I AM glad to offer my homage to Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba on the occasion of his fiftieth birthday, 23rd November 1975. This book indicates the light that I have received from him, along with millions of other seekers, and I am happy to put it in the hands of readers at the time of these golden jubilee celebrations held in many parts of the world. Baba’s personality is too multi-faceted and elusive to be captured by any camera or contained in any biography. The best that one can do is to focus a few lights on some of the remote cliffs and peaks and the foothills of this himalayan personality. This is what I have attempted in this book. For this book I have drawn on my own experiences of eye and ear, my mind and intellect, my heart and psyche. No other account can be more authentic than the one which draws upon one’s own experiences. Here is an image of Baba as reflected in the pool of my vision and understanding. I am aware of the fact that, for a multi-faceted personality like his, there can be numerous interpretations, emphasizing one aspect or the other. All that I can say is that there is undoubtedly a nectar-drop of truth authenticating this interpretation. I have divided the volume into five parts: Personality; Philosophy; Work; Sayings and Writings; Impact. This is only for the sake of convenience. The entire book is an attempt to touch the intangible and view the invisible. Baba is to be understood more in silence than in talk, more in the impersonal range than in the personal perspective. I have added an appendix to the book, giving biographical particulars about Baba in a systematic form. This has been compiled by Shri D.S. Habbu, Lecturer in History, Sri Sathya Sai Arts and Science College, Whitefield, at my request. I am grateful to him for it. I am also grateful to Abhinav Publications for having published this book so promptly. VINAYAK KRISHNA GOKAK