In plain words
Until You give it I will not let go of Your feet,’ she said, and held my feet tight. ‘What promise is that?’ I asked. ‘Only if You give Your word will I tell You,’ she said. She was a very stubborn person. But she had a great deal of love. ‘All right, tell me what you want,’ I said. ‘You are God! However great You may be, You must not leave Puttaparthi. Give me Your word that You will stay in Puttaparthi itself until I leave this body,’ she asked. I said, ‘If you want me to stay always in Puttaparthi alone, that I cannot say. But one thing I do tell you. I will not leave Puttaparthi and move my camp to another place.’ When I gave my word in this way she rejoiced greatly, mixed some curd rice, came and put it in my mouth. “Swami! Today I feel a joy as if I had eaten curd rice. You may go about anywhere, You may travel the world. But You must stay in Puttaparthi,” she said. To that extent she took a promise from me. At the time she passed away the summer classes were going on here. She was in good health then. One morning, all of a sudden: ‘Swami! Swami!’ she called. I went down quickly. By the time I got there she had breathed her last. There was no illness, no pain. She had a death without suffering. It was all over in moments.
Pedda Venkamaraju and Kondamaraju
Pedda Venkamaraju, the father of this body, was a very hard-working man. He had no big business to speak of. If he had ten rupees in his hand, he would buy coconuts and bring them for the devotees. Why am I telling all these things today? Because they are very much needed by students. A great many parents struggle like this. Children must give them fitting help. One day I had called devotees for interviews. They had all come and were sitting on the veranda. Then he came: ‘Swami! Give me two minutes' time,’ he requested. ‘I will see all of these people first and send them off,’ I said. ‘No, Swami, You must give it to me quickly,’ he said. He too was quite well. There was no illness. But I knew what was about to happen. So I held back some of the people and called him inside. He told me all that was in his mind: ‘Swami, all this time, going through some hardships, selling coconuts and brinjals, I have put by a little money.