Shivabalayogi Tapas Photo

Flyer printed the day after Shivabalayogi completed tapas. It contains the text of what he said day before.

On the day that he completed tapas, August 7, 1961, Shivabalayogi delivered a message of peace to the world. He addressed a vast crowd directly, with the aid of a microphone, speaking in his native Telugu language.

The following translation of Shivabalayogi’s message is based upon the Telugu text in the flyer and on the recollection of eyewitnesses. Unfortunately, the tape recording which was broadcast on radio has been lost.

“For the peace of the world I did tapas for twelve years. Now I am going to tell you about that tapas.”

“The question among the people is whether the astronomer who travels in the Sputnik can reach the world of the Sun, conquer it, and return. The scientists say it can be done, but ordinary people wonder whether conquering the Sun will have a bad effect on the world and bring darkness.”

“In samadhi you can go to the Sun and you can come back. I am telling you from my own experience.”

“I challenge everyone that the scientists cannot reach the Sun and return unless they do meditation and travel in samadhi. Only the person who wants to bring peace to the world can visit the Sun. This is possible only if you come to know who you really are and whether you really own your own body. You must do whatever is necessary to realize this. There lies the solution to world peace.”

Most people did not know what to make of this message about traveling to the sun. Few knew about Swamiji’s experience during tapas when his divine guru took him to the world of the sun.

Even fewer knew anything about space flights. It was only a few months earlier, on April 12, 1961, that the Russian cosmonaut Yuri Gugarian made the first manned space flight, a news event unknown to many people in that isolated part of South India.

Swamiji had already given an experience to help explain. On the morning he completed tapas, Kakarala Kameshwara Rao was meditating and saw a man in a metal capsule flying in space. Rao did not understand the vision at the time, but the significance became clear in the context of Shri Swamiji’s message. It was as if Rao was shown the vision in order to give people some idea of what Shri Swamiji would be referring to in his message to the world.

Many years later Shri Swamiji explained the simple significance of his statements. He wanted to communicate that the powers attained through tapas (tapas shakti) are great, and that a person with tapas shakti could travel anywhere in creation, even to the sun as he himself did during tapas. He wanted to tell the people what could be accomplished through tapas shakti.

Like the ancient yogis and rishis with whom Indians are familiar, Shivabalayogi had completed tapas and acquired knowledge and powers unimaginable to the ordinary person.

There is a more ominous significance to the message. By referring to the sun, perhaps Swamiji was also referring to nuclear power. Over the next three decades, he often warned about the dangers of nuclear war and pollution. His work and that of other yogis, accomplished mostly unseen and unknown to the public, was to prevent mankind from destroying itself.