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On
The Path of Sai…
O my Sadguru
Sai ! Whenever you let me prostrate at Your lotus feet, I feel
bewildered and start murmuring ecstatically to myself : ‘‘O
Sai, Who Art Thou ? O
Sai, Who Art Thou ?’’ O
Baba ! I repeatedly prostrate at Your Lotus Feet, and persistently
take delight in uttering : ‘‘O Sai, Who Art Thou ?’’ ‘‘WHO I AM !... WHO
I AM ! ’’ is the echo that touches my ears in
reply. This resonance comes from within. Yes, O my Lord ! My heart
is Thy seat. Though, You look like a man, three cubits and a half in
length, still You dwell in the hearts of all Your devotees. O
Sai ! My heart longs for to know all about its occupant. The OCCUPANT,
indeed, is no other than my SAI,
my own SAI.
O Baba ! I’m eager to be a traveler ON
THE PATH OF SAI… ‘The
Path of SaI’ is an ocean and a few drops just aren’t enough.
O Sadguru ! It’s only You Who can open the eyes of my
understanding and enable me to see Your
Ways. O Sai, please do
generate interest in me for Your stories, and let me perceive
self-realization with the same relish with which the Chatak
(rain bird) drinks the water from the clouds and becomes
happy. O
Baba ! With my humble Pranam
at Your Lotus
Feet, I am reminded of the story of
one Haji Siddik Falke of Kalyan, who had come to Shirdi to obtain Your
blessings (Shri Sai Satcharita, Ch. 11).
But, O Sai ! You didn’t allow him - for reasons - best
known to You - to step into Your Dwarkamai
for months on long. Indeed, inscrutable are Thy ways ! At last
someone confided in the ears of the Haji that Lord Shiva is accessible
through Nandi, and if he was really desirous to get an entry into the Masjid,
then he must likewise approach Madhavrao Deshpande alias Shama, Your
most intimate devotee, who had been with You for the “last 72
generations” (Shri Sai Satcharita, Ch. 26). The idea fascinated Falke,
and he implored Shama to intercede for him. O Baba ! Truly,
Shama’s devotion to You was of the highest order and You sent Your
grace to many a devotee through Shama on many occasions. And, in this
case too, You started loving the Haji on Shama’s recommendation.
Thenceforth, You lifted ban on Falke’s admission into Dwarkamai,
and frequently invited him to meals. O
Baba ! Yet an another event is equally significant in this regard
and deserves a mention. Annasaheb
(Govind Raghunath) Dabholkar alias Hemad Pant was a resident Magistrate
of Bandra, a suburb of Bombay (now Mumbai), for many years. He was on
close friendly terms with Kakasaheb Dixit and Nanasaheb Chandorkar. They
pressed him to go to Shirdi and have Your Darshan.
It was sometime in 1910 A.D. that he made a pilgrimage to Shirdi. One
fine morning, when he went to the Masjid to prostrate at Your Lotus
Feet, he was wonder-struck to see You grinding wheat. The view inspired
him to write Your biography - ‘Shri
Sai Satcharita’. But, he
couldn’t himself muster courage to ask You to give him permission for
the proposed project; so he requested Shama to speak to You for him.
Shama pleaded for his cause and said to You, “This Annasaheb wishes to
write Your biography. Please don’t say that You are a poor begging Fakir,
and there is no necessity to write it; but if You agree and help him, he
will write, or rather, Your Feet (grace) will accomplish the work.
Without Your consent and blessing, nothing can be done successfully.”
O Baba ! When You heard this request from Shama’s mouth, You were
moved and blessed Hemad Pant by giving him Your Udi
(sacred ashes) and placing Your boon-bestowing hand on his head with
these words :- “Let
him make a collection of stories and experiences, keep notes and memos.
I will help him. He is only an outward instrument. I should write myself
my autobiography and satisfy the wishes of my devotees. He should get
rid of his ego, place (or surrender) it at my feet… When his ego is
completely annihilated and there is left no trace of it, I myself shall
enter into him and shall myself write my own life. Hearing my stories
and teachings will create faith in devotees’ hearts and they will
easily get self-realization
and bliss;
let there be no insistence on establishing one’s own view, no attempt
to refute other’s opinions, no discussions of pros and cons of any
subject.” (Shri Sai Satcharita, Ch. 2) O
Baba ! To-day, I am in dire need of precious Shama, who will take
me by the hand to the Dwarkamai. But, O my Omniscient Lord !
Where should I search for Your Shama, who left the world on Thursday,
April 25, 1940, at the age of 80 ? O
Sai ! With rightly deserving apology to the great English poet
William Wordsworth, I invoke 148-year old
Shama to return to me again : “Shama !
Thou shouldst be living at this hour : I hath need of thee… O raise me up, return to me again;” O
Sai ! Lo and behold : Shama is here, and whispering into Your
ear for me, “O Deva, I beseech You, let now Your ear be attentive to
the prayer of this poor fellow.” O
my Lord ! Now I hearken unto Thy voice thus :- “WHO
I AM !... WHO I AM !
‘I am the Inner Ruler of all and seated in their hearts. I envelope
all the creatures, the
movable and immovable world. I am the Controller - the Wire-puller of
the show of this Universe. I am the Mother - origin of all beings - the
Harmony of three Gunas, the Propeller of all senses, the Creator,
Preserver and Destroyer. Nothing will harm him, who turns his attention
towards me; but Maya will lash or whip him, who forgets me. All
the insects, ants, the visible, movable and immovable world, is my body
or form. Be wherever you like, do whatever you choose; remember this
well that all what you do is known to me.’ ” (Shri
Sai Satcharita, Ch. 3) O Baba ! Your Lotus Feet be my Sole Refuge ! O
Baba ! You expounded many a time on the meaning of ‘‘Who I Am !’’.
Explaining it to Your devotees, You said, “You
need not go far or anywhere in search of me. Barring your name and form,
there exists in you, as well as in all beings, a sense of Being or
Consciousness of Existence. That is myself. Knowing this, you see me
inside yourself, as well as in all beings. If you practice this, you
will realize all-pervasiveness
[emphasis mine], and thus attain oneness with me.”
(Shri Sai Satcharita, Ch. 44)”. O
Baba ! Once, the renowned English poet Thomas Carlyle told his
friends that he heard satirists commenting about Poet Laureate William
Wordsworth that he had horse-like face.
(www.oldandsold.com/articles33n/literature-4.shtml) O Sai ! The
horse-face seems to me to be symbolic of something that we find not only
in his personal appearance, but in his personality and his role. O
Sai ! Wasn’t he putting on the same mask - while justifying
God’s all-pervasiveness to the entire world - which the Sun-God
wore at the time of imparting knowledge of the Vedas to Maharishi
Yagyavalkya ? “And I have felt A presence that disturbs
me with the joy Of elevated thoughts; a
sense sublime Of something far more
deeply interfused, Whose dwelling is the
light of setting suns, And the round ocean and
the living air, And the blue sky, and in
the mind of man; A motion and a spirit,
that impels All thinking things, all
objects of all thought, And
rolls through all things.” [‘Lines
Composed a Few Miles above Tintern Abbey’] O
my Lord Sadguru Sai ! You often preached :- “He
who carps and cavils at others, pierces me in the heart and injures me;
but he who suffers and endures, pleases me most.” O Baba !
You thus pervade all beings and creatures and beset them on all sides.
You like nothing, but love to all beings. Such nectar, pure auspicious
ambrosia always flows from Your lips. Therefore, those who take The Path of Sai become
one with You. O
Sai ! You frequently enlightened Your devotees with these words :- “He
who loves me most, always sees me. The whole world is desolate to him
without me; he tells no stories, but mine. He ceaselessly meditates upon
me and always chants my name. I feel indebted to him, who surrenders
himself completely to me and ever remembers me. I shall repay his debt
by giving him salvation (self-realization). I am dependent on him, who
thinks and hungers after me, and who does not eat anything without first
offering it to me. He, who thus comes to me, becomes one with me, just
as a river gets to the sea and becomes merged (one) with it. So, leaving
out pride and egoism and with no trace of them, one should surrender
oneself to me, who am seated in devotee’s heart.” O
Baba ! Mr. Ramachandra Atmaram alias Babasaheb Tarkhad was
one of Your staunch devotees. Once, his wife came to Shirdi for a few
days. One day, while lunch was being served, a hungry dog turned up
whimpering pathetically. Mrs. Tarkhad got up at once and threw a piece
of bread, which the dog gulped with great relish. In the afternoon, when
she went to the Masjid and sat at some distance, You said to her,
“Mother, you have fed me sumptuously up to my throat, my afflicted Pranas
(life-forces) have been satisfied. Always act like this, and this will
stand you in good stead. Sitting in this Masjid I shall never,
never speak untruth. Take pity on me like this. First give bread to the
hungry and then eat yourself. Note this well.” Mrs.
Tarkhad could not at first understand the meaning of what You said. So,
she replied, “Baba, how could I feed You ? I am myself dependent
on others and take my food from them on payment.” O Baba ! Then
Your reply was :- “Eating that lovely bread I am heartily
contended and I am still belching. The dog that you saw at lunch time
and to whom you gave that piece of bread, is one with me, so also other
creatures (cats, pigs, flies, cows etc.) are one with me. I am roaming
in their forms. He, who sees me in all these creatures is my beloved.
So, abandon the sense of duality and distinction and serve me, as you
did today.” Drinking
these nectar-like words, Mrs. Tarkhad was moved, her eyes were filled
with tears, her throat was choked and her joy knew no bounds. (Shri Sai
Satcharita, Ch. 9) Such is Thy Bounty, O Sai ! Such is Thy Path, O Baba ! O
Sadguru ! You saw no difference between caste and caste and
even beings and beings. You took meat and fish with Fakirs; but
did not grumble when dogs touched the dishes with their mouths. (Shri
Sai Satcharita, Ch. 7) Therefore, the most effective and speedy way, by
which Your devotees can achieve their object, is to tread Your Path.
What cannot be achieved by hearing religious lectures and study of holy
literature is easily obtained by practicing the virtues of forgiveness,
calmness, disinterestedness, charity, bene-volence and control of mind
and body, as divinely preached by You. Just as the sun alone gives
light, which all the stars put together cannot do, so the You alone
impart spiritual wisdom, which all the sacred books and sermons cannot
infuse. Your movements and simple talks give us ‘silent’ advice.
This enlightens minds of Your devotees and lifts them up spiritually.
Though You acted as a Fakir (mendicant), You were always
engrossed in the Self. You always loved all beings, in which You saw God
or Divinity. Neither You were elated by joy and fortunes, nor were You
depressed by sorrow and misfortunes. To You, a king and a pauper were
the same. Whereas Your just one glance would turn a beggar into a king,
You Yourself used to beg Your food from door to door in Shirdi. O
Sai ! No one has ever been able to fathom Thy nature or form . Even
the Vedas are not able to describe it fully. Thy devotees know that Thy
Feet are the only means of their happiness. They know no other method of
attaining the supreme goal of life, except meditating on Thy Holy Feet. O
Baba ! You often rightly said that You were Omnipresent, occupying
land, air, light and heaven, and that You were infinite. If any devotee
meditated on You day and night with complete self-surrender, he
experienced complete union (without any difference) with You. He, who
wants to get rid of the cycle of births and deaths, should lead a
righteous life, with his mind calm and composed. He should always engage
himself in good actions, should do his duties and surrender himself,
heart and soul to You. He need not then be afraid of anything. He, who
trusts You entirely, hears and expounds Your Leelas and does not
think of anything else, is sure to attain Self-realization. O Baba !
You asked many of Your devotees to remember Your name and to surrender
to You; but to those, who wanted to know Who I am ?, You advised Shravanam
(hearing) and Mananam
(meditation). To some, You advised remembering God’s name, to others
hearing Your Leelas, to some worship of Your Lotus Feet,
to others reading and hearing Adhyatma
Ramayan, Jnaneshwari
and other sacred scriptures. Some You made sit near Your
Lotus Feet, some You sent to Khandoba’s temple and some You advised
the repetition of the thousands names of Lord Vishnu and some the
hearing of Chhandogya Upanishad
and Geeta.
There were no limits, no restrictions to Your instructions - to
some, in person and to others by visions in dreams. To one of Your
devotees, who was addicted to drink, You appeared in his dream, sat on
his chest, pressed it and left him, after he gave a promise not to touch
liquor anymore. To some, You explained certain Mantras
like ‘Gurur Brahma’
in dreams. To one devotee, who was practicing Hath-Yoga,
You sent word that he should leave off Hath-Yoga
practices, sit quiet and wait (Saburi). O Sadguru !
It is impossible to describe all Your ways and methods. O Baba ! Your Lotus Feet Be My Sole Refuge ! – 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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