Ob
“Stay, cast off anxiety. the wise avoid anxiety.
Your sufferings for your past karma have come to an end, as soon as you put your feet on Shirdi. Persons in great trouble, sunk in their misery, rise to joy and happiness as soon as they climb the steps of this mosque (Dwarakamai)
That Fakir (God) is very kind and will eradicate your disease. He will show his love. He is kind to all. “Baba
There was a gentleman named Mr. Sathe, who had attained some publicity many year ago during Crowford Regime, which was put down by Lord Reay, the then Governor of Bombay.
He suffered servere losses in trade. Other adverse circumstances gave him much trouble, and made him sad and dejected. Being restless, he thought of leaving home; and going out to a distant place.
Man does not generally think of God, but when difficulties and calamities overtake him, he turns to Him and prays for relief. If his evil actions have come to an end, God arranges his meeting with a Saint, who gives him proper directions regarding his welfare.
Mr. Sathe had similar experience. His friends advised him to go to Shirdi, where so many people were flocking to get Sai Baba’s darshan, for getting peace of mind and the satisfaction of their wants. He liked the idea, and at once came to Shirdi in 1917.
Seeing Baba’s Form, which was like Eternal Brahma, Self-luminous, Spotless and Pure, his mind lost its restlessness and became calm and composed. He thought, that it was the accumulation of merits in his former births, that brought him to the Holy Feet of Baba.
He was a man of strong will. He at once started to make a parayana (study) of Guru-charitra. When the reading was finished in the saptaha (seven days), Baba gave him a vision that night. It was to this effect: Baba with Guru- charitra in His hand was explaining its contents to Mr. Sathe, who was sitting in front and listening carefully. When he woke up, he remembered the dream and felt very happy.
He thought that it was extremely kind of Baba. Who awakens souls like his that are snoring in ignorance, and makes them taste the nectar of Guru-charitra.
Next day, he informed Kakasaheb Dixit of this vision, and requested him to consult Sai Baba regarding its meaning or significance — whether one saptah (seven days) reading was sufficient or whether he should begin again. Kakasaheb Dixit, when got a suitable opportunity, asked Baba –
“Deva (Oh God), what did you suggest to Mr. Sathe by this vision? Whether he should stop or continue the saptaha? He is a simple devotee, his desire should be fulfilled and the vision explained to him, and he should be blessed.”
Then Baba replied – “He should make one more saptah(seven days) of the book; if the work be studied carefully, the devotee will become pure and will be benefited, the Lord will be pleased and will rescue him from the bondage of the mundane existence.”
In this wonderful universe, God has created billions (84 lacs according to Hindusastra calculation) of creatures or beings (including Gods, demigods, insects, beasts and men) inhabiting heaven, hell, earth, ocean, sky and other intermediate regions.
Of these, those creatures or souls,
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Bhimaji, who had serious chest diseases such as asthma and tuberculosis, Baba first told Shama, ‘In bringing this thief to me what a load of responsibility you are placing on me. Baba meant that the tuberculosis and asthma from which Bhimaji suffered were the result of Bhimaji’s karma in a previous janma consisting of theft.
Bhimaji felt Baba’s declaration a blow. At once he surrendered himself to Baba and said, Helper of the helpless! I am helpless. Pray show pity and grace to me. Then Baba’s tone changed, Baba told him, The Fakir is merciful, and your disease will be cured.
He was suffering from the results of a karma, but that could be mitigated, and so the man was sent to live and sleep in a wet verandah.
Bhimaji did so. There, he had two very dreadful dreams: In one dream, he was mercilessly birched by a school master. For, in the dream he fancied he was a boy and the master was birching him. So, he felt the pain in the dream and roared out. In the second dream, it was even worse. He felt that some one was placing a stone roller and rolling it over his breast. He suffered all the horror of instant death approaching him. All the pain of a hanging sentence and whipping sentence were endured by this man in the course of one night.
Baba thus changed the punishment which he had earned by his previous karma, and told him that he was thus free from karmic effects. He then recovered his health.
The above instances go to show that most of our conceptions about karma are nebulous and ungrounded, and that the safest course for us to follow would be to be guided by the dicta of Satpurushas like Sai Baba.
Blessed, Oh Sai, are Your Feet, blessed is Your remembrance and blessed is Your darshana which frees us from the bond of Karma.
Though Your Form is invisible to us now, still if the devotees believe in You, they get living experiences from You. By an invisible and subtle thread You draw Your devotees from far and near to Your Feet and embrace them like a kind and loving mother.
The devotees do not know where You are, but You so skillfully pull the wires that they ultimately realize that You are at their back to help and support them.
The intelligent, wise and learned folk fall into the pit of the samsar on account of their egoism, but You save, by Your power, the poor, simple and devout persons.
The best course therefore for us is to surrender our body, speech and mind to Your Feet and always chant Your name for destroying our sins.
You fulfill the wishes of the devotees and to those who are without any desire You give bliss supreme.
Chanting Your sweet name is the easiest sadhan for devotees. By this sadhan (means), our sins, Rajas and Tamas qualities will vanish, the Sattwa qualities and righteousness will gain predominance and along with this, discrimination, dispassion and knowledge will follow.
Gadgi Bua, that is, a very poor saint. who was the owner of only a mud pot, had the ambition to build a grand edifice for charitable purposes and somehow destiny aided him in putting up a grand structure at Pandharpur.
(This reminds of George Muller’s powerful faith that enabled him to get nearly twenty millions of pounds voluntarily sent to him from time to time in the course of imany years to construct many children’s orphanages).
When Gadgi Buu started building his dharmasala at Nasik, the flow of monetary help stopped abruptly after he reached a limited success only in putting up a set of rooms.
Then he felt disgusted and thought that the best thing he could do was to approach a person like Sai Baba lor help. So he went to Shirdi and came to Baba.
At once Sai Baba uttered a lot of foul abuse, ‘hard words’ as Khaparde calls them. Gadgi Bua at once understood what they meant. It is not Gadgi Bua that Baba was abusing foully, but he was cursing away and driving away the bad fortune that hampered the progress of his work.
Gadgi Bua laughed at once and Baba also laughed at once. Gadgi Bua went back. His bad fortune had been driven away and money again came enabling him to build the dharmasala he had begun.
Blessed is the face of Sai.
If we cast a glance at Him for a moment, He destroys the sorrow of many past births and confers great bliss on us; and if He looks at us with grace, our bondage of Karma is immediately snapped away and we are led to happiness.
The river Ganges washes away the dirt and sins of all people who go to her for a bath; but she intently longs for the saints to come to her and bless her with their feet and remove all the dirt (sins) accumulated in her. She knows for certain that this accumulation can only be removed by the holy feet of the saints. Sai is the crest-jewel of the saints.