RELATION WITH OTHER SAINTS

SHREE SAINATH MAHARAJ KI JAI!!!

Sainath, the Divine Mother of all, the Union of Trimurti (Dattatreya) is Your form for the devotees who seek You in Him. You are the Divine Destroyer, Nilkhant, for the Dasa of Shiva. You are the Divine Cowherd of Gurukul, for the devotees who wish to see Your Raas-Leela. But in reality, beyond all reaches of Maya and human conscience, You are formless and ever present. You are one and only one, but at the same time, You reside everywhere. You are the truth, but the false is also a part of Your existence. You reside forever in Vaikunth (heaven), but You are also the ruler of Naraka (hell). You are beyind differences and without a second. You are the doer, but not the effect, but the effect also comes from You. But for the devotees of Shirdi, You are always the old fakir, residing in the Mosque Dwarkamai, donned in Your white, pure Khafni (a robe) and holding Your Satka (stick) while sitting in front of Dhuni Maa, blessing all near and far.

Sainath never went beyond the couple of villages around Shirdi. These blessed villages were Khopergaon, where He would visit Chand Patil; Neemgaon, where was Mhalsapathi's house and also the dwelling of Dengale Brothers. (The grandson of the younger brother still lives here); Rahata, where He would visit Khushal Chand and Ramchandrasheth; and Shirdi. He mostly traveled on Foot, not even on a buggy, never to mention a train. But He knew all the train timings and also the routes. In the same way, He knew of visits from other saints beforehand itself. 

Shree Sai Satcharitra mentions mainly of three saints who were Sadgurus themselves. Now as the post continues I shall try to my level best to narrate each incident by His grace. 

First, the saint, I would mention about is Upasani Maharaj, who was taught and guided by hand, by Baba. He had come to Shirdi for His Darshan and then finally took sanyas with His permission. Then Baba stalled him in Khandoba Temple of Mhalsapathy for a term of 9 months. He was not supposed to interact or mingle with anyone, but practice continuous penance. He also gained many Siddhis (God's Powers) by Baba's grace and will. However, Baba also began to test him tediously. Stressed from this after 8 months, he quietly ran off from Shirdi to Nagpur. From there he went on to journey across Maharashtra, troubled by the local folk after he accidentally showed his Siddhis in public. Baba also guided him through dreams and then after a span of 2-3 months, he returned to Shirdi. Then, Baba directed him to a nearby village called Sakori, where he put up his ashram for women, which is active till date along with his Samadhi. 

Next, the saint I mention is Gajanan Maharaj of Shedgaon. He is an avadhuta who preached the same methods of Baba in Shedgaon, which also comes in Maharashtra. His life history can be read in the book called Shree Gajanan Pothi, written by Das Ganu, a devotee of Sayeen. This avadhuta (self-realized soul) took Samadhi in around the year 1912. He visited Shiradi in the year 1910 and was greeted warmly by Baba. They both sat facing each other in Dwarkamai the whole day, without speaking a word. Just their eyes were locked into each other's and both wore an expression of Divine joy and glee. No devotee could make out what was exchanged between the two Supreme Souls. At dusk, at last, Gajanan Maharaj stood up and embraced Sainath warmly, before departing to Shedgaon. When later asked, Baba said that He enjoyed His brother's visit very much.

The third occasion is of Meher Baba [en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meher_Baba] another enlightened soul from Bombay (present Mumbai), who had visited Sainath after being under the care of Baba Hazratjan [en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hazrat_Babajan] (another enlightened soul from Bombay). He was of a tender age of a youth when he came to Shirdi for a Darshan of the Maharaj here. At that time, Baba's Lendi Yatra was going on (details of this will be discussed in the coming posts), and the streets were crowded with devotees who accompanied Baba. Admist the confusion, Meher Baba got a little close to Sayeen for a darshan and was choked up with divine joy. Sayeen stopped walking and saw right into Meher Baba's soul and loudly said "PARVARDIGAR" and went His way. The dazed Meher Baba was pushed aside by the crowd, from where he went to Upasani Baba for guiding him. In this way, this brief and sole contact with Sayeen arose Meher Baba's enlightened mind to a new level. This has been recorded in Meher Baba's life history, but sadly not in Shree Sai Satcharitra.  

The last occasion that I will be discussing is about a Madarasi Saint, who has incarnated in southern India. His name is Tembe Maharaj (Vasudevanand Saraswati). He did not physically meet with Sayeen, but conveyed His greetings through Baba's devotees. Once, Das Ganu and some of his friends decided to go on a pilgrimage to the southern parts, singing the glory of Shirdi Nath. Before leaving, when they asked Baba's permission, He allowed them and also said, "Whenever you meet a saint on your way, obey all He says and learn from Him." While going around, doing Kirtans (singing glory of Lord) of Sainath, they came to know that an Avadhuta was staying nearby and was giving darshan to all. They recalled Baba's advice and went to take His darshan on the day they were to leave for Shirdi. When they came into the presence of the Avadhuta, Shree Tembe Swami, He smiled at them and said, "What are you all doing here? My elder brother is in your village and you leave Him and come here? Go back to Him and give Him these with my greetings." The Avadhuta handed them two coconuts and blessed them. With His blessings and the coconuts, Das Ganu and the others left for Shirdi. However, on the way, they left very thirsty and broke the coconut to drink its juice, forgetting about Tembe Maharaj's wish. It was only when they entered Dwarkamai and came in front of Baba, that they realized their folly and stood ashamed. Baba directly asked, "Where are the coconuts that My Brother sent for Me?". Das Ganu cried at his mistake and even offered to buy new dozen coconuts as compensation, but Sayeen stopped him and said with divine Motherly love, "Stop Ganu, don't go. What is mine, is also your's. You all are my Children, I have nothing against you. But from now on be careful that you fulfill all your promises, whenever and to Whomever you make." 

Thus, Sayeen and all other Saints are brothers, children and the Supreme Person, at the same time. Alos, we can see how dearly Sayeen loved His children. 

OM SAI NATHAYA NAMAHA!                   

      

WHY THESE MIRACLES?

OM SAI! SHREE SAI!! JAI JAI SAI!!!

Shree Sainath is the early Kali Avatar of Krsna, the Divine Cowherd. He took a form on Earth, in Shiradi, only to draw people's faith and devotion towards the Supreme Lord. He is the Supreme Lord who visited His children once again. He possessed the complete splendor and majesty of the Divine King, the very source of Rasaa, and He is unbound by even the mighty power of Time. In all 67 years of His mortal coil, in which He walked the holy soils of Shiradi, He preached only the divine concept of Love. He taught His children with indescribable love and care, the Path of Love or Prema Marg which leads to the gates of Heaven, His eternal abode. To give us foolish mortals an idea of His abode, He recreated the very Heaven in Shiradi. He taught love and respect towards not only all humans and God, but towards all movable and immovable things. 

Dressed in the rags of a poor Fakir, who owned nothing, came the very Lord of this Universe to Shiradi, blessing this land for all eternity, in 1855. He came in the handsome form of a young lad of 16 years of age. From then, till 1918 when He returned to His abode, Sayeen not only taught but also performed many miracles which varied from changing water to oil to reviving people. Now a generally asked question is why should the very Lord, who as created all that exists, perform miracles? To gain fame? To attract people? Or to convince them of His "divinity"?

The correct answer is... none of the above. The reason behind Sayeen's miracle is simple. It was either to bring a child of His who would have gone astray, or to help deserving souls from the infinite traps of Maya. All in all, it was only to establish the Light of Dharma in this Darkness of Agyaan. To prove this, I will narrate all those miracles that He allows me.

Miracle : Back when Shree Chand Patil had the holy opportunity of meeting Sayeen, and he               was distressed about his missing mare, Bijli, Sayeen told him about his mare's                       location. 

Reason : In this way, he helped bring faith in God in Chand's mind and also rescued him out                of his problematic situation.

Miracle : Sayeen loved lamps and begged for oil and diyas, and lit them in His Masjid. One                  day, which happened to be a Diwali, when He asked for oil at the shops, the                          shopkeepers gave none, just to test and tease Him. Sayeen collected some diyas                  and put wick in each of them. Then, he put water in those diyas, in place of oil, and                lighted them. The shopkeepers saw, to much of their awe and dismay, the water                    turned to oil and the lamps lit brightly throughout the night.

Reason : By doing this leela, Sayeen shattered their ego and ignorance, drawing them                         towards God's Path, and taught them humility.

Miracle : An iron-smith's wife was working on the bellows in Bombay, with her child playing                 in her lap. She was a devotee of Baba, as was her husband. Suddenly, her                           husband called her for some reason and she stood up, forgetting about her child.                   The infant fell into the hot flames, about to be burnt to death. At the exact second,                 Sayeen and His devotee Shyama were sitting in the Masjid, feeding log to Dhuni                   Maa. Sayeen then pushed His hand in place of the log-wood, into the Holy Fire and               let it burn. Shyama quickly pulled Him away in shock. But at that moment, the child               was saved from the fire.

Reason : The reason for this miracle is stated in the miracle itself. Sayeen Maharaj had                        explained later that someone had to get the burns as per laws of Karma. So He                    gave His Hand in place of the innocent infant.

This list can go on infinitely, but i will stop it here. In this way every Miracle of Baba's was to bring a positive change in a person's attitude, or to teach others of the greatness of the Malik.  

OM SAI RAM!