The student who spoke just now comes from a very noble family. His grandfather’s name is Margabandhu. Leaving his college in Delhi, he joined our college three years ago. He is doing his Ph.D. He remains by himself and does not mix with others. He obeys Swami’s commands implicitly. Now also he has given an excellent speech. He is studying Adi Sankara’s life and philosophy. Everything about Sankara is at his fingers’ tips. He came to Puttaparthi to undertake such Tapas (penance). There are many such students in our university. The second boy who spoke today is also our’ student. All our students are great and noble.

Vedanarayana is also sitting here. True to his name, he has great proficiency in the Vedas. Last year, he received President of India award. While presenting the award to him, the President asked him, ‘Where will you go after receiving this award?’ He said, ‘I am going back to Puttaparthi and will settle there. I will not go anywhere else.’ Then the President appreciated his devotion and said, ‘Yes, dear son! You should live only there. You are a good boy.’ The President is a Muslim, yet he has great devotion for Swami. Many high dignitaries come to Puttaparthi and speak highly about our students. Every year, about five hundred students join our educational institutions. We do not advertise our results in newspapers, but all our students secure first class only. Besides, two of our students from Alike secured first rank in Medical and Engineering Entrance Test.

Ideal Students of Sri Sathya Sai Institutions

All our students are like gold; not adulterated but pure gold. They are ready to perform any task that is entrusted to them. Every year, they go to villages and do Grama Seva. They carry with them food packets and clothes for distribution to all villagers. They go to each house and serve all the inmates. The villagers express great joy on seeing our students, saying, ‘Our Swami has sent them all.’ On the day of the visit of our students, the villagers clean their houses and decorate their courtyards with floral designs. They receive Swami’s Prasadam with great reverence and eat it happily. Time is now coming near to send our students again to villages to distribute Swami’s Prasadam. Our students are not only proficient in studies; they are equally good in sports and games as well as music and fine arts. There is nothing that our students cannot do. Whether they go to villages, cities or anywhere else, they are very cautious about their character. Both, the male and female students value their character as their very life.

There are seven hundred students in the Anantapur Campus. There too, all of them passed in first class. They also go to villages to perform Seva. They built new houses for the villagers. Even though they are girls, they did the brick work to build walls, laid the roofs and helped the poor people. When I asked the villagers if their houses were leaking in rainy season, they replied, ‘No, Swami! Your students have done such a wonderful work, which even the engineers could not have been able to de Moreover; they have done this work free for us.’ The same can be said about our male students. Our students from Anantapur, Brindavan and Prasanthi Nilayam campuses go to villages and help the villagers in a befitting manner. Our students have not come here only for studies. In fact, nobody should come here for studies alone. You should study during the time prescribed for studies. But the main thing that you have to do here is Seva. God has given you this body for doing Seva only. You should serve all. Service is God. In this manner, our students follow the commands of Swami and earn a good name. They earn the love of everyone wherever they go. When people see our students in their white dress, they praise them, saying, ‘They are all Sathya Sai students; they are all very good.’ Not only do they wear white dress, their heart is also pure and sacred.

You observe daily how these boys hold Me when I come and go. Two of them have completed their MBA. The third one has been admitted into MBBS course. Adi Kesavulu has given him a seat in Vaidehi Medical College. He has given seats to many such boys. One has to pay a huge amount of money for a medical seat outside. Apart from that, one has to pay thousands of rupees as fees every month. But he did not charge even a single paisa from us. He is a man of great sacrifice. He stays near our Super Speciality Hospital in Bangalore. There are costly equipments in our Super Speciality Hospital worth crores of rupees. One has to pay lakhs of rupees for heart operation in other institutions. But man~ poor people come to our hospital and get their heart surgeries performed free of cost.

I have resolved to provide education, healthcare and life-sustaining water to people free of cost. In East and West Godavari districts, we are pumping water to upland areas through pipes and supplying it to villagers residing in these areas. Sufficient water was flowing in these two districts but it could not reach the people residing in upland areas. They suffered from acute scarcity of water till recently. We have supplied water to all of them through pipes, spending a sum of 100 crore rupees. They expressed their happiness and said, ‘Swami! So many years have passed since we drank sweet water. Today we are drinking pure and sweet water by Your grace.’

 Not only that, we have given water to the people of Chennai also, observing no difference between rich and poor. After receiving water, the people of Chennai came to Puttaparthi in 50 buses. They said, ‘Swami, How can we express our gratitude to You?’ I told them, ‘‘There is no need for you to express your. gratitude to Me because you are Mine. I have given water to My own people.’ Yesterday or day before yesterday, it was published in newspapers that water was supplied from Poondi to Chennai.

People from Mahaboobnagar and Medak districts also came here. I asked them what they wanted. They said, ‘Swami, we don’t have drinking water.’ So, I supplied water to them from the river Krishna. In this way, we are serving all villages, all regions and all countries. Serve all. You should serve everyone. That is My teaching to My students. If you come across a person who is in need of any help, you should serve him even if he is not your friend. If it is necessary, you should even take leave from your college and help him. I do not want to praise My students by saying this. But the fact is that they are doing much more than what I have said. They are helping others selflessly. We are preparing such students who are endowed with the qualities of self-sacrifice and selflessness. That is why they are making progress in all fields of life.

There are 1,200 children in our primary school. Even those children have joined our school for whom it is very difficult to bear separation from their parents. However, in a few days, they give up all their homesickness and become totally attached to the school. When their parents come, they feel very happy and say, ‘Aha! What a great transformation has come in our child!’ We give more love to the children than even their parents.

Whatever we may say in praise of our students is not enough. Do not consider them ordinary children. They are endowed with great qualities and are destined to be the future leaders of the country. Students should become ideal. That will make Me happy. (SS Nov ’07, p.389)

Divyatma swarupas! It is very necessary for you to recognise the affection that was shown between the brothers in the Ramayana and the sacredness of such affection. At no time and on no occasion did the brothers of Rama exhibit any selfishness. With a selfless attitude, they were regarding that service to the people was the main concern of their life.

All these good qualities were acquired by them from their Guru Vashistha, even while they were young and they shaped themselves so as to be ideals for others in the world. It is only when we can recognise and understand the true nature of satya and Dharma, even while we are young that we can get the most beneficial results out of such understanding when we grow older.

This age of yours is a very sacred age. In this sacred age, you must make an attempt to get such good notions implanted in your mind. It is only when the young plant is straight that the tree will also be straight. But if the plant becomes crooked when it is young, the tree will also become crooked. If the plant is crooked, how can it change into straight tree when it grows big?

You are like tender young plants. If, at this stage, you can get rid of all crookedness, you can grow into a straight forward useful citizens of the country. It is to give you this chance that this opportunity has come your way. Truly, your body is like the temple of God. You should make an attempt to keep this temple sacred and clean and use it in a good manner. You are going to make your body the living for Sanathana, the age-old God. (SSB 1977, pp. 54-55)