ANANT KOTI BRAHMAAND NAYAK RAJADHIRAJ YOGIRAJ PARAMBRAHMA SHRI SAT-CHIT-ANAND SADGURU SAINATH MAHARAJ KI JAI !!!

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To Believe That Gyan And Bhakti, Knowledge And Devotion Are Different From Each Other Is Ignorance ; As Gyan And Bhakti Are One And The Same.To Promote Sai Bhakti Is To Promote Gyan And Therefore The Removal Of Agyan Or Ignorance. It Is Therefore Duty Of Every Sai Bhakt To Share And Spread Their Knowledge About Baba.

31 January 2009

AMBROSIA IN SHIRDI-PART 5

EXCERPTS INHERITED FROM THE BOOK ,"AMBROSIA IN SHIRDI",
COMPILED BY : SAI BHAKT VINNY,


Leela 9


"Give up all anxiety. The moment you put your foot in Shirdi, your sufferings have ended. You may sink neck deep in the sea of obstacles, you may have sunk deep into the pit of sorrow and suffering, but know that he who climbs the steps of this Mosque will enjoy the greatest happiness. The Fakir of this place is very kind, He will eradicate your disease and pain. He who has compassion for all, will look after you very lovingly," said Baba to Bhimaji Patil of Narayangaon when he was suffering from pulmonary T.B. (Sai Satcharitra Ch.13).

In Thajanpur Chebedi near Sinnar, Nasik district lived Lakshman Baji Avare. In 1910 he suffered from terrible pain in both his eyes. The eyes watered con­stantly, and finally he lost his sight and became blind. All sorts of remedies and medicines were tried but of no avail. A friend of the family advised them to go to Shirdi. Have Baba's darshan, and assured them of a permanent cure. One Thursday they came to Shirdi and had Baba's darshan. Baba looked at Lakshman kindly and said "Allah Achchha Karega" (Allah will do good) and gave them Udi. They returned home, when they noticed that the watering and pain had subsided. So they made weekly trips to Shirdi every Thursday, and took Baba's darshan for six months.

The villagers advised the mother to take her son to JJ. Hospital, Bombay for treatment. On the day of their departure to Bombay, Lakshman had a burning sensa­tion all over his body. Regardless, he left for Bombay.

There a British ophthalmologist (eye doctor) examined him and told him that he would not regain sight as the eyes were badly damaged.

With a heavy heart they returned to their village. Lakshman however, determined that whether he recov­ered his sight or not he would stay in Shirdi at Baba's side. The family came and stayed in Shirdi for some time, then the mother returned to her village leaving her son behind. Lakshman had intense faith in Baba. Every morning, he washed his eyes with the water that Baba used to wash His face with. This he did for one month when suddenly, his sight got restored, but not fully. One evening he took Baba's darshan in the Chavadi. Baba gently clapped His hands on Lakshman's chest and Lo! He could see clearly again. So over­whelmed with gratitude was he, that he stayed on in Shirdi till Baba's Mahasamadhi.

Radhakrishna Mai asked Lakshman to pump water from the well (now in Saran Jame Baug) and do all the work that she ordered. This seva he willingly did as a token of gratitude for his recovery.

Leela 10

From 1913 to 1915, Swami Sharan Anand saw a blind man in Shirdi. He was doing Hari Kirtan, and kept beat with his cymbals. In 1942 or 1943 he saw the same man reciting chapters of Shrimad Bhagwat Gita and singing verses from Dnyaneshwari's Amrit Anubhava. Curious about this, Swamiji said, "When did you get your sight back?" He replied "Through Baba's grace I received this precious gift. I had a blessed vision of Him years ago, and since then, I can see, read, write and move freely". To assure Swamiji he read out several verses from the Amrit Anubhava. How wisely he used the sense of sight!

Leela 11

He longed for Baba's darshan. But no matter what he did his plans failed. This upset and frustrated Joshi and he got angry at Baba. "All my friends and relatives keep going to Shirdi, why am I denied this opportu­nity? Baba! If you are really a saint, you will give me darshan, even without my going to Shirdi" said Joshi. Simultaneously at Shirdi a family from Konkan were about to return home after taking Baba's darshan. Baba asked the man 'if he could do a piece of work for Him', the devotee readily agreed. Then Baba said, "You go home by rail, and give this packet of Udi to the per­son who requests you to give him a span of space for sitting". The devotee agreed to Baba's strange request. He and his family were comfortably seated in the train. At every station, the man looked for the gentleman. But no such person approached him. At last, the train pulled out of Kalyan. The devotee thought that he should write to Baba about his non-compliance. Then the train halted at Thana. Just as the train was moving out, a man rushed into his compartment, drenched in perspiration. He gasped and said, "Please pick up your child and give me a span of space to sit as I am feeling giddy." The Konkani devotee readily picked up his child, and gladly handed over the packet of Udi. He told him of Baba's strange request, and as Joshi had said the very words, he handed over the Udi. Joshi respectfully received the Udi packet. He thought of Baba's kindness towards an angry child and was forever grateful.

Leela 12

"Do coconuts produce children ? How can you be so superstitious?" said Baba to Shama (Sai Satcharitra Ch. 36). Shama was pleading with Baba on behalf of Mrs. Aurangabadkar. He beseeched Baba to give her the coconut and His blessings. Thus the barren lady might get a child. "She will get a child in 12 months," said Baba.

This is another coconut Leela.

A lady from Poona was desperate to go to Shirdi, and seek Baba's blessings. But, however hard she tried, her attempts failed, for some reason or the other. She was sure, if she received a coconut from Baba, she would get a child. She was very sad and dejected and wondered about the future.

One night she had a dream vision. Baba came and gave her a coconut as prasad. When she woke up, and thought over the dream, it seemed so real, that she looked around. Lo! There was a coconut on her bed. She vowed that if she got a child by this prasad, she would take the child to Shirdi. A year later she delivered a male child; so she went with her child and grate­fully laid him at Baba's feet.

Leela 13

Mention is made of Hari Bhau Karnik in Sai Satcharitra chapter 33. In 1917 on Gurupurnima he visited Shirdi and after proper rituals offered dakshina to Baba. While he was getting down the steps, he wished he had offered one more rupee. As he was given permission to leave, he proceeded to Nasik. There Narasimha Maharaj demanded, "Give me my one ru­pee" which . Haribhau gladly gave, realizing how Baba, had reclaimed the rupee.

Before this visit to Shirdi he was once in trouble. His relatives dragged him to court unlawfully. Having heard of Baba he came to Shirdi. He bowed to Baba and offered a coconut, betel nut and dakshina. Baba asked him to go to the Wada and take rest. Two days later, he met Baba; he was dejected and sad at the behaviour of his relatives, and was thinking of the law suit. Baba, in His characteristic way, told him 'all about the case'. The other devotees asked him if he was ac­quainted with Baba. "No, I have not met Him before, but He surely knows me". On the fourth day of his stay, he met Baba who said, "Wait for six months and see the fate of the mischief makers!" True to His words, six months later he was acquitted and the troublemakers suffered much for their misdeeds.

30 January 2009

AMBROSIA IN SHIRDI-PART4

EXCERPTS INHERITED FROM THE BOOK ," AMBROSIA IN SHIRDI ",
COMPILED BY : SAI BHAKT VINNY,

Leela 6

A Cashier of a well-known firm at Bombay, had embezzled a large sum of money. He had a master plan, and that was, to go to Shirdi and seek refuge there. So he did exactly that. A warrant for his arrest was put out. The Manager of the firm was asked to execute the warrant and bring the culprit for prosecution. The Man­ager was a Baba devotee. He diligently searched all the places far and near, but could not trace the culprit. Out of desperation, he thought he would go to Shirdi and place the matter before Baba, before giving up the search.

So he went to Shirdi and to the Dwarakamai for darshan. When to his utter amazement he saw the Cash­ier shampooing Baba's feet. On seeing the Manager, the Cashier was at his wits end. He prostrated before Baba and begged Him to save him.

Baba advised him to go with the Manager to Bombay, and confess the whole matter and request to be pardoned. The Cashier carried out Baba's words to the letter. Thus the Cashier was saved from criminal prosecution. The firm thanked the manager for dexterously handling the affair.

"SHARAN MAJA ALLA ANI VAYA GELA DAKHAVA DAKHAVA AISA KONI"

{SHOW ME. DO SHOW ME ANY ONE WHO HAS SOUGHT SHELTER AND REFUGE IN ME AND WAS CAST BY THE WAY SIDE OR ABAN­DONED}

(11 PROMISES OF SAI BABA)

Leela 7

"When Brahmadev has created this Universe, if we do not appreciate it, His ingenuity and skill will be in vain. He who has no evil thought in his mind, why should he fear any one? Eyes do their work of see­ing. Then why be embarrassed," said Baba to Nana Chandorkar (Sai Satcharitra Ch.49) when the beauty of a Muslim lady, who came for Baba's darshan, charmed Chandorkar.

"I lost my eye sight I do not mourn its loss as it keeps me from seeing undesirable things. Yet, I yearn to see the Sagun Roop of my Lord, You. Therefore grant me sight till I am satiated at beholding your form. Then you may withdraw the sight again," prayed a devotee to Baba. Baba at once restored his sight. He looked at Baba with love and devotion for a long, long time. When he was filled with joy and completely satisfied he lost his sight again. Thus Baba fulfilled his wish.

Leela 8


In Dadar, Bombay lived Vittal Yashwant Deshpande with his parents and grandfather. A tragedy brought him to Baba.His grandfather suddnely fell sick and gradually lost his sight. All sorts of rem­edies, treatments, doctors and vaids were tried. But, he became totally blind. Vittal was very fond of his grandfather and he helped him move around the house.

There lived in Bandra, a Satpurush named Govind Rao Mankar. He was a devotee of Baba and advised the grandfather to go to Shirdi, and seek Baba's blessings for a cure. The grandfather was impressed by the Satpurush, and was determined to go to Shirdi. He requested his son to take him to Shirdi, but for some reason, the trip was postponed.

In 1916, Vittal was just twelve years old. As his uncle was busy, it was decided that Vittal would take his grandfather to Shirdi. Before leaving, his parents repeatedly told Vittal to behave properly and take care of his grandfather. They reached Shirdi and went to the Dwarakamai. They took darshan and prostrated before Baba, who said, "Give Me Rs.6/- dakshina".

Vittal thrust his hand into his pocket and found that he had a Rs.10/- and a Rs.5/- note. He gave Baba the ten rupee note, which He did not accept, nor would He ac­cept the Rs.5/- note, nor would He give him the change. Vittal tried again, but Baba stubbornly said, "Give Me Rs.6/- dakshina". So, Vittal brought his grandfather to the Sabha Mandap below, and seated him in a corner next to the wall. He went out to get the change. But try as he may, no one gave him the change. Frustrated and wondering how his grandfather was, he started crying. Suddenly, a well-built man stood before him. He had on a clean dhotar (Indian dress) a pagdi (turban), Poona shoes and chandan (sandalwood paste) on his forehead. Gently, he asked, "Child, why are you crying?" Vittal told him how stubborn Baba was and his inability to get change. Quietly, he gave him the change. Vittal ran to Dwarakamai and placed the Rs.6/- at Baba's feet "Daro mat, beta. Allah Malik achcha karega. Ab thumhara kaam hogaya" (Do not fear my child Allah Malik will do good. Now your work is successful). Vittal was astonished, but rather confused. He had not told Baba why he had come, nor had Baba asked him. He just stood there staring at Baba. Baba repeated the same words again. Still confused, he went to the cor­ner where he had seated his grandfather, but he wasn't there. He searched in the Sabha Mandap, but couldn't find him. Fearing that he may have walked out, he ran out of the Dwarakamai, but there was no trace of his grandfather. Again, he ran around the village, calling his grandfather, but he couldn't find him.

Dejected and afraid, he started crying bitterly, wondering if his grandfather had fallen or hurt himself. Lo! The same man stood before him. "Why are you crying now?" he asked gently, patting Vittal on his back. Though sobs, Viittal told him what had happened. "Your grandfather is seated on the steps of Sathe Wada", he said, pointing in that direction. Vittal ran and found his grandfather happily seated on the steps, eating sugarcane.

Angrily, he said "Why did you leave the place I seated you at? Suppose you fell and hurt yourself? How did you reach here?" the grandfather told him that as soon as he went to get the change, his sight started re­turning. "By the time you came back, I could see clearly. So, I came to the Wada". Vittal was relieved to hear this. He also understood why Baba asked for Rs.6/-only. The dakshina of Rs.6/- could possibly mean 'giv­ing unto Baba the six internal enemies (lust, anger, greed, pride, dellusion and envy) that thrive through the five senses (sight, hearing, speech, smell and taste). Especially sight (Sai Satcharitra Ch.16 'Shadripus') is explained.

On the way home, he lost his cap, and was afraid to tell his grandfather about it. Finally, they reached Dadar. His parents were awaiting their arrival, when he turned around, his grandfather was missing. He collected all their bags and walked slowly towards his parents. They eagerly questioned him about the trip. He mumbled something, just then his grandfather arrived with a new cap. He was then filled with immense joy as he finally got proof that his grandfather could really see.

"But who was the mysterious gentleman, and how did he know who my grandfather was?" he wondered.

29 January 2009

AMBROSIA IN SHIRDI-PART 3

EXCERPTS INHERITED FROM THE BOOK ,"AMBROSIA IN SHIRDI ",
COMPILED BY : SAI BHAKT VINNY,

Leela 3

"I forgot my vow to Baba," thought Govinda Rao Garde of Nagpur. He recalled, how his nephew was suffering from some disease when he visited him. At that time, Govinda Rao vowed that if his nephew re­covered, he would send him to Shirdi for Baba's darshan. The nephew did recover in two days. But he forgot his vow, although his nephew visited him three times, hoping that he would remember, after seeing him hale and hearty.Some time later, the nephew visited his uncle only to find that he was sick with the same disease. Since it was a Thursday, all the family members gathered to­gether and prayed and sang Bhajans. They entreated Baba for his recovery. That day, he was well enough to attend the pooja (worship) when he was reminded of his vow.He vowed again saying, "Baba if you cure me, I and my nephew will come for your darshan." He found that he recovered quickly and hurriedly went with his nephew to Shirdi to thank Baba.In Sai Satcharitra Ch.36 describes the story of two gentlemen from Goa and their fulfillment of their vows.

Leela 4.

Govinda Rao Oak lived in Andheri, Bombay. Once he and his friend, Krishanji Agasthe went to Shirdi. They had Baba's darshan and stayed for two to three days. On the day of their departure, both of them pur­chased a photograph of Baba. Neatly they tied the pho­tographs in a bundle. On the way home, Govinda Rao was remiss, as he had not purchased a photograph for his brother. On reaching home, they opened the packet containing the photographs. To their utter surprise there were three photographs although they had paid for two. Mentally, he thanked Baba for this Leela and gave his brother one copy as Baba's prasad.

Leela 5

At every opportunity, Chidambar R.K. Gadgil vis­ited Shirdi for Baba's darshan. This was easy at first, as he was the Personal Assistant to the Collector of Ahmadnagar district. Then he worked as a Mamlatdar in Sinnar. Time and again he came to Shirdi and took Baba's darshan.

Then he got transferred to a distant place, with the order 'to join immediately'. He followed the orders, but with a heavy heart. The journey he took was via Kopargaon yet he could not break his journey, and go to Shirdi. At Kopargaon, he was thinking how 'futile it was, as he could not have Baba's darshan being so close to Shirdi'. Just as he thought this, a packet con­taining Udi was thrown in his lap. He looked out of the window to see who had done this, but could not find anybody. He reverentially picked up the packet and kept it safely. Some time later he got a chance to visit Shirdi when Baba said, "Even though you could not visit Shirdi did I not give you My Udi at Kopargaon?" Gadgil was filled with joy at Baba's love and concern, so he put the Udi in a Talisman and wore it constantly.

"I am absolutely in the power of My devotees and stand by their side. For ever I am hungering after their love and readily answer their call in distress” said Baba to Dada Bhatt (Sai Satcharitra Ch.ll). When Dr. Pandit applied sandal paste to Baba's forehead with love.

28 January 2009

AMBROSIA IN SHIRDI-PART 2

EXCERPTS INHERITED FROM THE BOOK ," AMBROSIA IN SHIRDI ",
COMPILED BY : SAI BHAKT VINNY,

Leela 2

Rama Krishna G. Kothari was born in 1908. He was a Pathari Prabhu by caste. His parents first visited Shirdi in 1911. On that visit, they saw Baba standing near the railing (Kathada) of Dwarakamai, distributing Udi to the Bhaktas. They were filled with devotion, and were overwhelmed with the love, to see this beau­tiful sight. Upon their return home, they started wor­shipping a photograph of Baba (it was a print of Jaykar's painting). They also started doing Bhajans and called the Bhajan Mandali (group) ‘Sai Laj'.

In 1913 his father was seriously sick with pneu­monia. Dr. Naik was treating him, but was skeptical of his recovery. He told the family that the chances of recovery were slim, and he would succumb to the disease. Hearing this his mother prayed to Baba and vowed that if her husband survived, she would do 'Padyatra' (walk) to Shirdi and thank Baba.

The Bhajan Mandali also came to his home to per­form the Bhajans (hymns), the whole night. At nightfall the disease took a serious turn, the doctor was sum­moned at 10.00 P.M. He gave the patient an injection and medicines but told the wife that at about 12.00 P.M. her husband would die. The relatives on hearing this, read the Bhagwat Gita to the patient. Simultaneously Baba's Bhajans continued. At about 11.00 P.M. the patient started to suffocate, and had great difficulty in breathing. The distort wife seeing his condition wailed and cried saying 'Baba save my husband'. The crisis lasted till 1.00 A.M. when the doctor was called again. He again gave the patient an injection, but assured them that the crisis was over.

The Bhajans continued till 4.00 A.M. when the Bhajan Mandali and the relatives assured the wife that her husband had survived. So she better get ready, for the 'Padyatra' (pilgrimage by foot) as per her vow. From that time the patient steadily recovered, and was ambu­lant in a few moments. So the family and the Bhajan Mandali started for Shirdi. At Kopargaon, the family hired five bullock carts to take them to Shirdi. But the wife would not sit in the cart. She just walked, behind the carts although her legs were swollen and bruised.

A short distance from Shirdi there was a stony, and thorny path. So she went and rested under a tree. She noticed a man with a white beard in a shepherd's dress. He approached her and said, "Your vow has been accepted by Baba so mother, go the rest of the distance by bullock cart".

The lady heard the loving tone in the voice but she adhered to her vow, and trudged the rest of the way. When she reached Dwarkamai, Baba was seated with His devotees when Baba said to Nana Saheb, "/ met this lady on the way and told her to ride in the cart, but she would not listen. See how swollen and bruised her legs are! But they will be alright by the evening." True to His word the swelling and the bruises vanished by evening.

They stayed at Shirdi for a few days and returned home with Baba's blessings and Udi.

27 January 2009

AMBROSIA IN SHIRDI-PART1


Starting the series with some of the Leelas of his holiness Sri Saibaba that occurred before 1918 as mentioned in the book," Ambrosia in Shirdi", that haven't been mentioned in Sri Sai Satcharitra.


EXCERPTS INHERITED FROM THE BOOK ," AMBROSIA IN SHIRDI ",
COMPILED BY : SAI BHAKT VINNY,

Leela 1

"/ may be here in My physical body, and you may be far away beyond the seven seas. Yet, whatever you do there I know instantly. Wherever you may be, when you spread your hands before Me in supplication with faith and devotion, there I stand behind you day and night, as steadfast as your faith and devotion is," said Baba to Cholkar (Sai Satcharitra Ch.15).

Baba's words are true for each and every bhakta (devotee) even now as they were then. This is such a Leela where Baba literally went beyond the seven seas to rescue a bhakta.

It was during World War I Capt. Jahanghir F. Daruwala was at sea, with his fleet of ships. To his utter dismay he realized that all but three of his ships were hit by the enemy and were sinking fast. Soon these three ships with the passengers, and himself would meet the same fate. Being a good Captain he hoped to ferry the remaining ships to safety.

He had Baba's photograph in his pocket. He promptly took it out and earnestly prayed to Baba to come to their rescue. Just as he has praying, Baba sit­ting in the Dwarkamai shouted "Haq, haq". The devo­tees surrounding Baba, were astonished to see Baba completely drenched, from head to toe. The water flowed in torrents, and the Dwarkamai soon became a pool of water. The devotees simply removed buckets and buckets of water from the Dwarkamai for about an hour. Then they gave Baba dry clothes to wear.

As Baba was silent about the cause of His being drenched, one of the devotees drank the water as tirth (holy water) and found it extremely salty. He wondered at that, but kept quiet. Simultaneously, at sea, Capt. Daruwala saw Baba in person, pull and tow his ships to safety. On the third day after this incident Baba re­ceived a telegram from the Captain, thanking Him for the rescue operation. Immediately on his return he came to Shirdi and fell at Baba's feet. He thanked Baba for answering his prayers so swiftly and saving the lives of his crew and the passengers. Capt. Daruwala was an ardent devotee and he took a great deal of interest in Baba's affairs. He donated Rs.2,200/- in two install­ments for the repair of the Sabha Mandap. As a small, ''thank you'' gesture.

25 January 2009

WONDEROUS SAINT SRI SAIBABA-PART40

BY PUJYA SRI NARASIMHASWAMY JI


SRI SHIRDI SAI BABA'S NECTOR WORDS


1.The secret of happiness lies in serving God almighty with joy and abandon.

2.Contentment is the harbinger of mental peace and happiness.

3.Speak with love to everyone, and take great care not to hurt the feelings of others.

4.The true essence of God is bliss. Therefore, by surrendering at His Lotus Feet you too can partake of this supreme anand.

5.True bhakti means intense and self-abnegating love for the divine.

6.A dedication of all your actions to God or Guru is the true essence of devotion.

7.Gnan (Knowledge) which is not tinged with bhakti (Devotion) is bleak and uninspiring.

8.Inflicting pain on others by body, mind and speech is sin; the reverse is merit, good.

9.Welcome whoever comes to your house, give water to the thirsty, cloth to the naked, keep in your house the helpless this will satisfy Sri Hari (God).

WONDEROUS SAINT SRI SAIBABA-PART 39

BY PUJYA SRI NARASIMHASWAMY JI


HOW DO MASTERS REDEEM DEVOTEES ?

STEADY UPLIFT ENDING IN FREEDOM FROM CYCLE OF BIRTHS


How do Saints or Samarthas help humanity? This interesting question is answered in the following statement prepared jointly by B. V. Narasimhaswami and Bharatananda.

The Supreme Being is thought of as having five aspects or functions with names appropriate to each :--

Creation : Brahma in conjunction with Saraswathi.
Maintenance:Vishnu or Narayana in conjunction with Laxmi.
Destruction :Rudra in conjunction with Kali.
Iswar :Mahesh in conjunction with Maheswari.
Redemption :Sadashiva in conjuction with Kripa.

There are avatars combining often several of these elements. The life work of a Samartha Sadguru lead one to identify him with the Redemption aspect of the Supreme Being.
Jivas, like ourselves, are going on from birth to birth. They are the Supreme Being, but shot out of Him by an initial act of nescience (Maya). Then the initial ignorance developed by a series of their Karmas, whirls them at a terrific velocity in the circle of Samsara. The Jivas feel powerless to get out of it. They are moved by desire (Vasana) to acts (Karma) which in turn strengthen desire. So the vicious circle of Karma and Vasana catches the Jivas in its powerful grip and unaided they feel they cannot wriggle out. If they try to do so, they only get more and more entangled more and more involved in Samsara. How are these Jivas then to be helped out of this involution in evolution, so that they may evolve themselves back into the state of the Supreme Being?

Avatars to Help:
At special times Avatars of the Supreme Being come down to raise humanity in masses. The Avatars do not as a rule set to themselves the task of caring for particular Jivas spiritual advance. So the work of the Avatars finds its supplement and fulfilment in the work of the Samartha Sadgurus. These with the vast powers, knowledge and bliss of the Supreme proceed to deal with individual Jivas and help them out of their involution to evolve into the Supreme Being. Samarthas like Sri Sai Baba are called Samarthas because of their vast nay unlimited, power, wisdom and bliss and they are called Sadgurus, because they appear in order to act as the Guru for individual Jivas to lead them into the Sat or Supreme. The powers of Samarthas may, to a superficial view, appear like the feats of a thought-reader, magician or necromancer. But there are unmistakable differences between these two sets of powers in respect of their origin, their nature or limits, the manner of exercise and the purpose or motive of such exercise. The magician and others of his like acquire their power and exercise it with great effort and its exercise is within definite limits of time, space, etc. and the purpose of the exercise may be either sordid or at any rate clearly personal. The Samartha, on the other hand, has not to work for the powers , the powers come as pan of his realisation and perfection; and exercise of his powers is not the result of effort. These powers are not limited to any particular sort or class, as even Ashta Siddhis are limited in comparison with the Samarthas.The purpose of the Samarthas, exercise is pure mercy for the Jiva, whose spiritual advance is distinctly furthered thereby.

How They Work :
We may proceed to examine the main feature of the work of the Samartha Sadguru.
The point at which a Jiva's involution or Samsaric life turns to evolution or the Path of Redemption is the appearance of the Sadguru to that Jiva. How did the Jiva start his Jiva hood? By forgetting its original, its real, nature as Brahman and thus disturbing the harmony of the Gunas that prevailed in Brahman till the forgetting. At that moment, a disturbance in the Gunas took place and the Jiva started its samsaric career. The original Brahmic state was the clear unruffled waters of the ocean. The disturbance caused in it a small whirl. This whirl is the Jiva; and it fancied itself (and this is the primary ignorance) different from the waters of the ocean, by reason of its being a whirl. The Sadguru comes and restores the harmony that pravailed before the Jiva started this whirling. The Sadguru shows the whirl that it is water after all this , Jiva realising that truth sinks into peace as part of the ocean and thus primal harmony is restored by the Sadguru. This is the essence of Sadgurus work. But the general lines of his work we shall next consider.

The Initial Help :
First the Jiva is under a heavy load of past Karmas which weighs him down and pins him to Samsara. He has to reap the pains and pleasures he has sown. If he tries to remove one item of load he does two more acts and thereby increases the load. This is because of his weakness, and want of clear vision, and of ability to know and direct himself alright. He requires, therefore, the help of one who knows the situation exactly and what will meet it in the individuals special circumstances. Such a guide and director is the Sadguru. So the Jiva has to go to a Sadguru. But unfortunately even the desire to approach a Sadguru and the idea of how to approach him properly are foreign to the Karma-bound Jiva. So taking advantage of a little punya (merit) acquired by the Jiva by means of previous contact (however remote) with the Sadguru or any other holy person, the Sadguru mercifully makes the approach easier for the Jiva. By his vast powers, the Sadguru helps the poor. Jiva, even temporally in a way under such marvellous circumstances that the Jiva is pulled out of his vicious circle, and roused to a sense of admiration, gratitude and reverence to the Samartha, noting especially how divine the Sadguru is contrasted with the earthly Jiva.

Later Development :

Thus the Jiva gets prepared to and does attach himself by love to the Samartha Sadguru and the latter increases his faith by showing him more and more of his vast knowledge, vast power, vast kindness and love,all exercised on behalf of the devotees out of pure mercy. As part of this same mercy, the Guru directs the devotee to do some acts which will increase the punya or good Karma and reduce the papa or bad Karma of the devotee. The more good Karma is done, the more is the doer reducing his heavy load of past bad Karma, without committing fresh bad Karma. Results of previous Karmas are even advanced and regulated by the Samartha's omniscience and omnipotence to help his dependent reap his harvest more quickly.
But in this process the Jiva is apt to get attached to the doing of punya or meritorious work. Though they enable him to get over Rajas and Tamas, they still bind him through Satva, as they will carry him to repeated births in nice worlds i.e. of the Gods, Even this Satvic bondage must be rent as under.

So the Guru next weans the devotee even from good works. For the purpose, the devotee must have an attachment higher and stronger than good works. That is the attachment to, and love for the Guru, ending in surrender to the Guru. Attachment to the Guru is useful no doubt. But its early stages leave in the mind of the devotee the idea that he is still the person directing his affection to the Guru, and doing the appropriate service therefore and that he is doing something worthy and meritorious. It nearly approaches detachment by reason of absence of personal motive but is still tainted with Egoism, i.e. with the sense of the devotee being an agent, a voluntary performer of action. This sense also must be knocked on the head or banished. Its absence is surrender to or identification with the Guru. Identification and surrender are almost the same, with a slight difference. In surrender, the process is marked by humility and a desire to end the self, which need not be distinctly present in identification with the Guru. Identification may be the result of surrender but is seldom its cause. The fruit of identification is the destruction of the primal Maya or nescience under which the Jiva started its separate existence. Surrender restores the balance (or harmony) of gunas that was upset when the separate existence of the Jiva commenced.

Towards Surrender :

This surrender is brought about when the feeling of the devotee towards his Guru gets intensified. Such intensification is comparable to a huge world-wide dynamo attracting an electrified atom. The devotee, the atom, may however still be feeling or fancying that it is moving of its own accord to the huge dynamo, the Guru and then the devotee may even raise the question how this surrender is to be effected and accelerated.
In this connection, we may consider another line on which the devotee Jiva's progress is proceeding. The devotee starts with devotion to his Guru or God, who is felt to be entirely outside him, i.e. outside the devotee's body. The devotee is then under the influence of Rajas and Tamas and identifies himself almost entirely with the body. But increasing contact with the Sadguru and increasing faith in him, with good works, especially selfless, meritorious works, reduce the Rajasic and Tamasic elements of the devotee and wear off his Deh-atma-buddi, i.e., the idea that he is the body.

His ideas of God get broader and finer and more emphasis is laid on God's and Guru's spiritual nature which bursts the shackless of finite space limits. The Guru God is not confined to the small human body but extends far beyond covering the entire universe on one side, and, on the other, is very subtle and therefore enters as Sarva Antaryami into all hearts. The devotee begins to feel that the Guru,God is his own Antaryami, i.e., he sees him within himself. TheSamartha's vast powers enable the devotee to obtain the finer sight actually to see the Guru within his own heart. The inner presence of God,Guru can never be inactive. His real living presence within asserts itself more and more and swallows up the Jivahood of the Jiva. This is self surrender of the Jiva when viewed from the latter's stand-point. With this swallowing up or surrender, all old Karmas, good and bad, are swallowed up.

The Final Snap :

The Vasanas or tendencies to do fresh Karma have also to be destroyed in the Jiva's progress. Vasanas are desires or desire tendencies directed to lower objects (whether earthly or otherworldly objects). These have to be swallowed up only by a stronger and purer desire or affection, by something more exacting than earthly love. As stated already, such stronger passion is the devotee's love for the Guru, and it is that love that blossoms into complete self-surrender. This surrender alone totally extinguishes Vasanas. Once Vasanas are destroyed, there is no more ego, no more of vicious circle of Samsara, and the Evolution of the Jiva into the Supreme is complete. Then the Jiva sees that the Samartha Sadguru has all along been with him, inside and outside, and that the Jiva , the Sadguru and the Supreme Being are and always have been one and the same Real.

WONDEROUS SAINT SRI SAIBABA-PART 38

BY PUJYA SRI NARASIMHASWAMY JI


RIGHT ATTITUDE TOWARDS INSECTS AND REPTILES
CONFLICTING ADVICE


Numerous are the instances when Sri Sai Baba saved his devotees from snakes or death from snake bites. In some instances, he actually foretold the accident and vouched safe protection.

At Shirdi, one day, Nana Saheb Dengle who had acquired considerable proficiency in Astrology, told G. M. Buty, a rich devotee from Nagpur, that there was a "ganda" or danger to Duty's life that day. A little later, both of them went to the masjid and sat near Baba, mentioning nothing of the apprehended danger. But Baba himself broached the subject and addressed Buty.

Baba : What does Nana say? He sees Death coming to you, eh? We have no need to fear. Strike ! Let me see how you strike and kill !
Spared Long :
Later, in the evening, Buty went out to ease himself; and near him was a snake. Both he and his servant saw the snake; and before they could fetch a stick to despatch it, it moved away. The "ganda" or danger had indeed come. But under the eye of Baba, that watches everything everywhere, the danger was averted. Buty had much pious work for Baba yet to do; and Baba shielded his life and limb for years till the arrival of the fated hour in 1921.
While in this case the snake escaped, in all others even in the presence of Baba the snake was clubbed to death. Did Baba approve of it?

The general question of clemency to noxious reptiles and insects bristles with difficulties and conflict of interest:

Tukaram, a great authority in the Maharashtra has said that snakes and scorpions are God (Narayana) and that they should be worshipped of course, at a safe and respectful distance. The Sage of Dakshineswar preached the same doctrine, stressing the precautionary clause at the end, in respect of tigers, etc., but showed by example that bugs and other such vermin may be killed. Srimad Bhagavad Skanda VII says: Even a saint may rejoice at the killing of snakes and scorpions. H. S, Dixit, ex. M.L C. was greatly perplexed by these considerations; and he put the question in his own peculiar way to Baba, "To prevent death from snake bite people kill venomous snakes as soon as they see them. Is that right?"
Baba said "No. A snake will not kill a person, unless so ordered by God (i.e., Destiny). If that is ordered, that person will not succeed in killing the snake and escaping destiny."
Numerous devotees encounter snakes at Shirdi not infrequently and they generally let them pass scout free, treating them as Baba in reptile form.

WONDEROUS SAINT SRI SAIBABA-PART 37

BY PUJYA SRI NARASIMHASWAMY JI


WHEN THE FAITHLESS GROW PENITENT
SRI SAI BABA'S WAY ...


Some 40 years ago, two friends were discussing their prospects for the Law Examination.
One said that he was sure to pass, though he had not prepared for it because Sri Sai Baba had assured him. The other, Sapatnekar, simply laughed at his friend's confidence and jeered at him and at Baba.
When the results came, the friends name was in the pass list. Sapatnekar was surprised, but still, "That must be a fluke", he thought. He had no faith in, nor regard for Baba.

Then Sapatnekar settled at Akkalkot and practised as a lawyer. Ten years passed. And then he lost his only son and it broke his heart. He sought relief and peace of mind by pilgrimage and study of Vedanta. No peace came to him however. Then he remembered that he had treated Sri Sai Baba's name and powers with contempt and feared that perhaps the bereavement was a punishment. Any how it would be good to go and see Baba at Shirdi and he started. When he went and prostrated before Baba, the latter uttered the chilling words "Chal Hat", i.e., "Getaway'. This was repeated a second time arid even a third. He left Shirdi, thoroughly mortified.

A year passed and then he was preparing for a pilgrimage to Kasi. Just then his wife saw a fakir in her dream, who told her: "Come to me. Why do you make vain efforts?" This showed them that Baba had realised and was more favourably disposed. Sapatnekar then came to Shirdi and fell at Baba's feet. His wife who saw Baba then for the first time noticed that Baba's was the exact figure that came to her in the dream. Baba, however, still uttered "Chal Hat" when he fell at His feet. This time he was more penitent and persevering. He admitted to himself that he did not deserve any better treatment and resolved to see Baba later in the day in the absence of a crowd, to beg pardon for his past contempt. This he did and then Baba kindly stroked his head. Baba strengthened his faith by addressing a shepherdess that had come there, in his characteristic fashion. Baba narrated the various vicissitudes of Sapatnekar's life,never mentioning his name however. His heart was heaving with wonder and joy. None else could know all that Sai then knew and spoke out.

Then the Gift :
Then Baba still addressing the shepherdess pointed to Sapatnekar and said, "This man blames me and charges me with killing his son. Now, I will bring that very child back to his wife's womb".
With these words, Baba placed his blessing hand over Sapatnekar's head and added : "Place entire faith in my words. Your object will be quickly attained". Sapatnekar again glowed with joy and his faith grew in intensity.
At parting Baba gave him a coconut and directed him , place it in the fold of his wife's upper cloth and go away rejoicing.
He did so and in 12 month's time, a son was born to him. Baba's words, he then realised, were never nature, never unfulfilled.

WONDEROUS SAINT SRI SAIBABA-PART 35

BY PUJYA SRI NARASIMHASWAMY JI

TEMPLE TRUSTEE PAYS FOR HIS CRIME


Sri Sai Baba occasionally narrated a few reminiscences of his own past births. These were never taken down and most are forgotten. But a few are still fresh in the memory of the hearers. One of these is given below, substantially as given out by Baba. The readers will note how every sentence of his brims with wisdom and virtue and now, for centuries, Baba is the same Samartha carrying on his mission of helping humanity with his superhuman power, lofty principles and benign impartiality.
One morning, Sri Sai Baba strolled along till he came to a river bank. There he sat under a tree, admiring the dense foliage of an alley and lit his pipe with a pair of flints. A wayfarer came up and the hospitable Baba gave him a few puffs out of his pipe. Then a peculiar sound was heard.

Wayfarer: Let us see what the matter is.
Sai Baba: Matter! It is the croaking in pain of a frog seized by a snake. It is reaping the fruit of its own karma. What we have done in the past comes to us now as present suffering. And yet there is an outcry against Fate!
The wayfarer went out to see the frog for himself.
Sai .Baba (without leaving his seat):— The frog is caught by a huge serpent and is crying. But both frog and serpent were wicked in their past birth and have come into their present bodies to reap their reward.
The wayfarer, returning to Baba : Yes, I went and saw. A big frog, it is, in the mouth of a huge black serpent. If it continues for 10 or 20 minutes more, it will be all over with the poor frog!
Sai Baba: No. I am its father and am here. Will I let the snake eat it? Just see how I realise it!
Then Baba walked on to the place where the frog was, The wayfarer who was going in advance suddenly took fright.
Wayfarer: Baba, let us go back. Do not go nearer. The serpant may fly at us.
Sai Baba : Do not fear.
Sai Baba then went near and thus addressed the creatures.
Sai Baba : Hallo! Veerabhadrappa! Even now, you have no pity for your enemy Basappa though he has now taken birth as a frog, just as you have turned into a serpent? Shame! Shame upon your hatred! Get rid of hatred and rest in peace!
These words acted like magic. The snake let go its, prey, dived into the river and was lost to sight. The frog hopped away and hid in some tree.
Wayfarer: What a wonder! I cannot see why the snake dropped its prey at your words. Which of these creatures is Veerabhadrappa, and which Basappa? Give me their full history, please.

Sai Baba resumed his seat, shared a few puffs with his visitor at his pipe and spoke :
Some 6 or 7 miles off my place, there was a village sanctified by a temple of Maheswara. That temple was getting dilapidated. So the villagers began to collect funds for its renovation. The treasurer appointed was a rich miser. He spent but little of the collections on the renovation which consequently made very poor progress and he swallowed much of the public funds. Seeing the work thus hampered, God appeared in a dream and told the wife of the treasurer: "If you spend any money in renovating this temple, Maheswara will give it to you back a hundredfold". On waking, the wife communicated the dream to her husband. But he sniffed "expenditure" as the drift of her dream and this Shylock would launch into no such venture. He replied that this was no business proposition. Was he not the man incharge of funds? If God meant business, would He not have come to him? And how far was he from her?
Another night, God again came to the wife in her dream and said : "Do not bother yourself about your husband and his money. Give, if you like, out of your own". The wife then told her lord that she was going to endow the temple with the value of her own jewels. They were worth Rs. 1000. Then this treasurer, not content with the amounts already embezzled by him, wanted to do Maheswara, even in this transaction. He told the wife that he would take the jewel himself and give God, i e., the temple, his vast stretch of land as its endowment; and the simple woman agreed. But the land was not his. It was the property of one Dubaki, a poor widow, who was just then too poor to redeem it. But there was no period of limitation for exercising the right of redemption. And the present possession of the land was worth nothing. It was barren saline coastland yielding nothing in the best of seasons.
Thus ended this transaction and sometime later there was a terrific storm. Lightning struck down the house of the treasurer. He and his wife died.
That lady was born in the same village, as the daughter of the temple priest, two whom the above land had been given as service inam. And she was named Gauri. She bad come back to enjoy the land and the priest who was very fond of her donated the land to her use. Then he adopted a boy Basappa who was no other than Dubaki, the mortgager of that land in the previous birth. Basappa was to have the riwersion after or a joint right with Gauri. Gauri had to be married and the priest came to his great friend Sri Sai Baba, living in a mosque in that birth also, and asked for advice. Baba told him to wait,for the man destined to marry her would himself soon turn up. Then came a poor boy of their caste named Veerabadrappa, and he married Gauri. Who was Veera-badrappa? That embezzler of public money, and God's money, the treasurer. He had been born of poor parents at Mathura and named Veerabadrappa. Veerabadrappa was at first devoted to Baba as the latter had proposed his marriage to Gauri.
But the old hankering for wealth was still working in Veerabadrappa and he appealed to the Fakir Baba to get him wealth. Baba told him to wait, for the suitable time would be coming soon.
And it came, For that vast stretch of coast land, there was at last a demand and a sudden appreciation of value. It sold for Rs. 1,00,000 (just 100 times the worth of the jewels) a moiety of which was paid down in cash, the rest being payable in twenty-five annual instalments. Now was Veera-badrappa's chance. He tried to clutch at that money. Basappa was naturally hostile to his claims and resisted his efforts.
Baba's intercession was sought and Baba pointed out that Gauri had the right to the entire money and that none else should interfere. Veerabadrappa got angry with Basappa and Baba. He threatened to kill Basappa who, in his cowardice sought refuge from Baba. Baba plighted his word that he would shield him from the wrath of his wicked foe. Then the parties to this feud died. Veerabadrappa was born as the serpent and was still unrelenting in his hatred. The coward Basappa was born as a frog. Veerabadrappa tried even in this birth to kill his enemy.
Winding up, Baba said. "Hearing the miserable croaking of Basappa, and remembering my pledge to save him, I am here. I have kept my word and saved him".
Baba then changed his expression and said "God saved Basappa, his devotee, by sending me. All this is God's lila or sport".

This may be taken for perfectly true history. For Baba never spoke anything but truth. This anecdote has been embodied in grand sonorous Oviverse in Dabolkar's Sai Sat-charita Ch. 47.
That book is read for daily study, "Parayana" by numerous devotees of Sri Baba. One day, Mr, G. B. Dattar, B.A..LL.B., a pleader of Thana, was reading it. A lady in the bouse was litening to it in a half drowsy condition. She suffered from periodical internal pains as she listened she burst out half involuntarily, in that drowsy condition, and said "Baba, you have such pity for a dumb irrational creature. Have you no pity for me, a human being?"
Then she heard a voice emanating apparently from a peg in the wall saying "Will you give me Rs. 5 dakshina for the Dasstrah?" And she answered she would, if she was cured. At once she woke up from her dozing condition and had the money sent up to Sai Sansthan. She began to improve and in some hours, her agony considerably abated. This was in 1932.

WONDEROUS SAINT SRI SAIBABA-PART 34

BY PUJYA SRI NARASIMHASWAMY JI

SRI SAI BABA AND NATIONAL UNITY


The peaceful atmosphere of Sri Sai Baba's sansthan was never disturbed by politics or other controversies. In his own quiet unostentatious way,'Baba was however laying the solid foundations of Indian Unity, and affording both by example and precept valuable suggestions for Indian's welfare. The greatest stumbling block in its way is the difficulty of yoking together the two great communities to the common cause and making them pull in unison and amity. Let us note Baba's contribution to this great task.
While at Bombay and in other places, heads were being broken, temples, mosques and houses were burnt down, at Shirdi each of these groups built or lent a hand in building the others' temples, mosques and houses.

Happy Co-operation :

A Hindu Revenue Inspector gave Baba stones for the reconstruction of His mosque and Baba gifted them all away for the reconstruction of the Hindu temples in the village. The Hindus later collected thousands of rupees and reconstructed His mosque.
A devotee of Sri Sai Baba viz., Sri Upasani Maharaj has put up at Sakori (3 miles off Shirdi) a neat little mosque within twenty yards of the local Siva and Maruti temples, without any disturbance of public or private tranquillity. Hindus and Muslims have always joined together for the processions and celebrations in honour of Sri Sai Baba, and for prayers at the tomb and both partook of the vegetarian offerings (Naivedya) brought by both to Baba, after due pronouncement of Namaz.

Against Coaversion :
Sri Sai Baba symbolised the coming unity of the two creeds in himself and in his abode,Like Kabir.Baba said he was Kabir in a former birth, he combined in himself the Hindu boring of ears with Muslim circumcision. He dressed like a Muslim Fakir, but was painted, garlanded and ornamented like a Hindu image. He spoke to Muslims in their Hindustani and to Hindus in their Marathi and quoted the Koran to the former and the Puran to the latter. He gave advice and help suited to each and was the friend and father of all. He was strictly conservative and kept each group or individual to its or his customary observances and lines of progress. He hated proselytism. Once when Bade Baba, the Malegaon Fakir, brought with him a Hindu recenly converted to Islam, Baba mockingly asked the latter (knowing, offcourse, that the conversion was external and not a change of heart), "Well, have you changed your father?"

Pooja and Koran :

The building In which Baba resided was the 'masjid’ of the Muslims; but it was styled 'Dwarika-Mayi' by Baba himself and the Hindus. It contained the niche in the western wall called 'nimbar' representing the Caaba of Mecca, to which all orthodox Muslims should turn at times of prayer, and also a perpetual fire, with its sacred ashes, a platform round the sacred tulsi for Pradakshina, and a garlanded portrait of Baba for pooja. Hindu scriptures were read there by day and the Koran by night. And at noon, worship of Baba was carried on with Hindu hymns to the accompaniment of deafening music. Fully justified was Baba's remark, "This is Brahmin's mosque."
But this strange, though not unprecedented, assimilation of the two religions into one was not achieved without the exercise of the vast powers, the intense love and watchful zeal of Sri Sai Baba for many decades. And at times, especially at the outset, there were occasions for friction. But under Baba's care, actual friction was averted. These instances were very few not more than 3 or 4 during a period of 3 or 4 decades, and they are the exceptions which prove the rule. We shall notice them very briefly.

Defies a Threat :
Painting Baba with sandal and worshipping him at the mosque was the first and foremost cause of dissatisfaction to Mussalmans. In fact, Baba himself disliked these and was long preventing their performance. But the loving heart of Sai could not long resist the persistent ardour of his Hindu 'children' and he finally yielded his reluctant assent. The Muslims of Shirdi, however, were not at first inclined to yield their assent. On the other hand, they invoked the aid of Sangamner Kazi and held a council of war at which it was resolved that further discreation of the mosque should be stopped by the use of force. They resolved to beat Mahlsapathy—this was probably in ths nineties of the last century, when he was the only regular worshipper of Baba—in case he continued to paint and worship Baba at the mosque. When that feeble-bodied devotee learnt of the mischief that was brewing he stood outside the mosque and carried on his pooja of Baba.But Baba knew his own power, the weakness of the opposition and the vast advantages to the public of the development of his worship. He called Mahlsapathy into the mosque and ordered him to go on with the usual painting and pooja,defying terrorism to lift its head, if it dared. The Moulvi and other present were cowed down by the firmness of this Shirdi Wizard, and gave up all idea of molesting Mahlsapathy or any other worshipper.

Pathan's Terrible Offer :
More than a decade after the above incident, when the worship of Baba had become general, marked and assertive, a few die-hards tried to stem this current and stop the "desecration of the mosque and the transformation of a Muslim fakir into a Hindu Idol". One midnight, in 1915 when Baba was sleeping at the chavadi along with R. A. Tarkhad, some other Hindus and a fierce Pathan, the last got up and telling Baba that the Hindus were "spoiling" and ruining him begged permission to cut all the Hindu throats immediately. R. A. Tarkhad woke up and shuddered at the prospect of being murdered in cold blood. But Baba the watchful mother that he was, came to the rescue. He took the entire responsibility for all the heterodox practices at the mosque on himself, and declared that it was his madness that spoilt the Hindus and that consequently his own throat might be cut, if that was desired. As this zealot for the purity of Islam was not willing to go so far, the matter was dropped.

Punished on the Spot:

A little later, another Pathan who left Police service for a fakir's life, was staying with Baba at Shirdi. His zeal first spent itself in shounting out the 'Kalam", throughout the night of the proximity of Baba. The villagers whose sleep was thus disturbed wished to drive him out. But Baba supported him, fed him and maintained him there. This "Rohilla" (as he was incorrectly named) though convinced by Baba's vast powers and goodness, that Baba was nothing less than Paygambar (i.e. Prophet) felt at the same time that Baba was striking at the root of Muslim orthodox traditions. This feeling gathered strength in a short time and one day this "Rohilla" decided to murder Baba and approached him from behind with a club. But the omniscience of Baba was equal to the occasion. He simply turned back and with a glance and a touch pinned the would-be-murderer to the ground whence he was unable to lift himself without other's help. This was probably the last attempt at interference with the peaceful and united celebration of Baba's worship at Shirdi.

After Death :

When Baba passed away in October 1918, disputes arose as to the disposal of his mortal remains. Some Muslims were anxious to assert their right to this "Muslim” saint's tomb, and to keep it under their own control. The majority of worshippers being Hindus resisted the demand. The ease with which the problem was solved showed how greatly Baba had toned down creed asperities at Shirdi. When the disputes were going on, and the corpse remained unburied, the customary Hindu worship was proceeding. The public authorities that came on the scene took a plebiscite, through mahazars which showed that the majority of devotees were in favour of respecting Baba's own wish to be interred in a recent edifice of his Hindu devotee, G. M. Buty. The Muslims agreed, stipulating only that they should have free access to the tomb and mosque as usual. The utter absence of mutual violence on this occasion speaks volumes for the toleration and co-operation so sedulously cultivated by Baba at Shirdi.
There are numerous saints all over the country, who have a following among both the communities. Is it too much to hope that they also would develop the spirit of toleration and amity as at Shirdi and render real Hindu-Muslim unity an accomplished fact?

WONDEROUS SAINT SRI SAIBABA-PART 36

BY PUJYA SRI NARASIMHASWAMY JI


WHEN GIFTS ARE PROMISED AND FORGOTTEN


More than thirty years ago, as Sri Sai Baba was seated at this mosque, two Deccan Brahmins came and prostrated before him. Baba asked Shama to ask one of them to pay Rs. 15 as dakshina. Shama asked and the money was paid readily. The other man found that Baba did not ask him for anything. Yet as he felt strongly in the matter, he voluntarily paid Rs. 35. Baba just handled the amount and promptly returned it. Shama was surprised and spoke to Baba.

Shama : Lord! I have never seen the like of this! The thirty-five rupees voluntarily paid, you refuse to accept. The other and smaller sum, fifteen rupees you beg for and accept. What is the discrimination !
Baba: Shama, you do not know. I receive nothing from anybody. This Rs. 35 is not ours. But the Rs. 15 is Datta's and he has made it over to "Masjid Ayi" (a phrase denoting Baba's personality as functioning at masjid).
Baba paused a while and further explained his statements in his characteristic indirect way which none but the concerned parties could follows.

Baba: He was first poor and earned nothing. He then made a vow to Datta, that if he should secure employment by Datta's grace, the first month's salary should be made over to that God. He did secure employment on Rs. 15. That was long, long ago. Then there was steady increase in his salary which went up by leaps and bounds to Rs. 700 aid over. In the full tide of prosperity, the old vow was clean forgotten and Datta's debt remained unpaid. The force of this Karma drove him here. So I asked him to give my fifteen rupees as a dakshina.

Then was there another incident. I was going on by the seaside. There was a huge and beautiful house there ,owned by a rich Brahmin, of good family. The Brahmin gave me my night meal. There was a clean and neat place, near the cupboard. He pointed out that place, as good for me to sleep in. I slept there. When I was sound asleep, that man used his skill in the grafter's art and quietly removing a stone slab in the wall, gained acces to me. He gently cut off an entire roll of note,thirty notes, each of the face value of Rs. 1000. I woke up in the morning and was aghast at the loss of my fortune. I was greatly upset and did not know what to do. That Brahmin must have done it. I felt sure. But where was the proof? I lost all interest in food and drink and sat on the verandah of that house moaning over my fate. A passing fakir noticed my evident dejection and made kind enquiries to its cause. I unburdened myself of the tale of my woe. Thee said he "Do act up to my directions, and you will recover yours. There is the fakir that I shall mention to you. Make a vow that you will go and see him if the money is recovered. Meanwhile give up yaur favourite dish of food, and do not taste it till the money is recovered". I followed the fakir's directions and recovered the money. I left that house. Again I went by the sea. There was a steamer I wanted to get into. But the master of the boat would not allow me to get in as the boat was already full. Then a belted peon said: "These are our men". On that peon's intercession, I got in. Then I took train and came to Masjid Ayi.
As Baba was speaking, Shama was much mystified. But the two visitors were deeply impressed and were shedding tears.
Then at Baba's bidding, Shama took the visitors home and fed them. There Shama observed that Baba's talk was quite mystifying, since Baba never went to the seaside, never had 30,000 rupee, never lost money, and never recovered them as was just stated. But the visitors said that every word that Baba spoke was the truth about them.

The first visitor had indeed made a vow to Datta dedicating the first month's salary to God, and said that having risen from Rs. 15 to over Rs. 700 he had forgotten all about his vow, and that Baba who was undoubtedly God was very kind to him in calling up that amount and releasing him from the obligation under the vow.

The second visitor also confirmed the account given by Baba about Rs. 30,000. When Baba said "I", that only denoted this visitor who was the person despoiled of thirty notes, each a thousand in value. The "Brahmin", i.e., cook who had served him for 30 years, one night removed a slab in the wall and approaching this visitor purloined the entire sum. A report to the police was fruitless. So he was sitting with a long and down cast face at his verandah, when a fakir told him that if a vow be made to Sri Sai Baba of Shirdi (to go there if the money is recovered) the money would be surely recovered; and that meanwhile, he should fore go the use of his favourite dish.
"I like rice best and I vowed not to taste it and I made the other vow also", said he "In 15 days the cook came to me of his own accord and returned the entire amount stolen by him. I then was tossing between Bombay and Goa by sea. Baba again appeared in my dream, to remind me of the unfulfilled vow. At Goa we made up our minds to start for Shirdi i.e., to go by boat to Bombay and thence to take train. But the boat at Goa was full and space was refused. Suddenly there was on board a belted peon totally unknown to us and he said, "Please let them come in; they are our men". So we were admitted.
The visitor added; "What vast knowledge is Babas! What vast control over every thing and person is His! But for Him, how would the thief return such a large sum and how would we even get a place in the steamer! Baba is Sarva Antaryami. He lives inside each heart, knows its secrets and controls it".

WONDEROUS SAINT SRI SAIBABA-PART 33

BY PUJYA SRI NARASIMHASWAMY JI

THE MYSTIC BLISS OF BABA

Baba gave all things to his devotees and filled them with all sorts of joys , 'enjoyment of worldly objects, comforts of domestic life riches, honour, success in one's efforts, security from danger, release from disease and troubles of various sorts. It is not to these joys that this article is devoted, nor even to the joys be gave them of overcoming defects and vices. The new life of virtue and power, with the joyous sense of achievement not only increased the quantum but also the tone and scale of their happiness; lifting it from the animal level of selfish sense gratification to the angelic level of selfless spiritual joy, the joy of life that is grounded in love. But there are special grades of joy including the "Mystic Bliss" that Baba favoured some devotees with and it is that bliss that will be now described.
First it is necessary to define the term used. 'Mystic' is a very elastic, very popular, and therefore much abused, term so much abused in fact as to deter some from using it in serious works. Such vagueness and the resulting confusion and abuse can, however, be easily avoided by starting with a definition and strictly adhering to it. This writer uses the word Mysticism to denote the blissful direct immediate contact by intuition, or attempt at such contact by any person, with the Real or what stands to him as the ultimate that lies beyond the universe of phenomena, subjective and objective.
This Real or Ultimate is God to most persons and in their case, mystic bliss is the same as or a part of and preparation for perfect Divine Bliss. But even among religious minded people, the Real that the touch in such experience may not be distinctly identified with God. For instance, Tennyson even as a boy began to dive into himself, by pronouncing his own Christian name and ridding it of its finite association, with the result that he was lost in a trance, in which the consciousness of his little ego perished or rather expanded infinitely into an unlimited illuminating Light of Self, full of joy and life, where in death was an unimaginable or laughable absurdity. This was clear mysticism of the self without distinct reference to a personal or impersonal God, though few would hesitate to give that name to the limitable Deathless state of enlightenment.

Joy Alone Left :
This mystic bliss comes to Buddhists in attaining "Nirvana", in "extinguishing" their little self but as they do not recognise or ascribe their joy to God, such blus cannot be described as Divine Bliss by them, though a student of religious psychology may have good grounds for identifying the Buddhistic Joy of Nirvana with the Vedantic Bliss of the Atman, Brahmananda.
Sri Sai Baba was (and even now is) shedding or showering joy upon his devotees, occasionally when they were away, but frequently when they were in his presence. Anna Saheb Dabolkar in his monumental Marathi biography of Baba,
Sai Satcharita, has thus described it:
"When one gazes and gazes upon Baba's fact, all hunger and thirst are gone , what other joy can compare with thou? One forgets all miseries of earthly exitence".
And again!
"Gazing into his eyes, loses one's sense of individuality; Bliss gushes out from within and the mind sink into an expanse of sweetness".

Care Vanish :
And he further adds that the Vedic description of Brahman is mere bookish knowledge to most, while at Shirdi, it was the common and daily experience of devotees. That Sri Dabolkar has not overstated fact is borne out by reliable testimony. The Hon. Mr. G. S. Khaparde, the Pepys of Shirdi, has noted the same in his daily dairy during his seven months, stay with Baba in 1910, 1911 and 1912 and in his preface to a biography of Baba. In the latter, he says: "From the moment I approached him, all the load of my worldly cares disappeared, though only a few minutes before, it was felt to be exceedingly oppressive and such as to excite disgust of life".
It is needless to quote from the numerous other devotees who have spoken out their experience in similar terms; but we may first refer to those of a Marathi lady Mrs. Manager, and of a Parsi, Mr. Jahangir of Bombay.

A Paradise :

Mrs. Manager says:— "His (i.e., Baba's) loving care combined with those powers made Shirdi a veritable paradise. Directly we went there, we felt safe, that nothing could harm us. When I went and sat in his presence, I always forgot my pain—nay the body itself with all mundane concerns and anxieties. Hours would pass and I would be in blissful unconsciousness of their passing. That was a unique experience shared I believe, by all his real devotees".
Says Mr. Jehangir, "My experience with Baba was very happy. Whenever I went into his presence I forget everything. I had no trouble, no anxiety, no Care, no fear. Everything was blotted out and I passed a blissful time in his company. That was most wonderful. Even now, if he comes in dream vision, that effect is reproduced".
We shall next proceed to consider the instances of mystic bliss he granted through Sakshatkara or vision of divine forms.
A Brahmin doctor who was a devout Ramabhakta was persuaded to go to thee , Sri Sai Baba despite his strong antipathy to bow at the feet of a Muslim, as Baba was taken to be. But Baba's grace evidently in consideration of his devotion to Rama was shown to him from the time of his entry into the mosque compound. When he saw Baba there, he hurried up and fell at his feet, and later explained his sudden change of attitude to his friends. What he beheld in Baba's seat as soon as he approached it, was not the human figure of Baba, but the divine glory of Sri Rama. Having found God in the flesh, he determined to get the highest out of Him,viz. Brahmananda. As Baba did not grant it at once this petulant child started satyagraha. He resolved to fast and not to visit Baba at the Mosque unless he should be given the bliss he sought, or be sent for by Baba.
So he fasted three days. Baba, the kind mother that he was, knew of course how the wind blew and sterred his own course. On the fourth day of the fast, an intimate friend of the doctor, not seen for many long years turned up at Shirdi ,accidentally one might say, if one did not know Sri Sai Baba's vast powers of control. Overflowing with the joy of the friend's arrival, the doctor forgot his fast and his vow and accompanied him to the mosque. Baba asked him, 'Doctor, did any one send for you?" The doctor saw that nothing was or could be concealed from this powerful Sai, and he mentally pressed his quest. That midnight, Baba's grace vouch-safed a response, and the doctor was filled with a strange ecstasy for which there was no physical or physiological explanation and which was clearly a glimpse of Paramananda or Siva Ananda granted by Baba's will. But what he experienced was short lived. In response to his prayer after he went home, he again experienced this joy for a full fortnight. But after that, it ceased. The doctor was not yet qualified to get the perpetual Ananda that becomes part of one's nature or rather becomes one's self, i.e., the Jivan Mukta state. Baba gave him just an appetizer to make him work up to the goal.

A Yogic Doctor :
We may close this article with an experience of greater permanence than those above recited. Sri Sai Baba though invested with the nature and powers of a Yogasiddha, was never known to practice Ashtanga Yoga and sometime warned his devotees agaist the snares of the mystic powers for which parts of the yoga course are gone through. If, however, any one who had difficulties or had come to ruin in yogabhyasa sought relief at his feet, relief was afforded. The best instance known to this writer of such help was that given to Sri Upasani Maharaj. In the course of his hata yogic efforts at suspension of breath, his respiration became fitful and evidently on account of a paralytic attack on some of the respiratory organs, respiration would now and then suddenly threaten to collapse, filling him with the fear, thus, of sudden death. No doctors and no yogis could help him. But Sri Sai Baba appeared to him at Rahuri 30 miles of Shirdi and gave him a very simple recipe which almost completely cured him.

Stream of Sweetness :
Sri Sai Baba further drew him to Shirdi arid there taught him the secret of the Yogic Ecstasy (as practised by Sufis).
Before he went to Shirdi, Sri Upasani Baba easily attained the. Samadhi state and remained in it even for days. But it was a Sushka Samadhi. It was no doubt free from the cares and sorrows of the world but there was no positive element of joy in it. Sri Sai Baba showed him how to turn his dry Samadhi into a joyous experience. He was made to retain a thin trace of his personality and with it draw in an inexhaustible stream of sweetness from Iswara, the Ocean of Sweetness (Rasa).
And this was a permanent gift. Sri Upasani Maharaj has ever since resorted to this form of ecstasy in preference to his former method. But even this ecstasy is but a preparation for the highest goal, the Jivan Mukta state in which one's personality merges for ever in Sat-Chit-Ananda from which there is no return.

WONDEROUS SAINT SRI SAIBABA-PART 32

BY PUJYA SRI NARASIMHASWAMY JI

AS IF TO STRIKE BUT REALLY TO BLISS
SRI SAI BABA'S WAY


There was often at times a certain mystery and dignity about Sri Sai Baba's direction or order when he favoured his devotees. He would not condescend to explain or give reasons. What was a real and great favour came with the harsh appearance of heartless cruelty. Thus when Mr. Manager of Poona had lost his employment and went to Shirdi in the hope that Baba would help him to get employed, Baba ordered him, at once, to start back to Poona via Ahmednagar, with Tatya Patel and others who were going there for fun and no business of their own. Mr. Manager's plea that he had no business at Ahmednagar or Poona was unheeded. But the benefit of implicit obedience to Baba's order was immediately felt. When he reached Poona, there was a strike of mill hands and the Directors were waiting for him, to take charge of the Managership. Baba lifts his hand as though to strike, but the uplifted hand showers blessings.

The Dakshina :
Once D. H. Lele, Inspector of Land Records, Nasik was going to Shirdi to see Baba. En route, at Kopergaon, he visited the Library and saw from the Official Gazette that he had been promoted from Rs. 125 to Rs. 150. When he reached Shirdi and bowed at Baba's feet, the latter asked him for Rs. 15 Mr. Lele pleaded that he had not so much money with him. Baba retorted "It is only yesterday, I gave you Rs. 25. Go and fetch fifteen". The money was then borrowed from Mr. H. V. Sathe (to whom the facts were narrated) and paid to Baba.
Mr. Somnath Shankar Deshpande Nimonkar, Inspector of Police, Poona says that when he was a Sub-Inspector at Kopergaon, he visited Baba at Shirdi and the latter asked for a dakshina of Rs. 10. That was paid and it then seemed to have no particular significance. But about 6 months later, be got an order for increasing his salary by Rs. 10 from the date of his paying that dakshina.



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