Recitation of God’s glories eradicates evil in us and gives us a chance to reconnect with the divine within. Vishnu Sahasranam Mahatmya aptly illustrates the benefits of Sahasranam’s recital:
“That man who with devotion and perseverance recites these names wholeheartedly every day, after having purified himself, succeeds in acquiring great fame, a position of eminence among his kinsmen, enduring prosperity, and emancipation. Such a man never meets with fear at any time, and acquires great prowess and energy. Disease never afflicts him; splendor of complexion, strength, beauty, and accomplishments become his. The sick become hale, the afflicted become freed from their afflictions; the affrighted become freed from fear, and he that is plunged in calamity becomes freed from calamity.
That man who with devotion and faith recites this hymn succeeds in acquiring felicity of soul, forgiveness of disposition, prosperity, intelligence, memory, and fame. Neither wrath, nor jealousy, nor cupidity, nor evil understanding ever appears in those men of righteousness.”
Once, Sai Baba insistently told Shama to read Vishnu Sahasranam, and said, “Oh Shama, this Book is very valuable and efficacious. So, I present it to you; you read it ! Once, I suffered intensely and my heart began to palpitate and my life was in danger. At that critical time, I hugged this Holy Book to my heart, and then, O Shama ! what a relief it gave me ! I thought that Allah Himself came down on the soil of Shirdi and saved me. So, I give this to you; read it slowly, little by little, read daily one Name at least and it will do you good.” (Shri Sai Sat Charita, Chapter 27)
Interestingly, once a Sikh lady, whose planet mercury was badly disposed or inflicted, came to her Guru for consultancy. The Guru asked her if she could recite the Vishnu Sahasranam. She nodded and started reciting…
“Achut Parabrahma Paramesur Antarjami II
Madhusudan Damodar Suaami II
Rikhikes Govardhandhari Murali Manohar Hari Ranga II”
It is from the famous Sikh Scripture ‘Sunder Gutka’, by the 5th Sikh Guru Arjan Devji. It is a highly popular Sikh Scripture which contains a lot of holy verses - both for spiritual progress and for remedies.
Kusha Bhau is a name, which has remained hidden in pages of history with reference to life tales and details of closest devotees of Sai Baba. Kusha Bhau was one such name given to a devotee by Sai Baba, whose original name was Krishnaji Kashinath Joshi.
Kusha Bhau served his Guru, Shri Datta Maharaj and learnt Yogic Asanas, Pranayam and rousing of Kundalini Shakti. Being young and motivated by the societal madness to accumulate power, he was not satisfied with what he was learning, and coaxed his Guru to impart him occult and psychic powers, through Mantras.
His Guru showed him the way for it, though reluctantly. Kusha Bhau wore an iron bangle and repeated the Mantras meant to attain occult skills like mysterious transference of material objects. He could produce sweetmeats from ‘nowhere’ by a wave of his hand with the power of the Mantra and distribute the same to amazed devotees as ‘Prasad’.
At one stage, he started pestering his Guru to teach him black magic with which he could harm his opponents who ridiculed him as a fraud.
The wise Guru realized that it was not good for either of them to stay together any longer. He directed his disciple to seek spiritual guidance henceforth from Sai Baba of Shirdi, perfection.
In the year 1908 Kusha Bhau came to Shirdi. On seeing him Sai Baba was wild with rage and would not allow him to enter the mosque, unless the visitor chose to give up his weird practices and leave off the power at the holy river Godavari. Kusha Bhau vacillated for some time and, after much inner struggle, had to give in. He went to the Godavari, threw away the iron bangle on his right hand, and taking the holy water in his palms, he vowed to give up all his occult powers as directed by Sai Baba. To his amazement, he discovered that he could no longer produce such material objects by a wave of his hand. Henceforth, Sai Baba allowed him to visit him at the mosque, and asked him to sit in a corner of the Masjid and make the Parayan of the Dasbodh. Sai Baba said, ‘‘Parayan of the Sacred Text is what will come to his rescue in the end.’’ Sai Baba later blessed him with the powers to produce Sacred Udi from his bare arm.
Dasbodh is a well-known magnum opus of Ramdas Swami (1608-81). It is an independent treatise which took 50 years of his life. It is a dialogue between a teacher and a disciple, illustrating the path of Bhakti (devotion). Consisting of 20 parts, with 7751 Ovis (verses), Dasbodh deals with a lot of conventional philosophical issues like the nature of Atman (self), Dnyan (knowledge), Bhakti (devotion), death and renunciation.
Sai Baba then instructed him to do 108 Parayans of Shri Guru Charitra, taking 3 days for each Parayan, and Kusha Bhau did this at Gangapur and stayed there for 10 months for this purpose.
Shri Guru Charitra is the life of Shri Guru Dattatreya (Brahma, Vishnu, and Mahesh Incarnate). It was originally written in Ovi form (a Marathi metre) by one Saraswati Gangadhar, whose ancestor Sayamdeo had personally lived and served with devotion, Shri Guru Narasinha Saraswati, about 500 years ago.
This volume is regarded as a greatly divine work, and adored in almost all devotees’ houses. It is much respected and is very popular like the Vedas, the Ramayan, the Mahabharat, the Bhagwat and the other Puranas in Sanskrit and the Dnyaneshwari, the Dasbodh, the Eknathi Bhagwat etc. in Marathi.
There was a gentleman named Sathe [not Rao Bahadur Hai Vinayak Sathe who built Sathe Wada in Shirdi]. He suffered severe losses in trade. Other adverse circumstances tended only to add fuel to the fire. Being on edge, he thought of leaving home; and going out to a distant place. His friends advised him to make holy a pilgrimage to Shirdi, where so many people were regularly flocking to get Sai Baba’s Darshan, for getting peace of mind and the fulfilment of their wants. He at once came to Shirdi in 1917. Seeing Sai Baba’s Form - which was like Eternal Brahma - Self-luminous, Spotless and Pure - his mind lost its restlessness and became calm and composed. He thought that it was the amassing of merits in his former births, which brought him to the Holy Feet of Sai Baba. He, at once started to make a Parayan (study) of Shri Guru Charitra. When the Parayan was complete in seven days, Sai Baba gave him a vision that night. It was to this effect : Sai Baba with the Shri Guru Charitra in His hand was explaining its contents to Sathe, who was sitting in front and listening carefully. When he woke up, he remembered the dream and felt very happy. He thought that it was extremely kind of Sai Baba, Who awakens souls, like his, that are snoring in ignorance, and makes them taste the nectar of the Shri Guru Charitra. Next day, he told Kakasaheb Dixit about this vision, and requested him to confer with Sai Baba regarding its meaning or significance - whether one Saptaha (week’s reading) was sufficient or he should begin again. Kakasaheb Dixit requested Sai Baba - “Deva (Oh God) ! what did you suggest to Sathe by this vision ? Whether he should stop or continue the Saptaha ? He is a simple devotee, his desire should be fulfilled by explaining the significance of the vision to him, and he should thus be blessed.” At this, Sai replied - “He should make one more Saptaha (one - week reading) of the Book; if the work be studied carefully, the devotee will become pure and will be benefited, the Lord will be pleased, and will rescue him from the bondage of the mundane existence.” (Shri Sai Sat Charita, Chapter 18)
Hearing these words of Baba, Hemadpant soliloquized, ‘For the last seven years (1910-17), I have been serving Baba and never got a vision, and this man (Sathe), only after a week’s stay at Shirdi gets such a divine vision. Like a Chataka bird, I am waiting for Baba to pour His nectar on to me and bless me with His instructions’.
The truth was that Hemadpant had succumbed to envy flu, becoming quite forgetful of the fact that Sai Baba had already rewarded him by showering His torrential blessings on him by providing him with the required stimulus for making Shri Guru Charitra’s non-stop Parayan for four decades, ultimately resulting in getting the go-ahead signal from Baba to write out a complete study of His own Leelas. This biographical study would be on the lines of Saraswati Gangadhar’s Shri Guru Charitra, and would give peace and happiness to people afflicted with sorrows and heavily laden with miseries of worldly existence. This would also give them Dnyan (knowledge) and wisdom on temporal and spiritual matters. The Leelas would be both instructive and interesting like the Vedas, and, if meditated upon, they would bring about Laya (union) with Brahman and mastery of Yoga and Yoga Anand. Baba’s blessings soon bore fruits. Hemadpant gave the monumental work, Shri Sai Sat Charita to the world.
Shri Sai Sat Charita is the powerful divine tool through which devotees are connected with Sai. Baba Himself said, “Hearing and reading (Parayan) my stories and teachings will create faith in devotees’ hearts and they will easily get self-realization and bliss”. (Shri Sai Sat Charita, Chapter 2)
“And has not Baba told us authoritatively that remembering and chanting Hari’s and Guru’s name confers Nava Nidhis [‘the nine Jewels’, i.e. Mahapadma (divine lotus), Padma (lotus), Shankha (conch-shell), Makar (crocodile), Kachhapa (tortoise), Mukund (quick silver), Kund (jasmine), Neelam (blue sapphire), and Kharva (a dwarf)]. Then, where is the cause for fear and anxiety ?” - Madhavrao Desphande alias Shama to Kakasaheb Dixit (Shri Sai Sat Charita, Chapter 45)
The path of the Shri Sai Sat Charita is simple. Wherever it is read, the place becomes Dwarkamai, and Sai definitely appears there. There itself are the banks of the Godavari, there itself are the nearby pilgrimage places of Shirdi; there itself is Sai together with the Dhuni. Where the Shri Sai Sat Charita is regularly recited, Sai resides there always. If the Shri Sai Sat Charita is repeatedly read with full faith, it pleases Him, in all respects. By the Parayan of Shri Sai Sat Charita, a man wishing for wealth will get it; and a pure trader achieves success in his life. One will get the reward according to one’s faith and devotion. Without these two, there will be no gain of any kind. If one makes the Parayan with absolute Shraddha (faith) and Saburi (patience), the Lord of Shirdii will be pleased. He will give His devotees knowledge, wealth and prosperity. If one reads one Chapter of Shri Sai Sat Charita per day with concentrated mind, it will give unbounded happiness to the reader. One, who has his/her welfare at heart, should study it carefully and then he/she will ever remember Sai gratefully and joyfully in birth after birth. This Pothi should be read at home especially on Guru Poornima (Ashadha Poornima), Gokul Ashtami, Ram Navami and Dussehra. If one makes careful Parayan of this Holy Pothi, all desires of the devotee will be fulfilled. By its Parayan, the diseased and sick will get health, the poor wealth, the mean and afflicted prosperity, and the mind will get rid of all ideas and get steadiness.