Samskriti off NH 9

Bharata Yatra 2004

Saturday, 28 February 2004 — on the side of NH 9, on the way to Pune, Maharashtra

When Amma opened the door to Her camper, it was clear She had recently been given an elaborate padapuja by the devotees of Hyderabad; the spot between Her eyebrows was caked with several layers of sandal paste, tumeric and kumkum. Perhaps this was one of the reasons why Amma was late in leaving and hadn’t been able to meet up with Her tour group for their roadside lunch. By the time Her camper arrived at the lunch spot, everyone had already finished eating and was getting ready to re-board the buses.

No matter, Amma would quickly distribute prasad  from Her camper itself. As Her children queued up—including field workers of the farm land that had served as picnic sit——Amma fed each one a piece of sweet biscuit by hand. Of course that package was not enough, so Amma found another package, this time of salty biscuits. Then that ran out, and Amma found something else, some murukkus, a fried, salty Indian snack. When that supply also depleted, Amma started handing out all the fruit given to Her by devotees. In the end, it seemed just enough; everyone got something—except, perhaps, Amma.

In Her satsangs  these days, Amma often talks of three kinds of people: prakriti, vikriti and samskriti. Prakriti people, Amma says, take only their share but don’t concern themselves with the needs of others. People of vikriti nature not only eat their own share, but also snatch as much as they can from others. Very rare these days, says Amma, are the samskriti, those who take as little as possible and then share as much as they can with others. As Amma emptied Her camper to feed Her children, one was reminded of these insightful words and how the True Masters demonstrate their every teaching with their actions.

—Sakshi