Reviews: The Buddha and Sai Baba

Portraits of Light

Were a thoughtful parent to ask this reviewer what two books he would recommend as birthday gifts to a growing child (age 12 to 18) the instant and unequivocal answer would be: Sonavi Desai's Sai Baba and Supriya Rai's The Buddha, both published by Indus Source Books under their Spiritual Masters series.

In the first place both books, without specifically mentioning it, are aimed at young people. In other words they are teenage-friendly. They are meant to introduce India's great spiritual heritage to a generation fed on Harry Potter.

The Buddha was born, according to reliable sources in 563 BC and passed into nirvana in the year 483 BC. Having lived a life of comparative luxury, unexposed to misery, Siddhartha had been startled when he came across reality as he saw instances of death, disease  and human suffering. Leaving home at the age of 29 Siddhartha attained enlightenment at 35 and thereafter for the next 45 years he traveled in most parts of what we know as Bihar and Uttar Pradesh preaching his doctrine of liberation. He led an extraordinary life and his plain teachings won him lacks of followers in a Brahmin dominated world.

Sai Baba was born some twenty years prior to the Great Sepoy Mutiny of 1857. During his life time he stayed put at Shirdi, then a little-known  village in Maharashtra, and knowledge of his teaching was restricted to a comparatively limited area. Today he commands a worldwide Diaspora of devotees. Like the Buddha, Sai Baba in his time crossed the barriers of caste and creed and spoke the universal language of love.

If the Buddha's origins are known and well chronicled, Sai Baba's origin is wrapped in mystery. If they were to come alive today whether at Shirdi or Savatthi, they would find in the other a kindred spirit. What is so outstanding about these two books is the manner in which the authors have succeeded in portraying the spiritual masters. Both have taken a little liberty not with facts but in the story telling. The book on Sai Baba is not a biography.

It is a collection of stories from his life-most of them well known to Sai devotees - portrayed through the eyes of Laxmi, one of his closest followers. Sai Baba is presented in the shape of  a dialogue between grandma and her grand children. Grandma is telling the children stories about Sai Baba. And the children Narasimha, Saraswati, Kashinath - are listening, and sometimes questioning, in an equal measure of devotion. The children could be us. Any of us, All of us, waiting to hear about Baba, wishing to be in his eternal presence. In Sonavi Desai's narration Baba comes alive and pulsating. It is a tribute, as much to Sonavi's mastery over the English language as to her utter devotion to Baba.

Baba once said - and it is received in this book: " In whatever faith men worship me, even so do I render to them. Know that my eye is ever on those who love me". Sonavi is an ardent  devotee of Sai Baba. That come through in every page and in every line. " There is one particular incident (in Baba's life) that makes me emotional even today" She makes Laxmi say and as she narrates that event, one can feel emotions throbbing in one's heart.

She instinctively knows what love and compassion mean and in writing this she had done herself proud. Baba did not  perform miracles. He didn't have to. He radiated love; he provided aid and comfort as few could. There was no distance between him and his devotees. No matter how far they were from him physically, Baba was close to them in their time of distress and suffering. Some of the stores recounted here make one's  hair stand on end.

This may be a book meant for the young, but people of all ages would benefit by reading it. The power of Sonavi's pen is surpassed by the power of her unerring devotion to Baba. Equally outstanding is Supriya Rai's  story of the Buddha. The Buddha is seen through the eyes of three narrators; two of them real, the third, a creation of Rai. The real are Rahul, the Buddha's son and Ananda, Buddha's cousin who became first his disciple and later, as the years rolled by, his personal attendant and who was with his Master till the end. The third character, Triguna is described as King Bimbisara's  charioteer. A charioteer was not just a mean servant. As one who took the King around he was unwittingly privy to his master's thoughts, feelings, doings. He was necessarily the King's trusted lieutenant. Triguna thus was witness to the King's personal moments. In this book he serves as a sutradhar and reports on how Bimbisara came across the Buddha and what happened thereafter.

Author Supriya Rai says that the Rahula of this book transgresses Buddhist tradition by freely expressing the yearning that a child feels for his father. Siddhartha Gautama, it is well to remember, left his family - wife and son - when the latter was a baby. Rahula was a very young boy when he was ordained which is quite unusual. What was the relationship between the awe-inspiring father and the maturing son? What became Rahula's boyhood? The author seeks to explore what it must have been to have the Buddha as a father.

What is so touching - and impressive - about this book is that throughout the pages the characters depicted come out alive. At one point Ananda gets nostalgic - and sad. He recounts the years gone. "Many of our companions on the way are no more with us. Bhikkunis Gotami and Yashodhara have passed away. So has my dear Rahula, at the age of 51. He served the Sangha well, spreading the message of the Buddha, without ever letting his status as the son of the Master influence his conduct. Rahula remained soft spoken and silent, ever in awe of his father, his devotion shining through his eyes for the world to see".

To read these two books is to be wafted away into another world of love and compassion. Two different men living in two different times, separated not by years or decades but by centuries. And yet in the splendor of their lives, the beauty of their character, the exaltation of their thoughts they encompass us and enrich us in ways immeasurable. That they should be here presented to us in words so tender, so meaningful and so uplifting is a reflection of their inspirational power.

Sonavi is a lawyer and Supriya a business management expert. But in their own indefinable way they are transmitters of India's never-dying cultural and spiritual heritage.

And flag-bearers  for a new generation thirsting for knowledge and ancient wisdom.

Praise be to them.

Mr M.V. Kamath, noted author, editor and journalist. Early in his career he was the correspondent of the Press Trust of India at the United Nations and later the European correspondent of The Times of India. He was the Editor of the Free Press Bulletin, The Illustrated Weekly of India and the Sunday edition of the The Times of India. He has been awarded numerous civic and professional awards. He is currently chairman of the Prasar Bharati Board.