THE GLORY OF SHIRDI SAI
Fourth Year of Publication
Published as Bi-Weekly
Issue 23 / 2006
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read this magazine on line
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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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THIS ISSUE
CONTAINS
1.
FROM THE SATSANGHS OF SAIBANISA JI
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. SAI'S BOOK
WORLD
14. EDITORIAL.
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1. FROM THE SATSANGHS OF SAIBANISA
JI
http://www.angelfire.com/celeb2/saidarbar/pages/S3500055.htm
Compiled by:
Sai Sevak Smt. Rajeswari Kasturi, Saidarbar
–
DISCIPLINED CONDUCT THE FOREMOST NEED:
Disciplined
conduct, scriptures say, forms three fourths of life. It is the absolute
requirement for acquiring all other virtues. A familiar comparison is that of a
waterfall which is made to flow down a height through a tunnel to generate
electrical energy. No life can grow
properly unless it adheres to certain regulations. Hence the accent in Hinduism
is to train people to obey the Law of Righteousness. Scientists and mystics
distinguished themselves by adopting a rigid discipline. They engaged
themselves in alleviating the suffering of humanity. Whatever might have been
their spheres of religious activity, they never gave up the principles to which
they remained firm. “Man is born to be of help to the needy”, was their ideal.
There can be no better comparison to bring out the idea that the benevolent
people should spontaneously serve society that to juxtapose it with the bounty
of the rain bearing clouds.
The
lives of the ancient seers reveal how they invariably reached God through
dedication, directing people to seek divine mercy and to uphold Righteousness. True men of religion strove to enlighten
people spiritually by stressing higher ethical values. Apart from their
religious practices, they cleaned temples, cultivated temple land, worked in
the flower gardens, and strung garlands to adorn God.
Baba
used to maintain beautiful garden in the present Samadhi Mandir in Shirdi.
Lokah Samastah Sukhino Bhavantu
To be
continued…
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2. SAI'S NEWS FROM THE TIME MACHINE:
Nov2,
1909: KakaSaheb Dixit, fist arrived at Shirdi (Aged 45 years)
Nov6,
1960: Shirdi Sansthan's administration was taken over by the
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3. SAI IN DREAMS:
http://www.ettitudemedia.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 1help in one's spiritual growth are hereby compiled from
his personal Diary and presented to SAIBANDHUS.
Translated and presented by RAGHU RAMAN SATULURY.
Yesterday,
a close family friend of mine passed away. I was mentally disturbed. I asked
Sai to tell me something about birth and death cycle in life. Baba has shown in
the form of visual-
After death, the physical body gets mixed up
with the five basic elements, where as the soul keeps wondering around for a
period of ten days. After the lapse of that period, the soul enters the womb of
a pregnant woman depending upon the bondages, thus paving the way for a new
life cycle to begin. After the due confinement period is over, is reborn. The
soul distances away from the spinsters and those who cannot conceive for varied
reasons. Those of the ones who die in accidents, their souls enter the wombs of
the nearest or in to the animal wombs. Therefore there is no point in repenting
over the dead. Entering the womb of a pregnant woman is the real birthday.
Birth
and death are the two fixed entities of life.
I was
having a small nap in the afternoon. Sai appeared in the form of B.N.Murthy and
said, “I have purchased a plot for constructing a house. Please come and have a
look”. Towards the evening, I was taking a stroll in front of my house.
Saibandhu Sundhara Rao stood before me and said “I purchased a Flat in north
Kamalanagar colony and also performed house warming ceremony in the morning. I
request you to grace the occasion and perform tonight’s Sai Aarti”. This particular
incident made me to remember Kushalcahnd’s dream event as mentioned in the 30th
chapter of Sai Satcahrita. I recollected the dream contents of dream in the
afternoon and established that there is no fixed time frame for Sai’s dream
messages.
At
times coming events are indicated in advance.
I was of the opinion that Sai is formless. I
took this as cue from what Sai has said to his fond devotee Megha in the 28th
chapter of Sai Satcharitra. The words uttered exactly go like this. “I have no
form and I live everywhere”. I wrote the same words on a piece of paper, got it
framed and nailed to the wall just behind the Television set. I switched on the
TV set and at the very first instance Sai’s picture came with caption reading “
Saikrishna creations presents followed with a bottom line caption reading “ Sai
is present everywhere. I leave it for readers guessing to know how happy I felt
at that moment.
Sincere
efforts are suitably acknowledged to further one’s faith.
I was
trying to list out what all is needed to be known in the spiritual field. As
usual I posted the requirement to Sai to educate me on this aspect. The gist of
the visual is-
It
amounts to self deceit to continue living narrow minded after having once gone
through the phase of occupying higher positions and living with high ideals.
Such a life will be a wasteful exercise and not entitled for entering the
spiritual field.
Mind
tuning is of greater importance in spiritualism.
To be
continued…..
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4. QUINTESSENCE OF SRI SAIBABA'S
PHILOSOPHY:
(By Late Sri Bharam UmamaheswaraRao)
"Shashi": shashi_31@yahoo.com
25. Importance of Swadharma:
Sloka:
“Evam
Pravartitam Chakram nanu varta yatiehayaha’
Aghayav
Indriya ramo mogham partha sajeevate (BG III/16)
Meaning:
In this world, those who do not follow the Dharma – charka as indicated here,
they lead an impure life, become slaves to indriyas and spend a useless life.”
Swadharma
and Yagna, are very high practices and are very
essential in life. Due to ignorance, not knowing that you have come here not to
satisfy your lower desires of Indriyas, you get entangled in them by not doing
Swadharmas. Know that your life is a waste. Form the time you entered into the
body, you have to do your duties well, keeping your Indriyas under control and
leading a righteous life. If you lead such unselfish life, you will get Divine-
knowledge in this life itself.
The
roots of Kama and Krodha are in Indriyas. Due to Indriyas only the man becomes
active in doing Indriya karyas. So unless you keep the Indriyas under control,
you can not do your Swadharma well. When you drive away the Devils,
To be
continued…..
-----------------------------
5. SANATANA DHARMA & SRI SHIRDI
SAIBABA
108 Names of Sri Shirdi Sai Baba
The
1. Om
Srii Saaii naathaaya Namah.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9. Om
Bhuuta bhavishyad-bhaava-varjitaaya Namah.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
Ohm,
to Him sustains all, prostration!
19.
20.
21.
22.
23.
24.
25.
26.
27.
28.
29.
30.
31.
32.
33.
34.
35.
36.
To be continued…..
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Shri
Shirdi SaiBaba recommended HIS devotees
to do daily parayan (daily reading) of Bhagavatam and Bhavartha Ramayana by Saint Eknath
Eknath was a major saint of the varakari sampradaya
founded by Jnanadeva. Born in 1533 at Paithan, Eknath lost his parents at an
early age and was brought up by his grandfather. Eknath's great-grandfather was
Shri Bhanudas (1448-1513), a major figure in the Vitthala sect at Pandharpur.
Eknath was initiated by his guru, Janardana, a devotee of Dattatreya.
. Eknath was a devout gurubhakta and wrote under the name of Eka-janardana
meaning eka of janardana.
A profilic writer, he wrote
bhavartha ramayana, numerous abhangas (unbroken verses and a prolongation of
the famous ovi meter) and bharudas (short poems with two meanings, one secular
and the other spiritual). However, his major work was Eknath Bhagavata, a Marathi
commentary on the 11th skanda of the bhagavata purana. Started in 1570, it has
over eighteen thousand ovis and was completed in 1573. In the work, Eknath
stresses on the uplifting value of kirtana (singing God's names), rememberance
of God's name (namasmarana) and meditation (dhyana) of the name. He explains
beautifully the nine traditional limbs of the bhakti marga (navangani) with
examples from saints.
Eknath distinguished two forms of bhakti to Saguna Brahman (God
with form): as an end in itself and as a means. Generally, the advaitic
tradition identifies with the latter, considering that meditation of God with
form does not lead to moksha (liberation) but only to krama-mukti (gradual
liberation). However, a person who attains krama-mukti is freed from samsara
(the cycle of births, deaths, and rebirths).
Eknath's Bhagavata popularized the Vedanta
philosophy to a great extent. Shri Ranade, a modern day historian, notes that
`With Jnanadeva, philosophy reigned in the clouds; with Eknatha, it came down
upon earth and dwelt among men.'
---------------------------------
7. DEVOTEES EXPERIENCES:
SaiRam!
One day when I was in degree final year i
thought i like to go to Shirdi. I never think about my marriage however when I
come back from Shirdi next day I have been to college and my dad have a phone
call from my uncle. He said to my dad one family live in
I was
focusing on my studies then my mum told me we are going to
Oh...
my god I wasn't interested about marriage on that time I told my mum. She said
don't worry they are coming to see you that's it it doesn’t mean anything he is
going to like you. I thought ok. I have seen him first time he is so handsome
but he has seen 8 girls already to marry one girl. I thought he doesn’t like
me. He didn't ask any questions to me than after 2 days my uncle called my dad
and told him he like me he want to see me again and also he want a private
chat!
My
parents ask me did you like that guy? I said he is
good looking but I like to do post graduation in the future. My parents said
that's up to you. However my dad told me my future in-laws didn't ask any dowry
that's my future husband decision. In the future some one will see me where is
the guarantee that person doesn’t ask any dowry? I said ok.
Next
day he came and sees me we had a chat than 2 days later his parents have no
enough time and after 2 days my parents arranged an engagement party than after
7 days we both are married. We are happily living together from 8 years. No
problems so far. This is all Sai baba blesses on me. Babas always help me with
anything I ask it will fulfill some times takes time. Any time I go to
Rupa
Reddy
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8. SPIRITUAL
GEMS FROM SAI SATCHARITRA
"Swamy"
swamymain@yahoo.com
Sai
Ram. Let us now take up the story of Anantrao Patankar, who was drawn to
Shirdi and was given a very valuable spiritual lesson by Sai.
SS:
One gentleman from
SVS:
Sai Ram. All his reading and listening to various Puranas was certainly not
useless and that punya (merit) brought him to Baba. A story about Sri Veda
Vyasa is probably pertinent here. After dividing Vedas, writing Upanishads and
Brahma Sutras and after writing several Puranas, Sri Vyasa was still feeling
restless oneday when Sage Narada visited Him. Sri Vyasa worshipped Sage Narada
and asked Him about the reason for his restlessness. And Sage Narada gives Sri
Vyasa exactly the same advice as Baba gave the gentleman. Bhakti is needed
along with Jnana. And a restless mind is the pre-requisite for a seeker. So,
Anantrao Patankar was indeed fortunate. Sai Ram.
SS:
Then Baba told him a parable, which was as follows:
Parable
of Nine Balls of Stool (Nava-vidha Bhakti)
'Once a merchant came here. Before him a mare passed her stool (nine balls of
stool). The merchant intent on his quest, spread the end of his dhotar and
gathered all the nine balls in it, and thus he got concentration (peace) of mind.'
Mr.Patankar
could not make out the meaning of this story so, he asked Ganesh Damodar alias
Dada Kelkar, “What does Baba mean by this?”
SVS:
Sai Ram. Baba spoke in cryptic words and in allegories many times and the
people to whom they were addressed had difficulty in understanding Baba's
words. Baba of course helped them by making them ask His close disciples and by
giving them the right inspiration so that they gave the correct answers to the
devotees. Why did Baba refer to a merchant? A merchant is always on the look
out for a good bargain (from his angle). Here, the merchant happens to be the
seeker of peace and tranquility, a Sadhaka, no doubt on the right path but
still troubled by duality. All of us are thus merchants since we all are still
hankering after the fruits of our actions. When we chant the mantra,
“Narayanetic Samarpayami”, alas, we are saying only with our lips and not our
hearts. We still want the Lord to bless us with good results in appreciation of
the Puja, Vrata and Yagna etc. that we performed. Baba was indicating that one
must offer oneself totally and that includes one's mind too. After that one
will have obviously peace of mind since one is under the protection of the God,
to whom one has surrendered. Sai Ram. Let us see what Dada Kelkar told that
gentleman. Sai Ram.
We
will continue with the Spiritual Gems from this chapter in the future issues.
Sai Ram.
Note
to readers: There is a small change in format. The Sai Satcharita text is fully
included and the insights provided to me are given under a separate paragraph.
To differentiate between the two, the following notation is used:
SS
means Sai Satcharita and SVS refers to me. Sai Ram.
S.V.Swamy
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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 two 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 MISCHIEVOUS MONKEY:
Seth Jamuna Das was a very rich man and
owned large tracts of farm and forestland. He was very fond of nature and
decided to have a house near the forest.
He
selected the best masons and carpenters for this mansion and put RamLakhan in
charge of them. The work was going on at break-neck speed.
The
masons competed with each other to complete their job at the earliest, whilst
the carpenters too got into the act, felling the largest trees and splicing
them for the doors and windows.
One
day the carpenters were splicing a huge log when the lunch bell rang. Before
going for their lunch, Ram Lakhan ensured that a steel plate was inserted at
the spot where the splicing had reached to keep the cleavage apart for
inserting their saw. This was necessary, as without this plate, the two shafts
would spring together tightly.
A
group of monkeys from the nearby jungle appeared on the scene. The workers
being away, they were up to their mischief without hindrance. The bigger ones
were trying to show their strength by jumping around and scattering the piles
of wood whilst the younger ones ran around and pulled each other's tails.
A
huge male decided that to show his strength, he should pull out the plate
wedged between the two unfinished splices. Thus he sat on the log with his tail
hanging between the two shafts and exerted all his might in removing the plate.
It
was a very difficult job but after huffing and puffing for a long while, he managed
to remove the wedge. As soon as he removed it, the two splices sprang together
locking his tail between them like a clamp. It screeched loudly and howled with
pain, but there was no way out. He ultimately bled to death.
Lesson:
"Never act in haste without
understanding the job at hand".
Bye children meet you in the next issue
-----------------------------------------------
10. ARTICLES FROM SAI DEVOTEES:
Sai ka laadla saikalaadla@yahoo.com
Guru's Role
Aum Sai Sri Sai Jaya Jaya Sai
There was a poor
man in a village who had desire to become rich. God took the form of a
fortune-teller and told the poor man to dig a pit near the wall at the back of
his house to find a rich treasure-trove in it. The poor man did the same and
obtained much wealth and thereafter, he became relaxed and careless even for
the maintenance of the wealth. Coming to know of his carelessness, one day a
thief entered the house and carried away the treasure-trove. The poor man found
that his wealth was gone and ran here and there in search of the treasured
trove. In the meantime, the same fortune-teller caught hold of the thief and
duly returned the treasure-trove to the poor man. From that moment, he never
relaxed his vigilance, was ever guarding the treasure-trove, and exerted
himself to add to it.
Similarly, God
sends a Guru to the Spiritual Aspirant who shows him that God resides within
the chambers of the heart in the form of Supreme Bliss. The Spiritual Aspirant
exerts himself and attains some measure of success in the sadhana. This success
turns his head and makes him relax his efforts. Finding this, Maya overpowers
him and carries away his spiritual progress.
He suddenly
discovers the truth and laments over his fate. The Guru comes to him again and
recaptures for him the experiences he had previously gained by Sadhana. He also
warns him against relax in Sadhana. Once having known the consequences of
non-vigilance, viz., great misery, he never relaxes his vigilance once again.
The basic teaching
of our ancient scriptures says that you are child of Immortality. Man is not a
product of slime or mud but he is the one who manages to live with viveka so
that he is able to attain the divinity latent in him. Man is frittering his
energy on collecting tawdry tinsel and forgetting God's Grace. Both are
available on earth but man is led by glitter and not by worth.
The most desirable
form of wealth is the Grace of God. The bliss that bestows due to God's Grace
is experienced by many saints and sages who had faith in their hearts and
withstood the onslaughts of poverty, neglect and cruelty. The sky and the sea
are blue in color because of their vast depth. Similarly, God is described in
blue color because of his greatest mystery. Remove from the heart the darkness
of vice and ignorance so that, the Meghashyama (whose color is that of a
rain-cloud) can easily be seen in that white background. Do not further darken
your consciousness by blaming God due to your materialistic problems. Better
live a moment as swan on milk than live for a century as crow by feeding on
carrion.
Man is the
repository of vast power. The body encasing you is the means to enable you to
realize the Reality. Use the opportunities in the householder life as a
training ground for spiritual life and develop detachment and self-sacrifice.
You must remove the fibrous matter that encases his heart i.e., lust, anger and
envy. You must Draw inspiration from the Divine in you and earn the glory by
being good, sincere, honest, self-sacrificing and lovable.
Use your tongue
for spelling the name of the Lord but not for hissing like a serpent or for
growling with intention to strike terror. Do not start blaming the God if your
wish is not fulfilled because the fault lies in you for not having the needed
qualification to earn the fulfillment. The sorrows of life will yield only to
nobler and higher thoughts and experiences. Our dharma insists that every act
must be done as efficiently as act of worship and true love must forget all
differences of status, age and wealth and man cannot claim humanity without
self-control and detachment. Hear good things, see good, do good, think good
and uproot all the evil tendencies will be uprooted otherwise, you are like the
fool who puts on wrong glasses and spoils his vision.
Bow To Sri Sai - Peace Be To All
May Baba Be Always
With You
-----------------------------------
11. LETTERS FROM SAIDEVOTEES:
"amitabh tripathi" tripathi_amitabh11@yahoo.co.in
“WORLD
HINDU CONFERENCE - III”, February 11, 12, 13, 2007,
at Prayagraj (
Jai
SriRam
-------------------
Sairam,
I have received the Udhi from Shirdi sent by you along with Photograph of
Bhagwan BABA.
It will be of more helpful, if you can kindly let me know the Prayers and
Bhajans conducted in Pestom Sagar - Chembur Mumbai - area so that I can attend
the same.
Sairam
Venkateswaran N.R.
------------------------
12. TELUGU
SECTION:
Please visit:
http://www.telugubhakti.com/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
-----------------------------
13. SAI'S BOOK WORLD:
Apostle of love
Saint
Saipadananda Rangaswami Parthasarathy
Sterling
Publishers Pvt Ltd
A-59,
Okhla Industrial Area,
Phase
2,
Email: info@sterlingpublishers.com
--------------
The Divine Experience
Prof.
C. R. Narayanan
All
Chennai - 600 004.
-----------------
Messages of Shirdi Sai Baba from the
Spiritual Plane
Bharam
Uma Maheshwar Rao
Sri
Sai Publications Flat No.12
---------------------
Thus Spake Sri Shirdi Sai Baba
B.
Uma Maheswara Rao
Diamond
Pocket Books
X-30
Okhla Industrial Area,
Phase
-II
----------------
Please
Note:
Those desirous of using this facility (Sai's Book World) to spread the word
about their books may send ONE new copy of the book to Saidarbar, for details contact:
saidarbar@gmail.com
Acknowledgement of receipt of books will be done by E-mail only.
Book(s) sent to Saidarbar will be retained by Saidarbar and cannot be returned.
-----------------------------------------
SAIDARBAR –
http://www.angelfire.com/celeb2/saidarbar/pages/S3500041.htm
Saidarbar
members would like to convey hearty thanks to Saibandhu Murali Koneru of Australia
and Saibandhu Murali Bala of USA who has uploaded Saibanisa’s discourses Audio C.Ds in their web sites
You can download Audio:
Sri
Sai Satcharithra (In English Language)
Sri
Sai Satcharithra by chapters (In English Language)
Sri
Sai Satcharithra (In Telugu Language)
Sai
Satcharithra by chapters (In Telugu Language)
Sri
Guru Charithra (In English Language)
Sri
Guru Charithra by chapters (In English Language)
Request
Sri Sai Satcharithra CD (English and Telugu Language Available)
Saibanisa’s
discourses (Telugu)
From http://www.saiaudio.com/sairam/index.htm Contact Murali Bala murali@itmodule.com ---------------------------------------------------------------------
14. EDITORIAL.
Things
impressed me from this Magazine:
Disciplined
conduct, scriptures say, forms three fourths of life. It is the absolute
requirement for acquiring all other virtues. A familiar comparison is that of a
waterfall which is made to flow down a height through a tunnel to generate
electrical energy. No life can grow
properly unless it adheres to certain regulations.
Man
is born to be of help to the needy
Sai
devotees may write about their Sai activities in their place, essays, articles
and poetry on Sai to "The Glory of Shirdi Sai" – they may be
address their contributions to E-mail id:
saidarbar@gmail.com with a copy marked to webmaster@saidarbar.org
We shall put in our best efforts to include them in the Glory of Shiridi
Sai- the bi-weekly E -Magazine. Unless the author of the articles instructs,
not to publish his/her E-mail id, we will publish them as a matter of routine
practice.
You can subscribe for THE GLORY OF SHIRDI SAI for a friend /relative by
submitting e-mail ID in the main page of http://www.saidarbar.org
Also
read the old issues from:
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----------------------------------------------------