the bunglow, I was living in."
On reading the above two statements, I am sure that readers
will not only be convinced regarding the theory of re-births,
but also would realise, how Baba cared to look after His
devotees from birth to birth. While talking about re-births,
Sai Baba always said that these births, whether happy or full
of miseries, one gets according to ones previous deeds only.
For instance, see, how in Chs. 46 to 47, after narrating the
past and present lives of two goats and the frog and the
snake, Sai Baba concludes :
"The moral of the story is that one has to reap, what one
sows and there is no escape unless one suffers and squares
up one's old debts and dealings with others." (P. 254).
That is why Sai Baba advised His devotees to act always
honestly with integrity keeping one's conscience awake,
what is right and what is wrong. He always used to say,
"Jaisi jiaki niyat, vaiyasi nsktt barkat'' (If you act in a
good way, good really will follow.) (P. 75).
In Ch. 14 again Dabholkar quotes Brihadaranyaka
Upanishad, which says that Lord Prajapati advised the
Gods, men and demons by one letter 'Da'. The Gods
understood by this letter, that they should practise
(i) Dama, i.e., self-control; the men, that they should
practise (2) Dana, i.e., charity; the demons understood,
that they should practise (3) Daya, i.e., compassion.
Thus, to men charity or giving was recommended. In
order to teach the devotees the lesson of charity and to
remove their attachments to money and thus, purify their
minds, Baba extracted dakshina from them. Again He
used to stress that, "We get human body as a result of
merits in past births and it is worthwhile that with its aid
we should attain devotion and liberation in this life. So,
we should never be lazy, but always be on the alert to
gain our end and aim of life." (P. 78)
In Ch. 8 also Sai Baba had said the same thing,
"Four things are common to all the creatures, viz. food,
sleep, fear and sexual union. In the case of man, he is
endowed with a special faculty, viz. knowledge, with
the help of which he can attain God-vision, which is
impossible in other births." (P. 45)
It is said that the last wish or thought a man has at the
hour of death determines his future course. Lord Krishna
has also said in Geeta (Ch. 8, Slokas 5 and 6) that,
"He, who remembers Me in his last moments comes
verily to Me, and he that meditates otherwise at the time
goes to, what he looks for." We cannot be certain that
we can entertain particular good thought at our moment,
for various reasons, viz. pain of diseases, worries about
own families future etc. All saints, therefore, recommend
us to practice remembering God and chanting His name
constantly, so that we may not get puzzled, when the
time for departure comes. Wise devotees practice a
still simpler device to achieve this goal. They approach
the saints in their last moments, surrender completely to
them trusting, that all-knowing and all-capable saints
would do the needful. In Shri Sai Satcharita, Ch. 31,
five such examples are quoted, viz. Vijayanarid Sannyasi,
Balaram Mankar, Tatyasaheb Noolkar, Megha and the
tiger of Darveshis. All of them breathed their last in the
presence of Baba at Shirdi.
Thus, Sai Baba not only talked about the theory of
re-births to His devotees, but also explained to them,
how to ensure a good rebirth or complete escape from
the re-births.
Lt. Col. M.B. Nimbalkar (Retd.)
PUNE411 001.
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