Bhakti

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Part 5 - Sutras Of Sai Bhakti

Be far sighted. Accept not small gifts from the Pujaris (Priests) in the temple in the form of more ‘Prasad’ or flowers as far as possible. Remember, it might later create an uncongenial situation or cast aspersions on your integrity.
 
 Shed away the desire for recognition or for being honoured. These lead ultimately to some ill or other. Infact, a bhakta should endeavour to hide his bhakti.

Try to have a direct relationship with your Baba without any intermediary.

 Do not look to the faults of others or criticize them.
 
 Avoid collecting money in Baba’s name, more so hoarding money in temple funds as stagnant water always gets dirty. All money should be spent on the welfare of the poor and neglected. In fact, no service rendered to Baba requires show off of money and material.

JaiSaiRam

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Part 5 - Sai Bhakti

Sai Bhakti as advocated in ‘Shri Sai Satcharitra’

g.Surrender

 “He whose self is pervading in the universe, I am part and parcel of Him. Surrender at the feet of Sai. This will mean MY service.

“To serve ME and to sing my praises, to surrender to ME completely will lead to union with ME. So says Krishna in the Bhagwat. - Shri Sai Baba (Chap. 3, Ovi 104-105)

Surrender to Sai. God will bless you. The ardent desire to listen to his praises will arise. This is the easy means to God. - Govind Raghunath Dabholkar alias Hemadpant (Chap. 10, Ovi 133)

“Take my name and surrender to me” was told by him to everyone. But he asked those who wanted to know him to listen and meditate. - (Chap. 19, Ovi 220)

 Discarding all pride, surrender to me who dwells in the heart. Ignorance will be destroyed immediately and there will be no need to listen to any instructions about knowledge. - Shri Sai Baba (Chap. 44, Ovi 160)

A devotee should surrender unconditionally and observe the remarkable results of devotion. Each day will unfold a new miraculous deed of Sai. - Govind Raghunath Dabholkar alias Hemadpant (Chap. 19, Ovi 163)

 Unless the false pride of the feeling ‘I am the doer, I alone am the enjoyer’ is left off, and one does not surrender to the Dweller in the Heart, one cannot attain self-liberation. - (Chap. 50, Ovi 87)

The one and only sure sign of the surrender at Sai’s feet is that the disciple becomes calm and peaceful and perfects his devotion with eagerness and joy. - Govind Raghunath Dabholkar alias Hemadpant (Chap. 46, Ovi 13)

 “It is my promise to redeem the one who, with faith sings my praises, totally surrenders to me, remembers me constantly and meditates on me. - Shri Sai Baba (Chap. 3, Ovi 15)

 He who surrenders to Sai, his ship will be able to cross the worldly ocean. - Govind Raghunath Dabholkar alias Hemadpant (Chap. 17, Ovi 114)

 Therefore, the easy way out for the householder is to surrender his mind to the feet of Sai Then he will bless you. - Govind Raghunath Dabholkar alias Hemadpant (Chap. 10, Ovi 129)

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h)Listening to Leelas
 “If you listen to My stories, recite them and meditate upon them, devotion for me will arise and ignorance will be completely destroyed.

 “Wherever there is devotion, full of faith, I am entirely in its power always. Have no doubts about this. Otherwise I am unattainable.

“If the listeners listen to these stories with faith, then greater faith will be kindled and they will easily experience heavenly bliss and will acquire a state of happiness.

 “The devotees shall get self realisation. The soul will be in tune with Brahman. The inconceivable and the formless will be understood by them and the Life Spirit will manifest”. - Shri Sai Baba (Chap. 2, Ovi 82-85)

 …Just as a buoy with red lights is anchored in the sea to guide the movement of ships by warning them to keep off the rocks and whirlpools, So will the tales of Sai, which in their sweetness put even the nectar in the shade, navigate us safely and will smoothen the difficult paths of the ocean of existence.

 Blessed are the tales of the saints that penetrate into the consciousness through the ears and cleanse the bodily ego and destroy the sense of duality.

 As more and more of these tales are stored in your heart, the doubts run helter-skelter; and when the store of spiritual knowledge grows, your identification with the body diminishes. - Govind Raghunath Dabholkar alias Hemadpant (Chap. 3, Ovi 45-48)

If these stories are regularly heard, Sai’s image will perpetually remain before our eyes, our minds and our hearts; and we will remember him and meditate upon him day and night.

 One would perceive him while waking or dreaming; while sitting, resting or eating. Wherever one goes about, either in society or in the jungle, he would seem to be walking beside him.

If thus he is with us day and night, one would be absorbed in divine contemplation; and when this happens every day, the mind will be one with the supreme energy. - Govind Raghunath Dabholkar alias Hemadpant (Chap. 14, Ovi 32-34)

 If Shri Sai Satcharitra is sung lovingly, the pleasures of listening will enhance and understanding the meaning and intent, enrich the devotees’ love and devotion which will grow manifold.

 If you listen to it day and night, the bonds of worldly attachment will be broken. The triple consciousness of the meditator, the object meditated upon and the meditation will disappear and the listeners will be full of happiness. - Govind Raghunath Dabholkar alias Hemadpant (Chap. 14, Ovi 217-218)

 Listening to these stories from the mouth of the Guru will eradicate the troubles and anxieties pertaining to the world. Bliss will be born in the minds of the listeners and knowledge of the soul will dawn upon them. - Govind Raghunath Dabholkar alias Hemadpant (Chap. 15, Ovi 10)

 For the sake of one’s own upliftment, one should attain Sai’s blessings. Read his stories, listen and meditate on them.

 If you listen to this biography of Sainath, in the company of wife, son, family, friends and relatives, you will get the benefits of both the worlds. Baba’s leelas are unique.

 Only the fortunate and faithful listeners are able to listen to these stories. While listening, a feeling of lightness steals through them and leads to an all encompassing peace.

In the running waters of the stream of the life stories, the salt of actions and non-actions will dissolve and Sai’s beautiful image will appear before the eyes, through listening.

By listening to his life story, sins will be destroyed. By listening to his life story, destiny will be fought. By listening to his life story, supreme happiness will be achieved effortlessly by the listeners. - Govind Raghunath Dabholkar alias Hemadpant (Chap. 17, Ovi 104-108)

 When the stories of the Saints are heard, there remains no sinfulness. Merits sprout on listening to the stories. Take advantage of this rare and favourable opportunity! - Govind Raghunath Dabholkar alias Hemadpant (Chap. 50, Ovi 24)

 If one wishes to surrender at the feet of the Guru, one should sing the praises of the Guru or recite the life-story of the Guru or listen to the tales about him with devotion.

One who is desirous of obtaining knowledge should listen so intently that he becomes one with the preaching, with assimilation. Thus the Supreme Energy will appear before him and the mind will be elevated.

Even if one is engrossed in worldly affairs and one chances to hear the tales of a saint, without making the slightest efforts, they will still do good because such is their nature.

Then if they are listened to with faith and devotion, how much good can be gained! Oh! Listeners, just think, in your own interest.

The devotion to the Guru’s feet will develop and the wellbeing will tremendously increase gradually. No other rites or rituals are necessary. The Supreme Good will be attained. - Govind Raghunath Dabholkar alias Hemadpant (Chap. 3, Ovi 150-154)

Listening to the stories with love will dispel all worldly afflictions. Sai, the cloud of mercy, will shower grace; and, complete and pure knowledge will appear.

Sloth, a wandering mind, attachment to sense-objects and indulgence of the palate - these are the obstacles which come in the way of listening. Steer clear of these and the listening will become a happy experience. - Govind Raghunath Dabholkar alias Hemadpant (Chap. 3, Ovi 180-181)

 By listening, the heart will become pure; by listening the cycle of birth and death will be avoided; by listening the listeners will achieve Brahman, which can be achieved by performing actions and offering the fruits to Brahman.

Such a person who desires to serve Sai, Sai will make him desireless and Sairama will give rest, peace and happiness to his own devotee.

Oh, listeners please read, listen, study or meditate on this book, part by part, daily or learn it or recite it. - Govind Raghunath Dabholkar alias Hemadpant (Chap. 17, Ovi 109-111)

To describe Baba’s pure fame and to listen to it with all your heart, will burn away the sins of the devotees. This makes for easy attainment of salvation. - Govind Raghunath Dabholkar alias Hemadpant (Chap. 3, Ovi 49)

“Whoever sings with feelings of my life, eulogises my powers, virtues and excellences, I will protect him totally, by surrounding him.

“Those devotees who have become one with me with heart and soul, they will, naturally, be bound to be happy by listening to the story of my life”. - Shri Sai Baba (Chap. 3, Ovi 12-13)

“From the very jaws of death I will snatch away my devotees. Just by listening to my stories diseases will disappear.

“Listen to the story with due reverence, meditate fully upon it, intently contemplate upon it and you will attain peace. - Shri Sai Baba (Chap. 3, Ovi 17-18)

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(i) Naam - Jaap
 “Oh, Shama, I tell you, whoever takes my name with love, I will fulfil his wishes and increase his devotion. - Shri Sai Baba (Chap. 3, Ovi 11)

Abandoning all the million clever and cunning ways, recall always ‘Sai, Sai’. You will be able to cross the worldly ocean. Have no doubts.

These are not my words. They are the profound words of Sai. Do not think that they are worthless. Do not try to evaluate them. - Govind Raghunath Dabholkar alias Hemadpant (Chap. 10, Ovi 135-136)

“God’s Name can break down mountains of sin. The Lord’s Name breaks the shackles of the body. God’s Name pulls out crores of ill desires from their roots.
 “God’s Name humbles the pride of death and ends the cycle of birth and death.

 “The Lord’s Name chanted with full intent is very effective but even an unintentional pronouncement can be beneficial. Its power is manifested even when it is uttered unawares.

“For the purification of the Inner Self there is not another simpler means than chanting the Lord’s Name. The Lord’s Name is the adornment of the tongue. The Lord’s Name sustains spirituality.

“It is not necessary to have a bath to say the Lord’s Name. Taking the Lord’s Name is not regulated by the rules of the Shastras. The Lord’s Name destroys all sins. The Lord’s Name is always pure.

“The continuous chanting of My Name itself will ferry you across the ocean of existence. No other means are necessary to achieve salvation.

“Whoever frequently repeats My Name his sins will be burnt. I consider him more virtuous than the virtuous, who constantly hums My name”. - Shri Sai Baba (Chap. 27, Ovi 85-91)

“They meditate on me ceaselessly; they have my name on their tongue and chant it repeatedly; and they sing of my deeds wherever they come or go. - Shri Sai Baba (Chap. 44, Ovi 149)

If you recite ‘Sai, Sai,” always, I will take you beyond the seven seas. If you believe in these words, you will be certainly benefited. - Shri Sai Baba (Chap. 13, Ovi 12)

“Repetition of the name ‘Sai’ will burn away all the sins of Kali-Yuga. Once having prostrated, past sins born of speech and hearing will be destroyed” - Shri Sai Baba (Chap. 3, Ovi 20)

Baba loved the ‘Nama-Smarna’. He himself constantly repeated the words ‘Allah-Malik’. He would arrange for a seven day ceaseless chanting of the ‘Nama’ in his presence, day and night. - Govind Raghunath Dabholkar alias Hemadpant (Chap. 4, Ovi 82)

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Part 6 - Sai Bhakti
Sai Bhakti as advocated in ‘Shri Sai Satcharitra’
• (j) Satsang
 Such is the greatness of ‘Satsang’ that it completely destroys bodily pride or ego. Therefore, there is no other means than Satsang.

 Always do Satsang. All other means have some faults. Only Satsang is flawless. It is pure in every way.
 Satsang destroys the bodily attachments. Such is the power of its strength. Once there is firm faith in it, there is truly liberation from the mundane world. - Govind Raghunath Dabholkar alias Hemadpant (Chap. 10, Ovi 141-143)

 Because of Satsang bodily attachment is destroyed. It is Satsang that breaks the cycle of birth and death. It is Satsang that gains the treasure of supreme energy and separates one from the worldly ties immediately.

 To attain the highest state, the company of a Saint is purifying. If one surrenders completely, our permanent peace is assured. - Govind Raghunath Dabholkar alias Hemadpant (Chap. 10, Ovi 148-149)

 If one is able to get the company of a Saint, even for a moment, the wayward mind becomes steady and immediately settles at the feet of God from where it is difficult to turn back. - Govind Raghunath Dabholkar alias Hemadpant (Chap. 18, Ovi 34)
 

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• (k) Rituals
 You do not need ceremonies to complete the rituals, you do not need fasting to torture the body; you do not need to visit the tirthas. It is sufficient to listen to the story. - Govind Raghunath Dabholkar alias Hemadpant (Chap. 3, Ovi 182)

 Baba did not tell anyone to perform ‘aasans’, or to practice ‘pran’, ‘apan’ (yogic practises), or to control the sense organs, nor gave them ‘Mantras’, or asked them to perform rituals or gave them amulets or asked them to chant or sing bhajans. Such false or fake advice he did not give. - Govind Raghunath Dabholkar alias Hemadpant (Chap. 10, Ovi 113)

 By listening with concentrated attention (turning all senses into ears) whatever you have heard about the greatness of the Guru, that is effortless ‘smaran’ (remembrance), and ‘kirtan’ (stories in praise of the Lord) of Sai.

 ‘Panchagni-sadhan’ (rituals), performing sacrifices and burning sacrificial fires, recitations of ‘mantras’, ‘tantras’ (chants and spells), practising ‘ashtang yoga’, are only possible for the Brahmins, Kshatriyas and Vaishnavas. What is the use of these for others?! - Govind Raghunath Dabholkar alias Hemadpant (Chap. 10, Ovi 122-123)

Though immutable, he accepted the worship and honours (rituals), according to the faith of the devotees. He accepted (the devotion) in all the different ways. - (Chap. 11, Ovi 45)

I do not need elaborate worship either sixteen fold or eight fold. Where there is infinite faith, I reside there”. - Shri Sai Baba (Chap. 13, Ovi 13)

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• (l) Dwarkamai

“This is our Dwarakamai! When sitting in the lap of the Masjid, she safeguards the children and there will never be any question of worrying.

 “This Masjidmai is very kind. She is the Mother of all the innocent and faithful devotees. Anyone may face any difficulty, She will readily protect.

“Once a person settles in her lap, all his difficulties are solved. He who lies in her shadow, he will be on the throne of happiness.

“This is that Dwarka, Dwaravati!” - Shri Sai Baba (Chap. 22, Ovi 48-51)

 “Those who come and resort to this Masjid shall never suffer anything in this life”. - Shri Sai Baba (Chap. 34, Ovi 22)

“If you heed all that I have said, you will be benefited. Sitting as I do in this holy Masjid, I never utter an untruth”. - Shri Sai Baba (Chap. 17, Ovi 79)

“I do not take anything from anybody. It is the Masjid Mai (presiding deity of the Masjid) who asks for what is owing to her. The giver is then free from debts. - Shri Sai Baba (Chap. 36, Ovi 23)

“However deeply immersed in the ocean of trouble or buried deep in the valley of miseries, know that when he climbs the steps of the Masjidmai he will ride on a wave of happiness.

“The fakir here is very kind. He will destroy your troubles from the very roots and will look after you lovingly. He has tender feelings towards all”. - Shri Sai Baba (Chap. 13, Ovi 73-74)

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Part 7 - Sutras Of Sai Bhakti

31.Singing the leelas of Sai...sing them wholeheartedly, with tears of joy and ecstasy flowing from your eyes. The strains of music emanating from the heart shall please your Sai too.
 
32. Your bhakti should be a very sacrosanct affair with you. It should be your hard earned wealth which is to be added and not squandered away for the purpose of attaining temporary joy of name or fame.

33. Try not to wear the cloak of Gurudom for it might hinder your own spiritual growth but surely and certainly make it the principle of your life to guide, create and teach seekers on the path, even if it is at the cost of your own bhakti.

34. Bhakti cleanses the heart, making it a better place for your Sai to occupy it. Attain it while there is time for it. You are a blessed soul and a child of Sai since you have caught hold of his hand.

35. Remember ‘Anndaan’ is an extremely sacred a function of a devotee. But it should never be an affair of magnificence and show. Maintain and understand the difference between ‘Anndaan’ and festivity. The ‘Daan’ is given to the poor and needy, and festivity is the privilege of those who have enough to afford.

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Part 8 - Sutras Of Sai Bhakti

36. Pour out your heart while doing ‘Aarti’ of the Lord. The Puja should be a soul stirring experience and not a mere formality to please the Master. Baba knows well every pore of your body and one can hide nothing from him.

37. Remember! Rituals do automatically fall off when bhakti matures and becomes a part of your being. Acquire it, nurture it and sustain it.

38. Have firm faith that you have immense potentialities hidden within you. Discover them and use them to make your life fruitful by disseminating bhakti.
 
39. Whatever you do, feel the living presence of Baba and offer all your actions to him. Your actions shall then acquire a sanctity. Shed away the feeling of ‘Doer’. Let him play this role.
 
40. Be a mute spectator of all that is happening around you. Let ‘Maya’ play its role. Remain unaffected by that which is not your concern.
 

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Part 9 - Sutras Of Sai Bhakti

41. Remember the waves of bhakti are very powerful and can turn even a nonbeliever into a devotee. You continue to bathe in the bliss of Sai bhakti.
 
42. Bhakti is capable of washing away the sins of your past lives. Allow them not to hinder the flow of bhakti within you.
 
43. Nothing can harm a devotee who has surrendered himself heart and soul to his ‘Aaradhya’, not even the evil spirits. You are a pure sparkling soul unaffected by any externals. Recognize the self in you and endeavour to be one with your Sai. He shall take you beyond the seven seas.
 
44. Indulge not in cheap gimmicks such as circulating letters and the like and never make yourself a part of these. Have faith that no harm shall ever come to you if you have taken to him heart and soul.

45. Develop ‘Samdrishti’ – The quality of looking at every human being without any distinction of religion, caste, creed and status in life. Forget not Baba dwells in all beings.
 

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Part 10 - Sutras Of Sai Bhakti
46. Remember that your conduct is the mirror of your bhakti. Therefore, try to be a good kind hearted and clean human being, away from all vices and weakness of character and freeing yourself from the clutches of desires.
 
47. Miracles do happen but remember that the appearance of Udi and honey on pictures is no miracle of Baba. This is an ordinary feat attainable through ‘Siddhis’ by even ordinary men who have not made much spiritual advancement. The same is true in respect of materializing things from nowhere. A thing has existed somewhere and merely a power is used to bring it from there. Do you think Baba who is ‘Par-Brahm Parmeshwar’ will condescend to show such powers which are of a very low order in the world of spirituality? Let us not bring down our Baba from the high pedestal, he occupies. Infact, each day in the life of a devotee lived saturated with Sai bhakti, is a miracle of sorts in his life.
 
48. Wear not Sai’s name before or after your name. Of what use is the mere adoption of the name when the qualities that this sacred name signifies are not in your possession? When you shall attain the qualities entitling you to adopt Baba’s name with your name, even the desire to wear your own name would then have ceased to exist. Baba came to Shirdi nameless. Mahalsapati gave him the name ‘Sai’ which remained his recognition all his life. Never any prefixes or suffixes were added to it. The same holds good in adopting the robes of Baba. Make yourself worthy of wearing them before adopting Baba’s dress. External appearances may give worldly benefits but surely not these can confer spiritual attainments. Infact, when one is spiritually evolved, all such desires leave. It is a well-known saying: ‘An empty vessel makes much noise’. Never try to wear a distinctive look, for it shall make you conscious of yourself which may prove a hindrance in your Sadhna. Be your natural self in nurturing bhakti.
 
49. Worship him in anyway you like but pour out your heart to him. Every pore of your body should feel the thrill of your yearning for him. Cry before him, weep before him; you sob, you sing, you convey to him, whatever you like but allow not your bhakti to be bounded by the chains of rituals. When rituals drop off, you and Sai shall become one and the wall separating you from him will get demolished automatically. The currents of Joy of Shubhra, Satvik Bhakti would start flowing from your body and the whole atmosphere around you shall be drowned therein.
 
50. Sing and Sing out your heart sitting before Baba. Remember, Music is an integral part of bhakti but it should emanate from the core of heart in soft and low tones, creating waves of love leading to soothing effect on the nerves of all around.
 

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Part 11 - Sutras Of Sai Bhakti
51. Remember! A bhakta might dance while in ecstasy. Baba too danced while in ‘Wajd’ (ecstasy). But dancing should not be resorted to as a mere show off.
 
52. The base of bhakti is the heart. All actions in bhakti should be aimed at creating ripples of joy in the heart.
 
53. A bhakta must endeavour to efface his own identity and merge it in his ‘Aaradhaya’ rather than try to establish his own recognition.

 
54. Develop intensity of feelings and surrender to Baba like that of Kaka Saheb Dixit; who even though a pious Brahamin himself, condescended to cut the neck of the goat at the command of Baba.
 
55. Every act while performing ‘Puja and Archana’ should be based on ‘bhawna’ and not be a mere ritual.
 
56. Surrender, perfect surrender, surrender in words, deeds and thoughts to Baba leading to ‘Purna Aatm - Samarpan’ should be the aim of all your Sadhna. When you will have achieved it, you shall be one with Baba.

OM SHRI JAI SAI RAM

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Part 1 - In Moments of Ecstasy - Fragrance Of Sai Bhakti

In Moments of Ecstasy from the incredible book Fragrance Of Sai Bhakti written by Shri. Suresh Chandra Gupta ji from Delhi. Part 1 is taken up below.

Part 1 - In Moments of Ecstasy1. Sai! How deftly did you enact the scene of your leaving the human body on that Vijay Dashmi day of October 15, 1918, when you were lying unwell in the Dwarkamai surrounded by your devotees. You had grown weak, having not eaten for the previous two/three days, so much so that you had not even gone on your bhiksha round, which had been your wont all through your life. Suddenly, you chose to make an offering of rupees nine and for this purpose you got up without any help. Looking healthy, you took out rupees nine, in two lots of rupees five and four, from your pocket and gave them to Maa Luxmibai, exclaiming: “I do not now enjoy living in the Masjid. Take me to Butiwada where I shall live happily”. Saying so, you slumped in the lap of Bayaji Appa Kote Patil and gave up the mortal coil.

Baba! This was a mere camouflage of yours to prove that one, who is born of a womb, must shed away his physical frame. In fact, Sai - the Fakir had decided to cast away the sheath of body and in its place was born a Celestial ‘Shuddha Chaitanya’ Sai - Omnipresent, Omnipotent and Omniscient, who was to guide the destinies of millions of people who sought His grace to provide them succor from the vicissitudes of life, all over the Globe and who are today experiencing this phenomenon in their lives. In fact, your coming on earth was an illusion and so was your leaving it. You have become more active after shedding away the sheath of body than while in it. Then you provided comfort to hundreds and now to millions.
 
Sai! You are an eternal entity - the marvel of Nature, the need of the man of today, the hope of the fallen and the wretched. Whosoever and wheresoever irrespective of any boundaries of place of residence, religion, caste, creed and status in life, has surrendered to you and looks up to you for succor and guidance, you come running to help him.
 
To Death
 O’ Death! Consider thy existence vis-s-vis that of Sai
 Thou art merely a particle of dust under his feet
 For in death, he lives for ever
 And provides relief from the miseries of life
 To one and all who take to him
 Think over!
 Who is great
 You - The Annihilator
 Or Sai - The Creator?
 You might have perished His body
 But Sai - The eternal
 Lives on for ever

2. Sai! You descended on earth as a ‘Fakir’, lived like a Fakir and left the world as a Fakir. When you took Mahasamadhi, you had no worldly possessions to call your own and yet you were called ‘Rajadhiraj’. Today you are being portrayed as a ‘Rajadhiraj’ both in looks and possessions. People forget that a Fakir has been proclaimed as ‘the emperor of emperors’ all through the ages by the Sages and Saints. Does it not mean that the ignorants are bringing down your status? You yourself had said in your life time: “Fakiri Awwal Padshahi, Garibon Ka Allah Bhai”, implying thereby that the Fakir enjoys a higher status than an emperor.

3. One day the Apostle of Compassion, my Sai, spoke to me thus: “Running bare-footed to remove the agony of my devotees, my feet have developed sores which give me lot of pain. I run to take them out of their difficulties, at their call, in the hope that a day shall come when they would recognize my true nature and then they would start seeking from me that which I wish to bestow on them. But what can I do? These devotees are lost in the glare of the worldly pleasures and refuse to seek a share from the enormous treasures, I hold for them. They are so much involved in quest of name, fame, prestige and wealth that their souls never feel the urge to rise above these transitory attainments. I had taken birth on this earth in the hope that I shall be able to take them out of the morass in which they are stuck up but the mask they have put on their face refuses to see the truth and they show absolutely no inclination to take to the path of emancipation. Who to should I express this agony of my heart? They have even changed my true image. But I have a firm belief that a day shall come when they would recognize my true nature and take to the path I wish them to tread”.

Listening to the words of Sai, I was lost in myself: Weren’t Baba’s words a pointer towards me? Have I myself been able to rise above all these cravings and attained the purity needed to tread the path shown by Baba!
 
Continued... Part 2

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Part 2 - In Moments of Ecstasy - Fragrance Of Sai Bhakti

Part 2 of Chapter 1 - In Moments of Ecstasy from the incredible book Fragrance Of Sai Bhakti written by Shri. Suresh Chandra Gupta ji from Delhi.

Part 2 - In Moments of Ecstasy
O’ Sai! When I have caught hold of your hand firmly
 And surrendered to you heart and soul
 How can the vessel within me remain empty?
 It is another thing
 The vessel is unaware of this fact
 I am the Supreme Master,
 I am the ‘Truth’ Incarnate,
 I am Pure Consciousness,
 I am ‘Bliss’ Incarnate,
 I am Satyam, Shivam, Sundaram,
Sat - Chita - Anand,
 The Parbraham Parmeshwar am I,
 The whole Existence is in me
 And I am in Existence
 I am the Yug Purusha, Shuddha Chaitanya,
 The currents of joy flow from me
And my whole being emits the rays of Bliss.
 Around me flows the ocean of Peace.
 I am Love,
 I am the Peace,
 I am the Supreme Light,
 I am Purna Purusha
 The glory of the self am I
 All are in me
 The ‘Punya’ I am, the ‘Paap’ I am
 I am ‘Sadgati’, I am ‘Durgati’
 Beyond me exists Nothing
 I have recognized the Self in me
 I am ‘Sai – The Sat-Chita-Anand’,
 
5. I beseech you O’ my Sai,
 To come and occupy the seat
 In the temple of my heart.
 My eyes have hardened like stone
 Awaiting your arrival.

Sai! Since the day you entered my life and caught hold of my hand, you have provided solace to my soul. I carry a feeling that my life has acquired fullness. I have found a source of strength in whatever I do. In happiness and adversity, in good times or bad times, you have always and in all situations stood beside me. You have filled my heart with feelings to do good and be of use to others. If I ask you O’ my Sai! What is it that which you haven’t bestowed on me, it would not be inappropriate. But my Baba! You have not made me a perfect man, who has risen above weaknesses. Even in my dreams. I haven’t ever felt that I have acquired something special which a common man does not possess. I am a person full of weaknesses. Baba! You shall laugh at me. You know it full well that I haven’t ever read in full Ramayana or Mahabharat, though the cupboards in my house are full of commentaries on Shri Bhagavad Gita by different writers, both in Hindi and English, I haven’t read even Bhagavad Gita in full. Therefore, whatever little I have been able to achieve thus far is more than what I deserved and which you have bestowed on me in your mercy.
 
Baba! You know full well that there could be no person more unfortunate than I, who though living in a diamond mine, does not understand the value of a diamond. But Baba tell me; Haven’t I tried to go into the depth of Bhagavad Gita again and again? Haven’t you made my mind stuck up on one Shloka only and not allowed me to proceed further, making my consciousness lose into the depth of that Shloka and not allowed me to proceed further? In such a situation what could I do? I ask you sincerely; have you not given me the feeling; ‘what shall you do by reading it? Even if you adopt one line of it in your life, you shall have no need to know more than that’. Tell me what could I do then? And my Baba, you know it full well that a few words that I have read in life or heard in life, the depth hidden in those words has influenced me so much that you have made my inner self repeat them within me for a long time. On repeating those words within me, you have provided me a blissful feeling which has become ingrained within every nook and corner of my heart. You know for certain that for a long time, I have been repeating the under-mentioned lines of the Ramayana within me: “It is only the guileless who are able to reach me. I do not like the wicked, the mean and those devoid of principles”:
 
“निर्मल मन जन सो मोहे पावा ,
मोहे कपट, छल, छिद्र न भावा”
 “Nirmal Man Jan So Mohe Pava,
 Mohe Kapat, Chhal, Chidra Na Bhava”
 
Chanting these lines within me, haven’t my eyes often moistened with tears? You have filled my heart with the feeling that if one’s heart gets filIed with purity (निर्मलता), he shall have no need to acquire more. Wasn’t the same feeling generated while reciting the under-mentioned lines:
 
“दया धर्म का मूल है, पाप मूल अभिमान,
 तुलसी दया ना छोड़िये, जब लग घट में प्राण”
 “Daya Dharm Ka Mool Hai, Paap Mool Abhimaan,
 Tulsi Daya Na Chhoriye, Jab Lag Ghat Mein Pran”
 
“Compassion is the root of spirituality, as pride is the root of wicked acts (पाप). Tulsidas (the poet), says do not give up piety till you have life vibrating within you”.
 
My tongue on the prompting of my ‘Aatma’ has been repeating these lines for innumerable days at a time and which have become ingrained on the tablet of my heart. And yes, when I heard the under-mentioned couplets of Kabir, did I not go deep into the message these couplets conveyed and made them a part of my own being:
 
“चाह गयी चिंता मिटी, मनवा बेपरवाह,
 जा को कछु नहीं चाहिए, सो ही शहनशाह”
 “Chah Gayi Chinta Miti, Manva Be-Parwah,
 Jaa Ko Kachhu Nahin Chahiye, So Hi Shahanshah”
 
“When desires stop arising, all worries are over. The one, who needs nothing, is indeed a Shahanshah (Emperor)”.
 
And the other,
 
“जा मरने से जग डरे, मेरे मन आनंद,
 जब मैं जाऊं जगत से, पाऊं परमानंद”
 “Jaa Marne Se Jag Darey, Mere Man Aanand,
 Jab Main Jaaun Jagat Se, Paaun Parmanand”
 
“The fear of death of which the world is gripped with,
Provides joy to my soul
 When I leave the sheath of body,
 I shall attain Divine bliss (परमानंद)”
 
Baba! If I am able to cross the sea of ‘desires’ and become fearless, nothing more would seem to be left for me to attain. Tell me what more shall I need to know through the medium of reading books. And it is you, who said: “If you look for Brahm (ब्रह्म) in books, you shall merely find Bhram (भ्रम)”. Can your words ever go wrong? Then history is the witness: almost all sages and saints reached the pinnacle of Truth not by reading books. I end here, O’ my Sai. Do excuse me for my impertinence taking me as an ignorant child of yours - uncouth and unlettered.
 
6. Baba, today in my advanced age, I find myself unable to sit cross-legged in front of your picture and keep starring at you endlessly. Neither am I able to concentrate on you nor do Japa of your name. Leave aside anything, I am even unable to sit before your picture and burn incense sticks. Within me, I feel an agony. The sort of your worship, I have been doing for years, why should I give it up now? It seems that, I have lost the track of my ‘Sadhana’. I hope I have not got caught in some illusion. Who to ask and who shall provide me the answers, except you O’ my Baba who is the sole occupant of my heart. If no one else, you know full well of what material this body is made of, what heights this ‘Aatma’ has achieved? How could you make me to act in a manner which may not be a mile stone on your path and which could make me lose my track? My Baba do place your hand of Grace on my head and proclaim that I am your very own. No power on earth could make me swerve from my path. Do remove all doubts from my mind for all times to come and make my faith unshakable. I should continue to stick to your path with full faith. I am sure that my destination cannot be far off when my Sai has caught hold of my hand.
  Continued... Part 3

[SS91]

Part 3 - In Moments of Ecstasy - Fragrance Of Sai Bhakti

Part 3 - In Moments of Ecstasy
7. Baba! Why do you carry so much love and compassion for me in your bosom? After all, I have done nothing to earn it. I have done no hard penances in your name, no deep meditation, no concentration, no pure ‘Satvik’ puja, no feeding of the poor, no ‘Daan, Punya’ nor any worthwhile service to humanity. I have merely taken to you as a guileless child with purity of heart and intentions. How could merely my child-like approach be enough to earn the magnificent benevolence you have showered on me? Surely there is some earning of my lives past. Baba, tell me what is the link which has bound me so firmly to you? Can it be anything other than your mere love and grace? Oh yes, my Baba! I now recollect as to what could be the cause of it? Probably you have been influenced by the pitcher-full of tears my eyes have shed on the mere mention of your name and while thinking of you and talking of you. But if shedding tears could be the criterion of bhakti, the beggar asking for alms in severe winter on the road outside my house with choked throat and eyes shedding drops of the liquid, would perhaps qualify to be a better devotee of yours!! But this is not the case. It is merely your bountiful ‘Kripa’ on me and my guileless approach to you, which has made us come so close. I would rather say that it’s your grace only which has bestowed on me this munificence.

Baba your ‘ananaya bhakta’, Madhav Rao Deshpande (Shama) had lived with you for 72 births past, so you said. Surely my Deva! I too have had some past links with you otherwise, how could you be so merciful to me in this birth? Baba let this all remain a secret. What shall I do to know it! You are mine and so shall you always be mine. No power on earth can mar our relationship. This is enough for me in this birth.

8. Sai! When my inner and outer self shall have become one, when I shall have developed the habit of seeing you in the whole of animate and inanimate existence, when the happiness and pain of every soul shall become mine, at that stage, my soul shall get submerged in ‘Parmanand’ and then alone I shall acquire the qualification to be called your devotee. Then the difference between myself and you shall gradually diminish and in course of time we shall become one - the Infinite, Indivisible consciousness, which you are and which is imminent in the whole universe. Sai! When I come down from the heights of the skies onto the realities of the earth, I get lost in the distinction of pleasure and pain. Then we become two. This ‘I’ in me returns to itself, which infact is the reality and is in front of the whole universe!

9. A devotee’s intimate talk with Baba
What a wonderful luck did you possess, O’ my Baba! You were indeed fortunate, for nobody knew where and when were you born and who your parents were. When your mother at the tender age of eight took you to Venkusha’s house and entrusted you to his care, surely you must have been in a very deplorable condition as no mother would normally part with its child thus, in the normal condition. And the fact, as we know, is that almost all your life you spent in not very comfortable circumstances. To live in a dilapidated mosque, wearing a torn Kafni, sleeping with a brick under head as pillow, was ordained by God for you. You didn’t change your style of living and dressing even when thousands of rupees flowed to you in the form of ‘Dakshina’ from your devotees. This you gave away to the devotees around. Isn’t it true that all your life you begged for alms? And just look at your ways of today!! Covered in valuable clothes, wearing a diamond crown on your head and heavy gold chain studded with diamonds around your neck, with what splendour you occupy your golden throne!! This shows that even you haven’t been able to keep yourself aloof from the imprint of the changing times. You are served meals in gold/silver plates and thousands of people are always in attendance around you at all hours. And over and above it all, you who skipped taking baths daily, with what a splendour are you now given daily baths and that too in various courses and with different ingredients, looking at which even emperors lying in their graves would be feeling envious and blush. The one who was unable to get even enough water to bathe is now being given a bath by innumerable persons with both hot and cold water mixed with Kewara, rose and other expensive scents and they consider themselves lucky to get this opportunity. And you keep on watching this game sitting quietly. Don’t you ever feel that these devotees of yours have to undergo lot of difficulties to reach you and have a glimpse of yours after spending huge sums of money on travel? And they have to take their place in the queue at 2 A.M. and even then they consider themselves extremely blessed to having given you a bath. Don’t you feel distressed looking at their troubles? You are known as the Apostle of Love and Compassion. Is this your compassion and love for them? I am an ‘Agyani’. Do make me understand this mystery. Tell me where do you want to take us to after showing such colourful toys?

Baba! It appears that you have now accepted to be the friend of the rich and are no longer the friend of the poor. Huge amount of money is being spent on your ‘Bhajan Sandhayas’ and ‘Bhandaras’ and on ‘Palki’s’ taken out with Elephants, Horses, bands and various other paraphernalia forming part of it. Have you now changed your ways? Do come to me tonight and tell me this mystery in my ears. I am your child!
 
Continued... Part 4