Gifts of Sai Baba By Dr. V. N. Shiradhonkar

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Gifts of Sai Baba

By Dr. V. N. Shiradhonkar

" The ignorant runs after false pleasures and falls into the

wide net of death. The wise knows what is eternal; he does not expect anything

of lasting value from the inconstant pleasures of life. "

- Kenopanishad

SAI-brother K. N. Narayan Swamy has made

an appeal-'Dedication to Sai' - in the January 1988 issue of Sai Padananda, in which he has called upon Sai devotees to contri­bute

articles / experiences on Sainath to several Sai

magazines. Prompted by his appeal, my mind mused over the gifts that Sai Baba

has conferred upon us.

 

Shirdi Sai Baba is a phenomenon. His physical body has

disintegrated into the elements many years ago. But today belief in him and his

power to assist people in times of distress is growing. Sai Baba started no

cult and spread no religion which one could identify with him. His teachings

have been the essence of all religions. His believers are country­wide and

include Hindus, Muslims, Parsis, Christians, and

others and several others abroad.

 

Saints exist to give devotees temporal and

spiritual bene­fits. Sai Baba has said: " I have come to give such good

things to the devotees " . Once when one of His devotees objected to people

going to Sai Baba for temporal benefits, Baba told him: " Do not do that.

My men first come to me on account of that only. They get their heart's desires

fulfilled and comfortably placed in life, and then they follow me and progress

further. I bring my men from long distance under many pleas. I seek them and

bring them to me. They do not come of their own accord. I draw them to

me " . These words are law even today.

 

His assurances (11 sayings) are fulfilled in the case of each Sai

devotee in his own inimitable manner. Sai Baba did not care for money or gifts

during his life time: He begged for food and ate along with dogs, pigs, beggars

etc. He had a perfect conquest of the palate and perfect sense of equality that

He displayed to all the living creatures. They indeed see the very perfection

of what the world's scriptures had conjoined for the true seekers of God, viz.,

not minding what one eats and treating all life as one.

 

What gift can we give Sai Baba who in fact is sustaining us in

every moment of our life? We breathe Sai, talk Sai and live Sai. I can only

borrow a line of G.S. Khaparde from his 'Shirdi

Diary' - " From the moment I approached Him, all the load of my worldly

cares disappeared though only a few minutes, before, it was felt to be

exceedingly oppressive and such as to cause disgust in life " . So let us

contribute our two-pice 'dakshina'

- Sraddha and Saburi to our Sai Maharaj.

Source Shri Sai Padananda

July 1988 issue