A story published by Swami Maheshwaranand
about the discovery of an ancient cave by Sai followers
acting on Sathya Sai Baba's secret directions kept Sai followers in
a state of credulous anticipation for years. This was the
newly-discovered so-called Narayana Gufa Ashram cave, which
was claimed to be the place where Vyasa composed the Mahabharata
and the Panchama Veda. In other words, sensational news
to a high degree among Hindus at the very least. The news
was published in a booklet in English translation in Febuary
1990 based on the Hindi text of Swami Maheshwaranand, an
ochre-clad clad Indian man who resides at Puttaparthi and whose jaw can invariably
be seen chewing away on something, probably reciting mantras
etc. He is the only person whose name is published in connection
with the entire story, so it all depends entirely on his
word.
In brief, the book claims that Sathya Sai Baba has
sent eleven elderly sannyasis (renunciates) to find a cave at 18,000 ft. in the Himalayas near Badrinath
in the heights of Narayana Parvat, accessible only with
great difficulty and modern climbing equipment. Allegedly.
they survive in temperatures below human endurance
and feed daily from a golden bowl materialised by Sathya Sai Baba in
which food and drink appears at each mealtime. This is supposed
to be the 'Akshaya Patra' fabled in ancient Indian scriptures
and such as the discredited Swami Rama claimed he also came
to own (Living among the Himalayan Masters by Swami
Rama). A fabulous story is woven about this and embroidered
with a tale about the Indian Army discovering the cave miraculously
and getting involved with the yogis there (none of which
is confirmed officially or by anyone involved, all of whom
remain unnamed).
The three small books by Maheshwaranand,
plus his article in a Sai publication (Sathya Sai - The
Eternal Charioteer, p. 6), are classic examples of how
the most unlikely stories attract those who are already
deceived by the Sathya Sai Baba mythology. Maheshwaranand's writing
expresses a very primitive form of literal belief in Indian
mythology and religious superstition which finds success
especially (but not only) with uneducated Indians. There
are also plenty of hare-brained Westerners who also subsist
mentally in that 'world' of fabulous and incorporeal imaginings.
The stories are so fabulous that, if you can believe in
them, you should be a strong candidate for taking virtually
any fable literally... from Aladdin's lamp, Ali Baba and
the Forty Thieves to Baron Munchausen... all is the same
class as this 'Gufa ashram legend'.
The first thin booklet (Sai Baba and
the Nara Narayan Gufa Ashram- Part 1) sold out 10,000
copies in one week. I learned this from the publisher who
put up the cash and lost everything himself, Mr. Taylor
- an Indian working at Prashanthi Nilayam's 'pop shop' and
who had lived long in UK. The Sai Books and Publications
Trust manager, Mr. P. Suri, tried to take over the book,
probably for his personal profit as in the case of his under-the-counter
sales of a book I wrote, printed and donated in 900 copies
to the Book Trust. The Gufa ashram book was reprinted and
also pirated by other printers. It was therefore followed
up by two more volumes to satisfy the huge market demand.
One cannot but speculate; Swami Maheshwarand surely needed
some means of support, some funds, and so invented a 'magic
bowl' (Akshaya Patra) to feed them to him! This hearsay
story was never confirmed publicly by anyone supposedly
involved in it... and the catch is that the cave in question
is in such a secret, security-sensitive area of India on
the Chinese border that no one can ever get a permit to
visit it! Most convenient!
The Patal
Bhuvaneshwar cave rumours came later in 1994 in addition
to the quite separate Gufa cave story... This new 'sensation'
served well to regenerate otherwise flagging interest among
news-hungry Sai devotees. It provided a new place of pilgrimage
for the gullible believer while helping to build out the
mythology of Sathya Sai Baba yet further into the incredible.
The author of the original publication about this cave,
G.K. Karnavar, credits Sathya Sai Baba with the exposure
of Patal Bhuvaneshwar as "one of his unique ways to
help mankind" and the 'meaning' of which he gives as
follows: "i.e Lord Shiv in the underground temple complex" (Whatever that may mean)!
He cleverly gave his little book the Sathya Sai Baba-follower
enticing title Bhagwan Sri Sathya Sai Baba and Patal
Bhuvaneswar. The cave was discovered by Major general
Taylor of the Indian Army, reportedly a devout Sai follower.
The inside of the cave is largely carved to represent various
deities like Ganesha, Sesha and so on. It was claimed that
many divine leelas were taking place therein and people
who went in there had marvellous visions and transports.
It too was related to Vyasa, who allegedly wrote about it
in the Skanda Purana as being an abode of deities.
Many Sathya Sai Baba devotees went off
excitedly to the Himalayas to visit the fabled cave supposedly
once inhabited by gods and allegedly discovered through
a Sathya Sai Baba dream... where God alone knows what could
be vouchsafed to them in visions and boons! One can also
find on the internet an account by one of the 'worst cases'
in the Bhuvaneswar scenario by another of the many badly-deluded
devotees who believe they 'channel' the words and wishes
of Sathya Sai Baba, the absurd 'teeth-clacking
medium'. Rather entertaining, but also a fair sample
of the very populous 'lunatic fringe' that is always prominent
in the ashrams and throughout the Sai movement. When I was
still the national leader in Norway, I met or was contacted
by plenty such. I well recall one who asked me if I could
use the powers supposedly conferred by the (fake) diamond
ring Sathya Sai Baba gave me to remove (i.e. dematerialise)
all his amalgam fillings for him, for he could not afford
going to the dentist! It is truly sad to reflect that Sathya
Sai Baba and his vague, bogus promises impacts these defenceless
and half-crazed people so much and turns many of them into
pilgrims seeking healing from him without result other than
a great waste of their own funds and the subsequent crash
of their hopes and faith.
The Patal Bhuvaneswar cave has become
a money-earner for Indian tourism. Type the name into Google.com
to find further information. It seems very likely that Sathya
Sai Baba's name was brought in as being the one to reveal
this cave to humanity so as to ensure that more people would
hear of the caves, visit them and bring plenty of foreign
currency! The glowing accounts that were soon flying about
brought Sathya Sai Baba devotees in strength in the hope
of promised magnificent visions, transports and instant
self-realisation... even liberation from the wheel of life!
Oddly, the mythological excitement among Sathya Sai Baba
people died down. The idyll was partly spoiled by nasty
conflicts about ownership rights concerning the caves, and
some vandals desecrated them so it seems that later visitors
did not find what they expected.
Even a half-decent
person claiming to be a teacher and guide would make public
denials of untrue rumours for the benefit of those who would
be seriously misled and suffer as a consequence of believing
such things. Sathya Sai Baba - who claims to be omniscient
etc. etc. - most certainly knew by quite ordinary means of
the many rumours that constantly flew around about these fabulous
events, the one more fantastic and incredible than the other.
But presumably, since this is attributed to him and he considers
effective in forwarding his name and fame, he lets them run
wild and grow in imaginative detail through inaccurate retelling.
It seems that he does not realise how few people in the world
outside the Hindu community will be able to credit most of
the flimsy fables without evidence.