The Guru In Human Form

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The Guru appears in human form to demonstrate both by precept and

example the nature and significance of true bhakti to the benighted

and erring mortals below.

 

Shri Sai Baba's teachings, extolling the qualities of faith and

devotion are true for all times. He maintained that dry

intellectualism has no force, no potency, and that all great

movements of life are actuated by intensity of feeling. Birth itself

which is the greatest event of life is the summum bonum of the

intensity in feeling. Shri Sai Baba recognized that for a religion to

be a living and effective force, profound enthusiasm is necessary,

and, that man is the most enthusiastic who loves the best. Devotion

gives a man the power and the inclination to do and to dare. Such

transcendental love is the ideal of every religion, but it is an

ideal very difficult of attainment for an impersonal or unseen Being.

 

The human soul hankers for something tangible, someone of flesh and

blood to whom can be given this unstinted devotion. Shri Sai Baba

proved this to be this ideal embodiment of God. The Sai Baba whom his

devotees worship is not an ordinary human personality, for it is not

possible to worship a human being who is in the same category as

ourselves, but then again, he is not the transcendent God beyond

human ken, since, as such, he could not have inspired so much love

and warmth. The Sai Baba whom thousands of devotees worship is

precisely the personified Guru --- the manifested Divine who in his

infinite compassion assumes a human form to resuscitate religion.

 

The Master's compassionate sanction is there, " Cast all your burdens

on me, and I will bear them. "

 

It is possible even now, years later, to recapture vividly the

wonderful leelas of this master artist. The dynamics of his

personality, the versatility of his accomplishments, the works and

miracles he wrought from day to day, the peculiar mysticism attached

to his birth and death and deeds can be composed into a story that

reads like a romance yet unsurpassed in the annals of biographical

literature.

 

A visit to Shirdi is an experience in itself. An insignificant

village lying almost on the banks of the sacred Godavari river,

Shirdi has nothing much to commend it in the way natural scenic

beauty or civilized amenities, save for the profusion of sugar cane

plants, from which it has derived its name.

 

The name is, however, symbolically appropriate, for the mystic who

chose this spot as his abode did indeed fill it with the aroma of his

sweet and gracious presence. The exterior of the Ashram is unimposing

too, but as soon as one enters the precincts of the holy shrine where

the mortal remains of the seer lie interred, an unspeakable thrill of

ecstasy passes through one's being, and there is almost an instant

awareness of a living presence. This illusion -- or should we rather

not term it a supreme truth -- that Sai Baba is alive and actually

present in some part of the ashram is one which many a devotee has

experienced. A strange expectancy hovers about the atmosphere, as if

just there round the corner we would inadvertently come across the

familiar and lovable figure.

 

For the many descriptions of the Saint and the remarkable likenesses

that the camera has reproduced of him in his many moods and poses, it

is possible to create him anew! A tall loosely built physique, long

and shapely limbs -- one can visualize him sitting in the masjid

distributing Udi (ashes of the sacred fire that perpetually burnt

before him) to all those who went to him. An arresting appearance,

the olive complexion set off to advantage his handsome features. But

the chief attraction lay in his deep eyes of a mystic half drunk with

some secret nectar, and yet capable of reflecting the many changes in

his moods. When his gaze fell upon a devotee the eyes seem to be

probing into the devotee's innermost recesses, and yet no one seemed

to mind this for the ex-pression in those eyes was one of habitual

compassion. This was the mystic of Shirdi, as he is described by some

of the veteran devotees who saw him, as his photographs and portraits

reveal him to

us.