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Heaven
walked on earth... The
Divine Role Of Shirdi Sai Baba The
divine role of Sai Baba of Shirdi through His physical presence covered
a period of about 64 years between 1854, when He made His first
appearance in Shirdi, and 1918 when He left His body. However, His sixty
years of stay at Shirdi on His second appearance between 1858 and 1918
manifested the depth and expansiveness of His unique role. India was in
a cross - road of cultural and religious mix. Religious and cultural
intolerance were on a rampant growth. It could not have been possible
for any one to bring about harmony among the divergent religious,
cultural groups in such a situation. It was only a God in human form who
could accomplish the task of bringing unity between the different
religious and social groups. Sai Baba was really the God Who descended
on earth, and had large number of Hindu, Christian, Sikh, Parsee, and
Muslim devotees spread all over the world. All were treated by Him
alike. Under His cover, both the Hindus and Muslims happily took part in
each others religious festivals. He had introduced
the tradition of group worship, group prayer and group dinning for all
and would share His ‘chillum’ (tobacco pipe) with all. He
even showed highest compassion for animals and birds, and encouraged His
devotees to feed and take care of them.
Sai
Baba founded no religion or sect, developed no trademark, started no
movement, initiated not a single disciple, and left behind no apostles.
He simply practiced and preached humanism and universal brotherhood, and
established the superiority of love and compassion above egoism. He
taught simplicity of livelihood and excellence of human virtue reflected
in day to day conduct. Significantly, the Shirdi phenomenon defies easy
explanation. It perhaps owes itself to the will of Baba Himself, Who is
considered an Avatar of no less than the Almighty.
Today,
the mundane world is looking ahead for a magical solution to its
problems of cultural, racial, national and religious differentiation.
All intellectual exercises to bring about peace in the world and
happiness to mankind have failed for these efforts are not based on
humanism, universalism and love as taught by Sai Baba. With His
captivating teachings He rules the heart of millions of His devotees,
whose number is ever growing with each passing day. The ever growing
number of Sai temples and devotees of Baba in India and abroad
establishes the ever- increasing relevance of His preaching today. What
Baba preached was actually quite simple. According to Him, real sorrow
is the cycle of birth and death and the real happiness is liberation. He
suggested :- •
Accept your lot cheerfully. If you acquire wealth, become humble the way
a tree laden with fruit bows down. Money is a necessity, but don’t get
obsessed with it. Yet, don’t be a miser, be generous. •
Perform your duty conscientiously and with detachment, not regarding
yourself as the doer. •
Surrender the fruit of action to God, so that action does not bind you.
It is ties of indebtedness from previous births, which bring human and
other beings together. •
Give reins to the negative states (avariciousness, anger, hatred, pride,
etc.) only as much as is essential to go through the Karma
earmarked for this physical existence. •
To steady the mind, idol worship is a way, even though the idol is not
God. If you do Pooja with devotion and emotion, you can
concentrate better. •
Herculean effort is necessary for God-realization. There are four
elements in Sadhana : Discrimination between the eternal and
the ephemeral : that Brahman alone is true, the world is
not. Next, renouncing all desire about this life or the thereafter. The
third is to inculcate these qualities : control of the mind,
bearing without anguish the fated pain and sorrow, remaining ensnared by
Maya, knowing that money, wife, children and relatives are all
ephemeral. The fourth is an intense desire for liberation. Though Sai as a human embodiment is gone, His spirit remains.
Although His body cannot be seen, yet the magnetic pull of His Divine
Soul is felt by all those who merely think of Him and particularly,
those who visit His Samadhi (Tomb) at Shirdi. Baba had promised
that whosoever would put his feet on the soil of Shirdi, his miseries
would end. All
devotees of Baba find His promise come true, even after He left His
mortal coil. Baba used to call His devotees as children; and like the
true father, kept them busy day-in and day-out for their temporal as
well as spiritual upliftment. In today’s world His children, torn
asunder by religious, social and sectarian strife, should run to Him to
experience that love which can only unite them. The lesson has been
preached Him. It is for us to practice to make the world a paradise to
live. – Dr. Subodh Agarwal ‘Shirdi Sai Dham’, 29, Tilak Road, Dehra Dun - 248 001, Uttarakhand. Mobiles : 09897202810 * 09897384814 Tel. & Fax : 0135-2622810 e-mail : subodhagarwal27@gmail.com qqq
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