Oh Omniscient Sai, bless us to recite your life rejuvenating stories to work out our meaning of this life. You are the wonderful Incarnate as sorrows of our many past births are destroyed on seeing your blessed face. If Sai, who is the crest jewel of the Saints look at us, our bondage of Karma is immediately snapped and we are led to infinite happiness. Oh, Perfect Divine Bliss, blessed is Shirdi and blessed is Dwarkamai, where our Sai lived until he took Mahasamadhi. Blessed are the people of Shirdi, whom he obliged and for whom he came from such a long distance. Equally blessed are the womenfolk of Shirdi, their whole and unwavering faith in Him who sang the glories of Baba while doing their household chores. Blessed are pebbles and earth who kissed and played with the feet of the Lord when He walked from door to door of the devotees to collect their sins in the form of Bhiksha. Oh Lord of Lord, we crave for your darshana to do away with our Rajas and Tamas qualities and allow righteousness to dominate in our life to speed up our self-realization.

It is rightly said in Shri Sai Satcharita that “when a man takes a plunge into the sea, he get the merits of bathing in all the Tirthas and sacred rivers. Similarly, when a man takes refuge at the feet of Sadguru, he gets the merit of bowing to the Trinity, i.e. Brahma, Vishnu and Mahesh and also Para-Brahma. Victory be unto Shri Sai, the Wish-Fulfilling tree and the Ocean of Knowledge, who gives us self-realization. The best way to get free from the shackles of Maya is our complete and whole-hearted surrender to Baba. The Vedas cannot take you across the ocean of Maya. It is only Sadguru, who can do so and, make us, see the Lord in all creatures”.

The study showed that he who teaches us Veda and Vedanta or the six shastras, he who controls the breath or gives pleasing discourses regarding Brahma, he who gives mantras to the disciples but does not assure them any result in a definite time, he who explains his knowledge and the Ultimate Principal but has himself got no experience or self-realization cannot deliver us from this mundane world. But he, who by his discourse creates in us, a distaste for the enjoyments of this world, induces Vairagya and gives us a taste of self-realization, who he is well versed in both the theoretical and practical knowledge (self realization) deserves to be called Sadguru. A Sadguru does not ever in his dream expect any service or profit from his disciples. On the other hand, he wishes to serve them. He does not think that he is great and the disciple small. The main characteristic of a Sadguru is that he is the abode of peace.

The belief in simplicity is the greatest virtue of Sadguru. Baba was such an Incarnate. He never called himself God and always uttered Allah Malik. He lived a life of Fakir and mendicancy and called himself to be servant of the God. Many personalities came to the Sai Darbar, some to test him or some to pay their obeisance but nobody went empty handed. Sai accepted all of them and prayed for their welfare. The warmthness of His darshan was such that even agitated and angry mind melted on seeing his form and became one with him. Such was the personality of Sai Baba. He was Pure Anand. There was no need for any mantra to work out the salvation, His casual talks and behavior bestowed untold happiness on the devotees. Baba is all pervading. He is nowhere but within the devotees’ heart. What is needed is the true devotion to Baba.

So this ocean of mundane existence is very hard to cross. Lust, anger, ego predominates the human birth. Waves of infatuation and greed prick us and break down our grit and determination. The breeze of egoism blows forcibly and makes the ocean rough and agitated. Hate and jealousy also play their part and very difficult to get rid of. The philosophy “I and Mine” looms large and envelopes the entire mankind in the form of censure and avarice. Even the innumerable births will not help us to reach the goal of self-realization. The best course is to resort to the feet of Sai and hold them fast, lest they should leave and run away from you. Sai is bound to help and liberate us. In Shri Sai Satcharita it is well said vide Page 235 that if Baba accepts a devotee, He follows him and stands by him, day and night, at his home or abroad. Let the devotee go anywhere he likes, Baba is there ahead of him in some form to help and guide him. So let this ocean be so fierce and terrible, Sadguru Sai Baba is its Agasti (Destroyer). Our Sadguru is the boat and the only hope, which will safely take us across this ocean and liberate us from the riddle of birth and death.

By: Rajesh Anand