A Tribute to Colonel Joga Rao

“All of you know him as Colonel Joga Rao, but I know him as
Karma Yogi Joga Rao!”

These were the words with which Swami decorated Col. Joga Rao after presenting him ceremonial kankanams (gold bracelets) and a silver salver, in front of the vast concourse of devotees assembled in the Hill View stadium to celebrate Bhagavan’s 65th Birthday celebrations.

Some people live with such courage, verve and an endearing joy of life that it is an inspiration to all around them. Colonel S.P. Joga Rao was one such person. His high-spirited personality and openhanded nature endeared him to everyone. His brilliance, commitment and integrity at work earned him plaudits from the mighty and the scholarly.

An eminent and vastly experienced engineer, Sri Joga Rao, will best be remembered for his yeoman contribution to the development of the Prashanti Nilayam and Brindavan ashram campuses and his close involvement in several of Bhagavan’s service projects.

He was instrumental in the establishment of the Sri Sathya Sai Central Trust, a charitable trust under the guidance of Bhagavan, which has executed several mammoth welfare projects.

How Col. Joga Rao Came to Swami

S P Joga Rao enjoyed a successful tenure as Chief Engineer of Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. (HAL), where he was responsible for much of its construction and commissioning. He also served in the armed forces where he rose to the rank of Colonel, and had been posted at many places all over India. Later he started a Civil Engineering and Consultancy Company along with a host of experts drawn from various fields of engineering, construction and management which was quite a successful venture.

But, all this was just a training ground for the stupendous tasks he was to accomplish under the guidance of the ‘Architect of the Universe’. Destiny was to crown his life with a long and sweet association with the Lord come in human form.

The divine call came in 1969. One day, Bhagavan visited the house of Sri Ramaswamy, a neighbour of Col. Joga Rao who was closely associated with service activities in Brindavan, Bhagavan’s ashram at Whitefield, Bangalore. Joga Rao, though a devotee of Lord Krishna from his childhood, had his reservations about men in ochre robes.

So, although his wife and he received an invitation to Sri Ramaswamy’s house to have Darshan of Bhagavan he was reluctant to go. He had already been annoyed when a few days prior to this, he found a photo of Bhagavan Baba in the altar of his house, which his wife had received from Smt. Ramaswamy. But, his wife persisted and so he went there.

Bhagavan spoke very lovingly to him and invited him to Brindavan. Baba’s gentle and warm demeanour touched Joga Rao’s heart and he was drawn to Brindavan soon after that. The devotional ambience of the ashram and the discipline there had a profound impact on him.

Bhagavan received him very affectionately. During the conversation, He casually mentioned to Joga Rao to associate himself with the construction work of the college building at Anantapur. The passionate engineering professional in Joga Rao responded positively and that marked the beginning of a new chapter in his life. 

An Intimate Relationship…

In the Nava Vida Bhakti (Nine stages of devotion) outlined in the ‘Narada Bhakti Sutra’, the stage of Sakhya Bhakti is the penultimate stage before the final merger of the individual self with the Absolute. In this stage, the devotee experiences the relationship of an intimate friend with the Lord, sporting with Him and losing oneself in the bond of love with the Lord. Sri B N Narasimha Murty in Sathyam Shivam Sundaram V says, Col. Joga Rao was privileged, to enjoy such a relationship with Swami.

Recalling this unique relationship Sri Joga Rao had with Swami, Sri V. Srinivasan, President, Sri Sathya Sai Seva Organizations, India, recalls,

“Col. Joga Rao would intercede, to the extent that it was possible to do so, on behalf of many devotees with Bhagavan, which sometimes earned him reprimands from the Lord. He took them with a smile and would say to Bhagavan that He should extend his mercy to these people who were pining for His Grace. Bhagavan was also tolerant because He knew that Joga Rao was not asking anything for himself but only for others.”