Stories about Shirdi Sai baba for us and our children ..

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THE RICH GENTLEMAN

There was a rich gentleman who was very prosperous in his life. He had amassed a

large quantity of wealth, houses and lands and had many servants and dependents.

When Baba’s fame reached his ears he said to a friend of his that he was not

inwant of anything, and so he would go to Shirdi and ask Baba to give him

Brahma Gyan, which if he got, would certainly make him more happy. His friend

dissuaded him, saying, ‘ It is not easy to know Brahman and especially for a

avarice like you, who is always engrossed in wealth , wife and children. Who

will in your quest of Brahma- Gyan will satisfy you, who does not give away

even a paisa in charity”

Not minding His friend’s advice, the fellow came to Shirdi, and after seeing Sai

Baba fell at His lotus feet and said, “ Baba , hearing that , You show the

Brahma to all who come to you, I too have come all the way from a distant

place. I am much fatigued by the journey and if I get the Brahma- Gyan from

you, my troubles will be paid and rewarded.

Baba then replied,’’ Oh my dear friend do not be anxious, I shall show you the

Brahma. Many people come to Me and ask for wealth, health, power, honor,

position, cure of diseases and other temporal matters. Rare is the person who

comes to me and asks for the Brahma Gyan. There is no dearth of persons asking

for worldly things but persons interested in spiritual matters are very rare.I

think it is a fortunate and an auspicious moment when persons like you come and

ask me for Brahma Gyan. So forthwith I show to you the Brahma with all its

accompaniments and complexities.”

Then Baba called a boy and told him to go to one Nandu Marawadi and get from him

a loan of Rs.five.The boy left and returned immediately saying that Nandu was

absent and his house was locked. Then Baba asked him to go to the Bala grocer

and get from him the said loan. This time also the boy was unsuccessful. This

experiment was repeated again and again with the same result.

Sai baba as we all know the living and moving Brahma incarnate. Then someone may

ask, “ Why did He want the paltry sum of five rupees and why did He try hard to

get it? Really He did not want the sum at all. He must have fully known that

Nandu and Bala were absent, and He seemed to have adopted this procedure as a

test for the seeker of Brahma. The gentleman had a roll or bundle of currency

notes in his pocket and if he was really earnest he would not have sat quiet

and be an onlooker when Baba was frantically trying to get a paltry sum of Rs.

five. He knew that Baba would keep His word and repay the debt and the sum

wanted was insignificant. Still he could not make up his mind to advance the

sum. Such a man wanted from Baba the greatest thing in the world , the Brahma

Gyan!

When the gentleman asked Baba to show Brahma gyan soon Baba replied,” Oh my dear

friend did you not understand all the procedures that I went through, sitting in

this place to enable you to see Brahma..” Baba told him that the first important

thing to do to know the Brahma Gyan is to have the quality of Surrender. Baba

further gave a long discourse to make the rich gentleman understand the

qualification of a mumukshu or the seeker of Brahma Gyan.Moral -Unless one gets

detached to his mortal possessions and thoroughly surrenders, one is not

qualified to receive BrahmaGyan, The Knowledge of the Supreme. One should

understand importance of humility, sacrifice and infinite love and cultivate

these qualities by meditation to get the vision of the supreme. "Gurur Brahma

Gurur VishnuGurur Devoh

Maheshwar;Gurur Shakshat ParambramhaTashmai Shri Gurur Veh Namah"May the

Merciful Sri Sai Baba always shower His grace on us and our families and remove

our problems and anxieties by giving us all - strength , goodluck, success and

happiness with peace of mind.Sai bhakt,Deepa Hdebu7366

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