Spiritual Gems from Sri sai satcharitra - Chapter 2 (Contd)

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"What was the utility of the Guru, if he could not save my friend's son?" (pages 7 and 8). This episode served to trigger the thoughts about Guru in Shri Hemadpant. And yes, the Guru saved that boy's Sukshma Shareera (the subtle astral body, of desires) by sitting at his bedside while the physical body was being shed. So the Guru's sitting at the boy's bedside was not in vain at all! "If this little miracle or Leela had not happened, I would not have reached Shirdi the next day, as settled, and many doubts would have assailed me." (page 8). Since Hemadpant's time has come, the miracle did take place and he reached Shirdi (not just the physical place, but his inner destination). Elsewhere in Satcharitra, Hemadpant recorded what Baba said, "Let His man be at any distance, a thousand koss away from Him, he will be drawn to Shirdi, like a sparrow, with a thread, tied to its feet." So Hemadpant too, and now, we, the writer and the readers of these spiritual gems are drawn to the spiritual Dwarakamayi of Shirdi. Sai Ram.

And, when Hemadpant, (OK, he got that title later which he describes in the same chapter, but it has stuck him so well that we shall prefer that title) was pulled to Shirdi, when he alighted from tanga, he was greeted by two great devotees of Baba, Shri Bhausaheb (Kaka) Dixit and Shri Tatyasaheb Noolkar. He was advised to take the 'Dhooli Darshan' (literally dusty sighting), since Guru is the best purifier and so bowing to Guru, wherever He is, in whatever condition we are, is the first and best purifier. Physical bath cleanses the body and refreshes and thus cleans the mind, but this namaskar to Guru, this Dhooli Darshan is the best purifier of the ego. And please see what Hemadpant himself says about his experience: "and then my joy knew no bounds. I found more than what Nana Chandorkar had told me. All my senses were satisfied and I forgot thirst and hunger. The moment I touched Sai Baba's feet, I began a new lease of life." In Ramayana, we are told about Sri Rama and Sri Lakshmana being given two mantras by Sage Viswamitra. The two mantras were "Bala" and "Ati bala" and by the grace of these two mantras they were freed from hunger, thirst and fatigue etc., i.e. they were freed from all the human body's weaknesses. Sri Annasaheb Dabholkar, shortly going to be named as Hemadpant also forgot his thirst and hunger. He felt the sign of Guru's grace.

"What can the Guru do to a man, who does nothing, but sleeps indolently?" asked Hemadpant, thus pleading free-will. (Page 9) But what did the Guru do to Hemadpant? He agitated his mind through his friend's son's death episode and brought him to Shirdi. So, the Guru does wake up the sleeping man too. He will create such situations in that man's life that he starts running! "Brush aside your cleverness; pride or egoism won't help you." Retorted Shri Balasaheb Bhate. (Page 9). But even these qualities of pride, cleverness, ego etc., help in ripening the destiny of the man quickly and a ripe fruit has to fall from the tree of sansar (Pl. refer to Sri Maha Mrutyunjaya Mantra)!

In all the puranas, we come across stories of Daityas (sons of Diti, also called as Asuras, Rakshasas etc.), who met death at the hands of various forms of God (like Vishnu, Siva, Kartikeya, Durga etc.). Results follow actions is the inviolable law of karma. They (the Rakshasas) did great penance and so obtained boons. They misused the powers thus obtained and met their just end. But since they were powerful in a negative way, a positive power had to manifest itself in the form of Siva, Vishnu etc., to annihilate the negative power. If we need to eliminate or destroy an electron (a very tiny particle which is electrically negatively charged) we need to bring a positron (an electrically opposite charged particle, otherwise identical), near to it. The result? Both disappear and pure energy equal to the combined mass of both appears. Similarly if a proton and an electron combine, a neutron forms or vice-versa. Thus in the cosmic drama, good and bad are simply like light and shadow. Both exist to show the other through contrast. Each of us have both the qualities in our nature and we need to finally fuse both of them and annhilate them and thus our mind so that we reach the state of bliss beyond the ego, mind and desires. That is the meaning of the word Mantra, that which helps us to cross the mind. Sai Ram is the best mantra for Sai devotees.

"I lost my peace of mind and found that, unless there is strong body-consciousness and egoism, there would be no discussion; in other words, it is egoism, which breeds discussion." Page 9. And may I add, desire too. Desire to prevail, desire to be praised, desire to win etc. Unfulfilled desire leads to frustration, resentment, anger and all other evils. Baba said "The way is difficult. There are tigers and wolves in the jungles on the way." (Page 10). The tigers and wolves of desire, and cruelty, which are waiting to pounce upon the Sadhaka and finish him up. Luckily Guru helps us to avoid them or face them with light (it is a known fact that wild animals like tigers, wolves etc., are afraid of fire, which is light) of true knowledge and faith. So, let us submit our cleverness, ego, body-consciousness, desires and all else at the feet of Sadguru Sai Maharaj, so that our path becomes clear like a Raja Marga (Royal Road). Sai Ram.

We shall continue by His grace, with more articles on these Spiritual Gems from Sri Satcharita. These articles, originally published in The Glory of Shirdi Sai are being reviewed and revised as inspired by Sai. Your feed-back is accepted as Sai Prasad. Sai Ram.