4th Saying My tomb shall bless and protect my devotees

[Guest guest]

Among these nine types of devotion, devotees should develop faith in at

least one of them. God too will be happy, if the devotee masters at

least one part to proceed to Godhood. Soon, God himself will appear in

the hearts of the devotees. All Sadhanas or efforts like Japa, Tapa,

yoga and recitation of religious texts will all be useless, if there is

no devotion. There are people who deliver discourses very interestingly

but without any devotion. Such oratorical skills and lectures too are a

waste if there is no devotion. Without devotion, the knowledge of the

Vedas and popularity as a scholar will be of no avail. Even bhajans and

singing to the glory of God will not serve any purpose if there is no

love for God in our hearts. What is needed is love, love and love for

God. And that is real devotion.

 

We thus find that devotion alone is very important. The moment we

mention the word devotee, we remember great rishis like Yagnavalkya,

Bhrigu, Parastar, Narada, Sanaka, Sanandana, Sanatana, Santakumara,

Shuka, Shaunaka, Vishwamitra, Vashishta, Valmiki, Vamadeva, Jaimini,

Vaishampayana, Navayogindra and the present yogis like Gnanadeva,

Janardana, Eknath, Namadeva, Tukaram, Annamaya, Tyagaraya, Purandardasa,

Mirabai, Ramdas, Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa and Vivekananda,

Markandeya, Kannappa and Shabari are distinctly shining as the very

embodiments of devotion. India is a land of great devotees.

 

Even the greatest flower of Gnana should have the fragrance of devotion.

Else it will not be worthy of an offer at the feet of the Lord. The

fulfillment of Gnana is Bhakti. Devotees of divine love are ever under

the protection of God. These devotees are born exclusively for the

purpose of worshipping God. They live in God and they merge in God. God

takes special interest in showering his protective blessings on them.

God feels that it is his duty, responsibility and Dharma to look after

the devotees. See how Baba has protected his devotees. Balasaheb Mirikar

took Shyama and the cart started from Shirdi. When he took leave of

Baba, Baba cautioned him about the impending dangers. However, he also

assured that nobody can harm the children of DwarakaMai. At 9'0 clock in

the night, Mirikar and Shyama reached Chitali. In a temple of Hanuman,

they stayed that night.

(to be contd..)

(Source Eleven Holy Sayings of Shirdi Sai Baba by Pujya Shri Ananda Sai

Swamy)