The Glory of Shirdi SaiThe Glory of Shirdi Sai

3 0 - M A Y - 2 0 1 3 Y E A R 2 0 1 3 — I S S U E 1 1

गु ब्र मा गु िवर् ण:ु गु दवो महे वर: | गु : शाक्षात परब्र म त म ै ीगरुवे नमः:||

CONTENT

*** Ambrosia in Shirdi Shirdi Dairy Sri Sainatha Mananam The Dreams Train Devotees Corner Baba’s close devotees Children Section Collection of Articles  Aditya Hridayam

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द्धा सबुरी

A Bi-Weekly Publication by www.saidarbarusa.org an affiliate of SAIDARBAR Hyderabad, India

JAI SAI RAM

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, Go-vinda Rao vowed that if his nephew re-covered, he would send him to Shirdi for Baba's darshan. With the blessing

of Him the nephew did recover in two days. But Govinda Rao forgot his vow, although his nephew visited him three times, hoping that he would remember, after seeing him. 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 gathere together - and prayed and sang Bhajans. They pleased to 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. This story is described in Sai Satcharitra Ch.36 as the story of two gentle-men from Goa and their fulfillment of their vows.

Leela 4 Govinda Rao Oak lived in Andheri, Bombay. Once he and his friend, Kris-hanji Agasthe went to Shirdi. They had Baba's darshan and stayed at Shirdi for a couple of days. On the day of their departure, both of them pur-chased a photograph of Baba. Neatly they tied the pho-tographs in a bun-dle. On the way home, Govinda Rao was upset, 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 photo-graphs although they had paid for two. Mentally, he thanked Baba for this Leela and gave his brother one copy as Baba's prasad.

P A G E 2

Athinamra svabhava

kaya

Namaha

1912 25 January Thursday, Shirdi Madhavarao Deshpande woke me up in the morning & said that he had to call me more than once before I answered his call. I prayed & attended the Kakad Arti. Sayin Baba walked to the Masjid in silence On return we held our Parmamrit class with Upasani, Bapusaheb Jog, Bhishma & Mrs Kaulgi. We finished the chapter on Mahavakya Viveka. Then we saw Sayinsaheb both when he went out & after he returned to Masjid. The midday arti went off as usual & Sayinsaheb gave me smoke very often. After meals I lay down for a while & then we had Ramayan. Dixit read it, & later on went to see Sayin Baba. He was in a pleased mood. At night there was the Wada Arti, Bhishma ’s Bhajan & Dixit ’s Ramayan. I may mention the fact that in the evening at strol time Sayin Baba told me nearly the whole previous history of Mrs Laxmi Bai Kaulgi. I knew it to be correct as I knew the facts

*** 1912 26 January Friday, Shirdi In the morning I got up very early by myself and miscalculating the time it wanted to sun-rise, I said my prayers & walked up & down in the verandah. I found that I was before time by about an hour & a half. After sunrise I began the routine of life here & went out. Then found that Dhande Baba had arrived from Poona. I naturally sat talking with him. He showed me the latest letter of Tilak. At last the coronation has come & gone without seeing him out of jail. We sat talking about him & Dr Garde who has needlessly got up some trouble just now and wishes particularly to harm me. We read a little of Paramamrita, saw Sayin Baba go out & again after he returned. I felt unwell so I lay down for a while. Dhande Baba went away about 4 P.M. We had our afternoon Ramayan read by Dixit and then went to see Sayin Baba & walked in front of the Chavadhi. At night there was the Wada Arti & Sheja-Arti, Bhishma ’s Bhajan & Ramayana of Dixit. I received some English letters today.

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T H E G L O R Y O F S H I R D I S A I

Please tune in and listen to non-stop bhajans at: www.saibhaktiradio.com

Pujyasri B.V.Narasimhaswamiji, who visited Shirdi in the year 1936, collected authentic information about Lord Sainath from persons lived with Sai and wrote many books on Lord Sainath. All his works are authentic . One such book is SRI SAINATHA MANANAM. This book was published as early as in the year 1942 and the fourth edition came in the year 1945.

P A G E 3 Y E A R 2 0 1 3 — I S S U E 1 1

Baba’s Inscrutability Sai was as patient in endurance as Vasudeva (father of Sri Krishna) and as full of for-bearance as one's parents, like Brahma the Creator as he treated all alike; in liberality, and munificence, he was like Mahadeva,(Siva) and like Maha Vishnu, he was the ref-uge and support of all creatures. This is the Lord's ordainment that though Sai was in the midst of and mixed up with Prakriti(i.e.) Maya and though her qualities were in him, he was not affected or over-come by them . As is the attitude so is the result. Gift, sacrifice, japa, all these produce the three-fold fruits of Dharma, Artha and Kama. Total devotion to Sayeesa alone is productive of four-fold fruits; viz, the above three and Moksha. To whom will Sayeesa,(the highest of saints absorbed in instrtucting, guiding and help-ing people to achieve temporal and spiritual benefits) fail to give satisfaction and hap-piness? Oh Sai, Sai, Mahabhaga, that affordeth devotees fullest sanctuary, you alone are the salvation to people burnt in the fire of samsara. It is only so long as we do not surrender ourselves to and seek refuge with Sai, the de-stroyer of fear, that we experience fear in respect of wealth, family and friends, grief, hankering, disgrace and defeat, excessive greed and that source of all our troubles viz. the improper clutching at things "mine"(possessions). How can the troubles relating to or originating from the body, mind, gods, (interim space), human beings and the five elements, affect those who have sought refuge with Sai? A person overcomes all these quickly by his faith in the Guru.

Will continue...

P A G E 4

Annadhana

sadhanistaya

Namaha

T H E G L O R Y O F S H I R D I S A I

DEVOTEES EXPERIENCE AND ARTICLES ON A SINGLE POINTED DEVOTION ~ (Late) Dr. RS.R. Swami When He casts a pearl in the clear pool of one's heart-one's devotion goes on expanding in ever widening concentric waves of love. As long Fellow says The tidal wave of deeper souls , Into our inmost being rolls And lifts us unawares Out of all our meaner cares. Such love generates faith. Faith which is not a half-way house between doubt and belief. Total faith beyond all question involving complete surren-der because He is saranagatha vatsala. You are content to recommend yourself to His care and leave yourself entirely in His hands, come what may, even a world shaking holocaust. The most perfect definition of such faith was given nearly 2000 years ago by St.Augustine. He said : Faith is to believe what you do not see. And the reward of that faith is to SEE WHAT YOU I BELIEVE.

Now you can view this eNewsLetter from iPhone at http://worldofsai.com.

11-01-1998: Sai appeared as a fakir and talked on the subject of birth and reincarnations: 1. You have undergone Bypass surgery on 17-05-1996. This is a new birth

given to your physical body by God. Utilise this body for HIS service. 2. Look at that peacock struggling to save itself from the clutches of the

four foxes hunting from all the sides to kill their prey. In the past life the peacock was a senior Government officer having indulged in harassment of his four subordinates. To fulfil their vengeance, the four subordinates are now born as four foxes and the officer as a peacock.

P A G E 5 Y E A R 2 0 1 3 — I S S U E 1 1

Golden words are these. We have got beautiful and thrilling example in Draupadi's Vastrapaharana. The Lord does not come to the rescue as long as she relies on her poor hand to hold on to her saree with only one hand raised in; prayer to Him. It is only when her surrender is complete where in utter desperation she lifts both her hands in prayer does the lord appear in a split second to save her nakedness and the saree goes on extending adinfinitum till the shame faced Dussasana sinks exhausted. Once a scoffer asked me, "Is your Shirdi baba alone the only true saviour whom every one must approach?" No, Certainly not. I do not say so. Nor did Baba Himself. He reiterated the vedic axiom 'Ekam Sat Vipra Bahudha Vadanti' Baba Himself told a questioner who asked Him whether he should cease worshipping his Ishta devta and kuladevata, "You continue to worship whomsoever you are worshipping now If you are a devotee of Ram, Krishna, Shiva, Dutta, Maruti and so on be more and more devoted in your worship. If you are a Christian, be a bet-ter Christian; if a Muslim, be a better Muslim. You must try to see me in other incarnations and the other incarnations in me. He did not merely say it. He manifested Himself as Ramachandra, Krishna, Dattatreya, Panduranga, Maruti, etc. to their respective devotees who at first were averse to accept Him as a divine in-carnation. "Main Allah Hum" He used to say and orthodox Muslims used to worship Him with Namaz and do so even now as you can see at Shirdi. He wanted His devotees to see Him in all, even animals like dogs, cats, pigs, etc. and gave ample proof of it. When some one or the other hit an animal with a stick or a stone, He showed them the injury on His own body to prove His Sarvantaryamitva. When Namdev saw Sri Pandu-ranga in the dog snatching away the roti from his leaf, he ran after the dog with the ghee 'dhona' in his hand shouting "Panduranga, Panduranga, you have left the ghee behind. Have this also. Dry roti will hurt your stomach." Would any man born of woman dare to say "It is Namdev's Panduranga and not my Panduranga." That is the acid-test of true bhakti, culminating in true realisation and At-onement with God. Though during Namdev's days also there were so called devotees who called him mad because they could not rise to his level. St. John, one of the four apostles of Christ who wrote the gospel says some are born enuchs and some make themselves enuchs of God. Even so, there are born fools and .those who pose as fools for His sake, just as there are mentally sick persons and those who are mad with love of God. You can understand it if you have been madly in love even on the human scale. Intoxication with divine love is cosmic and transcen-dental. A mere glance or touch or a thought or a word satyauak, satyn sankalpc and kataksha can not only transform you but transmute persons. As Goldsmith says, "A breath can make them, as a breath has made", Shirdi Baba has proclaimed, "I shall be ever active and vigorous even after leaving this earthly body, My mortal remains will speak from the tomb. I am ever alive to help and guide all who come to me who surren-der to me and who seek refuge in me. If you look to me, I look to you". These are not new words. Lord Krishna has said then ananyas chintayanto mam ye janah paryupasate theshan nityabhiyuktanam yoga-kshemam vahamyaham (Gita chap.9 ver.22). But Baba has time and again demonstrated both before and after His Mahasamadhi, rather to a greater extent afterwards than before acting in a split second to bring life back to the dead, to make the blind see, and the dumb speak and fools wise proving that He is a divine in-carnation and eternally active. Netra heenakshi dhayeecha mathi heena matipradah Moo/cam Karoti Va-chalam Mritamudhjiua yatyapi. Will continue...

P A G E 6

Baba’s Close Devotees ~ Courtesy: http://blessedones.saibaba.com/ RAO BAHADUR HARI VINAYAK SATHE Retired Deputy Collector, Deccani,

Brahmin, Aged 81 (born 1855), Residing at 108, Shukrawar Peth, Poona Baba's activities Though Baba either out of humility or out of policy as-cribed all beneficent things done for his visitors and devo-tees to God, he disclosed in many cases his own author-ship by his words, e.g. (1) About my pension he said (in pungent slang) that he would force the Authorities to pay me my full pension.

(2) Another instance comes to my mind now. Daji Hari Lele (Dt. Inspector of Land Records at Nasik) was proceeding to Shirdi to see Baba. On the way he went to the Library at Kopergaon and saw the Gazette. Therein he discovered that he had been promoted from Rs. 125 to Rs. 150. Then he came to Shirdi and bowed to Baba. Baba told him "Bring me Rs. 15". The man said he had no money. Baba retorted, "It is only yesterday I gave you Rs. 25. Go and bring the money." Lele then came to my wada, informed me of all the facts and borrowed the money to pay Baba. Baba's talks (Goshties): (1) Baba said once that as a boy he was weaving shawls, that his father was once so pleased with his handiwork that he gave him a pecuniary present of some Rs. 5 or so. (2) Once Baba said that he was 'eating food' (i.e., living) at the East Coast ie., Coromandal Coast. (3) Once he said, "Pshaw! What of Akbar! I have protected him in his infancy. He stood in fear of me." (4) The brahmin of Paithan (evidently referring to Eknath) I knew. Brahmins of such excellent sort are not now-a-days seen.

T H E G L O R Y O F S H I R D I S A I

Athithi bhuktha sesabhuje

Namaha

P A G E 7 Y E A R 2 0 1 3 — I S S U E 1 1

(5) Chand bai Patel came to me and asked me about his horse. He said "Where did you drive my horse?" I replied, "Why do you charge me? Go and see: Your horse is grazing by the hedge." This was all that issued from the mouth of Baba. I used my imagination and built stories on these and wrote my "Sai Katha Karandaka". It was written without previous intimation to or obtaining the approval of Baba. Baba's utterances were short. He abruptly stopped many of his stories.

Stories from “Chinna Katha”

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Learn and Children Section

Playing marbles with the Name of God

There was once a boy, who picked up a precious gem, bright and round, and used it for playing marbles on the road, with his comrades. A merchant dealing in precious stones chanced to pass along that road, and his discerning eye fell on the gem. He approached the boy, took him aside and offered to pay him fifty rupees in exchange. If the boy could know the value of fifty rupees he would have known the value of the gem! He went to his mother and told her that a stranger had tempted him with fifty rupees in re-turn for the marble he played with. She was surprised that it was so costly and she said, "Do not go at the compound with it; play in the garden with your friend". When the value was revealed, limits were set.

The merchant had no sleep that night, he was plan-ning to secure the gem from those simple folk, so that he could sell it at a huge profit to some million-aire or mahârâja. He discovered the house of the boy and moved up and down that road hoping to see the boy. When he saw the boy play with it, as it was as cheap as a marble, his heart was wrung in agony. The boy threw it on the floor; his mother emerged just at the moment from the inner apartments and it struck

her foot and fell under the bush. He spoke to the boy asking for the gem in exchange for a hundred rupees, and again for five hundred rupees! The son ran into the house in tears, complaining about the stranger who would not let him alone. The mother came out into the garden and begged the merchant to go away. The merchant grasped the chance; he told the mother that he was ready to give a thou-sand rupees on the spot, if the marble was placed in his hand! On hearing this, she for-bade the child to play with it outside the house; he could play only within the rooms. The merchant could not be shooed off like that; he appeared the next day in front of

T H E G L O R Y O F S H I R D I S A I

the house; he held out ten thousand rupees as his offer for the marble. The mother refused to part with it but kept it now in an iron safe, under lock and key! When the merchant came the next day with fifty thousand rupees she took it to a bank and deposited it in their safety vaults. You are also playing marbles with the name of God unaware of its value. Once you realize its worth, you will keep it in your heart of hearts as the most precious treasure. Know that the name is the key to success in your search for consolation, confidence, courage, illumination and liberation.

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Caitanya - Incarnation of Krishna

Caitanya gave indication of His being an incarna-tion to his mother [S'rîmati S'acî devî], as a child. Caitanya was then a baby crawling on all fours. His mother had a guest in the house, an old ortho-dox brahmin, who was cooking his own lunch from the provisions given by her. He desired his food to be ceremonially pure, uncontaminated by the touch of other hands. He offered to God the food he prepared to eat; that was his vow. It was rather late when the offering was ready. Just when he sat before the idol of Krishna for worship. The child toddled forward and dipped his fingers in the vessel of food thus making it 'impure' as an offer-ing to God. So, provisions were given again. Food was cooked again, and very late in the day the worship was resumed. This time, too, the child crawled in from somewhere and contaminated the

sacred food! It repeated the mischief a third time. The mother dragged the child away and threatened to thrash the prank out of its head. But the child asked the mother, quite innocently; "He is calling on me to eat it, but when I go near it he gets angry". Thus did he reveal that He was Krishna again.

P A G E 1 0

Adhrsyaloka sancharine

Namaha

T H E G L O R Y O F S H I R D I S A I

Shri Jnanadeva and The Path of Bhakti Shri Jnanadeva was the greatest apostle of Bhakti school in Maharashtra. Jnaneshwari is his Magnum Opus. It is his celebrated commentary on the Bhaga-vadgita. It is in Marathi for the use of common folk. It is a work of high literary excellence where poetic elegance intermingle with the profundity of thought and sublime religious insight. Hence it is rightly selected by the famous world or-ganization, UNESCO, for translation into English, French and Spanish for international propagation. Shri Jnanadeva was a great Yogi, a great Jnani as well as a great Bhakta, but the pathway of Bhakti or loving devotion was dearer to him than those of Yoga and Jnana. So he has brought out in his commentary full implications of the Bhaktiyoga or the path of loving devo-tion as propounded in the Bhagavadgita. The dignity of Human Life. It is said in the Bhagawata Purana that the crea-tor of the universe created various ob-jects like trees, serpents, animals, birds and insects but he was not satisfied. At last when human being was created the Lord was pleased to see in him the capacity to know his Creator (13-9-28). Jnanadeva says that the rela-tion of man and God is like that of Earth and its particle or the Sun and its rays of light. (Jn, XIV, 385-86). Ar-juna was like a mirror in which Lord Shri Krishna loved to see His fair and happy com-plexion, (VI-25). Arjuna may be taken as representing individual self and Shri Krishna the Lord. So the human being is like a mirror which reflects the image of God. This means that a human being has the capa-city of God-realization which is the su-preme re-ligious value. Broadly speaking there are eight kinds of values (1) Bodily values (2) Economic Val-ues (3) Recrea-tional values (4) Values of Association (5) Intel-lectual values (6) Aesthetic values (7) Moral values and (8) Religious values. The worth and dignity of human life depend upon the proper arrangement of these values. Proper gradation is necessary in the light of a right standard. If there is a perverted scheme of values, con-sequences will be disastrous. If, for instance, bodily or physical values are regarded as central with other values as merely instrumental, human life will be dominated by pas-sions for mere material prosperity. The spirit in man is over-shadow-ed with igno-rance. Man, at times, behaves like a beast. If the scheme of values is the right one, his whole life is transformed and by his own effort and by the grace of God, he becomes a superman, a blessed soul, bringing the kingdom of heaven upon the earth.

Will continue….

P A G E 1 1

Source: http://devotionalonly.com/aditya-hridayam-stotram/ Continued from last issue…

PhalaShruti

रावणं पे्र य टा मा यदु्धाय समुपागमत।् सवर्य नेन महता वधे त य धतृोऽभवत॥् ३०॥

30. Raavanam prekshya hrushtaatmaa yuddhaaya samupaagatam | Sarvayatnena Mahataa Vadhe tasya dhruto bhavet ||

Hrushtastmas = Having satisfied Rama; Rsavanam = Rsavana; prekshya = particularly seen him; yuddhaaya = for waging war; Samupagamati = Approaching nearly; Mahataa Sarva yatnena = with all the efforts worth the name; Tasya = to that Raavana; Vadhe = To kill; Dhrutah = with great determination; Abhavat = Prepared.

Seeing Rsavana (in front of him) he was delighted and came forth to fight with great efforts, stood there vowed to kill him (Rsavana)

Will continue…

T H E G L O R Y O F S H I R D I S A I

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From the Editor’s Desk

He is the sun traveling in the pure, clear sky; He is the air filling up the en-tire space of the universe; He is the fire in the places where yagna is per-formed; He is the guest at people’s houses; He is in men and women; He is in the best Devas; He is in truth; He is in the sky; He is the one seen in various forms in the water, earth, yagna and in the mountains (in the form of riv-ers) etc., He is the one present everywhere and He is the great one who is above all.

~ KATHOPANISHAD

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JAI SAI RAM

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