Shirdi Sai and Sathya Sai are One
and the Same
By Arjan D. Bharwani
42. DISPUTATIONS AND DOUBTS
DISSOLVED
It is an opinion held by a few
Shirdi devotees, that Baba used to perform miracles only in
extreme exigencies. We would prayerfully request brother devotees
of Shirdi to refer or read about the various leelas of that
sojourn. Did He not change a sherbet of sweet fruit-juice, sugar
and honey into a sour tasting elixir and instantly back to
sweetness, to the testimony of the same devotees present there.
Shall we not recapitulate how in a playful mood the 'Leeladhari'
at Shirdi, changed seeded raisins into seedless grapes to the
amusement of Shri Thakkar, who was not only averse to eating them
but also faced a predicament in getting rid of the seeds in those
holy precincts? Did not the Omniscient Sainath address a doubting
Thomas (Kaka Mahajani's friend) in the very same voice of his
father, making the hardcore disbeliever fall prostrate at His Feet?
Did not Baba regurgitate pieces of potatoes after having eaten raw
onions on a holy Ekadashi day in a frolicsome leela with Kusha
Bhav? Did not the Beloved Sainath present a Brahmin cook and a
basket of oranges for Shri Lakshman K. Navalkar, Sub-Judge of
Pandharpur, who had made these as preconditions for a visit to
Shirdi,with Nana Saheb Chandorkar?
Did not Shirdi Sai light the lamps
with water changed into oil and did not He arrest the spread of a
cholera epidemic by sprinkling of wheat flour on the oustkirts of
the village?
Did He not bring back to life a dead
boy who had injured His Guru Venkusa, with a stone? What about the
resurrection of the little boy, who died of a sunstroke? Did He
not create on one occasion in 1858, both live charcoal and water,
one after the other, by hitting the ground twice and then prepared
His Chilum?
These are some of the flotsam and
jetsam of the Great and Majestic ocean of Divinity that is Shirdi
Sai. The acme of miracles is the internal transformation , that
people coming in contact undergo, which is absolutely identical in
case of both the Sais.
The 'Dharamakshetra’ (field of
activity) of Parthi Sai is the 'Manokshetra (Buddhi)' of all the
constituents of humanity, an area of immeasurable extent. Whereas
Shirdi Sai acted mainly in the field of inter-community
harmonization, a kshetra of much smaller and limited dimensions.
Who knows what unwieldy proportions these miracles will assume in
times to come, so that mankind is saved from the disaster and
crisis that loom large over it.
Today we witness of renaissance in
science and technology which is revolutionizing with racing
rapidity, the mind and life of man. This has generated a sense of
conceit in him, to dangerous proportions. The same has to be
halted and shaken out, to save humanity from self destruction. The
only potent and prudent way could be for Godhead to incarnate with
full attributes, to change and modify the mind of man. A century
ago, the requirement was limited and thus Shirdi Sai announced His
Divinity to only a few. The rot and degeneration have now assumed
infinite proportions and therefore the repeated proclamations
about the Embodiment of Supreme Godhead, with all its might and
majesty is being vociferously announced.
Ripples of differences are therefore
sunk in the flood of love for the bhaktas, which is the motive
behind the miracles of the two Sais. The fame and name of Sathya
Sai have already assumed worldwide proportions and He is
constantly surrounded by countless numbers. Therefore the
miraculous acts, which are but a nature of Divinity, seem to
assume an apparent facade of publicity.
Our Sai family in Shirdi devotion,
have sometimes felt, a weight of difference in the attire,
simplicity and humble dwellings of Sainath, in contrast with the
same of Sathya Sai. Let us be reminded of the frequent regal
fanfare of the 'Rath-yatras' to the Chavadi. The ceremonial
rituals performed to please the God-incarnate (Sainath).
Bestowing of ' Ananda' on the bhaktas was the reason then and
remains so the increased proportions, the scale has enhanced.
It would be an unending train of
incidents and personalities, which bring out in bold relief the
sameness of the two Sais. Shall we not rest contented in f act
that prominent Shirdi devotees like P.K. Sawant, M.S. Dixit, Rani
of Chincholi and Sharda Ma, have all come to Parthi, examined and
experienced Sathya Sai and have acknowledged Him to be their
Sainath of Shirdi, come again?
Shri M.S. Dixit had even written a
letter from Mangalore to Shri P.K. Sawant at Bombay, stating that
he was fully convinced that Sathya Sai Baba, is Shirdi Sai Baba
come again and that Shri Sawant (in his capacity as the head of
the Shirdi Sansthan) should approach Bhagavan to visit Shirdi.
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