I express my deepest gratitude to all my friends and relatives who took an active part in the work on this book. Thank you all for your kind and helpful advice, valuable information, technical, and financial support.
Special thanks to my wife Svetlana Dubyanskaya, as well as to my parents, Father – Igor Grigoryevich (1930 – 2020) and Mother – Tamara Alekseevna (1934 – 2019).
Special thanks to Anupriya Wijayaweera for arranging the publication of this book. Thanks go to Alexander Bukreev for the cover design.
1. The wonderful work of God
This book is dedicated to Prema Sai Baba, the divine incarnation of the 21>st century. Prema Sai Baba is the third incarnation of God on Earth, in our era. The first was Shirdi Sai Baba (1835-1918), the second was Sathya Sai Baba (1926-2011).
At the outset, I must acknowledge the difficulty of writing this book at this very moment. It is now 2023. The previous incarnation of God, Sathya Sai Baba, left the physical body in 2011, that is, twelve years ago.
Prema Sai Baba was born on June 28, 2012. At the time of writing this book, Prema Sai Baba is eleven years old. I have been visiting his house for eight years and watching every day of his childhood growth and development. The first time I met the divine child was when he was three years old.
Across the years, I understood that sooner or later I would have to write a book about the divine boy, and so collected testimonies and materials that would, one day, become invaluable material. Subsequently, when the boy becomes an adult, a huge number of people will observe the events of his life and testify to these accounts. Now, as he is just a child, only a few can see his life and development.
I did not think I would start writing this book so soon. Until recently, it seemed that at least a few more years, or even decades, would surely pass before I would be ready to present materials, facts, testimonies and reflections on the events of Prema Sai Baba's childhood to readers.
I imagined the deeper meaning of the events I was witnessing would become clearer with time. As a rule, hindsight provides clarity, which is why I was certain I should wait and simply observe the development of events in the life and mission of Prema Sai Baba. Any historical event is always easier to comprehend and understand years later.
When significant events unfold before you, it is extremely difficult to coherently describe your thoughts and feelings while you’re amid the experience, since their deep meaning is not yet fully understood. There can be a fear of making a mistake if something is not accurate or if it’s incorrectly interpreted. The responsibility in writing such a book is too great when the account is about the story of God's childhood on Earth.
Who can fully understand the purpose and play of God? Even after many centuries, in fact, little will still be understood. Why wait? I cannot understand Sai Baba now, but neither will I be able to understand him in a thousand years. Who can boast of having fully understood the life and mission of Krishna, Buddha and Jesus Christ?