Lingodbhava Om Sri Sai Ram For the twentieth century Man, the word God is an inexplicable mystery. It is perhaps a vague, hazy idea in his mind associated with the scriptures, conditioned by what has been drummed into his head as a child and modified in light of experiences gained during his later years. Truly, he does not know anything about the Divinity which is enshrined within his body. A mere study of the scriptures will not reveal God to man or grant an experience of Him even in a small measure. The scriptures are like the signposts on a road, pointing to the ultimate destination. They merely point out the ways and the means to reach the Goal. Simply by pouring over a map one does not reach the destination. Similarly, God cannot be known by reading or expounding the sacred scriptures, but by living them. A child who has been taught scriptures by adults who do not practise the disciplined path indicated by the scriptures, will soon discover the hypocrisy of the elders, and will have scant respect for them and even less for the scriptures. That child is today’s Man, who has been enveloped by the superficial glitter of science and technology, possession of transitory wealth and acquisition of fickle fame. Steeped in arrogance and pride, he drives humanity from one crisis to another and in the process creates untold misery for millions of people. He still occasionally hears about God but he has never seen Him, and he does not care much about a God who will not co-operate with him by eliminating the misery and suffering inflicted on others, by his own selfish behaviour. Mankind is caught in this mighty grip of ignorance, propagating itself in an endless vicious circle, from one generation to the next. Who can vanquish this terrible ignorance and rescue humanity? It is doubtful if man alone by himself, can ever hope to emerge victorious with ever-lasting peace and equanimity, enshrined in his heart. Only God can break this vicious circle by revealing Himself to humanity and dispelling the darkness of ignorance enveloping mankind. To achieve this herculean task, God has perforce to enter the framework of His creation to reveal Himself as an Avatar, through the agency of a human body. God by Himself is incomprehensible to man. The gulf is too wide between man and God. So in the body of an Avatar, God behaves as an Ideal man and works the miracle of breaking this vicious circle, by giving illumination from within the heart of man. Of all the living creatures only man has the faculty of discrimination and the ability to exercise a freedom of choice. In consonance with this freedom, the Avatar brings about an inner transformation through Divine Love, without any form of external pressure or compulsion. This is the secret of Divine intervention in the affairs of men. Further, by a manifestation of Divine Wisdom and Omnipotence, He gives unassailable proof that He is not just another saintly personage, but God Himself. The most erudite scholar can neither explain these proofs nor understand them;but he can most certainly experience them . From his experience he can also learn the lessons of humility and reverence, and wonder at the Glory of God in human form, walking on this earth today as Shri Sathya Sai Baba. The subject of this story is one such proof given by Baba to humanity, of all climes and all religions. Lingodbhavakara SaiAs mentioned elsewhere, the different religions of the world contain only some aspects of the ONE God and no one particular religion can claim to know God in His totality . A little thought will convince the reader of the subtle truth that all religions are contained within God, and therefore, no one religion can contain the Infinite God. All scriptures and all religions are earth bound and time bound, and therefore they can only present to the people those aspects of the Infinite which were revealed to that particular religion, within certain limitations. As soon as these limitations are recognised, then all obstacles are removed for a broader understanding of the Supreme Infinite. The purpose of all religions is to remove the barriers between man and man, and certainly not to erect them. He who creates such barriers through myopic vision, commits a grave blunder against the very religion he professes, and creates strife between man and man. Many of us also commit this error of limiting God to our own narrow viewpoint, or confining Him to a particular religion. Baba as a manifestation of the Supreme Infinite may therefore perform acts which are not necessarily contained in all the religions, and if such acts or manifestations are not in one’s own religion, then an effort should be made to understand the real inner significance of such acts or manifestations. Through such understanding all differences disappear and all religions become one. The Lingodbhava is to be viewed and understood in light of such perspectives. Ling means a symbol, and Udbhava means birth or creation. So the word Lingodbhava actually means symbol of creation. As the Lingam manifests in Baba through His Divine Kala or Sakthi of Srishti, one can say that the Lingam is a Divine Symbol of Creation; and it is only when the inner significance of the Lingam has been understood, that one can grasp the full significance of the act of Lingodbhava, which is a Symbolic Birth of God in Time and Space. The vibhuthi abhishekam Yasoda had seen the Viswaswarup of the Lord, the Cosmic Person, in the mouth of Krishna, and the Lord had given the same Divine Vision to a shaukar’s wife in His previous body as Babu, the future Sai Baba of Shirdi. Today, in His present body as Shri Sathya Sai Baba, He, grants a similar Vision of the Divine to millions of devotees, through the act of Lingodbhava. An embryo develops within the womb of it’s mother and