We also have to admit that not all Avatars had significant brothers. For example, the Buddha did not have brothers who were known for their special role in history.
We know about Sathya Sai Baba's relatives, but none of them have had a tradition of special reverence. Sathya Sai Baba took great care of his relatives, including his brother, but strictly forbade the creation of any special worship cults for his relatives.
After the departure of his parents, a tomb was built where many devotees could practice meditation and prayer. Honoring the parents of Sathya Sai Baba is quite natural, but during their lifetime they did not play an important role in the spiritual life of the ashram.
It is difficult to say what kind of cult of veneration for the parents of Sathya Sai Baba may develop in a few centuries. For example, during the life of Jesus Christ, there was no hint of the veneration of his mother, but several centuries later a great tradition of veneration of the Virgin Mary appeared in Greek Orthodox and Catholic Christianity.
Let's get back to discussing the personality of Keshan, the elder brother of Prema Sai Baba. This is a very difficult question at the moment, because Prema Sai Baba is only eleven years old at the time of writing this book, and his elder brother, Keshan, is fourteen.
We already know Keshan is a unique person. When his mother, Taja Mani, was pregnant and about to give birth to her first child, Keshan, she had a mystical dream. In this dream, she realized she would give birth not to a simple child, but to the next incarnation of Balarama (Krishna's elder brother).
By this logic, if the first son was Balarama, then naturally the mother was not surprised when the second son was recognized as Krishna (Prema Sai Baba). From a very early age, Keshan constantly performed traditional Vedic worship of the gods, especially goddesses such as Durga, Lakshmi, Saraswati and Kali.
Little Keshan sometimes does not have time to do his homework, because he constantly does Vedic worship ceremonies for goddesses, all day long. Instead of playing with the neighborhood boys, he is busy decorating the statues on the home altar.
If you look closely at some of the children's games of the divine brothers, you can see that Keshan treats his brother, Prema Sai Baba, as a goddess. There were many cases where Keshan called and even prayed to his brother, calling him "Amma", which means "mother goddess".
Quite a few devotees notice that Keshan performs traditional goddess worship (pujas) from morning to evening with amazing inspiration. His rituals last literally for hours, and he regularly does not have time to do school homework, because he is constantly busy worshiping goddesses.
The rituals performed by Keshan have miraculous powers, so some devotees ask him to perform prayers for them. Prema Sai Baba follows this closely and encourages his brother's practice.
29. Pilgrimage to Mount Arunachala
Sathya Sai Baba predicted that one of the signs that his next incarnation as Prema Sai Baba was gaining strength would be the flooding of the Chitrawati River which flows in the village of Puttaparthi.
A couple of years before Sathya Sai Baba passed away, and as he predicted, the Chitrawati River dried up completely. People knew this was an indirect sign of the imminent departure of Sathya Sai Baba, but no one wanted to think about sad things, so people drove away such thoughts.
In 2012, when Prema Sai Baba was born, a tiny stream appeared in the dry riverbed, which gradually became a full-flowing river again. In 2021, unexpectedly for everyone, the river was filled with much water, which led to a large flood. Luckily no one was hurt, but for some time life was difficult near the main ashram in Puttaparthi.
The water in some parts of Puttaparthi was waist deep. It happened on the 96th birthday celebration of Sathya Sai Baba. Thus, God showed that Prema Sai Baba is already actively entering into the fullness of his global divine mission. Many Sai devotees were reverently looking forward to Sathya Sai Baba's 96th birthday.
As you remember, Sathya Sai Baba predicted that he would live to be 96 years old, although in reality he left the body at the age of 84 years. There were quite a few expectations and strange predictions associated with this date, the 96th year of Sathya Sai Baba's birth. There were even speculations among some followers that he would be physically resurrected on his 96th birthday.
Let me remind you that according to Indian reckoning of age, a child is already born at the age of one. Namely, therefore, the 96th anniversary of the birth of Sathya Sai was celebrated in Indian style in 2021 (in Western style it is 2022).
The festival was canceled due to the raging elements. It was clear to everyone that this meant something. It was a clear message from God, but only those who already knew about the incarnation of Prema Sai Baba could understand it.
In the same year, 2021, a historic event took place, which was the first pilgrimage of Prema Sai Baba to the sacred mountain Arunachala. There are two mountains in the world that are associated with the god, Shiva — these are Kailash and Arunachala. Kailash is located high in the mountains of Tibet (China), and Arunachala is in the very south of India, in the state of Tamil Nadu.
Arunachala Mount is famous for many as the place where Ramana Maharshi (1879–1950) lived in the first half of the 20th century. There is also one of the world's largest temple complexes of the god, Shiva, which is called Arunachaleshvara. Prema Sai Baba visited this holy place on the day of a total solar eclipse. This day coincided with another special day called Shani Amavasya (Hindu festival associated with Saturn). This happened on December 3rd and 4th 2021.
The meaning of the solar eclipse and Shani Amavasya can be interpreted in different ways. In many ways, the significance of such astronomical events depends on your personal horoscope and level of spiritual development.
It would not be correct to say that such events are unambiguously favorable or negative. For example, the god, Shani (Saturn in Western astrology) is perceived by different people in very different ways.
There are many people in India who are terribly afraid of the god, Shani, because they believe he can destroy the fate of a person and bring many misfortunes.
Naturally, such a point of view is an ordinary prejudice based on a misunderstanding of the deep symbolism of the god, Shani. Each Vedic deity is an archetype and a symbol denoting the different aspects of consciousness, and different types of cosmic energy.
God Shani is the structure of life and systematic thinking. That is why this deity is credited with power over human destiny. Shani Amavasya is a day on which special spiritual opportunities arise in working on such qualities and abilities as a clear understanding of priorities, consistency, structure, and time management.
The same misunderstanding arises regarding the interpretation of solar or lunar eclipses. The sun in the Vedic tradition is associated with the god, Surya, who symbolizes leadership qualities, the embodiment of one's destiny, service, and many other wonderful qualities and potentials in a person. A solar eclipse can affect thinking and personality in many different ways, both positively and negatively.
We remember not only the very fact of Prema Sai Baba's visit to the sacred mountain of Arunachala, but also the importance of the days on which he made the pilgrimage. I was fortunate to accompany Prema Sai Baba on this trip.
It was quite obvious to me he not only enjoyed the journey like a child, but also carried out some important spiritual work on the subtle plane for the entire universe. During his pilgrimage, he made special prayers for the harmonization of the situation in all countries and for the well-being of all people.