Sri Saisatcharita chapter - 4

Sai is a great ascetic, by the great good fortune of Shirdi, for the sake of deliverance of the world, appeared on the banks of Godavari River. To protect the dharma, to annihilate the sinfulness and to protect the down-trodden, poor and weak, the saints incarnate. In Bhagavadgita, Lord Krishna says that he will incarnate whenever there is deterioration of dharma and increase of adharma. This is what mentioned in the beginning of fourth chapter. The Shirdi became holy place because of Sai. This is in Kopergaon taluk, Ahammadnagar district. There were so many saints who were born in the banks of Godavari River. As we cross over to the other side of banks of Godavari at Kopergaon, at a distance of about six miles, as the tanga enters Neemgoan, Shirdi is immediately within sight.  Shirdi became intertwined with Sai's name.

Blessed are the stones and blades of grass of Shirdi which, without any effort, were able to kiss the feet of Sai and were able to bear the dust of his feet on their heads. The very association with Sai in Shirdi is like the study of scriptures. He is the easy way to Supreme God. Sai's darshan is itself a means for our union with the divine. By conversing with him our sins will be washed away. His command is like Vedic sermon for us. His udi (sacred ash) and prasad are purifying and sacred. He used to recite the God's name all the time. He is omnipresent. He was unaffected by the worldly abundance or the absence there of, unmoved by the joys and sorrows of the other world. His heart was pure as a mirror and his speech showered nectar. Pressing his feet is like bathing in the confluence of three rivers (Ganga, Yamuna and Saraswathi) and partaking of the water from washing his feet will uproot all desires. Goulibhuva, a great vaarkari to Pandharpur, said Baba is Vittal. He was 95 year old and he visited Baba every year. 

Sai loved recitation of God's name. He advised Dasaganu to do continuous recitation of God's name for 7 days. Dasganu was promised to have the vision of Vittal. It was reported that he ultimately had the darshan of Vittal. Kaka Deekshit also had vision of Vittal in his meditation. Later Baba tells him to hold on to Vittal otherwise he will disappear. Then Deekshit bought a picture of Vittal from a hawker. This happened to be the same image that he saw in his meditation. Bhagavanta rao Ksheerasagar came to Shirdi and his father was a great devotee of Vittal. Baba reminded him to put him on the correct path as he took backseat in worshiping Vittal. Baba always keeps us on the track even we are immersed in worldly affairs. All we have to do is have faith in him. 

Baba showed a miracle to Dasganu by showing Triveni oozing out from his feet when he wanted to visit the confluence of three rivers on a holy day. Dasganu put his head at Baba's feet. Having witnessed this miracle, Dasganu was overcome with emotion. His speech was inspired and love brimmed up in his

heart. He praises Baba after this experience and this stotra can be seen in Original Satcharita. Here triveni sangamam was shown from Baba's both feet. At triveni sangamam we can see both Ganga & Yamuna and Saraswathi is flowing underneath. This is not visible. The Saraswathi is called as antervedi. In a similar way Baba showed Ganga & Yamuna from both feet but other river is his grace which is not visible outside but you can only experience it when you surrender.

Sainath appeared in Shirdi as a 16 year old handsome boy and he was seen sitting under the neem tree most of the time. He was immersed in internal bliss and there was no difference between day and night. He appeared as a pure ascetic. People used to come from all around to see this young boy. Sai Samardh appeared in Shirdi for the sake of his devotees. Even in the dreams he had no passions. No one knew where he is from and who his parents were. He kept no company during the day and he was not scared in the night. 

One day Lord Khandoba possessed the bodies of few people and villagers asked them about this young boy. They were told to dig under the neem tree and they found an underground cavern in which there were four burning brass lamps. This young boy told them to close that cavern and this is the place of his Guru. The holy place is his inheritance and he requested them to maintain as it is.  It was told that this boy did penance in that cavern for 12 years. 

At the end of the chapter, Hemadpanth talks about three buildings that were built in Shirdi during Baba's time. Harivinayak Sathe was the first one who bought the land around the Neem tree and built a platform around the neem tree. Then Sathe wada came and initially this was the only place where pilgrims used to stay when they came to see Baba. Then came Kaka Dixit's wada. He

built two floors and Baba made him do his penance on the upper floor. Other people used to use the lower floor. The foundation stone was laid on the day Sej arathi started in Chavadi. Around the same time Baba gave permission for Kapardhe to leave Shirdi after a long stay. Then on Sri Rama Navami day the house warming was done in 1911. Later, the rich Butti's building was also built on which lot of money was spent. But this was all worth it as it became Baba's samadhi mandir. Butti wanted to build Lord Krishna temple in that place. But this became the temple of Sai Krishna. 

If we look at three buildings, the first one was built by Hari vinayak Sathe who was mainly preoccupied with worldly issues and worshiped Baba. Then comes Dixit who did not want anything except Moksha and Baba helped him to do sadhana and to attain jnana. In the end, the samadhi mandir represents the final stage of salvation that is moksha. Baba wants to advance from one stage to the other. He himself said people might come to him for materialistic gains but later he shows them the real path. 

Sri Sadguru Sainathaarpanamasthu !