the real meaning of practical service, which is, Service is at its best if we render it to the contemporary Human Incarnation!
Shri Datta Swami first visited us by Himself in 1991. We were staying in a rental house of Shri Malladi Chandrasekhara Sastry garu, at Ashok Nagar in Hyderabad. We didn’t know Swami directly any time before, however, we were fond of Swami’s father as our family astrologer (Shri Jannabhatla Veerabhadrayya garu). It was the first time that we saw Him, and He made my sister and me sit in front of Shri Shirdi Sai and Shri Sathya Sai photos and made us recite the below verse. This was His ‘upadesa’ to both of us for the first time.
ఆదౌ బ్రహ్మ హరిర్మధ్యే అంతే దేవః సదాశివః మూర్తి త్రయ స్వరూపాయ దత్తాత్రేయ నమోస్తుతే’
Ādau brahma harirmadhyē antē dēvaḥ sadāśivaḥ mūrti traya svarūpāya dattātrēya namōstutē
Though my sister and I were reciting the poem along with Swami, my father was very angry on us, and he was literally showcasing his finger to us from the window, indicating not to participate. My sister and I were clueless on what to do, however, we continued to recite the verse.
We didn’t know at the first place as to why Swami visited our home.
My sister and I were reciting Śrī sūktaṁ regularly and Swami tested us if we were reciting it correctly on one verse, given below.
Alakṣmīrmē naśyatāṁ tvāṁ vr̥ṇē
He checked if we were reciting it as ‘Lakṣmīrmē’ or ‘Alakṣmīrmē’. Fortunately, we were reciting it correctly. Swami heard it and explained the difference between ‘Lakṣmīrmē’ and ‘Alakṣmīrmē’. First one means ‘Lakshmi will be destroyed’ and the second one means ‘Misfortune and poverty be destroyed’. We didn’t really understand the background of why He checked this with us. Only Swami knew what was going on in the background and we were quite casual and clueless as children.
My father was suffering from wild dreams multiple times and sometimes he was a bit erratic on us for unknown reasons. He was sometimes scared of unknown fears & as a family, my mother, sister, and I were totally clueless and took it as a normal routine, as we got used to it. Unexpectedly, Swami visited us again in the same year & this time, interestingly, my father and mother along with my grandparents (Sri C.B.K. Murthy and C. Bhavani) opened up before Swami. Swami has given my father ‘Ān̄janēya mantraṁ’ and told him to recite it regularly to get rid of the fears. This time though we understood the reasons, we were still in a nascent state of understanding who He really was. However, we still were clueless of His frequent visits to my grandparents and my home.
We were almost in the middle of class 9 & one evening while my father was sitting at home relaxed, my mother served him hot milk. No one else was there in the room, however, my father realized that someone pushed the glass of hot milk out of nowhere & it had spilled over his genitals & immediately we had to rush to the hospital & he suffered severe burns. Who pushed it and why it happened…? We couldn’t understand and it is far from reality to believe what he said. We approached Swami and He said that there is surely a negative aura surrounding my father all the time & he must pass through this phase & he will eventually get out of it. However, Swami confirmed that this negative aura was the reason for the unimaginable push.
Doomsday was approaching fast in a few months from then & all the above incidents happened sequentially. Interestingly, we still couldn’t understand what was lined up for us. Swami knew this well before & He already started safeguarding my family.
My father got into a severe debt spiral, and he was unable to come out of it. By the end of class 9, we realized that we were in a severe debt trap & there was no way out for us to survive. We got to know about this situation from one of the close friends of my father. Probably, my father was ending up towards the worst thought of ending his life.
Let us relate all the above situations, Swami Himself coming to us, Swami teaching us the Dattatreya Swamy verse by Himself, Swami testing us on Śrī sūktaṁ, Swami teaching my father Ān̄janēya mantraṁ, Swami confirming the unknown element, my family falling into a debt trap with no way out and after 31 years of all this happening, we are still safe and sound. Is this not a miracle that I’m revealing in front of you? What more proof do we need?
Shri Datta Swami – Pranaams to you...my Swami… my Sweetheart and my Krishna Datta…. I still feel all the 31 years of your association with me as a blessing & it is your ‘Apaara Karuna’. While typing this, I felt so emotional that tears were rolling off my eyes. Swami – Bless us with your association forever!
Jaya Guru Datta.