MAY 1983
CONTENTS
1 Editorial Great
Minds Think Alike
2 Granting A New Life Mrs. H. K. Chhapgar
3 Fifth Cataract Operation Camp at Shirdi
4 Ramanavami - Nama Sapthaha Shri D. Sankaraiah
5 Sai Leela Shri
K, L. V. S. Sarma
6 Sahasra Deepa Seva to Shri Sainath
Mabaraj Shri R. S. Ramakrishnan
7 Samadhi Smt.
K. Ramana Devi
8 Baba, The Highest Order of Life and the Soul
Divine Dr.K.Rama Kumar
9. His Holiness Basheer Baba Maharaj Shrim
M.Chalapathi Rao
10 Our Most Graceful Sai Smt Prabha
Gopalakrishna
11 To The Editor D.Sankaraiah
12 Report of the 20th All India Sai Devotees* Convention at
Nellore
13 Shri Sai Baba of Shirdi Shri
V. Sundaram
14 Report of the Ninth Annual Gathering at Shirdi
15 Universal Love Dr. G. R. Vijayakumar
16 Leelas of Our Merciful Baba. Shri H. R. Seetharam
17 Ramanavami Festival at Sai Niketan, Dadar
Great Minds
Think Alike
(May 1983)
"If anybody here is hoping that the unity of all the various religions will be achieved by the prosperity and spread of only one religion and the destruction of other religions then let me tell him, 'My brother, your this hope will never be fulfilled'. Do I expect that the Christians should convert themselves to Hinduism ? Let God never do it ! Do I expect the Hindus or Buddhists to convert themselves to Christianity ? Not at all.
A Christian
need not convert himself and become a Hindu or a Buddhist. Or a Hindu or a
Buddhist also need not convert himself to Christianity. Everyone should
preserve his specialty and grasping the essence of other religions, he should
develop his personality and prosper according to his individual nature".
Can our readers
say at once whose thoughts have been expressed in the above extract ? Our
Sadguru Shri Sai Baba of Shirdi is known as a champion of religious equality
and fraternity. He believed in the equality of all religions and therefore in
His darbar people of all faiths had equal status. His devotees therefore
comprise of all religions and creeds
and there is perfect harmony in them. The devotees of Sai Baba consider themselves as brothers and sisters of each
other though in the census of India they may belong to different castes, creeds and religions. One may therefore feel
that the above quotation is from Shri Sai
Baba's advice; but it is not so. This extract is from the speech , of another
great son of India, who had deep study of the Indian culture and
Hindu religion and who knew the greatness of Hindu philosophy viz. Swami
Vivekanand.
In 1893 a
conference of all the religions of the world was held in Chicago. Swami
Vivekanand had the honour to be the representative of the Hindu religion at
that conference. On the very first day viz 11-9-1893 he had occasion to address
the gathering after a few representatives of other religions delivered their
speeches. No sooner Swamiji rose to speak he addressed the gathering, "My
American brothers and sisters". This very beginning of his speech appealed
so much to the gathering that the whole venue of the gathering echoed with
heavy clapping for nearly three to four minutes. The very beginning of
Swamiji's speech indicated the broad outlook of the Hindu religion and Indian
culture in as much as he considered all humanity on equal level and addressed
them as his brothers and sisters though they belonged to various religions and
creeds; As the phrase goes “Well begun is half done" the audience was much
impressed by the speech of Swamiji which expounded the broad base of Hindu
philosophy that recognised the importance of every individual and allowed him
to follow his own faith. Unity in diversity was in short the essense of Hindu
philosophy which impressed the audience very much in the very first speech of
Swamiji.
India was a
nation of slaves in those days. The British imperialism was at its zenith at
that time. The British people were ruling over countries in all the five
continents of the world. At that time they used to say very proudly that the
sun never sets over the British Empire and it was perfectly true, because the
sun was always shining on some British territory or the other. Under such
circumstances the picture of India known to the world was the one which was
painted by the conceited British people. Hence in the eyes of the other nations
India was a nonentity; but on listening to the speech of this great Indian,
Swami Vivekanand, they had to revise their opinion and impression about India.
Swamiji therefore became a very important person throughout the conference and he was
treated with great honour. His speeches were listened by all very attentively
and his opinion was sought on various points. On the concluding day of the
conference viz 27-9-1893 he was again requested to address the gathering along
with other religious heads and the extract quoted at the beginning of this
article is from that speech of Shri Swamiji which he delivered at Chicago on
the concluding day of the conference.
It is quite
interesting to note here how the minds of the great people are thinking alike.
Swami Vivekanand was never known to have visited Shirdi. Nor Sai Baba had any
open discussion with Swamiji in His life time. Still the thoughts about
religion expressed by both these saints are quite alike. The tension between
the Hindus and Muslims, in particular, was rising in India and as the basic
principles of all religions are more or less the same, the great thinkers of
the world have always been thinking why there should at all be a conflict among
the religions of the world. The prophets or saints who started a religion,
always had the thought of the people before them. They had to think of the
society and enunciate such principles which would hold the society together.
The religion is a common tie among a group of people though apparently they may
have some differences in their customs. Therefore the base of a religion, which
lays down the moral principles is bound to be uniform. No religion in the world
says that a person can commit theft or that a person can kill another person or
that a person can abduct or seduce another person's married wife and therefore
there is no real ground for conflict between religions; but as stated in his
speech by Swami Vivekanand some followers of a religion become so fanatic that
they feel that their religion is the only true religion which should exist in
this world. They therefore feel that all other religions except their own
religion should become extinct and this fanaticism leads to crusades. This
unrest in the world was analysed properly by great thinkers like Shri Sai Baba
and Swami Vivekanand and they bad come to the conclusion that it is no use
trying to destroy or overpower any of the established religions in the world.
The only solution to end the religious conflict is tolerance. Every staunch
follower of any religion should learn to honour other man's religion. It is
necessary for every one to understand the good principles of other religions
and to inculcate them on one's mind. Swami Vivekanand has therefore ruled out
the conversion of one person from one religion to another and he therefore
says, "Every person should preserve his specialty and grasping the essence
of other religions, he should develop his personality and prosper according to
his individual nature". Shri Sai Baba has also expressed similar thoughts
on several occasions while dealing with persons professing different religions.
Though apparently we wonder how the great
minds think in the same direction, really speaking there is no reason for
expressing any sort of wonder in this behalf. The spiritual level of all great
thinkers and saints is so high that they are communicating with each other
without any visible media. Telepathy or wireless telegraphy are inventions of
modern world; but the saints and thinkers are above them and their ways of
thought cannot be easily understood by the common people. From Sai Satcharita
we can cite several examples to show that there is a communion among the
saints. Though they may be far away from each other they can talk with each
other without any difficulty.
In chapter
fourteen of Sai Satcharita the story of Shri Ruttonji Shapurji Wadia has been
described at length. When Shri Wadia offered to pay dakshina to Shri Baba, He
said, "I have already received Rs. 3-14-0 from you so you may only pay the
rest". This statement of Shri Sai Baba simply stunned Shri Wadia who could
not remember having paid any dakshina to Shri Baba before. When this riddle was
referred to Shri Baba's staunch devotee Shri Das Ganu, it transpired that some
time before Shri Wadia had felicitated a Mahomedan Saint by name Moulisaheb in
his house when an amount of Rs. 3-14-0 spent for the function. This was the
amount referred to by Shri Sai Baba. How could Shri Baba have known about this
function and about the amount spent on the occasion unless He had some
spiritual connection with Saint Moulisaheb ?
In chapter twentyone the story of Shri V.
H. Thakur is told. He met one Kannad saint (Appa) at Vadgaum near Belgaum. When
Shri Takur bowed before the saint, he said to him, "When you go to the
north in discharge of your duties in future, you will come across a big saint
by your good luck and then he will show you the future path and give rest to
your mind and make you happy". The saint (Appa) had referred in his above
talk to the future visit of Shri Thakur to Shri Sai Baba, which came true later
on; but how could, Appa refer to that earlier without having any spiritual
connection with Shri Sai Baba ?
The incident of the cocoanut sent to Shri
Sai Baba by Shri Tembye Swami through Shri Pundalikrao, a pleader from Nanded
described in chapter fifty of Sai Satcharita also points out to the fraternity
of the saints. The incident of offering the cocoanut had taken place at
Rajamahendri in Andhra Pradesh on the banks of Godawari and Shri Sai Baba
referred to it immediately on meeting Shri Pundalikrao at Shirdi How could this
happen if there was no spiritual connection between the two saints ?
A similar
incident is narrated in chapter 33 of Sai Satcharita. Shri Haribhau Karnik from
Dahanu came to Shirdi in 1917 on the Gurupournima Day, After offering Dakshina
he got down the steps of Dwarkamai, but he thought in his mind that he should
pay one rupee more as Dakshina. As however he had already taken Baba's leave,
he left without paying the Dakshina. On his way he went to Kala Ram Mandir at
Nasik where saint Narsing Maharaj asked Shri Karnik to pay one rupee as
Dakshina. This incident also shows how great minds communicate with each other
and have similar thoughts.
In chapter twenty one of the Sai
Satcharita the Institution of Saints has been described as follows : -
"Institution of Saints”
There have been institutions of saints in
this world from time immemorial. Various saints appear (incarnate) themselves
in various places to carry out the missions allotted to them, but though they
work in different places, they are as it were one. They work in unison under
the common authority of the Almighty Lord and know full well what each of them
is doing in his place and supplement his work where necessary" (Page III
Sai Satcharita 10th edition 1982)
The above extract from Sai Satcharita is very clear and it illustrates fully why a saint like Swami Vivekanand expressed in America exactly the same ideas which were being preached by Shri Sai Baba in a village like Shirdi at almost the same time. The minds of the great persons have always attained a certain spiritual level and at that level their thoughts are quite similar In this connection we can also refer to the founders of all the religions of the world. All those persons were great thinkers and they had come to conceive some thoughts for the uplift of humanity, which they wanted to give to their followers and as stated above the spiritual level of all great thinkers is almost equal and therefore the thoughts that crystalize through their minds are therefore alike. It is therefore that we find the basic principles of all religions to be quite parallel and helping to hold together a community. In the present day India we come across so many strife’s not only among followers of different religions but they are also rampant in different castes and creeds coming under the same religion, The thoughts expressed by Shri Sai Baba and Swami Vivekanand are therefore needed very much by the present Indian people and Sai devotees should therefore try to digest these thoughts and preach them whenever possible in order to help India to have a bright future.
Granting A New
Life
After reading the many experiences of my
other Sai brothers and sisters, I too now feel the urge to write. In fact as
Shree Dabholkar said in his Saisatcharita, "Who am I to write about Him ?
For it is He Himself who shall write."
I have been a Sai devotee since 1977 and
have experienced many leela's unaware that each time it was Sai who had helped
me.
The leela which is written now was
through His grace. I was suffering from severe abdomen pain. My family doctor
had diagnosed wrongly. I had collected pus near the uterus; the pain was
unbearable and I behaved madly and even insulted my doctor. She suggested me to
see a specialist. On examining me on a Thursday the specialist insisted on an
immediate operation.
The next day I entered the operation
theatre. There I saw a photo of Sai Baba and humbly bowed to it. They say that
during the operation the photo of Sai Baba fell and broke to pieces. The
doctors had given up all hopes. My pulse had stopped beating. After great
efforts the operation was completed. Doctor had given one percent chance
through which I survived. Thus Sai increased my faith in Him, and here I am
writing His Leela which I have experienced and I shall be writing in future by
His kind grace.
(Mrs.) H. K. Chhapgar
Thane
With the co-ordination of the Lions Club
of Bombay and the Zilla Parishad Shirdi, the Fifth Cataract operation Camp was
held in Sai Udyan by the Sai Baba Sansthan from 7-1-83 to 16-1-83. The Opening
ceremony of the Camp was done by the Honourable Judge of the City Civil Court,
Shri Makhijanisaheb at 9 a. m. on 8-1-83. Shri V. S. Apte, Chief Accounts
Officer Shirdi Sansthan and Miss Rekha Dighe, Senior Accountant from Bombay
were also present on this occasion along with all the officers of the Shirdi
Sansthan.
The operations were performed by famous
ophthalmologists Lion Dr. Telang, Dr. Shivalkar, Dr. Talwalkar and Dr. Bijoor
from Bombay; Dr. Shirgopikar from the Civil Hospital, Ahmednagar Dr. Jadhav,
Dr. Prakasb Kakaria, and Dr Apte from Shrirampur» (Hon. Ophtholmologist of
Sainath Hospital) They were assisted by Dr, P. S. Deshpande and Dr. S. Y.
Deshmukh medical officers from Sainath Hospital and Dr. Gunjal from the Primary
Health Centre at Rahata.
Shri K.H.Kakre, the Court Receiver of the Shirdi\Sansthan, Office Supdt of the Shirdi Sansthan Shri D. C. Pathak, Shri Punwani, President of the Lions Club, Bombay, all heads of departments of the Shirdi Sansthan and Shri Kotasthane, the head of the Home guards, took special pains for making the camp a complete success. Fifty .nurses, 13 lady volunteers, 13 Boy scouts, 25 male volunteers and 45' homeguards were working ceaselessly for all the days of the camp and their services also were found to be valuable for the successful culmination of the camp
Shri Shiwajirao Moghe, Dy Minister
Irrigation, Maharashtra State and M. L. A. Shri Annasaheb Mhaske visited the
Camp and praised the work of all, who arranged the Camp.
On 6-1-83 and 7-1-83 in all 850 patients
were examined out of which 471 patients were operated (231 males and 240
females). Though the main bulk of patients was from the Ahmednagar District,
still patients had also come for the camp from Aurangabad, Nasik, Jalgaon and
Pune. The patients and their relatives, who accompanied them were given free
lodging and boarding by the Shirdi Sansthan. Every patient who was operated was
given two spectacles free after the operation.
The arrangements of the camp were looked
after by Shri Sham Mirane and his colleagues.
Ramahavami — -
Nama Sapthaha
An article captioned "Devotion and Nama Sapthaha" was published in Shree Sai Leela of June' 82. A detailed account of Shri Sainama Sapthabam which was conducted at Shirdi from 10-6-1982 to 17-6-1982 was given by Prof, A. P. Tripathi of Betul in the Hindi section of Shree Sai Leela of September 82. Subsequently "Om Sai Shri Sai Jaya Jaya Sai" nama Sapthaha was conducted at Kallur, Hyderabad and Guntur towns in Andhra Pradesh. All the Sapthahams were successful and every participant felt as if Sainath was sitting and conducting the nama sapthahas
Shri Sai Satcbarita is considered as
Geeta by all Sai devotees who use it for their daily parayana. Sai Baba's
philosophy and instructions to devotees for realising Sai within themselves are
found in that sacred book. No doubt, the Executive Editor Dr. S. D.
Parchure is giving a wonderful account of Baba's preachings through his
editorials in Shree Sai Leela. I feel whenever I read the editorials that Sai
Himself is writing through the pen of Dr, Parchure.
Chapter VI of Sai Satcharita gives an
account of the origin and celebration of Ramanavami at Shirdi. Shri Gopalrao
Gund was inspired by Baba in the year 1897 to organise "Urus/Fair" on
Ramanavami day. The Urus was transformed into Ramanavami Festival in the year
1912. Smt. Radhakrishna Mai introduced Nama Sapthaha as an item of Ramanavami
celebrations in the year 1913. Baba only can inspire Radhakrishna Mai as He was
phvsically present during that period. Thus from the year 1913 devotees gather
at Shirdi and participate in the Nama Sapthaha (Continuous singing of divine
name day and night for seven days). This practical suggestion of Baba to. the
devotees in 1913 applies to all Sai devotees all the time and at all places.
Then why not we follow it by organising Nama Sapthaha from 1st of Chaitra every
year ?
Our practical experience in the five nama
Sapthahams conducted during the year 1982 is encouraging. Baba arranges necessary
men and material provided we start with selfless intentions.
We all know that Nama Sankirtan and feeding the poor are dear to Sai Baba. Nama Sankirtan for 168 hours (7x24 hrs) will give golden opportunity for a devotee to cry for the immeasurable grace of Sairam. Once Baba declared to Das Ganu Maharaj "Only when the devotee is bursting with love and devotion Vitthal will manifest Himself here (Shirdi)". Participation in Nama Sapthaba is nothing but crying for the Lord. Our Sairam will be too eager to shower His blessings on such occasions This is being stated with the practical experience that we had during the five Sapthahams conducted so far. I wish every body should have such experience by organising Nama Sapthahas. We know that Sai is not confined to Shirdi alone and He does not require any mode of conveyance to reach a devotee's heart. Then why should we delay ?
Thus in view of the importance given by
Sairam for holding Nama Sapthaha as early in 1913 all Sai Samajams may give
serious thought and swing into action leaving the rest to Sairam, Can we
imagine how the entire atmosphere will be charged with cries of "Om Sai
Shri ,Sai Jaya Jaya Sai'* if. all devotees throughout the country conduct Nama
Sapthahams at one time in their respective areas.
I conclude with a request to the Shirdi
Samsthan authorities to take a lead in this regard by arranging Nama Sapthabas
on the eve of all the three festivals as was done during Baba's physical
presence on the sacred soil of Shirdi.
Hyderabad – 500004
S A I L E E L A
On 20-12-1982, Monday at about 11-00 A.
M. two brahmins came to our house when I had already left the house for
attending the college. My wife Sundari and grand mother were in the house.
Grandmother was' suffering from fever and she could not move. One of the
brahmins inquired about me and told my wife that he knew me and that I used to
give him dakshina regularly whenever he came. She told .him that I was not in
the house and that I had been to the college. Then the brahmin told her not to
bother and asked her to give him some "Upadbana". She was told by the
house owner's daughter, who was present at that time, that, they never visited
the house before. She went into the house and told the grandmother of the same.
Grandmother asked her to offer "Upadbana" to the brahmins.
Accordingly she offered rice to the brahmins. Having taken the
"Upadhana" they blessed her and went away.
When I came back from the college in the
evening, I was told of the above incident. I was surprised at this as I never
offered any dakshina to any brahmin before. Tears began to shed from my eyes
and my joy knew no bounds remembering that I didn't send money to Shirdi Sai
Samsthan for poor feeding this month. All the while I have been sending Rs.
10/- for poor feeding. Who else could it be than Sainath that came to our house
and told my wife that I was in the habit of offering dakshina to Him. I believe
it to be Shri Sainath Himself, who came to our house for reminding me of
''Dakshina". Shri Sai is omniscient, omnipotent and omnipresent. In many a
way and form He comes and reminds His devotees of their vow.
K. L. V. S. Sarma
Karvetnagar – 517582
Sahasra Deepa
Seva To Shri Sainath Maharaj
Yes ! It is the repetition of the Jamner
Episode ! It occurred on 14-11-1982 at 1-25 P. M. at Pune. Shivaji Nagar, Bus
stand.
To fulfil a sankalpa of lighting 1008
lamps on Diwali night, I set out to Shirdi by Dadar Express on 13-11-1982 and
the train reached Pune the next day late by 2 hours.
The Pune bus stand was overflowing with Diwali
passenger crowd and I missed the 9-40 Bus, as the conductor refused to take me
seeing my heavy luggage. The next one to leave by 1. 30 P, M. was also heavily
booked and a good Samaritan advised me to go to Shivajinagar bus stand. It was
worse there and the counter clerk said :*'Take your chance when the
bus comes".
I came out for coffee and saw a lone taxi
there. When I asked the taxi walla what would be his fare to Shirdi, he said
Rs. 450/- which I could rot afford at that juncture. I quietly repaired back to
the stand and was watching the crowd, who were boarding the buses, some jumping
in through the opening above the dickey; the ladies too doing acrobatics to
enter the bus anyhow. At 66, it was impossible for me to do any of those
acrobatics, (with three cartons of Panatis, each weighing 7 kgs. as my luggage)
to board the bus.
I sat in a corner of the bus stand and
started chanting the Taraka Mantra Sai Ram. The Geetacharya's advice passed
through my mind :
"Fix your mind on Me and worship Me devotedly and thou shall reach Me without doubt. I truly promise to you, for you are dear to Me ".
Believe it or not! at 1, 25 P. M. the
taxi walla whom I had met earlier, came to me and said "Chaio Saheb, gadi
tayyar hai". I was dazed for a second and dumb founded. Oh ! Baba, you as
a tongawala took Ramgirbuva from Jalgaon to Jamner to deliver the Udhi to
Nanasahab Chandorkar and saved his daughter Mainatai from a crisis; and Thou
hast come again to the aid of this fakir. My .eyes swelled with Ananda Bashpa (tears
of joy)
The Taxi walla said that he has a
passenger upto Nagar .and he is willing to take me to Shirdi for any
consideration I like.
The passenger was one Mr. Bhosle of Pune,
who had booked the taxi to go to Nagar, with his wife and baby daughter, and was
an utter stranger. While travelling, when I asked Mr. Bhosle whether he knew
Mr. C. G. Chitamber of Nagar; he replied : "Oh ! you know Mr Chitamber ?
He is my intimate dost." To my surprise again, he drove straight to Mr.
Chitamber's house at Nagar. Mr. Chitamber was equally surprised at my sudden
appearance in his house with his friend. I had the good fortune to spend at his
feet quite a few hours, during the Feb. 82, writers' convention. After
exchanging Diwali greetings and tea, I took leave of the two great Sayees, and
Taxi No. MTF 7817 whizzed off and reached Shirdi on time at 6 P. M. I made a
Sashtanga Namaskar to our Sad guru Sainath Maharaj, The taxiwalla also was
delighted to have an unexpected Shirdi Darshan.
The Sahasra Dee pas were arranged in rows
before the portrait of Sainath in Dwarakamayi, and all around the three sides
of the Mandap in front of the Samadhi Mandir. The children of the neighbouring
houses and Swamis in Chavadi gave a lending hand to arrange the lamps, And
Dwarakamayi was illumined with the twinkling lights from the panatis and Baba
glittered and glowed with radiance saining (shining) brightly. The Sansthan
Pujari Shri Digamber remarked; "Bahut achha hai".
Sai Bandhus: I have to mention here that originally I booked my seat to Kopergaon and after a week I cancelled it and booked it to Pune. All this had happened by His grace to make me bask in the Sai shade in the company of the Chitambers and their friend Mr. Bhosle who, just like Das Ganu Maharaj, had resigned his police job and with Baba's blessings was now doing service to humanity.
Let me bow to the Sai Bandhus of
Tamilnad, Hyderabad, Bombay and Chandigar, who, by their spontaneous response
to my appeal, made it possible for me to offer this Sahasra Deepa Seva on this
Diwali Day. May their wishes be granted by Sai Maharaj and may their tribe
increase
R. S. Ramakrishnan
Madras. 600004 –
My Sadguru, Swamy Mukthananda Maharaj,
came to Hyderabad in January, 1969, That was the first occasion when I met Him
and received initiation. One day sitting before Him I had a strong urge to know
the real meaning of samadhi; but f felt diffident to ask Him. Just then an old
man came there and Baba was discussing some Bhagawadgeeta shlokas with him. The
topic of samadhi suddenly came up as the old man put the same question, which I
was longing to put. But Baba significantly turned towards me and stated that
samadhi was a state of mind and that a person who ratained Samabuddhi,
equanimity of mind in all circumstances whether in pain or pleasure, having all
the six enemies of human nature duly subdued, is stated to be in a state of
samadhi. Undoubtedly Baba read my mind and created that situation to answer my
point of enquiry. Like Shri Sai Baba, He too is a Siddha Purusha,
A person experiencing the state of Samadhi should have all the six enemies of human nature away from him. But Shri Sai Baba was known to fly into a rage even for very simple and insignificant reasons. A person losing to anger will also lose the sense of reasoning till he regains composure. Such a person cannot be said to be holding the reins of samadhi. My Guruji also used to exhibit anger for no apparent reason. I was a witness to this on many occasions. One significant thing I noticed always was that He was never carried away by His anger. It was actually directed against a particular devotee whose inner mind He had read or whose shortcomings He had noticed, tie just allowed His rebuke to sink in the mind of that devotee and mend himself without anybody becoming wiser to the fact. I particularly remember an occasion when a male devotee entered the, ladies' dormitory in Ganeshpuri Ashram at about 9- 30 P. M. on the pretext of supplying some linen or so and would not leave it for a long time. The matter reached His ears. He was discretion personified. As though driven by an unseen power the fellow immediately left the room. In the next day's gathering Baba while in the course of a talk suddenly flew into a rage and began releasing subtle barbs at the fellow without mentioning him, all the while clothing His diatribe with appropriate puranic stories. On that day I saw Lord Shiva's anger on His face but He still quoted Sanskrit shlokas and explained the purport to drive home the. insidiousness of the incident. The man was not humiliated because nobody knew that he was the target and at the same time he got the lesson of his life. Later he became a subdued personality and began to absorb the Guru's grace in the awakening of his Kundalini.
Coming to the point what I intended to
state is that even in that. anger Baba did not lose His equanimity. Else He
would not have had the presence of mind to quote subtle Sanskrit shlokas
appropriate to the occasion' and explain their meaning. An ordinary person,
however versatile and learned he may be. could never have done like that,
retaining his sense of reasoning. Baba's anger was no anger at all. I saw Him
swing from one end of the pendulum to the other in an instant on several occasions.
One moment He was like the Sage Durvasa and the next a child before the
devotees. A man in samadhi alone could do like that. The purpose was to drive
home a lesson to His short-coming devotee. I have quoted Mukthananda Baba
because I have personally witnessed those occasions. Shri Sai Baba also used to
exhibit His anger similarly. But it is a travesty of fact to call His anger as
such. The many instances quoted in Shri Sai Satcharita and other accounts
eloquently hold testimony to the fact that on each and every occasion it was
intended for an unknown devotee whose welfare He had in his mind.
All through His life Shri Sai Baba was in
a state of Samadhi even though He lpoked wide awake to the mortal world, Even
in His 'death' while entering the final samadhi he had shown forth an exemplary
state of samadhi, a rare example of equilibrium, equanimity and equipoise.
He knew that Tatya Patil, His close and beloved devotee, was virtually
on the death bed. He remembered the
selfless services done by his parents to Him. While He was still doing His
spiritual sadhana when nobody noticed Him as yet, it was the mother of Tatya
Patil, Bayaja Bai, who looked after Him and fed Him like a mother. Baba used to go for Bbiksha at her
house. She was always one step ahead
and kept ready His favourite bhakaris and other eatables and victuals and
waited for Him. Some times Baba used
to visit her house even 8 to 10 times a day for Bhiksha but always she was like an Annapurna before Him. When He did not turn up on occasions she
used to go into the surrounding
forest, braving the burning sun, and searched for Him till He was found in His sadhana and fed Him with
loving care. She was more than His
real mother to Him who fed Him during
His period of sadhana.
Swamy
Mukthananda Paramahansa during
His period of sadhana, while He was
meditating at the Vajreshwari temple in
1947 to 1950s, the priest's wife there similaraly fed Him with loving care and saw
that His sadhana continued without hindrance. Baba remembered Her and
proclaimed that such a mother is more than a real mother and for that
gratitude should be repaid in full. Accordingly, when the time came He repaid by dedicating His Magnum Opus,
Chitshakti Vilas, His spiritual autobiography and the most charming book on
Kundalini I have ever read, to her along with His grace. A man of Samadhi alone could repay the
gratitude like that in preference to His own mother.
Shri Sai Baba did the same — only His
repayment was more profound and more
poignant. Tatya's condition was fast deteriorating. As per
the inexorable Karma Tatya had to go. Remembering the
services of his mother and the love
for Tatya.
He
substituted Himself in an unsurpassable supreme sacrifice. Christ crucified
Himself for the Lord's children. Even as His life was ebbing out He pleaded for
His tormentors from the cruel scaffolding that
was the cross with the words, "Father, pardon them for they know
not what they are doing. "A man of samadhi alone could say such words even
at the last breath. That is why there
is such an unprecedented following for Him from all corners of the world.
Mansur Mastana always bad 'Anal Haq* (I am He) on His lips. For that, at the
bands of the fundamentalists, He was put on
the hangman's noose. Even
there He did not lose the
nerve.-and djed repealing "Anal Haq" without the least fear. He was truly a. man of samadhi, ,Shri Sai Baba sacrificed Himself similarly for the. sake of His devotee. Even at His last breath He remembered
only His devotees. That is one reason why He responds so quickly to- the, call of the devotees
and cheers them even to this day.
A man. of samadhi with the supreme sacrifice of
Himself alone could do that and it will doubtless be continued so long as the
stars and the moon exist in the sky.
Smt. K. Ramana
Devi
Hyderabad -
500457
If God takes the embodiment as a human
being, the life He lives and His ways to meet the human spiritual and worldly
demands, every one will be anxious to know, the answer is Lord Shirdi Sai Baba.
Life is said to have emerged from
non-living matter (say sea water and lava)
and mind from living
matter. Man is the highest animal with
mind. But this is not all. Human mind
by itself is not the seat of complete knowledge. There evolved the soul from the mind.
The soul remained dormant and not being elevated to a higher order it
required some bodily form for
its expression.
But once the body ~is acquired by
the soul the senses of the body and the mind began to dominate and the soul has
gone unrecognised.
At times divine souls emerged from the
pure minds, and now the domination is of the soul while it is with body and
mind.
Divine soul exhibited by itself in human
forms now and then. One of those human forms is Baba.
Mind cannot exist without life. Incipient
human souls cannot exist without body and mind. But a divine soul can exist
without bodily life and without mind. Still that soul can express itself by its
own method, and means, that is Baba.
The expressions of the great souls will
be infinite and miraculous, which cannot be met by ordinary human beings with
life, mind and incipient soul power.
The expressions of the divine soul cannot
be explained by scientific methods or by logic. The procedures to study the
activities, the properties or the qualities of the soul are not still within
human reach.
A ray of light can be analysed into its
wonderful coloured and energy components like seven colours and infrared and
ultra violet rays by a prism or spectroscope. The existence of x-rays can be
demonstrated by x-Ray films. But the existence of divine soul and its
activities can be perceived to some extent only by a human mind in the form of
feelings. Just like in a radio to receive the selected frequency broadcast the
mind to receive the expressions of the soul should spiritually be tuned to
perfection. It should be highly disciplined. Man has to prepare his mind by
constant sadhana to receive the divine gospel of the soul the supernatural.
The human mind .has got to be purified by following the ways "shown by the great saints like our Baba. to receive the expressions of the divine soul which is once again Baba and to emerge into the conscious soul form and to merge with the universal soul-once again, Baba-the permanent and the full knowledge.
Thus Baba is our guide, our Guru and the God.
So
our guide Baba is
with us at every step of evolution
into higher order of life
which is devoid of all the
worldly calamities and which is in a state of Satchit-ananda the eternal bliss
and supreme consciousness.
Baba helps us to overcome the ordeals of
worldly human life just like a father protects his child and guides us to
evolve into higher human beings with souls and not simply with minds.
I feel that Baba wants to convert as many
humans as possible into the souls divine by helping them to any extent possible
and thus unshackling the people from this ordinary "Janana Marana chakra'
the cycle of birth and death. He is our saviour at all steps of evolution, the
body, the mind, the soul and the divine soul.
The greatest boon given to the humanity
by our Sai Baba is the knowledge of life after death. It is highly painful to
think that nothing of the individual exists after death and the follower is an
eternal silence and emptiness. It has become mysterious to the human mind since
ages to have the knowledge of something called soul after the death of the
somatic body including its mind-It was highly disturbing to have the idea that
death leads to the permanent silence and chaos. Man has been trying to overcome
that agitating and depressing idea and to know the truth by various spiritual
sadhanas; but his efforts did not prove satisfactory. Added to that rationalists
frightened people much more with their the so-called rational approaches.
To balm the hurt mind, Lord Shrikfishna
said in Bbaghvadgeeta that we have to leave away our bodies just as we leave
away our worn out shirts with cheerful minds. But the existence of
soul and its expression after leaving away the body and mind is not exhibited
much except to a few devotees. The same thing was experienced with Jesus
Christ.
But it is Lord Shirdi Sai Baba and Baba
and only Baba; that -has -saved the human mind from this terrible agony b
answering this mysterious puzzle by way of his life and expression after
leaving the human body and mind. He proved the existence of life after death in
some other form, the-conscious soul. O course only saintly people can achieve
that higher order of life but the way to emerge ourselves into the conscious
soul is shown
To a common man with five senses, Baba
may appear a: an ordinary human being just like the sea appearing to the common
eye from a distance as a pool of water.
To one who stands at the shore, the sea
may appear as a vast sheet of water with its funny waves washing his
feet and giving him happiness. A devotee, just near Baba, might have the same
experience.
But once the human being is amidst the
sea he will begin to wonder at its endlessness and at the life and valuables in
the depths of it. In the same way once a man approaches Him very near, he will
feel the endless love and miracle of Baba who appears as an ocean of love,
ocean of kindness and an ocean of forgiveness.
A human being amidst the sea feels that
he equals just to a drop in that ocean. A devotee too amidst the miracle of
Baba feels the omniscience, omnipotence and omnipresence of Baba.
For a man Baba appears like the sun. The nearer the approach to the sun the more the energy felt and ultimately the devotee loses his 'self and transforms himself into an energy particle, and merges into the original sun. Thus some devotees may realise the shuddha Chaitanya energy form .of Babe and mix up with him, which is said to be Jeeva Brahmaikyasthiti which demands fire-like purity and which may not be practicable by many of the ordinary human beings like many of us.
I want to add a word on the necessity of
the prayer and the necessity of seeking help from the divine soul like Baba the
Bhakta Sulabha.
Animals and humans have got blood in
their arteries. The blood ,has got the properties of flowing and clotting too.
If by any means bleeding occurs in a man,
the blood, should clot immediately, otherwise it will take away his life. In
the same way the blood inside the body should always be in a liquid state and
be flowing. If it clots inside the arteries, inside the body then also man
suffers from diseases like heart attacks and paralysis and goes miserable and
loses his life.
Thus blood has got dual qualities and
role. Similarily nature has got dual qualities in all its aspects. But these
qualities should go in balance. It not and if any one of the qualities
overcomes the other, the sequence is destruction and death.
So it is on the balance of these dual
qualities of man's internal or external atmosphere that life is dependant.
But many a time there occurs imbalance
inside the human body, in the society, in the nature and in the cosmos. This
imbalance can be controlled only by the divine soul for they only can rule the
nature.
It is already shown that though the
scientific knowledge of matter has grown extensively, it could not give
happiness and peace to the human body and mind except for the modern amenities.
So scientific exploration of the
knowledge and submission to the divine soul by following his ways, both are
required for a human to live a peaceful life and to get spiritually elevated. I
feel
that science ultimately evolves into Godhood the links being missing to human mind
at present.
As we have felt it already to some
extent, science without philosophy may turn dangerous and philosophy without
science may prove orthodox. .
By the grace of Lord Shirdi Sai. I am
able to cure some types of cancer upto the third stage, unsuitable for surgery
or chemotherapy and many other chronic diseases left in vain I humbly appeal to
all that my services may be utilized freely whenever needed. Free services are
offered especially in cancer cases.
Dr. K. Rama
Kumar
Guntur (A. p)
His Holiness Basheer Baba Maharaj, founder President of the World Sai Prachar Sabha, Shri Rama Sai Nagar, Proddutur Taluq, Cuddapah District, Andhra Pradesh, attained Maha Samadhi on 9th January, 1983 while on camp at Hyderabad. Pujya Shri Basheer Baba was born in 1942 and had his scholastic career at Chennur, Cuddapah .District, where his father moved when Babaji was still a child. From his youngest days, Baba was attached to Lord Venkateswara. His Guru was Shri Raghavendraswamy of Mantralayam. Baba considered Lord Sai Baba of Shirdi as the avatar of the age and formed the World Sai Prachar Sabha for spreading the of Shri Sai Baba. He had extensively toured the whole of India, Middle East and Africa. He was responsible for the construction of Sai temples in most of the places he visited. Though born in a muslim family. He preached Hinduism and strove for achieving universal brotherhood of mankind dear to Bhagwan Shri Sai Baba.
Shri, Basheer Baba has constructed a very
big temple according to Agama Shastra in South Indian style to Lord Sat Baba of
Shirdi, Shri Sita, Rama, Lakshmana, Hanuman, Brindavanam of Shri
Raghavendraswamy, Vinayaka, Subrahmanya and Nava Graha at Shri Rama Sai Nagar.
The Kumbhabhishekam and pratishtha of ihe temple at the Head quarters of the
World Sai Prachar Sabha was done in April 1971, under the direct Supervision of
Mathadhipathi Sankaracharya of Pushpagiri Peetham. He visited Shirdi quite a
number of times individually and with devotees the latest being in August -
September, 1982 with about 700 devotees (please see page 48 of Sai Leela
English Edition, November, 1982) He has also performed Yagnams at Shirdi, the
latest one being during his last trip to Shirdi in 1982. He was to take part in
and address the 20th All India Sai Devotees' Convention held at Nellore from
7th to 9th January 1983. He was closely associated with Shri Radhakrishna
Swamiji.
He was on the verge of having another
foreign tour covering Western Europe, United Kingdom, United States of America
and Canada. Unfortunately for his devotees, Baba suddenly decided to go into
samadhi at Hyderabad. His body was taken to Shri Rama Sai Nagar and laid at
rest there. His devotees have decided to construct His Samadhi Mandir.
On the fortieth day of His Samadhi on
19th Februay 1983 along with the religious rites by His family members, His
devotees arranged for poor feeding, which was so very dear to Him.
All persons irrespective of religion,
caste, creed, sex or nationality will be allowed to pay homage to His Holiness
Basheer Baba Maharaj at His Samadhi.
Our Most
Graceful Sai
We are very humble devotees of Sai baba.
Lord Sai has shown His concern for His devotees in many ways. He has helped us
in many ways during the past. We were very fortunate to be able to visit Shirdi
and we completely surrendered at his lotus feet. There is one incident I would
like to narrate here for the readers of Sai Leela Magazine.
My husband is an Army Officer. He got his
posting to Jaipur. He left for Jaipur leaving me and my daughter at the
previous station. We wanted to stay back at the old station till my husband got
a house at the new station. He was frantically trying to fix up the house. He
was very keen to bring us to his place of working as soon as he would be able
to get a house. At last he was able to arrange an accommodation and we all came
to Jaipur with our bag and baggage.
The house was very small and it was a part of a bungalow It didn't have any privacy and we were living with great difficulty. We couldn't properly settle down since there was hardly any place to keep our luggage. The surroundings were also dirty and I used to feel very bad there. But we continued to stay there and in the meanwhile we started looking out for a better house. My husband took one month's leave. We decided to search for a house. One day, one of his friends informed him that there was a house available in one of the posh colonies. We went to meet the house owner. He was very nice and he was prepared to give his house for a monthly rent of Rs. 1000/-. Somehow I felt that the rent asked was high for that house without realising the high rent prevailing in that area. But we kept quiet and didn't say anything in front of him. He gave us the house plan so that we could get the house hired for the period of 3 years. My husband went to his house next day and returned the plan saying that we didn't want the house. Again we started hunting for a house. We saw many houses. The houses which we saw were very small and the rent was also very high compared to the other house, which we didn't take up. After one week we got fed up and returned to the same gentleman who offered his house. But we were a bit late. He had already given his house to somebody. We felt very bad for losing that house. We started praying to our Lord Sai to help us out in solving this problem. My husband was very much upset since he couldn't find a proper house. But somehow we know that Lord Sai will find a solution for our problem. Most unexpectedly one day he 'got a call from the same house owner, who was offering his house to us, that there was a good house available in the same locality. We went to meet the house owner with him. He agreed to give us the house and we shifted there within four days The house which we got now is in the same posh locality and much better than the previous house which we missed. Only because of Sai's grace we could settle down before my husband's leave expired. We bow to Lord Sai.
Jaipur
Dr. S. D. Parchure,
Executive Editor,
Shri Sai Leela,
Dear Sir,
I take this opportunity to congratulate
you for your editorials. I take the liberty of suggesting to publish all
editorials is a book form.
Yours
faithfully,
D. Sankaraiah
Hyderabad
500004
Report of the
20th All India Sai Devotees' Convention
at Nellore
(Continued from
April 1983 issue)
Dr. S. D. Parchure, M. A, Ph. D. and Shri
Sadanand Cbendwankar, Executive Editors, Sai Leela Magazine, published by
Shirdi Sansthan who were given a special welcome as distinguished guests from
Shirdi were then introduced to the delegates and the public and were requested
to speak on the occasion. They were profusely thanked for the help rendered in
accompanying the Holy Baba*s Padukas.
Dr. S. D. Parchure speaking next conveyed his great
happiness in participating in the Convention
and paid tributes to the great
services rendered by H. H. Narasimha Swamiji and Sri Radhakrishna Swamiji in
starting Sai Institutions and Sai
Prachar work. He further
appreciated the very good work done by
AISS, Madras, Shri Sai Bhaktha
Mandali. Nellore and other Sai
Institutions continuing the noble task of spreading Sai Bhakthi and bringing
Sri Sai Baba's grace and Blessings to all devotees. He also referred to Poona
and Bangalore Conventions and said
that such sath-sangh do help in promoting faith and universal
brotherhood. He complimented the organisers for the excellent arrangements made
for their stay and prayed for Sri Sai Baba's Blessings to one and all. He paid
a special tribute to AISS and Nellore Sai Bhaktha Mandali for bringing the Holy Padukas from Shirdi which in itself
was great event.
Sri S. Chendwankar speaking next spoke of his great desire to participate in
such purposeful Sai devotees' Conventions and recalled how he attended Poona
and Bangalore Conventions. Though he
very much desired to visit
Bangalore in the life time of Sri Saipadananda Radhakrishna Swamiji,
he could do so only on the last Bangalore
Convention marking the installation of the statue of Sri Swamiji. He said
be was very happy to participate in the Convention at Nellore
which was significant with the presence of Holy Baba's Padukas. He complimented
the organisers for all the interesting programme drawn up with Bbajan,
discourses, devotees experiences etc. and invoked Sri Sai Baba's Blessings on
one and all.
Dr. Ramkumar, M. D., Guntur, Sri I. P.
Mehta, President, Sri Sai Samaj, Chandigarh, Smt. Kamalamma Garu. Nellore, Sri
J. K. Puri, Himachal Pradesh, Sri G. Viswanathan Chetty Garu of Madras, Sri C.
V. Bhaskara Rao, President, Sri Sai Spiritual Centre, Bangalore, Sri Narasimha
Baba. Founder-President. Karur Sai Samaj, Sri K. V. Ramana Murthy of Kakinada,
Sri K. R. Gopinath of Hubli Shirdi Sai Mission, Srimathi Sarojini Devarajulu,
President, Sri Sai Mandir, Calcutta, Sri Kris'hna of Hyderabad, Sri D.
Ramakrishnaiah Garu former Treasurer of Sai Bhaktba Mandali, Nellore, Sri M.
Rangachari of Hyderabad, Sri Ramamurthy, Secretary, Sri Sai Samaj, Calcutta and
many other leading Sai Devotees spoke at the Session detailing various
activities and offering suggestions and steps to be taken for furthering Sai
Mission and Sai Prachar.
As it was then nearing 1 P.M, the
President adjourned the Session for lunch and announced that the delegates'
session would be continued in the afternoon at about 3 P, M.
The afternoon session was held at the
newly inaugurated Dhyana Mandir premises. Sri Mahadevananda Swamiji of
Kalyandurg, Sri R. Seshadri of Bangalore, Sri R. S. Ramakrishna of Madras, Sri
M. S. Srinivasan of AISS, Sri K.. V. Ramanamurthy of Kakinada, Sri M. Narasimha
Rao of Hyderabad, Sri Chalapathi Rao, Sri M. Appa Rao of Rajahmundry and Sri K.
Viswanathan, Hon. Secretary, AISS participated in the exchange of views and
suggestions. Many stressed upon social services being given great prominence.
Sri T, Kesava Rao winding up the discussions promised that the various
suggestions put forth would be taken into account while drafting and presenting
the resolutions to be adopted at the open concluding Session next
morning.
The
Third day - Delegates' Session (9-2-83)
In the morning by 8-30 A. M. - A visit to Mother Theresa's Home for handicapped and destitute children at Kondayapalem, a suburb of Nellore Town by the delegates was arranged. Sri Sai Baba's Prasad was distributed to the inmates in the distinguished presence of Kumari C. Subhapradhamma, M. A. Cash presents by delegates were also made for providing adequate window protection to the children's quarters.
Returning by about 9-30 A. M, the
concluding final Session of the delegates was held under the Chairmanship of
Kumari N. Kathnamma, B.A.,B.Ed. The topic was Devotees' experiences. Srimathi
B. Kanthama Garu, Shri Ramamurthy. Shri Ramakrishniah Garu and many other
devotees narrated their experiences of Shri Sai Baba's eternal guidance and
protection. In all 18 speakers participated and this significant fact was
touched upon by Shri Krishna Kumar who explained that the total number 18 was a
spiritual number and this amply indicated the Sarvantaryami of Shri Sai Baba's
grace and blessings. He desired mediation to be given greater importance in our
activities.
Shri K. Viswanathan, Secretary, AISS
winding up the Session explained the resolutions proposed for adoption and said
that these were based on the various points put forth at the Delegates Session
by various participants. He again stressed the importance of such Sai Devotees'
Conventions and expressed his sincere appreciation of the fine arrangements
made by Shri Sai Bhaktha Mandali, Nellore and said that the Convention was
indeed a grand success.
The resolutions were then put forward for adoption. Shri J.K. Puri and Shri K. V. Ramanamurthy and Shri I. P, Mehta seconded the resolutions and they were adopted unanimously with all delegates clapping their hands in approval. Shri T. Kesava Rao announced that the next convention would be held in the North and this was greeted with cheers. He said that after due consultations with Calcutta Sai Samaj and other Sai Institutions who have come forward to hold the next Convention an announcement regarding the venue and dates of Convention would .be announced in Sai Sudha and also communicated to all Sai Institutions.
Srimathi N. Ratnamma, former Headmistress
spoke of the exhilirating experience of her personal participation in the
Convention and said that faith in God and Saints like Sai Baba would take us to
better positions and concluded that such holy company would surely yield good
results. She expressed her gratefulness to all for the honour done to her.
Shri T. Kesava Rao then thanked Shri
Ratnamma Garu and all the delegates for their full co-operation extended in
making the Convention such a grand success
RESOLUTIONS
Based on the various suggestions given by
the delegates during the afternoon session, it is resolved as under ; -
I.To undertake social service activities
in addition to religious aspects - i e.,
(i)To run Bala Vihars for inculcating in
children Sai faith.
(ii)To render medical aid to the needy by
enlisting the services of devotee - doctors, and chemists by running medical
centres.
(iii) To utilise the services of
professional people like Engineers, who are members, in providing assistance
when needed.
(iv) To organise Sai Volunteer Corps for rendering
help in times of distress as a result of natural calamities such as drought,
floods, etc.
v)
To bring out Sai literature suitable for children in as many languages
as possible.
All the above are to be undertaken by the
various Sai Institutions and AISS to extend necessary assistance in providing
Sai literature
II. In view of the need to have trained
Pracharaks, AISS and other Sai Institutions will explore possibility of
training -Sai Pracharaks whose services can be utilised by all.
In the evening at about 8-30 P. M. there
was a public meeting presided over by Shri T. Kesava Rao, President, AlSS, the
chief speaker being Smt. Rajkumari Prabhavathi Mathajan ardent disciple of Sage
Ramana Maharishi.
Smt. Rajkumari Prabhavathi was introduced
to the audience by Shri Chinta
Srirama Murthy, Vice-President,
Nellore Sai Bhaktha Mandali and Mathaji began her speech detailing the life of
Shri Sai Baba - from a baby to a lad of 16 years and from .then as a
wandering fakir and
a final emergence of a God
Saint and as Shri Sai Baba - with a Mission
and a Message. She traced the pioneering efforts of H.H,
Narasimhaswamiji in bringing to the light this precious jewel of Sai Baba
for the welfare of
Humanity and for ushering in a
society based on respect to all religions and explained the real of Sath Sangh.
Mathaji narrated a simple story by which
in the end, it was proved that the Arthgatiga Sath Sangh of Sage Vasishta was
more powerful than even the tapasya of
40,000 years of Sage Viswamitra. She explained to the all attentive audience
who were all enjoying every minute of her clear ringing speech the divine purpose of Sai Baba's advent in life
and exhorted one and all to inculcate Bhakthi from the childhood itself so as to attain Divine grace in later
years.
The meeting
concluded with a hearty vote of thanks.
Other Highlights of the Convention
On the 6th .there was Ganapatbi Homam and
from the morning special abhishekam & archana was done to Shri Sai Baba
invoking -HIS Blessings for the success of the convention.
From 8th to 9th, there were continuous
programmes. Bhajans were conducted by (1) Shri Pavarin Venkateswaralu &
Party, Nellore (2) Bitragunta Bhajan Party (3) Parlepalli Bhajan Party (4)
Deepa Pradakshina by Madras -Bhajan Party (5) Samalkot Bhajan Party and Shri
Kendrij Chalapati & .Party.
Harikathas were performed by Harikatha
Kala Bharatni, Smt. Ch. Bhavani Bai Bbagavatarini and Shri Punugu Seshaial
Sastry. The Harikatha on Bhaktha Meerabai by Smt. Bhavani Bai was very much appreciated
by the audience.
Shri Sai Baba
of Shirdi
Saint Shri Sai Baba of Shirdi,
Radiates light and hope-everywhere;
Inner peace one can attain
-through His picture !
Sai's shrines emerge out with glory everywhere,
All worship Him and receive His,
blessings;
Immortal He is, and eminent are His teachings.
Baba bears others' pain and heals their
sufferings !
Ashes at Shirdi shrine have special
significance.
Baba's 'bhojans’ and
'bhajan' are pure and melodious,
‘Allaha'
of Shirdi, please take my
humble salutation
V. Sundaram
Calcutta-
Report of the
Ninth Annual Gathering at Shirdi
(Continued from
April 1983 issue)
Third session (Monday 31-1-83)
The third session of the gathering started at 9 A.M. on the 1st January 1983. On the previous night Mrs. Potnis, who came along with her husband from Pimpri near Pune, became unconscious due to high blood pressure. Dr. (Mrs.) Sumati Kbanvilkar and Dr. Indutai Naik from Lonavala, who attended the gathering as delegates came to know about it and both of them rushed to the help of Shri Potnis. Mrs. Potnis was ultimately removed to the Sainath Hospital where she regained consciousness. (It is understood from the Shirdi Office that Mrs. Potnis was discharged from the hospital after two weeks or so and she improved further after reaching Pimpri)
Shri T. Kashav Rao, the President of the All India Sai Samaj and Shri Vishwanatban, the Secretary of the Samaj, came to Shirdi along with other devotees on 30-1-83 and attended the afternoon session on that day. They had however to leave Shirdi at 2 P. M. on 31-1-83 for Madras via Pune and therefore they were introduced to the audience by Dr. Parchure, who said, "Shri Narasimha Swamiji was a sincere devotee of Shri Sai Baba, He started the All India Sai Samaj at Madras for the spread of Sai devotion. His ceaseless toil resulted in the spread of Sai devotion on a large scale in all the four states in the south of India viz-Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Kerala. Shri. Narasimha Swamiji dedicated the last years of his life entirely for the spread of Sai devotion. Shri Radhakrishna Swamiji, who attended these gatherings in the past, was a very sincere devotee of Shri Narasimha Swamiji and he also dedicated the whole of his life for fostering Sai devotion in the South. As per the order of his Guru, Shri Narasimha Swamiji, he took the entire responsibility of running the All India Sai Samaj as its president and in addition started and nursed the Sai Spiritual Center at Bangalore Shri Keshav Rao and his team have got a good training from these two great apostles of Shri Sai Baba and they are also now managing the All India Sai Samaj at Madras quite efficiently. Shri Vishwanathan, who is now the secretary of the Samaj, is helping to Shri. Keshav Rao, who is at present working as the president of the All India Sai Samaj at Madras. The Samaj is concerned with Sai movement throughout India and the President and the secretary are taking lead in guiding the Sai movement efficiently all over India. I would now request Shri Keshav Rao and Shri Vishwathan to address the gathering".
Shri
Keshav Rao then addressed
the gathering as follows,
"Ladies and Gentlemen, Shirdi is
a very holy place for all Sai
devotees. This is the place which has the
privilege of having got the
touch of the holy feet of Shri Sai Baba. The dust of Shirdi has become holy
because it is touched by the feet of Sai Baba. We had the privilege
of listening to the lectures of Shri
Narasimha Swamiji and his
talks in which be gave us every information about Shri Sai Baba- If we have understood Sai Baba a little it
is because of our close association
with Swamiji. We might worship our family diety but by worshipping different
gods we see Shri Sai -Baba in them. Devotion
to God is a necessity. It gives us satisfaction in life. We should
all have devotion to Shri Sai
Baba. Our devotion always has a good
impression on our children, who also will become devotees soon.
Shri Narasimha Swamiji left his roaring
practice as a pleader and dedicated his life for the spread of Sai devotion in
the South of India. He started "Sai Sudha" which is the official
organ of the All India Sai Samaj. He also started Sai Mandirs at several places
which have been attracting thousands of devotees every year. Shri Swamiji
interviewed so many devotees of Shri Sai Baba, who had the good fortune to have
the blessings of Shri Sai Baba when He existed in flesh and blood. This led him
to write the biography of Shri Sai Baba in four volumes which stands as an
important monument of Shri Swamij. You should all think and meditate on Shri
Sai Baba, then He will take full care of you' In the end Shri Keshav Rao
requested all to visit the Sai temple of the All India Sai Samaj at Madras'and
see for themselves the work of Sai Prachar that is being done by the Samaj. He
also thanked the Shirdi Sansthan for making nice arrangements for the stay of
he himself and all the devotees that accompanied him.
Shri Vishwanathan, the Secretary of the
All India Sai Samaj, then addressed the gathering. He gave the information of
the dispensary, school, library and the functions conducted by the All India
Sai Samaj at Madras and pointed out how that was helping the spread of Sai devotion
and how it was attracting more and more devotees to Sai Baba. He also thanked
the Shirdi Sansthan for allowing them to participate in the gathering and make
their stay at Shirdi quite comfortable. He also thanked the Court Receiver for
allowing them to take Shri Sai Baba's Padukas to the South, which had a great
awakening due to their procession in Madras, which was arranged by
the All India Sai Samaj.
After their speeches were over Shri T. Keshav Rao and Shri Vishwanathan were felicitated at the hands of the President by offering them garlands and Shri Sai Baba's prasad. Some of the delegates, who could not address the gathering on 30-1-83 due to want of time, were then requested by the President to speak. The following delegates then addressed the meeting :- Shri Bhujbal, Mrs. Sarojini Devrajalu, Shri Subbarao, Shri Brijmohan Mourya, Shri Ramakrishanan, Shri N Ganga Reddy, Shri Jagatpuria and Shri N. Machinderdas. Their speeches can be summarised briefly as follows :- Sai Leela is a good magazine spreading Sai devotion. Shri Sai Baba himself spe