DIVINE SACRIFICE - THE GREATEST EVER

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DIVINE SACRIFICE – THE GREATEST EVER.

There is above all another and a higher sacrifice which people do not know of

– the sacrifice of a thorough Jnani in taking on the human constitution

and carrying on work in the phenomenal world and entirely giving up the idea of

resting in pure Atman without any care or sorrow, that is, securing Brahma

Nishta or Shanti.

This is a very great sacrifice. No other sacrifice equals it. But people do not

see it in the light of sacrifice. Baba on the other hand derived pleasure out

of bonds of love. He had a mission to fulfill and therefore he took birth to

help devotee after devotee in every matter, temporal and spiritual.

This involves a definite resignation of all hopes of Shanti, Shanti, Shanti, and

a definite signing of oneself to samsaric life. Nana Chandorkar told Baba that

he wanted to be free from Samsara. But Baba retorted that it was an impossible

feat and said, "So long as there is the body, there are the prarabdha and

samsara with it. Baba added that he himself could not escape samsara. Look at

the above description of samsara of Baba.

When we are weighed down with the care of providing for one family of a handful

of people, Baba’s samsara or family consisted and consists of several

thousands. Therefore, one can understand the extent and unimaginable magnitude

of the sacrifice undergone by Baba. No doubt there is another side to the

shield. Batruhari says, in describing Kala, Kala has put Mahavishnu into the

enormous trouble of taking ten Avatars.

Vishnu Ena Dasavatara Gahane

Schitto Mahan Sankate

this means, You Kala, by whom Mahavishnu himself was thrown into the tortures of

ten births. This is no doubt poetic flair. There is another and better view to

be taken about Avatars. For an Avatar to take birth to carry out a mission, not

as a result of one’s unavoidable purva karma, but out of one’s own

grace, need not be considered a matter of sorrow at all. It is Iswara that is

taking birth, and the Vedas say

Purnam Adah Purnam Idam

Purnat Purnam Udhachyate

Purnascya Purnamadaya

Purnameva Avaschishyate.

this means, The Infinite or Perfect is this the original. And the Infinite or

Perfect is the manifestation. From the Perfect, Perfect is taken. In the

result, Perfection can suffer no diminution. Iswara is perfect to his happiness

and perfect in his power and qualities. So, when an Avatara is taken, still the

Infinite, God remains Infinite enjoying Satchitananda. An Avadara is but a

reflection or a part of the original God and would still maintain its

Satchitananda or perfectly peaceful and blissful state. On the manifested side,

troubles, tortures and Dasavatara are undergone. Baba was both human and divine

and is treated as an Avatar by very large numbers. Baba maintained his

Satchidananda inspite of the troubles of his physical body. Once he said, My

Mourshad, Guru has taken me away from this body. You can put the whole of this

body on fire and I will enjoy the Ganath, fun. That is, his conquest of the

I-am-the-body idea was so perfect that like martyrs, whose bodies were burnt,

he could still be in joy when the body was perishing. Therefore the sacrifices,

great as they appear on Baba’s part, might not from his point of view he

considered a serious pain.

Courtesy: HH Pujyasri B. V. Narasimha Swamiji

(Vasuki Mahal Shri Shirdi Sai Baba Trust, Coimbatore-641025, India)