Importance Of Baba's Punya Tithi

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Sai Ram. The following is an adaptation of a speech delivered at the behest of Baba at His Temple, Dilsukhnagar, Hyderabad, on 30th September, 2008. The original speech was delivered in Telugu and an English adaptation is presented here for the benefit of Sai devotees across the world. Sai Ram.

Sai Ram. I offer my prostrations to Sai Devotees, Sai Bandhus and to Sai Himself, Who is using me as a mere instrument to deliver this speech.

This day (October 18, 1918, lunar tithi - Vijaya Dasami – Dasara) in 1918 is marked in golden letters.Shri Shirdi Sai Baba, our Master, Father, Mother & God, whatever name we revere Him has left His mortal coil on the soil of Shirdi. He left behind a rich heritage of human values, showed us the path to love; be loved & to live harmoniously in a diverse community.

Before we take up the main topic of today, let us understand a little about the importance of human birth and importance of Sadguru. In chapter 8 of Sri Sai Satcharitra, Shri Hemadpant explains the purpose of human birth. Humans have been endowed with a special faculty of Jnana, Knowledge and using that faculty; one should try to attain Moksha (Liberation) from the cycle of births and deaths, which is the result of Karma, one's deeds.

Until one realizes the impermanence of this universe and realizes the permanence of Paramatma and one's inherent identity with Paramatma (just as a drop of water is identical with all the water of the universe), one is bound to the wheel of Samsara, the worldly existence. This Moksha is easily obtained by worship of Guru. Sri Guru, imparts true knowledge and removes the illusions arising out of false knowledge (Avidya). That is why, He is called Sadguru (True Guru). Sat means Existence, Truth and hence good. Sai Ram.

The importance of Guru has been stressed in many scriptures and Guru Gita (told by Lord Siva to Goddess Parvati in Skanda Puran) and Sri Guru Charitra are excellent sources in addition to Sri Sai Satcharitra. Guru means the one, who dispels ignorance, Avidya and gives us the light of true knowledge, the knowledge of our true nature. Sai Ram.

Sai showed us through several instances that He was not limited to His physical body. In Chapter 3 of Sri Sai Satcharitra, Sai tells His devotees: "Be wherever you like, do whatever you choose, remember this well that all what you do is known to Me. I am the inner ruler of all and seated in their hearts. I envelop all the creatures, the movable and immovable world. I am the controller - the wire-puller of the show of this Universe. I am the mother, origin of all beings, the harmony of three gunas, the propeller of the senses, the creator, preserver and the destroyer. Nothing will harm him, who turns his attention towards me, but Maya will lash or whip him who forgets me. All the insects, ants, the visible, movable and immovable world, are my body or form".

In Chapter 7, we have this incident to show us that Sai Baba was not limited to His physical body: "In the year 1910 A.D., Baba was sitting near the Dhuni on Divali holiday and warming Himself. He was pushing firewood into the Dhuni, which was brightly burning. A little later, instead of pushing logs of woods, Baba pushed His arm into the Dhuni; the arm was scorched and burnt immediately. This was noticed by the servant Madhav, and also by Madhavarao Deshpande (Shama). They at once ran to Baba and Madhavarao clasped Baba by His waist from behind and dragged Him forcibly back ward and asked, "Deva, for what have You done this?" Then Baba came to His senses and replied, "The wife of a blacksmith at some distant place was working the bellows of a furnace; her husband called her. Forgetting that her child was on her waist, she ran hastily and the child slipped into the furnace. I immediately thrust My hand into the furnace and saved the child. I do not mind My arm being burnt, but I am glad that the life of the child is saved."

In Chapter 9, we have this beautiful story of Mrs. Tarkhad, where Baba tells her: "The dog, which you saw before meals and to which you gave the piece of bread, is, one with me, so also other creatures (cats, pigs, flies, cows etc.) are one with me. I am roaming in their forms. He, who sees me in all these creatures, is my beloved. So abandon the sense of duality and distinction, and serve me, as you did today."

Sai showed His Oneness with all Gods and Gurus. In Chapter 11 of Sri Sai Satcharitra, we have the beautiful story of Dr. Pandit from whom Baba accepted the Tripundra with sandal paste and showed His unity with Dr.Pandit's Guru Kaka Puranik and we have in Chapter 12, the story of Mulay Shastri, an orthodox Agnihotri Brahmin, to whom Baba gave darshan as his Guru, Guru Gholap (a great disciple of Shri Akkalkot Maharaj, also known as Swami Samartha). In the same chapter, we have the wonderful story of Baba's identity with Sri Ram as seen by a Rama bhakta. Sai Ram.

In Chapter 28, Baba tells Megha, His great devotee, to whom He gave darshan in a closed room: Baba rejoined - "I require no door to enter. I have neither form nor any extension; I always live everywhere. I carry on, as a wire puller, all the actions of the man who trusts me and merges in me." In this connection, a similar wonderful story is narrated by Shri Paramahansa Yogananda in His book, Autobiography of a Yogi, in connection with Mahavatar Babaji, the founder of Yogananda's lineage of Gurus. Similar incidents are experienced by many devotees of Shri Guru Raghavendra Swami of Mantralayam.