Sai Baba the Master - By E.Bhardawaj

March 5, 2006

Baba always maintained the perpetual fire or the dhuni. Fire-worship

played a significant part in Hindu and Parsi religions. Fire, according to

the Vedas, is a particular manifestation of the energy which is the stuff

of which the whole universe is made. Thus the whole creation is described

by The Purushasukta in the Veda as the cosmic fire-sacrifice (yagna). The

same concept of yagna is elucidated by Krishna in The Bhagavadgita. The

fire of that sacrifice is the cosmic consciousness in which the manifold

creation is projected, maintained and constantly transformed. The end

product of the fire-sacrifice is udi or vibhuti. The many forms that are

perceived in the waking state are consecrated to the fire of Supreme

consciousness in one’s meditation and contemplation and are realised to be

devoid of all the apparent distinctions. They are, in essence, one with the

Spirit. This supreme realisation on the one hand and the realisation that

all phenomena in nature are perishable and so unworthy of our craving, is

signified by udi which Baba distributed to all. It is the one panacea for

all the ills of life. The Sanskrit word vibhuti means ‘the possession or

attribute of the Supreme Lord (Vibhu)’. Indeed, as we have noted above, the

attributes of the Supreme Spirit are also the attributes of vibhuti, the

imperishable essence of things. Thus Indian scriptures describe Lord Siva,

the Destroyer, as besmearing himself with it.

The natives of Shirdi came to know that the young fakir had practised

severe spiritual discipline (tapas) in the underground cellar beneath the

neem free for a long time before he became accessible to them in 1854. This

symbolises the spiritual truth that the Godman springs into manifestation

in Time from the substratum of all creation, from its unknown depths of

Parabrahman. In the individual, the divine awakening starts at the root

centre of the muladhara when it rises up, according to the yogic lore.

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