Guru Purnima 2013 pictures- 1

Sahasra Nama Archana with 100000 (1 Lakh) Rose petals

Core principle behind Sai’s teachings.

Core Principle - Sai's Teachings to change lives Telugu Talk (click here)

Core Principle Shirdi Sai English Talk

Teachings to change lives –Shirdi Sai

 Sai’s name is so pure, just by chanting the name, will bring peace to mind. Sai means “Saakshat Eeswara” (The divine God). Baba said that he is Parasakthi (universal energy). 

What is Parasakthi? What ever is beyond the three gunas (satva, Raja and Tamo Gunas) that is characters of the universe, is called as Parasakthi. When this supreme energy along with these three characters, takes a form then we give a name to it. Why Sai’s teachings are essential to life? Why they make us walk in a correct path?   

Once, after the noon Arati, when people started returning home, Baba spoke sweet words. It goes like this.  

“Wherever you are, and whatever you may be doing, always bear it in mind that I shall continue to be informed of the minutest details of your deeds. In this manner, as I am described, I dwell in the minds of all. I am in the hearts of all, all pervading. I am the Lord of all. I fill the entire creation, within and without, to the point of overflowing. This universe is directed by God and I am the one who holds the reins. I am the Mother of all beings. I am the equilibrium of the three gunas15. I promote the activities of the senses. I am the Creator, the Preserver and the Destroyer. One who concentrates on ME, for him nothing is difficult. But the moment he forgets ME, Maya will attack him. Whatever is perceived is my image only, whether it be a worm, an ant, a poor wretch or a king”. This immeasurable universe, consisting of mobile and immobile things – these are Baba’s own image.

Sai is an embodiment of all the Godly characters. He himself is perfection. Sai wanted us to see his Saguna rupa (human form) but he also said that our focus should be on his Nirguna rupa (Form less energy). What does he really mean? For this we need to understand what Guna means. Original meaning in Sanskrit is “inherent nature”. We learned to see these gunas in different ways. These Satva, Rajo and Tamo gunas are mixed in various proportions with different permutations and combinations. Depending on the ratio, our behavior manifests. The circumstances also bring about some changes in us. Baba wanted us to see the world as it is. What this means? To understand this, only two things are essential. Faith that is belief and once we believe we need patience to materialize that. This applies perfectly in our daily life.

Now let us see an example. We take milk, we add little bit of water –few drops. This is not going to change much the way the milk looks. We can not detect the few drops of milk that we put in. Then we add more water in to it. Still milk is milk; we cannot detect water. If we mix more water then one might say the milk is diluted.

In our lives we originally have milk in the form of God, Soul, and Truth- Satchidananda.

What are we doing? Basically we are adding too much of these three Gunas.

If we add Satva Guna it is like few drops of water. If we keep adding more water – that means adding Rajo Guna and Tamo guna. Then every one can say that we are diluted milk. Even then we feel that we are OK. This is a pity.

So we have to realize that we are diluted with these obstructive qualities which will hinder our happiness and block us from reaching our destiny.

Sai taught us love, honesty, faith, patience, humbleness, truthful behavior and service. If we take Sai Satcharita and devotees experiences, we can see different angles where Baba tried to bring changes in their lives. He wanted change the way they behave and change their patterns and habits.

Why he has to do this? This is very essential he wanted us to experience our own nature that is pure bliss. If we deviate from our own nature, we suffer. This is nothing but Maya (illusion). We are always presented with some choices in our lives. We have to assess them and if we deviate we need to get back to our original nature. We can not get tempted by Rajo guna or tamo guna. If we experience pain in our lives, we have to visualize what qualities are disturbing us. Just by understanding this, suffering eases.

Milk is always milk, no matter how much water is added. Our Saints are called Parama  Hamsas. Hamsa means Swan. They say that Swan has quality where it can separate milk and water. It can drink only milk leaving water behind. The saints can separate the three gunas and the Truth.

Baba taught us this great truth, by simple words, stories and making us experience the truth in various circumstances of life. Baba lived like us and experienced all the emotions. People saw him with all the characters a human being can experience.  People could have misunderstood him being mad and emotional. But he always stayed in this truth – Satchidananda. He was omnipresent and omniscient. He showed all the qualities of God and he was also in Nirguna (formless) state.

Depending on our Gunas (characters), past impressions, past deeds and spiritual inclination, he appeared in that form. That’s why people saw him as Lord Rama, Hanuman, Datta, Krishna, Vittal and many other forms. He did not even present with a name. Mhalsapati called him with a name “Sai”. All forms and names are in him. He was able to love everyone and there were no enemies. He wanted us to see him in animals, living and nonliving things also. He even gave darshan as Nirguna (form less) like a light to one of the devotees.

So what can we say about Sai? Sai is everywhere and he is that universal energy beyond all the characters.

OM SAI RAM!

Teachings to change lives - Positive energy

Positive Thinking and energy (Telugu Talk click here)

    Positive Energy English talk              

How to cultivate positive thoughts:

Our mind is nothing but flow of thoughts in the back ground of impressions. These impressions will influence our life. Our thoughts will dictate our wellbeing. Positive thoughts will create positive environment and negative thoughts will lead us into chaos. We think about so many things before we go to bed and we want to implement them next day at any cost. When we get up in the morning, we get lost in the jungle of life. Everybody else control our life. You feel like you do not have a choice and you are dragged in different directions. Work, kids, family will cause exhaustion by the end of the day. We go to bed tired and emotional. Same thoughts, frustration and anger overwhelm you, because you could not control your life.

Baba said “If you get a good thought in the night, ponder over it, when you get up in the morning put that thought in to works. This is the first step in the direction of the truth that is Jnana (knowledge). This is what gives us mental peace”. Baba always encouraged his devotees to implement good thoughts immediately. He never liked laziness and thought of postponing for later period. Lot of times our lazy attitude is the reason why, we can not do what we want to do. So we are obstructing our own life. So we have to put good thoughts in to practice quickly, and leave the result to God’s grace. God always protects us and takes us forward with positive thoughts and good intentions. Baba always provided his blessings and will continue to give us enough patience to carry out those fruitful good thoughts.

Our mind creates our own reality. The Maya (ignorance) covering our thinking makes our reality blurred. Our thinking distorts because of this Maya.

Our thinking dictates our words.

Words will determine our language.

Language in turn makes us behave certain way.

Our behaviors will become our habits.

The habits will create our values.

Values will lead us to our destiny.

So making our thoughts positive will change every thing we experience in our lives. Our mind, thoughts, emotions, expectations and behaviors actually create our reality.

If we have negative thoughts, we will invite more of a negative energy. If we think positive we will imbibe positive energy.

Medical studies point out that a positive thought will increase our immunity by 5 hours and similarly a negative thought will reduce our immunity by 5 hours. We will have to make a choice here! Please let us not destroy our lives by negative thoughts. Let’s be positive.

How to generate positive energy:

1. Try to associate with people who are positive:

This could be challenging at times. But this is very essential. We might have some control if we can put some effort in to it. This could be done. When you have to deal with negative thinking, we can minimize our exposure to that circumstance. But our mind likes the negativity. Baba put it in simple words. “If you can not endure abuse from another, just say a word or two, or else leave”. This is great statement and he was thinking about the difficult circumstances that we face every day. He knows that we can not be perfect.

All the scriptures emphasized the importance of company of great and saintly people. This is called POSITIVE ASSOCIATION (Satsangh). If we associate with people who do not have this kind of inclination and no appreciation for God, it is called NEGATIVE ASSOCIATION (Kusangh). We will take negative energy from the negative situations and this drains us both physically and psychologically. Some days you do not know why you feel tired and the reason is obvious.

  

 If we have company of likeminded people, we will feel positive and we can feed off from each other. This will help us love God more and feel bliss and peace in everyday life.

2. Cultivate positive language:

Baba taught us some nice things about positive thinking. He stated “There is a wall of separation between one self and others, between you and me. Destroy this wall”.

Usually we love everything that is ours. What ever is not ours we tend to look at it in a different way? We tend to criticize and jump to conclusions very quickly. We can not control the urge to react. This is where we need to be careful. That’s why Baba says, destroy that wall of separation. If we can just understand this concept our lives will improve for the best. Then we can avoid this negative thinking. We might not like every one that we interact with. But we can keep our words to a minimum so that we can not say negative words. By saying negative words we loose our own positive energy.

3. Focus on what you have rather than what you do not have:  

There are so many things that we can find that are positive in our lives. Good health, good family, enough to eat and survive etc. Some of us may not be that fortunate. It does not matter, just focus on what we have. Some times having every thing is not enough and there is more to acquire. Mind always wants more, better, and what ever it does not have. Here we should be careful and think about the other side of the spectrum. It is not always about what we have or not have but also what others have. We tend to criticize the other people, their personality, or their possessions. They could be near perfect but our mind wants to find that one thing they do not have. By doing so, we lose positive energy. Instead learn to compliment. Give them positive blessing.

4. Everything that happens in our lives is an opportunity to grow and learn:

We want certain things to happen certain way only. When we perform certain tasks we expect certain result. We some times don’t care whether we deserve this nor did we put in enough effort in to it. In the process we get disappointed and show some emotions. These emotions will trick us to do some irrational things. We justify these emotions and our suffering increases many fold. We can stop for a moment and think that it’s not always the fault of others that you did not achieve what you expected. If we believe in destiny, the others could be instrumental in causing this suffering but in reality this might not be good for you. God has some thing else for you which might prove efficient for your future. This is where we need to learn patience. That’s why Baba always emphasized the Faith and Patience.

5. Create positive environment around your house:

You might not be able to control all the places you roam around but you have some control in your house. So we need to try to make our house a source of positive energy.

We need to have some rules where we do not criticize others. Family members can remind each other to be positive.

We can have some spiritual music playing in the background while our chores are being done. This will have a positive impact on kids, and other members of family before they start their day. It can carry forward to your work also.

Hang inspirational and positive pictures in your house. Dinner table is also a good place where we hang around most of the time as a family. What we watch on television makes an impact on our lives. Try to balance the entertainment part of it and mix in with some nature and spiritual programs. This will create some soothing atmosphere in the house. As parents we never think about these things or we don’t take it seriously. The movies, shows will have lot of impact on the kids. We can mix and match to some extent.

6. Reading spiritual and inspirational books:

Our culture is a treasure and we need to take advantage of this. So many great people wrote so many books explaining their experiences.  Of course our scriptures are the manuals for our lives. Do we want to survive with out proper guidance? What else we can expect in our lives other than suffering if we ignore our scriptures. As parents we do not have time to read or listen to these great things. How can we expect our kids to be normal and responsible human beings? We can not ignore these simple facts. Let us make an effort to change our lives once for all.

7. Be Spiritual: 

 Understanding life and being peaceful is so important in life. Peace is always with in and no body else can give you peace. We have to realize that we have to generate positive energy from with in. Meditation is of great help. Meditation will activate your frontal lobe of brain. This in turn will give you the power of teasing things out. Frontal lobe has the power to discriminate right from wrong. In the scriptures it was mentioned that focusing in between your eye brows will activate your frontal lobe. When we can tease things better we stay positive.

Meditation is not just about sitting quietly for few minutes everyday. We have to show that same calmness through out the day in every interaction we go through. We don’t have to have so much emotion in to every act we perform. We have to learn to relax. This will inculcate a natural meditative state in your daily life.

We have to remember that life is multi faceted and complicated. So we have to tackle this with a multi prong approach. We need to apply every thing that can work.

OM SAI RAM!

G.S.Khaparde –Dadasaheb (Part- 3)

Khaparde Part -3 Telugu talk (Click here)

Baba saving Master Khaparde: 

Dadasaheb Khaparde’s young son was staying with his mother and enjoying the pleasure of Baba’s company. As it is, the boy was very young and he got very high fever. The mother’s heart grew anxious and she became agitated. Her home was at Amravati. Therefore, she thought of going there. In the evening, at the proper time, she came to take Baba’s permission. While doing his evening rounds, Baba came near the wada. There, the woman bowed down at his feet and told him what had happened? As it is women are timid by nature. And, besides, the son’s trembling did not stop. Also, there was the scare of plague. Therefore, she told him what had happened.

Baba lovingly assured her with these words. “Know that the skies are overcast. The rains will come and the harvest will ripen. The clouds will clear up. Why are you afraid? ” saying this, he lifted his kafni up to the waist and showed everybody the fully developed bubos. In four places, there were four bubos of the size of a hen’s egg.

He said: “See, I have to bear this because of your difficulties”. People were amazed to witness this divine and unique ordeal. How the Saints suffered for the sake of their devotees!

Their heart is softer than wax – just like butter appears, outwardly. They have selfless love for the devotees as if they are his kith and kin. Some times as devotees of Baba, we can see how much Sai took upon himself our troubles. Do we want him to take all our troubles? Can we sustain some pain in our lives so that our faith and patience will improve? It might be difficult to bear pain at times and Baba knows that. He won’t let us suffer. But we should really feel for Baba, whether we want him to take away the pain completely or ask him to give us the strength to endure this.         

Changes in Khaparde’s life:

Sai not only took away the diseases, pain in our lives but he is assisting us walk the spiritual path. He tries to find the bad habits in our psyche and eliminate them through our experiences. This is how he brings change in our lives and he influences our minds. He also wants us to adopt good habits so that we can advance in our quest. That’s why a guru is the best psychiatrist. We just have to surrender to Guru. Then only he can transform us the way we need to be. This is what exactly happened in Khaparde’s case also.

Referring to Mr. Khaparde's ambition, Baba stated that the ambition was deeply ingrained and evident in a previous life also. Baba stated that in a former birth, 'You (Khaparde) were with me for two or three years, and went into royal service, though there was enough at home to live in comfort.'

There is so much meaning behind these words. In a way we are like that too. We drifted away from the meaning of life and goal of life. But we run for momentary happiness and towards worldly objects. We want recognition and fame. Everyone has to accept our way. We thrive for praise. We know that God is in control still we want all these things in our lives. To achieve all this we run after money and power. We become slaves to pleasures and objects. All this is hindrance to progress in spiritual path. Here we have to be careful and cannot misunderstand Baba. He never said that you should not earn, work etc. All he wanted was to fulfill our role in the society with righteousness. He wanted us to develop faith and patience. He himself used to say “Allah Malik”  all the time reminding us the importance of God in our lives.

Khaparde acquired lot of fame and made himself a well-known person in the society. He enjoyed the riches of life. But Baba wanted to teach him the dispassion, devotion, knowledge about supreme, and free him from ego. He wanted him to perfect Faith and Patience. Based on these, Sai used the circumstances in Khaparde’s life to bring changes in his mind. He himself sometimes created some situations so that he can make Khaparde to adopt and learn what he wanted to teach.       

Humility and a readiness for poverty were the prerequisites for one to benefit by contacting a Samartha Sadguru. In the case of Khaparde, he (Khaparde) notes that, when his wife massaged the feet of Baba, the latter said that Dixit should give Rs. 200 to her. This at once mortified Khaparde. His pride felt wounded at the idea that he, a practicing lawyer, should be thought so low as to make his wife receive Rs. 200 from a Bombay lawyer like Dixit, though his (GSK's) funds were indeed very low and he badly required Rs.200 or more. Later he understood that the Rs. 200 was only symbolical, that it meant Dixit's achievement of (1) poverty and (2) patience or contentment with his poor lot. Khaparde rebelled at this idea also. He did not want poverty. He did not go to Shirdi to remain poor forever. On the other hand he wanted to amass wealth and attain high position and Sai was his cat's paw to get at the desired things. This is where Baba wanted to teach him about dispassion and ego. In his later life this incident could have helped Khaparde family.

On one hand Sai was working on their minds and on the other hand he was doing Shaktipata (transmitting energy) through his blessings. In his diary Khaparde mentions this several times how just by looking at some body Baba was transmitting energy during the arathi times. This is the reason why Khaparde made so much progress while he was in Shirdi. He used to teach major scriptures like Panchadasi, Dasa Bodha and Yoga vasista to other people. These are not our regular scriptures and we need lot of understanding and blessing from our guru. Upasini Maharaj once said Khaparde is also my Guru in some way as he taught me all these scriptures. Here we have to understand Sai’s greatness in granting this kind of understanding so that he can teach someone. Khaparde really enjoyed the good company in Shirdi. He used to get upset whenever he got some letters from home. He used to bounce back quickly in the presence of Sai. 

After Baba’s Mahasamadhi, Khaparde lived in Amaroati and participated in the activities of Shirdi Sansthan. When Tilak met Baba, Baba told them that Tilak should retire from politics and we will get freedom through Gandhi. In August of 1920Tilak died. We learned about the book written by Bala Ganghadahr Tilak (Geeta rahasya) in Sai Satcharita. After Tilak’s death, Khaparde tried to follow his principles but adopted Sai’s teachings to change his life.

Mrs. Khaparde’s last days:     

After 1928, Laxmibai’s health began declining. Periodic attacks of fever and asthama harassed her and she was affected by inflammation of the knees with the result that she could not walk.  There is an entry in Dadasaheb’s diary of 30-4-1928 that she had headache and high fever.  The deterioration in her health thereafter was fast and medicines ceased to act.  She must have had a premonition of events to come.  She suggested that a group photograph of the family should be taken.  This was done on 11th July, 1928.  Thereafter a touching scene took place which is best described in Dadasaheb’s words.  The following is a translation of the extract from Dadasaheb’s biography in Marathi.

“While I was doing my Sandhya just before luncheon, my wife came and worshipped me in the same way in which an idol is worshipped. I was puzzled and asked her why she was doing this today when she had not done anything of the kind all these years. She said, ‘I wish to depart from the world with a peaceful mind.’ I think she has been unwell for the last few days and has given up all hope of survival. I asked her to trust in God and to submit to His will.”

The above incident did not become known to the sons and their wives until they had read the description in the diary. After the above incident Laxmibai was confirmed to bed and within eight days thereof i.e. on 20th July 1928 she passed away quietly and happily after having the darshan of her Sadguru Sai Baba.  The description of her end is best given in the words of Dadasaheb recorded in the diary for that day.

I went down stairs to see my wife.  She apparently had a bad night, but appeared calm and collected.  At the suggestion of my eldest son all the family bathed early and had something to eat which they could and we all watched by her bedside.  I spent the whole time practically near her bed. We removed her from the room in which she was to the chowk and laid her in front of the room allotted to our family deities. Her breathing became harder and harder but she was cool and calm and passed on at about 3-15 p.m. 

I felt overcome and could not control myself for some time. At last I got over it…… Everybody said she was very fortunate in passing away during my life time…… After we returned from the funeral I heard from my sons that my wife distributed her ornaments, clothes among her daughters-in-law and their children a few weeks ago and told that she had discharged all her assets and blessed them to be happy…. She had the darshan of her Guru…. So I think she had a fairly correct idea of passing on. She never asked for medicine and showed no anxiety to be cured. She passed away very happily and I have no doubt she is very happy now.”

He portrayed this incident in his diary as it happened.

The last days of Khaparde:

Khaparde wrote almost 45 diaries in his life time. His diaries were of size 12.5 “ long and 8” wide. He used each page as a day. He carried this diary with him all the time. He used to write even at midnight some times. After a while he wrote next day in the morning. He wrote diary every day except a day before his death and on the day he died. He died on July 1^st 1938 with Sai’s name in his mouth and thinking about Sai.

We really owe Khaparde for his documentation of Sai’s stories in his diary. So many parables of Baba came in to light. We are all blessed to listen to these kind of stories.

OM SAI RAM!

Purandhare Part -2

R. B. Purandhare Part 2 Telugu talk (click here)

Love is worship;

Purandhare loved Baba so much and it is hard to describe his love in words. What ever work he did Purandhare measured it in terms of his love towards Baba. He became the representative of love.  This is what made him to come to Shirdi often. Baba used to say “Bhav you don’t have to come here all the time. I am everywhere”. Baba encouraged Purandhare to be in company of H.S Dixit. Whenever he came to Shirdi with Dixit, Baba used to keep him for longer periods. One time he stayed there for a while and goes back to work. His foreman complained to his superiors about his absence. When his officer questioned him, he said “Here is my resignation. I went to see Sai Baba”. His officer knew how much he loves Baba and tears up the resignation letter. Then Purandhare gets a promotion after 6 months and this foreman who complained earlier becomes his subordinate. 

Purandhare never cared about any thing else other than loving Baba. This is the best quality that we can all adopt. We can do different kinds of worships but if we don’t have love towards Guru or God we could never be complete.

Purandhare once had an urge to go Shirdi and went to bed thinking about this. In his dream Baba appears and tells him “don’t come to Shirdi. If you come here I will beat you up. Why you want to come to Shirdi so many times? I am not far away from you. I am everywhere and inside you also. Don’t do these hasty things”. Purnadhare wakes up and felt disappointed. When he goes to work in the morning, he saw workers protesting. If he went to Shirdi, his management could have thought Purandhare had some thing to do with this strike and protest. Baba protected Purandhare by asking him not to come to Shirdi that day.

We will see another incident where Purandhare proves his love towards Baba. Baba once became ill in 1915 and could not move with out proper help. His body was tired and no one could describe the pain he was going through. Around the same time Purandhare wanted to visit Baba along with his family. He goes to railway station where he changes his mind to go alone. He asked his family to stay behind. His wife and mother did not want him to go but he decided to leave. When he came to Shirdi he saw Baba being sick. Purnadhare felt really sad looking at Baba. The love in his worship brought him to Shirdi.

In 1916, Baba and Radhakrishna Mai both became sick at the same time. At the same time Purandhare was coming to Shirdi. When he came to Kopergaon horse carriage driver by name Hasan tells him that Baba and Radhakrishna Mai were sick in Shirdi. Then Purandhare could not wait for moment and immediately goes to Masjid. He reaches Shirdi around 8.45 AM. He sees Baba breathing heavily. He starts crying like a kid. Then Baba speaks “Bhav you came! I am so tired. Don’t leave me. I have been waiting for you for the last 3-4 days. I even told kaka. You go and stay with Radhakrishna Mai. Don’t leave Shirdi”.

There is so much affection and love in Baba’s words. Purandhare was very fortunate and blessed to have received such affection from Baba. When he visits Mai, she was also very sick. Purandhare treated her as his mother and she also showed that kind of love towards him. Baba wanted to go for alms as usual despite his sickness. Couple people have to hold him while he was walking. When Baba came to Lendi, Purandhare meets Baba and starts crying again. The Baba says “Bhav don’t cry. I will be better in four days. God wanted me to go through this pain. This body has to endure this pain. When we live on earth, we have to face both good and bad. We can not be fearful and we have to face the situation”.  Hearing these words every one realized what Baba was saying and meaning behind these words.

Purandhare planting shrubs for Baba:

Baba used to sleep in Chavadi alternate days and he walks to Lendi everyday. So Radhakrishna Mai gets up in early morning and used to clean the roads where Baba supposed to walk. She used to take all the stones from the road. In a similar way one day Purandhare felt that he should plant some nice flowering plants on both sides of road so that Baba can enjoy the fragrance. He took lot of pain to get these plants and asks Baba’s permission to plant them. Baba does not give permission. Three days passed and the plants withered out. His sorrow at the idea of losing this enterprise of planting an alley and his sorrow at the withering or the death of the creepers was intense. Baba inspite of his vairagya and indifference to alleys and planting creepers could not be indifferent to the pain of this loving Purandhare. So, he told him finally not to have any fears and promised that even if the creepers were withering, he would make them thrive again with his wonderful mystic powers and finally granted permission after three days of withering. Strangely enough, the creepers were planted and inspite of the loss of time, the plants grew up.

Building shed for Palanquin.

Purandhare and his friends had, with great enthusiasm and trouble, secured for Baba’s picture a silver palanquin with silver ornament tacked on to the top of the same, but, when these were brought by the loving and enthusiastic devotees, Baba, who hated all pomp and pageantry and rated them at their proper worth, refused to allow the palanquin to be brought into his mosque as Baba himself would not sit in a palki. 

He said, ‘Let it remain outside, and so the whole night the palki remained outside without any watchman. During the night some thieves came and made away some of the silver horses. In the morning the much distraught devotees ran to Baba and complained about the theft. 

Baba simply said, ‘Why did the thieves not take away the whole palanquin?’ Baba had so much contempt for wealth. But the devotees would not give up their own notions as to the need for wealth and pomp to set off Sai Baba as a real Maharaja, a Prince with all sorts of appurtenance like silver palanquin. So, Radhakrishna Ayi and Purandhare resolved that the palanquin should be provided with a garage and they determined that the place to the next to the mosque on one side should be turned into a garage to safely lock up the palanquin. They could put up pillars on one side of that space and lean rafters thereon, but to make the rafters rest on the other side they had to put in support which should be inserted into the wall of the mosque to support the roof. No one would dare to do it, because it involved digging into the walls of the mosque, that is, boring holes, about four or five of them. It is a downright desecration to bore holes in a wall of a mosque, which has only three walls. But Purandhare had no alternative. He got up boldly and dug holes in the wall and inserted the pieces of wood. By that time Baba, who had gone out, returned and he was furious. He said, ‘Purandhare. You want to break my mosque wall?’ Purandhare bowed to him and explained that the wall would be safe that only three of four pieces of wood would be inserted. But Baba refused permission. Here comes the liberty taken by the spirit of love. 

Purandhare determined to continue his work for honoring Baba with a silver palanquin and a garage, and did not mind his orders. Baba was cursing and swearing, all to no purpose, Purandhare continued his work unmindful of his meal or that he was detaining his mother and wife from having their meal by reason of his absence. But Baba’s heart was pained. He could not endure to see Purandhare toil away without caring for his food and without caring for his mother and wife who were starving. Baba at last gave in. His love overcomes his orthodox objections as regards desecrating the wall. He told the people that this rascal of a Purandhare was making himself and others suffer by keeping away from food and not listening to his words.

Finally Baba said, '‘Purandhare, go and eat'’ But Purandhare would not. He said, '‘Baba, if I go away, you will undo all my work.’ Then Baba had to promise that he would not undo the work done. It is only after that Purandhare got down and went to his quarters for a meal. Then Baba said, referring Purandhare, ‘What is to be done? If a child passes motions on our thigh, do we kill the child or cut off the thigh? We have simply to put up with it.’ This is a very apt description of the relation between Purandhare and Baba.

Salvation to Purandhare’s wife:

Sadgati to his wife:
In 1920 Purandhare’s wife was very sick. She was suffering a serious case of influenza, she felt sorry that she could not attend the Urs Ramanavami festival at Shirdi. That night Sai Baba appeared in her dream and said "Do not cry. I will take you for the Urs." She got slightly better next morning and narrated this to her husband. Illness still continued and she expired on Ramanavami Crying "Baba, Baba" to the last.

Sai Protecting Purandhare from death:

In 1932 Purandhare was hopelessly ill of Sciatica and Rheumatism. He then saw Yama dutas near him. Then Baba came up, sat on his bed, took his hand on his knee and prevented Yamadutas touching him or his bed. He was saved. This was told by Purandhare himself in an interview.

Teachings by Baba:

He was very passionate, i e., hot tempered. Baba told him often "If anybody comes and abuses you or punishes you, do not quarrel with him. If you cannot endure it, speak a simple word or two or else go away from the place. But do not battle with him and behave like that. I feel sick and disgusted when you quarrel with others. Baba said these words to Purandhare and to others also several times.

Baba told Purandhare to speak truth always. Baba appeared in his dream after Mahasamadhi and asked him to go and assist with Sai Sansthan programs. Purandhare served as treasurer for the Sansthan. He used to feel that Baba was with him all the time while he was serving.

Baba brought so many changes in the life of Purandhare where ever necessary. Like Baba mentioned there is good and bad in this world, similarly there is death and birth. Baba always follows us in every life and guides us.

OM SAI RAM!

Purandhare Part -1

R. B. Purandhare Part 1 Telugu talk (click here)

There could be many people who can worship a Guru but people who can really love his Guru are rare to find. This is possible only if we have utmost faith and patience towards our guru. We worship different Gods with different kinds of objects, different paraphernalia. We also perform different services in the name of God. When it comes to a Guru it is very difficult to overcome the external factors like his body, dress, his appearance etc. Our mind wanders in different directions. This love we are talking about is beyond external appearance.

If we want to love someone we have to cross the external factors and see their inner beauty. This kind of love is permanent. We want to love Baba! Then we have to know him and read about him. We always have to think about him. We have to experience his presence. Then only that ultimate love will burst out.

Of all the devotees of Sai, Purandhare was the one who established this kind of love. When it comes to love, he is not inferior to any of the Sai devotees. In fact he is the foremost of all of them and even Baba mentioned this. Purandhare’s full name is Raghuvir Bhaskar Purandhare. He was very ordinary person with a modest life. His emotions will flow freely and he expresses his anger or love with lot of emotion. He always had the urge to meet saintly people. He was leading his life as a head clerk. He had a wife, mother, a brother and a daughter. His monthly salary was only 35 rupees. He had to survive and take care of his family with this income.

Sri Pujya B.V Narasimha Swami gave us some details about Purandhare. Purandhare gave an interview to Pujya Swami ji in 1936. Purandhare was 60 years old at that time. He was born in Bramhin family and his father’s name was Bhaskar Purandhare. He lived in Bandhra. He named his residence as Sainath ashram.  Some of the details came in to light through Sai leela Magazine.

First meeting with Baba:

Purandhare heard about Sai Baba for the first time in 1909 and went to see him. He was always desirous of association with Sadhus-saintly people. He heard he was a Saint, so he felt attracted to Baba. Sai appeared in his dream and called him to Shirdi. He fixed upon a certain day to leave for Shirdi, and if we see what he did, we will see exactly what love does. He was naturally to go with his wife and mother. But his young child was unwell and the mother thought that it was foolish to risk taking a little child with fever for such a great distance. He decided to leave inspite of his mother’s protest.

He took his wife, child, and his mother with him to Shirdi. He remained there (first visit) for thirteen days. On the third day of his visit, the child got alright. Baba did not permit him to go back till the thirteenth day. He did not ask him about any matter. Perfect faith was instilled in Purnadhare’s mind. He felt so much love towards Baba. When Purandhare’s mother told Baba to look after him, Baba’s reply was, “I have known him for generations. I have guarded him from his infancy in front and behind. I will not eat even a bit of food without him”. That is, as much as to say that Baba remembered the love between Purandhare and himself in former lives.

Here Purandhare had lot of issues like his child’s ill health, his mom’s protest, his financial situation etc. The burning enthusiasm of his love for Baba bore down all considerations of ordinary precautions or medial advice and they did go. His love was accompanied by intense faith. So, Baba justified his faith and his love in what followed. When the child was taken with an illness to Shirdi, it quickly regained health instead of suffering. As devotees of Sai we need to understand this love factor. How it proliferated unconsciously. 

As stated rightly in Bhagavadgita:

Purvabhysena Tenaiva Hriyate Hyavasopi sahah,

Jignasurapi Yogasya Sabdha Brahmati Varthathe

Purva Vasanas (Past impressions), that is, traits in the soul existing in previous births follow one in subsequent births also.

Baba’s teachings during the first visit:

 He told me to continue my previous Upasana. I was and am fond of worshipping Vishnu and of prayers. I continued the same. He asked me several times for Rs. 2 only. Once I asked him what for he asked always for Rs. 2. He then said " It is not these Rupees I want. I want Nishta, le., concentrated faith and Saburi (patience)." I re­plied I had given these-faith in him and was patiently await­ing progress. He told me to keep up Nishta and to be strict and anxious to fulfil all promises I made. "You should have truth always with you. Then I will be always with you, wherever you are and at all times." I promised to try my best and wanted his help for controlling my mind. "Please get that done by me" I told him. He agreed. All this was at my very first visit.

Owning house- Baba’s persistence:

Sai taught modesty but in case of Purandhare he insisted that he needs to build a house. He was a poor clerk and had no worldly financial ambitions. He was living as a tenant in some house and had to face a lot of trouble in consequence. The idea that a clerk on Rs. 35 monthly salary could purchase a plot of land and build a bungalow on it was so queer that Purandhare could not think of it. When Purandhare came to Shirdi, Baba told him definitely, ‘Bhav, you had better buy a plot of land and build a bungalow on it’. Purandhere naturally thought it was beyond his means, and he could not act upon it. Baba was impatient.

When Purandhare went to him again and again without building the house, Baba got provoked and even threw stones at him. Baba told others, for instance, Bade Baba, to go and tell this R.B. Purandhere, whom he called ‘Ram Bhav’, ‘Ask that man whether he thinks me to be a man or a beast? Why does he not act on my words?’ When Bade Baba came and asked Purandhare and found out what Baba’s advice was, he also thought that it was not a question of practical politics for this Rs.35 clerk to buy land and build a bungalow on it. Baba also complained to both Nana Chandorkar and Kaka Dixit  about this idea. When Nana Chandorkar went to Purandhare and asked him what Baba referred to, Purandhare frankly told him the situation. Then Nana went back at once to Baba’s feet and said, ‘this matter is beyond his means; if you so desire, we will build a house for him and give it to him’. Baba’s reply was most remarkable, he said, ‘I do not want anybody else to pay for it’. There is a lot of money of this Ram Bhav in My Sirkar and I alone will enable him to build. Nana could not understand how this Sirkar was going to work, and there the matter seemed to end. But Baba kept on digging into Purandhare.

At last it occurred to Purandhare that he might get at least a site. There were plenty of sites available at Bandra. A site in a place far away from popular quarters would be fairly cheap. Anyhow even that price was unavailable. At once that friend instead of saying anything else came and placed the money before him so that he could at once take the plot. Purandhare asked whether he should execute a document for the money and what interest he should pay. That friend declined to have any document or any terms. He simply said, ‘Go on; build, Let every other thing wait’. Purandhare then bought the land and secured the title deed for the land. So he had taken one step in the direction in which Baba wanted him to move. But it is one thing to have a site and a totally different thing to have a bungalow built on it. Those who have built bungalows know to their cost that actual building far exceeds the original estimate. Purandhare was faced with further difficulties. He did not build. But when he went up to Baba without building it, Baba got angry with him and found fault with him for everything and for nothing. The conduct of Baba seemed to be to others most unaccountable.

It occurred to him that the office lent to the establishment some sums for building purposes for building a tenement. So he applied and got from his office a sum of Rs. 500 and got ready some materials like bricks, etc., for building the bungalow. He was too unwell to look to the building. So his brother went up and looked after the building work. Quick building is jerry building and is bound to have serous defects. The wada or bungalow that was put up in the course of a month by Purandhare’s brother was built so hastily that in a short time, in a year or so, there were cracks on the walls. It must be remembered that the building was built on agricultural land without any settu or hard foundation. Evidently the hasty foundations laid for this wada were insufficient to keep the walls together and in perpendicular position. So cracks developed. Anyhow it was built rapidly in a month, and Purandhare with his orthodox ideas wanted to do Vastupuja himself on the building before occupying it. So he went up and did Vastupuja and strangely enough, only after he went and occupies this bungalow, his neuralgic headache ceased.

Here is a strange instance of Baba’s Love forcing a man to get a bungalow when he could hardly afford it. There were other defects besides this jerry building. The site was a lonely site in the midst of a waste. There were no neighboring houses to give one safety of company. Purandhare was simply afraid of that, with young wife and child at home, things were not safe, especially when he went away to his office. Baba told him however, ‘Don’t you be afraid. I am there guarding your wife all the time’. This was found to be true, because, though Baba’s form was not always seen, no danger befell this family living a solitary life in the midst of a waste.

This is one good instance of Baba’s forcing benefit on those whom he loved and loves. Baba’s conferring of benefit could be found in every direction.

Baba saving Purandhare’s wife from Cholera and dangers of pregnancy:

Few days after he built his new house, Purandhare’s wife got an attack of cholera and the doctor gave her up as hopeless. She had severe case of diarrhea and became very weak. Then Purnadhare did not know what to do. He goes out side and sees Baba at the side of Datta Mandir in front of my Dadar house and Baba ordered him to give the Udhi and Tirtha. He goes inside and gave her the Udhi and Tirtha. Half an hour later, she had recovered sufficient warmth and the doctor felt hopeful of her recovery and she recovered. The Doctor felt shocked and asked the family about the medicine that she got. They told him it was Baba’s udhi and tirtha.  

Another time Purandhare’s wife was pregnant and she became dangerously sick. Baba appears in her dream applies Udhi (Sacred ash) on her body. She immediately wakes up form the sleep and starts telling people that Baba came and applying fresh Udhi from the Dhuni and my body is warm. After that she became healthy with out any major issues. She reportedly saw Baba several times in her dreams.

Baba appearing as Vittal to Purandhare’s Mother:

 Purandhare used to love his mother so much. In 1913 she felt like going to Pandharpur to have a glimpse of Vittal. She asked Purandhare to take her for a visit. Purandhare did not tell Baba about this issue. When his mother came to see Baba, he immediately asked her “Mother when are you going to Pandharpur? Then Baba appeared as Vittal to both Purandhare’s mother and wife. He gave dharsan as vittal along with his consort Rukmini. They became ecstatic. Baba later asked the mother about going to Pandharpur. She said “Baba this is our Pandharpur. My God is right here”.