THE GLORY OF SHIRDI SAI
Fourth Year of Publication
Published as Bi-Weekly
Issue 7/ 2006
UGADI &SREE RAM NAVAMI
SPECIAL
Please visit our Web site: http://www.saidarbar.org
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GURUR-BRAHMA, GURUR-VISHNUH; GURU-DEVO
MAHESWARAHA;
GURUR-SAKSHATH PARAM BRAHMA; THASMAI
SREE GURAVE NAMAHA:
http://www.saidarbar.org/dattatreya/saidatta.htm
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WISH YOU ALL A HAPPY
UGADI & GUDI PADWA.-30-3-2006
Ugadi (literally - the start of an
era) is the New Year’s Day for the people of the
The festival marks the New Year day
for people who follow the southern Indian lunar calendar, pervasively adhered
to in the states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and
In the terminology used by this lunar calendar,
Ugadi falls on Chaitra Sudhdha Paadyami or the first day of the bright half of
the Hindu month of Chaitra. This generally falls in the months of March or
April of the Gregorian calendar.
Observance in Andhra and Karnataka
The Telugu and Kannada people
celebrate the festival with great fanfare; gatherings of the extended family
and a sumptuous feast are de rigueur. The day, however, begins with ritual
showers followed by prayers, and then the eating of a specific mixture called
"Ugadi Pachhadi" in Telugu and "Bevu-Bella" in Kannada,
symbolizes the fact that life is a mixture of pleasure and pain, which should
be accepted together and with equanimity.
Later, people traditionally gather to
listen to the recitation of the religious almanac (Panchangam) of the coming
year, and to the general forecast of the year to come.
Observance in
The festival is called "Gudi
Padwa" in
It is customary to erect ‘Gudis’ on
the first day (Padwa) of the Marathi New Year. 'Gudi' is a bamboo staff with a
colored silk cloth and a garlanded goblet atop it, which symbolizes victory or
achievement. Hence, this day is known as “Gudipadwa” in
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Sree Ram Navami
The birthday of Rama Chandra is
observed on the 9th of the light half of the month Chaitra (March-April) and is
kept by some as a strict fast. It was on this day that Vishnu incarnated as
Rama through Dasharat's wife Kaushalya. This day is also important because the
celebrated Sanskrit poet Tuli Dasa started composing his classic Ram Charit
Manas. The devotees take a bath in
SREERAMA-NAVAMI FESTIVAL from Sai Satcharita-Chapter VI
This day was very dear and sacred to the devotees of Sai Baba.
Most of them turned out on the occasion, and took a leading part in the
management of the fair. Tatya Kote Patil looked to all outward affairs, while
the internal management was entirely left to one Radha Krishna Mai, a female
devotee of Baba. Her residence was full of guests on the occasion, and she had
to look to their needs, and also to arrange for all the paraphernalia of the
fair. Another work, which she willingly did, was to wash out and clean and
white-wash the entire Dwarakamai, its walls and floor, which were blackened and
were full of soot on account of the ever-burning Dhuni (sacred fire) of Sai
Baba. This work, she did during the night, when Sai Baba went to sleep every
alternate day in the Chavadi. She had to take out all the things, including
even the Dhuni, and after thorough cleaning and whitewashing replace them, as
they were before. Feeding the poor, which was so dear to Sai Baba, was also a
great item in this fair. For this purpose, cooking, on a grand scale and
preparing various sweet dishes, was done in Radha-Krishna Mai’s lodging, and,
various rich and wealthy devotees took a leading part in this affair.
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THIS ISSUE CONTAINS
1. FOUNDATION
STONES FOR THE SPIRITUAL LIFE
2. SAI'S NEWS FROM TIME MACHINE
3. SAI IN DREAMS
4. QUINTESSENCE OF SRI SAIBABA'S PHILOSOPHY
5. SANATANA DHARMA& SRI SHIRDI SAIBABA
6. SAIBANISA OFFERS PRANAMS TO …..
7. DEVOTEES EXPERIENCES
8. SPIRITUAL GEMS FROM SAI SATCHARITRA
9. SAI WITH
CHILDREN
10. ARTICLES FROM SAI DEVOTEES
11. LETTERS FROM SAI DEVOTEES
12. TELUGU SECTION
13. FROM SAI ORGANISATIONS
14. SAI'S BOOK WORLD
15. EDITORIAL.
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1. FOUNDATION STONES FOR THE
SPIRITUAL LIFE:
From the Satsanghs of Saibanisa ji
http://www.angelfire.com/celeb2/saidarbar/pages/S3500055.htm
Sai Sevak Smt. Rajeswari Kasturi, Saidarbar –
210. Anger is like a fire which will hurt others the way the fire burns the
wood obtained from the trees or the coal excavated from the earth.
211. A person who was unnecessarily abused by others may feel the
pain momentarily, but the person who abused him feels the guilt life long
212. The life is equally dearer for one and all.
213. One should not be carried away by other’s words and should
always think twice before putting them into action.
214. You should know that your neighbor only will come to your
rescue when you are in trouble but not a highly elevated person who is away
from you. In the same way thirst can only be quenched by water drawn from a
nearby small well but not by huge ocean.
215. You can see, once in fifteen days, the moon will reduce its
size and after fifteen days, it will grow to its full size and if you cut the
branches of a tree again it will grow. In a similar way, when you are
encountering the bad days, you should not lose heart, as good days will
definitely follow.
216. The tree full of fruits will always bend towards the ground
and the plants without fruits will always shoot up skywards. Similarly, a good
person will observe obedience towards all others as a bad person will behave
head strong.
217. Normally every one will try to point out mistakes in a good
person the way we talk about the black spots in the moon showering the cool and
pleasant light in the darkness.
218. No doubt performing charities is great, but still greater
is giving an assurance of protection.
219. A bad person with money will behave like an Iron, but when
he is in trouble, he is like Iron in a molten condition.
To be continued…
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2. SAI'S NEWS FROM THE TIME MACHINE:
March 1917- (Holi). Baba appeared to Hemadripanth in dream and
said that he would come for meals that day and finally he arrived in the form
of a picture.
March 1988- Swami Ram Baba a noted devotee associated with Baba
left his mortal coil at
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3. SAI IN DREAMS:
http://www.ebeacon.indiainabook.com/
These are the dream sequences and messages as received
by SaiBaNiSa Ji From our beloved GURU LORD SAINATH OF SHIRIDI. 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.
Sai appeared in the form of an unknown person and narrated a
story-
A Brahmin is walking past
aimless in a desert on a mid summer day. He comes across two bags kept on a
small rock: one containing food and the other one having footwear. A note is
kept nearby with inscription-
I know for you, being a wonderer is in dire need of both the
bags, but do restrict to choosing any one of them. The one containing food will
satiate your physical body whereas the one with slippers will take you along to
the destination untiring. The Brahmin was quite undecided and Baba questioned
me – ‘which one will you opt for, Gopala Rao?’
My sleep was interrupted without my having come to any conclusion.
Certain choices are difficult ones to make.
MAY-1994:
I was mentally disturbed, as my presence has gone unnoticed in
an official meeting. The craze for recognition has not ceased even after my
turning Saibanisa. I prayed Lord Sainath to help me in getting rid of this
longing.
Sai appeared in the form of an unknown person and said –
A Tribal to earn his
livelihood will start foretelling future events of others. As witnesses and
with an eye for future, he takes few photographs with VIPS and uses them in
exhibiting his marketing talents to others. This he does with a fond hope of
earning more recognition and publicity in his profession. Always remember that
only those who feel their security is at stake seek recognition. There is no
dearth or want in the house of MY devotees. Where does the need arise for
recognition?
Recognition will come searching when something good is done for
the benefit of society at large.
Sainath, please throw some light on Sai Thathva. Sai presented
me with the following visuals –
The grace of Sai ultimately reaches the devotee in spite of
innumerable number of obstacles on the way.
Sai is present in all the living beings. Look for SAI Ganesh in
a mighty elephant and mother Sai in a cow giving us the milk.
Sai is beyond the barriers of space and time.
To be continued…..
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4. QUINTESSENCE OF SRI SAIBABA'S
PHILOSOPHY:
(By Late Sri Bharam UmamaheswaraRao)
"Shashi": shashi_31@yahoo.com
22. Atma – Jnana
Constantly think of Atma. Atma is indivisible. Cause and effect
are not concerned with Atma. Atma is not bound by God or bad results of action.
When the mind gets purification by doing duty bound actions, then one can
attain 'Jnana'. Then only one can realize the pure Paramatma, residing in all
animate and inanimate objects. When we are performing actions which are
ordained to us, as our duties in a selfless manner, we will get purity of mind.
If we do not do this, we will be wasting our time in pleasures of life.
We must first of all know 'What is Atma'. The 'Atma' that is
present everywhere is God. There is nothing except God, we must know this
clearly. If we are in constant meditation, we can visualize Atma and that the
entire Universe is seen in Self-Effulgent Atma. The whole world is a mirage. It
is a projection of Maya. As we are not having real knowledge of Atma-Swaroopa,
we will see the tricks of Maya as real. When we attain real knowledge, the Maya
gets dissolved.
Atma and its power are eternal. It is pure knowledge independent
of any attachments. It will never get tied up with any action. So, the truth is
that man is a permanent embodiment of Atma. Atma is not a thing to be
cultivated. Its always present. This is a supreme truth.
All worldly activities in due course of time get destroyed and merged in Atma.
That is why, Atma is said to be Ekam and is without a second. Atma is permanent
and does not change, but the world is impermanent and will always be changing.
We must know that the basis of the Universe is Atma only.
If one tries to know his true-self, that is Atma and then he
will get rid of worldly attachments. He, who is enjoying the Atmananda, will
get detached from dualities of the world, from birth and death cycle and gets
salvation. If we attain such state, there will not be worldly disturbances in
us.
To be continued…..
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5. SANATANA DHARMA & SRI
SHIRDI SAIBABA
AKHILANDAKOTI , BRAHMANDA NAAYAKA, RAAJAADHI RAAJA, YOGIRAJA,
PARABRAHMA SREE SATCHITANANDA ,SAMARDHASADGURU, SAINATH MAHARAAJ KI JAI”
From the Satsanghs of
Saibanisa ji
Sai through Reincarnations
By: Sai Sevak Raghuraman Satulury
From a Magazine:
In order to clear the
debts of a friend - as appeared in the
magazine
-The Asian Age dated:
A tailor was living in a
village and in order to perform the marriage of his daughter, took loan from a
landlord. The tailor could not clear the debt as he died prematurely due to
illness. The tailor, one day appeared in the dream of the landlord and told him
that, he would be reborn as a He-buffalo in another friend’s house and that he
should purchase it from him. “I shall then grow up, work in your fields and
thus clear my debts”. Initially, the landlord hesitated but then on seeing the
birth of a he-buffalo in his friend’s house, purchased it as advised. As said
it grew up strong enough to work in the fields. He – buffalo then worked with
the landlord for four years and one day, the tailor again appeared in the dream
of the land lord and said to him “my debt now stands cleared, so please relieve
me from the bonds of service”. The
landlord then stopped extracting work from the he – buffalo, simply kept it
tied to a tree. It was patiently waiting for it’s
death and one day it took a bucket full of water and died.
Soul is eternal where as the physical body decays.
Jai Sai Ram
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SANATANA DHARMA –NEWS FROM
ABROAD:
thestar.com.my
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www.etravelblackboard.com
CHALERMPHRAKIAT DISTRICT,
www.courier-gazette.com
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6. SAIBANISA OFFERS
PRANAMS TO “LORD SIVA”
From Sai Satcharita -chapter 28
Megha began to look upon Sai Baba as an incarnation of Shiva In
order to worship Shiva, bela leaves are required and Megha used to go miles and
miles every day to bring them and worship his Shiva (Baba).
Megha returned to the Wada, and drew a red Trident on the wall
near Baba's picture. Next day a Ramadasi Bhakta came from
http://www.saidarbar.org/sarwam/shiva.jpg
Information about JyotirLingas:
4. SRI OMKARA MAMALESHWARAM
Omkareshwar is a beautiful self manifest (swayambhu) linga. From
the Vindhyanchal mountain range in Madhya Pradesh, river
“
On the banks of river
Sthala puranaa of Omkareshvar
In the ancient times the Demons defeated the gods or divines.
Indra was worried. The Danavas or Demons have wrecked havoc in all the three
worlds, i.e., Trilokas. In order to empower the Devas once again, Lord Shiva
assumed the form of Jyotirmaya Omkararoop. He came out of the nether world or
Patala. Lord Shankar came out in the form of Linga on the banks of river
Brahma and Vishnu also lived in the same place as Omkar
Amaleshwar. That is why on the banks of Narmada Brahmapuri, Vishnupuri and
Rudrapuri are built which are known as Tripuri Kshetra. The Amareshwar
JyotiraLinga is situated in Rudrapuri.
Later on, in the mythological era or Purana Kala, Yavanaswa
Putra Mandhata came into power here with the blessings of Indra. He served Lord
Shankara with great devotion. Lord Shankara was pleased with him. The waters of
King Mandhata made this holy place his capital. Therefore, this
place is also known as Omkar Mandhata. The descendents of Mandhata live here
even today. The
This place of pilgrimage became famous in the historical times
too. In 1063 AD, Paramarking Udayaditya installed four stone inscriptions with
four Sanskrit Stotras and dedicated them to the
To be continued-------
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7. DEVOTEES EXPERIENCES:
From the files of
Saidarbar 1998:
Baba appeared to a
non-devotee
Peace be with you all.
I would like to share this experience with all Sai Devotees. I am
a devotee of Sai Baba since child hood. I often conduct prayer meetings at my
home. One of the attendees, a woman asked me who is that Baba
with a crown. I have Sai's picture with the saffron cloth, tied to his
head so I could not understand at that time what she was talking about.
After 2 weeks, I received a picture of Baba with a crown (from
Shridi). I left it on my altar. That same woman came visiting me again, saw the
picture of Baba and said "This is the same crown I saw in my vision"
I knew for a fact that Baba had visited her, here in
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8. SPIRITUAL GEMS FROM SAI SATCHARITRA
Sat,
Sai Ram. Sai is the Samartha Sadguru and He uses all possible
methods to teach the right path to His devotees.
"To a devotee, who was practicing Hath-Yoga, He sent word
that he should leave off Hath-Yoga practices, sit quiet and wait
(Saburi)." Sai Ram. Apart from Sraddha, Sai was always stressing on
Saburi. Saburi is patience for the results after doing karma. Impatience leads the
ego to run here and there and get into all sorts of troubles. It is like
digging here a little, a little there and then some more at another place and so
on. It is like praying to one God today, another God tomorrow and yet another
the day after and so on. It is the foolish ego which, with its limited perception
differentiates between this God and that God, between this Guru and that Guru.
Once the ego is ripe, it realizes that it is THE GURU who takes different forms
of Gods and Gurus. Saburi is a good form of Tapas. Sai Ram.
"It is impossible to describe all His ways and methods."
There are as many solutions as problems, since both are created by the same
Creator. Problems are actually stimulants to action. If we act with Faith in
Guru (Sai in our case), He shows us the further course of action. "In
ordinary worldly dealings, He set examples by His actions, one of which is
given below.”
Remuneration for Labour
"One day at
"Radha-Krishna-Mai was, at that time, shivering with Malaria.
It may be to drive off that fever that He may have gone there. Immediately
after getting down, Baba paid Rupees two to the persons who brought the ladder.
Somebody asked Baba, why he paid so much for this. He replied that nobody
should take the labour of others, in vain. The worker should be paid, his dues promptly
and liberally." Sai Ram. It is always better to pay liberally. The
recipient feels obliged and will come gladly the next time the giver requests.
Also, Baba was indicating that karmic debts should be settled as fast as
possible.
Sai Ram. We have come to the end of a wonderfully rich chapter.
In the next issue, we will take up another great chapter, where Baba explains
to Sri Dasa Ganu Maharaj, the essence of Isa Upnishat. Sai Ram.
S.V.Swamy
Author, Editor, Proof-Reader and Book Reviewer
www.freewebs.com/swamyreviews
To be continued…..
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9. SAI WITH CHILDREN:
http://www.saidarbar.org/HTML/portraits/7.jpg
Smt. Madhu Gopal Ravada, Saidarbar,
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. For the last 2 years I have told you about Lord
Krishna's Leelas and Lord Rama Story. Now I want to tell the stories what heard
in my child hood.
The Heron, Serpent and the Mongoose
Once upon a time there lived a group of
herons on a banyan tree. In the hollow trunk of the tree dwelt a black serpent who ate the young herons before they grew. Out of sorrow the
heron, approached the crab.
.
The crab heard of the serpent and then
thought to itself, “The heron is also the natural enemy of our race. So I need
a scheme to get rid of all of them". So he advised the heron to throw fish
bits all the way from the house of the mongoose to the tree where it lived.
.
The heron did as told and the mongoose
following the trail of the fish came and ate the serpent and at the same time
crept up the tree and ate all the herons too.
MORAL: Don't listen to the advice of your natural enemy.
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10. ARTICLES FROM SAI DEVOTEES:
"Sankaraiah Dubagunta" sainama@yahoo.com
Origin
of Rama Mantra
Samarth Ramdas of Sajjanghad had
propagated the above Nama for Rama Sakshatkar. He did 13 crore times and had
Rama Darshan.Sri RamDas who is dearly called 'Beloved Papa' of Khananghad, Anandashram
by prefixing "OM" assured that one would have Rama Darshan if he
repeats 9 crores of times. This Ashram has a target of 15,500 crores for world
Peace and Prosperity. They have been doing for over seven decades. The Shirdi
Sai Sharan group of
Sri Swami Sivananda Maharaj narrated in
1944 October issue of Sai Sudha as follows:
Once upon a time, Sri Rama after His
return from Lanka was sitting in His Darbar with Sage Narada, Viswamitra,
Vasishta and host of other people. Suddenly Sage Narada posed a question “Whether
Naam (Lord's name) or Nami (Lord HImself) is superior?" As they could not
arrive at a conclusion, Sage Narada Himself gave the verdict "Certainly
Naam is superior to Nami." He wanted to prove his verdict and played a
small drama. He told Hanumanji not to salute Viswamitra, a Rajarshi. Sri
Hanuman obeyed this and incurred Viswamitraa's displeasure. Narada approached
Viswamitraa “O Great Rishi!!! Hanuman didn’t respect you. Please punish
him." Enraged Viswaamitra went to Rama and explained how he was insulted
by Hanuman and also suggested to award death sentence.
Hanuman was very much agitated and told
Narada he did as per the latter's suggestion only. Sage Narada assured nothing
would happen "Repeat Maha Mantra 'SRI RAM JAYA RAM JAYA JAYA RAM', it
would protect you." Next day Hanumanji had a bath in
Sri Ram ----- 'Sambhodhana' or the
locative addressing Rama
Jay Ram ----- Is His praise
Jay Jay Ram ---- Total Surrender to Him
While repeating this Mantra, have this
in mind "O Rama!! I Salute Thee, I Surrender to Thee"
D.Sankaraiah.
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11. LETTERS
FROM SAIDEVOTEES:
"aradhana jha”: ajha12@rediffmail.com
SaiRam!
First let me thank you for the great work you have done for all Sai
devotees. I am a member and really enjoy going through the E-magazine-
”The Glory of Shirdi Sai”.
I am a devotee of Shirdi Sai and love reading about HIM. I have not as such
experienced his miracles, but pray that Baba will show it one day.
Many times I get angry and then as soon
as I remember Baba it subsides.
Jai Sai Ram,
Aradhana
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"Shanthi Ramakrishnan" : shanthi@sigmacgi.com
Sai Ram!
We had wonderful sessions of our monthly
Sai Darbar on December 24th,
January 12th & 21st and February
18th.
We started the sessions with
Shanthi
-----------------
Devotees of Shirdi Sai Baba Sansthan of Canada
welcome all to join in for Ram Navami Celebrations on Saturday, April 8th at
Location: The Gur Mandir
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12.
TELUGU SECTION:
Please visit:
http://68.88.118.16/telugupages/Misc/ShiridiSai/shirdisai.htm
Please visit for Sai Aartis in Telugu:
http://www.angelfire.com/celeb2/saidarbar/PDFS/pdfs.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@saidarbar.org & saidarbar@gmail.com
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13. FROM SAI ORGANISATIONS:
Due to space constraints of E-magazine, we are not able to give
the full report on activities of Sai organizations. However, we are providing their
contact e-mail ID’s and web site address for interested readers.
------------------------------------------------------
The Following Saidarbar chapters are functioning around the Globe;
devotees may be contacted for necessary information about their activities to
the following E-maid ids:
Saidarbar Chennai-India:
saidarbarchennai@yahoo.co.in
Saidarbar-Canberra -AU: kandra@iprimus.com.au
For Further details visit:
http://angelfire.com/sd/SaidarbarCanberra
Saidarbar Wallingford-PA- USA: technical@saidarbarusa.org
For further details please visit: www.saidarbarusa.org
Sai Darbar
Sai
Saidarbar Danbaru-Canitcut-USA: zutshi_anil_k@sbcglobal.net
Saidarbar Woodland Hills-CA-USA: vskachanta@hotmail.com
Saidarbar Livermore-CA-USA
happythursday999@yahoo.com
Saidarbar –
For Further details visit: http://www.saidarbar.org
-----------------------
Sai Activities in NJ Visit: www.shirdisaidham.org or email at shirdisaidham@hotmail.com
--------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------------
"The Shirdi Sai Mandir,
Or send an email to info@theshirdisaimandir.com
-------------------------
"Atlanta Sai Temple News": Visit: www.templeofpeace.org
Or send an email to webmaster@templeofpeace.org
---------------------------------------
"
All the issues are now available online.
Please visit the
website www.hamaresai.org or click on URL
http://www.hamaresai.org/saisandesh/saisandesh.htm
Visit: http://www.hamaresai.org/
Email: hamaresai@yahoo.com
--------------------------------
"Sri Shirdi Sai Baba Temple of DFW" USA: Visit: http://www.shirdisaidallas.org
E-mail: admin@shirdisaidallas.org
-------------------------------------
"Om Sai Mandir" For a detailed flyer, please visit:
http://www.omsaimandir.org/mahashivaratri_flyer_2006.pdf
E-mail: saisandesh@omsaimandir.org
--------------------------
SHIRDI SAI BABA SANSTHAN,
----------------------------------------------
SaiMandir-Houston-TX-USA: Visit http://www.babamandir.org/mandir/OnlineResources.html
E-mail: babamandir@babamandir.org
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14. SAI'S BOOK WORLD:
Books
in English:
1. SHRI SAI SATCHARITA
The Life and
Teachings of Shirdi SaiBaba
Govind R.Dabholkar (Hemadpant)
Translated in English by:
INDIRA KHER
Published by: Sterling Publishers
Private Limited.
L-10,
E-mail: ghai@nde.vsnl.net.in
