The Glory of Shirdi Sai - issue 12-2008 from Saidarbar

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THE GLORY OF SHIRDI SAI Sixth Year of Publication Published as Bi-Weekly Issue 12/ 2008 05-06-2008 --------------------------- One World One Family Vasudhaika Kutumbam Om! Asatoma Sargamaya, Tamasoma Jyotirgamaya, Mrityorma Amritamgamaya, Om Shantihi, Shantihi, Shantihi! (Aum! Lead from wrong path to the right path, from ignorance to knowledge, from mortality to immortality! Peace be to All) ----------------------------- You can also read this E- Magazine in

3d page turning NEW FORMAT http://ettitudemedia.com/loadbook.php?BookName=EMagazineCurrent GURUR-BRAHMA, GURUR-VISHNUHU; GURU-DEVO MAHESWARAHA; GURUR-SAKSHATH PARAM BRAHMA; THASMAI SREE GURAVE NAMAHA: Sairam. You can watch Live Web casting from Shirdi Sai Samadhi Mandir from following Link: http://www.shrisaibabasansthan.org/onlinedarshan.asp ----------------------------- THIS ISSUE CONTAINS: 1. FROM THE SATSANGHS OF SAIBANISA JI 2. SAI'S NEWS FROM TIME MACHINE

3. SAI IN DREAMS 4. QUINTESSENCE OF SRI SAIBABA'S PHILOSOPHY 5. SANATANA DHARMA & SHRI SHIRDI SAIBABA 6. DEVOTEES EXPERIENCES 7. SAI WITH CHILDREN 8. SPIRITUAL GEMS FROM SAI SATCHARITRA 9. ARTICLES FROM SAI DEVOTEES 10. LETTERS FROM SAI DEVOTEES 11. TELUGU SECTION 12. SAI'S BOOK WORLD 13. EDITORIAL. ------------------------------- 1. FROM THE SATSANGHS OF SAIBANISA JI http://www.angelfire.com/celeb2/saidarbar/pages/S3500055.htm Compiled by: Sai Sevak Smt. Rajeswari Kasturi, Saidarbar - Hyderabad. Shirdi Sai's Philosophy in the words of Saibanisaji Once there was a boy named Sudhama who wished Enlightenment and earnestly sought the way. From a fisherman he learnt the lore of the sea. From a doctor he learnt compassion towards sick people suffering; from a wealthy man he learnt that saving pennies was the secret behind his fortune and thought how necessary it was to conserve every trifling gained on the path of enlightenment. From a mediating monk he learnt that the pure and peaceful mind had a miraculous power to purify and tranquilize others minds. Once he met a woman of exceptional personality and was impressed by her benevolent spirit, and from her he learnt a lesson that charity was the fruit of wisdom. Once he met an aged wanderer who told him that to reach a certain place, he had to scale a mountain of swords and pass through a valley of fire. Thus

Sudhama learnt from his that there was true teaching to be gained from everything he saw or heard. He learnt patience from a poor crippled woman. He learnt a lesson of simple happiness from watching children playing in the street; and from some gentle and humble people, who never thought of wanting anything that everybody else wanted. He learned the secret of living in peace with the entire world. He learnt a lesson of harmony from watching the blending of the elements of incense, and a lesson of thanks giving from the arrangement of flowers. One day, passing through a forest, he took rest under a noble tree and noticed a tiny seedling growing near by out of a fallen and decaying tree and it taught him a lesson of the uncertainty of life. Sunlight by day and twinkling stars by night constantly refreshed his spirit. Thus Sudhama profited by the experiences gained in his journey. Indeed, those who seek the Enlightenment must think of

their minds as castles and decorate them. They must open wide the gates of their gates for Sadhguru and respectfully and humbly invite Him to enter the innermost chamber, there to offer the fragrant incense of faith and the flowers of gratitude and gladness. To be continued------- --------------- 2. SAI'S NEWS FROM THE TIME MACHINE: June 1911: Kashinath Govind Upasani visited Shirdi for the first time at the age of 41 years. June 1929: Hemadri Pant (Anna Saheb Dhabolkar) completed writing SaiSatcharitra in Marathi. June 1940: Sakhram Balvanth, a staunch devotee of Baba and an advocate from Nashik passed away at the age of 67 years due to heart attack. -------------------------------- 3. SAI IN DREAMS http://www.ettitudemedia.com These are the dream sequences and

messages as received by SaiBaNiSaji From our beloved GURU LORD SAINATH OF SHIRDI. In Anticipation that this feature will help in one's spiritual growth are hereby compiled from his personal Diary and presented to SAIBANDHUS. Translated and presented by RAGHU RAMAN SATULURY. NOVEMBER-1995: 21-11-1995 Sai appeared in the form of an old man and said- “As long as you hold the materialistic possessions, people will flock to you like ants and bees to sugar cane. As long as you are spiritually rich none will come your way. Only a Samardha Sadhguru will stand by you to guide to reach the ultimate in spiritualism”. Wealth is source of attraction whereas in spiritualism, there will be few takers. Bitter guard in spite of it’s not so liked taste is good for

health 27-11-1995 yesterday; I had a very peculiar doubt in my mind. Sai always talked to HIS devotees in simple language in the form of riddles and stories. Does HE know Sanskrit? Sai appeared in the form of a School Teacher and said- The water in the rivers is sweet, helps in survival of many a fish living in it. But all the rivers flow to join the sea ultimately. Sea water although is saline, still larger number of fish find life in the sea. The holiness of the sea is enhanced with the entry of holy rivers enjoining with it. All my devotees are like the fish in the sea. They cannot understand the hard language Sanskrit. They have to be educated in simple language that could be easily understood by a common man. A commoner understands simple language better. To be continued-------

----------------------------- 4. QUINTESSENCE OF SRI SAIBABA'S PHILOSOPHY: (By Late Sri Bharam UmamaheswaraRao) "Shashi": shashi_31 31. Nama Japa If any of us is suffering with bad results of our sinful acts of our previous lives, Baba’s Nama Japa works like Divine ambrosia. During Nama Sankeertana, we must chant only that name which can be easily repeated by all of us. We should not mix many names. If we do Nama Japa, we will undoubtedly attain the grace of Sai Baba. Not only we will get rid off our previous state of life, we will also develop detachment from our body and sense without minding for our likes and dislikes, if we participate in Nama Sankeertana. We must stick to the absolute Reality and we must keep faith in Nama Sankeertana. We should not partake to please others. Sri Sai Baba will fulfill

wishes of ours if we constantly utter His Name and think of Him with pure mind and speech without expecting any reward. If we establish Sai Baba firmly in our minds and do Nama Japa, He will certainly light up the Jnana Jyoti in us. Baba’s Name will illuminate our spiritual path. If we chant His name with love and reverence, we will certainly get the results far more than the mechanical repetition, while the mind wanders. Full faith in the power and potency of Baba’s Name will be generated only when we have developed the requisite degree of enthusiasm, reverence and love towards His Name. To be continued. ----------------------------- 5. SANATANA DHARMA & SHRI SHIRDI SAIBABA. Ekalvya - The ideal Student Eklavya is the story of young tribal boy. This story is a very important part of the Mahabharatha. It depicts the eagerness of a student to learn from his chosen Guru, without

caring for what the consequences may be. It shows the students loyalty to his chosen Guru, who had refused to accept him. This story also shows how a person, irrespective of his parentage can aspire for things seemingly beyond his reach. Eklavya was a young Tribal boy. He loved to accompany his father who was a Tribal chief on hunting expeditions. One day he came across the Gurukula (school) of Dronacharya. Drona was instructing the Pandavas and Kauravas in the art of warfare. Eklavya stood transfixed as he saw the wonders that a bow could do. He thought of the many times that he and his father had missed their aim, while hunting deer. These boys, he thought, never seemed to miss anything. Their teacher was teaching them all the tricks. Eklavya asked his father about this grand looking man who was teaching the young boys. His father explained that the man he was seeing was none other than the great Dronacharya, who was famed for his prowess in warfare. He

had been able to lift a ring, which had fallen into a well using thin blades of grass - such was his skill! "Oh! How I wish I could learn from him," said Eklavya. "Son, he has been engaged by Bhishma to teach the princes of the Kuru dynasty." Replied his father. "I shall try," replied a stubborn Eklavya. He went to Dronacharya, and asked him to accept him as a student. Drona refused, telling him that he taught only Kshatriyas. A dejected Eklavya then took a decision. He would become the best archer, and his teacher would be Dronacharya. He went deep into the forest, which was his home and fashioned a statue of Drona out of clay. He worshipped this clay image and took it to be his Guru. He practiced with bow and arrows relentlessly and gradually became very good in the art of archery. All this time he never forgot to tend to his clay Guru. One day, Eklavya heard a dog barking loudly. Seeing that the dog was distracting him, he

took up his bow and shot five arrows into its mouth. He shot the arrows in such a way that the dog, though unhurt, could no longer close its mouth. It ran whimpering to Dronacharya's Gurukula. The princes and Drona saw the Dog and wondered who had shot the arrows in such a wonderful way. After finding out that it was Eklavya, who said that he was Dronacharya's student, Arjuna was upset. He reminded Dronacharya of his promise that he would be the world's best archer. How could Dronacharya have taken up a tribal boy as his student and made him a better archer too, wondered Arjuna. Drona went to Eklavya with all his students, where he saw the boy practicing in front of his clay image, which had fresh flowers around it. Eklavya ran to him and fell at his feet saying, "Guruji, thanks for coming here, after so many years of learning from your image, I have the good fortune of seeing you." With his heart full of admiration for the young boy, Dronacharya

said, "My boy, you have successfully completed your education. Now it is time for my Guru Dakshina. Will you give me whatever I ask of you?" Eklavya happily replied in the affirmative. Drona then said, "Eklavya, you made me your Guru even though I rejected you. For my Dakshina, give me your right thumb." Eklavya looked at him amidst stunned silence, and then slowly but surely walked up in front of his Guru's clay imaged, and taking out his knife, he cut of his right thumb. He knew he would never be the best archer now, as without the right thumb it is not possible to let go one's arrows. ------------------------------ NEWS Annamayya’s 600th Anniversary Celebrated Source: http://www.hindu.com/2008/05/12/stories/2008051258130200.htm CHENNAI, INDIA, May 14, 2008: On Sunday, over 400 singers from across the city sang in praise of the Telugu saint composer, Annamayya, on the occasion of his 600th anniversary. Among the singers at Sir Pitti Thyagaraya hall in T. Nagar were housewives and winners of a competition held on Saturday at the IIT Madras campus. Sunday’s festival began with a vocal concert by Carnatic musician Gayathri Venkataraghavan. Later over 15 groups, each with at least eight members, rendered Annamayya’s compositions. “Annamayya composed 32,000 songs on Lord Venkateswara during his lifetime. Of this, only 17,000 are known to people,” said Upendra Gupta, who has been teaching Annamayya’s devotional songs. ------- 6.

DEVOTEES EXPERIENCES: ramana9092 Thu, May 8, 2008 3:58 am Dear Sai Devotees, Sai Ram - This happened during 1997. I along with my family went to Shirdi from Nagpur. Though we used to visit the Sai Temple in Nagpur that was our maiden visit to

Shirdi. We got down at Manmad and took a taxi to Shirdi. Along with us were another two persons shared the Taxi. During conversation we came to know that they belonged to Nagpur and are doing some business in Shirdi. They asked us whether we have booked any accomodation for our stay in Shirdi. We said we didn't. Then they said they are having a room in Shirdi which we can use to freshen up before searching for any hotel. At first we thanked for their help and said we will try for some hotel instead. But they insisted that we take the room key and get freshened up and later on search for the hotel. Finally we agreed to their request. One of them took us to their room and opened it and handed over the room key to us and asked us to stay comfortably with out any hesitation with a promise that they will come only in the evening. We finished our bath and

went for the Darshan of Lord Shirdi Sai and had a nice Darshan. After Darshan had our late lunch .After finishing the lunch we booked a room in the nearby hotel and went back to the room and rested. They came to the room after Six PM and we thanked them for helping us during our stay and handed over the key and left for our hotel. This particular experience shows that Sai Baba himself has come to us to help us and made our stay comfortable. Now I am an ardent devotee of Shirdi Sai. P.V.R.Murthy --------------- 7. SAI WITH CHILDREN: http://www.saidarbar.org/HTML/portraits/7.jpg Smt. Madhu Gopal Ravada, Saidarbar, Hyderabad. Hello Children! I am Madhu aunty. Do you know Baba use to play with children and used to tell stories to them? I felt children visiting Saidarbar should be entertained with good stories. Now I want to tell the stories what heard in my child hood. The Legend of the Rice In the days when the earth was young and all things were better than they now are, when men and women were stronger and more beautiful, and the fruit of the trees was larger and sweeter than that which we now eat, rice, the food of the people, was of larger grain. One grain was all a man could eat; and in those early days, such, too, was the merit of the people, they never had to toil gathering the rice, for, when ripe, it fell from the stalks and rolled into the villages, even unto the granaries. And upon a year when the rice was larger and more plentiful than ever before, a widow said to

her daughter "Our granaries are too small. We will pull them down and build larger." When the old granaries were pulled down and the new one not yet ready for use, the rice was ripe in the fields. Great haste was made, but the rice came rolling in where the work was going on, and the widow, angered, struck a grain and cried, "Could you not wait in the fields until we were ready? You should not bother us now when you are not wanted." The rice broke into thousands of pieces and said "From this time forth, we will wait in the fields until we are wanted," and from that time the rice has been of small grain, and the people of the earth must gather it into the granary from the fields. ------------ 8. SPIRITUAL GEMS FROM SAI SATCHARITRA swamymain Fri, May 2, 2008 at 10:33 AM Shri Sai Satcharitra Chapter XXVIII Sparrows Drawn To Shirdi Sai Ram. We have enjoyed the spiritual nectar by reading about one sparrow drawn to Shirdi. Let us now continue with the other sparrows drawn to Shirdi. Megha Now let us go to the third and bigger 'sparrow'. Megha of Viramgaon was a simple and illiterate Brahmin cook of Rao Bahadur H. V. Sathe. He was a devotee of Shiva and always chanted the five syllabled mantra 'Namah Shivaya'. He did not know the Sandhya nor its chief mantra, the Gayatri. Rao Bahadur Sathe was interested in him, got him taught the Sandhya and the Gayatri. Sathe told him that Sai Baba of Shirdi was the embodied form of the God Shiva and made him start for Shirdi. At the Broach Railway station he learnt that Sai Baba was from a different faith and his simple, orthodox mind was

much perturbed at the prospect of bowing down in front of Him, as he prayed to his master not to send him there. His master, however, insisted on his going there and gave him a letter of introduction to his (Sathe's) father-in-law, Ganesh Damodar, alias Dada Kelkar at Shirdi, to introduce him to Sai Baba. When he reached Shirdi and went to the Dwarakamayi, Baba was very indignant and would not allow him to enter. "Kick out the rascal" roared Baba, and then Hearing these words Megha began to tremble. He was wondering as to how Baba had come to know about what was passing in his mind. He stayed there for some days, serving Baba in his own way, but was not convinced. Then he went home. After that he went to Tryambak (Nasik District) and stayed there for a year and a half. Then again he returned to Shirdi. This time, at the intervention of Dada Kelkar, he was allowed to enter the Dwarakamayi and stay in Shirdi. Sai Baba's help to Megha was not through any oral

instruction. He worked upon Megha internally (mentally) with the result that he was considerably changed and benefited. Then Megha began to look upon Sai Baba as an incarnation of Shiva. In order to worship Shiva, bela (Bilva) leaves are required and Megha used to go miles and miles every day to bring them and worship his Shiva (Baba). His practice was to worship all the Gods in the village and then come to the Dwarakamayi and after saluting Baba's gaddi (asan) he worshipped Baba and after doing some service (shampooing His Legs) drank the washings (Tirth) of Baba's Feet. Once it so happened that he came to the Dwarakamayi without worshipping God Khandoba, as the door of the temple was closed. Baba did not accept his worship and sent him again, saying that the door was open then. Megha went, found the door open, worshiped the Deity, and then returned to Baba as usual. SSG: Sai Ram. In a way, such ignorant but innocent people are easy to be helped spiritually since

they are not burdened by the ego's intellectual pursuits. In their cases, they surrender fully. Once Megha realized that Baba was indeed Siva, his surrender was complete. Sai Ram. S.V.Swamy Author, Editor and Book Reviewer www.freewebs.com/swamyreviews To be continued... ------------- 9. ARTICLES FROM SAI DEVOTEES: Ramchand Chugani rgcjp Baba’s All Pervasiveness Baba had become one with every being in the world. Hence the service of any creature ultimately reached Baba. A lady lived in Shirdi and would daily bake two breads- one for Baba and another for herself. One day she was taking the bread for Baba when a dog approached her, licking its lips in hunger. Instantly, by some inner urge, she offered

the bread to the dog. She went back and started again to take the other bread for Baba. Now a pig approached her and she offered him that bread too. Then she realized that she had nothing to give to Baba, she felt intensely sorry and mentally asked Baba’s pardon. Later, she went to Baba and sat down with folded hands. Immediately Baba said, “Ma, today you offered me bread twice so that was doubly satisfied.” The lady thought Baba was taunting her for not giving him anything. Remorsefully she cried, “Baba today I had nothing left with me. So what could I bring for you? Baba replied “Ma you offered one bread to a dog and another to a pig. They both reached me, because I am one with them. Once a lizard, perch on a wall in the Dwarkamai, began chirping vigorously. This considered to be an ill-omen. So a devotee asked Baba what evil it portended. Baba said, “ There is no evil portend in this. The lizard’s sister will presently come here from

Aurangabad to meet her. So she is singing in joy. ”Everyone thought that Baba was joking". As was his won't. But very soon a bhakta arrived from Aurangabad for Baba’s darshan. As he opened his sack, a lizard jumped out. Straightaway she scaled the wall and embraced her ‘sister’. Their gesticulations definitely showed that they were overjoyed to meat each other. How could Baba know all this before hand? All were convinced that the two lizards were sisters. A darvesh had tamed a tiger that used to do certain tricks and thus maintain himself and his master. As the tiger grew old, he could no longer play tricks. Naturally, he and his master both had to face starvation. Ultimately, the tiger became mad and uncontrollable.

As he was approaching his end, the darvesh brought him to Baba for his last grace. Baba asked the darvesh to release the animal whom at once became quiet. Approaching Baba he prostrated himself at Baba‘s feet and as Baba was stroking his back, the tiger opened his jaw and breathed his last. Baba said, ”This was a great bhakta of Lord Shiva. He has gone to Kailasa. Now bury his mortal remains in front of Shiva.” (SHARING WITH SHIRDI BABA'S LOVE) RAM.CHUGANI ------ SAIDARBAR – HYDERABAD Saidarbar – Hyderabad is happy to inform that we are releasing TEN Spiritual Discourses rendered by Saibanisa GopalaRao Ravadaji in TELUGU Language on Lord Sainath in Two MP3 CDs (Total play time 9 hours and 26 minutes) - On Gurupurnimaday (18-7-2008) Sri Saisatcharita contains essence of Ramayan,Bhagavatam, Shivamahapuranam, Gurucharitra,Gurugita and Bhagavadgita and the following Discourses are proof for the same 1)Sivaswaroopamlo Sai 2) RamayanamloSai 3) BhagavathamloSai 4) Saidattavatharamu 5) Gruhastuluaku Sai salahalu

6) Janma Janmalalo Sai 7) Sai Sandeshalu 8) Sai Tatwam 9)Nighuda arthalu 10) Kalalo Sai Sai Ganaharivillu-Bhakti Gitalu Those who know Telugu Language and interested in obtaining the above C.Ds in MP3 Format (Two - CDs) may kindly contact: saidarbar In the Service of Lord Sainath and His devotees, Sai Sevak SrinivasaRao Kasturi For http://www.saidarbar.org -------------------------- 10. LETTERS FROM SAIDEVOTEES: Badri Narasimhan: saibadris Monday, 2 June, 2008, 7:02 AM Jai

Sai Ram On 31st May, 2008, SaiDarbarUSA Satsang was held in SaiMandirUSA Baldwin, NY. All devotees, about of 60 Sevaks and Sevikas, reached by a specially arranged coach from Greater Philadelphia to Baldwin NY. All throughout the journey to Baba's Mandir, Bhajans, Kirtan and Naama Japa were done. Group reached Mandir at 10:30

am. Satsang Started at 11 A.M.followed by Madhyan Aarti and Prasad was served by Mandir. Satsang continued until 04:00pm. Photographs are loaded in the following link: http://picasaweb.google.com/RahulSAGARWAL/Saibaba_temple_visit_Baldwin_2008 Jai Sai Ram Sai Sevak Badri www.saidarbarusa.org ---------------------------- dobbyonearth Wed, 21 May 2008 18:25:48 -0700 Jai Sai Ram, Many Blessings on all your good works. Thank you so much for this latest issue of the Glory of Shirdi in email format. I appreciate you so much for your wonderful Sai Stories and prayers. Koti Pranams at His Lotus Feet. MS dobby ------- nirmalagopal_y On 5/19/08 Dear Sir, The series of Lord Sai E- books are the essence of the life and the nearest route to reach HIS abode at suitable time. We all are highly thankful for the service given by you to the needy society. Thank you, NirmalaGopal & Family. ------------- Response for The Glory of Shirdi Sai E- Magazine in the 3d page turning New FORMAT prakash.vram Thu, May 22, 2008 at 1:28 AM Om Shri SaiRam It is a wonderful experience reading your magazine. I really enjoy each and every bit of this excellent magazine. I would like to have Sai

Amrit Vani scripts in Tamil. Would any one help me? Sai Ram will bless you always for your meritorious job. V.PRAKASH. --------- vijay_bandaru Fri, May 16, 2008 at 10:23 AM SaiRam, I like the concept and the theme is good. Vijay Kumar ----------------- vshirvaikar Fri, May 16, 2008 at 8:56 AM. Really an excellent coverage o Shri Sai life. Experiences of Sai devotees are astonishing. V.V.Shirvaikar ------------- You can also read this E- Magazine in 3d page turning NEW FORMAT in web page http://ettitudemedia.com/loadbook.php?BookName=EMagazineCurrent 11. TELUGU SECTION: Please visit: http://www.telugubhakti.com/telugupages/Misc/ShirdiSai/shirdisai.htm Please visit for Sai Aaratis Audio: http://www.shrisaibabasansthan.org/main_English/saibaba/saibaba_aarti.asp

------------------------------- FOR STARTING A SAIDARBAR CHAPTER OUT SIDE INDIA: Please contact: saidarbar ----------------------------- 12. SAI'S BOOK WORLD: Title: Sai Baba of Shirdi Author: B. K. Chaturvedi Diamond Pocket Books, X-30 Okhla Industrial Area, Phase -II New Delhi - 110 020 ------------- Title: The Eternal Sai Author: S. Maneey Diamond Pocket Books, X-30 Okhla Industrial Area, Phase -II New Delhi - 110 020 --------------------- Title: Shubhra Marga Shirdi Sai Baba Author: Sai Ananda Shirdi Sai Baba Satsang, KBRS Building, Kamaraj Road, Bangalore – 560 042 -------- 13. EDITORIAL: Things impressed me from this

magazine: Full faith in the power and potency of Baba’s Name will be generated only when we have developed the requisite degree of enthusiasm, reverence and love towards His Name. Sai devotees may write about their Sai activities in their place, essays, articles and poetry on Sai to "The Glory of Shirdi Sai" they may be address their contributions to E-mail id: saidarbar We shall put in our best efforts to include them in the Glory of Shirdi Sai- the Bi-weekly E -Magazine. Unless the author of the articles instructs, not to publish his/her E-mail id, we will publish them as a matter of routine

practice. You can for THE GLORY OF SHIRDI SAI for a friend /relative by submitting E-mail ID in the main page of http://www.saidarbar.org Also read the old issues from: http://www.saidarbar.org/glory.htm If you are subscribing this E-magazine for your friend or a relative, we request that the person concerned may be notified about receiving the same. Editor does not accept responsibility for the views expressed in the articles published. This e-magazine is intended for Private circulation only. Information contained in this E-MAIL is about Sri Shirdi Sai Literature and Sanatana Dharma.. If you donot want to receive these E-MAILS in future, please reply with the Subject Line "REMOVE FROM MAILING LIST". Submitted by: SAI SEVAK SRINIVASA RAO KASTURI. Saidabar-Hyderabad-India

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