I
The life of Sai Baba is as wide and deep as the infinite ocean. All can dive deep into the same and take out precious gems (of knowledge and Bhakti). They can then distribute them to the aspiring public.
The stories, parables, and teachings of Sai Baba are very wonderful. They will give peace and happiness to the people. These people are afflicted with sorrows and heavily loaded with miseries of this worldly existence.
They will also bestow knowledge and wisdom, both in the worldly and in spiritual domains. If these teachings of Sai Baba, which are as interesting and instructive as the Vedic lore, are listened to and meditated upon, the devotees will get, what they long for, viz., union with Brahman, mastery in eight-fold Yoga, Bliss of meditation etc
II
Bow with all our eight limbs to Sai Baba, Who is an ocean of mercy, the God incarnate, who is Para-Brahman and the great Yogeshwara (Lord of Yoga). Victory be unto Sai Baba, Who is the crest-jewel of the Saints.
He is the home of all auspicious things. He is our Atmaram (Dear Self). He is the able refuge of the devotees. We prostrate ourselves before Him, Who has attained the aim and end of life.
III
Hemadpant has given us a novel form of worship.
- Let us, he says, use hot water in the form of tears of joy to wash the Sad-guru’s feet,
- let us besmear His body with sandle-paste of pure love,
- let us cover His body with the cloth of true faith,
- let us offer eight lotuses in the form of our eight Sattwik emotions and fruit in the form of our concentrated mind;
- let us apply to His head bukka (black-powder) in the form of devotion and tie the waistband of Bhakti and place our head on his toes.
- After decorating the Sad-guru with all jewelry in this way, let us offer our all to Him and wave chamar of devotion to ward off heat.
- After such blissful worship, let us pray thus:-
“Introvert our mind. Turn it inward. Give us discrimination between the Unreal and the Real. Enable us to have non-attachment for all worldly things. Thus, enable us to get Self-realisation.
We surrender ourselves, body and soul (body-consciousness and ego). Make our eyes Yours, so that we should never feel pleasure and pain. Control our body and mind as You will and wish. Let our mind get rest in Your Feet”.
IV
See where and how Baba slept:
Mr. Nanasaheb Dengale brought, for Sai Baba, a wooden plank, amount 4 cubits in length and only a span in breath, for sleeping upon. Instead of keeping the plank on the floor and then sleeping on it, Baba tied it like a swing to the rafters of the Masjid with old shreds or rags and commenced to sleep upon it.
The rags were so thin and worn out that it was a problem how they could bear or support even weight of the plank itself, let alone the weight of Baba. But somehow or other-it was Baba’s sheer Leela that the worn out rags did sustain the plank, with the weight of Baba on it.
On the four corners of this plank, Baba lighted panatis (earthen lamps), one at each corner, and kept them burning the whole night. It was a sight for the Gods to see Baba sitting or sleeping on this plank!
It was a wonder to all, how Baba got up and down the plank. Out of curiosity, many careful observers kept watching the process of mounting and dismounting, but none succeeded. As crowds began to swell so to detect this wonderful feat, Baba one day broke the plank into pieces and threw it away.
Baba had all the eight Siddhis (powers) at His command. He never practiced nor craved for them. They came to Him naturally, as a result of His perfection.
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"I draw to Me, My man from far off or even across the seven Seas to Shirdi, like a sparrow with a string fastened to its feet"-Shirdi Sai Baba, Indian Spiritual Guru-God 