Satsang Why do we have a prayer room???

Om Shree Ganeshaya Namah
Om Sai Ram
This is a request to all who are reading this-- kindly forward
this message to your children and grand children.It will give
them a basic knowledge of some hindu customs and the
reasons behind why we practice them..
-------------------------------------
-------------------------------------
Why do we have a prayer room?
Most Indian homes have a prayer room or altar. A lamp is
lit and the Lord is worshipped each day. Other spiritual
practices like japa (repetition of the Lord’s name), meditation,
paaraayana (reading of the scriptures), prayers, and
devotional singing etc is also done here. Special worship is
done on auspicious occasions like birthdays, anniversaries,
festivals and the like. Each member of the family -young or
old communes with and worships the Divine here. The Lord
is the entire creation. He is therefore the true owner of the
house we live in too. The prayer room is the Master room
of the house. We are the earthly occupants of His property.
This notion rids us of false pride and possessiveness.
The ideal attitude to take is to regard the Lord as the true
owner of our homes and us as caretakers of His home. But
if that is rather difficult, we could at least think of Him as a
very welcome guest. Just as we would house an important
guest in the best comfort, so too we felicitate the Lord’s
presence in our homes by having a prayer room or altar,
which is, at all times, kept clean and well-decorated.
Also the Lord is all pervading. To remind us that He
resides in our homes with us, we have prayer rooms.
Without the grace of the Lord, no task can be successfully
or easily accomplished. We invoke His grace by
communing with Him in the prayer room each day and
on special occasions. Each room in a house is dedicated
to a specific function like the bedroom for resting, the
drawing room to receive guests, the kitchen for cooking
etc. The furniture, decor and the atmosphere of each
room are made conducive to the purpose it serves. So
too for the purpose of meditation, worship and prayer,
we should have a conducive atmosphere -hence the need
for a prayer room. Sacred thoughts and sound vibrations
pervade the place and influence the minds of those who
spend time there. Spiritual thoughts and vibrations
accumulated through regular meditation, worship and
chanting done there pervade the prayer room. Even when
we are tired or agitated, by just sitting in the prayer room
for a while, we feel calm, rejuvenated and spiritually
uplifted.

May the Merciful Sri Sai Baba always shower His grace
on us and our families and remove our problems and
anxieties by giving us all - strength , goodluck, success
and happiness with peace of mind.
Sai bhakt,
Deepa H

Satsang Chapter 40 :Sri_Sai_Sat_Charitra_Concise(Version)

Om Shree Ganeshaya Namah
Om Sai Ram

Chapter 40:::
Deo Udhyapan
Deo, who was the mamlatar of Dahanu wanted to conduct an

udhyapan (thanks giving ceremony) on his completing a number

of vows. He wrote to Baba inviting him. Baba said to Jog: “Write

to him saying that if one invites me with his heart I rush to him.

I do not need any rail or airplane to go to places. Inform him that

I, you and one more will come to the function.’ A few days before

this a sannaysi from Bengal came to Deo at Dahanu asking for

donations for the protection of cows. Deo had told him to come

after some time. On the day of the function the sanyasi came in

a horse drawn carriage with two others and saying that ‘he has

come for food and not for donation’ part took the food and went

away. Later Deo wrote to Shirdi complaining that Baba had

cheated him by telling a lie that he would come to the function.

Before the letter was opened Baba remarked: “I will give up my

life than to go back on my words. I went with two persons. But

without recognizing Me, he thought that the sanyasi came to

collect donations. Did not three of us come in time?” Deo was

moved to tears at the kindness of Baba and stunned at the

way Baba appeared as Bengali sanyasi and two others.

In 1917 on the day of Holi festival (a full moon day) Baba

appeared in the dream of Hemand Panth in Bandra and said

that He was coming to his house for food. At noon, when

every one sat for the meals, door was closed, food was

offered to Lord Krishna, ghee was also served as a token for

commencing the serving of food, there was a knock on the

doors. When opened Hemand Panth saw two Moslem friends

named Ali Mohemmed and Ismu Majuvar standing with a big

pocket. Seeing all seated for food, Ali said ‘Sorry! Please

carry on with your food. This pocket is yours. I will tell the

background later’ and went away giving the packet to Hemad

Panth. When opened Hemad Panth was thrilled as it was a

big beautiful portrait of SaiBaba. With tears in his eyes Hemad

Panth installed the portrait in the middle of the room and

offered the meals to Him, the one who never forsakes His

devotees.
By A.Govindakrishnan

Sri Sai Amrit Vani

Dear Sai Devotees
Jai Sai Ram
Recently there are many querries about the Sri
Sai Amrit Vani as many new members have joined
the group. For the benifit for these new members I
am appending an old write up about the Sri Sai Amrit
Vani. This write up is in the file section of the
yahoo group and members are requested to pass it
on to others who needs this information.
Thanks and Jai Sai Ram.
Ashok Gupta
mysaibaba20@yahoogroups.com

All About Sri Sai Amrit Vani

Jai Sai Ram

Sri Sai Amrit Vani an interesting,
spiritual, simple and meaningful literature in lyrics
form and we have adopted in our life. It has been
composed by Sh. V K Bassi, who is managing the
activities of Sri Ram Bhakt Society at Shivalik,
Delhi, The material has mostly been taken from Sai
Geeta, Sri Saicharitra and Sri Ram Amrit Vani. In the
book form, it was first printed around 1997. It has
been sung by Sh. Jagdish Kalra and recorded on a 60
minutes cassette and hence it is a complete one hour
program in Hindi. The cassette is 30 minutes on each
side. It has been converted to MP3 files from the
Audio cassette into two files. These files are of 30
MB each and have been put on the internet. The script
of Sri Sai Amrit Vani in Hindi , English and Telgu
are available on the internet. The program has few
parts. (i) Sai Amrit Vani (ii) Bhajans (iii) Pads
(iv) Prayers (v) Vandna and the (vi) Aartee. There is
no specific time to do Sri Sai Amrit Vani,. It can be
done at any time of the day at any place, But one
should be clean and place should also be clean. When
it is done in the mandir before Baba then one should
clean oneself and put some Bhog before Baba. We all
recite Sri Sai Amrit Vani together along with the
cassette. These two audio files can be down loaded
and have been down loaded and put on the CD’s by
few devotees and are being played on the ordinary CD
players. Few devotees are distributing these CDs,
Cassettes and the books of Sri Sai Amrit Vani free of
cost to needy devotees, who does not want to purchase
them.

Every Thursday Recitation of Sri
Sai Amrit Vani is held at Sidhartha Extension, New
Delhi, but we have slightly changed the order.
Instead of the general Aartee in between, we do the
full Noon Aartee the same as being done in Shirdi
after the Sri Sai amrit Vani. It is followed by group
prayer and a chapter from Sai Satcharitra is read by
Mrs Gupta. It starts exactly at 11:05 AM and goes
up to 12. Noon Aarti is performed exactly at 12:00
and reading from Sai Satcharitra after the noon Aarti.
It goes upto 12:25 or so. During this Sri Sai Amrit Vani,
reading from Sai Satcharitra, Prayer and Aartee Mrs
Gupta’s lap is filled by Udi. Even other devotees
feel the presence of Baba in different forms and have
many different experiences. Every Thursday and some
important days and festivals Udi starts oozing and
dropping from the Statues and the photos of Baba.
Some times even Honey oozes and drops from the
photo/Statue of Baba on the wall.

Script of Sri Sai Amrit Vani in
Hindi, English and Telgu are available at the file
section of yahoogroup “mysaibaba20” ie
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/mysaibaba20 . Script
in Hindi is also available at
http://www.Saibaba.org/amrithvani.html . Meaning of
the wordings of Sri Sai Amrit Vani in English is also
there in the file section.

Audio of Sri Sai Amrit Vani is now
available on a new web site also besides the old links
of

http://www.austinhindutemple.org/MP3/SaiAmritvani1.mp3
http://www.austinhindutemple.org/MP3/SaiAmritvani2.mp3

Just click to the link
http://www.saikrupa.org/ . On the right side you will
find Music clips at the bottom . Below it you will
find Sai Amrit Vani 1 and 2 Click on one of them.
Shri Sai Amrit will be down loaded on your computer in
some temporary area and Real Player, Microsoft Media
player and even winamp will run it. By clicking the
right button you can save it on the hard disk by
clicking on ‘Save the target as’ and you can play it .
Repeat the process for the other part. As these files
are 30 MB each, it will take time to download them.
You can directly go to this site by link
http://www.saikrupa.org/sai_amrit_vani.htm . These
links are also provided in the link section of the
yahoogroup “mysaibaba20”.

Now a VCD has also been prepared of it,
by a commercial dealer and can be had from SAI
KRIPA STORES SHOP NO-6 L.G. FLOOR N.B.C.C.
PLACE, LODHI ROAD, NEW DELHI – 110003. OR
alternatively can be had from any vender near the
Sai Memorial Temple at Lodhi Road. In particular
Sanjay Gupta is having these books, cassettes
and the VCD’s. His residence cum shop’s address
is 6, Lodhi Road Complex, Near Sai Baba Mandir,
New Delhi –110003, with phone nos are 24368346,
98100550738, 20061546 and having an email
address as saikripa@mail.usa.com .

You can also have the books and the
cassettes of Sri Sai Amrit Vani from us, personally.

Jai Sai. Ram
Ashok Gupta

Satsang Mahasamadhi Message

(Message delivered by Pujya Narasimha Swami ji and printed
in Sai Sudha Magazine)

So many Mahasamadhi Messages have been written from
year to year in this journal and else where. This time, let us
make the message extremely practical and extremely brief.
What is the good of a person saying that he is a Sai bhakta
if he will not dwell in his heart over and over again on Sai
and absorb the salient features of his life and make them
part of his own? Take death for instance which comes to all
human bodies, to Sai's as well as other bodies. What did
Baba say about death and how did he act about that death?
He has stressed in his Charters, what be, as Krishna, said
in the Gita. that death is merely passing from one form to
another—from the seen to the unseen. If a person does not
lead a life of vice and crime entailing punishment at death,
he has no reason to fear the end of that life in the form of
death. Nobody fears changing his clothes or passing from
one room to another, and through prayer and austere life of
self-sacrifice you can come closer to Salvation. Prayer
lightens the heart and fills the mind with peace, strength
and purity. Prayers are powerful spiritual currents. There
is nothing so purifying as prayer. Prayer is the key of
morning and bolt of evening.

Sincere prayer draws the Grace of the Lord. Prayer
sharpens the brain and the intellect. Prayer elevates the
mind; it can reach a realm where reason dares not enter
the Kingdom of God. Prayer is a mighty spiritual force.
Prayer generates good spiritual currents and produces
tranquility of the mind. If you pray regularly, your life will
be gradually changed and moulded. Prayer purifies the
mind and the intellect of man and fills them with Sattwa.

When the mind becomes pure and Sattwic, through the
power of prayer, the intellect becomes sharp and keen.
It was the prayer of Prahlad that rendered cool the
burning oil, when it was poured on his head. Prayer
without attachment will ultimately lead to Moksha. The
Lord is formless. But He assumes many forms, out of
His free will, through the fervent prayers of the devotees.
Empty prayer is as sounding brass or tinkling cymbal.
These can be no idleness where there is prayer.
Heartfelt prayer clearly shows one the next step.
Prayer is the trusty companion along the weary path
to Moksha.

The best form of prayer is the Gayatri Mantra. A Life
destitute of love and prayer is like a sapless tree in the
desert. Prayer of a cunning, crooked, wicked man is
never heard. Pray at least for five minutes daily, when
you get up and when you go to bad. Pray first for the
peace and prosperity of entire world; then for yourself.
Commune with Him daily in the depth of your sincere
prayer. Prayer should spring from the heart. It should
not be lip homage;, Prayer that comes from a sincere,
true heart is at once heard by the Lord.

Pray sincerely, fervently wholeheartedly from the bottom
of your heart. Then alone will God
listen to your prayer. Pray not for relief from suffering,
but for strength and endurance to bear it. Pray to the
Lord for strength to overcome your defects. Send the
arrows of prayer in all directions. Perhaps one will
surely enter the Lord's heart. Your duty is to pray
and only that. Worry not whether He hears or not.
Hold on to prayer, no matter how numerous the
temptations that assail thee may be. Thou shall
build an impregnable fortress by prayer. Prayer is thy
refuge and sheet-anchor.

Satsang Mahasamadhi Message

(Message delivered by Pujya Narasimha Swami ji delivered
on 15th October 1956)

Sai Baba Mahasamadhi is not a matter for regret. The parting
of the soul from the body in the case of the ordinary house-holder
is generally considered very painful, and poetry largely feeds
upon the sentiment of sorrow on such occasions. In the case of
Sri Sai Baba the parting of the breath from the physical body
was not a matter to be regarded as painful either for Baba or for
those connected with him.

Baba was a perfect realiser of the soul and a thorough master
of Atmajnana. It was not mere book learning as to what the
nature of the Atman is. It was one of perfect realisation. He lived
the life of one who noted that he was not the body, nor the
artificial personality meant by people's ideas about him and his
own ideas mostly based upon the body and its activities. As he
said on some occasions, his Guru Mourshad took him away
from his body, that is, long ago he cast away the idea that he
was the body-self that practically every one of us takes ourselves
to be. He was dwelling almost constantly on the Lord. Allah and
Hari were ever on his lips and in his heart. Consequently they
were so even at the time of the parting of his breath from his
body, and according to Bhagawad Gita, the effect of that would
be to make him the perfect God or Brahman after his leaving
of the body. Every real bhakta who is ardent in his attachment
to Baba has ample proof that Baba is still active and vigorous
as God is in his dealings with his bhaktas.

Samoham Sarvabhuteshu
Name dveshyo Asti na Priyah
Ye bhajanti tumam bhaktya
Mayi te teshu cha api aham.

This means, the Lord says, “I am perfectly even and equal
towards all creatures. I have neither friend nor foe. But those
who attach themselves to me by their devotion, are in Me
and I am in them*. 'Ma me bhaktah pranascyati' (that is the
Lord says, 'No devotee of mine ever perishes” for the best of
reasons that there is the Lord to look after the yogakshemam
of such a devotee). So many devotees of Sai are now
experiencing His constant and perpetual guardianship,
protection and help, in almost every matter, that there is no
necessity for pressing this truth further to show that Sai is
still there after His Mahasamadhi and is not gone. How can
God go and where is He to go? But it is not every one that
gets the benefit of His continued existence and protection.

The devotee has to attach himself at first with some degree of
effort to Sai Baba and then he can get the full benefit. Even if
he is a sinner, and a low creature by previous karma still he
can start a new life by contacting Sai.

Apichet Asi papebhyo
Sarvebhyo papagrit tamah.

This means that even if one is the worst of sinners, the Lord
promises that he might change his life soon to become a
perfect bhakta or jnana. So every one who cares now to think
of Baba, to study about him to contact his bhaktas and to
attend proceedings such as puja, bhajan, kathas, etc.,
impressing people, with the nature of Sai, gets undoubted
benefit, and our Mahasamadhi Message this year may close
with pointedly drawing the attention of all our readers to this
fact that every reader should make his contact with Sai Baba
as full and perfect as it can be and then rich will be his reward.
As will be seen from the Foreword (to Volume II of the Life of
Sai Baba,) furnished by Sri B. N. Data;, Home Minister with
the Government of India, every portion of his life is covered by
Sai Baba and happiness with success is the result, May similar
contact, similar success, and blessings be the lot of every
reader!

Satsang GOD

GOD
Major E.B. Patro (Retd.)
What is God? Nobody knows what It is. But everybody knows
that there is a Supreme Power which controls the whole universe.
When anything, which is beyond the thinking or capacity of
human being, happens, then people call it the act of God or they
say God has done it. But nobody knows who or what It is.

Hindus say Rama or Krishna or Vishnu or Shiva is God.
Buddhists say Buddha is God. Christians say Christ is the Son
of God, Muslims say Allah is God. Sikhs say Vaheguru is God.
Sai followers say Sai is God. So what is, out of all these above
gods, is the real God. Every one of these names and forms
when remembered or prayed, makes the impossible possible.
Every one of the above gods is God only. But God is one. then
how are there so many forms and names?

The above forms are incarnations of God from time to time.
These forms are, so to say, the dresses or robes of Nirakar
God. In fact, God is formless cosmic intelligence or cosmic
life. It is embedded in every atom and every space in the
cosmos. God knows all of us, all our deeds, thoughts and
activities. Nobody can escape from God's vision or control.
God is not visible to our material eyes. It does not mean that
God is not there. When our Gyan Chakshu or third eye opens,
we can see God or Brahman everywhere and at every time.

It is described in all the religious books that when a staunch
devotee prays to his personal God, his God appears before
his eyes. This statement is right in that the staunch devotee
has seen his personal God, e.g., Christ on a cross, or Rama
or Vishnu or crescent moon. This appearance of personal
God to His devotee is nothing but illusion. When the devotee
keenly prays to his God with a preconceived idea to see his
God as Christ on a cross or Vishnu or Rama, his mind is
intoxicated or conditioned to that form, and as soon as he
opens his eyes he sees that form of God in front of him. So
the devotee feels that except for that form no other form can
be God. But this idea is wrong. So there is a quarrel, hatred,
killings between followers of different religions and sects.
Every religion asserts God is one.

He is formless, nameless, omnipresent and omnipotent. God
has no particular form but all forms are His. God has not one
name but all names are His. Let us not say gods, but say that
there exists forms of God who is the One Supreme. So Baba
said "Sabka Malik Ek". How can we see the real God with a
preconceived notion, to name and attributes? When we pray
to God with a preconceived form or name, we cannot see Him.
Pray to God with a free and unbiased mind, then only can God
be felt with bliss and atmananda. All religions will appear true.
All humanity will appear like brothers and sisters.

We can pray:
SARVE BHAVANTU SUKHINO,
SARVE SANTU NIRAMAYA.
SARVE BHANDRANI PASHYANTU,
MA KASCHIT DUKHABAGHAVET
This universal prayer will resound always.

Satsang Why do we light a lamp?

Om Shree Ganeshaya Namah
Om Sai Ram

This is a request to all who are reading this-- kindly forward
this message to your children and grand children.It will give
them a basic knowledge of some hindu customs and the
reasons behind why we practice them..

----------------------------------------------
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Why do we light a lamp?
In almost every Indian home a lamp is lit daily before the
altar of the Lord. In some houses it is lit at dawn, in some,
twice a day – at dawn and dusk – and in a few it is
maintained continuously (Akhanda Deepa). All auspicious
functions commence with the lighting of the lamp, which
is often maintained right through the occasion.
Light symbolizes knowledge, and darkness, ignorance.
The Lord is the "Knowledge Principle" (Chaitanya) who is
the source, the enlivener and the illuminator of all knowledge.
Hence light is worshiped as the Lord himself.

Knowledge removes ignorance just as light removes darkness.
Also knowledge is a lasting inner wealth by which all outer
achievement can be accomplished. Hence we light the lamp
to bow down to knowledge as the greatest of all forms of
wealth. Why not light a bulb or tube light? That too would
remove darkness. But the traditional oil lamp has a further
spiritual significance. The oil or ghee in the lamp symbolizes
our vaasanas or negative tendencies and the wick, the ego.
When lit by spiritual knowledge, the vaasanas get slowly
exhausted and the ego too finally perishes.
The flame of a lamp always burns upwards. Similarly we
should acquire such knowledge as to take us towards higher
ideals.
Whilst lighting the lamp we thus pray:
Deepajyothi parabrahma
Deepa sarva tamopahaha
Deepena saadhyate saram
Sandhyaa deepo namostute

I prostrate to the dawn/dusk lamp; whose light is the
Knowledge Principle (the Supreme Lord), which removes
the darkness of ignorance and by which all can be
achieved in life.

Satsang Chapter 39 :Sri_Sai_Sat_Charitra_Concise(Version)

Om Shree Ganeshaya Namah
Om Sai Ram

Chapter 39:::
Baba’s knowledge in Sanskrit

One fine day when Nana Chandodkar was massaging
Baba’s legs, Baba told Nana that whatever he was muttering
then could be uttered loudly. Nana too recited that song from
Bhagawat Gita, which was: ‘Thath vidhdhi pranipadhena pari
presnena sevaya/upadeshanthithe jnanam janinaha thathwa
darshinaha.’ He also gave the general meaning of it. Baba
told him to give him word by word meaning, with its
grammatical sense. When Nana started giving meaning,
word by word, Baba started His cross-examination. Especially
for Baba’s queries on ‘Pranipade’, ‘Pariprasna’ and ‘Sevaya’,
Nana started struggling for counter explanation. Baba said
instead of ‘jnana’ (wisdom) ‘ainana’ (lack of wisdom) also would
perfectly suit in the song. Then He asked why Krishna who was
a wiseman Himself asked Arjun to go to wise men. Nana was
dumbfounded. Then Baba explained thus, ‘Disciple should ask
Guru the questions to get knowledge and not to corner the Guru.
That is the difference between ‘prasna’ and ‘paripresna’. One
can use the word ‘ajnana’ because ‘jnana’ is already with all.
Only the ‘ajnana’ that ‘jnana is not there’ should go. He added
that though Krishna was a wise man, He told Arjun to go to
wise men to indicate that He and wise men are one,” On
hearing this, the illusion to Nana and the rest that Baba was
ignorant of Sanskrit was gone and Baba’s true Vedic wisdom
shone forth to them.

Buty one day had a dream while sleeping in the Dixit wada that
Baba directed him to build a wada (mansion) with temple. The
same dream at the same time occurred to Shama also. When
both of them came to masjid, Baba approved the proposal of
Buty to build the wada. When the construction was on, Baba
on His way to Lendi garden would look intently at the building
and say: “After the temple work is over, we shall live there. We
shall all meet together and celebrate happily.” When the main
hall was under construction an order was given for the statue
of Muralidhar to be installed there, but before the same came,
Baba suddenly attained mahasamadhi and as per His wish He
was laid to rest there and it is known to day as ‘Samadhi Mandir’.
By A. Govindakrishnan

Love is His Miracle by R.Seshadri President Sai

Spiritual Center Bangalore

Love is His Miracle
('This article was written during the lifetime of "Shri Radhakrishna
Swami" who attained Mahasamadhi in 1980.)
R. Seshadri
(President Sai Spiritual Centre,
Bangalore)
Bharata has produced great saints, seers and godmen. Each of
them had a specific mission in life, besides evolving themselves
spiritually. All of them had something in common . That was
their noble effort to elevate their fellow humans to a higher state
of consciousness. The means they employed were different, but
the goal was the same.
Shri Sai Baba of Shirdi, who attained Mahasamadhi in 1918,
was unique in that he was human and humane. Unlike most
others, he fulfilled the material aspirations also of his devotees
so that they could turn God ward once their legitimate desires
were satisfied. After all, most of them were grihasthas.
Baba seemingly performed 'miracles' (very much in demand
these days to assess a saint) by imposing small penalties on
his disciples and devotees before granting their prayers for good
health and material benefits. Their devotion and faith became
steadfast and they were spiritually evolved by the grace of the
Guru. The unfailing miracle of Baba was love. He lived for others
and strove for the 'Happiness1 of his devotees, denying himself
comforts.
The great lawyer-turned recluse, Shri Narasimha Swamiji, who
has immortalised himself by discovering for our benefit here and
hereafter, 'Shirdi' Sai Baba, inculcated in Sai devotees the value
of discipline and love. Because of his strenuous and hazardous
work for the propagation of the Sai in South India, there are now
thousands of ardent devotees steeped in the bliss of Sai Ram
and Sai Naam.
H. H. Shri Saipadananda Radhakrishna Swamiji, the chief
disciple of Shri Narasimha Swamiji, who had initiation from Shri
Narayan Maharaj earlier, is the logical and appropriate
successor of Shri Narasimha Swamiji. Sri Swamiji has all the
great and divine qualities of all these great saints:
self-abnegation, a total absence of ego, modesty and love.
(to be contd....)

Satsang Love is His Miracle by R.Seshadri President Sai Spiritual Center Bangalore

Sri Radhakrishna Swamiji's captivating smile, compassionate
look and positive thinking make immediate impact on even
strangers who go to him. All visitors, devotees, people with
an open mind and those with prejudices, who meet him derive
the same experience: quietude and tranquillity. Even without
mentioning their personal problems, they feel light at heart,
the depressing load of their nagging troubles being removed
from them inexplicably.

Swamiji shuns publicity and ostentation. He instructs his
devotees not to make much of their spiritual experiences
through his grace. It is a very common occurrence in the
Sai Mandir for people (even strangers) to mention to him
that Swamiji appeared in their dreams to give them
'manthropadesa' or some wholesome advice. He stops them
and disarmingly says, "It is all the Lord's play." He
commands recitation of Sahasranamam to one all and all
for peace, plenty and prosperity.

Swamiji is always a generous giver and rarely a taker.
Whatever edible is offered by visitors, he at once distributes
it to all those present and occasionally takes a bit of it if the
devotees insist, taking it as Narayana 'prasadam'. His intake
of food is minimum and he says that "distribution of food to
others and group recitation of Sahasranamam keep my
stomach full and satisfied."

The Swamiji obeys his master - Baba - implicitly and
immediately. That is why his plans of visits and tours are
changed in the last minute. Entraining at the City Railway
Station for Chennai and detraining at Cantonment cancelling
the journey, Swamiji comes back to the ashram baffling his
devotees. This has happened many a time. The same is the
case in regard to air travels also. All this is just because he
gets a message or signal from the Saint of Shirdi. The
Swamiji does not make any discrimination among the
numerous devotees or visitors from all walks of life and
different social strata, who go to him. I foolishly asked him
about 20 years back whether the Swamiji was not partial in
bestowing his attention on those who went to him.

He replied with an affectionate smile, "Partiality is only in
your mind. I am impartial. Each one gets what he deserves,
depending on his sincerity and the legitimacy of his desire.
He must be receptive also. When I sometimes try to pass
on my grace to some individuals, it comes back to me failing
to register itself. When I am given a few good seeds to raise
healthy, big trees, how can I sow them in concrete soil? I
must ensure that the soil is also fertile. So each gets what
he should."

Sai Baba has said on some occasions, "When I can grant
oceans of bliss, he (the seeker) comes with a small pot
upside down. What can he carry from me?"

Some three years back, when I entered the Swamiji's cottage
one evening, he was intently listening to an American professor
of philosophy, who was enthusiastically narrating the miracles
of some saints. I intervened to say that I had the privilege of
knowing the greatest saint, who was capable of all miracles
but cast them away as obstacles to spiritual progress. He
was the greatest because he had refrained from using his
abundant Siddhis.

The curious American professor asked me to name him so
that he could meet him. I just pointed at the Swamiji, who
laughed out.

The Swamiji, "my mentor and benefactor," the "Karuna
Sagara" (ocean of compassion) has relieved innumerable
people, of all castes and communities, of their sufferings,
fulfilled their wishes, ensured their material and spiritual well
being, effecting revolutionary transformations through his
potent, unfailing and benevolents weapon: Love. His love
is universal, extending to birds and animals, including wild
one's. There were many such occasions when these
recipients had responded to the Swamiji's call in their own
characteristic way. The devotees had witnessed every one
of these phenomena.

Satsang Chapter 38 :Sri_Sai_Sat_Charitra_Concise(Version)

Om Shree Ganeshaya Namah
Om Sai Ram
Chapter 38:::

Baba feeding the devotees
When Baba decides to feed all, He would do everything
from the scratch carefully Himself – He would go to the
shop for procuring things, grind wheat, pulverize masala
items etc. Some times, He would prepare sweet rice
puddings. Occasionally He even prepared non-vegetarian
food. He would simply thrust His bare hand in to the
vessel when things were boiling to check whether items
had been cooked. His hand would remain unscathed by
the boiling things. After 1910 this event stopped
because the food brought by devotees for Baba was so
much that it over flew even after every one including
fakirs and beggars had their fill.
Once Nana Chandodkar while coming to Shirdi
skipped the Dattatreya temple on the banks of river
Godavari as he wanted to avoid the holy man there
to whom he had promised some donation. When
he came to Baba and sat quietly, the later angrily
asked how he could do such thing as skipping God
on the way though he was in His association for
long. Every day after the noon arathi, Baba would
sit straight in the nimbar in the masjid and all would
sit in rows on either side of him. Food would be
served sumptuously. One day after such a
sumptuous meal, Baba gave a tumbler full of
butter-milk to Hemad Panth and told him that he
would not get such an opportunity again and hence
he should drink it in full. Yes, shortly Baba attained
mahasamadhi.

SHRISAIBABA AND SERVICE TO THE DISTRESSED by Lt Col. M.B. Nimbalk ar(Retd.)

In our scriptures, the importance of feeding the poor and
hungry is stressed repeatedly: "As amongst the six
flavours viz, sweet, sour, salty, pungent, astrengent and
bitter, the flavour of Varana (a highly tasteful Maharastrian
dish of pulse) is the best, the merit of feeding the hungry
is the best" (21)

"At twelve O'clock in the noon, one gets uneasy due to
hunger. One who realises this in case of others also, is
a virtuous person." (14)

"The householder should please a guest with meals,
whether appearing at reasonable or unreasonable times.
A householder who sends back a guest without offering
him food is certainly inviting miserable life after death in
the next birth." (17).

"One should feed those afflicted with grievous diseases
/maladies, blind, lame, deaf and distressed persons first
and one's own relatives afterwards" (23). Chapter 23

That is why Sai Baba, time and again, used to erect a
big fireplace in the open space in front of Dwarkamai
and Himself cooking the food in a big vessel used to
distribute it to the poor and distressed persons, similarly
for those arriving from outstations to meet Him He
circulating begging bowl for the purpose, later, after
AD 1910, plenty of dishes full of rich and varied food
started pouring in as offerings to Baba and there was
no need for Baba to cook it Himself.

Sai Baba's compassion was not just for human beings
only but also for beasts, birds and small creatures like
worms and ants also. Once a small dog being bit by a
mad dog started chasing bigger dogs. The villagers
therefore with sticks in their hands wanted to kill it.
The poor little dog ran through the lanes and by lanes
of the village and at last entering Dwarkamai hid behind
Sai Baba sitting there. The villagers requested Baba to
hand over the dog to them as it was mad and they
wanted to kill it. On this Baba said, "Fools! get away
from here, why should you kill this dumb creature?"
and thus saved the poor dogs life. No wonder Hemadpant
the author of Shri Sai Sat Charita in Ch 23 says:

"Sai Baba, the mother, looked after those who had no
owner or pair... Anything rotten, fallen or wearied found
repose in the Masjid." (110).

Sai Baba's getting His hands and feet massaged daily
with ghee (clarified butter) from the leper Bhagoji daily
and getting His outstretched legs pressed by His
devotees (both males and females) was only meant to
benefit them and to teach them the merits of serving
others. Sai baba did not require such services nor did
He want to show His greatness thereby.

In short, in Sai Baba's teachings, service of the poor and
distress find important place. According to Him, this was
a better method of worshipping God than keeping religious
fasts and vows. In this context, I am reminded of Swami
Vivekananda's following words:

“Do you like to see God
Face to face
'Here, in this "World,
'With these eyes?
Serve a man in distress"
And see God
In his smiting face

"If anyone does any evil unto you do not retaliate. If you
can do anything} do something good to others ."

-Shirdi Sai BaBa

SHRISAIBABA AND SERVICE TO THE DISTRESSED by Lt Col. M.B. Nimbalk ar(Retd.)

Sometimes, Sai Baba used to cure His devotee's diseases by
using His superhuman powers. For instance in Ch 13, He is
said to a have cured Bhimaji patils tuberculosis by hitting him
on his back with a cane and by rolling a stone up and down his
chest in a dream. Similarly in Ch 34, He cured Dr. Pillay's
guinea-worms by making Abdul accidentally step on his
outstretched leg.
In the beginning, Sai Baba not only used to give medicines to
the sick persons, but used to Himself serve them in case there
was nobody else to do so. later on, when He grew old and there
were many devotees to assist him, He used to get this service
done through them. Once a woman suffering from grievous
melodies came to Sai Baba who asked Bhima Bai to
accommodate in her house, so Bhima Bai said, "Baba! She is
suffering from grievous maladies. How can I accomodate her in
my house?" Thereupon Baba said, "What if she is suffering from
grievous maladies? she is my sister-closest sister. Take her
to your house". Naturally Bhima Bai took the women to her
house.

Similarly when Balaji Patel Nevaskar requested Baba's permission
to return to his village, Sai Baba said, "Dagdu Bhan is sick. Look
after him and then go." Dagdu Bhan was suffering from black
leprosy, Balaji Patil used to remove worms from his body, clean
all excretions and bathe him clean. This process continued for
some time. Later on Dagdu Bhan died and Baba permitted Balaji
to return to his village. Similarly in Ch 32, to a lady who had
come to Kaka Kelkar and after seeing Baba wanted to keep a
fast for three days, Baba advised to give up her fasts and feed
herself and Kaka Kalkar's family sumptuongly by evoking puran
polies (wheat bread stuffed with sugar and grinded pulse), since
Kaka Kelkar's wife was not supposed to cook being under her
monthly menstruation period. Thus Sai Baba stressed to the lady
the merits of assisting others in need over keeping religious fasts.

(to be contd...)