SHRI SAI LEELA
JUNE 1976
CONTENTS
1. Editorial Wealth
3. The Science of Religion Swami
Chinmayananda
4. Saint Ramdas Dr.S.D.Parchuru
5. Salutation L.Suryanarayan
Sharma
7. Shri Gurucharitra Shri
S.N.Huddar
8. Homage to Late Prod.D.D.Parchuru
9. Shri Sai Seva Dham, Pilgaon.
Goa
10. Shri Sai Baba is with Me Prof.
Vaman H. Pandit
SHRI SAI LEELA
( Official Organ of Shirdi
Sansthan )
VOLUME 55
JUNE 1976 No. 3
Mercy to the animals is Love to God
I plead for mercy to the animals.
Can I, indeed, truly love God, if I do not love all things, all beings that God
loveth ? Sometimes, sadness fills my heart, as I think of how ,so many of us
live thoughtlessly, even when we see ourselves surrounded by suffering. How
often we forget that creatures groan in pain !
Editor :
Shri K. S. PATHAK Receiver, Shirdi
Sansthan of Shri Sai Baba
Executive Editors:
Dr. S. D. Parchure M. A., Ph. D.
Shri Sadanand Chendwankar B. Sc.,
S. T. C., R. B. Pravin
Annual Subscription Rs. 6.00 Single
Copy Rs. 0.60
Office;
Sai Niketan. 804-B, Dr. Ambedkar Road.
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Tel :
443361
WEALTH
Our
modern concept of wealth is bank balance, gold, silver and landed
property; but can we imagine of the time when money was not known ? Yes. There
once was a time when the coins were not in existence. If a man wanted cloth and
if he had enough corn left over, after satisfying his needs, what he did in
those days was, that he gave his corn and exchanged it for cloth. Similarly if
someone, who had a cow, had surplus milk with him, he bartered it with the
potter for a few pots. It was in this fashion that the transactions in the
world of those days went on simply by barter of goods.
In that
age of barter, the chief occupation in the world was agriculture. In those
primitive days, the plough was the only means of tilling the land. The cow-dung
was the only manure that was being used in the fields. Both the aforesaid
purposes were served by the cow. It was. therefore, no wonder that the cow came
to be known as a sacred animal and also as wealth. At the time of Mahabharat,
we know that kings had thousands of cows with them as they were known as
wealth.. In the Mahabharat we are told that the king Virat had herds containing
thousands of cows. It appears that the cows were also classified in those days,
as we are told about a cow known as Kamadhenu, a cow who satisfies your
desires.
Slowly
and slowly the mankind came to know about metals like copper, silver and gold.
It was with this new discovery that the society came to know about coins. The
metal like copper, which was available in abundance, was naturally cheap and
hence coins of small value came to be manufactured from that metal. As silver
and gold were rare metals, the coins of higher value were manufactured
out" of those metals, it was after this introduction of the coinage
that the barter system stopped and the people started buying things after
paying money. With the introduction of the coins, the criterion 'of measuring
wealth also changed. The possession of certain commodities did not then amount
to wealth. The possession of gold, silver or landed property came into
prominence and a man came to be known as wealthy person only when he had the
aforesaid things. As money could bring you anything in this world, all persons
well-versed in worldly affairs started advising people to earn and hoard money
at all costs. These people became so much money minded that even in the sound
of the "Mridang" they felt that there was an order to earn money.
says one
Sanskrit Shloka. In the keertan which is meant for diverting your attention
from the worldly life to God, the sound of the Mridang was construed by one
poet as an advice for earning money. Of course, the present day world has
become so very money minded that we get the, experience of the following
Shloka at every step :
The above
shloka says that when a person has money he is said to belong to a high family,
he is called a learned person, he is also said to be well-read, appreciater of
virtues, a good speaker and even a good looking person. In short all virtues
accompany gold (wealth or money). Because of this attitude of the world
towards a monied person, everyone in this world is hankering after earning money.
A saying in Sanskrit says which means that a man is a slave of wealth. Of
course, the Word man in the above saying means a person in general; but it
clearly lays down the general attitude of the people at large in this world
towards money.
When
money or wealth achieved such great importance in human life, one science
cropped up for governing the production, distribution and expenditure of
wealth. Economics, which is a science entirely devoted to monetary matters,
would not perhaps have been born at all if there was no wealth in this world.
The main income of the state is by way of taxation on its subjects. Hence the
wealth has also created several taxes to be paid by the citizens. The state is
always trying to extract money from the subjects, in general and the rich in
particular, in order to gather utmost money by way of taxation for being spent
for public well-being. Wealth has achieved so much importance in modern days
that even when a person dies, leaving a vast amount of wealth his heirs have to
pay a wealth tax on the dead man's wealth.
Because
of this abnormal importance attached to wealth, there has been too much greed
for money in some people. They never worry in which way they acquire it. Their
only aim is to become rich. Looking to this nature of wealth* the saints of all
the countries have warned the people to guard against it. They have always
advised the people not to hanker after -it; because when that becomes the aim.
the balance of the mind of a person is lost. He then tries to acquire wealth
even by any means, however foul they may be. In the Bhagdwadageeta, Lord
Krishna also describes his real devotee as one who treats the earth stone and
gold on par.
The
saints have not only advised the public to treat wealth with scant respect, but
they have themselves followed that advice to the last letter of the word. If we
start calculating the personal belongings of saints like Gadgebuva,
Vasudevananda Saraswati or Saibaba, we will find that they hardly had anything
as their own. The clothes that they had on their body perhaps only belonged to
them, but they also were always donated to them by somebody. Shri Gadgebuva and
Shri Vasudevananda Saraswati wore very scanty clothes. Shri Sai Baba also had
tattered clothes in the beginning. :He was never worried about them, but later
on certain devotees thought it bad and they would give him new clothes to wear. Some
people might remember
his habit of asking
for Dakshina and they may say
that he had greed for
money; but this is not
correct. His idea in asking
for Dakshina was
to teach people to give liberally
in charity for the
well-being of other people. It
was an accepted principle of the Rishies and old sages
that after using that which was just
sufficient for you, the rest was to
be distributed to others
who needed it.
It is told about the kings
of the Raghu dynasty that they by
their valour carried out expeditions in all the four
quarters and captured wealth; but what was
that used for ? Not for decorating I
the palaces of those kings ! It was used for
performing sacrifices ' and for giving
as Dakshina to the poor, it is told about Shri Sai Baba that though he asked for Dakshina, he was liberal in giving
the money to the poor and needy. In
the Sai Satcharita frequent
mention has been done about it The speciality about the
money given by
Shri Sai Baba
was that he
was found to be giving much more
money than what he got
by way of Dakshina.
We the
common people have many desires and expectations. We are therefore hankering
after money because
"the money makes the mare
go" to quote a
very common saying. In
the modern world we want to fulfill
our desires by the
money we want to acquire, but
what happens to a person who has no desire or who has very few wants ? Such a
person is careless about the favour or disfavour even of the king. A very interesting story is told about the
great philosopher Socretes- Once when he was sitting basking in the
Sun, the king came to meet him and inadvertantly stood in such a manner that
the rays of the Sun falling on the body of Socrates were
obstructed. When the
king came, Socrates was fully engrossed in his own thoughts. He had no desire which was expected to he fulfilled
at the hands of the king. Hence he was
not at all keen to welcome the
king or do him honour. On the other hand when the
king started talking
to Socrates and he found that
he was shutting off the rays of
the Sun from him, he immediately
said, "Well Sir, will
you please, move a bit away and allow me to-bask in the Sun ?" Such
is the behaviour of persons who are no slaves of wealth. One Sanskrit saying
describes
the psychology of these people very clearly. To one who has no desire, the whole world is as
valuable as a blade of
grass ! Shri Sai Baba's attitude! towards the world can now he understood in proper perspective. He had no desires and
hence he was neutral to everyone
who* came to him. We the Sai
devotees have to follow Shri Sai Baba and know' the proper value of
wealth in this worldly
life and to give only that much
importance to it,
so that we
do not become its slaves.
"Sai
Leela"
Sir,
I read
with keen interest an article by Shri V. B Kher entitled "A Search for
the Birth Place of Sai Baba" published in the issue of "Sai
Leela" of January 1976. I must congratulate the writer on this
excellent piece of research.
Shri
Kher's eloquent plea for erecting a temple/memorial at Sai Baba's Birth Place,
Pathri, so convincingly established, deserves to be pursued with enthusiasm,
determination and vigour by all concerned—by the Sansthan in particular and by
the devotees in general.
Yours faithfully,
K. R. Mahishi :
Girgaum, Bombay, 4
THE SCIENCE OF RELIGION
By • Swami Chinmayananda
The
Ego-less Actions
The
Geetacharya feels that he has not expressed all the implications of a
Karma-Yogin's egoless attitude and so he adds, (V-12) "The One pursuing
Karma Yoga, rejecting the fruit-of action, attains peace, born of his
steadfastness; the one not pursuing Karma Yoga, led by desire, gets bound —— as
he becomes attached to the fruit-of-action." On undertaking all his
activities in a spirit of dedication, Vasanas exhaust and his mind gains
in its inner content of peace and joy : he is no more anxious of
the future — indicated here by the term 'fruits-of-actions' (yuktah karmaphalam
tyaktwaa saanatimaapnoti naishttikeem ) This is for one who is steadily serving
the world as a worship of the Lord - - - who is serving in the spirit of Yagna
- - - who is noted in his ideal of adoration (yuktah).
One who
has no ideal, no altar and no dedication (ayuktah) he, prompted by his
ego-centric desires, selfishly anxious of 'the future results, in his
attachment becomes bound and gagged, (kaamakaarena phale sakto nibadhyate).
Thus, by
undertaking all activities in the Yagna-spirit all vasanas exhaust
themselves. Mind becomes clean and it comes to enjoy its meditative poise, when
it gains intuitive perceptions of the Real All-pervading Self. Such an
individual, who has brought his subjective life under his own control, is
called "sub-duer" (vasee), To him it is evidently clear "that he
acts not in the throb of the buzzing activities of his body, mind and intellect.
The Sun acts not - - - but the world of beings drawing energy from.the Sun,
each acts according to one's own tendency
Like the
Sun the Self,
as Pure Consciousness witnesses all activities
of the personality layers in the everyone.
Declares Krishna : (V-13) "The
one has subdued his personality, having renounced all sense-of-agency in
actions by discrimination, rests happily in the city-of-nine-gates, neither
acting nor causing actions in others
"An
individual who has subdued his outgoing personality" (vasee), “througb his
discriminative understanding" (manasaa) comes to recognise that there is
no sense-of-agency in him in all the actions (samnyasya),."he comes to
live happily'1 (aastc sukham) in his body - - - the nine-gate-city
(navadwaaje pure).
The body
is called the capital city (pura) -—- where the ego (dehee) has its palace -: -
- is fortressed by the physical body with nine-gateways for transations with
the world outside. The mouth, 2 nostrils, 2 eyes, 2 ears, one anus, one genital
opening --- together nine openings are there in every physical body They are
guarded well, and at night, in sleep, all are closed In this city the Lord Self
lives "neither acting nor causing actions in others". By its mere
presence It blesses all and everyone acts for the glory of the Kingdom.
The man
who has successfully subdued his entire outgoing personality realises, in his
inward pursuits of meditation, that as Self, he is Pure Consciousness, in whose
presence the equipments get thrilled to actions.
In such an egoless attitude, the
noblest of activities gush out from the inspired saint. It is from actions,
flooding from such depersonalised ones, that the world of spirit and science,
of adventure and conquests, of politics and economics had gained all its growth
and development. We all owe our today's progress and civilization, science and
culture, law and order, inventions and discoveries to men working in this
egoless attitude of inspiration with a
touch of divine creativity. With such
egoless action our youth can remake the tottering world around them.
For
this rebuilding of
the human society,
never was the world so ready and so
conducive, ever before. Quick-transport, easy communication
channels, world-wide organisations, production centres
that can supply anything, in
any quantity, within the
shortest time-interval - - - no
doubt, never before was man so
well-provided to attempt a rebuilding of
his society. But are the youth
ready ? Have they the
required inspiration in themselves to re-build the world around
them ? Of course they have a blind ram-force, which other elderly mischief
mongers can weild but have the youth the necessary knowledge, the required vision, the sufficient inspiration, and
the adequate physical readiness to
strike ? Have they the alert mental preparedness to
strive, in spite of repeated initial failures and disappointments ? Have they trained to sink their
individuality - - - their ego - - - to act ; egolessly, selflessly ? - - - I don't know.
But Geeta
is emphatic that without this egoless mood, such a national re-construction and
world re-adjustment cannot be undertaken successfully. Such a mighty chance
awaits the modem youth. Live the Geeta-way-^of-life and expand your powers,
increase your strength, re-inforce your mental personality. Bring these wealths
within you to serve the world, to revolutionise life and its values.
Nature of the Lord
Is it not
rather strange and unnatural for the Geeta to recommend that man should learn
to serve his fellow men without ego and ego-centric desire to enjoy the results
of his actions ? Is it not unnatural ? All beings act from their selfishness,
and seek their desire-gratifications. Not to do seems to contradict a natural
instinct - - - the Creator's own intention and will ?
To answer
such an obviously logical question, Krishna in the verses here discusses upon
the Nature of Lord of the Universe, the Spark of Existence that is present in
all of us our very life.
This
Glow-of-life manifesting in us, is
in Itself the Total Life expressing in all bosoms in all living creatures. Its playful Presence allows our body, mind and intellect to borrow from It all their thrills to action. The blades 'of a fan and its armature,
all by themselves, will not revolve : from the electric current they borrow their
abilities to function. Here the current is the "Lord of the
Fan" : similarly, the
Self, the atman the Life-Spark - -- -- from which our equipments borrow their functions, must be the "Lord
of our equipments." The
Infinite Consciousness that lends all activities to the entire cosmos is the Lord of
the Universe - - - the Jagadeeswara. The Supreme Jagadeeswara, presiding over all our individual
activities, is the Lord in each one of us.
The Geeta
Acharya here reveals, (V-14) "Neither the sense-of-agency, nor actions
does the Lord create for the world. Nor does he bring about the union with the
fruit-of-action. " It is ''Universal Ignorance" - - - Nature - -
- that does it all". Just, as, the petrol in the car makes the car move;
but where the car goes, its direction, its performance en-route and its final destination are all ordered by
the discretion of the driver, so too in the Presence of the Self, the equipments-of-personality
in every living creature gets thrilled, and they work according to their own
Nature - - - meaning the Vasanas that
prompt them to act. The Lord of the Universe is not
creating the ego-sense in us; nor does the Load order our ego-centric passions and desires, which set particular direction for all our activities.
In fact, then, what exactly does
the Mighty Life-Force do ? Krishna amplifies, (V-I5) "The
Omnipresent takes no note of anyone's merit or de-merit. Knowledge is shrouded
by ignorance hence do beings get deluded." Taking
again our earlier analogy, the Petrol in the car takes no note of anyone's
driving abilities - - - if the car is steadily on the road, the gas helps the
car to ride safely : if the driver be drunk or sleepy, and so he
turns the car wrongly off the kerb, and down the embankment, the powers
released by the gas, will equally bless the car to run efficiently down the
sides of the embankment into its chosen tragic disaster. The Self is in us : if
our mind and intellect are awake and alert, life can be a pleasant ride - — —
if we are drowsy and careless, life can efficiently ditch us in the wayside !
Petrol is not responsible for our reaching -our family, or we reaching the
nearest hospital.
The
Life-force, Self, is ever functioning in us. The Self, the Consciousness is not
involved whatever be the way you order your life, or you choose to employ Its
mighty powers If the individual has unhealthy ideas, dangerous temperaments,
wrong traits, foul motives, despicable attitudes - - - these maladjustments in
the individual's personality layers, take him to his disaster. And why we have
these false notions ? Lord clearly declares, ''Knowledge is enveloped in
"ignorance" (Vasanas) and hence beings get deluded" (ajnaanenaavritam
jnaanam tena myhyanti jantavah ).
Right
knowledge (jnaanam) is ever with us. But our Vasanas delude us with spiritual
"ignorance", which is made up of the '"non-apprehension" of
Reality and our consequent "misapprehensions" of the same. Unveil Knowledge
within, and live joyously, uninvolved in either the sense-of-agency (doership)
nor vainly distracted by the desires-to-enjoy-the-results-of-actions
(enjoyership).
Thus,
declared Krishna, (V-I6) "Those whose ignorance is destroyed by the
Knowledge of the Self - - - that realisation of theirs, like the sun, reveals
the Supreme". When this "non-apprehension” which is the
expression of ignorance, ends in the direct apprehension of the Self, the
experience of the transcendental reveals the full nature of the new State of
Consciousness --'•the Ultimate Reality, the Spiritual Truth, the Self in
us, which is the Self in all
In these
three verses then the Geeta Acharya clearly indicates how the Infinite Self, by
Its mere Presence alone, lends life to all the insentient matter-vestures in
us. And it is we, in our indiscrimination - - - driven by our Vasanas - - -
anxious to enjoy - - - in our arrogant ego - - -come to act wrongly and suffer
the tragic consequences. To assume a Lord, Iswara, who is responsible for all
our activities is a Sadhana - - - an effective spiritual practice - - - to
liquidate our ego and sense of individuality. The attitude-of-doership in us
can be easily surrendered at the Altar of the Lord - of- the Universe : the
Jagadeeswara.
We hear
our friends sometimes despairing, but often proudly justifying their sinful
acts of excesses---as they are all God-prompted". No driver has saved
himself from punishment for the accident committed by him, by arguing the
incontrovertible fact that "but for the petrol in the car, the accident
would not have happened."
True. But
Petrol gave the car only a blind onward push. It is for the intelligent driver
to control the front wheels and steer clear the car on the road without harming
other members of the community.
Similarly,
the Self, lends Its Light and Life to the personality layers - it is for the
mental and intellectual man in us to think rightly, judge correctly, guide his
sense-organs, and ride along- - - a noble righteous life of usefulness to all others.
But, this
is defeated in us by our own inadvertance - - - born of our
"non-apprehension" of the true meaning, purpose, and goal of life,
(ajnaaenaavriitam jnaanam tena muhyanti jantavah) - - - Know-ledge is shrouded
by our ignorance —' hence creatures delude themselves.
The vivid
and gross expressions of this dire "ignorance" in us are witnessed in
our sense of "doership” and “enjoyership." To rise above them both is
to go beyond "ignorance" into the brilliant and blissful state of
utter fulfilment and joy - - - the State of Wisdom - - - the Selfhood.
The Life
given to us is not to be squandered away in seeking pleasures and discovering
here and there some sense-gratifications. Acquiring and aggrandising for
selfish purposes is the animal's efforts, not of a cultured man's civilized
vocation. To see our-selves in others, to recognise in all others our own
essential Self, to perceive the One Life Divine that expresses everywhere,
through all, as the varigated dynamic world, and to spend our energies in the
service of this Total Glory - - - the Lord of the Universe (Iswara) ---is true
living of a productive and satisfactory spiritual life;
Let our
religion bring through us light and joy into the world around us. While
thus serving the world let us not allow our ego and Selfishness to disturb the
melody of His Song sung through us.
Let us
learn to feel the floods of joy gushing through us- - -To be alert to watch and
perceive His dance within and around us is to live a higher plane of Spiritual
Awareness.
(
Courtesy : Geeta Office Powai)
SAINT RAMDAS
- By
Dr. S. D. Parchure M. A., Ph.
D.
(Continued
from April 1976 issue)
After the departure of his dear disciple and friend Chhatra-pati Shiwaji Maharaj, Saint Ramdas felt that all the four quarters are filled with pitch darkness Inspite of all his learning and philosophical bent of mind, he became sad and dejected. He felt that the mission of his life was fulfilled and hence he could now think of closing the chapter of his life.
Since
Shaka 1598, Saint Ramdas was
staying permanently on
Sajjangad Those who wanted to meet
him, usually went to Sajjangad. Saint Ramdas occasionally got out of
the fort, only for some special purpose
Though Saint Ramdas had made complete arrangements for the worship and
festivals to be held at the temple of Ram at Chafal, still he occasionally used
to attend the temple festivals to see that they were being carried out
smoothly. History records that Saint Ramdas
attended the Ramnavmi festival at Chafal in Shaka 1603.
The valley of Chafal had
close association with Saint Ramdas for nearly 30 years. He
therefore felt like seeing all the favourite places of his abode in that
valley for the last time. The
Maruti of Shinganwadi, Ramghal
(cave) and Kubdi Teerth were the most
important places in this area. Saint Ramdas paid a visit to these places
and went round
the whole valley on foot. He
as if reviewed his whole life by visiting these places with which so many
incidents of his life were
connected. He took part in
all the programmes of the festivals, with great zeal and at the conclusion iof the festival, he thanked god Ram for having
bestowed His -favours on him and particularly because He helped him in fulfilling his dream of
the establishment of a Hindu state in Maharashtra. He thus spent fifteen to twenty days in the Chafal valley and
returned to Sajjangad,
Dasbodh
is a very important contribution of Saint Ramdas in Marathi literature. Some
people explain the purport of the 'book as .the Bodh (piece of advice) given by
Das (i e. Ramdas), Others say that it was the Bodh (advice) given to Das (i. e.
the people who had become slaves of the Muslims). If we look to the advice
given by Saint Ramdas in his book we might agree to the latter way of resolving
the compound 'Dasbodh'.
The above
book was not written by Saint
Ramdas at a stretch. Jt was dictated by
him from time to time as occasion arose. The
disciple, who would accompany Saint Ramdas to the cave known as Shivthar,
would take down whatever the
latter dictated. As stated
before most part of this book was committed to writing at that place. After going through the manuscript of the book, Saint Ramdas found
something wanting in it. Hence
he dictated some more chapters
and completed the
twenty chapters of the book in the month of Margashirsha of Shaka 1603.
Dasbodh
is a voluminous book containing 7751
ovees. The subject matters
discussed in the various chapters are so varied that the reader is wonderstruck
to see the various branches in
which Saint Ramdas had to say something. In
the beginning of
the book Saint Ramdas says that it is a book on philosophy, written in
the form of the conversation between the Guru and his disciple. It is meant for
expounding the philosophy and cultivating devotion among
the readers. Saint Ramdas also gives
a bibliography of the books which form the basis of his book. It is also a wonder from where Saint
Ramdas procured all those books. Some
of the books mentioned in Dasbodh are now not traceable. Hence it appears that during the course of
the last three hundred years, those
books might have become a prey of the white ants.
The
language of the book is very simple and flowing. The meaning of the ovees
becomes known to the reader without much difficulty. As there are chapters
expounding the meaning of Brahma Moksha, devotion, and such other philosophical
matters, similarly there are a number of chapters explaining things like
gardening, building up houses etc. The idea of Saint
Ramdas was to shape ideal
personalities with the advice included in his book. He therefore states the characteristics of the foolish
and greedy people as well as those of the ideal personalities. His idea
in writing the book was to develop good citizens, who
would lead a prosperous , and happy life and at the same time strive for
achieving moskha' ( Some
people are apt to criticize on the book that it only preaches about worldly
life and neglects the
life in the other world; but this is misleading. In
one of the ovees Saint Ramdas says very clearly
that the *'main thing in the human life is
the devotion to - God, next comes politics and the third is the cautious
behaviour in all walks of
life." Just as
Dasopant and Krishna dayarnava tried to give
instructions to the
people at large,
to live this; y worldly life properly and also to
obtain moksha, similarly Saint Ramdas also advised the people to behave properly in their daily
life first and foremost and
become good citizens, useful for the society. He was of the opinion that one
who does not know how to live properly will
not be able
to attain Moksha.
For attaining Moksha a person
has to subject himself to certain
discipline and a person,
who leads a disciplined life in
his family, can adopt himself for the further discipline leading him to
Moksha. The ' "principal
advice that Saint Ramdas wanted to give to
the people is embodied by him
in this book.
After the
death 'of Chhatrapati Shri
Sniwaji Maharaj, his son Sambhaji succeeded as the Maratha
King. He knew about the close
relations of Saint Ramdas with his
father and therefore he also
came to Sajjangad to pay his
respects to Saint Ramdas. History records that
Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj
came to Sajjangad in the month
of Poush of Shaka 1603. Saint Ramdas welcomed the King of the
Marathas and advised him to be vigilent as Aurangzeb was trying his best since
long to wipe
out the -Maratha power. Saint
Ramdas also advised Sambhaji Maharaj to always remember the
greatness, valour etc. of his father and plan all his
politics so as to follow the
broad principles laid down by
his father After this meeting of
Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj with Saint Ramdas, the former left Sajjangad and this
meeting happened to be the last meeting
of the two.
Saint
Ramdas had already foreseen his end.
He was getting weaker every day; but he remained fully composed and
never gave an indication to anybody that he was leaving this world very soon.
Ultimately the month of Magh Shaka 1603 dawned. The first half of the month
got over smoothly and the second began.
On the eighth day of the second half of the month the disciples of
Saint Ramdas came to know that he was casting away his human body. They all
therefore became sorry that their guru was leaving them. When Saint Ramdas
noticed the tears in the eyes of his
disciples, he said to them," Is this the
result of all my teaching?
Don't you know that the soul is immortal;and that this body is
perishable? In my"
compositions 1 have
given you complete
instructions regarding the way in which you should behave in your
life. You should follow them closely
and you will attain Moksh after leading a happy and prosperous life."
When this last
advice was heard by all the disciples, they took courage and
awaited the last moment of their guru.
Human nature is the same everywhere,
inspite of being constantly in the company of a saint like Ramdas, his disciples could not
win over the natural
inherent feelings in
human nature viz
joy, sorrow, greed etc, but because
of the advice of Saint
Ramdas, his disciples started
the Bhajan of god Ram and
Saint Ramdas breathed his last
on the 9th day of the dark half of the month of Magh in Shaka 1603. Thus the
revered guru of Chhatrapati
Shiwaji Maharaj followed him and went to heaven very soon after his favourite disciple left
this world! As per the custom, the bones of Saint Ramdas were retained on
Sajjangad and his Samadhi was built there on his mortal remains.
After
Saint Ramdas took Samadhi, his disciples controlled their grief and decided to
continue the tradition of their guru in the same manner as he was doing. Along
with so many male disciples. Saint Ramdas had many female disciples also. Among
the female disciples Smt Akka was very efficient, selfless and extremely
devoted to Saint Ramdas. She also had a good administrative capacity. Hence all
the disciples of Saint Ramda decided to accept her leadership. In those days,
ladies had no recognition even as human beings with a separate identity; but in
spite of that Smt. Akka accepted the challenge thrown to her bj the situation
and took upon her the management of the Chafal Math and Sajjangad and it reaJiy
goes to her credit that she! managed the affairs at both the aforesaid places
quite efficient from Shaka 1603 to Shaka I632.
There is
a tradition in India that every property is inherited by a male member of
the family. As Saint Ramdas
never got himself fettered
by the bond of marriage,
the Ram Mandir at! Chafal and
the Sajjangad property became the
inheritance of the' descendants of Gangadhar, the elder brother
of Saint Ramdas' Ramji was the son of Gmigadharpant
and Ramji's son was name as Gangadhar,
as there is a tradition to name the grandson afte the grandfather. This Gangadhar, the grandson of the elder
broth of Saint Ramdas, took over the
management of Chafal Mandi and Sajjangau in Shaka 1632. The Mandir at Jamb was alread in his
charge, Since that year the
descendants of Gangadhar are continuing the management of the affairs at
the three places viz Jamb, Chafal and Sajjangad, which were
closely connected with the life of Saint Ramdas.
After the
death of Chhatrapati Shiwaji Maharaj, Aurangzeb, the MogaJ Emperor, knew that
there was no great political leader in Maharashtra, who could equal Shiwaji
Maharaj in valour and statesmanship.
He therefore came to Deccan
along with his big army to vanquish
the Marathas. His armies did great devastation m Maharashtra and as he was a
fanatic muslim, he
took great pleasure in destroying maths, tempies and such other
religious institutions of the Hindus. During such a period of complete unrest,
it was really creditable for a lady to have managed the affairs at Chafal and
Sajjanyad efficiently and we have to
give that credit to Smt.
Akka. After Shaka 1632, 'though Akka was freed from the work
of management, she
remained on Sajjannad
praying Ramdas upto Shaka
1643, when her life came to
an end Her Samadhi also is on
Sajjangad-.
(to be continued.
)
Baba ! Ocean of kindness ! Light of
Love ! Lord of Universe
How fortunate Thy bhaktas are !
What a strange coincidence
To-day is Thursday, the first of
January of the New Year
Though every day is auspicious to
the children, significant this is
Pour down thy purity, mercy,
affection on us unendingly
Render our lives purposeful and
dedicated to the sacred service
Let misdeeds ?nd foul actions of
the wicked touch us not
Yes, men of ego forget the
good, and scorn the virtuous
They become slaves to desires,
dethrone wisdom and fall a prey to lust
Baba ! Man is mortal, Life is
like a bubble, light in the air
Know not we when death lays its icy hands
on us, ends our activities
Why this race towards amassing
wealth, and rolling in happiness ?
Help to remove poverty and unemployment
religious heads are told
Baba ! Thou art no religious
head nor leader. Thou art all
How ideally Thou led
life and how Thou conducted
Thyself as light to us!
Hunger is unconquerable to
humanity, animals and birds too
But Thy motto to stand by the poor
is marvellous and magnifying
Thou distributed Thy begged food to
the hunger-stricken and dogs
Not only that,'thou” gave away
Dakshina monies to the poor and the destitute
Thou became
Paramapurusha and Purushottama, friend of the
down-trodden
Baba ! Poverty is a terrific enemy,
fearful devil, hateful to all
Yet Thou invited and embraced it to
demonstrate the path to us and learn
Thou wore rags, dressed like a
fakir, Thou were Poverty personified
Baba ! Give us strength and will-power to imbibe Thy spirit of goodness
Can we reach .the goal set by
Thee.namely to help the poor meaningfully
Yes, If Thou bestow on us Thy
mercy, advice, kindly look and love
If every man is full of sympathy
like Thee, poverty will retreat
Grant us determination and
resoluteness to cut down our desires
Let these desires be full of
'nishkama' and purity and brightness
Impart singleness and sterlingness
in our thought, action and deed
Baba ! Kindle our lives in this new
year with these rare qualities
That enrich us and pave the way for
ushering in of new economic order
Baba ! Let Thy bhaktas forget not
what thou taugnt, had done and said
Turn them as Thy
"ankita" children and let there be no defeat
and disappointment to them
L.
Suryanarayana Sarma,
MACHILIPATNAM.
Questions and
Answers
To The Editor,
Shri Sai Lee la
Kindly publish the following
question received by me from Sai Bhakta Shri Amarnath, Booking Clerk, Rly.
Stn., Pathankot, for reply by Bhaktas or yourself as soon as possible.
"Although no such reference is
available in Hindi or English versions, there is 'a reference in Sai
Satcharita, (Marathi) that Sai Babaji gave assurance to Shri H. S. Dixit that
HE would-again meet us as a lad of eight. It is an admitted fact that Shri Babaji
always uttered the truth only. So, in the light of HIS assurance, it is dead
sure that HE is present in human form these days. Where to have HIS darshan ?
Is it possible ? "
Thanking you very much.
Yours sincerely,
V. B. Nandwani
Bombay, 16
(Replies to the above question from
our readers are awaited-Editor)
By:- Shri S. N.
Huddar
( Continued
from May 1076 issue ) CHAPTER 36
Code of Brahmin's Daily Rituals
There
lived a pious vedic Brahmin. He did not take food at others. He would beg alms
of corn and maintained on the same. His wife was discontented and hot tempered.
A rich person came to Ganagapur for Samaradhana (feeding Brahmins and others).
But as this Brahmin did not accept food at others, his wife also was not
invited and she was discontented for not having good, delicious food and sweets
Once a
very rich person came to Ganagapur to observe Shraddha. He invited all Brahmin
couples and offered good dakshina (money), clothes and rich delicious food- She
told her husband about this. He said, 'If you wish you can go there, but as I
do not accept food at others, I cannot come.'
The wife
went to the Brahmin host and said, 'My husband does not take food at others.
Can I come alone to you for meals ?'
The host
said, 'I invite Brahmin couples. So you can come with your husband.'
The wife
could not know what to do. She came to Shri Guru Narsinhasaraswati and narrated
to him her grievance and said, 'I like to enjoy rich, delicous food. But my
husband does not take food at others and so I am also not invited by anybody.
At present a rich Brahmin is inviting all the Brahmin couples and offering them
good dakshina, clothes and rich delicious food. Kindly advise my husband to
accept this invitation.'
Hearing
this, Shri Guru smiled and asked his disciples to call her husband. When he
came, Shri Guru said to the Brahmin, 'your wife desires to take delicious food.
You should accept invitation of the rich Brahmin and fulfil your wife's desire.
Married women should not be displeased ?
The
Brahmin said, 'Gurudeo, I am observing a vrat of not taking meals at others.
But as per your adesh (order) I shall accept this invitation,'
This
Brahmin couple went for meals at the rich Brahmin's who offered them good,
delicious food. While dining the Brahmin wife observed that dogs and pigs are
also dinings with her. Being disgusted, she got up, returned home and told this
to her husband. He said, 'I had to break my vrat for you and accept food
eaten by dogs and pigs.' Both then came to Shri Guru.
Shri Guru
asked the wife, 'How did you enjoy the food of the rich Brahmin host ? You
always blamed your husband. Now are you satisfied ?'
The wife
said, 'Gurudeo, I am a silly woman. I broke the vrat of my husband by asking
him to take food at others, kindly forgive me.'
Shri Guru
said to the Brahmin, 'Your wife's desire of taking delicious food is fulfilled.
Now she will act as per your wishes. I will tell you the rules of acting as per
the order of religion. If a Brahmin is in need of a Brahmin for some religious
function and for anniversary (Shraddha), you should go for meals. If you do not
go, you will be committing an offence. You should take food at the Guru,
disciple, maternal uncle, father-in-law, brothers and saints. If you recite
Gayatri Mantra, you are not offended.'
The
Brahmin then asked, 'Kindly tell
me which and
at whose house the food should be avoided ?
Shri
Guru, 'Good natured Brahmins should not dine at one who takes service from parents,
who is greedy ,
who gives in charity displeasing his wife and
children, who is proud, armed or a teacher of flute or outcast, who lives on
begging, who praises himself and cajoles others, who does not observe
Vaishwadeo He should also not dine with a Guru who gets enraged, who is cruel
adulterous and a pretender, who forsakes his wife, a woman who lives forsaking
her sons and husband, a Brahmin, who sells wine and does the the profession of
a blacksmith, a washerman or a gamblers, one who is a prostitute, a thief, a
doorkeeper, who teaches a shudra by taking monev, who sells horses, who is
Hardas (Kirtankar), one who does not bathe and does not observe Sandhya and
Shraddha, who is treacherous, who dispises others, one who forsakes his parents
and cajoles his Guru, who kills a cow, a Brahmin or a woman, one who does not
give in charity, who has no issue, who despises one's food and praises the food
of others. Food at such persons should also be avoided If one takes food on
Amavasya he loses virtue of one month. Unless one's daughter has an issue, one should
not dine at her house. All these sins are wiped off if one abides by one's own
religion.'
The
Brahmin further asked Shri Guru, 'kindly tell me the code of daily rites of a
Brahmin.
Shri
Guru-'I will tell you the code of rites of a Brahmin as narrated by Parashar to
the Rishis in the Nemisharanya.
One
should get up on Brahma muhurta i. e. 2 hours (5 Ghatkas) before the Sun-rise
and bow to Shri Guru and god. Go to the south-west for excretion at a place
away from the residence of people and the source of water. One should sit
facing the south at night and facing the north in the morning and the evening.
Arms, hands and legs should be washed with soft earth and water. He should take
2 'achman" (taking ten drops of water saying bow to Keshav, bow Narayan,
bow to Madhav etc). If there is no water at hand you should touch the eyes and
ears. Seven deities stay at the right ear of a Brahmin as described in the
following Shloka. .... ^.
(Fire, Water, Vedas, Varun,
Sun, Moon and the Wind are
the seven deities who always reside in the right ear of a Brahmin).
Holy places on the Palm
'Brahmatirth' is at the root of the
thumb, 'Atmitirth' is on the palm, 'Pitru tirth' is at the root of the thumb
and the fore finger, 'Deotirth' is at the ends of the four fingrs (except tne
thumb) and 'Rishi tirth' is at the root of this small finger. While offering
'tarpan to forefathers, Gods and Rishis water, til etc are to be poured though
the respective tirthas.
Achaman
Saying 'Bow to Keshav. Narayan,
Madhav, the little water on the Brahmatirth is to be taken in the mouth and is
to be drunk. The little water is to poured in plate after saying bow to
Govinda. If one is touched by a Shudra or an impure one, if one becomes wet in
the rains, if one comes home from a funeral, one becomes pure by taking 2
achamans
Washing of teeth and mouth
Teeth should not be cleaned by
'datoon' (stem of some tree) on parva, pratipada, shashti, Noumt, Dwadashi and
on Saturdays, Shraddha and wedding days. This does not mean that the mouth,
teeth and tongue should not be cleaned at all. Only datoon should not be used
on these days.
Datoon sticks should be taken of
Babul, karanj, palm, aghada, audumbar and rui trees. After use the .datoon
should be thrown to the South-West.
Bath (Snan)
Morning
bath gives one lust, strength, life, intellect, plea' sure and nutrition. A
Grahastha and Vanaprastha should bathe in the morning and midday. A Yati,
Tapasi on Sanyasi should bathe thrice while a
Brahmachari should: bathe once a day.
If there
is no sufficient water and in case of difficulty any one of the following
alternatives may be chosen. 'Agnisnan'-means to stand in the Sun. 'Mantra snan'
means to sprinkle water on body after reciting "Apohishtadi1
mantra. 'Bhasmasnan' means to apply bhasma or vibhuti all over the body.
'Vayusnan1 means to take the dust at the feet of the cow,
'Tirthsnan' means -to see Guru or the Shrines in the temple. 'Manas snan' means
to bring the idol of Vishnu in the mind. After saying 'Apavitrah Pavitrova etc'
if water is sprinkled on one's body, it is like a bath. A weak person should
sponge his body with Cloth dipped in warm water.
Healthy
persons should bathe with cold water. In case of difficulty do 'upsnan' i.e.
(wash hands, feet and rub the body with a wet cloth). If cold water is not
tolerable^ hot water bath should be taken. Water itself is pure. -Heated water
is more pure. A Grahastha should bathe with hot water. He should take acha. man
in the midst of the bath. Females should not bathe over their head daily.
In the bath at home do not do 'Aghamarshan* (saying of mantra wiping off the sins) and '"Tarpan' (offering til to Gods, forefathers and Rishis). Do not take hot water bath on the dav of birth of a son, on day of Shraddha or death, on Sankranti, Purnima and Amavasya. Take the darbha in hand, tie the hair on the head (shikha) with them, enchant the water of your bath with 'Apohishta' etc, mantra and three Gayatris. Take cold water first and then hot water.