SOBRE SHIRDI SAI BABA - EL DESPERTAR SAI

LOS AÑOS JOVENES DE BABA EN SHIRDI

Baba's earliest years at Shirdi were passed in complete obscurity31. He was a poor fakir, whose name itself was not known, Sai Baba being merely a term of respect applied to wandering hermits of the Muslim faith. Very few incidents, therefore, of this period of his life are known. But such as are known are all significant as proving that Baba was a real fakir of sterling merit. Baba himself has observed32 that fakirs also are now seldom dispassionate, that is possessed of vairagya, and it is hard to find a good fakir. Baba had no home. Fakirs have none. Hermits are, therefore, to reside either at a tree-foot or chavadi or temple or other public places. When he came into Shirdi, Baba visited Khandoba temple at the outskirts of the village, and noting how solitary and calm a place it was, exclaimed, 'What a nice place this, for ascetics like me to live in.' Mahlsapathy, the man then in charge objected to this observation and said that no Muhammadan would be allowed to put his foot into the Khandoba temple. He was evidently thinking that Baba was a Muslim and that he would break the images and defile the temple. But Baba was just the opposite.He had the same regard for temples and mosques, always wanted people to carry on their religious faith in their accustomed ways, and would never hurt the religious susceptibilities of any person. Baba, noting Mahlsapathy's attitude, left the place, and went to the gode neem tree which he used as his halting place off and on. He went about the village and the surrounding lands and had no particular arrangements for food. Luckily the village head, Ganapat Rao Patil Kothe and his wife Bayaji Bai, were greatly attracted by Baba's personality, and from the very beginning of his stay there, they undertook to feed him - even when he was running about. Gradually he gave up roaming and then went about the streets, halted at four or five places and from there collected whatever food was brought to him. For his stay and sleep, the dilapidated mosque of the village was the only place, and it soon became his residence. He was never for wholly deserting society and living in mountain caves and deserts.In his earliest days, even up to 1890, Baba had a youthful love of art and music, and at night he often went to the Takia, the resting place for visiting Muslims. There he would, with his very sweet and appealing voice, sing songs mostly of Kabir or songs in Persian or Arabic, which the local people could not understand. He tied tinklets to his ankles33 and danced about in joy while he was singing his songs with rapt devotion. Baba's attachment was to Allah, or Hari, that is to a Personal God. But the impersonal Nirakara whom the mystics including Kabir sang of in their songs, had also seized his heart. As he mentioned several times34 long years later, Sakara must necessarily have a strong appeal to youth as it has to the mass of mankind and he never lost sight of the Sakara or Personal God in his worship and songs. General speaking his worship was mostly mental35 and he went through no external forms. He seldom performed the five Namazes, never bending on the knees and rising, as most Muslims do. He was an adept in concentration and he had reached the perfection of Manolaya on the Atman, the merger of the self in the Self. That is why he could say as he did. Maim Allah Hum. I am God. His worship never took him away from his social contacts with his neighbours, in relation to whom the key-note of all his thought and activity was service, absolutely selfless service.At times when he was not absorbed in contemplation, he went about meeting people and noting their ailments. He picked up herbs or got cheap drugs from shops and with their use cured the villagers of their bodily illness. His knowledge of medicine and surgery appears to have been extraordinary for he cured not merely snake bite but also leprosy with snake venom and rotting eyes with Bibba, that is, washerman's marking nut36 as an antiseptic alkali. He pulled out the rotting eye balls of some patient, washed them, applied Bibba as a caustic and replaced the eye balls and the disease was cured. He never accepted any payment for his medical or other services. He also rendered other kinds of services. He ploughed up the village common land, the very land on which his Samadhi Mandir now stands, and raised a flower garden thereon. He watered the plants, carrying pots full of water on his own shoulders. He distributed the flowers and leaves freely to various Hindu temples and to Muslim holy places and never made any invidious distinction between Hindu and Muslim places of worship. From his supreme realised state, differences of caste, creed, position and learning, were nonexistent or meaningless. All persons were children of a common father or mother, and he felt a motherly or fatherly interest in all of them and helped them. So, he expected and accepted no recompense.This is all the history of the early years of Baba. There might have been an incident or two remembered by some of the villagers about his early years, but they do not deserve mention in a serious biography. We shall proceed to mention how this obscure fakir grew into Sainath Maharaj, a well recognised Samartha Sadguru, possessed of the most extraordinary superhuman powers with a very large following of people of all classes from the highest to the lowest and from all places, from Bombay to Hyderabad, from Konkan to Ahmedabad, and finally from all over India, and how the worship itself was developing its forms and accessories as also its application to the highest purposes of individuals and the Indian Nation and how it promises to help humanity.When he was an unknown fakir he was practically ignored and treated by most of the villagers as of no account. Suddenly one day an incident occured which brought a thorough change in the situation. He always had his Mosque, wherein he lived, lit up with three or four -earthen lamps, according to the view common to both Hindus and Muslims that places of worship should be lit up at night. So, he went round begging for oil from the Vanis or, oil mongers. There were only two such shops and they supplied him with oil, gratis. The oil pressman also supplied him with oil. One day it struck these people that either they should make Baba realise their importance or should have some fun at his expense and they told him mockingly that they had no oil. Baba had to return to his mosque with his oil tin pot empty. It was already dusk. The vanis and ganamdar came behind him to see what he was going to do in the darkness and thereby to have .some fun. Baba took some water from the water jar37 and shaking up the little bit of oil sticking to the tin, drank it up. Then he too pure, aqua from the water pot and filled his four earthern lamps with it. He placed in each of them a cotton wick and struck up a match and lighted it. The spectators thought at first that cotton soaked in water could not possibly be lit up. But to their great surprise, the lamps were lit up and went on burning the whole night38 After a little time, consternation seized the guilty vanis and ganamdar, and being terribly afraid that Baba, having shown himself to be a man of mystic power, might curse them just as Viswamitra cursed Rambha and Konkanava killed a crane with a glance, fell at his feet and prayed that he should not curse them. Baba was the exact opposite of what they thought. He was not a magician resenting contempt and anxious to seize an advantage. On the39 other hand, Baba was more like the Bhikshu Monk in Bhikshugita40 and had a true motherly heart, and noted that these men now repenting were in the proper mood to receive instruction to alter their conduct, and he gave them wholesome advice which was what they needed most. First he asked them, ‘You really had oil with you when you said you had none, eh?' They admitted that they had uttered falsehood. Then Baba told them never to utter falsehood. Falsehood displeases the God of truth. There was, therefore, no necessity for Baba to curse them. Next he pointed out to them how unsocial and wicked their conduct was. The lights were needed for the use of all who visited the mosque and the public would be inconvenienced if there were no lights. He asked them if they had not come to the Mosque to enjoy the pain which they expected him to endure while remaining in darkness. They admitted the fact. He then pointed out that persons who took delight in others' miseries instead of sympathising with them would be punished by God. God is mother to all and loves all equally. If you hurt a child and tell the mother that you have hurt the child, will the mother be pleased? Thus they had displeased God by coming to rejoice in his miserable plight or supposed miserable plight in the absence of lamp oil. He asked them never again to take pleasure in other's distress, or in the words of W.W. Wordsworth "never to blend our pleasure or our pride with sorrow of the meanest thing that feels". They promised. Thus, after giving them excellent pieces of advice, so badly needed by them and by many people now, he dismissed them from his presence. The effect of this incident was marvellous.The contemptible pagal fakir, as they called him, was turned overnight into the hero or the weird magician or the holy Sadhu of the place. Before this, Mahlsapathy and his two friends Tukaram Darji and Appa Bhil had been perhaps the only persons to worship him. Now other people also began to flock to his feet and worship him as a Divine Saint or God, much against his will, with waving of lamps, throwing of flowers and coloured rice over him and offers of fruit and sandal. However strenuously Baba tried to prevent his being worshipped as God or a Godman in the Mosque, he could not stem the tide of popular frenzy. They presently declared he was their God or Godman sent to bless them. It was thus, the pagal fakir became the God or Godman of Shirdi.Such a change could not continue for long without obstruction. Worship of anything except the Impersonal God in a Mosque is forbidden by the Koran, and the Muslims, though few and poor at Shirdi, raised their protest against such worship. He himself might have felt at first the incongruity of his being worshipped at all and next the worship being carried on in a Mosque by the mass of Hindus to the accompaniment of all that Hindu worship implies, that is, the din, the bustle, the noise, the music, and the sacred rituals all of which would be totally unwarranted in a Mosque. Even his being debaubed with sandal paste would strike any Muslim as extremely unorthodox and reprehensible, Abdul Rangari of Thana when visiting Baba noted that sandal paste was being applied by the Hindus to his forehead, and he told Baba, 'What is this? The Hindus are applying sandal paste to your forehead. This is not the custom among the Muslims." Baba had to appease him by pointing out that he had to bend to circumstances. Baba's words were Jaisa Desh Aiysa Vesh. This means, 'While in Rome do as the Romans do'. Baba also told Rangari that he himself was a devotee of Allah. But if the Hindus wished to please themselves by worshipping him, why not allow them to do so? To other similar objectors Baba pointed out that if Hindus worshipped a Muslim in a Mosque41 then there was no loss to Islam but only loss to Hinduism. That seemed a very plausible argument and contented many. But some were still dissatisfied with the puja that was being done to him, and some of the more vigorous opponents of his puja went to consult the Sangamnare Kazi for finding a remedy. That Kazi found that the only chance of obstructing this heterodox haram puja was by threat of force. The Hindus were no doubt the majority in the village, but the actual worshippers were only a handful, and a few muscular Muslims, standing at the entrance to the Mosque, and threatening force could stop this haram. Accordingly a very stout, muscular, powerful and well-built Muslim by name Tambuli and four or five others went up to the entrance to the Mosque and stood there with clubs one morning. The chief worshipper Mahlsapathy was a very slim, meek, and apparently cowardly sort of person, and they hoped to stop his puja by their threats. Tambuli went and explained to Mahlsapathy the exact position, namely, that he ran the risk of being clubbed by the Muslims if he entered the Mosque and applied sandal paste to Baba. Mahlsapathy in his great shock and grief prayed to Khandoba and hit upon an alternative. He went upto the compoundwall of the Mosque and without entering into the Mosque, used all the puja articles that he had brought on a plate, for worshipping a part of the compound wall itself into which by Avahana he invoked Baba. After such invocation or Avahana, he went on applying water, flowers and scents to the wall. Baba noted this and asked him what he was doing, Mahlsapathy explained that the Muslims there threatened to beat any one who would enter into the Mosque and worship Baba with sandal paste. Then Baba judged the situation very correctly and said, 'Come in. Go on doing your puja. Apply your sandal paste here, there and anywhere. Let me see who will beat you'. So saying he dashed his satka, a short club, which he had in his hand on the ground with such a thunderous sound that the few Muslims at the entrance trembled. They found that they would have to reckon with Baba himself if they wished to pursue their plan, and Baba, individually and physically, would be more than a match for them. Besides, Baba was a weird personality who could turn water in oil, and they had therefore still greater fear in trying to oppose Baba. So they considered discretion the better part of valour and retreated quietly. Mahlsapathy entered and carried on the worship. Mahlsapathy feared that they might attack him on his way back home, and he told Baba of his fears. Baba then gave him the assurance that not merely these, but any others who would come to attack him not merely at that time but at any other time in any other place, and not merely in this janma, but in future janmas also, could do him no harm and Baba would see to it. Thus assured Mahlsapathy who finished his puja and was not molested. Thus all joined in Baba's worship.Thus the first impediment was removed. The second impediment is more interesting. Baba had both Hindu and Muslim features in his body and in his actions and practice, and, his mission in life was to unify Hindus and Muslims into one compact mass with common religious, spiritual and worldly interests. As he had a Hindu Guru, namely, Gopal Rao Deshmukh alias Venkatesa or Venkusa, he was considered fitted to guide his Hindu followers. In order to guide his Muslim followers, initiation into Islamic scripture by a Maulana was essential according to public opinion. So, his destiny had to be fulfilled by his getting a second Guru, a Muslim. Jawar Ali Maulana was a distinguished Maulana of the last century, residing for some time at Rahata. He had extraordinary ability and learning, but had disagreed with his Rahata followers. He came to Shirdi and noted that Baba had a large Hindu following who worshipped him at the Mosque. He called upon Baba to come out of the Mosque and asked him whether he knew the Koran and the Shariat. Baba had learnt neither. So Jawar Ali Maulana ordered him to accompany him to Rahata and there Baba was living with this Guru for about two months. The Guru initiated him into the mysteries of Islamic spiritual literature. Baba did humble seva to this Guru, carrying water pots, fetching faggots, lighting up fire, doing hard physical work which others would complain of. But in the case of Baba, he accepted his position as the sishya of Jawar Ali with perfect sincerity and underwent with sweet complacency42 all the ordeal and the course of training given to him. The villagers of Shirdi headed by Mahlsapathy who were very anxious to have Baba back again permanently settled at Shirdi requested the Maulana to allow them to take Sai Baba with them. This was agreed to by the Maulana on the condition that with Baba he also should be taken to Shirdi, and that both he and Baba should be fed and supported by the villagers of Shirdi. So both came and lived at the Shirdi Mosque. Some time later, Jawar Ali was drawn purposely into a dispute with Devadas, a noted Hindu saint living in a chavadi at Shirdi, and Devadas's questions cornered Jawar Ali. The latter had to make so many admissions that the surrounding spectators were moved to laughter. Jawar Ali resenting this humiliation left Shirdi and did not return there for long years to come. Baba's worship at the Shirdi Mosque went on and gathered strength. What appeared as the second impediment tended only to increase the devotees' attachment through Viraha and admiration and helped Baba's mission. It must be noted here that the worship mentioned here is individual worship, each one going to Baba and placing flowers on his feet and treating him as God, Avatar or Guru. Baba followed the rule for Jnanis "Avoid honours as poison. Ever welcome indignity, as nectar". Manu smriti43

LOS AÑOS JOVENES DE BABA PERIODO 2

The birth and parentage of Sai Baba are wrapped in mystery. We have not come across a single person who has any direct" knowledge of them. Sai attained his fame at Shirdi in the Bombay state by the end of the 19th Century when he was already grey. It is known that he was not a native of Shirdi. He was very young when he first came there. In the beginning he left Shirdi off and on, and returned to it. The date of his first arrival at Shirdi cannot be fixed. A very old lady, the mother of Nana Chopdar, said in 1900 that when she was young she first saw Sai Baba at Shirdi, when he was a prepossessing and attractive lad without a moustache, probably in his early teens, and of, whom nothing was known. That so little is known about his early life proves that even then he was leading a secluded life, a real fakir not hankering after the good things of the world but concentrating his attention on higher aims. He was often in solitude, not infrequently under the well known margosa tree called the Code neeni, meaning that the leaves of one of its two big branches are not so bitter as margosa leaves usually are and as the leaves of the other big branch are. He had no fixed residence - real fakirs have none. He would roam about in the fields and squat at any tree-foot, and had no interest in any worldly matter.
One of his later visits to Shirdi, probably the final visit, was on the momentous occasion of Chand Bhai Patel's advent to Shirdi. Chand Bhai Patel was a rich and influential village Patel or Headman, of Dhupkeda village in the Nizam's State not far from Shirdi. His wife's newphew was to be married to a bride at Shirdi, and so in 1872, he came in the evening or night with a huge procession and Sai Baba accompanied him on that occasion from Dhupkeda to Shirdi. After that time except for two months when he was under Jawar Ali Msulana, Sai Baba never left Shirdi but only made a few occasional visits off and on to the neighbouring villages of Rahata or Nimgam, from which he immediately returned to Shirdi. So his final residence was Shirdi from about 1872 till the end of his life in 1918. He discouraged questions on parentage, and gave mostly mystifying answers. On one occasion, he said, his father was Purusha and his mother was Maya or Prakriti, and that in consequence, he came in as the Dehi into this world of phenomena24. At another time he said that his uncle had brought him to Shirdi from Aurangabad25. On one momentous occasion, very late in his life, he revealed to Mahlsapathy26 the interesting fact that his parents were Brahmins of Patri in the Nizam's State. Patri is part of Parvani taluk, near Manwath. Sai Baba added, in explanation of the fact that he was living in a Mosque, that while still a tender child his Brahmin parents handed him over to the care of a fakir who brought him up. This is fairly indisputable testimony, as Mahlsapathy was a person of sterling character noted for his integrity, truthfulness and vairagya. All persons including Sai Baba, H.S. Dixit, and others held him in very high esteem, and none would doubt his veracity. Sai Baba occasionally showed his interest in Patri and Parvani when people from those parts came to him, by questioning them about the residents of those places. This does not take us very far. But this is practically all that we have about the birth and parentage of Sri Sai Baba.
But who ever his parents were it is quite important to remember that from his earliest infancy he had all the associations or dissociation or detachment a true vairagi or jnani should have. Having no parents or kinsmen, and being brought up by a fakir, he easily picked up his foster-father's vairagya and spiritual turn of mind27. Even that fakir passed away within four or five years after taking charge of him. The fakir directed his wife to take the young child, Baba, and leave him in charge of a noted saintly zamindar, Gopal Rao Deshmukh at Selu. The appellation Deshmukh was not meaningless in the case of Gopal Rao but denoted an actual appointment as Deshmukh or Provincial Governor for Jintur Parganna, and the title or sanad of Deshmukh had been conferred on him by the descendants of the Peshwas. The exact date of the title cannot be discovered. There are ballads and some old manuscripts in the possession of Deshmukh's descendants which show that somewhere about the first quarter of the last century, the Peshwas recognised his military capacity which enabled him, Gopal Rao, to bring Jintur Parganna under his control with his own horsemen and other followers. Young Baba, left under the care of this Gopal Rao Deshmukh spent the best and the most impressionable part of his life at Selu which was the centre of that Parganna, and which had a fort and castle wherein the Deshmukh resided. The young boy was very greatly attached to his master, and the master in turn was deeply interested in the boy. Consequently the boy was with the master at all times, whether the latter was in the field or at puja, whether he was in the garden or in the court. Baba seems to have had no education given to him at any time, that is, no book study, and no masters either in the regional language which must have been Marathi or Telugu or in any other language. But real education of the highest sort, he had in plenty. This Deshmukh, unlike many other Deshmukhs or zamindars of his times, was not a dissolute and sensuous person of brutal nature revelling in cruelty and violation of all moral rules or scruples. On the other hand, he was an extremely pious devotee greatly attached to Tirupati Venkatesa whose image he worshipped daily in his own castle. He was rich, and liberal, and patronised learning and piety. Hence an abundance of real education could be picked up by the young child Baba when attending on his master. This Deshmukh's worship of Venkatesa was not of the ordinary sort. He had direct communion with his Ishta Devata, and the guidance of that Ishta Devata in all His affairs made his life a-remarkable spiritual and temporal success. He maintained his political sovereignly against all odds, and the ballads of his time show that his regiment was greatly esteemed by the Peshwas whom he helped and feared by the Muslim Nizam whom he opposed. This Deshmukh, however, spent much of his time in holy pastimes. He went round visiting holy places, and at one of those places a remarkable incident took place showing his nature. He occupied, with his retainers, a haunted house. The original owner of the house had died and become a Brahma-Rakshas, who would appear suddenly at midnight and kill the occupants. But Gopal Rao, the devout worshipper of Venkatesa, was not afraid. He carried on the puja of Venkatesa and Saligram right up to the middle of the night. The evil spirit, dishevelled and hairy all over, appeared and demanded in a terrific voice, 'Who are you? How dare you come to my house?' Then Gopal Rao coolly replied that the statement that the house was his was a mistake when there was nothing in common between him and the materials making up the house. The- spirit, infuriated, tried to approach him, though with some fear. Gopal Rao waited, and when the spirit came within a few yards, he hurled the abhikshekam water on the head of that spirit. At once this effected a marvellous change. The spirit fell down prostrate, and recited its past history and prayed that Gopal Rao should take possession of the vast hoards of wealth which the spirit had made when alive and which it had kept in the house and watched over and to utilise all that; to release it from its Brahma Rakshas state. Gopal Rao agreed, and carried away the treasures to Kasi where he performed the requisite rites for the liberation of the Brahmarakshas.
Another noteworthy incident in his travels28 was at Ahmedabad. There at the tomb of Suvag Shah which he approached, a remarkable incident occured. The tomb actually perspired with joy and spoke to him. It stated that Gopal Rao was formerly Ramananda of Kasi and that now he had become a grihasta and a ruler but all the same, his former devotee Kabir would be coming to him soon. It was after this, that young Baba was brought to him by the fakir's widow, and Gopal Rao recognised him as Kabir.
Amongst the influences that mould the character of young boys, perhaps the strongest is that of the father or the -mother living with them, and shaping their mind from hour to hour. Baba had no mother or father to mould him but he had first a foster father, the fakir and next a master who ultimately became his Diksha Guru. So, the nature and character of Gopal Rao Deshmukh must first be understood to know how Baba's nature and character developed. This Gopal Rao, though a zamindar or rural chieftain of ancient days maintained a character and reputation unattained by any other zamindar of his time. One incident in his life illustrates this point. One evening as he sat on the ramparts of his fort, it was quite dusk, and in that half darkness, a fair damsel of some twenty years came very close to the ramparts on the ground level, and thinking that there was nobody, sat down and exposed her body. Seeing a nude usually provokes lust. Others in his position would have immediately ordered some one to go and carry away the damsel and bring her for their gratification. With Gopal Rao the sinful impulse lasted only for a moment. His conscience rebelled, and he at once thought of Venkatesa and appealed to him for forgiveness. He viewed every woman other than his wife as really in the position of a mother to him. Matruvat Paradarmscha says the niti sloka. That is, no lustful thoughts should be directed to any person other than one's wife. So, treating this lustful thought as an enormous sin, he rapidly went down to his worship room, and there, before his Ishta Devata's image Sri Venkatesa, he repented with bitter tears this momentary lust, and then resolved to punish his eyes for having cast lustful glances at a mother, which is nothing short of incest. He at once seized two sharp needles and poked his eyes with them. Blood issued, and he moaned. His relations soon came up and noting the fact, blamed him for the folly of losing his eyes for such a trivial matter. As his eye sight was absolutely essential for guarding them and the Jintur Parganna from the Muslims, and as they were necessary also for purposes of worship, his Guru asked him to pray to Lord Venkatesa for recovery of sight. Accordingly he prayed and recovered sight. The fame of his purity, nobility of character and ability to draw Venkatesa's power for curing ailments, spread abroad. Blind people and others came to him, and his very touch was curative. To a woman born blind, he applied chillies to her eyes with Venkatesa's name on his lips. This cured her and restored her sight. This incident, therefore, shows the nature and characteristics of Baba's Guru, Gopal Rao Deshmukh. In his highest moments of absorption, Gopal Rao uttered words which were the words of Venkatesa. He became one with Venkatesa at that time. So Baba always referred to his Guru as Venkusa, a contraction of Venkatesa. Perfect chastity, thorough self-control, invariable rectitude, perfect truthfulness, generosity, and serviceability to all which were the leading characteristics of his Guru became -transplanted and took deep root in the disciple, Sri Sai Baba.
We shall next proceed to narrate how the full personality including curative power, descended from the Guru to Baba.
Baba's being favoured by the Master evoked considerable jealousy amongst the Guru's retainers and some of them resolved to kill young Baba by hurling brickbats at him. During a chaturmasya, between August to November, Gopal Rao was in the garden and young Baba was attending upon him. The villains hurled bricks at Baba. One of the bricks came very near Baba's head, but the Guru saw it, and by his order it stood still in mid air unable to proceed further or hit Baba. Another man threw a second brick to hurt Baba. But Gopal Rao got up and got the brick on his head. This led to profuse bleeding. Baba was moved to tears, and he begged his Master to send him away as the Master was getting harmed from his unfortunate company. But the Master declined to send him away. As for the injury, the Master bandaged it with a shred torn from his own cloth, and then suddenly said, "I see that the time has come for me to part with you. To-morrow at 4 p.m. I shall leave this body, not as a result of this injury, but by my own yoga power of Swechcha Marana29. Therefore, I shall now vest my full spiritual personality in you. For that purpose, fetch milk from yonder black cow". Young Baba went to Hulla the lambadi in charge of the cow, who pointed out that the cow was barren, had not calved, and could not, therefore, yield milk. All the same he came with the cow to the chieftain Gopal Rao who just touched it from horns to tail and told the lambadi, 'Now pull at the teats.' The lambadis pull drew out plenty of milk and this milk was given to Baba with Gopal Rao's blessings that the full power and grace of the Guru should pass on to young Baba. This was the Diksha, the investiture of the Guru's personality, which young Baba underwent. So far as mystic powers were concerned, immediately an opportunity arose for proving the transfer of power Saktinipata. The villain whose brickbat had hit Gopal Rao, the Chieftain, fell down dead, the moment Gopal Rao was hit. His companions were horrified, and they came with repentance to Gopal Rao's feet and prayed for pardon not only for themselves but also for their dead companion whom they requested Gopal Rao to revive. The Chieftain pointed out that the power of revival30 now rested in the young man, and that they should appeal to him. They accordingly appealed, and Baba took some of the dust of his Guru's feet and placed it on the corpse. The dead man arose at once.
The Guru's declaration that he would pass away the next day from this life into the beyond, was fulfilled. After making the fullest preparations for settling all his temporal affairs, Gopal Rao with his full consciousness sat up in the midst of a religious group carrying on puja, bhajan and nama smaran, in the presence of his Ishta Devata Sri Venkatesa and at the solemn hour he had himself fixed for departure, his soul left in perfect peace and happiness like Parikshit in Srimad Bhagavata. Before leaving the body, the Master waved his hand westward to the young boy, and bade him leave Selu and proceed westward to his new abode. Shirdi lies on the banks of the Godavari due west of Selu, and Baba by slow degrees moved on from place to place and arrived at Shirdi and after sometime made it his permanent residence.

QUIEN ES SAI BABA?

Who is Sai Baba?
The phenomenal spread, like wild fire of faith in Sri Sai Baba throughout this great country, within the last decade or two and its wonderful hold on the mass mind naturally roused the curiosity of many to put the above question and have necessitated the writing of a full and clear account. Those who know nothing of the personality in whom the faith of many centers, ought to know something of him. Those with prejudices or with wrong or defective views about him must be enabled to cast aside such prejudices and views and to acquire better and more accurate ideas about him. Those who have just a faint or superficial notion of Sai Baba must likewise be enabled to get a deeper, wider and more authentic idea about him, so that they may thereby extend or increase their contact with him.
Correct knowledge of any kind is good. But correct knowledge of facts connected with the lives of saints is not only good for the individual who knows them, but is beneficial to society as in the long run it promotes social unity and ethical, spiritual and religious study and endeavor. Lives of saints give not merely information for the brain of the reader, but food and strength for his heart, and they facilitate the general advancement of the temporal and spiritual interests of mankind. By the study of such lives, basic ignorance and illusions are dispelled. Rajasic and Tamasic qualities such as egotism, pride, hatred, and cruelty are checked or suppressed and noble virtues like humility, earnestness, love to all, service of saints, Guru Bhakti and Jnana are developed. These in due course lead to the goal of God-realisation. Apart from these, even the temporal benefits derived by individuals from appreciation and knowledge of Sri Sai Baba and the acquisition of a real living touch with him are great enough to justify an attempt to place a book like this before the public.
Further, there is even now an important section of readers, however small their number may be, that require something more than mere bread and butter or health, wealth and worldly comforts, whose spiritual longings should be met in some measure by a work which presents something of the facts about a unique and perhaps one of the strangest of known spiritual personalities adorning the earth during recent times.
The task undertaken is however extremely difficult. There exists a mass of information about what Sai Baba said and did during his life time and about the experience of him which people who met him in life had. There is an even greater mass of evidence about the experiences of devotees who have after 1918, that is, after his Mahasamadhi, treated him as their true God or Ishtadevata. The difficulty however is to remove the grain from the chaff, to sift and arrange all the mass of evidence that exists and to present what, after enquiry and investigation, has to be accepted as true beyond reasonable doubt. If the evidence which exists regarding Sai Baba is properly sifted and carefully examined and selected, a trustworthy biography can be written and may form a useful inducement for progress in spiritual matters.
The difficulty of sifting the evidence before us is by no means slight. First, Sai Baba himself left his body more than thirty-six years ago. It is not therefore given to a biographer to go and ask him about the true facts and discover the truth. Very few who met him, or benefitted from him till 1918, made use of their contact with him to collect and record facts about him. Many of them did not understand him at all. For the mere sight of Sai did not enable a man to understand him. The right approach or mentality that is necessary for understanding a saint was wanting in many who met him, and Sai Baba himself once said: "They were coming for water to the supplier of water, but insisted on holding their pots with their mouths down, so unreceptive they were".
To many who saw him, Baba's deeds and sayings were rather confusing or perplexing. For instance, when he said, I am not at Shirdi, but everywhere.8
He who thinks Baba is in Shirdi alone has totally failed to see Baba.9
You have been with me 18 years. Does Sai mean to you only this 31/2’ cubits height of body?10
I am God, Allah"
such statements appeared to them like eccentric pronouncements of a mad man. In fact his queer unconventional ways, his habit of accommodating himself to all sorts of people including Hindus, Mohammadans and others, and his fearless and unorthodox originality failed to impress many of his visitors. Sectarian prejudices and narrow views led many to think and pronounce all sorts of opinions about him. Even G.G. Narke12 and Syama13 took him at first to be a mad man. Others such as Londa14 and Megha15 took him to be a communalist. A few people took him to be a hypnotist16, a black magician17 while others even denounced him as an immoral and dangerous man who was ruining Hindus and Hinduism18. When new comers like Dr. D.M. Mulky tried to go to Shirdi, railway personnel en route stopped several by their abuse and vilification of Baba.
This kind of attitude to Sai Baba is to some extent prevalent even now. Many are the persons who hate Sai, presuming from the name and residence at the mosque that he must have been an iconoclastic Mussalman, while others are indifferent to him, as they have not been fortunate enough to get proper information about him.
There can therefore be no doubt that there is a great need for a book of facts regarding Sai Baba like the present one. The difficulty of the task should not act as a deterrent. One very closely associated devotee of his, now living, still believes that Baba was only a Mohammadan. What can 'only a Mohammadan' mean? It means that even after 25 years of personal experience of him and 36 of his post mortem glories, the devotee treats him as a communalist just as he did when Baba was in the flesh. On the other hand, to Sri. M.B. Rege, a retired High Court Judge, Sai is only God, the Paramatma, and this view he held even in 1914.
Baba wished to convince the devotee, if he was a Hindu, that he was Mahavishnu, Lakshminarayan, etectra and he bade water flow from his feet, as Ganga issued from Mahavishnu's feet. The devotee saw it and praised him as Rama Vara, but as for the water coming from his feet, that devotee simply sprinkled a few drops on his head and would not drink it, coming as it did from a Mohammadan's feet. So great was the prejudice of ages that even one, who thought of him as Vishnu, thought he was a Muslim Vishnu. Prejudices die hard and the devotee wondered how people can believe that Baba was a Brahmin and that his parents were Brahmins when he had lived all his life in a mosque and when he was believed to be a Muslim. It was only a few persons like S.B. Dhumal who saw clearly that Baba was neither Hindu nor Muslim, but above all castes, sects and religions.19
It is still fewer people that could rise to the level of accepting Baba's supreme claim20 that he was Paramatma in all beings. Such persons naturally worship him as Ishtadevata.
Thus there are vast differences, sometimes poles apart between the various ideas which people have about Sai Baba. These render difficult the task of presenting the real Sai as distinguished from the popular distortions of him. His devotees and strangers alike said that Sai could not be understood and that nobody could know the secrets of Sai Baba. Syama called him Deva, that is God, but did not always behave as he would towards God.21
To a Haji who was proud of his Haj, Baba said "You do not know what is here", that is, in the Sai body or personality. A well known song is22
"More Babaku Mdrma na Janare koyi More" "None knows my Baba's secret".
Till now, there has not been a good biography containing a fair, full and faithful description of his life. In Marathi, the work that can be thought of when facts about Sai Baba are wanted is Hemad Pant's alias Anna Saheb Dabolkar's Sai Satcharitra. This is a brillantly written poetical work extending to 53 chapters and over 1000 pages narrating incidents connected with Sai Baba's life, and written in highly florid and resonant Marathi, serving excellently the purpose of Puranic study and daily parayana. Great as the merits of the book are from the standpoint of a Bkakta, it cannot be called a regular biography. It is rather a chronicle of reminiscences or anecdotes relating to him having no arrangement, not even chronological. There is a good adaptation of this Marathi work in an English garb by Sri Gunaji. Other small sketches or introduction to Baba's life have been published in English and other languages, but these also are too tiny to deserve the name of a biography, sketches of a few early incidents in Baba's life were issued as poetic pieces by Das Ganu Maharaj of Nanded during the life time of Baba in about 1906. He wrote 6 or 7 chapters on the whole about Sai Baba, and he published them as part of big books namely, Bhakta Leelamrutha, Santha Kathamrutha and Bakthi Saramrutha. These 7 chapters are printed in Marathi. H.S. Dixit wrote a short biographical preface to Mrs. & Mr. Tendulkar's Sai Bhajan Mala in 1917.
A very short sketch of Sai Baba's life was issued in Gujarati by Amidoss Mehta. This was also before Baba's Mahasamadhi in 1918. A slightly more ambitious work was the Life of Baba in Tamil written by the present author. Actually only Part I of it appeared, but even that was not a full account. Subsequent to his mahasamadhi, there have appeared a few statements or sketches about Sai Baba, but they are scattered and do not deserve the name of a regular biography. Sai Samasthan itself published Rao Bahadur M.W. Pradhan's book 'A glimpse of Indian spirituality' but it ran upto only about 25 to 30 pages and set out just a handful of facts about Baba23.
This list practically exhausts all attempts made hitherto to publish a biography of Sai Baba. A faithful and full account of Sai Baba's life based on a careful and critical study of the available material regarding his life and the incidents and anecdotes narrated about him by those who contacted him before and after 1918 is therefore urgently called for and will it is hoped be appreciated by his innumerable devotees.
The author has undertaken this work in a spirit of humility and as a true service of Sai Baba and in the sincere belief that Sai himself has directed him to undertake it. 'Obstacles and difficulties should not frighten us', says Bhartruhari. The most admirable of Sai Baba's charters is 'Why do you fear, when I am here?' This in itself is an answer to those who doubt and fear about the possibility of a successful biography of Sai Baba.
The arrangement of the work requires a few words of explanation. After giving as full and accurate an account of Baba's life, doings and teachings as can be gathered from the available evidence, the author has given a description of the various aspects of Baba and of the various functions which he performed. Further a sketch has been given of the more important disciples who contacted Sai Baba and benefited by such contact and of the circumstances which attracted them to him. It will be seen that these disciples were mostly Hindus, though some of them were Muslims. In writing separate chapters about Sai Baba's doings and teachings and his disciples, it was inevitable that some teachings and incidents connected with the disciples might happen to be repeated more than once, but the author thought that it was better to allow the repetition so that each chapter may be complete and self-sufficient in itself rather than to leave the reader to go through the previous pages for the purpose of finding out references. As it is, the reader can take up any chapter and read it with interest and will not find himself handicapped for want of knowledge of the previous chapter. Further repetition is essential to ensure a deep impression.
God-realisation is a personal experience and cannot be obtained or explained through the written word. Those who are familiar with Hindu thought and in fact with religious thought generally, can realise the importance of a Guru and absolute faith in a Guru for the quickening of spiritual growth. "All things are possible to him that believeth". But faith is founded on experience and confidence is increased by tangible proofs. To create such faith and evoke such confidence. God or a God-man Guru has to confer wished for benefits on the disciple or devotee and the conferring of such benefits is the instrument with which God works. The less care a devotee has about his bodily or material comforts, the more perfectly he can carry out His will and programme. This book proves beyond doubt how Sai Baba took upon his shoulders the responsibility of looking after the maintenance, health and prosperity of his disciples and devotees.
The advent of Sai Baba was for the uplift of man-kind and a study of this work describing it will, shower upon the readers incalculable benefits both spiritual and temporal in this world and beyond.

DEATH & BABA'S LIGHT ON IT

Seers ancient and modern tell the" same tale. The observations of the ancient veers are enshrined in the Sruti and Smritis. It is highly satisfactory' to note that modern rishis (which term really is Drishya i.e., seers) observe and narrate the same facts, as their predecessors. So far we have quoted from Upanisads and Sanatsujatiya extracts about Death; and we find the same in Puranaa also. The teachings of these ancients may thus be summed up, 'Death is only operative in the field of Phenomena or Maya, where the play of differences is noticed and cannot exist in the state of Brahman', ,the; state of undifferenced Bliss. Even in the field of phenomena, Death is a terror and an evil only when its real nature is not known, Any one who has full knowledge of the past, present and future, of the near and the remote alike in Time and space can see what; happens to creatures during each life,, at the moment of its cessation, which is called the death of that life and the -.birth of the next, and all that follows. 'Such wise persons see that .death and another facts and aspects of Life are governed by the same lawa of the: Wise and Benevolent Creator, and that any sincere devotee of the creator (or any of His amsas. or manifestations) is hot hindered or harmed by any of these facts or events.

Sri Sai Baba who showed in himself the knowledge, goodness, and power, of Rishyasringa, Vasishta, Viswanwtra etc., has given the same account of Death. It is only one incident, he says in the evolution of the, jiva. ' -Ha gave instances where death of one life was exactly the same as the. commencement of another for the jiva. He-gave his devotees the assurance that he stands guard over them at that moment, as at other moments of their, life and that it is his right and duty to receive them and take them on' to further stages of their progress. He informed several of what he had done for them in this matter. Regarding Sri Rao Saheb Galwankar, who is now leading a pure and devoted life of service, Baba declared that even in a , 'former life G was marked by these tracts that therefore Baba placed him in his present mother's womb, and that he is maintaining his progress in such virtues even in these life also. 'Even if a devotee is 2000 miles away from Shirdi, Baba declared, his spirit would go to Baba the moment it is disengaged from its former body.
Baba added that when he takes charge of a soul he has to follow it, life after life, by taking birth himself as often as may be .necessary, till he . takes the soul to its final goal—the Feet of God. Even the terrors of the punishments that Yama and his myrmidons inflict on people for their past sins need not frighten his devotees. Says Sainatha Manana (which is the manual or quintessance-of Baba's Pooja, Dhyana, teachings etc.).
24 Yamah Kruro duradharsho Bhrusam tudati manavan
Sayeesa dhrida bhakteshu Yama peeda na vidyate !
25 Bhayam Sayeesa bhaktanam Yamaat kindit na vidyate
Sayeesah Kalakalo vai ! Niryane rakshati svakan
26 Sakrin manaa Sayi padaravindayph
Nivesitam tat guna ragi Yairiha
Nate Yaoam pasa bhritah cha tadbhatan
Swapnepi-pasyanti hi cheerna-nishkritahll
24. Yama is cruel, and undaunted he tortures people. But His punishments are unknown to the staunch devotees of Lord Sai.
25 Sais devotees have nothing to fear from Yama, the God of Death. Lord Sai is the Death of Death, He protects his own at the time they leave their bodies.
26. If people attracted by the Excellence of Sai rest their minds even occasionally at his feet,: Yama and his myrmidons armed with their cords will never appear before them—not even in their dreams, as their sins have been expiated (by such contemplation of Lord Sai).
These verses would'; remind , one of similar passages in Srimad Bhagavata. ' Ajamila a great sinner uttered-the holy name Narayana at the moment of Death, as he wished to call for his son named Narayana.; That utterance brought angels to save him from the clutches of Yama's myrmiions.
SaiBhakti .Sri R; B Purandhare and another saw Yamadhutas at their.bedside and were terrified. But Sai Baba was at hand and the cruel agents of .death vanished.
Remembering Sai undoubtedly purifies the heart and is the explanation
41 Sarvesham apyaghayatam. Idameva aunishkrithi
Sayinateti hamoktih—Yatas tadvishayamatih !
i.e-, Sai's name expiates all sins—for by uttering that name the mind turn to' Him. 46 Srunvatam Svakataas Sayi Punyasravana Keertanah
Hridantastho hyabhadrani Vidhunoti Suhrut sataam I
Sai the friend of the good,-is in the 'hearts of those who bear accounts of Him and drives away thence all evils.
Purifying and protecting his devotees all along, Sai appears before their vision at the moment of Death, -and takes them on to happy realms of the blessed. Such was the experience of Sow. Kuttiyamrnal who communicated the fact of her having received such help and blessing to her husband recently. Many others also have received similar help and blessings.
If readers of this article desire to obtain Sai's help at the Death crisis, the advice given by him as by Sri Krishna is' Tamed Serves Kales Mamanusmara, Yudhya cha
Mayyarpita Manobuddhih Mameveshayasi asamsayahll
i.e. Therefore think of me always,—and. carry on your struggle.; When mind and intelligence are centered on me, you will undoubtedly come to me.'
"This is.the great goal of Life—to reach God.

(Saileelas.org/magazines/SAISUDHA/nov1943..)

BABA'S MAGICAL CHILLUM

Dear Readers,Baba, in actuality, smoked very little and required only two to three chillums per year. The potter knew this. Nonetheless, he delivered two to three hundred chillums daily and demanded payment for them. The cost of a chillum was about two pie and Baba paid it. Thus the potter made a living.Baba stacked these chillums in the corner of Dwarkmai. The devotees freely took the chillums and smoked them there or took them home. One day, Deo came for Baba's 'darshan' in the afternoon and seeing the stacks of chillums, asked Baba as to why He had stored them when He Himself needed only two to three per year. Baba replied, "What you say is correct. I don't need more than two to three chillums per year. But My devotees come here and smoke. Some take them unseen by us. So, I have stacked them here."The magical chillum, like Baba's satka, was a constant companion of Baba's sojourn on earth. Blessed was the potter who made them, and blessed was the clay that touched Baba's hands and lips.Chandbhai Patil was truly a blessed soul, who got the first taste of Baba's chillum. The bond and debt between them was great. As Baba, after smoking and sharing His chillum, actually went and stayed with Chandbhai. He was instrumental in bringing Baba back to Shirdi, along with the marriage party. After this event, it is history.Baba bestowed His grace and favours on many a devotee by allowing them to smoke His chillum. The most amazing story is that of Balaram Dhurandar .He was troubled by bouts of coughing fits and suffered from asthma for six years. On his visit to Shirdi, he went to Dwarkamai, one afternoon, and with great humility, began pressing Baba's feet. Baba gave him His chillum to smoke. Accepting it as prasad, Balaram took a puff. The very effort was painful and incongruous to him. But he had utmost faith in Baba; so, he smoked a while and returned the chillum to Baba humbly. Thence, his asthma vanished completely and he was greatly relieved. The chillum was so powerful and worked like a magical mantra on him. He wasn't tormented by breathlessness or coughing bouts thereafter. However, the day Baba took Mahasamadhi, the asthma was triggered again. He coughed all day long, that day and only that day did he cough and wasn't bothered by it again. Could he ever forget the experience of the clay pipe?Ganesh S. Khaparde was a renowned, wealthy lawyer of Amravati. He was a loyal aid to Lokmanya Tilak, who was serving a six-year sentence in Burma. He had immense faith and a deep love for Baba. Baba in turn, kept him at Shirdi and rescued him from the clutches of the British, who were waiting for a chance to prosecute him for treason and sedition. He was politically involved in several agitations against the British.His lucrative practice dwindled and his political ambitions were also at a standstill, because of his long stay at Shirdi, But Khaparde was a spiritual man, well versed in Sanskrit and the Puranas. Time and time again, during Arati, Baba made signs and offered His chillum, when he could unravel the answers.At other times, the chillum would calm his restless mind and give him reassurances. On 22/01/1912, Khaparde says, "During the course of worship, He put two flowers in His nostrils and two others between His Ears and head. I thought this was His instruction, and when I interpreted it in my mind, He offered His chillum to me and thus confirmed it."(Shirdi diary)Krishnaji J. Bhishma, the author of Sai Sagunopasan (Arati Book) was disgusted by the thought that the devotees were drinking Padtirtha of a Muslim, Sai Baba. He was horrified to see the Brahmin devotees puff the chillum after Baba had smoked it and mentally, he resolved not to do both.One day, Baba narrated a story to him and it was the same dream vision, he had had earlier. While doing so, Baba casually passed His chillum to Bhishma. He took a puff and was thrown into complete bliss and ecstasy and changed for life. Thenceforth, he became an ardent devotee of Baba.Bhagoji Shinde was the first devotee to enter the Dwarkamai in the morning. He came to do seva and bandage Baba's burnt hand. Baba smoked His chillum and passed it to Bhagoji, who also accepted it.Even now in Shirdi , Baba is offered the chillum in the Chawdi on Thursdays and other Holy Days. On these days, the palki and rath procession is taken out with great pomp and show. Baba's 'Raj-Upchar' photograph is brought to the Chawdi and placed on the silver sinhasan and lagu-arati is performed.During Adkars 'Arati Sai Baba, Soukhyadatara Jeeva', chillum is offered to Baba thrice. The honour of offering the chillum is given to the descendants of Tatya's family .Jai Sai Ram

MESSAGE FROM GURUJI SHRI CB SATPATHY

……“God has created a manifested material universe around human souls called ‘Jiva’. The ‘Jiva’ takes birth from life to life till its karma (both positive and negative) is exhausted. After the karma is exhausted, a human body is not required by the soul. Then the soul continues in a body-less state and merges with God, the Over soul from which it came.The main function of Shri Sainath, the Param Sadguru was to draw, train help and evolve the human souls to get rid of their Karma and Jivdasa. Baba, in an earlier phase of his life must have undergone the various Jivdasa Himself. He has narrated many stories about His past lives and relations in Shri Sai Satcharitra. Being the Over-soul He knew about the conditions and the stage of evolution of all souls and their past. Hence, He could guide and control them effectively. He used to say that He could draw the soul of any of His devotees at the time of death even from thousands of miles and also that He knew every thing about everyone wherever they are.
To hold-on to such a Samarth Guru is the basic as also the ultimate requirement of a true spiritual seeker. All Prayers, Sadhanas, Poojas, Yogas are meant for evolving the soul out of the sufferings and sorrows of its human embodiment. Therefore, the Sadguru who is capable of taking the human souls to the ultimate reality is the key person. This key person, himself being beyond life and death, is a guide for many lives of his devotees.
Parents are linked with one ‘birth’ but the Sadguru is linked with many births. All human relations, father, mother, wife, children can walk along with a soul till death. But it is the Sadguru alone who walks along after death. He is, therefore, our best and permanent friend. We should hold on to Him with all the love devotion and faith we have. One must continue steadfastly, with faith and realise that in this life whatever pleasure and pain we experience are under His guidance and control.
These experiences are for the evolution of the soul and are essentially required. Those who have this faith and patience evolve faster than those who lose patience and faith quickly. Baba said that when faced with a difficult situation don’t break down. Wait and see what happens because, it is my duty to protect my children/devotees at any cost. What better assurance can be given by any one?".........

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GURU VAKHAYA - QUOTES FROM BABA

Jan--"Destiny is not comparable. Destiny of each person is unique by itself. So do not suffer by comparing and contrasting your destiny with others.

Feb--"Because the past was imperfect and future uncertain. We must not spoil the perfect present."

March--"Difference of opinion should not lead to difference of mind. Half the problems of our life will not arise at all if we remember this."

April--"Instead of conquering the world,conquer your mind. If you conquer your mind,you can conquer the world".

May--"The science of worldly pleasures blinds people so much that they fail to see the light of God."

June--"We have to be kind to others to receive kindness of the Sadhguru (Perfect Master)."

July---"Do not ponder over negative thoughts as this is infectious. Which gets into your system and takes root in you. Keep negative thoughts out of your being."

August--"Whenever anger takes hold of you stop arguing and fighting, pray to Shri Sai Baba and read His life story "Shri Sai Satcharita', slowly anger will get controlled. Baba said that He loves those people more who are tolerant than those who fight.''

Sep--"Love the world as if the whole world belongs to you, depart from the world as if nothing belongs to you.''

Oct--"The Guru (Spiritual Master) is always hidden in the disciple. When the worldlly covers are taken out of the real image of the Guru is seen in the disciple. There is no difference between the disciple and the Guru as they live in each other.

Nov--"In your home always keep the path going up to Shri Sai free so that whenever you are troubled by problems of life, you can find the way to him.

Dec--"The Sadhguru (Perfect Master) is like a tree that not only gives fruit but also fragrance and shade to all, even to its enemies".

ARE WE ON THE CORRECT PATH?

Think Again and again on the following ideas.
Why do you come to the temple of Shri Shirdi Sai Baba? Is it because:
* You love Baba so much that at least without His symbolic presence, life seems meaningless to it.
* Take some time out of your busy schedule and come to Baba’s temple for generating a better state of mind by praying, singing aarti and doing pooja (worship) etc.
* You have too many problems around you in the practical world surrounding you and cannot fight it and therefore run to the temple for getting blessings of Baba.
* You have problems and want to solve it through Baba’s grace within the desired period and in the desired method.
* Do you remember Baba having said that all the seeds planted need not necessarily become trees. Are you prepared to believe that you may not get as much result as you wish by coming to the temple.
* Whatever you offer to Baba, are they out of your honest income?
* Do you think it is proper to make presents to Baba out of the dishonest income.
* Don’t you remember that Baba had refused to take Gold and silver presents from a queen who had come in a palanquin but had accepted a single roti with an onion from an old lady.
* Are you coming to temple to satisfy your sentimental requirements at the cost of your family members and other dependants? Don’t you remember Baba had forced Mhalsapati to go and stay with family because he was coming and staying at Dwakamai.
* Do you come to the temple to socialize because you have known people there and to gossip about things. Don't you think it is useless wastage of time to talk, discuss topics pertaining to issues other than that of Baba.
* Don’t you think that it is better to spend tour time in meditating on Baba, praying, participating in aarti or by reading books like Sai Satcharitra etc.
* Since no one is perfect, Don’t you think it is improper to think of the imperfection of others or gossip about them in the temple? Don’t you remember that Baba had told one person in the temple that like a pig eating dirty food, some people find fault in others.
* Do you think that your devotional level is higher than that of others and therefore criticize about others way of worshipping.
* Don’t you agree with Shri Sai saying that we meet people and face problems because of rinanubandh i.e. debt of the past life. If we believe in this saying of Baba then isn’t it required of us to accept our own problems and not always cry and fret about the same.
* Do you have the amount of Patience (Saburi) and Faith (Shraddha) needed to come closer to Baba. Do you think that your Shraddha is constant or it changes with problems and situations?
* Baba always advised people to develop qualities of kindness, impartiality, sympathy, tolerance and sacrifice to others. How much sacrifice do you do for others at your own cost? Do you think that whatever little sacrifice you think you do is enough?
* Do you remember Baba having said that that when two persons are fighting, the person that doesn’t hurt the others or tolerates the negatives is dearer to me. Do you do so?
* Do you think that unbridled sentimentally which includes crying and shouting etc. are required in the spiritual path? Don’t you know by such sentiments, you, at time cause harm to others and contaminate good atmosphere. Is it not better to contain your emotionality within yourself and not make a public display of it to establish your devotional fervor.
* You want yourself to be sympathetically dealt by others and also to be understood. Don’t you think that others also would be expecting the same from you. Do you do so?
* Do you think that by being jealous about others improvements even in the devotional field, you gain anything?
* Whatever work you do for Baba, are you doing it honestly and with intensity i.e. purity of thought, or do you do it in a casual manner?
* We want Shri Sai to take care of all our problems but do we equally try to even do a fraction of his work perfectly for his cause.
* Do you think the blessings of God will come to you when you don’t qualify for it, breaking the law of karma i.e. action and reaction syndrome?
* Don’t you think it is proper that you first work for his cause, which qualifies for his blessings.
* If you really want to have the blessings of Baba and life peacefully along with your fellow men, at first improve your own qualities on the lines indicated in the preceding paragraphs.
Think, Think, and Think….

SHRI SAI BABA'S TEACHINGS... QUALITIES OF A DEVOTEE

Shri Sai Baba of Shirdi descended on the earth to lead mankind to the realm of eternity. As the divine mother, He gave his immense love and as the divine father He gave direction to our search for truth. His mission was to make people conscious of their divine nature. The people who follow His teachings and preachings are indeed blessed souls.

Faith & Patience (Shradha & Saburi)...The two Virtues
Shradha
'Shraddha' is a Sanskrit word, which has no equivalent in English, at best it can be understood as, faith with love and reverence. Such faith or trust is generated out of conviction, which may not be the result of any rational belief or intellectual wisdom, but a spiritual inspiration. Baba sowed the seeds of spiritual inspiration in the hearts of people who knew of him. This Divine inspiration was so instant and profound that they automatically took refuge in Him.
Baba reiterated that steadfast love in God as the gateway to eternity. He used the instance of mother tortoise to illustrate this point. The mother - tortoise may be on the other side of the river, whereas her children are on the far side. She does not transfer food and water to her children by way of her loving glances. Yet, her loving looks are enough to protect the children. Similarly, people who lovingly look at God get His reciprocity. God's looks offer peace, protection and prosperity for His children. Baba's teaching, both direct and indirect explicate the significance of 'Shraddha'. Baba reiterates the spiritual guidance of Shri Krishna to Arjun - "Who-so ever offer to Me with love or devotion, a leaf, a flower, a fruit or water, that offering of pure love is readily accepted by Me".
Saburi
'Saburi'; is patience and perseverance. Saburi is a quality needed throughout the path to reach the goal. This quality must be ingrained in a seeker from day one, least he looses his stride and leaves the path half way. As a hunter waits patiently and motionlessly for his target a devotee too has to wait patiently for attaining his goal. There are many trying situations in life. A test may come in the form of frustration, distress, agony, illness, mishaps, prolonged wait or a loss. In such moments we should seek support from the Master and hold on him.
If patience means anything it should last till the end, and faith will see us through every turmoil of life.

Purity And Compession:
Purity
Baba never approved of austerity for the sake of austerity. He emphasized the need for inner purification than outer austerities. No amount of physical and external cleansing would serve any purpose if the man remained impure in mind and heart. Therefore, Baba cautioned His devotees not to make austerity as an end itself, least they should indulge in physical mortification. His spiritual radiance brought about such transformation in the seekers that they inclined away from the impurities in word, deed or thought. Baba never preached in this regard, He radiated such influence that absorbed the impure tendencies and prepared the aspirant to keep himself chaste, pure, simple and upright, so as to be fit to receive His Grace.
Compassion
Baba Himself was the epitome of compassion and love. It was this ‘love aspect’ of Him that He embodied Himself to help the suffering lot. The warmth of His divine compassion touched all the creatures equally. Baba often told His devotees, ‘Never turn away anybody from your door, be it a human being or animal’. At several instances He identified Himself with any form like dog, horse, cow or even a fly, to prove His presence in the consciousness of all the creatures.

How To Serve The Master
Sai Baba made the 'Guru' (the Master), a profound base of the path of devotion. The spiritual impulse is certainly latent in every individual heart, but it needs great inspiration and compulsion to bring it to the surface.
Baba offered that inspiration through his own account brimming with love for his Master. He said, "How can I describe his (Guru's) love for me? When he was in spiritual trance, I sat and gazed at him. We were both filled with bliss. I cared not to turn my eyes upon anything else. Night and day I pored upon his face with an ardor of love that banished hunger and thirst. The Guru's absence even for a second made me restless. I meditated on nothing but the 'Guru' and had no goal or object other than the 'Guru'. Wonderful indeed the art of my 'Guru'. I wanted nothing but the Guru and he wanted nothing but this intense love from me." The significant feature stressed by Sai Baba in his own example and words is the great importance of developing this devotion to one's Guru. It is seeing God in the Guru. This was a self-projected ideal of a ‘Guru’ that motivated innumerable seekers who came in contact with Sai Baba.

Complete Surrender
Shri Sai reiterated the essentiality of complete surrender to the ‘Guru’ with his own example when he said pointing to his physical frame, “This body is my house. I am not here. My Guru (Master) has taken me away”.
One who reaches the feet of fully realized spiritual masters, must surrender his body, mind and soul to the Guru. The spiritual benefit accruing to an aspirant of the path is in measure in which the surrender to the Master is done. The more he gives himself the more he receives. Perfect Master say ‘Give us all you have, we will give you all we possess’
Infact, the spiritual mentor works harder to help the aspirant to make a total surrender to himself. At times Baba adopted shock tactics to weaken or eliminate the ego of the seeker.
There was a supreme peerless quality in Baba’s personality which made all those who came in his contact, feel the urge to surrender to him. Sai Baba was in the truest sense a Guru incarnate, who naturally attracted people and they were willing and anxious enough to surrender to him. He said, ‘Keep still and I will do the rest’. The tremendous power of the Guru is working, all that the seeker has to do is to refrain from obstructing it ! This is only possible if the surrender is complete.

Teachings Through Sacred Udi And Dakshina
Udi
Udi the Sacred ash is the end product of the perpetual fire (dhuni) lit by Sai Baba in Dwarkamai at Shirdi during his life time.Baba taught by this 'Udi' that all the visible phenomena in the world are as transient as the wood turning into ash. Baba wanted to din into the ears of his devotees the sense of discrimination between the unreal and the real. The realization that all phenomena in nature are perishable and unworthy of our craving is signified in 'Udi' which Baba distributed to all. Even today it is customary to partake the sacred ash in the Sai Temples.
Dakshina
Baba would ask for 'Dakshina' from those that come to see him each according to his means. This was one of the Baba's methods for testing out the devotees attachment to worldly things.
Those days a large number of people thronged Shirdi as Sai Baba had the reputation fulfilling the temporal desires and needs of people who went to see him. This was also well known that Baba asked for 'Dakshina'. Those who had great attachment to money and did not want to part with it for anything, they were kept at bay by the method of 'Dakshina'.

The former (Udi) taught us discrimination (Vivek) and the latter (Dakshina) taught us non-attachment (Vairagya). These two qualities are most essential on the path of self-realization.

ACERCA DE SATHYA SAI BABA

Sai Baba, a personification of spiritual perfection and an epitome of compassion , lived in the little village of Shirdi in the state of Maharashtra (India) for sixty years. Like most of the perfect saints he left no authentic record of his birth and early life before arriving at Shirdi. In fact, in the face of his spiritual brilliance such queries do not have much relevance.
He reached Shirdi as a nameless entity. One of the persons who first came in contact with him at Shirdi addressed him spontaneously as ‘Sai’ which means Savior, Master or Saint. ‘Baba’ means father as an expression of reverence. In the Divine play it was designed as such, that He subtly inspired this person to call Him by this name, which was most appropriate for His self-allotted mission.
All that we definitely know of Sai Baba is that his arrival at Shirdi was anonymous. He was first noticed in the outskirts of the village Shirdi, seated under a ‘neem’ (margosa) tree, about the year 1854. However, even this date is not definitely noted. Sai Baba of these younger days remained a stranger staying under the neem tree for some time and then suddenly he left Shirdi to come back again sometime in 1858, and stayed on there till he left his gross body in the year 1918.
The second advent of Baba at Shirdi, around 1858 was interestingly quite different from the first. This time he accompanied a wedding procession as guest of honor. On the arrival at Shirdi, he was immediately recognized by someone as the same anonymous saintly personality who used to be seated under the neem tree a few years earlier and, greeted Him as “Ya Sai” – Welcome Sai.
In the early days of his stay at Shirdi he spent his time either wandering in the outskirts of village and neighboring thorny jungles or sitting under the neem tree totally self absorbed. The first set of villagers who regarded this saintly figure were Mhalsapati, Tatya Kote, Bayyaji Bai and few others. Bayyaji Bai felt deeply motivated by this Divine Saint, and with her motherly instinct she used to walk miles on end into the jungles in search of him, carrying food in a basket on her head. Often she found Sai Baba sitting under some tree in deep meditation, calm and motionless. She would boldly approach him, serve the meal and return home.
After sometime as though out of compassion for her, Sai Baba ceased wandering and moved into a dilapidated mosque in the outskirts of the village. He referred to this mosque, where He resided till the end, as ‘Dwarkamai’ (Dwarka was the place where Lord Shri Krishna stayed to fulfill His divine Advent). This mosque ‘Dwarkamai’ – abode of Sai Baba became Mother of Mercy for all the time to come.
He had a body of athlete built and in his earlier days he was fond of wrestling. Another aspect of Sai Baba’s personality was his love for song and dance. In those early years of his life he used to go to ‘Takia’ , the public night shelter for moslem visitors to the village. There in the company of sojourning devotees and fakirs, he used to dance and sing in divine bliss, with small tinkles tied around his ankles. The songs he sang were mostly in Persian or Arabic. Sometimes he sang some popular songs of Kabir.
He donned a long shirt – ‘Kafni’ and tied a cloth around his head, and twisted it into a flowing plait like manner behind his left ear. He used a piece of sackcloth for his seat and slept on it with a brick as his pillow. He always declared that Fakiri (Holy poverty) was far superior to worldly richness. He was no ordinary fakir but an ‘Avatar ’ (incarnation) of a very high order. But His external appearance was of simple, illiterate, moody, emphatic – at times fiery and abusive and at times full of compassion and love. In the moments of towering rage people with him thought it was ungovernable rage. But his anger never prevented his compassion dealing with the devotees. His anger was evidently directed at unseen forces. He enacted all these simple traits only to hide His real identity as the God incarnate. Under the cover of simplicity He silently worked for the spiritual transformation and liberation of innumerable souls – human beings and animals alike, who were drawn to Him, by an unseen forces.
He begged for alms and shared what he got with his devotees and all the creatures around him. He never kept any food in reserve for the next meal. He maintained the ‘Dhuni’ – the perpetual sacred fire and distributed its ash – ‘Udi’ as token of His divine grace to all who came to Him for help.
Baba would ask for ‘Dakshina’ (money offered with reverence to the ‘Guru’ or the master) from some of those who came to see him. This was not because he needed their money but for deeper significance, which the devotees realized at, an appropriate time.
Baba used to freely distribute all the money that was received in the form of Dakshina to the destitute, poor, sick and needy the very same day. This was one of Baba's methods for testing out the devotees attachments to worthy things and willingness to surrender.
He ploughed up the village common land and raised a flower garden thereon, he watered the plants, carrying pots full of water on his shoulders. In the later years he spent a few hours in this Lendi garden which he himself had laid out in the early days.
He was every moment exercising a double consciousness, one actively utilizing the apparent Ego called 'Sai Baba' dealing with other egos in temporal and spiritual affairs, and the other - entirely superceding all egos as the Universal Ego or Over soul.
He was the common man’s God. He lived with them, he slept and ate with them. Baba had a keen sense of humour. He shared a ‘chillum’ (clay pipe for smoking) indiscriminately with them to write off the cast superiority and orthodoxy in their minds. He had no pretensions of any kind .He was always very playful in the presence of children. Baba used to feed the fakirs and devotees and even cook for them.
Saibabas perfect purity, benevolence, non -attachment, compassion and other virtues evoked deep reverence in the villagers around him. His divinity could not conceal itself for long. Initially when people wanted to worship him formally, Baba protested and dissuaded them. But gradually he allowed it with the prescience that it would become the means for temporal and spiritual benefits to millions of individuals for all time to come.
The Dwarkamai of Sai Baba was open to all, irrespective of caste, creed and religion. As the days passed devotees from all walks of life started streaming into Shirdi. The village Shirdi was fast assuming prominence. As the gifts and presentations flowed in, the pomp and grandeur of Sai worship also increased. But Baba’s life of a fakir remained calm, undisturbed, unaltered and there is the Saint’s spiritual glory.
He lived His divine mission through His pure self in a human embodiment. The immense energy that was manifest in the body of Sai was moving in a mysterious way, creating and recreating itself every where beyond the comprehension of time and space.
This fountainhead of unsurpassed spiritual glory shed His gross body on 15th October 1918. Every limb, every bone and pore of his body was permeated with divine essence. Baba claimed that though one day his physical body will not exist his remains will communicate with all those who seek him with inner yearnings. His self-allotted labour of love in His physical body was perhaps over. Today He continues to work ever vigorously as the ‘Sai Spirit’.

EL SIGNIFICADO DEL SHRI SAI SATCHARITRA

Shri Sai Satcharitra is a discourse on the experiences devotees had with Shri Sai and the preachings of Baba. Baba got it written through Shri Anna Saheb Dhabhlkar by giving inner motivation to him. Baba had clearly told him: "I Myself write my own life. Hearing My stories and teachings will create faith in devotees' hearts and they will easily get self-realisation and bliss...." (Shri Sai Satcharitra, Chapter 2)

The significance of Shri Sai Satcharitra is:
This is the first and foremost book based on the life-story of Shri Sai Baba, which was originally composed in Marathi verse form. The writing of the book started in the lifetime of Baba with His blessings.

This has been translated into many Indian languages and English language, which can be understood even by a common man.

The Divine Truth imparted by this book is even greater than the knowledge contained in the Vedas and Gita, because all the characters and events in it are real and authentic and have been recorded in detail by many devotees.

The spiritual essence contained in all the religious scriptures like Vedas, Gita and Yoga Vashisht is found in the life-story of Shri Sainath.

The concepts of God and spirituality are explained in such a simple yet comprehensive manner in Shri Sai Satcharitra, that no additional book or commentary is required to understand it. It has a natural flow whereby the readers start feeling as if they had been closely associated with its events in their past lives.

The glory of Shri Sai is spreading in the world, far and wide, in such a way that detailed information about Shri Sai Baba is available through many web sites on Internet and through Shri Sai Satcharitra.

The foremost duty of Sai devotees is therefore to read Shri Sai Satcharitra and absorb it into their beings completely. The more they read this book, the more it will bring them closer to Baba and all their doubts and apprehensions will be cleared. It also has been experienced that during a crisis, if any devotee searching for an answer, if he randomly opens Shri Sai Satcharitra, praying to Baba sincerely and with faith, his answer can be found in that open page. Many people have got their desired benefits after reading Shri Sai Satcharitra for a week in paraayan form.

(Source: 'Shirdi Sai Baba and other Perfect Masters' written by Respected Guruji Shri C.B.Satpathy, ISBN 81-207-2384-8, published by Sterlin

9 EFFECTIVE WAYS OF UTILISATION OF SAI SATCHARITRA

Sairam to all the readers ,

On Baba's day, happy to offer the first post on this new blog of Shri Shirdi Sai Baba Sansthan, Canada .

This blog will be dedicated to the holy book Sai Satcharitra .

Today, publishing about as how should Sai devotees utilize Shri Sai Satcharitra :
1.Get the book, Shri Sai Satcharitra in whatever language one choose to read. Neatly wrap it in a piece of cloth, and place it near Baba's photograph or idol with due sanctity.

2.Whether at home or elsewhere, one should always read a few pages of the book every night before going to sleep. Every devotee should try to keep Baba as the last thought before going to sleep.

3.During a crisis it should be read devoutly for a week, as is mentioned in Shri Sai Satcharitra. If possible reading should begin on a Thursday or on some other special day, such a Ramnavmi, Dussehra, Gurupurnima, Janmashtami, Mahashivratri, Navratri, etc. After its completion on the seventh day, one should feed the poor and destitute either in the Temple or at home or wherever possible.

4.One should read it sitting in some isolated corner in the Temple or in front of Baba's statue or photograph/painting. If other people are present, then it should be read to them as well. Group reading should always be encouraged.

5.Wherever and whenever possible, it should be read continuously from sunrise to sunset in the Temples on auspicious days. Devotees may be asked to read in turns, as in done in chanting the holy name i.e. Naamjap. Encourage children to read this book. Question-answer competitions based on Shri Sai Satcharitra can be organized in Temples.

6.Shri Sai Satcharitra should be read to the devotees who are sick, aged and those nearing death as much as possible. All of them will get peace.

7.Shri Sai Satcharitra is reasonably priced book and is easily available in Shirdi. Therefore, any devotee visiting Shirdi must bring few copies with him to distribute among the people free of cost.

8.At times of stress and agony, if one sincerely searches for the answers from Shri Sai Satcharitra he will not only find the answers but also solace. His faith will grow in Baba.

9.May Shri Sainath reveal the Divine knowledge and mysteries contained in this book to the devotees in the same manner in which He had inspired Hemadpant to write this book.

Shri Sai Satcharitra should be considered by all devotees as the Gita and Bible.

(Source: 'Shirdi Sai Baba and other Perfect Masters' written by Respected Guruji Shri C.B.Satpathy, ISBN 81-207-2384-8, published by Sterling Publishers.)

Sai Bless All

Posted by Shri Shirdi Sai Mandir Toronto, Canada