Sri Sathya Sai Baba

Revered Swami Agnivesh,

Pranaams and Namaskar! My name is Karuna Sarup-Munshi and I am a graduate of Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Learning, Anantapur Campus in Andhra Pradesh. I studied in Sri Sathya Sai Baba’s university for six years, from 1980-1986. I consider that period as the golden period of my life as it accounted most significantly towards my spiritual growth and development.

As Baba’s students, I was encouraged to read biographies of great leaders, especially those of who represent India’s great spiritual heritage. Till date, I have the highest respect for the spiritual scientists of India, its sages and seers. Hence, I was terribly disappointed by what you said on Barkha Dutta’s show recently with regards to the Chancellor of my university, my best friend and role model, Sri Sathya Sai Baba.

While you were willing to let Sai Baba be because he provides clean water to millions, you urged him to:

1) Stop preying on innocent, gullible people

2) Stop the abuse, because a teary-eyed Australian approached you for help

3) Initiate social reforms on such issues as women’s empowerment

With all due respect and in the spirit of Sanathan Dharma, Swamiji, may I request that you enquire well before making such serious allegations against anyone, be it Sai Baba or someone else, unless you have tangible proof. We do great disservice to the hoary traditions we claim to represent when we freely criticise and condemn someone using a powerful medium without first checking our facts. If the true ornament of the tongue is truth, then perhaps we should seek the truth of the matter before drawing any conclusions in haste and misinforming others.

With regards to your first allegation, we are all drawn to him because of the power of his love and selflessness. To us, Baba exemplifies everything positive and good in human nature. He inspires us to strive to be good human beings who are caring and selfless, just like him and we express our devotion to him by serving our fellow beings in our local communities in numerous ways. Should you wish to know about the many service projects we the devotees of Sai Baba undertake around the globe, please feel free to contact us, real people with real names, faces and real addresses. Meanwhile, you may be pleased to learn that the greatest gift that Sai Baba has conferred upon us is our self-confidence. None of us are or have ever been gullibly preyed upon in any manner whatsoever. In fact he discourages gullibility and reminds us to think for ourselves and use our power of discrimination. Baba does not use any force to draw us to himself and nor does he enslave us emotionally or spiritually. He urges each of us to pursue our own faith, with deeper devotion, and urges us to love everyone without prejudice. What, may I ask, is wrong with that?

Swamiji, your acquaintance in Adelaide, Australia should have filed a lawsuit and produced some evidence before you chose to quote him and generalize his allegations so flippantly, to freely defame Sri Sathya Sai Baba to millions of viewers on TV with scant regard to the truth. Besides, I am curious to know, how exactly did you help this forlorn soul who came to you for counsel? Anything more substantial than repeated a hearsay charge on television as the ultimate truth would have been a more responsible way to deal with it, I would think.

Finally, I am happy to inform you that in the 1960’s when Baba began setting up institutes of higher learning that would combine academic excellence with character education, the first college he set up was exclusively for women at Anantapur, Andhra Pradesh.

To a former student of that college, a mother, a professional and intelligent person like me, Sai Baba is the greatest advocate of women’s rights and the greatest feminist on the face of earth. He has taken the women’s empowerment to his logical and spiritual conclusion by reminding us that in the entire creation, humanity is the most superior and among human beings, women represent the epitome of God’s creation. He has made women realize that they should not merely seek mental, emotional, physical or financial freedom but assert their true nature by identifying with the atma. This awareness of our atmic freedom is his greatest gift to women. The Sai community celebrates November 19 as Women’s Day world-wide and also the 19 th of every month. Baba’s teachings speak of oneness and unity, not dividing society on basis of class, culture, or any such barriers. How I wish you had checked your facts!

Swamiji, as Baba’s student and hence his daughter, I will be more than happy to answer any of your questions or address your concerns regarding the purity and sacredness that is associated with my teacher, guide and role model Sri Sathya Sai Baba. His life has inspired millions of us to live more meaningful and purpose-driven lives wherever we are. My children represent the 4th generation devotees of Baba in our family and we speak purely from our experiences, not hearsay and I am sure you will agree that first-hand experiences counts more than the juicy gossip one may catch from the grapevine.

Swamiji, if you are visiting Canada, please know that you are most welcome to our home. We will be delighted to answer your questions and share our feelings with you. Better still, why don’t you visit Prashanti Nilayam for yourself and separate the facts from the myths?

That which is true will survive any blasphemy, lies, canard and slander. That which is untrue will never pass the test of time. Who knows this better than a spiritual seeker such as yourself? While some people will continue to spend their time, energy and resources to malign Sri Sathya Sai Baba, his glory continues to spread globally and crores, not lakhs, of people continue to be drawn to Baba because of the power of his personal example and message.

With Regards, and Namaskar!

Karuna Sarup-Munshi