shridi saibaba life history continues

Human life is full of desires, greed and sensory pleasures. Even if we control these things for a long time, we do not know when they will raise their ugly heads. Due to the influence of Maya on a person , one will distance himself from God and lead a lowly life. The path to reach God is full of thorns and ditches. Even though a person has learned all the Vedas, etc., he cannot go on this path safely. Only he who has already travelled in this path and knows where the ditches are and where the thorns are, can guide us safely to our destination. Such a guide is a ‘Guru’.
One day Baba narrated his experience in the form of a story of Shama, Tatya, Noolkar and others, near Gurusthan. It goes as follows.
In Quest of God
Once four of us thinking we are great learned men, went into the forest. Having heard that there was a temple for the forest deity belonging to the banjaras (nomads), we went in search of it. It was a deserted place. While proceeding we were discussing the ways to reach God. One opined that it was enough if we controlled our mind, another expressed that it was enough if we know about Atma, and so on. But I told them, "We must perform our duties properly and place your body, mind and the five pranas at the feet of the Guru and seek his protection. Then with the blessings of the Guru, we can reach God easily." As we were walking a banjara who was coming in the opposite direction, asked us where we were going. One gave an indifferent reply to him thinking that it was below his dignity to talk to such a person. The Banjara waited for sometime and offered to accompany us and show us the way to the place of our destination. But we proceeded quickly, ignoring him. We roamed in the forest till evening without finding the temple. Luckily, we came back to the place from where we had set out. Again the same banjara was waiting for us. He told that if we had taken his help, we should have definitely seen the temple. "But never mind. You are lucky to have come back to this place. You seem to be very hungry. Please take this food." and offered them food. The others felt insulted and went away. But as I am hungry, I ate the food given by the Banjara and drank water. To my surprise, my Guru appeared in the place of the Banjara. Then I respectfully greeted him with folded hands . My Guru asked me whether I would go with him I told that I was bound by my Guru’s orders.
My Guru took me near a well. He tied my legs together with a rope. Then he tied me upside down to the branch of a tree on the well. He lowered my body in that position into the well until I was two feet above the water. After hanging me like that, my Guru left me. Slowly the place became dark due to nightfall. I heard the tigers roaring from above the well. Inside the well poisonous snakes were hissing. I could not see anything in the pitch darkness. My Guru was very competent. When his protection was there, why should I fear these snakes and tigers? After four or five hours, my Guru came and lifted me up from the well. He asked me how I felt. I told him that I felt very happy. He then asked me whether I had feared at any time. I replied that when he had personally brought me there, why I should fear? Then my Guru, patting me on my shoulders with affection, blessed me. His love for me was more than that of a mother. He admitted me in his Gurukul (school). His love made me forget my parents. I used to look at him with concentration. Every word coming out of him was equal to that of God’s. My house, my property and my parents , all are my Guru only. All my sensory organs left their places and lay centred near my eyes. My eyes were always fixed on my Guru. Except for this, I was conscious of nothing else.
With the blessings of my Guru and without any effort, Atma Jnana came to me. I could understand everything in this creation, just like daylight. This is the effect of my Guru on me. The right conduct, wealth, and desires can be acquired by humans with their efforts. But ‘Moksha’ can be achieved only with the help of a competent Guru.
Baba’s narration of his personal experience, must have taken place while he was under his Guru Venkusa’s care. What we learn from this story is that we must have the help of a Guru, when in quest of God. Without going to a Guru and reposing full faith in him, we cannot know God.
Obeying Baba’s Orders
For the people of Shirdi, Baba was the incarnation of God. When the devotees took leave of Baba, he gave certain suggestions. The devotees took them as Baba’s orders and followed them strictly. If a person not follow Baba’s suggestion, he met with some difficulty.
Once Tatya Kote Patil was on his way to the shandy at Kopargaon in a tonga. He went to see Baba, who advised him not to leave Shirdi. But Tatya replied that when Baba was there, he had no fear and continued his journey. After going some distance, one of the legs of the horse got sprained and the horse sank on its legs, and the tonga fell down. There was no serious danger, but Tatya had to come back to Shirdi. Tatya was grateful to Baba for his motherly love and for foreseeing the mishap and advising him not to go.
A doctor from Europe once came to see Baba. He wanted to go inside the mosque and kiss Baba’s hand . But Baba did not allow him inside the mosque and asked him to pay his respects from outside. The visitor felt insulted and wanted to leave Shirdi immediately. But Baba advised him to leave the next day. Without heeding Baba’s advice, he left Shirdi immediately. After proceeding for some distance, the horse took fright due to some unforeseen reason, and the tonga fell down, the doctor was dragged for some distance, with the result that he received injuries all over the body and had to be hospitalised for several days in a hospital in Kopargaon. What the above two incidents mean are:
i) Though Tatya went against the advise of Baba, he put the burden on, Baba expressing complete faith in him, and he escaped from danger.
ii) The foreigner thought that Baba had insulted him and went away without realising what Baba had advised him was for his good only.
Even what Tatya had done was also not correct. Disobeying Baba and then putting the burden on Baba was also not proper. It was a foolish act.
Ramchander Atmaram
Ramchander Atmaram belonged to ‘Prardhana Samaj’ . He was also known as Baba Saheb Tarkhad. Members of the Samaj do not accept idol worship. He was an advocate practising at Bandra. He was a broadminded humanist. But his wife and sons were devotees of Shirdi Sai Baba. His son got up early in the morning daily and after ablutions, worshipped Baba with his photo before him and only then attended to other work.
Once Atmaram’s wife wanted to go to Shirdi and have Darshan of Baba. Atmaram wanted his son to accompany her. But his son declined stating that if both he and his mother were absent from the house, then there would be none to worship the photo of Baba.
Though Atmaram was against idol worship, he agreed to worship Baba’s photo daily in the same way that his son worshipped, till his son and wife returned, and sent them to Shirdi. The first two days Atmaram worshipped Baba’s photo regularly and had Baba’s prasad before he took lunch. On the third day, Monday, due to urgent court work, he finished the worship early and went away. When he returned for lunch he wanted to have Baba’s prasad first. But, his cook told him that no prasad had been offered to Baba in the morning worship by Atmaram as he had gone out in a hurry and forgotten about offering sugar candy to Baba. On hearing this, Atmaram got up and went to the puja room and found the plate empty. He felt guilty and bowed his head before Baba. What his son feared had happened. As a punishment for not offering Baba sugar candy, he decided not to take his lunch and went back to court.
At about the same time, Atmaram’s son and wife stood with devotion before Baba in Dwarakamai . Baba called Atmaram’s wife and told her that when he went to their house in Bandra that day to eat something, he found the puja room locked, but even then he went inside and found nothing there which he could eat and so returned hungry. He further told her that her husband also had not taken food that day for having sent Baba away hungry. She was surprised at Baba’s revelation and immediately wrote a letter to Atmaram at Bandra.
That day after going to court again in the afternoon, Atmaram wrote a letter to his son at Shirdi, explaining the lapse on his part. On the third day both the letters reached their destinations. On seeing his father’s letter, the son ran to Baba with the letter. Baba told him, "Son, do not fear. In future, your father will never forget me. He will also worship my photo as you do. You can stay here as long as you wish."
On reading the letter received from Shirdi, Atmaram wondered how Baba could have known his lapse in forgetting to offer prasad and his observing fast as a punishment for this. He came to the conclusion that there was no difference between Baba and his photo and that idol worship was not incorrect if worshipped with faith. From that day onwards, he took a vow before Baba’s photo that he also would daily do Baba’s worship along with his son. He felt very happy with the way things had happened through his son. Usually children learn spiritual matters from parents. But in this case, the son acted as a guide to his father and brought him into Sai’s fold. Atmaram was really lucky to have such a son.

All readers irrespective of age, who are doing Parayana of this Life History of Baba should understand the moral in each story and try to emulate them in their life. They should stand out as model Sai devotees. Let us also pray to Sai Baba to fulfil his responsibility also by guiding us towards attaining moksha.

shridi saibaba life history in english

Das Ganu resigned his job in the year 1903, and completely devoted himself to Sai and fully immersed in spreading Baba;s philosophy. All worldly desires left him. Through HariKatha and kirtans he began explaining the spiritual matters to others. Because of this he could also easily learn with Baba’s Grace, many matters relating to Bhakti, Jnana and Vairagya. If we keep our mind stable and peaceful, jnana comes by itself with Guru’s blessings. With Jnana obtained in such a manner, Das Ganu wrote and published Shanta Kathamrutham in the year 1905 and Bhakta Leelamrutam in the year 1906. Hemand Pant started writing Baba’s Life history in the year 1917 and finished it in the year 1929. Till this became available to devotees, they used to read the above-mentioned two books of Das Ganu. There are a number of Sai leelas in these two books.
Nanavali
A number of devotees used to approach Baba with materialistic desires. Nanavali used to observe all this from a distance. He used to put only an upper cloth on him and looked like a mentally deranged person. His talk was harsh and eyes fearful to look at, usually no one talked to him. He never tolerated any injustice and if he came across such a thing he went there and condemned it with his harsh words. The public moved away if they noticed him coming. If he came across any persons having bad ideas or thoughts he scolded them with harsh words and sometimes threw stones at them.
He never tolerated it if anyone talked against Baba. Such was his devotion towards Baba. One day he noticed some merchants asking Baba about money matters and troubling him much. He came forward quickly and sat in front of Baba, demanding, "Fakir! I want a big tree which bears money immediately. I do not want a small tree which cannot give me money just now. It should give money the moment it sprouts." Baba cooled the temper of Nanavali and assured him that he would grant his request and Nanavali went away laughing.
The devotees present there conveyed their feeling to Baba that it was not good for Baba to entertain Nanavali, who was a crazy person. Baba replied as follows, "While I am sitting in his mosque to show you Jnana Marga leading to salvation, you are coming to me for wealth, fame, status and other materialistic desires. What is it that one has to achieve in his lifetime? Is wealth the only thing? No, but wealth is also necessary - only up to the level of leading a normal life and that too with money earned the right way. Even if you earn and accumulate a lot of wealth out of greed, throughout your life, it is a fact that nothing will come with you after you die."
"My spiritual treasury is overflowing. I can give whatever devotees desire. They can also come and take away whatever amount they like. But they should qualify themselves for receiving it. But they are not willing to take what I give them, they want only what they desire. I am prepared to give them priceless gold. But they choose only earthen lumps."
"From where did we come into this human body? What we are doing now? From here, where are we going? Who is behind our births and deaths? Who created the sun, the moon, the stars and other planets? People don’t think about all this. They are only after wealth and physical happiness thinking that this life is permanent. But they are getting destroyed like the insects which drawn to the flame perish. This is complete Agnana ( ignorance) which is quite opposite to Jnana Marga . I came in this body only to put humanity in the Jnana Marga."
Many a time Baba elaborated the word "I and Me" through his teachings. To know about me or to search for me you need not go elsewhere. If you remove your name and form, then what is left in you is myself. Not only in you but I am equally present in all living beings. If you realise this, then you can see me in all living things . If you cause any pain to any living thing, you are hurting me. Those who tolerate the hardships caused to them by others, are dear to me."
Chandra Bai Borkar
Chandra Bai Borkar visited Shirdi for the first time in the year 1898 at the age of 28. The mud walls of the mosque ( Dwarakamai) were in a bad condition. In those days Baba used to spend most of his time sitting under the neem tree. Chandra had personally seen Baba lighting the lamps with water. She had also seen Baba sleeping on the narrow wooden board tied to the rafters of the mosque with lengths of cloth pieces and with lamps on the four corners of the board.
Her husband was Ramachandra Borkar, an engineer. In 1909, he was supervising the construction of a bridge near Pandarpur. During that period, she came to Shirdi and spent many days in the presence of Baba. But Ramachandra Borkar never visited Shirdi. One day, Baba called her and told, "Mother, go to Phandarpur. I will also come along with you." She went with two other ladies to Pandarpur and found that her husband had left the place a short while before her arrival. So again she set out to Shirdi. But the money amongst all the three was just sufficient to purchase tickets only up to Khurudwadi station. At Khurudwadi, a fakir came to them and told her that her husband was at Dhond railway station and asked them to go there. But she had no money to go there. When she told him this, he immediately put three tickets for Dhond Station in her hand and left the place. The ladies left for Dhond.
Ramachander Borkar was sitting on the platform of Dhond railway station, half asleep. A fakir appeared before him and asked him how he forgot his wife, saying that his wife would be coming shortly by train to Dhond. He gave him a slip with the number of the rail coach in which she is coming. Ramachander Borkar came out of his sleepy state and found a slip in his hand and concluded it was not a dream. Just then a train arrived on the platform and he saw his wife coming out of the coach. He immediately told her of the miracle that had happened. Having experienced Baba’s nectar like love for them, they felt immensely happy. Chandra Bai Borkar’s story is one of such several instances when several couples who got separated for one reason or other got united again by praying to Baba.
In 1910 - 11, our country was under the rule of the British. Those were the days when the Indian National Congress under the presidentship of Dadabhai Naoroji resolved to have self-rule for our country. Among the then Congress leaders, there were extremists, who believed in achieving their object by violent methods and those who believed in non-violent methods. Bal Gangadhar Tilak was the leader of the extremists and coined the slogan "Freedom is my Birthright", demanding complete freedom to our country immediately, touring in all directions of the country, giving lectures and awakening the masses. The British government arrested them under ‘Sedition’ and sent them to jails outside India. B.G. Tilak was sent to jain in Mandalay in Burma. A close associate of Tilak was Diwan Bahadur Ganesh Sri Krishna Khaparde. Being the right hand person to Tilak he feared his arrest. Deciding that except Shirdi Sai Baba none can save him, he came to Shirdi on 5 December 1910 and served Baba.
G.S.Khaparde
G.S.Khaparde was a leading advocate of Amroti, earned a lot. Having associated in the freedom movement he came in contact with several people. He was very much interested in name and fame, wealth and family happiness. On the day of his arrival at Shirdi, Baba told him, "This is your house. You can stay here fearlessly. When I am here as your protector, you can stay here fearlessly. When I am here as your protector, you need not fear anything." These words of Baba coincided with his thoughts.
After staying at Shirdi for a week, Khaparde, went back to Amroti. He came for the second time to Shirdi along with his family on 6 December 1911 and approached Sai Baba without any reservations, with a pure heart, mind and body. Baba detained him at Shirdi for a period of 3 ½ months till his problems were solved.
Kashinath Govind Upasani Shastri (Upasani Baba)
As there was no other way out to remove his bodily ailment, Kashinath came to Shirdi on 27 June 1911. As soon as he entered Dwarakamai, Baba told him, "Son I know you for the past seven births. If you stay at Shirdi, you will achieve your goal in life. Because of your good deeds in your previous birth, you achieved spiritual progress. If you stay here for some time with a stable mind you will reach a higher state." So saying Baba blessed him. When Kashinath approached Baba on the third day for permission to leave Shirdi, Baba declined to permit him and asked him to stay at Shirdi. "In case you want to go, come back in a week’s time."
Kashinath left Shirdi and several strange things happened even before he reached home. He returned to Shirdi on the seventh day, as advised by Baba. Before he reached Shirdi, Baba appeared to him in several forms and gave him some indications. Baba made him recollect these things and ordered him to stay for 4 years at Khandoba temple meditating.

During the period Baba taught Upasini several matters and showed several leelas and experiences. These methods or teaching were very strange and beyond our imagination. We cannot find similar things anywhere in the sacred books. The divine powers in Kashinath went on increasing with the increased period of his meditation. The testing by Baba increased along with the increase in Uapasini’s divine powers. Seeing the powers of Upasini, some Sai devotees approached him and invited him to their places. But he should not go out during the period of diksha. On the other hand he could not withstand to the tests put by Baba. At last without completing the four years period prescribed by Baba, he left Shirdi secretly in the night without informing Baba on 25 July 1914, a few months earlier. We also may sometimes be unable to withstand the Maya and be distanced from Baba. Let all the Sai devotees have complete faith in Baba and treat his word as the word of God. Let their thoughts be on Sai only and none else.

shridi saibaba history continues

The Story of Two Goats
That was the month of May in the year 1909. Geographically situated at a higher altitude, Shirdi had acute shortage of water during summer months. The severe summer made the people very uneasy. In the nights the villagers slept outside in the open though there was no breeze. But in the early hours there was a cool breeze which the villagers enjoyed very much, thinking it to be God-sent. The morning climate was pleasant like the innocent smile of babies laughing.
Baba was going from Dwarakamai towards Lendi Bagh. Behind him were Shama, Tatya, Balashimpi, Bhagoji Shinde and others.
Just then a heard of goats passed that way. Baba caught hold of two goats from the herd. Bhagoji Shinde went to assist Baba. He talked with the owner of the herd and purchased the two goats for Rs.32. The actual cost of the two coats would not be more than Rs.7. Baba ordered for five seers of chana dal (Bengal gram) and fed the goats. Seeing the strange behaviour of Baba, Shama questioned him about this. Baba replied, "I have neither a house nor family and therefore I should not accumulate wealth." Even then Tatya and Shama were discussing seriously among themselves about the transaction. Baba gave away the two goats to the owner of the herd. Baba explained his strange actions and also the story of the two goats, to the devotees thus; "These two goats were humans in their previous births. They were with me for some time. They were brothers born to the same mother and were affectionate in the beginning. As they grew up, enmity grew between them. The younger brother earned a lot of money with his intelligence. The elder brother, out of jealousy, tried to kill his brother and steal all his money. In this way the two brothers tried to kill each other. At last both of them died at the same place and time by killing each other. Because of their actions in the previous birth, now they are born as goats. When they were passing by me, I recognised them and drew them near to me. From the happy human life they have come down to animal life in this birth and are suffering. In view of their connection with me in their previous births, I wanted to keep them with me and make their lives happy. But you all made a fuss about my transaction and so I returned them to their owner."
From the above-mentioned story of the two goats we learn two things. If we indulge in enmity and quarrels, we will come down from human life to animal life in our next birth. Though the goats were with him in the previous birth, Baba could not keep them with him because his present colleagues started murmuring. We must always do things which are liked by all around us, and not hurt the feelings of those who are with us.
Hari Kanoba
A resident of Bombay, Hari Kanoba, on hearing the greatness of Baba came to Shirdi to test the greatness of him. When he went to the mosque he put on his best dress, wore new footwear and sprayed scent on his dress. He did not know where to keep his costly footwear before entering the mosque. He kept them in a corner near the mosque and went in. He waited till his turn came and greeted Baba with folded hands. Baba gave him udi as prasad. All the while he was in the mosque, his mind was on the new footwear left outside and not on Baba. When he came out of the mosque, he was shocked to find his new footwear missing. Then he began thinking - on hearing of Baba’s greatness he had come, but lost his footwear and blamed Baba for what had happened. He went to his room. While he was eating a boy with a stick, at the end of which the footwear was tied, was announcing loudly "Hari Ka Beta, Zari Ka Peta", meaning son of Hari and sporting zari headgear. Kanoba came out of his room on hearing the announcement and found his new footwear on the stick carried by the boy. He called the boy and on enquiry he was told that Sai Baba had given him the footwear and asked him to go round the place announcing as stated and if someone responded to this, then to give the footwear to him.
Kanoba then went inside the room and brought and showed the zari headgear to the boy, and claiming the footwear, felt immensely happy. He thought that Baba might have known his name and about the zari headgear. But how could he know about his father’s name? Thus Kanoba who had come to test Baba, found him to be of all pervasive.
Fakir Maddhu Shah
In the year 1913, Madhu Shah, a resident of Meerin village near Jalgaon, came to Shirdi and requested Baba for Rs.700 which was urgently required for a good cause. At the instance of Baba, Jog gave Rs.700 in coins to two youths, Lakshman and Gulab with a direction to give this money to Maddhu Shah. But the youths gave only Rs.500 to the fakir, Maddhu Shah, and kept for themselves the balance of Rs.200.
Maddhu Shah told Baba that he received only Rs.500. Baba appearing not to have taken note of it, gave the fakir udi as prasad and sent him away. The fakir travelled for about two miles and was near Neemgaon, when a tahsildar named Erun Shah, passed in a tonga. On seeing the fakir he got down from the tonga,gave the food packet he was carrying and also Rs.200. The fakir took the money and food packet, and feeling very happy, continued his journey after some rest.
Erun Shah, the tahsildar, reached Shirdi and stayed in the house of Tatya Patil. He told him about a dream he had. In his dream someone told him, "Come to Shirdi in a tonga. On your way near Neemgaon you find a fakir with a tiger skin on him. Give him Rs.200 and also some food." He finding such a fakir near Neemgaon he gave him Rs.200 and some food.
Six months after the above mentioned incident, the two youths, Lakshman and Gulab, came to Erun Shah and gave him Rs.1000 each in some other connection. Thta day again Erun Shah had a dream. Someone told him in his dream, "In your dream about six months back, as per my direction you gave to a fakir Rs.200. Today, I am giving you ten times that." What moral we learn from this story is, Baba collected ten times the amount from Lakshman and Gulab , which they had misappropirated, not caring for Baba’s instructions and made the two youths pay to Erun Shah, who obeyed Baba’s instructions,ten times the money he had paid to the fakir. Those who steal God’s money will have to pay back ten times that during this birth or in the future. Under any circumstances one should be willing to spend for God but if one is tempted to take God’s money then one will have to suffer.
Desiring Mantropadesa from Baba
An old woman called Radha Bai Deshmukh treated Baba as her Guru and she wanted to have Mantropadesa and also Atma Sakshatkara. With this determined desire, she went to Shirdi and requested Baba to teach her mantras. But Baba kept silent. Then she went on a fast and decided not take food or water till Baba taught her mantras. Her fast continued for three days and she became very weak. Shama noticed this and fearing that Baba might get a bad name if anything happened to her, requested Baba to interfere in the matter and save the woman.
The Baba sent for her and told, "Mother, I am like your child, You are like my mother. Why are you undergoing this agony and desiring death? I am a fakir. Show kindness to me. My Guru was a great ‘Satpurusha’ . When I approached him, he asked me two coins as dakshina. They are not ordinary coins. One is shraddha (faith) and the other is saburi (patience). Shraddha means faith, doing work correctly and saburi means patience - equanimity in the face of difficulties. As soon as he asked for them, I improved these two qualities in me and gave them to my Guru as dakshina. He immediately got my head tonsured and accepted by dakshina.
When my Guru was in meditation, I used to sit in front of him, and then focus my eyes on his face, without diverting it on other matters; this went on for days, forgetting hunger and thirst. He also used to look at me with love. On such occasions we used to be full of mutual love and happiness. I could not withstand our separation even for a moment. There was no other goal for me except my Guru He also desired to have my love only and nothing else. He used to radiate his affection on me always.
"I wil never tell a lie sitting in this mosque. My Guru did not tell me any mantra in my ear. So I cannot also give any advice to you. If you want to have me as your Guru, you must behave as I did in the case of my Guru. Keep me as the goal for your thoughts and ideals. See me with undeterred sincerity and I will also see you in the same manner. Some drawbacks and pressures in life will try to separate us. Without yielding to such things you should exercise patience and be happy. Unless you act like this, you cannot reach your life’s goal. You need not bother about the four kinds of practices, six shastras or eight kinds of yoga. With strong devotion, if you serve your Guru that is enough. This is the only true thing that my Guru taught me."
These nectar-like words of Baba changed the heart of the old woman and she gave up the fast. That day Baba made her sit next to him and eat her food.
Sai’s philosophy is about mantras, pujas and procedures coming down from ages, and also the blind beliefs. What are required to be given to Sai Baba are our heart, mind and ego. When we offer these three to our Guru, then the five senses will lose their power. A person who controls the five senses will be deemed to have won the world. As advised by Baba, if we focus our eyes on the Guru, some changes will take place in our body. Let us see what these changes are. All our senses will desire external pleasures. This is the natural tendency of the senses. But if we concentrate our mind on the Guru, then the mind will not stray. Then the desires will disappear and the mind will be focussed on Guru only. In the olden days they did penance to achieve this only. If we concentrate our mind on Guru keeping this as our life’s aim, then this is equivalent to penance.

Ekalavya could learn and master the arts of warfare, by concentration of his mind and meditation on Dronacharya. Baba’s teaching about devotion to Guru is also like penance. Keep these in mind and read the words of Baba once more. In these days, where weaker sections of our society cannot do sacrificial rites, Sai who descended from Kailash has shown this easy way to attain moksha. Wishing all the readers will go in the Sai Marga and enjoy peace and happiness.

shridi saibaba life history continues

God sends yogis to different places in this world to propagate spiritual matters to counter the growing evils and balance this to a certain extent. This is the main aim of the yogis or religious leaders. Though they function at different places, they know each other and from where they are functioning. As Vasu Devananda Saraswathi said, Shirdi Sai Baba was like an elder brother to all such yogis.
We come in contact with yogis because of our good actions of the previous birth. Persons who did not do good in their previous births, will fall prey to desires and lead the lives of animals as they cannot put their minds to divine ways. Because of the good actions in our previous birth, today we are lucky to do Parayana of the Life History of Shirdi Sai Baba, who is the king of all yogis.
Appa - The Kannada Yogi!
Thakur was working as a clerk in the Revenue Department. Once he visited the Kannadiga Yogi Appa and touched his feet in reverence. Appa gave him a book on Vedanta titled Vichara Sagara and asked him to read it without fail as this would fulfil his wishes. He said, "Sometime in the future when you go in the northerly direction on official work, you would be lucky to come in contact with a great yogi. By his darshan you will have peace of mind and happiness. He will show you the proper way to your life’s journey." After sometime Thakur was transferred to a place called Jinner. To reach it he had to cross a deep valley by riding on a buffalo. He suffered a lot while he was at Jinner. After sometime he was tranferred on promotion to Kalyan. There he learnt about Baba and his greatness through Nana Chandorkar. He came to Shirdi and by touching Baba’s feet, he experienced a lot of happiness. Baba who is omnipresent told Thakur, "The road here is not as easy as what Appa told you. It is also not as easy as travelling on a buffalo in the valley. One should work had relentlessly. Walking on this road is like walking on a sharp-edged sword."
Without asking Thakur who he was, from where he had come and the purpose of his visit, Sai Bhagwan knew everything. After hearing Sai, Thakur’s eyes were fully of tears out of joy and he experienced complete bliss. He found that what the Kannadiga yogi Appa had said was true. With complete devotion he prostrated at the feet of Baba. After putting his hand on Thakur’s head in an act of blessing, Baba told him, "What Appa had told you is true. But you have to learn them and put them into practice. No useful purpose will be served by simply reading the holy books. The knowledge obtained from the books without the blessings of Guru will be of no use." Every word that came out of Baba was like nectar. The readers should not only take this nectar but also continue on their life’s journey in a peaceful manner.
The Nine Forms of Devotion
Ananta Rao Patankar of Poona was a Vedic scholar. Though he read all the Vedas, Upanishads and the eighteen Puranas he had no peace of mind. He came to Shirdi and visited Baba. On seeing him he experienced a lot of happiness which he did not experience in his life till then. He fell at Baba’s feet and pleaded with him to show compassion and bless him. Then Baba said, "Once a merchant came to me. He wanted to put some questions to me but could not do so. He was looking straight at me. Just then a mare in front of him passed stools in the shape of nine balls. The merchant collected all the nine balls and put them in his upper cloth by which he was able to concentrate his mind and thus have peace." But the scholar Patankar did not understand the analogy between peace of mind and the nine balls. A devotee, Dada Kelkar, at the instigation of Baba, explained the significance of the story as follows.
"Merchant means a person having special qualities not found in ordinary people, a Jnani. A mare means God’s Grace. Nine balls of horse’s excretion means nine kinds of devotion. The devotee in search of God should fix his mind on the Sadguru, and serve the Guru sincerely. Then God will pity him and show him the nine devotional ways. The devotee can choose any one of the nine ways and reach God. The nine ways are :
1.Shravan - Hearing divine stories and reading the Puranas.
2.Kirtan - Singing devotional songs in praise of the greatness of God.
3.Smaran - To recollect what one had heard through Shravan, and- always remembering them.
4.Pada Seva - Worship of the feet and prostration.
5.Archana - Different kinds of rituals performed daily.
6.Namaskar - Bowing the head in respect, and salutation.
7.Dasya - Doing service to God like a servant.
8.Sukhyatva - Considering God as a friend and making friendship.
9.Atma Nivedan - Surrendering one’s life and Atma to God.
Devotion is of nine kinds. As we progress and the mind begins to settle down, we can worship God in all the nine ways. Let us make sincere efforts to reach God through the nine devotional ways like the Jnani in the story.
The Story of Avasthe
P.R. Avasthe was a judge at Gwalior. Hearing of the greatness of Baba through Rege, he wanted to see him. In 1914, on his way to Phandaripur, he came to Shirdi along with Rege. Those were the days of the First World War. These two were travelling by train from Gwalior to Manmad. When the train reached Mhow where there were a large number of troops, all the passengers in the train were asked to alight so as to enable the transport of the troops. Avasthe and Rege also had to get off the train. They prayed to Baba to help them. In the meantime the Military Commander came and after inspecting their carriage told them that this was too small to accommodate the troops and told them that they need not get down. The whole night Avasthe sang devotional songs and prayed to Baba. They reached Shirdi the next day morning. When they went to the mosque to see Baba, he asked Rege who the unstable devil with him was. He said, "They tried to disembark my children from the train. But I told the captain that you are my chldren and let them come to me. But this Avasthe was by my side the whole night, calling ‘Baba!Baba!"
From the above incidents we learn that Baba always protects the devotees who fully believe in him. Previously Avasthe had a yogini as his Guru. He thought that now if he started worshipping and serving Baba, he might be considered as unfaithful to the yogini who was his Guru. But Rege told him that his Guru was also integrated in Sai Baba who is considered to be the incarnation of God and Guru for the entire world ( Jagatguru). Hence, if he worshipped Sai Baba it amounts to worshipping his Guru yogini. But Avasthe desired to have some proof of this. For the afternoon arathi, he took a rice ball kept in a small vessel covered with a cloth. He thought within himself that if Baba personally asked and took the rice ball, then he would definitely belief that his Guru yogini was also in Baba. He started climbing the steps of Dwarakamai when the rice-ball fell down accidentally. What he had wanted to keep as a secret, became public. When he was picking up the rice ball from the floor, Baba called him and asked him to give it to him and said that he in turn would send it to the person for whom it was intended. Avasthe felt very happy. His Guru yogini had attained Samadhi long back. He decided to have Baba as his Guru. Even afterwards Avasthe used to come to Shirdi and consult Baba whenever he wanted advise in worldly matters; spiritually also he advanced much by seeking Sai’s advise.
Accepting Sai Baba as Guru
From the above story, the moral we learn is - If the devotees of Sai have had some other Gurus previously, and so think that they are being unfaithful to them, if they treat Sai Baba as their Guru now, no such doubt need be entertained by them, since Sai Baba is the Guru of Gurus, Samartha Sadguru King of Gurus and yogis. He has powers to command the entire world and also to control the five elements. If any disciple of a Guru comes under protection of Sai, the Guru will be pleased. Some gurus with an eye on the welath and power of their disciples, will try to create some unpleasant situations with some concocted stories.

Baba also was not for changing Gurus. He always checked to see what type of disciple he was and under what circumstances he had left his previous Guru and come to him. There are a number of disciples who would worship a particular Guru or God for some time and if they did not gain anything, they would change their Gurus or Gods. They would run to the Guru or God who fulfilled their wishes. Such persons are after material benefits and not spiritual advancement, being without faith and patience. When they came to Baba, he would tell them, "What is required for you is not another Guru. If you cannot have undeterred devotion and gratitude towards your Guru, but come to me, no useful purpose will be served and you cannot benefit anything. Therefore, first of all you should learn how to serve your own Guru in the correct manner and do not keep changing your Guru." To those who approached Shirdi Sai Baba and saw his greatness personally, and were unable to surrender themselves completely, our appeal to them: "Previously there was no Guru equal to Sai Baba. In future also we cannot get such a Guru. Let us prostrate to this Satchidananda Samartha Sadguru, and request him to make us understand this true Avatar, before we complete the Parayana of his Life History. We will also pray to him to see that we have abundant devotion for him with his devotion lasting our lifetime. When the life goes out of our body our kith and kin and material things do not come with us. We also pray to Sai to be with us in our solitary journey and to give us moksha or higher form of life in the next birth and be with us in all the future births.

shridi saibaba life history continues

How Sai saved Sathe from Ruin
Sathe moved close with Baba. But there was not much spiritual progress in him. Though he grew older he could not control his desire for lust.
In Shirdi was a beautiful woman who attracted males desirous of satisfying their lust. Sathe once went to see Baba, before visiting her. On seeing him, Baba asked him whether he is on his way to ‘Saala’, the place of the ill-repute woman. But Sathe, not aware of this nickname for the place, thought Baba was asking him about school (meaning saala) and gave some vague answer. Afterwards, he went to the house of the woman and sat in the verandah, indulging in some pleasant talks. The talks appeared to take Sathe on a ruiness path. When he opened the doors of the room, he was shocked to find Baba standing there and staring at him with his sharp eyes, as if to caution Sathe. Baba also made some gestures with his hand which appeared as though he was questioning him whether he had all the way come to Shirdi only to get ruined. He immediately turned back and came to the mosque. He fell on the feet of Baba and took a vow not to visit that woman again during his life time. Then Baba blessed him with his hand raised. In this incident Baba did not speak much, but did everything silently. Baba corrected the wrongs of his devotees in such a way that only those who committed them would understand without others knowing about them.
Meghashyam
Meghashyam was a great devotee of Lord Shiva. He regarded Baba as an Avatar of Shiva. When some devotees gave Baba Shiva’s idol from Panipat, he presented it to Megha in appreciation of his devotion to Shiva. Megha did abhishek to this idol everyday. After some time, the idol was put below the neem tree in Gurusthan, which can be seen even now.
One afternoon, Megha was sleeping in his room in Sathe Wada bolting it from inside. Baba appeared to him in his dream and said "Megha! Draw the trident (trishul) near the Shivalinga and sprinkle some akshatas (rice) on it." When Megha woke up and looked around, he did not find Baba. But he found the akshatas sprinkled by Baba all over the room.
Megha went to Dwarakamai and asked Baba whether he had come to Wada and ordered him to draw the trident (trishul) . Baba replied in the affirmative. Megha then asked him how he entered the room when it was bolted from inside. Baba replied, "Son, do you think that Baba is only the physical body that you are seeing? I am everywhere. Walls and doors cannot obstruct my movements."
Megha died in the year 1912. Baba touched his dead body and declared that he had been a real devotee, and tears fell from his eyes. He entrusted the work connected with cremation and the obsequies of Megha to Kaka Dixit. After a few days, Shama asked Baba when he was alone, "Baba, we are unable to understand your actions. You used to tell us that death is only to the body and not Atma which is permanent . But then Megha died you shed tears and also accompanied the body for some distance. Why did you have this special affection for Megha?" At this Baba smiled and said, "Shama! You have put a wise question. The two doubts you are entertaining are true. But it is necessary to understand properly the connection between them. Every issue is connected with the prevailing conditions in this world and also the timing of the actions. Keeping these in mind, one should try to understand the matter. When this is absent, sometimes the Guru will be viewed critically. When the disciple is in a position to criticise his Guru, he does not stand to benefit anything from him, but on the other hand misunderstandings may develop. Things which we cannot properly understand, should not be left to our limited knowledge. Every disciple will face such a situation. But those who offer everything to their Guru wholeheartedly, will consider the actions of the Guru for our good only. In such case, there will not be room for duality in thoughts and actions.
"In the present issue, it is a fact that Atma is permanent and the body only dies. Usually those who die are born again with some other body. But Megha had completely detached himself from all worldly things. He attained moksha (salvation). In the shape of Atma he is going far beyond the sun and the moon. That is the reason why I grieved about him."
Mhalsapathi, hearing these clarifications of Baba, was pleased and satisfied with them. Baba looked at Mhalsapathi and said, "Bhagat! One who does not seek answer to his doubts will remain ignorant. But one who seeks answer will be ignorant only till he asks and after that he will be a learned person."
Baba Sanctifying the Religious Books
Some devotees of Baba, before reading the religious books gave them to Baba. Baba opened the books, looked into some pages and returned them to the devotees. The devotees believed that by reading those books touched by Baba, they would properly understand the contents, and the Parayana would continue unhindered.
Once Kaka Mahajan brought the book Eknath Bhagwat to Shirdi. Shama came to the mosque with this book, wanting to read it. Baba took the book from Shama, touched it and returned it to him, asking him to keep it with him only. But Shama told him that the book belonged to Kaka and therefore should be returned to him. But Baba replied, "I am giving this book to you." In this way Baba gave several books to Shama. Shama was an innocent person with a blind devotion. He had no education and had not read many religious books. Hence, Baba gave him a number of religious books.
Once a devotee Ramdas came to Shirdi. He was a great devotee of Lord Rama. He stayed at Shirdi for some days. Every day sitting in the front side of the mosque, he read Vishnu Sahasranamam and Aadyatmika Ramayana. He made this Parayan several times. One day, while he was reading the Vishnu Sahasranaman, Baba sent him out on an errand. He obeyed Baba and stopped the Parayana in the middle. After Ramdas left, Baba took the Vishnu Sahasranamam book of Ramdas and gave it to Shama, saying, "Shama, this Vishnu Sahasranamam book is very valuable, which gives good results. I am presenting this to you. You read this sincerely with devotion. Once when my heart was beating rapidly, I suffered a lot and thought that my life was in danger. Under such difficult conditions, I put this book on my heart. It did a lot good and the suffering reduced. I thought Allah had come personally and cured my ailment. I am giving such a powerful book to you. If you read daily one Namam also, a lot of good will happen to you."
But Shama hesitated to take the book as it belonged to Ramdas, who was an angry and quarrelsome person and a quarrel might take place when Ramdas returned. But he failed to understand that Baba’s aim was to do him good. On his return, Ramdas learnt about this and created a scene even though Shama narrated the facts. Then Baba called Ramdas and said to him, "Ramdas, why are you in an angry and quarrelsome mood? Shama had nothing to do in the matter. I gave the book to him. Is he not our man? Why are you quarreling with him unnecessarily ? Always talk softly and with love. Even though you read sacred religious books daily, your mind still is not purified. A real Rama bhakta should practice equality and detachment and not attachment. With money you can purchase any number of books but not persons. Think well and act intelligently . You know this book "by heart" . Let Shama also read this and be benefitted . If you desire, you can have some other book from Shama in exchange for your book."
Hearing this loving advice from Baba, Ramdas cooled down and took the book Pancharatna Gita from Shama, in exchange for his book. The above speech of Baba was not only intended for Ramdas but to all of us . Even though we read a lot of religious books or spend our time in the worship of God, there will not be any benefit unless our hearts get purified.
Attachments to outside things and the words "I" and "mine" should be rid of from us. We must always think that all are one and equal. Everyone should try for such a change of hearts.
Once Bapu Saheb Jog took the Gita Rahasyam ( Secrets of Bhagawad Gita ) written by Tilak, along with him to Baba’s darshan. Baba took the book from Jog and after seeing some of the inside pages, he took out a rupee coin from his pocket and returned the book to Jog along with the dakshina, and blessed him saying that a lot of good would come to him if he read the book sincerely with devotion.
In the same way as Baba used to touch the religious books, and bless his devotees even now when the devotees purchase the books, they keep them on the Samadhi of Baba and only then commence the Parayana. The same is also in the case when new articles are purchased by the devotees.
Saiyuga

Shirdi Sai Baba was the human incarnation of Lord Shiva of Kailash. For the good of the world, he stopped the poison in his throat and suffered for the sake of others. Repeating the name of such a Sai make us happy. Worship of Sai is auspicious. Devotees experienced complete bliss when they were in the company of Sai Baba frequently said, "Allah Malik". Sai, without aspiring for moksha or complete merger of God, has remained in the service of all living beings considered by him as facets of God. Sai means love, selfless love, sacred love. Sai’s love was not only to mankind but all living things. People in the name of wealth, caste religion, nationality, regions and political parties swindle and become millionaires. If necessary they are prepared to kill some. In the present society, we find a lot of such persons who call themselves leaders and servants of people. To curb this, we should publicise Sai philosophy on a large scale, spreading brotherly love in society. All should have peace and happiness permanently. This is shall be the aim of Sai philosophy in all nooks and corners of our towns and villages of the country. Sai Yuga is going to set in. All castes, all religions and all philosophies will merge into one and the philosophy of ‘One family’ will be established and we be lucky to be a part of this movement. Let us pray to Sai Baba to form an army of dedicated devotees (Sai Army) and establish a Sai empire.

shridi saibab life history continues in english

In the tenth chapter we learnt how Baba saved Maina Tai from her sufferings during delivery, by sending her udi. In this chapter we will know some more incidents showing the greatness of udi. By giving it as prasad to the devotees, what did Baba intend to convey ? "Everything in this world will end as ash. When life goes out of our bodies, they are cremated and they turn into ash. For such a short-lived body’s sake, why do you indulge in greed, deceit, sins and desires?" To make the devotees realise that everything in this creation is transient including the body which is finally reduced into ash, Baba gave udi. Now let us see how this udi worked.
Greatness of Udi
One Narayana Rao was a native of Nashik and the proprietor of the hotel Anand Ashram. Once a scorpion bit his friend. The pain was unbearable. Narayana Rao searched for Baba’s udi, but could not find it. Immediately, he went to Baba’s photo, prayed to him and took some ash fallen from the incense sticks. He applied it on the place where the scorpion had bitten his friend and they were surprised when the pain subsided.
The daughter of one of Baba’s devotees and the resident of Bandra went to another village where she was struck by plague. The devotee sent word to Nana Chandorkar to send him Baba’s Udi. Word reached Nana at the Thana railway station, as he was on his way with his wife to Kalyan. He did not have Baba’s udi with him. He did not know what to do. He prayed to Sai, "Baba, I am not in a position to send your udi to the devotee who asked for it in full belief. You are all powerful. By repeating your sacred name, I will pick a little of this earth and thinking that I am giving this to the girl in the village, I will apply it on the forehead of my wife. Kindly save the girl from plague fever." The person who came to take udi from Nana watched all that took place. When he went back to the village he was surprised to find that the fever had subsided almost at the same time as when Nana chandorkar had put the earth on the forehead of his wife, invoking the name of Baba. The nephew of a doctor who lived in
Malegaon suffered from an incurable disease, tubercular bone-abcess. A number of medicines were used, without any result. So his parents brought him to Shirdi. Baba asked them to put udi on the abcess and it would get cured in a week’s time, adding, "This is not a mosque. It is Dwarakamai. Whoever places his foot in it will have good health and happiness. All their difficulties will be over." So saying, Baba slowly massaged the abcess with his hand. He glanced at the boy with compassion. The pain began to subside after the application of udi and the abcess was cured completely in due course.
Once Shama’s brother’s wife had an attack of plague. She had two bubos in her groins. Shama’s brother requested him to seek the help of Baba. Then it was night time. Shama went running to Baba and told him about this. Baba told him, "Do not go at night time. You send udi and there is nothing to fear. For all of us the father and head is only that God - Sab ka Malik ek hai. You can go tomorrow morning and return quickly." The udi was sent through Shama’s brother. When Shama went to his brother’s house, the next morning, he found his sister-in-law completely recovered and personally preparing tea. He recollected Baba’s advice asking him to go the next morning and realised the significance of Baba’s words and was overjoyed.
Dr. Pillay was an intimate devotee of Baba. He often used to sit near Baba and Baba who loved him used to discuss many matters with him. The doctor was once suffering from guineaworms and the pain became unbearable. He went to Kaka Dixit and told him that he could not withstand the pain anymore and preferred death. He requested Kaka to go to Baba and pleased on his behalf to reduce the pain and distribute this suffering over ten births. Kaka Dixit went to Baba and told him about the condition of Dr. Pillay and his request. Baba was moved at this and with compassion told him, "Why should he suffer for ten births. Let him not fear. I can destroy the sins committed by him in the previous birth in ten days’ time. I am sitting here in Dwarakamai to give happiness to my devotees in this world as well as the other world. Then why should my devotee desire to die? Bring Pillay here. I will remove his pain permanently." Pillay was brought to Dwarakamai. Baba gave him his bolster and asked him to take rest. He slowly messaged the abcess and blessed him with his raised hand. He told Pillay that the real remedy was to suffer for the sins of the previous birth and get salvation. "Our own actions are responsible for our sorrows and pleasures. Have patience. Allah can only remove the sorrows. If you meditate on God, he will look after you. You have to give him your all-body, mind, wealth and surrender yourself completely. Then God will definitely protect us. God is the head of all of us. Allah Malik. Just now a crow will come and peck you on the abcess and then you will get cured."
In the meanwhile, a boy named Abdul came and started cleaning the lights in the mosque. He leg accidentally touched the abcess and seven guineaworms came out of the abcess. Afterwards, due to applying udi on the abcess, there was complete cure in ten days without using any medicines.
Baba’s udi completely cured the fits of the daughter of an Iranian devotee, cured the old man from Hardha of a stone in the kidney, corrected the obstruction at the time of delivery experienced each time by a Bombay lady.
Whenever a gentleman of Bandra, tried to sleep, his departed father appeared in his dream and abused and scolded him severely with the result that he could not sleep. He had been suffering from insomnia, thus for a long time. His friend advised him to take a little of Baba’s udi inside and also put it on his forehead before going to sleep every night. After doing this he could sleep peacefully. This gentleman became a Sai devotee and putting up a photo of Sai in his house started worshipping it.
Kaka Mahajani’s friend was against idol worship. He went to Shirdi once to witness the miracles and leelas of Sai Baba. Before going to Shirdi he told Kaka Mahajan that he would not give dakshina to Baba or prostrate before him. When they reached Shirdi, Baba welcomed Kaka Mahajan;s friend with pleasing words. The voice with which Baba spoke resembled that of his departed father. For just a moment, Baba appeared to him as his father. His joy knew no bounds. He went up the stairs of the mosque saying it was really his father and so saying fell at the feet of Baba and wept. When he got up after in a few minutes, he found Baba and not his father. Then Baba said to him "You did not like to give dakshina . So I did not ask you. Remove the screen between us. Then we can see each other clearly, and be happy. We are not different from each other. I am in you and you are in me. At least in future, do not have that differentiation." So saying Baba ordered him to go back to his house early. Without any obstacles in the way he reached home safely. He recollected Baba’s words frequently and derived a lot of happiness. As soon as he opened the door, a sparrow flew out fast. He found two dead sparrows inside. He might have locked the door while going to Shirdi without noticing the three sparrows inside the house. Even though two sparrows died, to save the third sparrow Baba might have ordered him to go home immediately. Realising this he was surprised at Baba’s love towards all living things.
Some looked at Baba with a critical eye. So many divisions and sub-divisions in Hindu religion made the common man think, wonder if there was God at all. Besides, with the growth of materialism, God’s devotees were depicted as worthless in cinemas and modern literature. This led to the youth mocking at God and His devotees. A high court pleader named Thakkar who had such modern thoughts, owned a company in which Kaka Mahajani worked as a Manager. He considered modern education and intelligence to be more important than devotion to God and was also of the opinion that love towards mankind was more important than an offering made to God. So with the motive of criticising that Baba was collecting money in the form of dakshina and also to find out the truth in his leelas and miracles, Thakkar came with Kaka Mahajani to Shirdi during the Holi festival holidays. Kaka bought two seers of dried grapes for offering to Baba . When he presented the grapes to Baba after darshan, Baba ordered that the grapes may be distributed to all the devotees present there. Thakkar, not knowing how to dispose of the seeds in the grapes, for throwing them in the mosque was not proper, put them in his pocket. He considered putting the seeds removed from his mouth after chewing the grapes in his pocket to be below his dignity and blamed Baba inside his heart for creating such a situation.
Noticing the thoughts of Thakkar, Baba called him and gave him some more grapes out of the earlier stock brought by Kaka and asked him to eat them. As he did not like to eat them, he kept them in his hand. But Baba again asked him to eat them. When Thakkar ate the grapes this time, there were no seeds in them. He questioned others about the grapes they had eaten and found out that there were no seeds in the grapes. As he had wanted to see some miracles of Baba, he thought Baba had shown him this miracle. Kaka Mahajani introduced Thakkar to Baba as his master. Then Baba told that Thakkar may be the master of Kaka, but there was another Master for Thakkar who was the Master for all Allah Malik hai. So saying he blessed Thakkar, who then fell at the feet of Baba, lost in complete bliss. While he thus prostrated before Baba’s feet he found them resembling those of Lord Vishnu. But when he got up, he found Baba’s feet only. After witnessing this, Thakkar prostrated with more devotion at Baba’s feet for second time and Baba told him, "God is Omnipresent and Omnipotent; you cannot see God so easily with your five senses and mind. Every person should try to acquire that power to see God. Though service unto mankind is service unto God, one should not forget God."
Baba clarified his doubts regarding dakshina saying, "I will take dakshina from only those who were indebted to the mother of the mosque. I will take dakshina from those pointed out by the mother only. If I take a rupee as dakshina, I have to repay ten times of it to them. This is my principle. Those who give offering or charity now are sowing seeds. This will give a good crop in future. If you give to others in this birth, you will get back in your next birth. Detachment will grow with the charities you make and with this, devotion will increase and you will get Jnana. You give a charity of one rupee now and get back ten rupees in future."
Balaji Patil Navaskar was a resident of Shirdi and a great devotee of Baba. He used to sweep all lanes through which Baba walked. Every year he used to get his entire crop and offer it to Baba, taking home only that much given to him by Baba for the maintenance of his family. Because of the complete confidence reposed in Baba, his family never faced any difficulties. Baba’s words, "There won’t be any wanting in my devotees’ house," proved to be true in the case of Balaji Patil Navaskar and the following was an example of this.
Once when Navaskar invited his relations for dinner, three times the expected number arrived. The family members were worried that the food prepared may not be sufficient for all. Praying to Sai, they covered all the vessels containing the food items with a cloth and put some Sai udi over it and without removing the cloth covers completely, they started serving the dinner. After everyone had dinner, there was still some food left over in the vessels. Thus Baba’a assurance proved to be true.

The devotees who have read the chapters explaining the greatness of udi, should consider the udi as a cure for all ailments and keep it always with them. They should take a little of it every morning after washing in the mouth, then sprinkle some on any new thing purchased and then only use it. After taking bath, they may apply it on the forehead.

shiridi saibaba life history continues

It was the year 1906. The day was Vyasa Poornima in the month Ashada. It was called Vyasa Poornima in recognition of Vyasa Maharshi, who authorised the eighteen Puranas. On the morning of this day, Baba called Kelkar, Sathe’s father-in-law, and told him that this day was Guru Poornima, when the Guru was to be worshipped. He asked him to bring Shama and other devotees along with the puja materials. Dada Kelkar collected all the devotees and with the puja materials, brought them to the mosque. By then, Baba with this half-closed eyes was concentrating on something. Noticing this no one had the courage to talk to him for fear of disturbing his concentration. After a while, Baba opened his eyes, looked at the devotees for a moment and fell silent again.
Till then, everyone believed that Baba was the incarnation of God, with divine and supernatural powers but no one had the thought to worship Baba as their ‘Guru’. Hence, they did not know whom they should worship as Guru and how to worship, and kept quiet. Knowing their thoughts Sai Baba taught them as follows:
"You are all worshipping me as a fakir with divine and supernatural powers. Some of you are believing that I am the incarnation of God. Allah Malik hai. I am only his servant. I am like a father to you all. You should benefit from me. I have come into this world to divert your thoughts from materialism towards spiritualism, and establish truth, righteousness, peace and love in you and through you to the entire mankind, and bless them with peace and happiness. This is the goal of Sai Avatar. If you worship me keeping me in a photoframe like other gods, you will not benefit anything from me. But you should consider me as your ‘Guru’ and surrender completely to me and put into practice what all I teach you. Your present actions only are the foundations for your future lives and births. You should all treat today’s Vyasa Poornima as Guru Poornima and worship me as your Guru and make your lives happy."
Guru Poornima

From among all the devotees who had gathered in the mosque, Dada Kelkar went to Baba, prostrated before him, washed his feet in a plate, took a little of this water ( Pada Tirtha ) inside and sprinkled it on his head, distributing it to all those present. After this he put sandalpaste on Baba’s forehead, put a dot with kumkum and worshipped him with flowers and akshatas (rice). Then he broke a coconut and gave arathi with camphor . While the arathi was being given, Baba’s face became very tight as if a thousand lamps were lighted with different colours. The surprised devotees wanted to touch Baba’s feet and prostrate before him. Noticing the thoughts of the devotees, he slowly walked towards the big stone that he created in front of Dwarakamai, while the devotees spread flowers all the way and made him walk on the flowers. As soon as he reached the stone he sat on it putting his left hand on the toe of his right leg and putting the right hand on the thigh of his right leg. Then he looked deeply into the eyes of each devotee, by which the joy experienced by them was beyond description. When they touched his feet, they felt an unknown divine power entering their bodies and reach their hearts. These things have to be personally experienced and cannot be explained. All those who experienced this, started to celebrate Guru Poornima on every Ashada Suddha Poornima day with pomp and gaiety. Even today Guru Poornima is celebrated in Shirdi. This festival is very important to Sai devotees as they worship their Guru according to their might and get the blessings from him. Those who worship their Guru with devotion and sincerity on this day, will always have the Guru with them. Sai Baba had personally told them that he was Sadguru and they could not get another Guru in this world. We should completely surrender ourselves to him and seek Jnana Marga. For those who read this chapter with devotion, let their mind grow and get true vision.