Dr. S. Bhagavantam Sathya Sai Baba

It may be surprising to many people - though in fact it should not be - to find that a scientist of the calibre of Dr. S. Bhagavantam, M.Sc., Ph.D., D.Sc., is a devoted follower of an Adept in that field of high transcendental magic which science tends to scorn.

Dr Bhagavantam, formerly Director of the All India Institute of Science, holds the prominent position of Scientific Advisor to the Ministry of Defence in Delhi, and is well-known in scientific circles outside India.

When I met him at Prasanti Nilayam he was occupying a room furnished only with two bed-rolls and a few cushions on the floor. Like all good Indians he was quite happy to use the tiled floor as bedstead, chair and table. With him in the same room was one of his sons, Dr. S. Balakrishna, Assistant Director of the National Geophysical Research Institute of India. Both were visiting the ashram for a few days.

I sat on the floor with these two cultured scientists and charming gentlemen, anxious to hear of their experiences with Sai Baba. Outside the open door and windows the July sun gleamed on the sandy soil, white buildings and rocky hills. Inside Dr. Bhagavantam spoke in is quiet, friendly, concise way, while his son confirmed many of the strange events which he too had witnessed. Dr. Balakrishna has had some wonderful experiences of his own with Baba, but here we are concerned with the remarkable reports from his eminent father.

At Dr. Bhagavantam's first meeting with Sai Baba, which was in the year 1959, they went for a walk on the sands of the Chitravati river.  Others were present, but Bhagavantam was walking by the side of Baba.

After a while Swami asked him to select a place on the sands for sitting down. When the doctor hesitated, Baba insisted, explaining that only in this way could Bhagavantam's scientific mind be quite sure that Baba had not led him to a spot where an object had been "planted" in the sands.

After the scientist had chosen an area and the party was seated on the sands, Baba began to tease the doctor a little; he made fun of the complacent "all-knowing" attitude of many men of science, and deplored their ignorance of or indifference to the ancient wisdom to be found in the great Hindu scriptures.

The doctor’s pride was stung. He retorted that not all scientists were of this materialistic outlook. He himself, as an example, had a family tradition of Sanskrit learning and a deep interest in the spiritual classics of India.

Then in an endeavour to establish the bona fides of his scientific colleagues he told Baba that when Oppenheimer, after exploding the first atom bomb, was asked by the press representatives what his reactions were, he replied by quoting a verse from the Bhagavad Gita, thus showing that he was a student of that great work.

"Would you like a copy of the Bhagavad Gita?" Baba asked him suddenly, scooping up a handful of sand as he spoke. "Here it is," he continued, "hold out your hands."

Bhagavantam cupped his hands to catch the sand as Baba dropped it into them. But when it reached the scientist's waiting palms, it was no longer the golden sand of the Chitravati. It was a red-covered book.

Opening it in stunned silence, the doctor found that it was a copy of the Bhagavad Gita printed in Telegu script. Baba remarked that he could have presented the doctor with one printed in Sanskrit, but as the latter read Sanskrit script with some difficulty, Baba had given him one in Telegu, Bhagavantam's native tongue. Bhagavantam had not mentioned his limited proficiency in Sanskrit, this was something that Baba just knew.

As soon as he could, Bhagavantam examined this miraculously produced volume closely. It appeared to be quite new and was well-printed, but where? The names of printer and publisher, always given in the normal way, were nowhere to be found.

Sai Baba Man of Miracles – Howard Murphet

As Scientist

Baba is not only an Architect but a Scientist and a Doctor too. The Scientist that Baba is, is summarised in His own words in answer to questions from two Parapsychologists from New York, namely Erlender Haraldsson and Karlis Osis.

"…..The scope of Science is limited, because it does not go beyond the manifest world. Science deals with experiments, whereas spirituality deals with experience and inner vision. I can see matter where the best microscope can find none.
Even the best doctor needs the help of an X-ray film and results of clinical tests of blood, urine and stool to diagnose a complicated disease. But I need none. I can give you the correct diagnosis straightaway."

One day Baba was walking with Dr. Y.J. Rao Professor of Geology. Picking up a fist-sized granite He asked the Professor what it contained. Dr. Rao gave a perfect scientific analysis of its contents. When asked by Baba to go further deep into its composition the Professor explained in much greater details coming to the level of atoms, electrons, protons, mesons and all chemical formulae associated with that structure. Baba said "No, deeper still." Rao was at the end of his wits Baba then took the rock in his hands and blew on it, and it became an attractive idol of Lord Krishna playing His flute in the thribhanga pose. Baba told him 'See, God is in this rock. You Geologists have to be conscious of that; nothing exists without God, apart from God'. It was a lesson from the Super Scientist who wields the power of creation, preservation and dissolution.

Dr. S. Bhagavantam who was the Scientific Advisor to the Ministry of Defence, Government of India said that Bhagawan Baba transcended the Laws of Science. He did not break them as someone else put it. Truly the laws of science are also His! Bhagavantam has recorded and had also made public statements to substantiate this transcendental nature of Baba. He once said: "I was an eyewitness to a surgical operation which He performed. When it was over He turned to my son who was present, and asked, 'Have you got a length of bandage?' As if He who produced from nowhere the knife and the needles could not produce the bandage cloth! My son replied, 'Yes, Father is the Head of this Institute of Science; there is a dispensary here; I can telephone to the Doctor and get a bandage strip in two minutes.' Bhagawan replied, 'Oh two minutes is too long! Don't worry.' Then He waved His hands and the bandage was ready for use!

"I cannot expect that He is like you and me and yet He is transcending the laws of Physics and Chemistry. No, How can it be? The fact is that, He is a phenomenon…. He is transcendental…. He is Divine."

Radio Sai Archives - Posting Against Robert Priddy