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from Sai Baba Man of Miracles – Howard Murphet

In 1943 Mrs. Bhat developed cancer of the uterus. Medical men advised an operation though there was no certainty that this would be successful. Mr. Bhat's widowed mother was staying with the young couple at the time, and she said to her son, "Lord Subramaniam cured your father of cancer without any operation; in the same way he will cure your wife."

The old lady's faith was so tremendously strong that the young couple agreed to forgo surgery and place themselves entirely in the hands of the household god. Pujas to Lord Subramaniam were intensified, the religious practices became even more strict and devout than before, the prayers more fervent and prolonged. These pujas were now carried out mainly by Mr. Bhat's mother, while the young wife remained in bed growing gradually thinner and weaker. This went on for about six months.

Then one night, while in a state of semi-sleep, the patient saw in the dim light from the moon a large cobra circling her bed. Alarmed, she switched on her bedside lamp and woke her mother-in-law who was sleeping in the same room, her husband being absent on a business trip.

No snake was found in the room. Yet as soon as Mrs. Bhat switched off the light, she saw the cobra again, going around the bed. Almost immediately the snake took the form of Subramaniam, as she knew him by the portrait hanging in the puja room. He seemed to be floating above her. Then piercing her bosom with his velayudhan (a kind of spear Subramaniam carries), he seemed to draw her away with him.

Soon she found herself standing before him on the peak of a high rocky hill. She knelt and touched his feet with her hands and forehead, and he began to talk to her. He asked her if she wanted to stay with him or go back to the world. She understood this to mean a choice between life and death. Thinking of her husband and young children and their need of her, she told Subramaniam that she wished to go back.

There was further conversation, and finally Subramaniam said: "you are cured of your illness, and will soon grow strong. Throughout your life I will protect you; whenever you think of me, I'll be there.  Now go back."

"How?" she asked.

He pointed to a long winding, narrow staircase that had opened near their feet, and led downward. She began to descend - then thereseemed to be a break in her consciousness and she found herself back in bed in her own room, awake. Immediately she woke her mother-in-law and told her about the vision. When her husband returned home she told him as well. But she regarded the experience as sacred, and did not make it known beyond the closest members of her family.

From that night onward she gained rapidly in strength and there were no more signs of the cancer. Soon she was up and carrying on her normal life. Only there was a difference. Now in addition to her house-hold duties and religious observances, she devoted herself to social welfare work among the poor and needy. God had given her back her life, and she was determined to use it fully in his service as best she knew how.