By Shri H.H.NARASIMHASWAMIJI
(Founder)
All India Sai Samaj (Regd.), Madras - 600 004

1. SAI BABA OF Shirdi is a name to
conjure with. In fact, his name is used as a sacred and
powerful mantra by thousands of persons. He is not a
non-historic or remote personality, but one who was with us in
the flesh till 1918, moving familiarly with tens of thousands
and that for decades. A short account of Sri Sai Baba will be
interesting and will also prove in many cases the turning point
in the lives of numerous readers, as it has done in the past.
2. Of Sai Baba’s birth, parentage, and
antecedents, no person that we have met can give any account.
But Baba himself gave some hints which have been verified and
worked upon. He seems to have been born some time between 1820
and 1850 A.D. in the village Pathri, in the Nizam’s State. His
parents were Brahmins who handed him over at a tender age to a
fakir. After the fakir’s death, some five years later, the
child passed in the care of his Guru Deva, Gopal Rau Deshmukh, a
great bhakta of God Venkateswara of Tirupati. After a splendid
period of ten years of intense love and devotion towards his
Guru-God, the boy obtained the Guru’s grace. As directed by the
Guru, he went westward and came to Shirdi in the Bombay
Presidency (Ahmednagar District), and after some wanderings,
settled and spent the rest of his life there. He passed away on
the 15th October, 1918 (3 p.m. Vijaya Dasami Day, after Ekadasi
began). The tomb erected over his remains is now the Sai Mandir
attracting the devotion of persons from all parts of the
country.
3. Nobody dies: least of all, a self
realized soul like Sai Baba. Atmagnanis or Jivanmuktas are said
to become Vidhehamuktas or nirakara Parabrahmam when the fleshy
sheath is cast off. Exceptions to this rule are mentioned in
the Brahmasutras. Bhrugu, Narada, and other eminent
devotee-gnanis have, instead of merging in the Absolute when
they cast off the body, continued to remain in their subtle body
(Sukshma sarira, which however could be rendered gross and
visible or sthula at will) in order to co-operate with divine
leelas, rendering service to humanity. These are styled
apantaratmas. Sai Baba is now an apantaratma. Before shuffling
off his mortal coil, he said that his devotees need not be sad
or frightened at his casting off his fleshy gown (kupni), and
that wherever and whenever any devotee should think of him, he
would be present and attend to him. This has been found indeed
to be true by innumerable persons; and earnest souls can still
take Baba at his word and prove its truth from their own
experience.
4. Sai Baba, the soul of truth and
reality has never spoken untruth. ‘Anrutam noktapurvam me nacha
vakshya kadachana’ (Untruth, I have never uttered nor will I
utter it at any time), was the remark of Ayodhya Rama as also of
this Shirdi Rama.
5. The early decades spent by Baba at
Shirdi are almost wholly forgotten. He was first living under a
margosa tree leading the life of a perfect ascetic. Next, he
removed to a dilapidated mosque in the village, and resided
there to the end of his life. He had nothing that he could call
‘mine’. For thirty years and more, he was leading the life of
holy poverty, and then his devotees whom he affectionately
termed his children, pressed the pomp and show of royalty upon
him. For the last ten years of his life, he appeared as a
prince though he behaved throughout like a poor fakir, who
either owned nothing or everything in the world. His was the
life of perfect celibacy (naishtika rahmacharya with astalitha
urdhvarethus), a fact which was beaming out of his brilliant
tiger like eyes. His virtues were numerous - Ananthakalyanaguna
- and would naturally sink into the heart of those coming in
contact with him, and thus raise them gradually on the highest.
‘Apana sarika karita tatkal’, is a saying of Tukaram, which
means that great souls raise the devotees to their own level;
vide Bhagavata, where Lord Krishna says, ‘Though devotees do not
wish to be one with me, I pull them unto myself’.
6. Amongst his qualities, the most
notable was, of course, love - uniform, all embracing, intense
love, showered on all and at all times, without any idea of the
extent of sacrifice involved or any idea of recompense - truly
maternal love at its highest. God is love and the means to
reach God is also love. Baba was nothing but the embodiment of
love. This love was perpetually manifesting itself in every
act, word, and thought of his, though at times hidden by his
ascetic modes of life. In the beginning he would move and talk
with none except under strict necessity. However, when there
was any suffering in the village, he would run to relieve it and
would accept no recompense.
7. ‘Saisangatve nissangatvam’ was the
other exception to his rule of asceticism. Where there were
saints or holy people, he would be found in their company. Some
of these saints like Janaki Das and Devi Das were the first to
discover his merits; and in the early eighties of the 19th
century, some of them revealed the fact that Baba was like a
diamond lying on a dung hill, and that the world would one day
discover what a great Rama Bhakta he was. The world has since
discovered that fact, and more, has identified him with Rama,
Krishna, Maruthi, Datta, etc.
8. At the time of his arrival at Shirdi,
Baba appears to have been a thorough adept in the prema marga,
the path of love and evidently possessed of all power, which
naturally issues from such love. He seldom cared to use his
power, but once, a manifestation was wrung out of him. The
shopkeepers who supplied him gratis with oil, one day refused
the supply, and gathered in a scoffing mood to see what the ‘mad
fakir’, as they styled him, would do without oil for his lamps.
Baba simply filled up his empty earthen lamps with water, and
the wicks inserted in the water were burning all night! This
gave a rude shock to the villagers’ notion that Baba was
negligible and mad fakir.
9. Baba however was never negligible.
From the very beginning, he was always helping humanity at first
by dispensing medicines and later by dispensing ‘udhi’ i.e.,
vibuthi or ashes from the fire that he always kept burning by
him. Udhi has played a very important part in the grace shown
by Baba to people all these years, and it is still being sought
and used by people all over the country. But, as Baba
explained, it is not the Udhi itself that works the wonder.
{“What can the udhi do? Nevertheless, take the udhi as it is
wanted”, said Baba to G.G.Narke} The devotees’ bhakti (faith and
devotion), for instance, has always to take its part in the good
results produced by the udhi. The udhi was generally the
material with which His blessings were issued. The udhi is the
cup enshrining the really valuable blessings of Baba. But these
blessings often came and do come without the udhi.
10. When people came to him, he would give
them the udhi and say ‘Allh bale karege’ (i.e. God will bless)
and everything he uttered proved effective. Once he said ‘I go
on speaking things here, and things happen there.’ Baba’s words
were words of authority. When he said that there should be
water on a waterless rock, water was found there.{Charter 350}.
When he addressed the elements they obeyed him. Fire, water,
and air were seen by several devotees to obey his orders. He
ordered high flames to sink down and they did. He ordered the
rain and storm to cease and they ceased. He willed a cool
breeze to blow near the fire on a blazing summer day and cool
breeze blew there.{Charters 341.4} The dead were revived. The
heart of every one present or absent, he knew without effort and
he could control it. He was realized to be a sarvantharyami.
He himself declared,
‘Aham Atma hi Chandorkar
Sarva bhutasaya sthitah’
i.e. ‘O, Chandorkar, I am in the hearts of all
creatures’.
11. Of the many ‘miracles’ performed by
Baba and witnessed by many eminently respectable persons (many
of them still living), it is sufficient to give but a few
instances to show how and why they were resorted to. Baba
identifying himself with God and gods declared that there was
never any miracle performed by him. Really, there are no
‘miracles’ in the universe if ‘miracles’ mean the violation of
the laws of Nature or of God. People begin to generalize about
the laws of Nature from the few facts known to them and when a
strange phenomenon suddenly appears in apparent contradiction of
their artificial ‘law of Nature’, it is declared to be ‘miracle’
- a violation of the so called law. A truly scientific mind
would rather add the new fact to the old facts and try to
remould the old law so as to include the new fact observed.
Mankind is not omniscient. One day, the science of the future
will give scientific explanations for the so-called ‘miracles’
of all times.
12. But beyond the miracles of Baba, there
is one bright, marvelous fact, worthy of people’s adoration and
that is, his golden heart of love with its message of universal
love. Baba loved all - Hindus, Moslems, Christians, and
Buddhists, the learned and the illiterate, the poor and the
rich, the priest and the criminal - alike. His message to all
his devotees is ‘Love ye, one another, as I love you all’.
13. Baba declared that if people hated one
another, his heart was smarting with pain and sorrow and if
persons forgave enemies and endured the ill-treatment, he was
highly please. This is the most valuable lesson for this day
and for all time. A story is told in Bhagavatha of the world
going as a cow to Brahma, groaning under the weight of the cruel
Asuras harassing innocent people. That is just the spectacle
all over the world to day. Hatred, destruction, plunder, and
absolute disregard for truth and virtue, are the predominant
features in the daily history of the world to-day. Man’s claws
and teeth are red with the gore of brother man; and the criminal
is not apologetic but blatant. Civilisation is in imminent
danger of being submerged in pools of human blood and
devastating fire leaving the human form a fossil to be
discovered within some rocks by some later race. The only thing
that can avert this doom is love, a revival of the very ancient
message to Asuras from God ‘Dayadhwam’ i.e., ‘Be merciful’.
14. Baba’s whole life was an illustration
of how this divine message could be carried out in life, and the
more Baba’s message is heeded, circulated, and preached, the
greater is the hope for humanity avoiding the threatened
catastrophe. Incidentally, it may be noted that while the
Kshtriyabalam of Akbar failed, the Brahmatejobalam of Baba is
steadily achieving the benefit of the people. ‘Dikbalam
Kshatriyabalam Brahmatejobalam balam’ - Fie upon Kshatriya’s
power, Spiritual power alone is power’, was said by the Kind
Viswamitra when he found that all the arrows showered by him
upon Vasishta were of no avail, by reason of the Brahmadanda
which Vasishta had placed by his side as a protection. ’Ekena
brahmadandena astrah sarvah vinishkrtah’.
15. One species of miraculous achievements
wrought by Baba for the benefit of his devotees is the blessing
given for issue. Whenever Baba blessed anybody and said that
there would be issue, invariably the lady brought forth the
child, either male or female, in twelve months, exactly as
stated by Baba. Here are a few examples: Damodar S. Rasane had
two wives, but no issue. His horoscope showed a papi or cruel
planet in the putrasthana and astrologers declared that he
would have no issue in this birth. But Baba gave him four mango
fruits and directed him to give them to his junior wife. Baba
assured him that he was going to have eight children through
that wife, the first two being males. The lady ate the fruits
and had just eight children, with their sexes as mentioned by
Baba. This would remind one of the issue less monarch
Dasaratha, consulting his Kulaguru Vasishta. According to the
directions of this Guru, Aswamedha and Puthrakameshti yagas were
celebrated on a grand scale (even though it was not stated that
there was any papi in the putrasthana of Dasaratha) and four
sons were brought forth by his queens. In Rasane’s case, there
was no Vasishta nor were any yagas. Evidently, Vasishta,
Vamadeva, Risyasringa, Bhrugu, Puthrakameshti and Aswamedha were
all inside Sai Baba who declared that the devotee would have
eight children.
16. Another case is more interesting. One
Scindhe had seven daughters and no sons. He went up to the
temple of Dattatreya at Gangapur, 200 miles away from Shirdi,
and prayed there for male issue. He vowed that if he were
granted a son within twelve months, he would bring the child to
Gangapur and make his offerings. He had his prayers answered
and obtained a son in twelve months. But, for about six years,
he did not go to Gangapur at all. Then he came to Shirdi. Baba
looked at him and spoke fiercely, ‘Are you so conceited and
stiff-necked? Where was there any male progeny in your
prarabdhakarma? I tore up this body (pointing to his own body)
and gave you a male child in answer to your prayer’. This was
not only occasion when Baba declared that he had overridden the
workings of prarabdhakarma. A third case is interesting from
another standpoint. A pleader of Akkalkote had reviled and
mocked at Baba in his student days and had subsequently lost his
only son. Fancying that the loss was the result of his
irreverence towards Baba, he came to Shirdi. Baba blessed him
and declared that he (Baba) himself would fetch the soul of the
deceased son and place him within the womb of the Vakil’s wife.
In twelve months thereafter, she was delivered of a male child.
17. Incidentally, it may be mentioned that
it was the blessings for issue more than anything else that made
the educated, especially from towns, to go to Baba. One Gopal
Rao Gundu, A Revenue Inspector, who had two wives but no issue,
sought and obtained Baba’s blessings and the fruit of those
blessings, a son. He broadcast the kindness of Baba and his
wonderful powers abroad, and a large number of educated people
including Deputy Collectors, Collectors, and political leaders
like Lokamanya Tilak, flocked to Shirdi.
18. In 1886, Baba died his first death.
One day when sitting along with his devotee Mahisapathy in the
Dwaraka Mayi (as his mosque was named by him), Baba said that he
was going to Allah and that consequently for three days his body
was to be looked after for, after that period, he might return
to the body, and that in case he did not do so, the body should
be interred near the mosque. Presently Baba’s body became a
corpse. An inquest was held over the same and the officer
holding the inquest insisted on Mahlsapathy burying the body.
But Mahlsapathy vehemently opposed the proposal and succeeded in
preventing the internment. On the fourth day, Baba’s body
revived and for thirty-two years thereafter, Baba worked through
that living fleshy case and finally left it on the 15th October,
1981, with the same prescience and clear control over all the
circumstances which he showed in 1886. This leaving of the body
at will and returning to it at pleasure is an art, a siddhi,
described in the Yoga Sastras; and Baba’s exercise of such
powers convinced and would convince many of the truth of the
Sastras. ‘Dharmasamsthapanarthaya sambhavami yuge yuge’ (i.e.
‘I am born in each age for establishing Dharma’) said Krishna of
Dwapara Yuga to Arjuna. And this divinity of the twentieth
century A.D. in Kaliyuga, like other men of God (Devatmas) of
the same period, has frequently by his conduct proved the truth
of, and confirmed, the belief in Dharma and Sastras.
19. One noticeable feature of Baba’s life
after his return to the body was that he began to encourage the
arrival of bhaktas to his feet. Evidently the object of his
return to his body was to carry out his mission more fully and
for a longer period on earth, especially with reference to the
devotees and others bound to him by former ties, rinanubandha.
This is well illustrated by his call to Narayana Govind
Chandorkar, B.A., Personal Assistant to the Collector of
Ahmednagar, to come to his feet.
20. When N.G.Chandorkar or ‘Nana’ as Baba
affectionately called him, was halting at Kopergaon, Baba sent
word to him repeatedly to come to Shirdi for a visit. Nana
after much hesitation came up to Shirdi and asked Baba why he
was sent for. Baba replied that for four previous births, Nana
had been intimate with Baba and that therefore in this life
also, he should get into similar close contact. Again Nana
hesitated. But Baba, by the exercise of his wonderful powers
and his kindness especially, filled Nana’s heart with faith and
gratitude for numerous miraculous favours showered upon him. On
one occasion when Chandorkar was stranded on a hot day on a
waterless hill (Harischndra Hill) unable to climb up or get
down, he suddenly exclaimed; ‘If Baba were here, he would give
me water’. Baba who was then at Shirdi, forty miles away,
mentioned to the people there that Nana was thirsty and should
be provided with a palmful of water. At that time, a Bhil
appeared on that hill and pointed out a palmful of water to
Chandorkar, under the very rock over which the latter was
seated. Later when Nana visited Shirdi, Baba informed him that
it was ;he who provided water on the waterless rock. Similarly,
on another occasion, when the thirsty Chandorkar prayed to Baba
in the midst of a forest for tea being given him after he should
emerge from the forest, tea was suddenly provided in the middle
of the night in a forlorn place. Again when Nana’s daughter was
undergoing the tortures of prolonged parturition, Baba sent a
gosavi from Shirdi with udhi to be used for easing the
parturition. The gosavi wanted to know how he could go to
Jamnere, which was N.G.C’s camp, across thirty miles of country
road from the railway without funds, Baba simply answered that
everything would be provided. At the station, the gosavi found
a tonga and a liveried peon waiting for him, professing to have
been sent by Sri Chandorkar. When the gosavi went up in that
tonga and delivered the udhi, its use was quickly followed by
safe and comfortable delivery. Then he mentioned the tonga, the
horse and the liveried peon to Chandorkar, who wondered, as he
had not sent any of these and nobody else could have sent
these. Both the gosavi and NGC wondered at Baba’s power to
provide everything he wanted at any place and at any time and at
the depth of Baba’s love for his devotees.
21. Nana had innumerable proofs of Baba’s
vast, nay, unlimited powers, his perpetual watch over his
beloved devotees, his invariable kindness towards all that
approached him, and summed them all up in the phrase that Baba
was omnipotent, omniscient and universally kind. No word aptly
expresses the sum total of these attributes except ‘God’.
Chandorkar was convinced that Baba was God and worshipped him as
God; and by reason of Chandorkar’s vast influence, Baba’s
greatness and glory became known to all in various parts of
Maharashtra.
22. One Ganpat Rao Sahasrabuddhe, a
constable attending on NGC was similarly turned in to a devout
Bhakta and made to quit Government service (in 1905)
substituting therefore the service of God or Baba. Sri
Sahasrabuddhe has thence forward been known as Dass Ganu Maharaj
and as a Kirtankar-devotee of Baba all through these forty
years. By his powerful Harikathas and his talents, he has
carried Baba to the homes of tens of thousands in Maharashtra.
His works on Baba are the earliest authorities on the life of
Baba. The above mentioned two gentlemen with others like
H.S.Dixit and Anna Dabolkar, may be regarded as Baba’s apostles
who carried the faith in Baba to the length and breadth of
Maharashtra.
23. Baba’s own miraculous personality
surviving his release from his physical body has however been
the principal reason for the success of all this propaganda.
His power is still working and by reason of that along, myriads
in Madras and other Presidencies have become firm adherents to,
and worshippers of, Baba. The faith is well grounded in the
experience showered upon them now as liberally and miraculously,
as they were showered before Baba’s passing away. Baba’s figure
is occasionally seen by, and his wondrous powers are manifested
to, those that have the necessary faith, at any place, as Baba
has no partiality and his grace cannot be the monopoly of any
person or place. Wonders are being worked by him today at
various places and therefore Sai Mandirs have sprung up in many
of them.
24. Baba, however, is not a mere worker of
miracles. He is a Samartha Sadguru. He applies miracles or
miraculous means to fill with faith and gratitude the hearts of
devotees. Gratitude soon turns into love and then Baba’s real
work is seen. Baba purifies the hearts of all of the dross of
low attachments and their consequences, and gradually raises the
devotees’ souls to loftier and still loftier states of being,
till they finally merge into himself. People begin with the
notion that Baba is a kind provider of all that they need and in
fact resort to him to have their temporal needs satisfied. But
they discover (at least many do) that Baba is after all their
Ishtamurthi, their own Rama or Siva, the God of their fathers
who has now taken a new shape to carry out the ancient divine
plan of the Universe, and that ‘God fulfils himself in many ways
lest one good custom should corrupt the world’.
25. The question is often asked whether
Baba was a Hindu or Moslem. The first remark to make about this
question is that the cause for this question should be looked
into before it is answered. There is a strong feeling on the
part of the Hindus that they should not go near a Moslem whose
views run counter to their cherished ideas, and who would
destroy their religious emblems and idols. Similar is the
repugnance on the part of the Moslems to accept purely Hindu
traditions which they consider too idolatrous and unholy. When
we come to take an impartial view, we find, whether we are
Hindus or Moslems, that the above question is irrelevant or of
very little importance. First about the irrelevancy. The Sufi
and the Orthodox Hindu, both agree that when a person has
reached perfection, i.e., the level of Brahman, the question of
caste does not arise at all. Caste (or ‘Jathi’ as it is called
in vernacular) refers to that which has born and that which has
‘janma’. The self-realiser who is identical with God is not
born though his body was born. But the body is not ‘he’ and
there is no need to go into the question as to whether the body
arose from parents who were Hindus or Moslems, or was trained
and brought up among 3ither of them. Sri Sankara’s well-known
phrase about the realized soul is ‘Jati Niti Kula Gotra
duuragam’ - that it is far above questions of caste, family
clan, etc., and Sankara’s Manisha Panchaka repeatedly closes
with the line, ‘Chandaalostu Dwijostu sadgururityeshau manaishaa
mama’ - ‘Let him be a chandala or Brahmin, he (the realized
soul) is my Guru’. What does it matter whether the Kohinoor is
lying on a dung hill or in a palace! The Sufis too have exactly
the same view as regards these distinctions. However, the
reason for raising the question is a strong feeling regarding
the necessity of protecting one’s own religious sentiments
adequately from being harassed violently by a person of an
opposite sect. On this matter, it may be pointed out that
whether Baba was a Hindu or a Moslem, he allowed every sect to
keep to its own method of approaching God. To Hindus, he said:
‘Continue your Rama worship, and worship the stones which your
forefathers worshipped’. He even presented some lingams, silver
padukas, pictures and coins for worship by Hindus. To Moslems,
he never gave any of these but allowed them to follow their
nirakara (formless) form of worship as far as it is possible.
So the real cause for raising the question about one being a
Hindu or Moslem does not arise in this case on account of the
extreme catholicity of Baba’s views and practice. But
prejudices die hard and in spite of all that is said, persons
still hanker to know whether Baba was a Hindu or a Moslem. It
may be pointed out that though his original antecedents were
unknown, his continued residence for about 50 years in a mosque
was considered a sufficient reason for most people to consider
him to be a Moslem. There is a Tamil proverb that if one drinks
anything, even milk, under a Palmyra tree, he will be taken to
have drunk toddy.
26. Let us examine the real facts. Baba’s
antecedents as mentioned already were revealed by himself. Even
after they are fully considered, still the question must be
deemed doubtful whether he was a Hindu or a Moslem. But (Janma
or Jathi) by actual birth, he was of Brahmin parents, and hence
by a very large number of persons, he is considered to be a
Brahmin. But according to Baba’s own statement, he was handed
over in his very infancy to a fakir who brought him up for about
five years according to Islamic faith. After the death of the
fakir, Baba was handed over to a Brahmin Guru by name Sri Gopal
Rao Deshmukh of ‘Venkusa’. The stay of ten years under this
Guru and the marvelous initiation into divinity by the Guru’s
purna kripa, ought to clear all doubts, and establish that Baba
was Brahmin or at least a Brahmin. But as fate would have it,
the Guru after conferring upon Baba his purnakripa and raising
him to divinity, directed him to go westwards and Baba had to
spend the rest of his life in a mosque moving with all alike as
an ativarnasrami, i.e., one beyond all caste rules. We do not
know what an expert lawyer would conclude as to Baba’s caste in
these circumstances. But whatever that may be, to those who
considered him a Moslem, he responded as a Moslem and to those
who cared to treat him as a Hindu, he responded as a Hindu; and
he expounded the Koran to the former and the Sastras to the
latter. By the Hindus, he has been worshipped as Ramavatara or
Sriman Narayana for so many decades while others treated him as
merely human. This reminds us of an incident about Krishna.
When Sri Krishna went with Balarama and others to a yagasala and
wanted food, the Brahmins were wondering whether they could
offer the food prepared for gods to Krishna, who appeared to
have been born in a Kshatriya family but brought up among
(Vysias) cowherds. He was regarded as God by many, but the
Brahmins were doubtful about his caste. By reason of their
ignorance (ajanna) they offered no food at all to Krishna. Then
Sri Krishna sent word to the ladies, who ran up all at once with
great devotion and gave up all that they had prepared for the
Gods to him whom they considered as the God of Gods. Exactly
the same thing happens now. Persons whose pious leanings render
they easily attracted to such great souls as Baba run up to Baba
and never bother their heads over questions of his Jathi or
caste, and like the Brahmin ladies, deserved and obtain the
highest blessings while many doubting Thomasses (samscyatmas)
even of the highest castes, go on debating endlessly about the
question of the caste to which a holy man belongs and lose their
chance of benefiting themselves here and hereafter. It depends
a great deal upon once’s poorva sambanda or rinanubhanda whether
one is attracted by Sri Krishna or Sri Sai; it may be noted that
persons wish to discuss this question of caste only when their
feelings have not been roused. But when one is in intense pain
or great trouble, his heart leaps out with the request, ‘Baba,
help me’, never minding a brass pin as to where Baba was born or
how he was brought up; and once he receives innumerable and
miraculous benefits, he gets perfectly convinced that Baba is
God to him, whatever he may be to others and he cares not for
discussions as to the legal position regarding Baba’s caste.
Baba himself used to say at times to such Hindus as considered
him a Moslem: “I am a Moslem, don’t come to me” and to persons
who regarded him as Sad Guru or Guru-God: ‘I am a Brahmin. Give
me dakshina. This place wherein I am sitting is not a mosque;
it is a Brahmin’s mosque; it is Dwaraka Mayee’. He was
everything to everyone. {Ye yatha maam prapadyante,
thaamsthathaiva bhajaamyaham’ - Gita}.
27. Apart from Baba’s caste, some persons
raise the question whether he was a Brahmagnani and if so how he
happened to perform miracles. Persons who raise such curious
doubts would do well to analyse their own question and find out
its implications. Can it be very seriously contended that he
who performs miracles must be an agnani? Will Sri Krishna and
Sankara be labeled agnanis by these people? If these people
analyse their own minds, they will discover the reason fro their
doubts. Spiritual aspirants (sadhakas) are often decidedly to
lose by attending to the thaumaturgic powers or siddhis derived
from their sadhana and many Gurus have warned their devotees
from hankering after siddhis. It is also pointed out by such
gurus that there is a waste of accumulated powers in the
exhibition of siddhis and the performance of siddhis is
generally attended with the danger of increasing one’s passions
especially the rajas and tamas, which are embedded in one’s
nature. But can these objections ever arise in the case of one
like Sai Baba? The differences between miracle-mongers and
souls like Sri Krishna and Sai Baba are these. Firstly, in the
case of the latter, power arises not by the repetition of
mantras or by the adoption of tantras, but simply as part and
parcel of their divine nature. Secondly, these high souls have
no hankering for the results of the siddhis. They do not ask
for recompense, nor do they try to attain ulterior aims of their
by having recourse to siddhis. Thirdly, the siddhi power, being
part of their nature, does not exhaust itself by any number of
miracles. Fourthly, they are prompted by pure love, karuna and
their employment of powers is a means for achieving the highest
temporal or spiritual ends for themselves and others. None of
these statements will apply to miracle mongers.
28. In this short introduction we cannot
possibly give even a very rough outline of the various
activities of Baba. It is enough to say that he was a
Pramagnani and Samartha sadguru. A guru is one that teaches; a
sadguru is one that teaches and draws one to God; a samartha
Sadguru is one who draws people to God employing all his siddhis
and other high powers for the purpose. It is not all gnanis who
have realized God that perform these miracles or chamatkars. It
is not the dehaprarabdha of several gnanis to exhibit any such
power or to assume the role of samartha sadguru, while it is the
dehaprarabdha of others to serve humanity as such samartha
sadgurus and exhibit such powers. No comparison ought to be
made about these two sets of gnanis. Baba ought not to be
compared with any other guru. Comparisons are always odious and
hardly necessary for the benefit of any aspirant. If any person
feels drawn to Baba by learning about Baba’s qualities and
activities either from one’s own experience or of others well
-known to him, he may at once proceed to have further contact
with Baba and get the fullest benefit of such contact. There is
no need for him to worry as to how Baba is to be classed - as an
Avatar or Avalia, Devatatma or Alwar, etc. One may simply feel
the taste of sugar and use it without raising the questions to
whether it is derived from beetroot, sugarcane or Palmyra
juice. No wise men ever worry about such matters. They do not
attempt to classify various gnanis. We must all be always
humble in our approach to God and divine persons. Any other
attitude will simply thwart our endeavors to reach divinity or
to attain the highest benefit by spiritual exercise.
29. We may very well close this short
pamphlet with the practical question (1) what are the benefits
that Baba can confer? And (2) what has one to do in order to
obtain these benefits? The first may be met by a counter
question. What benefits does one expect when he is approaching
Baba? Are they temporal or spiritual? Whatever they may be,
there is no benefit that is beyond the power of Baba to confer.
He is worshipped every day with phrases like ‘All-powerful’
(sarva sakthi murthaye namah) etc., and the experience of
devotees proves that he is able to confer benefits of every sort
- curing disease, both physical and mental, giving relief to
departing and departed spirits and to those who are suffering
from obsessions or infirmities, removing domestic troubles,
etc.
30. One more word about these labels and
comparisons. People are sometimes unconsciously assuming to
themselves ability to judge of all grades of spiritual nature
and power and say that Krishna is superior to Rama, Budda is
superior to Chaitanya, etc., and cause irritation to others and
confusion in their own minds. If we find the water in one creek
or bay saltish, should we say this creek or bay is superior or
inferior to the ocean? God is one. Divinity manifests itself
in innumerable places and ways and according to the needs of the
times, and each god-man does the work of alleviating man’s
miseries and raising him upward. When the question is asked,
why should one give up his Siva or Rama worship and go to Sai,
the answer is that there is no need. If one feels Sai is
different from Rama or other Ishta Devata and that the latter
serves all the purposes of the Devotees, if one is thus
satisfied and contented, Sai Baba has never asked and does not
ask such a person to change his position. Baba is highly
conservative and wants each man to stick to his religion, caste,
guru. Ishta Devata, Idol, mantras and sampradaya. It is only
if one feels that he is still left with a desire for further
benefits which his customary contact with his Ishtamurthi, guru,
mantras, etc., does not acquire for him, and if he is disposed
to place faith in Baba’s powers to grant these or other
benefits, that Baba allows or directs him to come to his feet.
Baba does not interfere with his loyalties. Faith in Baba is
added on to the old loyalties. That faith works miraculous
benefits and tends to strengthen itself. Gratitude and love
follow faith and the resultant benefits. Through these, Baba
purifies the heart and draws the devotee higher and higher up
the spiritual ladder. That man who came for worldly goods finds
his desires purified, his mentality changed and thinks more and
better of Baba till at last, finding that Baba is only one of
the numerous names and forms assumed by God, resigns himself to
Baba. He then realizes the absurdity of instituting comparisons
between Sai and other names or forms and of asking why one
should go to Sai. It is only those who are specially blessed by
poorvakarma that can be drawn by each of these personalities,
and when so drawn no question arises, and all doubts are driven
off. One huge wave of faith, love and knowledge drowns the soul
and draws it to the feet of God, in Sai form and in all forms.
31. What are we to do to obtain our desired
ends with the help of Baba? There are some who raise questions
even preliminary to this. Is it not better not to desire at
all? Is it not degrading to go on praying or asking for this or
that? To persons who really care for nothing i.e., to advanced
Viraktas, this question really will not arise. They are not
compelled or induced to go to Sai Baba. See Bhagavatha -
‘Nirgrantinopi.. Iththam bhutha guno Harih’ - i.e., viraktas are
attracted by the nishkamya leelas of the Lord. Sai Baba’s
leelas were purely unmotivated by desire. His whole life in the
flesh was one continuous self-sacrifice for the sake of
humanity. In serving Man, he was serving God; and he advised
his devotees to do the same.
32. Undoubtedly it is better not to desire
than to have desires and to seek their gratification through the
help of Sai Baba etc. But how many are there who can calmly
reason thus and find power to crush the roots of desire in their
hearts? If there are any such among the readers, they are not
asked to seek Baba’s help or God’s help, if that is different,
to attain any objects. Even the desire for mukti - liberation -
is a desire; and even to attain that, people pray and seek the
aid of experts, i.e., sages who know the way to liberation and
who are gracious enough to extend their help to those who seek
help.
33. The vast majority want benefits,
temporal and spiritual, temporal first and then spiritual. The
body and its adjuncts, a family. Etc., have to be maintained
with sufficient prouision for health and some degree of comfort
before people can think of spiritual things. Sai Baba may be
approached by all who feel the need for this urgent help. The
more impassioned their appeal, the more faith they have in Baba,
the quicker will be the results, other things being the same.
To these we may suggest the ways and means of contacting Baba.
34. There are no special ways for
approaching Baba, i.e., ways different from those adopted for
approaching other high and noble personalities. How do we
approach our mother? It looks ridiculous for us to ask such a
question. The mother has showered her love on the child long
before it is aware of such love. Thus Baba has similarly played
the part of an unseen mother showering benefits on her children,
the devotees, even from their previous births. But how are they
to approach Baba now? Let them sincerely wish to do so. At
once the approach has been started. They are improved from that
very instant. They get more and more enthusiastic and get more
and more benefits. These produce gratitude first and finally
strong love. Let the reader daily think of Baba, seeing his
fugure in the medals, pictures etc. he keeps with himself and
let him read about Baba’s great deeds more strong than ll poetic
thought. Baba’s 108 Namavalis is a mnemonic device for
forcefully recalling these qualities. Let him attend bhajanas
and poojas where sincere devotees gather. One song from a
sincere devotee, one artless song, will thrill the hearer and
fill him with awe, joy, piety and lofty sentiments that will
last a long time. Le one always go in for service to humanity
or to lower creatures for the sake of baba i.e., viewing Baba as
existing in each individual person or creature that he sees.
Baba himself will direct the further steps of the earnest
enquirer. Ways and means for further contact and further growth
will be disclosed by Baba himself in innumerable ways to each
ardent devotee. The manner in which he imparts these varies.
Some of highly emotional nature see him at times even today and
some talk with him during waking hours. Others get such contact
in their dreams. Still others earnestly wanting some response
and piously opening some book with a prayer, find their response
in that book. Others resort to chits. Others simply rely on
the correctness of their intuition that the though suggested to
them at a particular time is the thought given by Him. In these
and other ways, people get their contact and benefits from Sai.
Sai is not different from God. Are not all these ways adopted
by devotees in various religions to get access to and a response
from their God or Ishta Devata? The same applies to Sai Baba.
There are numerous Sai Bhakthas who have such intense faith in
Him as their God and who get their response and benefits from
hi. If any reader is very earnest and wishes to pursue this
matter further, it must be very easy for him or her to ascertain
who are the Sai Bhaktas in their district or province with such
Bhakti and, if these are noted for their pure and lofty nature,
they can and might be approached with perfect safety and
advantage.
