7th Saying It is my duty to look after the welfare of the devotees who surrender and take refuge in me

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Let us whole-heartedly prostrate ourselves and offer our pranams with full and sincere devotion to Baba the God and

pray to him for the full meaning of the seventh holy saying. Baba is an

incarnation of God. He is no other than parabrahman.

He is a great yogeshwara. He is a great lord of

compassion. Glory to the great Sai Nath; All

blessings and benedictions to the devotees who worship the auspicious Baba our Atmaram! For the fulfillment of our ideals and goals, may

we now invoke the blessings of the great God Sai Baba.

 

Who has really taken refuge at the altar of Sai Baba? Who has

surrendered fully at the feet of Sai Baba? How did Sai Baba protect his

devotees? Why did Baba consider it to be his duty to protect the devotees? What

did the devotees of Baba obtain from him?

 

Many people might have visited Shirdi. But how

many of them a self-surrendered? Many might have seen Sai Baba. But how

many of them had absolute faith in him? Those, who without any doubt had

depended upon him fully, are the real devotees. It is the duty of Baba to

protect them.

 

What type of protection do the devotees need? Why should God's

devotees need any protection at all?

 

He who drives away Maya and sees Baba is a real devotee. It is not

easy to throw away Maya. Family bondage itself is a great Maya. It is almost

impossible to get rid of family. In the place of family you should establish

your Guru and worship him. 'For this one has to fight against Maya. Only a Guru

can drive away your Maya. With his loving looks, he constantly protects the

devotees. This is real protection. Without this protection devotees may face

difficulties.

 

Baba cannot see any devotee suffering. He saves him like a mother.

Baba is more than a mother while protecting his devotees. Let us see the lives

of his devotees who had absolute faith in Baba.

 

The devotees are like the children of Baba. Baba

is their godfather. Those who believe in Baba are his real devotees.

 

One such devotee is Mahalsapati, Sai

Baba himself called him, " The bhagat "

(devotee). He was able to make full use of Sai Baba's grace for

self-realization. He was dependent on God for everything. Baba did not give him

any worldly prosperity. He gave him only spiritual wealth. He permitted him to

draw any amount of spiritual wealth from Baba. Mahalsapati

enjoyed the real spiritual bliss.

Sai Baba is Shiva. Shyama is his Nandi or bull. Without seeing the Nandi,

you cannot see Shiva. Such important place was given to Shyama

by Baba. He was Baba's beloved. He, as a representative of Baba, received the

worship and admiration of many. He visited many pilgrim centers. He considered

Baba to be God and addressed him as Deva. If there

were any lapses while serving Baba, he felt sorry for them. He was one who

could recognize the divinity of Baba. He was unable to grasp the highest

spiritual knowledge given to him by Baba. But he was able to experience and

enjoy the pure love of Baba. Baba himself gave him silver shoes, idols and

photograph. Shyama is a very great devotee of Baba.

 

Upasani Baba was another great

devotee, who was able to raise moral

spiritual heights by the grace of Baba. Because he was unable to implicitly obey the order of master, he was unable to

reach the expected peaks of spiritual benefits. Firm determination and strong will

are present in him. Therefore, he was able to get certain rare powers. He was

able to get many divine as well by the grace of Baba. He was able to see Baba

everywhere. In due course, he himself developed into a Guru and established an

ashram at Sakori. He also wrote certain spiritual

books describing his attainments.

(to be contd….)

(Source Eleven Holy Sayings of

Shirdi Sai Baba by Pujya Shri

Ananda Sai Swamy)