Sai Baba the Master

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The Off-shoots of Sai Baba

 

The achievement of a saint or a God-man is gauged by the number and

greatness of the God-men he has made. And Sai Baba has amply fulfilled his

promise, “This is a pure brahmin, a white brahmin. This brahmin shall lead

lakhs of people to the subhramarga. This is a brahmin musjid.”

 

“Guru is God or the Self. First a man prays to God to fulfil his desires;

then a time comes when he does not pray for the fulfilment of a desire but

for God Himself. So God appears to him in some form or other, human or

non-human, to guide him as a guru in answer to his prayer.”

 

“He who has earned the grace of his guru will undoubtedly be saved and

never forsaken, just as the prey that has fallen into the tiger’s jaw will

never be allowed to escape.”

 

These words of Bhagawan Ramana Maharshi are a graphic summary of how Sri

Sai Baba transformed Sri Kasinath Govind Upasani Sastry into Sadguru

Upasani Maharaj, the famous saint of Sakori. The whole process of this

spiritual alchemy is thus a spectacle of Sai Baba’s efficacy as a Sadguru,

a witness to what he does to one who surrenders to him completely.

 

Upasani Baba Maharaj

 

Kasinath was born on 5th May, 1870 as the second of five sons in a

Maharashtra family of priests famous for its piety and learning. He was

backward in studies and the harshness of teachers created in him a permanent

aversion for the school. Endowed with a sturdy physique, he appeared to

have had a great disregard and detachment for his own body. As he grew up

he was more and more attracted by the spiritual side of life and observed

all the austerities enjoined by scriptures meticulously, sandhya, (twilight

meditation), worship of Sri Rama and Maruthi, yoga asanas and

breath-control , and reciting Vishnusahasranama. He often resorted to the

burial ground for his devotional practices. At the same time Kasinath was

painfully conscious of his uselessness to his family as a bread-earner and

opposed all proposals of marriage. But his elders forcibly married him to a

girl of eight, named Durgabai, in the hope that it would render Kasinath

more responsible in his ways. Married life only further hurt his

self-esteem. One morning he deserted his home, and reached Nasik, eighty

miles from his home, on foot. But soon he regretted causing anxiety to his

aged parents and so wrote home. Two months later, a letter alleging his

mother’s illness brought him back.

 

Source: http://www.saibharadwaja.org