WHO IS SRI SAI BABA OF SHIRDI? -By His Holiness Narasimhaswamiji

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WHO IS SRI SAI BABA OF SHIRDI?

By Shri H.H. NARASIMHASWAMIJI

Founder - All India Sai Samaj (Regd.), Madras - 600

004

SAI BABA of Shirdi is a name to conjure with. In fact, his name is used as a

sacred and powerful mantra by thousands of persons. He is not a non-historic

or remote personality, but one who was with us in the flesh till 1918, moving

familiarly with tens of thousands and that for decades. A short account of Sri

Sai Baba will be interesting and will also prove in many cases the turning point

in the lives of numerous readers, as it has done in the past.

2. Of Sai Baba’s birth, parentage, and antecedents, no person that

we have met can give any account. But Baba himself gave some hints which have

been verified and worked upon. He seems to have been born some time between

1820 and 1850 A.D. in the village Pathri, in the Nizam’s State. His parents

were Brahmins who handed him over at a tender age to a fakir. After the

fakir’s death, some five years later, the child passed in the care of his Guru

Deva, Gopal Rau Deshmukh, a great Bhakta of God Venkateswara of Tirupati.

After a splendid period of ten years of intense love and devotion towards his

Guru-God, the boy obtained the Guru’s grace. As directed by the Guru, he went

westward and came to Shirdi in the Bombay Presidency (Ahmednagar District), and

after some wanderings, settled and spent the rest of his life there. He passed

away on the 15th October, 1918 (3 p.m. Vijayadasami Day, after Ekadasi began).

The tomb erected over his remains

is now the Sai Mandir attracting the devotion of persons from all parts of the country.

3. Nobody dies: least of all, a self realized soul like Sai Baba.

Atmagnanis or Jivanmuktas are said to become Vidhehamuktas or nirakara

Parabrahmam when the fleshy sheath is cast off. Exceptions to this rule are

mentioned in the Brahma sutras. Bhrugu, Narada, and other eminent

devotee-gnanis have, instead of merging in the Absolute when they cast off the

body, continued to remain in their subtle body (Sukshma sarira, which however

could be rendered gross and visible or sthula at will) in order to co-operate

with divine Leelas, rendering service to humanity. These are styled

apantaratmas. Sai Baba is now an apantaratma. Before shuffling off his mortal

coil, he said that his devotees need not be sad or frightened at his casting off

his fleshy gown (kupni) and that wherever and whenever any devotee should think

of him, he would be present and attend to him. This has been found indeed to

be true by innumerable persons; and earnest souls can still take Baba at his

word and prove its truth from their own experience.

4. Sai Baba, the soul of truth and reality has never spoken untruth.

‘Anrutam noktapurvam me nacha vakshya kadachana’ (Untruth, I have never uttered

nor will I utter it at any time), was the remark of Ayodhya Rama as also of this

Shirdi Rama.

5. The early decades spent by Baba at Shirdi are almost wholly

forgotten. He was first living under a margosa tree leading the life of a

perfect ascetic. Next, he removed to a dilapidated mosque in the village, and

resided there to the end of his life. He had nothing that he could call

‘mine’. For thirty years and more, he was leading the life of holy poverty,

and then his devotees whom he affectionately termed his children, pressed the

pomp and show of royalty upon him. For the last ten years

of his life, he appeared as a prince though he behaved throughout like a poor

fakir, who either owned nothing or everything in the world. His was the life

of perfect celibacy (naishtika rahmacharya with astalitha urdhvarethus), a fact

which was beaming out of his brilliant tiger like eyes. His virtues were

numerous - Ananthakalyanaguna - and would naturally sink into the heart of

those coming in contact with him, and thus raise them gradually on the highest.

‘Apana sarika karita tatkal’, is a saying of Tukaram, which means that great

souls raise the devotees to their own level; vide Bhagavata, where Lord Krishna

says, ‘Though devotees do not wish to be one with me, I pull them unto myself’.

6. Amongst his qualities, the most notable was, of course, love -

uniform, all embracing, intense love, showered on all and at all times, without

any idea of the extent of sacrifice involved or any idea of recompense - truly

maternal love at its highest. God is love and the means to reach God is also

love. Baba was nothing but the embodiment of love. This love was perpetually

manifesting itself in every act, word, and thought of his, though at times

hidden by his ascetic modes of life. In the beginning he would move and talk

with none

except under strict necessity. However, when there was any suffering in the

village, he would run to relieve it and would accept no recompense.

7. ‘Saisangatve nissangatvam’ was the other exception to his rule of

asceticism. Where there were saints or holy people, he would be found in their

company. Some of these saints like Janaki Das and Devi Das were the first to

discover his merits; and in the early eighties of the 19th century, some of

them revealed the fact that Baba was like a diamond lying on a dung hill, and

that the world would one day discover what a great Rama Bhakta he was. The

world has since discovered that fact, and more, has identified him with Rama,

mso-fareast-font-family: 'MS Mincho'">Krishna, Maruti, Datta, etc.

8. At the time of his arrival at Shirdi, Baba appears to have been a

thorough adept in the Prema marga, the path of love and evidently possessed of

all power, which naturally issues from such love. He seldom cared to use his

power, but once, a manifestation was wrung out of him. The shopkeepers who

supplied him gratis with oil, one day refused the supply, and gathered in a

scoffing mood to see what the ‘mad fakir’, as they styled him, would do without

oil for his lamps. Baba simply filled up his empty earthen lamps with water,

and the wicks inserted in the water were burning all

night! This gave a rude shock to the villagers’ notion that Baba was negligible and mad fakir.

9. Baba however was never negligible. From the very beginning, he

was always helping humanity at first by dispensing medicines and later by

dispensing ‘Udhi’ i.e., Vibhuthi or ashes from the fire that he always kept

burning by him. Udhi has played a very important part in the grace shown by

Baba to people all these years, and it is still being sought and used by people

all over the country. But, as Baba explained, it is not the Udhi itself that

works the wonder. {“What can the Udhi do? Nevertheless, take the Udhi as it is

wanted”, said

Baba to G.G.Narke} The devotees’ Bhakti (faith and devotion), for instance, has

always to take its part in the good results produced by the Udhi. The Udhi was

generally the material with which His blessings were issued. The Udhi is the

cup enshrining the really valuable blessings of Baba. But these blessings

often came and do come without the Udhi.

10. When people came to him, he would give them the Udhi and say

‘Allah bale karege’ (i.e. God will bless) and everything he uttered proved

effective. Once he said ‘I go on speaking things here and things happen

there.’ Baba’s words were words of authority. When he said that there should

be water on a waterless rock, water was found there. {Charter 350}. When he

addressed the elements they obeyed him. Fire, water, and air were seen by

several devotees to obey his orders.

yes"> He ordered high flames to sink down and they did. He ordered the rain and

storm to cease and they ceased. He willed a cool breeze to blow near the fire

on a blazing summer day and cool breeze blew there.{Charters 341.4} The dead

were revived. The heart of every one present or absent, he knew without effort

and he could control it. He was realized to be a sarvantharyami. He himself

declared,

‘Aham Atma hi Chandorkar Sarva bhutasaya sthitah’

i.e. ‘O, Chandorkar, I am in the hearts of all creatures’.

11. Of the many ‘miracles’ performed by Baba and witnessed by many

eminently respectable persons (many of them still living), it is sufficient to

give but a few instances to show how and why they were resorted to. Baba

identifying himself with God and gods declared that there was never any miracle

performed by him. Really, there are no ‘miracles’ in the universe if ‘miracles’

mean the violation of the laws of Nature or of God. People begin to generalize

about the laws of Nature from the few facts known to them and when a strange

phenomenon suddenly appears in apparent contradiction of their

artificial ‘law of Nature’, it is declared to be ‘miracle’ - a violation of the

so called law. A truly scientific mind would rather add the new fact to the

old facts and try to remold the old law so as to include the new fact observed.

Mankind is not omniscient. One day, the science of the future will give

scientific explanations for the so-called ‘miracles’ of all times.

12. But beyond the miracles of Baba, there is one bright, marvelous

fact, worthy of people’s adoration and that is, his golden heart of love with

its message of universal love. Baba loved all - Hindus, Moslems, Christians,

and Buddhists, the learned and the illiterate, the poor and the rich, the

priest and the criminal - alike. His message to all his devotees is ‘Love ye,

one another, as I love you all’.

13. Baba declared that if people hated one another, his heart was

smarting with pain and sorrow and if persons forgave enemies and endured the

ill-treatment, he was highly please. This is the most valuable lesson for this

day and for all time. A story is told in Bhagavatham of the world going as a

cow to Brahma, groaning under the weight of the cruel Asuras harassing innocent

people. That is just the spectacle all over the world to day. Hatred,

destruction, plunder, and absolute disregard for truth and virtue, are the

predominant features in the

daily history of the world to-day. Man’s claws and teeth are red with the gore

of brother man; and the criminal is not apologetic but blatant. Civilisation

is in imminent danger of being submerged in pools of human blood and

devastating fire leaving the human form a fossil to be discovered within some

rocks by some later race. The only thing that can avert this doom is love, a

revival of the very ancient message to Asuras from God ‘Dayadhwam’ i.e., ‘Be

merciful’.

14. Baba’s whole life was an illustration of how this divine message

could be carried out in life, and the more Baba’s message is heeded,

circulated, and preached, the greater is the hope for humanity avoiding the

threatened catastrophe. Incidentally, it may be noted that while the

Kshtriyabalam of Akbar failed, the Brahmatejobalam of Baba is steadily

achieving the benefit of the people. ‘Dikbalam Kshatriyabalam Brahmatejobalam

balam’ - Fie upon Kshatriya’s power, Spiritual power alone is power’, was said

by the Kind Visvamitra when he found that all the arrows showered by him upon

Vasishtha were of no avail, by reason of the Brahmadanda

which Vasishtha had placed by his side as a protection. ’Ekena brahmadandena

astrah sarvah vinishkrtah’.

15. One species of miraculous achievements wrought by Baba for the

benefit of his devotees is the blessing given for issue. Whenever Baba blessed

anybody and said that there would be issue, invariably the lady brought forth

the child, either male or female, in twelve months, exactly as stated by Baba.

Here are a few examples: Damodar S. Rasane had two wives, but no issue. His

horoscope showed a papi or cruel planet in the putrasthana and astrologers

declared that he would have no issue in this birth. But Baba gave him four

mango fruits and directed him to give them to his junior wife. Baba assured

him that he was going to have eight children through that wife, the first two

being males. The lady ate the fruits and had just eight children, with their

sexes as mentioned by Baba. This would remind one of the issue less monarch

Dasaratha, consulting his Kulaguru Vasishtha. According to the directions of

this Guru, Aswamedha and Puthrakameshti yagas were celebrated on a grand scale

(even though it was not stated that there was any papi in the putrasthana of

Dasaratha) and four sons were brought forth by his queens. In Rasane’s case,

there was no Vasishtha nor were any yagas.

Evidently, Vasishta, Vamadeva, Risyasringa, Bhrugu, Puthrakameshti and Aswamedha

were all inside Sai Baba who declared that the devotee would have eight

children.

16. Another case is more interesting. One Scindhe had seven daughters

and no sons. He went up to the temple of Dattatreya at Gangapur, 200 miles away

from Shirdi, and prayed there for male issue. He vowed that if he

were granted a son within twelve months, he would bring the child to Gangapur

and make his offerings. He had his prayers answered and obtained a son in

twelve months. But, for about six years, he did not go to Gangapur at all.

Then he came to Shirdi. Baba looked at him and spoke fiercely, ‘Are you so

conceited and stiff-necked? Where was there any male progeny in your Prarabhda

karma? I tore up this body (pointing to his own body) and gave you a male child

in answer to your prayer’. This was not only occasion when Baba declared that

he had overridden the workings of Prarabhda karma. A third case is interesting

from another

standpoint. A pleader of Akkalkote had reviled and mocked at Baba in his

student days and had subsequently lost his only son. Fancying that the loss

was the result of his irreverence towards Baba, he came to Shirdi. Baba

blessed him and declared that he (Baba) himself would fetch the soul of the

deceased son and place him within the womb of the Vakil’s wife. In twelve

months thereafter, she was delivered of a male child.

17. Incidentally, it may be mentioned that it was the blessings for

issue more than anything else that made the educated, especially from towns, to

go to Baba. One Gopal Rao Gundu, A Revenue Inspector, who had two wives but no

issue, sought and obtained Baba’s blessings and the fruit of those blessings, a

son. He broadcast the kindness of Baba and his wonderful powers abroad, and a

large number of educated people including Deputy Collectors, Collectors, and

political leaders like Lokamanya Tilak, flocked to Shirdi.

18. In 1886, Baba died his first death. One day when sitting along

with his devotee Mhalaspathi in the Dwarakamayi (as his mosque was named by

him), Baba said that he was going to Allah and that consequently for three days

his body was to be looked after for, after that period, he might return to the

body, and that in case he did not do so, the body should be interred near the

mosque. Presently Baba’s body became a corpse. An inquest was held over the

same and the officer holding the inquest insisted on Mhalaspathi burying the

body. But Mhalaspathi

vehemently opposed the proposal and succeeded in preventing the internment. On

the fourth day, Baba’s body revived and for thirty-two years thereafter, Baba

worked through that living fleshy case and finally left it on the 15th October,

1981, with the same prescience and clear control over all the circumstances

which he showed in 1886. This leaving of the body at will and returning to it

at pleasure is an art, a Siddhi, described in the Yoga Sasthras; and Baba’s

exercise of such powers convinced and would convince many of the truth of the

Sasthras. ‘Dharmasamsthapanarthaya sambhavami yuge yuge’ (i.e. ‘I am born in

each age for establishing Dharma’)

said Krishna of Dwapara Yuga to Arjuna. And this divinity of the twentieth

century A.D. in Kaliyuga, like other men of God (Devatmas) of the same period,

has frequently by his conduct proved the truth of, and confirmed, the belief in

Dharma and Sasthras.

19. One noticeable feature of Baba’s life after his return to the body

was that he began to encourage the arrival of Bhaktas to his feet. Evidently

the object of his return to his body was to carry out his mission more fully

and for a longer period on earth, especially with reference to the devotees and

others bound to him by former ties, rinanubandha. This is well illustrated by

his call to Narayana Govind Chandorkar, B.A., Personal Assistant to the

Collector of Ahmednagar, to come to his feet.

20. When N.G. Chandorkar or ‘Nana’ as Baba affectionately called him,

was halting at Kopargaon, Baba sent word to him repeatedly to come to Shirdi

for a visit. Nana after much hesitation came up to Shirdi and asked Baba why

he was sent for. Baba replied that for four previous births, Nana had been

intimate with Baba and that therefore in this life also, he should get into

similar close contact. Again Nana hesitated. But Baba, by the exercise of his

wonderful powers and his kindness especially, filled Nana’s heart with faith and

gratitude for numerous

miraculous favors showered upon him. On one occasion when Chandorkar was

stranded on a hot day on a waterless hill (Harischandra Hill) unable to climb

up or get down, he suddenly exclaimed; ‘If Baba were here, he would give me

water’. Baba who was then at Shirdi, forty miles away, mentioned to the people

there that Nana was thirsty and should be provided with a palmful of water. At

that time, a Bhil appeared on that hill and pointed out a palmful of water to

Chandorkar, under the very rock over which the latter was seated. Later when

Nana visited Shirdi, Baba informed him that it was ;he who provided water on

the waterless rock. Similarly, on another occasion, when the thirsty

Chandorkar prayed to Baba in the midst of a forest for tea being given him

after he

should emerge from the forest, tea was suddenly provided in the middle of the

night in a forlorn place. Again when Nana’s daughter was undergoing the

tortures of prolonged parturition, Baba sent a gosavi from Shirdi with Udhi to

be used for easing the parturition. The gosavi wanted to know how he could go

to Jamnere, which was N.C.C’s camp, across thirty miles of country road from

the railway without funds, Baba simply answered that everything would be

provided. At the station, the gosavi found a Tonga and a liveried peon waiting

for him, professing to have been sent by Sri Chandorkar. When the

gosavi went up in that Tonga and delivered the Udhi, its use was quickly

followed by safe and comfortable delivery. Then he mentioned the Tonga, the

horse and the liveried peon to Chandorkar, who wondered, as he had not sent any

of these and nobody else could have sent these. Both the gosavi and NGC

wondered at Baba’s power to provide everything he wanted at any place and at

any time and at the depth of Baba’s love for his devotees.

21. Nana had innumerable proofs of Baba’s vast, nay, unlimited powers,

his perpetual watch over his beloved devotees, his invariable kindness towards

all that approached him, and summed them all up in the phrase that Baba was

omnipotent, omniscient and universally kind. No word aptly expresses the sum

total of these attributes except ‘God’. Chandorkar was convinced that Baba

was God and worshipped him as God; and by reason of Chandorkar’s vast

influence, Baba’s greatness and glory became known to all in various parts of

Mincho'">Maharashtra.

22. One Ganpat Rao Sahasrabuddhe, a constable attending on NGC was

similarly turned in to a devout Bhakta and made to quit Government service (in

1905) substituting therefore the service of God or Baba. Sri Sahasrabuddhe has

thence forward been known as Dass Ganu Maharaj and as a Kirtankar-devotee of

Baba all through these forty years. By his powerful Harikathas and his

talents, he has carried Baba to the homes of tens of thousands in Maharashtra.

His works on Baba are the earliest authorities on the life of Baba. The above

mentioned two gentlemen with others like H.S. Dixit and Anna Dabolkar, may be

regarded as Baba’s apostles who carried the faith in Baba to the length and

breadth of Maharashtra.

23. Baba’s own miraculous personality surviving his release from his

physical body has however been the principal reason for the success of all this

propaganda. His power is still working and by reason of that along, myriads in

Madras and other Presidencies have become firm adherents to, and worshippers

of, Baba. The faith is well grounded in the experience showered upon them now

as liberally and miraculously, as they were showered before Baba’s

passing away. Baba’s figure is occasionally seen by, and his wondrous powers

are manifested to, those that have the necessary faith, at any place, as Baba

has no partiality and his grace cannot be the monopoly of any person or place.

Wonders are being worked by him today at various places and therefore Sai

Mandirs have sprung up in many of them.

24. Baba, however, is not a mere worker of miracles. He is a Samartha

Sadguru. He applies miracles or miraculous means to fill with faith and

gratitude the hearts of devotees. Gratitude soon turns into love and then

Baba’s real work is seen. Baba purifies the hearts of all of the dross of low

attachments and their consequences, and gradually raises the devotees’ souls to

loftier and still loftier states of being, till they finally merge into himself.

People begin with the notion that Baba is a kind

provider of all that they need and in fact resort to him to have their temporal

needs satisfied. But they discover (at least many do) that Baba is after all

their Ishtamurthi, their own Rama or Siva, the God of their fathers who has now

taken a new shape to carry out the ancient divine plan of the Universe, and that

‘God fulfils himself in many ways lest one good custom should corrupt the

world’.

25. The question is often asked whether Baba was a Hindu or Moslem.

The first remark to make about this question is that the cause for this

question should be looked into before it is answered. There is a strong

feeling on the part of the Hindus that they should not go near a Moslem whose

views run counter to their cherished ideas, and who would destroy their

religious emblems and idols. Similar is the repugnance on the part of the

Moslems to accept purely Hindu traditions which they consider too idolatrous

and unholy. When we come to take an

impartial view, we find, whether we are Hindus or Moslems, that the above

question is irrelevant or of very little importance. First about the

irrelevancy. The Sufi and the Orthodox Hindu, both agree that when a person

has reached perfection, i.e., the level of Brahman, the question of caste does

not arise at all. Caste (or ‘Jathi’ as it is called in vernacular) refers to

that which has born and that which has ‘janma’. The self-realiser who is

identical with God is not born though his body was born. But the body is not

‘he’ and there is no need to go into the question as to whether the body arose

from parents who were Hindus or Moslems, or was trained and brought up among

3ither of them. Sri Sankara’s well-known

phrase about the realized soul is ‘Jati Niti Kula Gotra duuragam’ - that it is

far above questions of caste, family clan, etc., and Sankara’s Manisha Panchaka

repeatedly closes with the line, ‘Chandaalostu Dwijostu sadgururityeshau

manaishaa mama’ - ‘Let him be a chandala or Brahmin; he (the realized soul) is

my Guru’. What does it matter whether the Kohinoor is lying on a dung hill or

in a palace! The Sufis too have exactly the same view as regards these

distinctions. However, the reason for raising the question is a strong feeling

regarding the necessity of protecting one’s own religious sentiments adequately

from being harassed violently by a person of an opposite sect. On this matter,

it may be pointed out that whether Baba was a Hindu or a Moslem, he allowed

every sect to keep to its own method of

approaching God. To Hindus, he said: ‘Continue your Rama worship, and worship

the stones which your forefathers worshipped’. He even presented some lingams,

silver padukas, pictures and coins for worship by Hindus. To Moslems, he never

gave any of these but allowed them to follow their nirakara (formless) form of

worship as far as it is possible. So the real cause for raising the question

about one being a Hindu or Moslem does not arise in this case on account of the

extreme catholicity of Baba’s views and practice. But prejudices die hard and

in spite of all that is said, persons still hanker to know whether Baba was a

Hindu or a Moslem. It may be pointed out that though his original antecedents

were unknown; his

continued residence for about 50 years in a mosque was considered a sufficient

reason for most people to consider him to be a Moslem. There is a Tamil

proverb that if one drinks anything, even milk, under a Palmyra tree, he will

be taken to have drunk toddy.

26. Let us examine the real facts. Baba’s antecedents as mentioned

already were revealed by himself. Even after they are fully considered, still

the question must be deemed doubtful whether he was a Hindu or a Moslem. But

(Janma or Jathi) by actual birth, he was of Brahmin parents, and hence by a

very large number of persons, he is considered to be a Brahmin. But according

to Baba’s own statement, he was handed over in his very infancy to a fakir who

brought him up for about five years according to Islamic faith.

After the death of the fakir, Baba was handed over to a Brahmin Guru by name Sri

Gopal Rao Deshmukh of ‘Venkusa’. The stay of ten years under this Guru and the

marvelous initiation into divinity by the Guru’s purna kripa, ought to clear

all doubts, and establish that Baba was Brahmin or at least a Brahmin. But as

fate would have it, the Guru after conferring upon Baba his purnakripa and

raising him to divinity, directed him to go westwards and Baba had to spend the

rest of his life in a mosque moving with all alike as an ativarnasrami, i.e.,

one beyond all caste rules. We do not know what an expert lawyer would

conclude as to Baba’s caste in these circumstances. But whatever that may be,

to those who considered him a Moslem, he responded as a Moslem and to those who

cared to treat him as a Hindu, he

responded as a Hindu; and he expounded the Koran to the former and the Sasthras

to the latter. By the Hindus, he has been worshipped as Ramavatara or Sriman

Narayana for so many decades while others treated him as merely human. This

reminds us of an incident about Krishna. When Sri Krishna went with Balarama

and others to a yagasala and wanted food, the Brahmins were wondering whether

they could offer the food prepared for gods to Krishna, who appeared to have

been born in a Kshatriya family but brought up

among (Vysias) cowherds. He was regarded as God by many, but the Brahmins were

doubtful about his caste. By reason of their ignorance (ajanna) they offered

no food at all to Krishna. Then Sri Krishna sent word to the ladies, who ran

up all at once with great devotion and gave up all that they had prepared for

the Gods to him whom they considered as the God of Gods. Exactly the same

thing happens now. Persons whose pious leanings render they easily attracted

to such great souls as Baba run up to Baba and never bother their heads over

questions of his Jathi or caste, and like the Brahmin

ladies, deserved and obtain the highest blessings while many doubting Thomasses

(samscyatmas) even of the highest castes, go on debating endlessly about the

question of the caste to which a holy man belongs and lose their chance of

benefiting themselves here and hereafter. It depends a great deal upon once’s

poorva sambanda or rinanubhanda whether one is attracted by Sri Krishna or Sri

Sai; it may be noted that persons wish to discuss this question of caste only

when their feelings have not been roused. But when one is in intense pain or

great trouble, his heart leaps out with the request, ‘Baba, help me’, never

minding a brass pin as to where Baba was born or how he was brought up; and

once he receives innumerable and miraculous benefits, he gets perfectly

convinced that Baba is God to him, whatever he may be to others and he cares

not for discussions as to the legal position regarding Baba’s

caste. Baba himself used to say at times to such Hindus as considered him a

Moslem: “I am a Moslem, don’t come to me” and to persons who regarded him as

Sad Guru or Guru-God: ‘I am a Brahmin. Give me dakshina. This place wherein I

am sitting is not a mosque; it is a Brahmin’s mosque; it is Dwaraka Mayee’. He

was everything to everyone. {Ye yatha maam prapadyante, thaamsthathaiva

bhajaamyaham’ - Gita}.

27. Apart from Baba’s caste, some persons raise the question whether

he was a Brahmagnani and if so how he happened to perform miracles. Persons

who raise such curious doubts would do well to analyze their own question and

find out its implications. Can it be very seriously contended that he who

performs miracles must be an agnani? Will Sri Krishna and Shankara be labeled

agnanis by these people? If these people analyse their own minds, they will

discover the reason fro their doubts. Spiritual aspirants

(Sadhaks) are often decidedly to lose by attending to the thaumaturgic powers or

Siddhis derived from their Sadhana and many Gurus have warned their devotees

from hankering after Siddhis. It is also pointed out by such gurus that there

is a waste of accumulated powers in the exhibition of Siddhis and the

performance of Siddhis is generally attended with the danger of increasing

one’s passions especially the rajas and Tamas, which are embedded in one’s

nature. But can these objections ever arise in the case of one like Sai Baba?

The differences between miracle-mongers and souls like Sri Krishna and Sai Baba

are these. Firstly, in the case of the latter, power arises not by the

repetition of mantras or by the adoption of tantras, but simply as part and

parcel of their divine nature.

yes"> Secondly, these high souls have no hankering for the results of the

Siddhis. They do not ask for recompense, nor do they try to attain ulterior

aims of their by having recourse to Siddhis. Thirdly, the Siddhi power, being

part of their nature, does not exhaust itself by any number of miracles.

Fourthly, they are prompted by pure love, Karuna and their employment of powers

is a means for achieving the highest temporal or spiritual ends for themselves

and others. None of these statements will apply to miracle mongers.

28. In this short introduction we cannot possibly give even a very

rough outline of the various activities of Baba. It is enough to say that he

was a Pramagnani and Samartha Sadguru. A guru is one that teaches; a Sadguru

is one that teaches and draws one to God; a samartha Sadguru is one who draws

people to God employing all his Siddhis and other high powers for the purpose.

It is not all gnanis who have realized God that perform these miracles or

chamatkars. It is not the dehaprarabdha of several gnanis to exhibit any such

power or to assume the

role of samartha sadguru, while it is the dehaprarabdha of others to serve

humanity as such samartha sadgurus and exhibit such powers. No comparison

ought to be made about these two sets of gnanis. Baba ought not to be compared

with any other guru. Comparisons are always odious and hardly necessary for the

benefit of any aspirant. If any person feels drawn to Baba by learning about

Baba’s qualities and activities either from one’s own experience or of others

well -known to him, he may at once proceed to have further contact with Baba

and get the fullest benefit of such contact. There is no need for him to worry

as to how Baba is to be classed - as an Avatar or Avalia, Devatatma or Alwar,

etc. One may simply feel the

taste of sugar and use it without raising the questions to whether it is derived

from beetroot, sugarcane or Palmyra juice. No wise men ever worry about such

matters. They do not attempt to classify various gnanis. We must all be

always humble in our approach to God and divine persons. Any other attitude

will simply thwart our endeavors to reach divinity or to attain the highest

benefit by spiritual exercise.

29. We may very well close this short pamphlet with the practical

question (1) what are the benefits that Baba can confer? And (2) what has one

to do in order to obtain these benefits? The first may be met by a counter

question. What benefits does one expect when he is approaching Baba? Are they

temporal or spiritual? Whatever they may be, there is no benefit that is beyond

the power of Baba to confer. He is worshipped every day with phrases like

‘All-powerful’ (sarva sakthi murthaye namah) etc., and the

experience of devotees proves that he is able to confer benefits of every sort -

curing disease, both physical and mental, giving relief to departing and

departed spirits and to those who are suffering from obsessions or infirmities,

removing domestic troubles, etc.

30. One more word about these labels and comparisons. People are sometimes

unconsciously assuming to themselves ability to judge of all grades of

spiritual nature and power and say that Krishna is superior to Rama, Buddha is

superior to Chaitanya, etc., and cause irritation to others and confusion in

their own minds. If we find the water in one creek or bay saltish, should we

say this creek or bay is superior or inferior to the ocean? God is one.

Divinity manifests itself in innumerable places and ways and according to the

needs of the times, and each god-man does the work of alleviating man’s

miseries and raising him upward. When the question is asked, why should one

give up his Siva or Rama worship and go to Sai, the answer is that there is no

need. If one feels Sai is different from Rama or other Ishta Devata and that

the latter serves all the purposes of the Devotees, if one is thus satisfied

and contented, Sai Baba has never asked and does not ask such a person to

change his position. Baba is highly conservative and wants each man to stick

to his religion, caste, guru. Ishta Devata, Idol, mantras and sampradaya. It

is only if one feels that he is still left with a desire for further benefits

which his customary contact with his Ishtamurthi, guru, mantras, etc., does not

acquire for him, and if he is disposed to place faith in Baba’s powers to grant

these or other benefits, that Baba

allows or directs him to come to his feet. Baba does not interfere with his

loyalties. Faith in Baba is added on to the old loyalties. That faith works

miraculous benefits and tends to strengthen itself. Gratitude and love follow

faith and the resultant benefits. Through these, Baba purifies the heart and

draws the devotee higher and higher up the spiritual ladder. That man who came

for worldly goods finds his desires purified, his mentality changed and thinks

more and better of Baba till at last, finding that Baba is only one of the

numerous names and forms assumed by God, resigns himself to Baba. He then

realizes the absurdity of instituting comparisons between Sai and

other names or forms and of asking why one should go to Sai. It is only those

who are specially blessed by poorvakarma that can be drawn by each of these

personalities, and when so drawn no question arises, and all doubts are driven

off. One huge wave of faith, love and knowledge drowns the soul and draws it

to the feet of God, in Sai form and in all forms.

31. What are we to do to obtain our desired ends with the help of

Baba? There are some who raise questions even preliminary to this. Is it not

better not to desire at all? Is it not degrading to go on praying or asking

for this or that? To persons who really care for nothing i.e., to advanced

Viraktas, this question really will not arise. They are not compelled or

induced to go to Sai Baba. See Bhagavatha - ‘Nirgrantinopi.. Iththam bhutha

guno Harih’ - i.e.,

viraktas are attracted by the nishkamya leelas of the Lord. Sai Baba’s leelas

were purely unmotivated by desire. His whole life in the flesh was one

continuous self-sacrifice for the sake of humanity. In serving Man, he was

serving God; and he advised his devotees to do the same.

32. Undoubtedly it is better not to desire than to have desires and to

seek their gratification through the help of Sai Baba etc. But how many are

there who can calmly reason thus and find power to crush the roots of desire in

their hearts? If there are any such among the readers, they are not asked to

seek Baba’s help or God’s help, if that is different, to attain any objects.

Even the desire for Mukti - liberation - is a desire; and even to attain that,

people pray and seek the aid of experts, i.e., sages who know the way to

liberation and who are gracious enough to extend their help to those

who seek help.

33. The vast majority want benefits, temporal and spiritual, temporal

first and then spiritual. The body and its adjuncts, a family. Etc., have to

be maintained with sufficient prouision for health and some degree of comfort

before people can think of spiritual things. Sai Baba may be approached by all

who feel the need for this urgent help. The more impassioned their appeal, the

more faith they have in Baba, the quicker will be the results, other things

being the same. To these we may suggest the ways and means of contacting

Baba.

34. There are no special ways for approaching Baba, i.e., ways

different from those adopted for approaching other high and noble

personalities. How do we approach our mother? It looks ridiculous for us to

ask such a question. The mother has showered her love on the child long before

it is aware of such love. Thus Baba has similarly played the part of an unseen

mother showering benefits on her children, the devotees, even from their

previous births. But how are they to approach Baba now? Let them sincerely

wish to do so. At once the approach has been started. They are improved from

that very instant. They get more and more enthusiastic and get more and more

benefits. These produce gratitude first and finally strong love. Let the

reader daily think of Baba, seeing his figure in the medals, pictures etc. he

keeps with himself and let him read about Baba’s great deeds more strong than

ll poetic thought. Baba’s 108 Namavalis is a mnemonic device for forcefully

recalling these qualities. Let him attend Bhajans and Pooja where sincere

devotees gather. One song from a sincere

devotee, one artless song, will thrill the hearer and fill him with awe, joy,

piety and lofty sentiments that will last a long time. Le one always go in for

service to humanity or to lower creatures for the sake of Baba i.e., viewing

Baba as existing in each individual person or creature that he sees. Baba

himself will direct the further steps of the earnest enquirer. Ways and means

for further contact and further growth will be disclosed by Baba himself in

innumerable ways to each ardent devotee. The manner in which he imparts these

varies. Some of highly emotional nature see him at times even today and some

talk with him during waking hours. Others get such contact in their dreams.

yes"> Still others earnestly wanting some response and piously opening some

book with a prayer, find their response in that book. Others resort to chits.

Others simply rely on the correctness of their intuition that the though

suggested to them at a particular time is the thought given by Him. In these

and other ways, people get their contact and benefits from Sai. Sai is not

different from God. Are not all these ways adopted by devotees in various

religions to get access to and a response from their God or Ishta Devata? The

same applies to Sai Baba. There are numerous Sai Bhaktas who have such intense

faith in Him as their God and who get their response and

benefits from hi. If any reader is very earnest and wishes to pursue this

matter further, it must be very easy for him or her to ascertain who are the

Sai Bhaktas in their district or province with such Bhakti and, if these are

noted for their pure and lofty nature, they can and might be approached with

perfect safety and advantage.

“BOW TO SAI PEACE TO ALL”

Source: http://www.saileelas.org/books/issaibaba.doc

With Sai love from Sai brothers

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