Sai in Ramayan

[Guest guest]

Saidarbar Hyderabad wishes that all it's readers be blessed by

Lord Sri Rama on the auspicious occasion of Sri Rama Navami being

celebrated on 18-04-2005.As all of you are aware Lord Sri Rama is

considered as a role model for all and undoubtedly all comparisons

are made in every aspect of life taking Lord Sri Rama as an example.

Baba has aptly encouraged Sri Rama Navami celebrations in Shirdi

followed by Cultural programs including singing of the Glory of Lord

Rama and chanting of Rama nama smarana. Saidarbar feels it appropriate

to present a discourse by Saibanisaji on Ramayana to mark the

celebrations all over. We wish all our readership a very Happy Sri

Rama navami.

-Saidarbar team members.

Sai In Ramayan: By Sri SAIBANISA Gopal Rao Ravada

Sri Ganeshaya Namaha. Sri Saraswatye Namaha. Samartha Sadguru

Sainathaye Namaha.

In Sai Sat Charitra Baba says, " you need not go anywhere in search of

Me. Barring your name and form , there exists in you, as well as in

all beings, a sense of being or consciousness of existence. That is

Myself. Knowing this you see me inside yourself as well as in all

human beings. He who sees me in all creatures is my beloved". Baba is

there in every soul, so I convey my pranams to everybody here.

Nowadays all Sai devotees greet each other as "Sai Ram". What is the

greatness of Sairam? Sai is indeed Ram. My object is to prove that Sai

is Ram and Ram is Sai by projecting similar incidents from Ramayan and

Sai Sat charitra. You must be aware that Ramayan contains, Bala

Kandam, Ayodhya kandam, Aaranya kandam, Kishkinta kandam, Sundara

kandam and Yudha kandam, I am taking few incidents from all this to

bring out the similarity between Ram and Sai.

Hemadpant has said, "when I read Ramayan, I could see Sai in Ramayan

and when I read Bhagavatam I again could see Sai in Bhagavatam" . To

test this I started reading Bhagavatam and I also found Sai in

Bhagavatam. And I found Sai in Ramayan also . That is the reason for

the discourse today. I will give you relevant examples which will help

you conclude that Sai is Ram.

One day, to the Dhulia Commission officer at Shirdi, Baba disclosed

his age as lakhs of years which means, for lakhs of years Baba was

Ram. It must be true as Sai was a realized soul and an ageless

chiranjeevi like Ram. So this proves to us that Baba and Ram are one

and the same and both are beyond death and mortality.

Where Ram is there Hanuman is.

Where ever Ram is you can find Hanuman around. Ram and Hanuman are

inseparable. Hanuman will be ahead of Ram to greet Ram on his arrival.

And wherever Ram nama is heard, Hanuman is sure be around.

Similarly, at Shirdi, there is a Maruthi Mandir besides Dwarakamayi,

where Shirdi Sai Baba lived. Here also Hanuman was ahead of Baba to

greet and receive His master on His arrival to Dwarakamayi. We should

feel happy that Shirdi is also Ayodhya for us as we have Hanuman and

Ram in the form of Sai.

 

Importance of Namasmarana:

Lord Shiva is also called as Garlakanta or Neelakanta. He is called so

because, he consumed the deadly poison and kept it in his throat

without swallowing. If he spit it out the entire universe would be in

flames. It is a very difficult task but Lord Shiva could manage this

because every moment He used to utter the taraka mantra "Ram , Ram",

and He could bear the pain and the ill-effect of poison by uttering

Rama nama.

In Chapter X of Sai Sat Charita, Hemadpant says that Baba never

prescribed any asanas , sitting between the fires, sacrifices or eight

fold yoga to his sishyas. He told them to leave all cleverness and

always utter "Sai, Sai" and by uttering the name of Sai all our

shackles will be removed and we will be free. Sai Ram is the taraka

mantra and in this Kaliyug, in which Baba lived, only namasmarana can

remove our fear and carry us safely across the ocean of worldly existence.

Godliness not realized

In the Tretya Yuga, Ram is portrayed in the beginning only as a human

being and not as an incarnation of God. But the divine qualities that

Ram possessed made people conclude that Ram was an avatar Purusha -

the incarnation of Lord Srihari. This happened only towards the end of

Ramayana.

Similarly, when we begin to read Sai Sat Charitra, we think of Sairam

only as a human being. Only after reading all the fifty-one chapters,

we come to realize that Sai is God. Even though Mahalsapati invited

Sai, he did not allow Him to stay in the Kandoba temple but asked Him

to stay in the Dwarakamai because Sainath looked like a fakir. Sairam

took His Mahasamadhi in the year 1918, and even till 1918 many people

did not realize that He was an avatar Purusha.

Blessings for a male child

In Ramanyan, King Dasaratha had all the prosperity but he was gloomy

and sad because he had no son. He got sage Rishyasringa to perform

Putrakameshti Yaaga ( a yaaga for childbirth) and was blessed with 4

sons Ram, Lakshman, Bharatha and Satrugan

In Sai Sat Charita there is a similar incident. Ratanji Shapurji Wadia

was a multi millionaire. But with all this wealth, he was totally

unhappy because he did not have a son. When he approached Baba and

gave Rs 5/ as dakshina, Baba told him that he had already given Him Rs

3 and 14 annas and took only the balance. But at the end Baba blessed

him saying, "God will satisfy your heart's desire". Baba's words were

true and Ratanji was blessed with a son.

Guru Vakya Paripalana - Ordeal of Guru Bhakti

In Ramayan in the Baalakand , Viswamitra takes Ram and Lakshman to the

forest to defeat and kill the raakshasas who were obstructing his

yaaga. When Thaataka approached fiercely to kill Ram and Lakshman and

to destroy the yaaga, Viswamitra asked Rama to kill Thaataki

immediately. Though it was against Kshatriya Dharma to kill a woman,

Ram did not hesitate a minute. He said, "it is my duty to obey my Guru

without asking any question," and so saying He strung His bow and the

arrow pierced her chest and Thaataki fell down lifeless. Ram proved

here that "guru Vakya" i.e order of the guru is very important.

Similarly in chapter XXIII of Sai Sat Charita, Sai tested his

disciples. While the cholera ordinance was in force, someone brought a

goat to the Dwarakamai to be killed. Sai put some of his closest

devotees to test. He first asked Bade Baba to behead it, who flatly

refused. Then Baba asked Shama to kill the goat and he also went to

fetch a knife but did not return . Baba finally asked Kakasaheb Dixit,

a pure Brahmin , who never in his life knew killing, to behead the

goat. Though quite averse to do any act of violence, Kakasahib Dixit

tightened his dhotar and raising the knife waited for Baba's

permission. When Baba said "strike", the knife was about to come down

on the goat . But Baba said , " Stop. How cruel you are. Being a

Brahmin you are killing a goat". Kakasahib Dixit said, "Baba, Your

nectar like word is law to me. I do not know whether it is right or

wrong to kill, but I know implicit and prompt compliance with Guru's

orders is my duty and Dharma". Here Kakasaheb Dixit has taken the

words of Baba as law.

Parasthri Vyamoham:

In Ramayan, Ahalya, the wife of Gautama Muni was turned to a stone by

her husband when she yielded to the unholy desire of Indra. Ramayan

teaches a lesson that Parasthri Vyamoham i.e. yearning for another

man's woman is very bad offence.

In Sai Sat Charitam XLIX chapter, Sai also preaches that Parasthri

Vyamoham is bad. Once when Nanasaheb Chandorkar was sitting in the

Dwarakamai with Baba, a Mohammedian gentleman came with his family.

When a muslim lady removed her barkha(veil) to salute Baba, Nana was

smitten by her beauty and was tempted to see her face once again. Baba

knowing Nana's restlessness says to Nana, "Our mind is fickle by

nature, it should not be allowed to get wild. You can enjoy beauty but

you cannot aspire for it. Beauty is the subject of sight, but we

should never entertain evil thoughts in our mind.".

Kamadhenu

Viswamitra comes to the ashram of Vasista with his followers and , he

sees Kamadhenu the divine cow of Heaven, which grants all the wishes

and desires of Vasista. When Viswamitra asked Vasista about the

importance of Kamadhenu, Vasista praises the Holy cow and says that

She , emerged from the ocean and was created by Brahma to serve mankind.

Sai speaks about Kamadhenu in Chapter XXVII in Sai Sat Charita. Smt

Lakshmi Bai Khaparde was the wife of a very rich and famous advocate

but she was very humble like her husband. Both the Khapardes were

faithful devotees of Sai. While she stayed at Shirdi, every noon she

brought naivedya for Sai, One day when she brought the Naivedya, Baba

ran to her and snatching the plate began to partake the dish

zealously. Shama asked Baba, " Why this partiality? You throw away

dishes of others, but you are eating this lady's food . Why is the

dish of this woman so sweet?". Baba then explained, " this food is

really extraordinary. In her former birth(five janma's back) she was a

cow yielding much milk. I have tasted that milk . She has come back to

me after her five janmas. I saw her after a very long time. Let me

take some sweet morsels of food from her dish." Baba as Ram would have

tasted the milk of Kamadhenu. As Baba has said, " I will follow my

baktha birth after birth" , He still remembers her . If an animal or

creature does something good to the society, they will be born as a

human being in the next birth. This is the moral , which Sai indicates

to us.

Vengeance Kills:

In Ramayan, Kekaya Maharaj suffered for a great sin committed by him

for the sake of momentary pleasure. When Kekaya Maharaj was young, he

had the skill to use his bow against unseen targets. For the pleasure

of exercising this skill, he once killed a love intoxicated male deer

sporting his joy of love with a female deer. The male deer fell down

dead. The female deer seeing her husband dead ran to her mother to

fetch the sanjeevini moolika and bring her husband back to life. The

mother of the female deer begged Kekaya Maharaj to handover the body

of the male deer but Kekaya Maharaj refused. She then proclaimed in

anger. " Kekaya Maharaj, in this birth you have killed my son in law.

So in the next birth I will take revenge and I will be responsible for

the death of your son in law and show you how painful it is" .The

mother in law deer was born in the next birth as Mandhara. Mandhara's

evil counseling to Kaikeyi was the main cause of Ram's exile and later

King Dasaratha's death. Dasaratha had married Kaikeyi, the daughter of

Kekaya Maharaj. This is narrated in Tulsi Ramayan. If one dies with

the feeling of revenge, it will be carried to the next janma.

In chapter XLVII of Sai Sat Charita, Sai narrates this incident .

Chennabasappa and Veerabhadrappa were enemies in their previous birth.

They were always quarrelling and threatening to kill one another. They

died and in the next birth, Chennabasappa was born as a frog and

Veerabhadrappa was born as a snake. Once when Sai was scrolling along

a small riverbank, He heard the croaking of a frog and soon found that

a huge black snake was holding a big frog in its mouth. Sai recognized

them as Chennabasappa and Veerabhadrappa. He addressed them, "Have you

not forgotten your enmity? Though born as a frog and snake, you still

maintain enmity against each other? Be ashamed of yourself. Give up

your hatred now and be at rest". Baba preaches that the feeling of

revenge , whether it is in human being or animal should not be carried

to the next janma. Many people like Megha and Somadev Swamiji had

insulted Baba in the beginning and refused to bow before Him because

He was a fakir. But Baba pardoned them and finally they became His

ardent devotees. Grudge is a very bad vice, and people should learn to

forgive and forget instead of carrying their grudge , birth after birth.

The Lord is the humblest of all

In Ramayana, Kaikeyi told Ram that she wanted her son Baratha to be

the heir to the throne and asked Ram to go in to exile for fourteen

years. Ram without the slightest sign of disappointment or sorrow,

said that He would be the happiest person to give the throne to

Bharatha and go to the forest to fulfill His father's promise.

There was in Shirdi , a very queer person , by name Nanavalli. He once

approached Baba who was sitting in His seat in Dwarakamayi and asked

Baba to get up as he wanted to occupy the same. Baba did not show the

slightest displeasure in being dictated and ousted. He very happily

got up from his seat and offered Nanavalli his seat.

Lesson on Charity

Before going to vanavas, Ram donated all his jewels to the poor and

needy people. Even when a Brahmin approached Him on the way, Ram

ordered Sumantha to gift him as many cows as he needed . Rama wore

only a bark dress and carried His bow and arrow as his belongings.

Same way Baba used to collect dakshina everyday from devotees who

visited Him, which sometimes amounted to Rs.500/- . But, He would

distribute the money thus collected to poor and needy people on the

same day and the next morning He would be a fakir as usual. Baba did

this to teach His devotees the lesson of Charity and to remove their

attachment to money.

Power of Interpretation of the language of the creatures

Kekaya Maharaj had the rare power of understanding the language of

animals and creatures. He could understand the language of the ants

Jumbanaka and could interpret it to his wife.

Similarly, Baba could also understand the language of other creatures.

Once when Baba was sitting in the Dwarakamai, a lizard tick-ticked.

One devotee asked Baba whether this tick-ticking signified anything.

Baba said that the lizard was overjoyed as her sister from Aurangabad

was coming to see her. Immediately a gentleman from Aurangabad came on

horseback to see Baba. He took out a big bag of grams to feed his

hungry horse. A lizard jumped out of the bag and climbed the wall and

went strutting towards her sister. Baba's prophecy of the meeting of

the two lizards proved the omniscience – the all-knowing nature of Baba.

All are equal in the eyes of GOD

On the first day of Vanavas, Ram reached the bank of the Ganga . Guha,

the chieftain of the tribes who dwelt on the banks of Ganga welcomed

Ram and offered Him lavish food. Ram moved by Guha's hospitality

happily ate the food lovingly offered by Guha. Ram did not

discriminate Guha on the basis of His caste or creed.

Same way when Baba was wandering in the jungle in quest of His Guru, a

Vanjari offers Him food. Baba moved by the Vanjari's extraordinary

love, accepted the food offered by Vanjari and happily ate the loaf of

bread.

Kshatriya Dharma:

Ram is a Kshatriya and it is the duty of a Kshatriya to protect anyone

who takes refuge in him. He has protected Sugriva and then Vibeeshana

who took refuge in Him. This is Kshatriya Dharma. This also

illustrates the doctrine that Lord accepts all who seek absolute

surrender at His feet.

Sainath also followed this dharma. He protected anyone who surrendered

to Him regardless of his or her merits or demerits. During His

lifetime Baba never revealed his caste to anyone. But Baba has

indirectly told 33rd in chapter of the Sai Sat Charita in the Jamner

Miracle that He was a Hindu Kshatriya. When Mainatai , the daughter of

Nana Chandorkar was suffering from labour pain , Nana cried to Baba

for help. Baba asked Ramgirbuva, who was going to his native place, to

stop at Jamner and give a packet of Udi and Aarthi song to Nana

Chandorkar. When Ramgirbuva refused to go saying he did not have

enough money, Baba said that He would take care of everything.

Ramgirbuva reached Jamner and there a tonga was waiting for him with

the tongawala to take him to Jamner. The tongawala was none other that

Sai himself. On the way, the tongawala(Sai) offered food to

Ramgirbuva. Ramgirbuva suspected the tongawala to be a Muslim and was

unwilling to take the food. Here Baba(tongawala) says that He was a

Hindu, a Kshatriya of Garhwal . From this incident I personally feel

that Baba is also a Kshatriya like Ram . He has gone one more step and

promised to take care of the devotees who surrender to Him not only in

this birth but also in births to come.

The best of bhaktas honored

When Ravana kidnapped Sita, Jatayu, king of eagles, attacked Ravana.

In the encounter, Ravana unsheathed his sword and cut both the wings

of Jatayu. Ram saw the bleeding Jatayu on his way and Jatayu after

conveying to Ram that Ravana had taken Sita to Lanka, died in Ram's

arms. Ram's sorrow knew no bounds. He embraced Jatayu and lamented

loudly. Though Ram knew Jatayu only for a very short time, Jatayu won

the heart of Ram by exhibiting true love and devotion to Ram . Ram,

who could not to perform the last rites for His own father, performed

the last rites for this eagle father , honored Jatayu and gave him

Moksha.

Same is the case of Megha in Sai Sat Charita. Megha was an illiterate

Brahmin ,and an ardent devotee of Lord Shiva. He served Baba only for

a very short time. When he first came to Shirdi , he refused to bow

before Baba whom he thought was a Muslim. Baba read his thought and

drove him away. But Megha who had realized Baba's divinity, came again

and again to Baba and became one of his closest devotees. He started

worshipping Baba with bilva leaves and ganga water just as he

worshipped Lord Shiva. When Megha died, Baba was grief stricken and he

wept like a close relative. He followed the funeral procession,

covered his body with flowers and served a funeral dinner on his

behalf. when He performed the last rites of Megha tears flowed from

Baba's eyes and like an ordinary mortal. Baba showed himself overcome

with grief and sorrow. Krishna performed last rites of his disciple

Astavakra. Ram performed the last rites of Jatayu and Sairam performed

the last rites of Megha.

Epitome of love and devotion:

In Ramayana, Ram on his way to Lanka , visited the ashram a tribal

woman Baktha Sabari, on the banks of Pampa. Sabari was very old and

she was leading a saintly life. She was waiting for the arrival of Ram

and for the bliss of His darshan. She received Ram and Lakshman and

offered them fruits that she had collected from the forest . Out of

her great desire to give nothing but the best among her collection of

fruits to Ram , Sabari checked the ripeness of the fruits that she

collected for Sri Ram by tasting each fruit and gave only those fruits

that she thought was ripe, to Sri Ram. Ram understood her true

affection and so without the slightest hesitation accepted Sabari's

offerings and ate them happily.

Similarly , in the year 1914, on a Ram Navami day, a poor old woman

came to take darshan of Sai Ram . She brought three rotis to offer to

Sairam . But there was a huge crowd and she could not go near Sai. She

was very hungry as she had traveled all through the day by foot to

meet Sai and so she started eating the rotis which she had brought to

offer for Sai. Sai knew it and he called Shama and asked him to bring

the old lady from the crowd. When the old lady came near, Sai snatched

the remaining half roti that she had in her hand and ate it. Such was

the greatness of Sai. He expects only pure love and is ready to accept

anything that is offered to Him with pure love and devotion.

A lie to benefit Mankind

When Ram was going to the forest, King Dasaratha ordered minister

Sumantha to bring back Ram. Dasaratha told Sumantha that as a king Ram

had to obey his orders and return immediately to Ayodhya to ascend the

throne. But to Ram no pleasure was higher than honoring his fathers

pledge(pitruvakiya paripalana). Ram also knew that He was going to the

forest to kill Ravana .So He told Sumanta to tell a lie that Ram did

not hear him as the crowd was shouting wildly. Ram told a lie for the

first and last time in his life to fulfill his father's word and to

uphold dharma.

Baba has told in Sat Charita, " I never tell lies" but Baba has told a

lie, to teach the world, the importance of Vishnu Sahasranama. Shama

was a very intimate devotee of Baba and Baba wanted to favor him by

giving him a copy of Vishnu Sahasranama. A Ramadasi had the habit of

reciting Vishnu Sahasranama at the Dwarakamayi daily. Baba once told

the Ramadasi that He was suffering from intense stomach pain and asked

him to get a particular drug for him. When the Ramdasi went out, Baba

took the Vishnusahasranama, which the Ramdasi was reading and gave it

to Shama and asked him to read it. At the same time, He convinced the

Ramadasi saying that He wanted everyone to read Vishnu Sahasranama. to

save them from the miseries of worldly existence. Sai told this lie

for the benefit of His devotees. Such is the efficacy of Vishnu

Sahasranam. Baba has once told me in meditation, " when you are

traveling in the boat of Samsar on the ocean of worldly troubles, when

ever you have a problem, hoist the flag of Vishnu Sahasranam on your

boat and it will save you".

Lord's Paadukas

In Ramayana, Bharatha went to the forest to request Ram to return and

rule Ayodhya. But Ram refused to return. So Baratha asked for Ram's

Padukas. Baratha kept these padukas in the throne and paid reverent

homage to the Padukas. He worshipped these Padukas with great respect.

In the 5th chapter of Sai Sat Charita there is a similar incident. Bai

Krishnaji thought that there must be some memorial of the fact of Sai

Baba's coming to Shirdi and sitting under the neem tree. So he

consulted with Upasani Maharaj and others and made the Padukas. Baba

touched the Padukas and asked them to install on Sravana poornima day

at the Gurusthan . But after installation, Baba said that the padukas

were not His , but were the feet of the Lord and asked the people to

worship it as Lord's Padukas.

Om Tat Sat

After fulfilling the duty of His avatar of killing Ravana , Ram felt

it was time for him now to leave the sorrow of earthly life and resume

his celestial identity as Vishnu. As He set forth on his final

journey, the people of Ayodhya and the vanaras followed him. They

followed him as He walked out of the capital and straight to the banks

of the Sarayu River. He paused for a moment on the shore. He shone

like the sun in all its radiance. A serene smile lit his face. He

descended into the water of river Sarayu, submerged himself under the

surface and instantly rose again and transformed into His eternal form

as Vishnu. Effulgent on the coils of his serpent seat, that Lord

revealed himself briefly to those left behind, then ascended to His

Celestial abode.

Sai also left his mortal coil happily. In fact two years before

leaving this world , Baba gave an indication that He would attain

Mahasamadhi on Vijayadasami. On the day of His Mahasamadhi , He gave

nine coins to Laxmibai Shinde as a token of her bakthi. In order that

He should not be entangled with love and affection, He ordered all His

devotees to go and have their noon meals. He never told anyone the

exact time of His departure to heaven. After accomplishing His mission

of Lokasamrakshana, Baba left His mortal coil on a Vijayadasami day

peacefully.

There are many more incidents but I conclude today with this.

 

Jai Sai Ram