Banyan Tree DNA
This incident happened in 2006. I do not remember the exact date, but it was a time between USA trips when we were back in Bidadi. When I went early one morning to Swamiji's quarters, he told me to come in to his room. For some reason, he told me that day, "Shiv, do you know I planted this Banyan Tree? I planted this several hundred years ago" I did not know why Swamiji was saying this to me.
That day Swamiji said we were going to Thiruvannamalai. When we reached Thiruvannamalai, Swamiji took us to the places in the temple complex where he spent his childhood. He showed us the Yogashala where Swamiji was taught Yoga by Gururaj Raghupathi Yogi, Swamiji's first yoga teacher. In fact Swamiji showed the very spot where Raghupathi yogi would levitate. We then moved towards the Banyan tree at the back of the temple. It was near this banyan tree that Swamiji delivered his first discourse on Patanjali Yoga Sutras at the age of 9! This banyan tree also had very mystical connections with Swamiji which are chronicled in the first volume of Swamiji's biography, "THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM Volume 1". This was where he was blessed with the darshan of Arunagiri Yogeeshwara, the enlightened master who built the Thiruvannamalai temple thousands of years ago.
When we reached the Banyan Tree, Swamiji looked at me and said, "Shiv is there a technique to test whether this Banyan Tree and our Bidadi Banyan Tree are from the same mother?" He first said, "Actually let us record this event and have fun!" Parananda, a brahmachari and an ashramite who takes care of video recording of Swamiji when he is in Bharat quickly came and started video recording this event. Swamiji then looked into the video camera and said, "Take a twig from this Banyan Tree and a twig from our Banyan Tree and do a DNA test and you will see that this is a perfect match. Let us have some fun!"
I quickly collected a twig from this banyan tree and wrapped in a wet towel. We quickly took a twig from the Bidadi Banyan Tree. Ma Sachitananda had a cousin in Hyderabad who was the Head of the Department of Genetics in Osmania University. We requested her to help out with the DNA work. She readily agreed and we started the DNA test. The first test, which is some kind of a rough test showed that there was 90% probability that both the twigs came from the same source. She then went on to conduct two detailed tests (repeat of the same test) consisting of complete DNA mapping and concluded that without any doubt both the twigs came from the same parent!
We then asked Swamiji how this could be. The trees were over 600 years old by previous tests by the hortriculture department. Bidadi is about 250 kilometers away from Thiruvannamalai. What is the probability of this happening from a logical perspective? He then went on and told us that there were four saplings of the Banyan Tree that have been brought from the metaphysical to the physical plane. He thought one of them was planted near the first experience place which never sprouted. The other two Banyan Trees are now in Thiruvannamalai and Bidadi. He did not say much about the fourth Banyan Tree. All he said was it is somewhere in Karnataka and at the right time we will find it!