CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION

If a culture has to live, it has to assert itself again and again with the impact of a volcanic eruption blasting the ignorance of man. Though Bharats spiritual philosophy is true for all times, in reinstating it a great upheaval has to be created by a daring outburst of spiritual truths. This can be done only by a great Avatar. The early 20th century produced such a man in Shri Sai Baba, the Saint of Shirdi. Shri Sai Baba passed away in 1918, and through the period of his messiahship extended only to about 60 years, he was able in that short span to vivify the temporal order with the light of God, revealing in men to themselves and leading them to discover their own dignity.

Sai Baba still lives in the souls of our motherland and in the hearts of her children; even as all other Avatars and Sages do.

The religious impulse so securely embedded in the very soil of this great and ancient country of ours. The lofty idealism of our ancient scriptures, defining religion as a way of spiritual living rather than as a dogma or a creed, still has a hold on the masses as well as the intelligentia. Though the vitality of the religious impulse may be submerged today, it is bound to assert itself, because the typical Indian still cherishes in his heart of hearts a strong faith that through spiritual values alone can he fulfill basic needs of happiness and peace of mind. This is a deeply ingrained characteristics of the Indian soul, and nothing can completely uproot or destroy it. The Indian believes that mankind and the world have their end not in themselves, but are ordained to a transcendental destiny so that the individual has to get busy in striving towards perfection. The establishment of the kingdom of God on earth is felt to e co-operative enterprise between God and man. Man is a co-sharer in the work of creation. Men and women may be deeply committed to the tasks of the world, but the inspiration which sustains them in their human vocation comes from above, from the essence of religion which is spirituality.

A brief survey of conditions prevailing in the present times leaves us with an impression of chaos all over the world, of cold wars and hatred, of forces of evil triumphing over the forces of good, of the increase in immorality and corruption, not only in Bharat, but in all the countries of the world. The fact is

that scientific inventions have placed at the disposal of humanity immense powers, but unfortnately, man the user of these powers has still not conquered his base instincts for power and greed, so that these scientific implements are used for destructive rather than constructive purposes. Moreover, these very inventions have multiplied wants and titillated the human instincts for possession. In trying to satisfy this Frankenstein of worldly desires, man has become the victim of tragic fallacy that a material environment in which there is a mad pursuit of redundant luxury, comfort and sense pleasures in the panacea of all troubles and problems. But, when the deeper instincts of the human heart are neglected, misery and frustration follow in their wake, for a materialistic approach to life ends in satiety. The alarming degree of psychotic maladjustment in Sweden and other ultra Americanized countries, resulting in the biggest percentage of suicides should be a warning against too much absorption in materialism, This is all the more convincing because otherwise these countries are prosperous, and poverty and unemployment do not exist there to such an extent as to justify such abject despair. We in India can learn a lesson from this, and turn once again to the dynamism of religion and to the revival of Truth, Beauty and Love. As Shri Aurobindo has rightly pointed out, India can best develop herself and serve humanity by being herself. She can be herself only by being loyal to her ancient knowledge which is grounded in spirituality.

Faith in the spiritual Guru is one of the staunch pillars of the Sanathana Dharma. The teachings of Prophets and Incarnations have always provided great inspiration to spiritual seekers. The Guru as the spiritual preceptor has always had a tremendous appeal to the oriental mind. The Indian heart spontaneously responds in surrender to the Guru. The theory of avatarhood is an eloquent expression of Bharats spiritual philosophy. If God is looked upon as the saviour of humanity, as He invariably is, then God must manifest Himself. The birth of the Satpurush is thus acclaimed as the greatest good that can befall humanity. God as the abstract Creator eludes our imagination, but when a human temple enshrines divinity we begin to understand through this familiar medium the purpose of our own ultimate destiny. Thus when God assumes a human form, He establishes Himself as the Guru. Guru is manifested God -- This is perhaps the most succinct and satisfying definition of the word, and eliminates the false claim of some so-called Gurus who are ready to assume the mantle of spiritual authority without the true manifestation of the divine principle. The Guru as manifested God soon becomes the Light, the inspiration and the great exemplar. The life of the average seeker, as it is lived on the material and physical level, is barren and unproductive until it finds its focus in the Master. For though it is true that every man and woman is potentially divine, it requires the grace, protection

and the powerful push of the Guru to release this imprisoned splendour which lies captive in each and every one of us.

Even ultimate knowledge which is sometimes described as the secret wisdom is innate in man, but it is revealed only to an intellect which is purified by the tapasya of the seeker and of the touch of the Sadguru. It is therefore believed that the Guru and God are one because the Almighty and his medium of manifestation cannot be different. The Guru embodies not only the Saguna characteristics but also the Nirguna quality of the supreme being., and so to that extent the Guru is approachable and accessible to the fact that we have to reach eternity in the temporal order, we have to seek oneness by going beyond the appearance of pluralities. In order to achieve such a difficult task we certainly need the protection and guidance of a spiritual preceptor.

One this fascinating contact between the Guru and the bhakta is established, the relationship between the master and the disciple becomes a thing of beauty. A thrilling intimacy is engineered where each completes the other to bring about a rare and lyrical fusion. This leads us to consider the principle of reciprocity which operates in this relationship. In return for the innumerable demands which a bhakta makes on the Master, it is but natural that the Guru too should impose a few conditions on the bhakta. The Guru expects total surrender, absolute obedience, and, the last and most important, supreme effort. Effort is a courtesy which all sadhakas owe to the Divine, and preserving effort alone brings down the dynamism of Gods help and grace. As sadhakas we have to venerate and respect all Gurus, but to the form in which he or she appears to enlighten us we have to render our exclusive adoration and surrender.

Is a Guru absolutely necessary for spiritual sadhana? The pros and cons of this question have been adequately discussed by Shri Sai Baba in the body of the book in the chapter entitled Surrender to the Guru is the only sadhana. Though Sai Baba was pre-eminently the apostle of the Guru Marg, he did not deny the possibility of progress and attainment without the Guru, but he always pointed out the besetting difficulties of a sadhak who did not lean on a spiritual master for guidance and protection. It is all very well to talk of ones own true self being the Guru, said Baba, but the real self is so deeply overshadowed by the ego which is full of contradictions that it is very difficult to get behind this overbearing selfhood to reach the hidden potentiality of the divine self. The Guru on the contrary accepts the sadhakas limitations and slowly but surely helps him to transcend these and reach his goal. Even Shri

Raman a Maharishi who had advocated the path of self-enquiry which is the pat of gnan, said in his last years: If you surrender to me, I shall lead you to the portal of eternal liberation. Thus, by agreeing to be a Guru, the great sage of Arunchala confirmed the importance of the Guru. Swami Vivekananda was an incorrigible rationalist in his earlier life, but when he attained spiritual maturity through the grace of his Guru Shri Ramakrishna Paramhansa, he made this significant avowal to Sharada Devi -- Mother, the knowledge that sweeps away the lotus feet of the Guru is no knowledge at all. The Guru is thus the deep rooted conviction of Bharats soil. The concept of the Guru is the pivot on which practically all sadhana finds its focus.

The Guru thus appears as the great awakener. At least in the traditional path of Bhakti the Guru is held to be an inexorable necessity for those aspiring to a higher life. For, it is maintained that a sadhaka can reach that pitch of selfless adoration which the traditional path of devotion prescribes only if he is attached to some great personality.

The sadhaka cannot cultivate the same emotion for abstract concepts. Ultimately, of course, the personal form of the Guru dissolves in the impersonal reality, but not till the awakening has reached a certain high level. In the initial stages, the aspirant can comprehend the unknown only in terms of the known.

The Gurus mission appears to be two-fold. The first and most important concern of the Guru is to awaken, elevate and transform the seeker. The second and the final purpose of the Guru is paradoxically to help the sadhakas to transcend this state of complete dependence on the Master, which dependence the Guru himself had taken such pains to foster. The final spurt of realizing his true identity with God is exclusively the Sadhakas job.

The beauty and wisdom of Indias spiritual literature have been considerably enhanced by the tribute that is paid both in prose and poetry to the unique relationship that exists between the Guru and the bhakta. This exquisite relationship is replete with inexhaustible possibilities; and the delicate nuances of give and take between the master and disciple give to the relationship a lyrical composition. The Divine, sensing mans need for a sakshat and perfect presence whom he could both love and worship, comes down as the great Avatar. Bharat has produced many such Avatars, and this

perhaps is the cause of our countrys greatness and the cause of its survival too through strange vicissitudes of good and bad fortune.

The Saint of Shirdi recognized and emphasized the beauty of a Guru-guided life. He felt that the very ethos of our nation could be found in this enduring and endearing association of the Guru and his bhaktas. He wanted his beloved followers to feel a thrill of protection in the assurance that a loving Master delights in the intimacy of the demands made by his devotees. In each of his lovers, Sai Baba recognized the potential Divine, and so he brought to each association a quality of tender and reverent friendship. In appraising the life and leelas of this great spiritual Master, one cannot but feel the subtle unfolding of the ancient tradition of the Guru lending its fragrance to all that he did and said.

The Saint of Shirdi left behind a rich heritage of enlightened followers. The spiritual world is deeply indebted to this Mahapurush, not only for his exalted guruship, but also because he has brought into being a brilliant dynasty of Gurus. Shri Upasani Baba Maharaj was Sai Babas most inspired successor. How the former was able to establish a lasting Guru- parampara through his vision and foresight, is another absorbing story; but Shri Sai Babas leelas would be incomplete without reference to Shri Upasani Babas life and the life and teachings of the holy Mother, Sati Godavari Mataji, who is alive today to sustain and heighten the tradition of the two great Babas. I have, therefore, added two more chapters at the end of this second edition, dealing with the lives and teachings of Shri Upasani Baba and Sati Godavari Mataji.

Shri Sai Baba was not content to transfer his messiahship to his descendants. In the last years of his life, he said to his devotees with a mothers solicitude, Do not grieve when my body passes away. My tomb will live and move and speak with all those who make me their sole refuge. Happily, though we have just commemorated the 50th year of his mahasamadhi, Sai Babas promise is abundantly fulfilled today. Through half a century of void there comes echoing down the years the gracious message -- Lo, I am beside you always.

CHAPTER 2 THE GLORY OF ANCIENT BHARAT

Like a COLOSSUS Shri Sai Baba, the Saint of Shirdi, appeared on the Indian soil round about the year 1856. The word appeared is significantly used to indicate that this mighty Avatars birth, percentage and early life were enshrouded in mystery and contradictions. As we have already mentioned in the chapter -- Sai Baba comes to Shirdi -- Shri Sai Baba is one of those rare saints of whose birth and family there is no authentic record. Shri Sai Babas appearance was an affirmation of the Immaculate Conception. While asserting this, one is not of course unconscious of another not too authentic a version of Sai Babas origin, of which we feel there is neither any historical evidence nor affirmation from the saint himself. In any case, we feel it a waste of time to enter into a controversy which does not in any way negate our attempt to present the radiant personality of a spiritual Master whose teachings, powers and supreme wisdom and inspiration have rarely been duplicated in the annals of spiritual history.

The fascinating life and leelas of Shri Krishna Bhagwan are often taken with a pinch of salt by those who are skeptics. Once when Godavari Mataji, who was accepted by Shri Sai Baba as her param Guru, was asked whether she believed in Shri Krishna to be a historical figure or just a poetized creation of what a saint should be, the Mothers reply was characteristic. Supernatural Beings, said Mother, can well afford to transcend the ordinary presentations of historical research for the sadhak. The life of Shri Krishna, as depicted in the immortal poems of the puranas, is sufficient reality. Similarly, we feel that whether Shri Sai Baba was born in the ordinary way or whether he was a supreme Manifestation does not in any way interfere with our presentation of his extraordinary life and way of life, his unusual leelas and supreme knowledge of metaphysical subtleties as embodied in the Purusha, and his equally supreme understanding of the frailties and the infinite potentialities of the manifested Prakriti make one feel that Baba was the modern prototype of the ancient Vedic Rishis.

Consequently, the writer strongly feels that by diving into the past traditions of Bharat, by describing the ancient Glory of this vast continent which is our motherland, one can add considerable stature to this, the revised edition which comes out now as the fourth edition of the Saint of Shirdi.

As a matter of fact, history has not given due importance to Bharats early periods which according to Shri Aurobindo were the most brilliant and

creative, inspired as they were by the intuitive vision of Bharats early seers and sages. The early civilization was unique and people were happy because spiritual values formed the very basis of national life, art, literature and philosophy.

In those early days, politics too was infused with sound ethical principles. The rulers of the states were expected to discharge their duties while preserving the Dharma, so that the laws of the state were regarded in those days as the expression of the best and the highest I the individual.

Since man is considered by all spiritual Masters to be the supreme creation of God, God sees to it that ultimately man reaches his true nature. As a matter of fact, the spark of divinity that is already implanted in the human soul is like a restless urge smouldering within him. The fulfillment of material desires does not bring lasting happiness. Frustrations and misery remain intact. Slowly but surely man stumbles to the truth that the fulfillment of material cravings bring only fleeting pleasures. What man needs is an enduring happiness. The compassion of the spiritual Masters of the past lay in their effort to turn men away from futile longings of the flesh and so raise them to a higher level of fulfillment. One cannot but recall Shri Sai Babas wistful cravings to find souls who had come to him for the real treasures of life. Babas own poignant words make us realize the depth of his longings. He often said: I give bounteously to all that ask; but, alas no one asks with wisdom. My treasury is open, but no one brings carts to carry away the real treasures. I say: dig and search but no one wants to take any pains. be the true sons of the Divine Mother and fully stock yourselves. What is to become of us? This body will return to earth and the air we breath will melt into nothingness. This opportunity will not return. That Mahatama of Shri Sai Babas caliber should have been compelled to say this could well give us an inkling of the power of the evil wielded by the Kali Yuga. Though today the manifestation of misery, wickedness and suffering in all the countries of the world is alarming, they are not fatal; they are not fatal because man in the ultimate analysis is potentially divine, and, therefore, sooner or later Goodness and Godliness are bound to assert themselves to destroy darkness and evil. This indeed is our staunch faith.

To revert to our text regarding the splendour of our ancient tradition, we can confidently say that Hinduism, being several thousand years old, has now been recognized to be more ancient than any other religion of the world. It is difficult to understand and estimate Bharats closely woven mysticism. The

unfoldment of Bharats ancient culture is a source of reverie which fuses together infinite complexities of mans dreams, fears and longings into some sort of unity. But in trying to evaluate this vast continent with its manifold strands of culture, beliefs, races, creeds, languages, art and religions, one has to take cognizance of the powerful impact which Indias spiritual sages have had on its ancient civilization. Bharats unbroken tradition of more than 5000 years can be favorably compared with the ancient civilization of Egypt, Greece and Mesopotamia, each of which has been swept away ultimately with the winds of Time. The survival of Bharats hoary wisdom through strange vicissitudes of good and bad fortunes is indeed a miracle, or a manifestation of Divine Grace.

Bharat has been blessed with shastras like the immortal bhagwad geeta. The inspiration of Geeta extends beyond time and space to that which is perennial. Aldous Huxley has declared: The Gita is one of the clearest and most comprehensive summaries of the perennial philosophy ever to have been made. Hence its enduring value, not only for Indians, but for all mankind. Like Sri Aurobindo and many other saints, Shri Sai Baba too gave great importance to this ancient treatise which according to him shows to mankind a way out of bondage. Shri Sai Baba had complete mastery of this ancient text, and he could quote from chapter and verse to illustrate and emphasize his arguments often putting into shade the so-called scholarship of many learned pundits.

But, today, though the march of science has increased the scope of luxurious living, there is a danger of man forgetting his higher self to the detriment of his spiritual destiny. In India, however, the danger of complete spiritual stagnation is constantly warded off by the reappearance of sages and 'avatars who see to it that Bharatvasis are ever kept on the path of spiritual awareness.

The age-long assertion of mans potential divinity initiated by the ancient shastras of Bharat gave a new dimension to the human personality -- a dimension beyond the reach of such human beings who like animals are content to live at the lowest sensual level. Actually, however, no human being remains always in this primitive stage. Everyone receives at some time or the other in his life, intimations of immorality as the poet Wordsworth expressed it.

The virtues of Indias wise and ancient civilization are blessed with divine sanction. The vastness and the depth enshrined in Bharats scriptures and the precepts and shrutis revealed by the mighty Rishies of old are unique features of this great land of ours which are irresistible to those who have come under their spell. The Vedas not only declared that every human being is divine, but also asserted that every liberated person becomes an infinite source of strength and inspiration. Moreover, the hallmark of Bharats spiritual teachings has been completely devoid of intolerance and bigotry. This quality gives to the ancient religion a stamp of universal appeal.

The early Vedic scriptures have emphasized that the truth or God can be found by going inwards through a subjective experience of regeneration and not by projecting oneself outward in a thought process. Truth being deeply subjective, ones intuitive faculties must be developed and employed to discover it. Such reflection leads one in time to accept the role of Faith which is a spontaneous turning of the individual to God as an indwelling presence. In such a pattern of thinking, the doubter or the skeptic cannot prevail. The very declaration -- I exist -- is in itself an inexorable assertion of faith. For, obviously, though I may doubt everything, I have to accept the existence of I the doubter. Faith such as this is not a bequest from one generation to another. It is a conquest. Thus, one has to renew ones vision silently to mysticism. For, the faith that emerges from mans intuitive faculty assumes the stature of a shruti. It is of this quality of faith that Sri Aurobindo said that faith is not dependent on reason but is prior to Reason.

According to the sage of Pondicherry: Faith is the souls witness to something not yet manifested, achieved or realized, but yet the knower within us, even in the absence of all indications, feels to be true or supremely worth following. Thus, Sri Aurobindo makes explicit the unflickering wisdom of the ancient tradition of religious background in Bharat which has inspired thinkers in many parts of the world.

One of the most alluring of Bharats theistic concepts is the concept of Divine Grace, and this ideology has its roots in certain basic emotional and intellectual assumptions, which can be called shrutis or revelations of spiritual premises handed down to us by the mighty rishis of ancient Bharat. In this sense these assumptions are neither rational nor irrational -- they are irreparable -- they are rooted in eternity and as such are beyond the scope of the mind and its faculties, lying deeply embedded in the very structure of the human soul.

In Bharat it has been an age long tradition to accept certain revelations which are further nourished by our immortal scriptures. The descent of God as the Avatar and the ascent of man to the structure of Bharats ancient wisdom rests on these mighty shrutis which cannot be challenged.

The integral and harmonious realization where the seeker rises to higher and higher level of consciousness is the ultimate goal of the Vedic and the Upanishad teachings. This fact can well be summed up by quoting the beautiful words of Dr. Radhakrishnan, one of Indias most enlightened philosophers -- Liberation is not the isolation of the immortal spirit from the mortal human life; mans life, body and mind are not dissolved but are rendered pure and made the means and mould of the divine light and Man becomes his own masterpiece. Thus, the genius of Dr. Radhakrishnan has condensed into a few exquisite lines the wisdom of ancient Bharat.

Of the many original theological axioms of Bharat, the concept of the Avatar is the most fascinating. The Avatar can be defined as manifested God who out of infinite compassion assumes a human form. This descent of God is indeed a supreme sacrifice, for the Divine accepts voluntarily the limitations and suffering of the human body in order to fulfill the role of a Saviour. Each Avatar has his own unique mission and role. Shri Sai Baba whose heart was full of tenderness appeared in 1856 to assuage the suffering of humanity. The rest of the book is devoted to this supreme Manifestation of Love and Compassion.

CHAPTER 3 THE GURUS INITIATION

The Gurus initiation is an intimate and personal experience, but often to share this experience with others is rewarding, inasmuch as it serves to establish a rapport between bhaktas. I would, therefore, like to offer to the readers some glimpses of my awakening, and the way in which Sai Baba drew me to his lotus feet.

Round about the year 1942 I was going through a difficult period of my life and was feeling unhappy and frustrated. Though I was God-fearing, I was not particularly religious and knew nothing about Saints and had not even heard about Sai Baba. Mentally and spiritually, therefore, I was not ripe for the Masters Grace, and yet God fulfills himself in strange ways. A neighbor of our brought the late Shri B. V. Narasimha Swamiji to our house. He was a holy man, a true Sadhu and one of the most distinguished disciples of Shri Sai Baba. Incidentally, the Great Swamiji subsequently wrote a foreword to the first edition of my book. The foreword has been included in this edition.

Narasimha Swamiji at once sensed that all was not well with me, indeed he seemed to have come prepared, through some psychic perception, to meet me and help me. Taking me aside, he told me gently not to worry and said Why dont you seek refuge in Sai Baba?. Who is Sai Baba? I asked: Whereupon Babas holy disciple put in my hand a packet of books written by himself about Sai Baba. Read these he said, and while blessing me also added, There is a lovely picture of Baba in this packet for you. He really seemed to have come prepared to lead a troubled soul to his Master! I confess that though I was touched by the Swamis kindness, his advice and gift made no immediate impression on me. I put away the whole packet without even opening it, and persisted in my misery. Here, my husband was made an instrument to draw me to the spiritual path. For my husband opened the packet and after reading one of Swamijis books and seeing Sai Babas radiant picture, he said to me Sai Baba seems to be a great saint, why dont you read these books, they might help you. But I remained unaffected. After a few days, however, I began to feel contrite, and just to please my husband, I took out Babas picture from the packet, framed it and put it on the table in front of our beds. This simple and penitent gesture started the miracle of my conversion. For, the very next day in the afternoon as I lay sleeping on my bed in front of the picture, so casually placed there by me, I was blessed with a lovely visitation. This was something more concrete than a dream, it was in fact a vision. I was dozing, when suddenly Sai Babas picture lit up with a translucent glow, his face broke into a tender smile, and his hand came out of the frame, as it were, while with his forefinger Baba beckoned to me. Still in the dream, I saw myself jump out of the bed and rush towards Babas photograph. Sai Baba then placed his hand on my head in blessing. I actually felt the ecstasy of his touch and woke up with a start. I was thrilled! This was indeed an initiation. Sai Babas grace had penetrated to my innermost being at last, and I knew I was saved. I subsequently remembered how one of Babas compassionate sayings applied in this case. I seek out my bhaktas from long distances, under many please and draw them to me.....

It is said that Gurus grace falls on those who are ripe for it and deserve it. But this does not seem to be true in my case; I certainly did not deserve it, nor had my spirits risen out of the dark night of illusion and misery to greet the Light of Divine Love. I am inclined to think that Divine Grace follows no laws, For then it would be limited and thus cease to be Divine. Gods grace seems to be arbitrary, or perhaps it follows some higher laws, some mysterious pattern of which we in our ignorance have no cognizance. Whatever it may be, I know that from the very hour the vision was bestowed on me, my life changed, as I rose out of my apathy, and struggled to meet the Light shone upon me through the Gurus radiant initiation.

Little did I guess at that time how pregnant with deep possibilities my meeting with Narasimha Swamiji would prove to me! To yield or not to yield to the call of the Guru we are no more free than the ebb and flow of the tide, but when one consciously begins to realize the importance of such a contact, then one is thrilled, then ones spiritual sadhana is really said to have begun. True, there are many failures and setbacks and at times for long periods, losing sight of the high ideal, one even slips back to old grooves of thoughts and habit; often, there is a deluded sense of progress through a projection of ones confused self as the ideal -- in short, there are many pitfalls and obstacles. But shouldnt these difficulties necessarily be there, seeing that the ideal one has set for oneself is of the highest? And withal, it draws mans whole being irresistibly onwards until the tiny spark becomes a flame.

The many thousands of devotees of Sai Baba will bear me out when I say that the Masters peculiar characteristics is that he clings tenaciously to his devotees, as much as he expects his devotees to cling to him. Rarely has there been a Guru who has had this kind of attachment to his bhaktas -though attachment is not perhaps a very happy word for the great love which Sai Baba showered on his flock when he was alive and continues to do even now more than 50 years after his mahasamadhi.

Mans sub-conscious is a gravely unillumined region which throws up chaotic thoughts and feelings and the all too well known complexes of fear and frustrations. But somewhere also lies hidden in the sub-conscious infinite treasures of the spirit. How shall these be unearthed? Shri Sai Baba hints at complete surrender to the Divine. Throwing out all fear from ones consciousness, for fear is the greatest of all enemies, he compassionately

exhorts his devotees to Cast all your burden on me and I will bear them. Such faith is a gift. We must, therefore, cultivate it and cultivate too a receptivity and a capacity to lay ourselves open to the Gurus protection, for only so can his divine grace manifest abundantly in us. Has not the Master said again and again -- Look to me and I will look to you

It is mans privilege that he has been endowed with the capacity to experiment with Truth and to achieve in that process a new orientation of his personality. The pathos of life with its unstable vicissitudes and frustrations leads man at last to seek for the light that is not dimmed, the light that liberates man and gives him a taste of higher existence and fulfillment. Tired with the limited assurance of dry intellectualism and mere academic knowledge which seems still to leave his personality deeply disintegrated, tired also of his endless oscillations from pain to pleasure and pleasure to pain -- man craves for wisdom, and craves even more for that peace which passeth all understanding. This is the first step. But once this divine discontent is felt, very often it serves as an incentive to further researches into unexplored levels of thought and experience. It is here that one begins to look for inspiration, and unconsciously ones being hankers for the Master, the Guru who alone can reveal to man his sadhana, and help him to grow more and more in spirituality until he eternally abides in the Lord.

Almost from the dawn of her history, it has been the privilege of Bharat to produce such Gurus, such maharishis, and it is the exalted spiritual culture which these realized souls have taught from time to time that India has the privilege of bestowing as her unique contribution to the world. Swami Vivekananda said: Like the gentle dew that falls unseen and unheard and yet bring into bloom the fairest of roses, has been the contribution of India to the thought of the world. Silent, unperceived, yet omnipresent in its effect, it has revolutionized the thought of the world. Poets sometimes, and sages even more than the poets, are alone capable of substituting enlightenment for knowledge, for they have some mysterious source of inspiration, and drawing from this source they are able to touch the mainsprings of human endeavor. The poet Lowell has expressed this sentiment aptly in Colombus -- only I would substitute the word Sages for Poets.

.....And I believe the poets, it is they who utter wisdom from the central deep and listening to the inner flow of things speak to the age out of Eternity.

Some years after I was initiated by Sai Baba, he himself subtly pushed me over to his successor. My unfathomable hankering for a living embodiment of the Guru was also fulfilled when I stood in Godavari Matajis presence. Mother appeared to recognize me, and welcomed me like a long-lost child on the very first day of our meeting, and I too intuitively felt the complete identification of Godavari Maa with Sai Baba. But a few years later I was beset with doubts. In the loving Mother so much was I disloyal to my Guru? But when Mother came to know of my fears she rebuked me gently Do not entertain such doubts. Sai Baba and I are one. She declared with earnest conviction, and then added with her characteristic humility: Come to me, cling to me, but in your Japa repeat Sai Babas name. When Mother uttered these words, all doubts dissolved from my mind as I realized that Mother is but the living extension of my Guru-- Shri Sai Baba.

Sai Baba is perhaps one of the most approachable of Gurus. Men and women could go to him at any time with their problems. No yearning of the human heart is too insignificant for this compassionate Avatar. His heart, even now, burns for the woes and miseries of the ordinary householder. It is but natural that with such an amazing outpouring of love Sai Baba should have favoured the way of Devotion as the most important spiritual path. In tracing the life, doing and teachings of this Great Master, we automatically trace the renaissance of Bhakti in comparatively modern times.

CHAPTER 4 SAI BABA COMES TO SHIRDI

Aspiration towards a higher life is the essential characteristics of the IndoAryan culture. This leaning towards spirituality has contributed to the greatness of Bharat and perhaps the cause of its survival. The descent of God as an Avatar and the ascent of man to Divine perfection -- these are two inevitable aspects of our countrys faith. It is a kind of super-structure on which our spiritual tradition is based. Shri Sai Baba may well be called the pioneer of a spiritual renaissance in comparatively modern times. He had the vision to link up the perennial wisdom of the past to progressive modern trends which he based on the sound and healthy principles of progress. Sai Baba maintained that all progress must be achieved through the vitality of religion. For, true unity which is the basis of happiness is not possible, according to the sage, through political creeds or even social reforms or the

principles of science, since all these may flourish in one era and be obsolete in the next. The unity of spiritual vision, however, is enduring, because the texture of such unity remains unchanged through the ages. This unity is to be found in mans love for God. This is Babas most important thesis. Taking this as a major proposition, Baba argues that this is the crux of the whole approach. Inasmuch as we learn to love God with a perfect love, so shall we be able to love our fellow men. God is the common denominator, as it were. With a compassion that is innate in this great master, he knew that struggling to refine our emotions would weary us, so he advocated instead a turning to God with thoughts of love and surrender. Instead of starting from the bottom and struggling upwards, Sai Baba advises us to begin by accepting God as a spiritual axiom. The Divine thus becomes the starting point, the nucleus from which we progress to the attainment of the ideal of the fellowship and brotherhood of men. This is a refreshing approach and a rewarding one, because we are assured that when the aspiring soul takes one step towards God, the Almighty hastens to take him under His eternal protection.

As a matter of fact, with the advent of the Saint of Shirdi, the great and traditional movement of Bhakti, as a virile Sadhana for attaining salvation, received a tremendous impetus. Sai Baba brought about a powerful renaissance of the cult of devotion. For this contribution alone has the Master earned for himself an immortal name in the annals of spirituality.

Conscious of the beauty and power that reside in devotion which is tendered to the Divine, Shri Sai Baba exhorted men and women to adopt Bhakti as the most rewarding sadhana. It must not be imagined, however, that Sai Baba in any way decried the value and importance of other paths. After all, the goal is the same, declared Baba; so it matters not only by what varied routes you seek to attain it. The search and the seeker ultimately become one with all seekers who search for the common light. Even so, Shri Sainath did feel that intellectual concepts have an uncomfortable and an infinite capacity of varying and multiplying with individuals. There are as many systems of philosophy as there are philosophers, and, as such, these concepts, more often than not, becomes causes of tension among seekers. But Bhakti is different. Bhakti or love is the most natural and vital feeling of the human heart. Loving and being loved fall within the scope of every individuals normal experience, and one has no need to cultivate love. Like a true and sensitive psychologist, Sai Baba recognized that the need to adore is inherent in the human heart and, as such, he felt that the sadhana of devotion (Bhakti) could well become the basis of an inter-religious dialogue.

Shri Sai Baba, therefore, descended as the Avatar of Love. This was his manifest role. It could be said that after Jesus Christ, there has not been a greater apostle of love than Shri Sai Baba, the Saint of Shirdi.

Writing the biographical sketch of saints is difficult, but the difficulties become well-nigh insurmountable when one has to deal with the life of the incredible Saint of Shirdi. Sai Babas early life was enshrouded in contradictions and mystery. Moreover, the great one delighted in perpetuating this feeling of mystery and uncertainty that hovered over his birth, his parentage and the events and incidents of his early childhood. Indeed Sai Baba is one of those rare saints of whose birth and parentage there is no authentic record. Shri Sai Babas appearance was an affirmation of the Immaculate conception. As the distinguished author Hemadpant of Shri Sai Charita aptly points out, Namdev and Kabir were not born like ordinary mortals. They were discovered as infants concealed in the mother of pearl, Namdev was found by Gonayee in the Bhimratha river and Kabir was found by Jamal in the Bhagirathi river. Similarly, Sai Baba was not born of mortal parents, concludes the learned author. We may, however, mention that there is another not too authentic a version of Sai Babas origin. It is stated that Sai Baba was born of a Brahmin parents in the Nizams state. In infancy Baba was supposed to have been deserted by his parents. Legend says that a fakir found the child and took him home. After the fakirs death, the child was taken over by a zamindar of selu who brought up this child in the historical evidence supporting this theory, and Shri Sai Baba himself is not known to have confirmed it. On the contrary, the saints own utterances about his origin were pregnant with innuendoes hinting at his supernatural emergence into the world. All that is historically known is that Sai Baba first came to Shirdi when he was a lad of 16, and lived there for about 4 years. Then suddenly he disappeared for some time, and after a lapse of 4 years returned to Shirdi round about the year 1859. After that he resided in the place of his choice for an unbroken period of sixty years until he attained mahasamadhi in 1918. But when and where this young lad was born, where he came from, was not definitely known. Can it be that he was not born at all in the human way? Could he not have been a Mahatma, a great Avatar, who willed himself a body, because he wanted to fulfill a mission, because he wanted to lead lacs of people to salvation? A daring concept, no doubt; but then one is justified in wondering why there is not a single solitary evidence about the birth and parentage of the elusive Saint of Shirdi. Nor is this speculation a mere figment of the authors imagination. It is well established fact of spiritual lore that, when a Jiva reaches liberation, he transcends his material body. No Yogi dies in the ordinary sense of the word. His mission is self-

allotted and springs from the source of his free and redeemed spirit. Such a ones passing from amongst us is said to be a conscious and voluntary act, so that when a liberated being leaves the world, he is not Sai to have died, but to have given up his body. If then, in the tradition of spiritual wisdom it is believed that great sages are not overcome by death, but will themselves to die, it is not irrational to envisage the possibility of such beings willing themselves alive, and in and through that fiat of will they may not even deem it essential to go through the ordinary physiological process of birth. Shri Aurobindo, one of the greatest seers of our times, has hinted at the above possibility in one of his writings which is quoted below:

A soul wishing to enter a body or form for itself a body and take part in a divine life upon earth, might be assisted to do so or be even provided with such a form by this method of direct transmutation without passing through birth by the sex process or undergoing any degradation or any of the heavy limitations in the growth and development of its mind and material body inevitable to our present way of existence.

The above is a very thought-provoking declaration, coming as it does from one of our foremost thinkers and seers. It gives adequate support and validity to the theory of Shri Sai Babas immaculate origin. Besides, the magnitude of Shri Sai Babas stature coupled with his enigmatic personality and utterance could certainly tip the balance in the favor of his supernatural birth. This solved, now or ever. It is sufficient to come within the orbit of his radiant influence which shines effulgently today, as it did when he was alive and residing in Shirdi.

When Shri Sai Baba first came to Shirdi with a marriage party he was a young lad of 16, but even at that tender age he looked every inch a Sat Purush. His radiant appearance and the unusual lusture on his face singled him out as one who had come to fulfill a magnificent destiny. The simple village folk of Shirdi were enabled, by Gods Grace, to recognize the Mahatma that he was. When the marriage party came to Shirdi, several men got down one by one from a cart which had brought them thither. These villagers alighted in a field belonging to one Bhagat Mhalsapati who later achieved the distinction of becoming famous as one of Sai Babas most faithful and worthy disciples. Now when it came to the young Yogis turn to get down from the cart, Shri Mahalsapati shouted out; Welcome Sai. Thus, in a moment was resurrected Shri Sai Baba, the immortal Saint of Shirdi. It was characteristic of the Great Master that he accepted this name without demur or protest. Perhaps he had

selected this simple name for himself as the savior of the masses, and so he himself subtly provoked his disciple to call him by the name of his choice! It may even have been a hint of his own nameless state!

Shri Sai Baba often spoke in parables, which, if taken too literally, resulted in a mass of contradictory beliefs and theories, each group of people believing what they wanted to believe. The Hindus thought him to be an Avatar of some God-head; the Muslims said he was a Pir sent by Allah to liberate men. To one man he was the Avatar of Dattatreya, to another he was Akalkote Maharaj re-incarnated. Each individual saw in this unique Saint a personification of his own favorite deity, as incarnation of his own chosen ideal, and worshipped him as such. Through all this maze of contrary beliefs, Baba lived on unperturbed with perhaps a glint of humour in his eyes for the perplexity which these unimportant speculations about his caste and creed roused in those who surrounded him. For Baba had a keen sense of humour. Though he had attained to the highest kingship in the realms of the spirit, he was not like many other Yogis absorbed in the contemplation of his own blissful state. He always walked, talked, and laughed with his many devotees. He loved fun, and loved to poke fun at the discrepancies of human nature, but his sallies were always tempered with tenderness. His assembly in Shirdi in those glorious days was a veritable abode of joy, and in no sense did it resemble a gloomy cloister bereft of laughter and sunshine, The Saint of Shirdi baffled his admirers. No one knew whether he was a Hindu or a Muslim! He dressed like a Muslim and bore the caste marks of a Hindu! He celebrated with the same child like clat the festivals of both the communities! If the Hindu protagonists felt a pride of possessions in the thought that true to their customs Baba was always burning the sacred fire before him, they were also reluctantly compelled to admit that after all he lived in a masjid. He quoted the Quoran and delighted his Muslim worshippers, and then made them look askance at his profound knowledge of the Hindu shastras. He called himself a fakir and on his lips reverberated constantly the incantation Allah Malik. But, Then he called himself a pure Brahmin too, and showed a remarkable proficiency in all yogic practices. It was magnificent tribute to his luminous presence that the most orthodox members of both the communities prostrated themselves at this feet. Perhaps such a phenomenon is yet unknown in the history of this vast and bewildering country of ours, where these two communities have worshipped one Seer with the same veneration and with mutual toleration of each others mode of worship. Sai Baba in his infinite wisdom saw how imperative it was to harmonize people, for he grievously hated all dissensions and was never so hurt as when he found people arguing and quarreling. That Rama (the God of Hindus) and Rahim (the God of Muslims) were one and the same -- was his

constant counsel to his followers. In Shirdi in those days a remarkable spirit of love and brotherhood prevailed, for all communities had found a common and unifying interest in the divine personality of Shri Sai Baba. Could this not be one of the important reasons why Baba set about deliberately baffling his followers whether he was a Hindu or a Muslim.

So, who is Sai Baba, people ask to this day; and to those who seek for a superficial classification of the Saint as subscribing to this or that creed there is still no satisfactory answer to this question. But those few who have assimilated the teachings of the Great Master realize that Sai is not this three and a half cubic feet of visible body residing in Shirdi, as Baba himself was fond of repeating, but a glorious being who had transcended the limitations of time and space to become one with all-absorbing and all-loving Divine. To such a one, what did it matter how and where he was born, or what his nationality was! Once in reply to the same query Baba said: I have no residence, I am the attributless absolute. By the action of karma, I got embroiled and came to a body. My name is the embodied Dehi. The world is my abode. Brahman is my father and Maya my mother. By their interlocking, I got this body. Those who think I reside at Shirdi do not know the real Sai, he chided, for I am formless and everywhere.

Like the late stage of Arunchala -- Bahgwan Ramana -- whose life is yet another saga of spiritual magnificence, Baba also constantly encouraged enquiry into the true nature of the self. The similarity of approach between these two great teachers is significant. Bhagwan Ramanas Who am I has become the pivot of his teachings. Sai Baba many decades ago never got tired of telling his followers to think of who they were. He often said, Who am I -- whence? Night and day, think on this. This was one of the most important injunctions of the Master and will be developed further in another chapter.

The master taught by precept and practice and by the power and glory of his mere presence the way of life that leads to a radical transformation in the inward man. True, he taught only through a medium of the spoken word in the age long tradition of many of Indias Gurus, But that spoken word had in it the lusture and the strength to pierce through the limitations of time and distance, and has spread far and wide even to the remotest of our villages. Sai Babas teachings and life have specially captured the imaginations of the Maharashtrians and South Indians among whom alone there are millions of devotees at the present day. But even in other parts of India there is no

dearth of Sai Bhakta. Curiously enough, the influence of this great Yogi is growing and spreading more and more, instead of waning with the passage of years. Though himself a great Gnani and an able exponent of metaphysical subtleties, Baba was pre-eminently the savior of the poor and the simple and the so-called ignorant mass of humanity. Shri Aurobindo talks of divine love that is also personal. It is not like the ordinary personal human love depending on any return from the person, he says. It is personal but not egoistic; it goes from the real being in the one to the real being in the other. This is the kind of love that Baba has for humanity. He is even today actively burning with compassion for the miseries and sorrows that seem to have an asylum on earth. A glance into his eyes, and somehow one seems to hear once again the Christ-like utterances of intense compassion. Come unto me all Ye that labour and are heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.

CHAPTER 5 SURRENDER TO THE GURU IS THE ONLY SADHANA

It is very interesting to observe and analyze the oriental concept of the Guru, and the relationship he bears to his chosen disciples. This relationship is in sharp contrast to the mere external and casual link that exists between the teachers and the taught in western countries. According to the occidental idea, the master serves as the medium for imparting knowledge or truth which is the final goal. As Aristotle said, Dear is Plato, but dearer still is the truth. But in India truth and the Guru are completely identified. There is no truth apart from the Guru, and to know and serve the latter with wholehearted devotion is also to serve the cause of the truth. In India, in particular, the Guru has almost become the accepted axiom of spiritual progress, and as such, the relationship he bears to those whom he guides is unique. Random would seem the road to heaven until the Gurus grace paves the way for the mortals to follow. Nor need we be denied this grace if our quest is sincere. We have certain assurance that even as we strive we shall rise and arrive.

The problem of human relationship is a very acute one. There is not a single relationship on the human level which does not at some time or the other strike a reflective man as a being based on egoism and mutual exploitation of those that are related; a mothers love for her child is perhaps in some rare

cases the nearest approach to the ideal, but even that is not perfect. A relationship without a flaw -- is that possible? This is what is sought to be embodied and has indeed been successfully concretized in the beautiful bond which is established between the Guru and his devotees. The beauty and the wisdom of Indias spiritual literature is enhanced by the tribute that is paid in poetry and prose to this unique fusion of the guru and bhakta. Innately mystical as the Indian temperament is, it is no wonder that the goal is always to achieve a direct union with God. The Sage of Shirdi recognized this and felt that the very ethos of the nation could be found in this enduring and supreme association of the guru with his followers. A firm and unfaltering faith in the guru, according to Sai Baba, is the highest sadhana. Trust in the guru fully, he reiterated, this is the only sadhana. Baba averred that the secret of a successful approach was to give himself, the more power to receive does a sadhaka develop, and in the measure in which the surrender to the master is complete, in that measure shall the initiate reap the fruits of the spirit.

Human relationship, as stated before, is always based on an instinct of possession or appropriation. But the disciples attitude is one of voluntary giving of himself unspoiled by any demands, untainted by any spirit of barter. In return the gurus grace is just as spontaneous as unstinted, in that, the guru takes up the entire being of the disciple to prepare him in the way he thinks best for a life of fulfillment and perfection. Baba himself once poetized this idea by likening the disciple to a lump of plastic clay from which the master potter fashions fascinating pieces of poetry. In this remoulding of the aspirant, the guru as it were fulfills himself too; and in some subtle way his strength seems to be made perfect in weakness.

However, despite the great emphasis he laid on the need of a guru, Baba did not deny the possibility of attainment without one. He even allowed that since to know oneself is the essence of spiritual growth from within and not necessarily through the gurus intervention. This, however, he said, was very rare. For the majority of the sadhakas the guru was a paramount necessity, and he believed that with the gurus radiant guidance the way could be made, not only easier, but more inspiring. To a question once asked by a simple devotee at Shirdi, Babas reply was as characteristically simple and direct -- for it may be mentioned here that Baba suited his teachings to the needs and capacity of the seeker; he never confused an unsophisticated mind with unnecessary flights of metaphysical subtleties. The devotee wanted to know how far a Guru was needed to show the way. The way is rugged, was Babas response, there are tigers and bears on the route, but if one has a guide with him, there is no difficulty. Then the tigers and the

bears move aside. If there is no guide (Guru), there is the danger of falling into a deep yawning pit, he said. And then again, if one makes the Guru the sole object of ones thoughts and aims, one attains Paramatma. Close contact with the supreme master ensures a protection which seems to envelope the disciple like an aura, helping and guiding him, and although the Guru may not necessarily throw aside all sufferings and stumblings, he invariably carries the seeker safely across all obstacles; that is what Baba meant when he said, If one devotes his entire life to me, he need fear nothing for body or soul.

It is the Guru who guides the faltering step and forces the wavering will and the straying gaze to find their impassioned focus on the face and form of the radiant master, until the devotee looks -- not to look away, but looks on with unabated ardour. Then indeed does the disciples mind becomes completely silent and can be likened unto a flame protected from the wind, burning steadily without either being ruffled or extinguished. This is concentration of the highest sort, and Baba spoke of it as being conductive to meditation and Samadhi which in turn lead to complete freedom.

Baba often, and without any reserve, spoke of his own Guru. Indeed it is amazing to read and hear of the simplicity and utter lack of reticence which Baba displayed in talking of his own highest experiences. Before him sat a mass of mediocre humanity, most of them immature and full of faults and shortcomings, all of them mere Sadhakas groping for the Light -- and he the peerless Siddha spoke to them as if they were his equals. My master told me to give bounteously to all that seek and ask, was one of his illuminating charters, so he gave bounteously of material benefits, as well as spiritual gifts to his children. His treasury was indeed always open.

Trust in the Guru fully -- Guru is all the gods -- is, therefore, Babas favourite text, and he would have us base our seeking on this great and simple foundation. His references to his own Guru are replete with tenderness.

Baba once told his disciples how he met his Guru -- whether this reference was to some immediate past or a remote one belonging to some other incarnation is not clear; nor it is certain whether the experiences which Baba described were symbolical or literal. It was enough that the utterances of this

Yogi were like some deep prophetic reverberations that gave a powerful impetus and richness to the thoughts and lives of all those who came within the orbit of his radiance. Baba described how he once roamed about in a forest seeking for truth with three young men. They discussed amongst themselves the right way of reaching their goal. One of them said selfreliance was the way; another favoured self-control of the mind to free it from the thoughts of desires; and the third man cast his vote in favour of always doing vichara, distinguishing between the Nitya and Anitya (the changing and the changeless). But Baba was content even at that stage to feel that surrender of the body and soul to the Guru was the best way. Debating thus, the young men lost their way, for they disdained to take a guide who has offered to help him. It was then that the Guru came! In order to arrive at some version of the transforming and profound allegiance that the master expected of a Sadhaka one cannot do better than quote here Shri Sai Babas words as rendered by Narasimha Swamiji.

How can I describe his (Gurus) love for me? When he was Dyanastha (i.e. in love trance) I sat and gazed at him. We were both filled with bliss. I cared not to turn my eyes upon anything else. Night and day I poured upon his face with an ardour of love that banished hunger and thirst. The Gurus absence even for a second made me restless. I meditated on nothing but the Guru, and had no goal or object other than the Guru! Unceasingly fixed upon him was my mind. Wonderful indeed the art of my Guru! I wanted nothing but the Guru and he wanted nothing but this intense love from me. Apparently inactive he never neglected me, but always protected me by his glance. That Guru never blew any Mantra into my ear. By his grace, I attained to me present state. The four Sadhanas and six Shastras are not necessary. Trusting in the Guru fully is enough....

So under the cool shade of the neem tree where Baba first came and sat like a Fakir gradually drawing unto himself thousands of disciples by the dazzling immensity of his personality, no less than by the brilliant miracles he performed, today there stands a epitaph consecrated to the memory of his Guru. For in this spot, according to some of his devotees, lies the Samadhi of Babas Guru, and they maintain that Sai Baba himself pointed out the spot saying his Guru lay buried therein. But there are others who strongly repudiate this story and deny any reference by Baba to his Gurus Samadhi. We need not, however, let this controversy worry us or make us lose sight of the basic truth. The important thing is that Baba did create an idealization of what a Guru should be, and it is enough if we remain loyal to that creation. Shri Krishna and Christ are none the less real and inspiring for all the

controversy which centers round the authenticity of their existence, and it is enough too that we would know that our perfect master, so consummate in his sainthood, so accomplished in philosophy, revered by the age wherein he lived, his name and memory preserved with increasing veneration by the present age, is daily resurrected in the lives and the visions of those who place their entire faith in him.

There was a living tender beauty in Babas personality which made all those who met him feel the urge to surrender to him. Sai Baba was in the deepest sense of the phrase a Guru incarnate. He naturally attracted people, and they were willing and anxious to surrender to him. Why should anyone fear, when I am near, he said, Cast all your burdens on me and I will bear them. Who can resist such a compassionate invitation to be protected! The masters ways are natural, homely and human. He never advised anyone to leave the world and retire to the forest. He called this a shirking of ones duties and responsibilities. According to him, not by running away from life and its problems but by facing them with courage and fortitude does man reach the true understanding of his Creator. But Sai Baba did often stress the importance of retiring into the sanctuary, the secret place of ones own being within, where in solitude dwells the Self. Religion is what the individual does with his solitariness, said the philosopher Whitehead. It is indeed a passage from the alone to the alone.

Sri Sainath believed that each individual soul is eternally and essentially perfect and all bondage is super-imposed; he, therefore, repeatedly warned seekers against a vain preoccupation with the future. Very often he said Watch the present, and the future will take care of itself. Contemplate on and invoke the I within you in the ever insistent NOW, and you will be able to open the gateway to salvation. Here, like Shri Krishna and Ramana Maharishi, Sai Baba lays open to our awareness the scintillating path of Gnan and self-inquiry. But Sai Baba also knew and realized that in this struggle to transcend the veil that clouds the sheer I-consciousness, much time, nay, even many lives would be lost. His way, therefore, was the way of trust in the compassionate Guru whose silent shafts of spiritual grace would melt away those dark veils of ignorance to usher genuine seekers into the realms of spiritual awareness. Once this vista is thrown open to man, he witnesses a supreme harmony that reveals to him everything in its right place; all love and no hatred becomes the creed. For, as Baba was always fond of pointing out, Since the real self is eternally the same in all of you, who is to hate whom? But these revelations come to us in their virginity and beauty through the gracious intervention of the Gurus silent grace. Sai Baba did not

expect the majority of the seekers to ferret out the significance of the knowledge of the Self; he knew that very few were intellectually equipped for such rigorous self-analysis.

Indeed, though Sai Baba himself was a great Gnani, he did not advocate the path of Gnan to those who came to him for guidance. He was too much the saviour of the masses to preach salvation through a medium which could appeal only to a few. He knew that very few sadhakas would be able to follow the path of self-inquiry and introspection and fewer still could assimilate metaphysical subtleties. Sai Baba made the Guru an inexorable facet of the path of devotion. One cannot surrender to God with the same felicity because God is an utter abstraction, and one needs to be a seasoned metaphysician to know what God means. Sai Baba, therefore, maintained that only the Gurus are able to provide emotional inspiration to sadhakas and help them to a more elevated way of life. Guru is all the Gods, he exclaimed. Trust in the Guru fully. This is the only sadhana. If the devotee sees all as his Guru, he will come to me. These maxims coming from Sai Baba himself leave no doubt that the Saint of Shirdi exalted the ideal guruship and considered it an inevitable concomitant of a successful sadhana.

As a matter of fact, when Sri Sai Baba brought about a powerful revival of the Bhakti Marg, he also resurrected the traditional ideal of reverence for the spiritual Guru. This was inevitable, considering that Babas teachings are precmiently concerned with the full exposition of the path of Bhakti in all its traditional commitments. The human mind though initiated in the spiritual path cannot adore an abstract power. Spiritual Mahatamas, like Sai Baba, Shri Ramanuja, Swami Ramdas and many others have advised us to venerate those who lead us to God, and to love these embodiments as Divine manifesting itself in human forms. The Gurus physical body is just a receptacle of the Divine presence, and as such worthy of our utmost devotion and reverence. The Almighty and its medium of manifestation are identical. Indeed, the path of Bhakti is very much enriched with the development of the Guru-Bhakta relationship which is as fascinating as exacting. The spiritual impulse is certainly latent in every individual heart, but it needs great inspiration and compulsion to bring it to the surface. And this inspiration can come only through inspired contacts with those distinguished seers and saints who have been born among men to fulfill this sacred purpose in their role of the Guru.

The national life of ancient India was admirably conceived and maintained

because people then were united through common religious ideals. Only religion in its true essence can act as a cohesive force, uniting men in a practical brotherhood. In ancient Bharat people venerated the four immortal Gs -- the Guru, the Geeta, the Gayatri, the Ganga. The ancient civilization of Bharat was unique, and people were happy because the idealism of the ancient scriptures inspired and guided men and women, and formed the very basis of national life, art and philosophy. Perhaps the moral and cultural sterility in which we find ourselves today would not have been so appalling if this ancient country of ours had not so completely forgotten her past. Importing religion from alien sources is not going to be any solution for our present impoverished life. As Swami Vivekananda has aptly pointed out, The great seers of ancient India saw so far ahead of their time, that the world has to wait centuries yet to appreciate their wisdom, and it is this very inability, on the part of their own descendants, to appreciate the full scope of this wonderful wisdom that is one of the causes of the degeneration of India. But we do not have to despair when the soil of Bharat still has the power and the sanskars to draw eternal and radiant Avatars of the Supreme like Shri Sai Baba. These Gurus appear in human form to demonstrate both by precept and example the nature and significance of true bhakti to the benighted and erring mortals below.

Shri Sai Babas teachings, extolling the qualities of faith and devotion are true for all times. He maintained that dry intellectualism has no force, no potency, and that all great movements of life are actuated by intensity of feeling. Birth itself which is the greatest event of life is the summum bonum of the intensity in feeling. Shri Sai Baba recognized that for a religion to be a living and effective force, profound enthusiasm is necessary, and, that man is the most enthusiastic who loves the best. Devotion gives a man the power and the inclination to do and to dare. Such transcendental love is the ideal of every religion, but it is an ideal very difficult of attainment for an impersonal or unseen Being. The human soul hankers for something tangible, someone of flesh and blood to whom can be given this unstinted devotion. Shri Sai Baba proved this to be this ideal embodiment of God. The Sai Baba whom his devotees worship is not an ordinary human personality, for it is not possible to worship a human being who is in the same category as ourselves, but then again, he is not the transcendent God beyond human ken, since, as such, he could not have inspired so much love and warmth. The Sai Baba whom thousands of devotees worship is precisely the personified Guru --- the manifested Divine who in his infinite compassion assumes a human form to resuscitate religion.

CHAPTER 6 THE GLORY OF SHIRDI

It is possible even now, 53 years later, to recapture vividly the wonderful leelas of this master artist. The dynamics of his personality, the versatility of his accomplishments, the works and miracles he wrought from day to day, the peculiar mysticism attached to his birth and death and deeds can be composed into a story that reads like a romance yet unsurpassed in the annals of biographical literature.

A visit to Shirdi is an experience in itself. An insignificant village lying almost on the banks of the sacred Godavari river, Shirdi has nothing much to commend it in the way natural scenic beauty or civilized amenities, save for the profusion of sugar cane plants, from which it has derived its name. The name is, however, symbolically appropriate, for the mystic who chose this spot as his abode did indeed fill it with the aroma of his sweet and gracious presence. The exterior of the Ashram is unimposing too, but as soon as one enters the precincts of the holy shrine where the mortal remains of the seer lie interred, an unspeakable thrill of ecstasy passes through ones being, and there is almost an instant awareness of a living presence. This illusion -- or should we rather not term it a supreme truth -- that Sai Baba is alive and actually present in some part of the ashram is one which many a devotee has experienced. A strange expectancy hovers about the atmosphere, as if just there round the corner we would inadvertently come across the familiar and lovable figure. For the many descriptions of the Saint and the remarkable likenesses that the camera has reproduced of him in his many moods and poses, it is possible to create him anew! A tall loosely built physique, long and shapely limbs -- one can visualize him sitting in the masjid distributing Udi (ashes of the sacred fire that perpetually burnt before him) to all those who went to him. An arresting appearance, the olive complexion set off to advantage his handsome features. But the chief attraction lay in his deep eyes of a mystic half drunk with some secret nectar, and yet capable of reflecting the many changes in his moods. When his gaze fell upon a devotee the eyes seem to be probing into the devotees innermost recesses, and yet no one seemed to mind this for the expression in those eyes was one of habitual compassion. This was the mystic of Shirdi, as he is described by some of the veteran devotees who saw him, as his photographs and portraits reveal him to us.

So whether it is in the main hall of the Shrine, or in the Lendi Gardens where Baba meditated for 2 hours everyday, or in the Dwarka (Masjid) where he lived and assembled his durbar and where he manifested his loving protection over devotees far and near, the feeling of his dynamic presence and nearness persists, and there persists too an all-pervading peace despite the very voluble and frantic worship that is poured out by the pujaris and by the incessant chain of visitors who throng in the ashram from the early hours of the morning. In Shirdi there is not that atmosphere of dignified peace which one expects in ashrams; here there is a catholicity of worship untrammeled by any rules or restrictions where each man, woman and child just unburdens his or her heart in perfect spontaneity. The Masters compassionate sanction is there, Cast all your burdens on me, and I will bear them. In spite of all the din and noise, the place is instinct with holiness, and the peace which belongs to it is of another world, and it seeps into ones innermost self almost surreptitiously. It was the same when Baba was alive and resided in the ashram; It is the same now, three decades later -- a sudden discovery of the true silence within the heart amidst all the noise and liveliness without; a coming upon the quintessence of ones being -- this is an experience which many devotees gratefully share. It is as if the Master were saying again, as he was wont to say then, that true solitude springs from the wells of the Atma and comes as the result of an inward purification. Not only any external or physical isolation, but by the difficult process of making the mind quiet does mans consciousness open to the forces of Divine. As a matter of fact, Baba often decried the practice of renouncing the world and running away from it, for he feared that such an escape into isolation or solitude very often gave rise to a false sense of smugness in the sadhana. For, said Baba, so long as the six elemental passions of Kama, Krodh, Lobha, Moha, Mada and Matsar had not been sublimated, so long as the mind continued to chatter, so long would it be futile for the aspirant to seek solitude, for in the very act of alienating himself from the world he might miss a true perspective of his inner preparedness and progress. So Baba usually cautioned his devotees to be in the world and not of it.

This process of inward purification starts almost at the very instant in which contact with the Master is established. It is immaterial whether or not a person has actually had the sages darshan in the flesh. Baba has his own mysterious ways of selecting his disciples -- through a vision, through a dream, through a strange call like the fervid love whisper in the dusk, and a power like the pull of a master-mind -- and if by some rapport with his seen or unseen presence the contact is once assured, then the fate of the fortunate one is sealed. His destiny is thereafter in the custody of a Maha Yogi who makes it his business to pull the struggling soul out of the rut, and slowly but

surely to set his tired feet on the path of spiritual rejuvenation. This is a characteristic that is eminently peculiar to the Saint of Shirdi. Rarely, if ever, has there been among the worlds realized souls one who has so consistently gone out of his way to bring the straying sheep into his compassionate fold. Shri Sai Baba labours, more actively now after his death, for has he not promised that he would be active and vigorous from the tomb also -- for the struggling humanity which he loved so much; and with the doggedness all his own Sai Baba goes on badgering the recalcitrant novice until all barriers are broken and the Light of spiritual awareness is enkindled in the seekers heart. Shri Sai Baba is a master artist, for, like a true creative genius in any phase of art, he does not surrender his medium until he fashions from it a thing of exquisite beauty. And if the purpose of art is the revelation of the beautiful, then Baba is an artist par excellence, in that his creations belong to the external verities of existence and surpass the transient achievements of the ordinary artist however great he may be. Contact with such a master gives a powerful impetus of richness to the thoughts and lives of those who are spiritually awakened.

So it happens that all sorts of people are attracted to this master Yogi. The ignorant and the erudite, the meek and the well placed, the weak and the sinning, as well as the strong and the pure are drawn to him. People from all walks of life flock to Shirdi even today and find solace and fulfillment through this pilgrimage. And, what is more, all kinds of prayers are addressed to the master. Devotees pray to him for wealth, health, progeny and even to the recovery of lost possessions among other material benefits! And Shri Sai Baba who himself has attained the highest state of samadhi, known as Nirvikalpa Samadhi, does not disdain to hearken to the cries of the ordinary man to whom the eradication of worldly misfortune is more real than the conquest of some remote spiritual light. With a compassion that is all embracing and an acute understanding of the reality of human miseries and cravings, Baba invites his dependents even now to go to him for all their needs. We are reminded go the gracious Nazarene who centuries ago walked the earth healing the sick, casting out error and setting at liberty those that were bruised; and through the passage of centuries we hear again that intimate and powerful assurance Ask and it shall be given unto you! The saint of Shirdi too gives today the same blessed assurance to his ever increasing number of disciples, though he is not present in the flesh. No cravings is too insignificant, no problem of the human heart too trifling to be brushed aside. To this master Yogi even in his supreme state of consciousness all wants are real, for do they not partake of the hidden and merciful divine? It is not to be wondered at, therefore, that in answer to the remonstrations of a certain devotee who objected to people going to Baba for

temporal benefits, Baba should have given this characteristic reply -- Do not do that. My men first come to me on account of that only. They get their hearts desires fulfilled, and, comfortably placed in life, they follow me and progress further.

In the last line of the Charter quoted above, however, lies also the clue to the better understanding of Babas methods. It is true that the name of Shri Sai Baba has become famous throughout the length and breadth of the country for the countless blessings that he has poured on his devotees out of boundless love for them. But behind all this concession to the ordinary mortals lowly needs are hidden deep and far reaching effects. It is, as it were, Baba was launching on purpose a strategic campaign to win over his adversaries to his side. Once a man goes to Sai Baba, he keeps on going irrevocably until the surrender is complete, for, with each approach to the master, there is a corresponding process of purification in the seekers heart; at first it is barely perceptible, then it is conscious and deliberate. This is the secret behind Babas wonderful leelas, this is the purpose for which he encourages people to ask for the good things of life. No to acquiesce in the shortcomings of the earth-bound man, but on the contrary to draw him gradually away from the worlds maya is his ultimate purpose. Unlike most Yogis, therefore, Baba actively encourages the practice of going to him for material favours. Indeed he even chides those who refrain from doing this. His attitude is that of the Universal Mother whose business it is to tend and fulfill all the wants of her children. But Baba knows too that a time will soon come when the person himself will cease asking and will crave only for a Union with the beloved Guru. In his incarnate person Baba embodies the conception of divine motherhood.

It is because of this ideal that Baba called the masjid where he was wont to sit and preach by the name of DWARKA MAYI. Highly merciful is this DWARKA MAYI, he said, She is the mother of those who place their entire faith in her. This spot too in Shirdi has become a holy landmark. Perhaps it is the light of Shirdi that glimmers in its precincts waiting for its hour to reveal itself to those who can assimilate it that gives to this durbar an atmosphere of intense sanctity. This sanctity is not only acquired but somehow innate in the place itself. Baba often emphasized the importance of the DWARKA MAYI and spoke of its purity as if the hall were something apart from his usual spiritual kingship. But it is in this spot that the great Master lived and passed away, it is here that he preached his deathless gospel and performed his wonderful miracles. No wonder that the atmosphere has absorbed all the glory of those sixty years of peerless guruship when he inspired thousands to

rise up in their own strength and freedom, to conquer and to create. This durbar has remained intact, the same simple construction it was in the days of the Master, a priceless legacy from him to us who revere him. In the center of the hall where Baba used to sit, is built a small wooden throne-like seat on which there is a life-size portrait of the Guru done in oils by one Mr. Jaykar of Bombay. A brief reference to this beautiful picture of Sai Baba is unavoidable. Mr. Jaykar is not an artist of any great recognized international fame, but in this portrait of the Saint of Shirdi he has produced a masterpiece, not however in any strict academical sense, for it is quite possible that from a technical point of view the painting is full of flaws, and the art critic may find in it many short-comings of line and perspective and color tones, but, nevertheless, the painting is a masterpiece, for in it somehow the subject has come alive! The picture assumes almost a three dimensional reality, a vivid and insistent presentation of the Soul, not a mere thing of canvas and oils, but a creation that manifests the supramental touch. The eyes have the lustrous brightness and compassionate moisture which is seen only in life, and the smile curiously resembling the smile of Mona Lisa in Leonardo Da Vincis masterpiece is no less vivid. It is not a painted smile, was the outburst of a devotee, It is not static, but alive and real, a thing of flesh and blood. That could be said of the whole picture. It is not some static likeness of the Saint that has been reproduced on canvas, it is as if the Master had himself descended into the picture and made it alive and immortal! It is very interesting to record that the painting was done when Baba was actually present in Shirdi, and when the inspired artist showed his work to him, Baba hugged the portrait to his heart and is reported to have said, This picture will live after me. This prophecy has come true. In Dwarka Mayi, with this great portrait at one end, and the sacred fire which has not been extinguished sine well nigh a hundred years, at the other end, one can find anew the infinite splendors of Babas spiritual magnitude.

Shirdi has become immortal today, as Brindaban in the days of yore. And in the all-embracing panorama of historical truths, posterity will deem in an abode of the Divine.

CHAPTER 7 SHRI SAI BABAS LEELAS

How shall humanity arise and awake to that supreme vision of Truth which

alone gives a meaning and purpose to life and its leelas? This life as it is lived on the material and physical level is barren and unproductive until it finds its focus in the Eternal; then alone does it burst forth in a grand symphony, for its creative energies are loosened by this contact with the light that shines forth from beyond the darkness.

The assumption of imperfection by the perfect is one of the most extraordinary leelas of the Divine as He manifests himself in the universe. How the Divine reconciles and unites in itself all the variegated and even the opposite and opposing facets of its manifested being is a secret known to the Divine itself. We can only call it a leela, and accept it as we accept many other fundamentals of existence.

Among the many wonderful miracles of Shri Sai Baba -- and truly the amazing and supreme quality of these miracles has not yet been duplicated since the days of Christ -- the most profound and important miracle is that of his being and existence on earth. With the recognition of this fact we are inevitably led into a close analysis of the distinction between sainthood and avatarhood.

It is necessary to discriminate between these two concepts before we are able to declare that Sai Baba was not merely a saint but also an Avatar. Clearly, since the purpose of life is the liberation of oneself from the thralldom of the ego, in an infinity of release and freedom, the individual who achieves this ineffable state commands our homage and we rightly call him a saint. All realized beings -- and happily our world can boast of many such -are our saints, but not all saints, not all those sages who have attained selfrealization are necessarily Avatars. Avatarhood has a deeper significance.

Avatarhood is a concept peculiar to the Indian scriptures, grounded as it is on the vedantic concept of the Brahman, other than whom and different from whom there is not, nor can be anything else. So that whereas other religious have talked of God sending prophets or saints to redeem the world, the Hindu Shastras have gone beyond this in exclaiming that God himself comes sometimes to the earth to sport with his devotees. These special incarnations assumed by the Supreme Being in order to help on the processes of evolution are termed Avatars. As declared in the Bhagvadgita, The Lord manifests Himself as a human being and acts like a human being, in order to bestow His grace on the jivas, so that hearing of his sports they may attach themselves

to Him. A further elucidation of how, though the Divine is unborn and infinite in its own true nature, it can yet assume finite existence by supreme resort to the forces of his self Maya, is contained also in the following pregnant line of the Geeta: Standing upon my own nature, I am born by my self-maya. This, as hinted before, is the Divines most significant leela or miracle. The divine takes birth in human shape and form with all the limitations common to humanity, as one of us, so that he can fulfill his self-allotted mission within some particular self-allotted period of time. Whenever there is the fading of dharma and the uprising of evil, then the Divine loses forth Himself into birth. This is of course no ordinary birth into ignorance as we understand it, but the descent of the illuminated Light with all the semblance of ignorance and finiteness. But though the Divine does so limit itself, it does not at the same time get entangled in the inevitable mechanism of karmic laws known to ordinary human births. The very word avatar itself means a descent: A closing down of the Divine below the line which divided the divine from the human world or status.

Now the purpose of such a descent is two-fold. Not only does the Lord take birth in human form to uphold Dharma, but he further arranges that by impact with His presence on earth, man also becomes conscious of his divinity and seeks to ascend to the God-head above him. So that with every birth of the Avatar into the world, millions of people are born anew in the sense that they are made actively conscious of their divine potentialities. It is only an Incarnation of this type that declares about himself: I am the way and the truth and the life, and holding forth before man the example of his pure and blameless life on earth can inspire men to adopt and assimilate it.

Shri Sai Baba of Shirdi was no ordinary saint, but an Avatar even as Christ and Krishna and Buddha were. His sayings charters are replete with this assertion of himself as the supreme Godhead. This is proof enough with Vithoba, with Dattatreya, with Laxmi Narain, with Shri Krishna and many other such Avatars known to Hindu scriptures. Not only was this identification verbal, but it has been the experience of many devotees that Baba often took on the form and appearance of these several Avatars. In fact, to assume the very image and likeness of that particular Godhead for whom a devotee had veneration was Babas favourite method of effecting that devotees transformation. He often enough declared that he is in his visible human form and the supreme invisible Lord were one and the same and that he was another revelation of the same Divine Purushottama. I am in every bit of the globe. All the Universe is in me, he said. On one occasion when a devotee named Uddhava asked him from which Purana he should study, Baba replied

significantly, from that in which I have already spoken to you, and it transpired that he was referring to the Bhagvadgita. It is abundantly clear from all these declarations that Baba was no ordinary sage or prophet, but Divinity itself made manifest in order to mould the thoughts, feelings and actions of man according to his shinning example. For it is not given to ordinary realized beings, great souls though they are, to speak of themselves in this absolute vein, nor indeed have they ever been known to do so. These supreme declarations are the prerogatives only of those Divine Incarnation who are termed Avatars.

Shri Sai Babas divine Avatarhood is a certain conviction in the minds of each and everyone of his devotees. This conviction is based not only on the declarations of the master as cited before, but also on the wondrous quality of his deeds and doings. Not the least among these are the miracles of Sai Baba, the experiences of devotees in all walks of life, super-physical experiences that have astounded even the confirmed skeptics among men. Wonderful as these experiences are, it would be more profitable to view them calmly and in their proper perspective. For when these miracles of Sai Baba assume a sensational value in the minds of devotees they are apt to confuse these persons and make them forget the great perpetrator of the miracles in the unusual character of the miracles themselves. If the masters miracles become more important than the master himself, then surely they defeat their own purpose. These miracles, these experiences, should rather be evaluated as signs of the great Gurus Omnipotence. and as a sure proof of his divine descent. They should act as an incentive to a further understanding of his divine nature and message. Even so it is also equally true that to reject this phase of Babas manifestation is to limit oneself and to arrest ones spiritual growth. A gathering together of all these wonderful miracles of Sai in an integral understanding of the Master is the correct approach.

In view of this understanding it would be in the fitness of things to substitute the word miracles by the more comprehensive term -- leelas. This exquisite denomination at once gives to these uncommon experiences of Sai bhaktas the correct touch of dignity which places them far above the trivialities of a soothsayer or even above the lesser miracles of a prophet who is not an Avatar. The Divine leela is one of the most aesthetic aspects of the religious philosophy. It lies in the nature of the supreme Purushottama to reveal Himself in the way he does. His leelas are His manifestations, and since the Lord is all in all, there can be no miracles from the point of view of the eternal. Sai Baba, therefore, does not perform any miracles in this sense. He simply manifests his leelas in order to sport with his devotees.

Nevertheless, from our limited level of comprehension the marvelous experiences of many of Babas cherished devotees are miraculous enough. Quite a collection of these tokens of the great masters grace have been compiled in the excellent volumes of the revered Narasimha Swamiji, and in the authentic efforts of Hemadpant in his Sai Charita. All the same, it would not be amiss to mention here a few of these remarkable instances of Babas great powers. The story of how the master once lit his wicklamps by feeding them with water instead of oil is a very well-known testimony of many of his devotees who actually saw the miracle. Baba was in the habit of borrowing oil from the shopkeepers of the village for his little lamps which he kept burning the whole night, both in the masjid and the temple. Once these merchants who were wont to supply him oil gratis took it into their head to refuse this little service to the master. Quite unperturbed, the saint filled his lamp containers with water and lighted the wicks -- and lo, they started burning all throughout the silent watches of the night as if in defiance of the ungracious behaviour of the shopkeepers who later repented and became his disciples. Instances abound too of Babas control over the elements. Christ-like he could command the winds and the rain and the lightening to obey his behest. One evening there was a terrible and destructive storm at Shirdi, and the little village was flooded with incessant rain. The many local deities were sought to be appeased but in vain. At last the people flocked to the masjid and prayed to Baba to quell the storm. The great Yogi came out to the edge of the masjid and ordered the storm to cease. At once the winds and the rain and the lightning obeyed his sweet will and became still.

These wonderful miracles have not ceased to take place today though the master is not visibly present. The curative impact of his personality on the sick and ailing and even those suffering from so-called incurable and grave maladies are too well known and too amny to recount in this little volume. Under the aegis of our beloved Guru the lame have indeed walked, the blind have recoved their sight and the deaf their hearing, an in his infinite mercy he still goea about healing the sick and giving succour to those that are otherwise bruised and unhappy.

Babas ways are indeed inscrutable. Only those whom he wishes to accept as his own are able to reach him or go to Shirdi. In those days some visitors were summarily dismissed by the Master, others who had gone for a short visit out of mere curiosity were made to stay on until they became his devout followers.

It is interesting to record one more experince of a living devotee as an example of one of the most extrodinary leels of the Shirdi Saint. Dr. Rustomji, a homeopath who was once engaged in mediacal work in the homeopathic despensary in Shirdi, tells us of this wonderful miracle. It appears that the doctor was owing a sum of Rs. 300/- to a certain party in Bombay. The doctor came down to Bombay and made out a cheque for that amount and passed it on to his friend, telling him that he could cash it when he liked. On returning home, however, the doctor found much to his dismay that his pass-book showed that he had not that much balance in his account. The thought that his cheque might be dishounored, and what his friend would think about him in consequence upset the doctor very much. In this predicament, with his usual implicit faith in his Guru, Dr. Rustomji pleaded with Sai Baba to get him out of the impasse. His prayer was answered in a strange way. A couple days later a casual acquaintance called on the doctor and asked him if he would keep a small packet for him which he would come and claim after three months. Dr. Rustomji was surprised at this unusual request and the man what the packet contained. It contains the sum of Rs. 300/-, was the amazing reply! Do you mind if I use the money, asked the doctor promptly. The gentleman said he would not mind what the doctor did as long as the money was returned to him when he came to claim it after three months. One can imagine the doctors reaction! Surely this was Babas leela, he felt. He rushed to the bank with the amount and after ascertaining that hischeque had not yet been presented he paid in the amount into his account with a sigh of relief. His honour was saved. Three months passes by, but the man who had given him the money to keep did not turn up. Nor did the doctor know about his wherabouts. After six months Dr. Rustomji suddenly saw his benefactor walking down the road. The doctor at once went up to him and after greetings were exchanged said, Why did you not claim your money all these months? You can take it back now. But the man so addressed looked blank and said he had not given any money to the doctor. Thinking that the man was joking, the doctor tried to press the packet of notes into his hands. But the gentleman

I would like to add two from among the many remarkable miracles that I actually experienced as a token of Shri Sai Babas infinite love and protection. I somehow feel an urge to reveal these miracles here as a gesture of gratitude to my great guru.

Round about the year 1950, I started suffering from a peculiar ailment of the

throat, a severe irritation and congestion which prevented me from indulging in my cherished hobby of singing. As a sincere student of vocal Hindustani classical music, I was apprehensive and miserable. In about 10 minutes, my voice would become hoarse, and I would have to put down my tanpura with a feeling of frustration. I consulted many doctors, both allopathic and homeopathic, but no one was able to give me the slightest relief. After six months of unremitting torture, I went to Shirdi. As I stood before Sai Baba samadhi, my heart and eyes suddenly welled up with tears, and in an impassioned outburst I poured out my protest to my Guru. Having thus relived my pent-up feelings, I came out of the Samadhi Mandir and went over to visit a friend of mine who at that time stayed in the precincts of the sansthan. My friend and I discussed and talked about several topics of interest, and in her pleasant company I almost forgot my misery and my recent outburst at the Samadhi. At about 7.30 p.m. I took leave of my friend to go to the room that had been allotted to me. It was one of those old rooms, on the ground floor, just behind the Guru Sthan. I opened the lock and entered the room which was absolutely vacant and unfurnished except for my bag and bedding which lay still unopened in a corner of the room. Thinking that I would make myself comfortable, I started removing my sari from my left shoulder by unfastening the pin that held it up. As I removed the folds I heard something rustling in the sari; and a small packet about two inches long made up in a white paper fell from my sari to the ground. For a moment I was perplexed and looked around me, wondering what had happened. But the door and windows of the room were shut, and there was no one there but me. I picked up the little packet. It was neatly folded as if by a compounder or a chemist and as I carefully unfolded it I discovered to my amazement that it contained 6 or 7 tiny white tablets such as are commonly used in Homeopathy. When I realized the significance of this, I draped my sari again and rushed out to my friend with the tablets in hand. My friend was devoted to Baba and had had experiences of Babas leelas. She said, You understand, dont you, that this is Babas prasad. What are you going to do about it? I replied: I am going to take all these tablets right now, and I put these pellets in my mouth. Strangely enough, I did not then somehow connect this miracle with my urgent prayer for my throat. It was when I returned home and that all the congestion in my throat had entirely disappeared that I relaxed the magnitude of the miracle with which I had been blessed. The medicine, whatever it was, literally dropped like manna from heaven and healed me, perhaps, of some serious malady. My heart overflowed with gratitude.

A year or so later I experienced another incredible manifestation of Babas Grace. I was to go to Poona alone for some work. My husband could not come

even to see me off because he was busy attending a meeting. Anyway, he had reserved a seat for me in one of those cubicles in a corridor train in the Deccan Queen. There was still half an hours time for the train to start. As I sat in my seat near the window, sipping tea, I soon noticed that a well-dressed middle-aged gentleman was pacing up and down the platform of the V.T. Station. Every time this man passed my window he looked at me with interest. I must explain here that I suffer from a curious lapse of memory in recognizing faces. I may be introduced to a person and then meet him or her several years later, I cannot recall it. Due to this defect, I was often misunderstood which made me miserable and ultra-sensitive. Seeing this gentleman looking at me with interest, I now felt that this perhaps was another of those persons I had met and did not recognize. I, therefore, smiled and wished him, whereupon the gentleman came rushing up to me and with great familiarity enquired where I was going and whether I was alone, etc. This put me off my guard and thinking that he was indeed an acquaintance whom I had failed to remember, I readily agreed to his suggestion that he should join me in my compartment. The gentleman rushed in with his suitcase, just as the train was about to start and sat opposite me. But we had hardly gone a 100 yards when the stranger started showing himself in his true colors. From his speech and deportment I discovered to my horror that he was not a gentleman, and that I had placed myself in a nasty situation. Suddenly I found that he had bolted the door of our compartment! With courage, however, I got up and unlocked the door. I dared not go out into the corridor because I had with me my suit-case a rare sari costing more than a thousand rupees, belonging to someone else. In this predicament, I sat down again and concentrated with all my heart on my Master and prayed to him to rescue me from this precarious situation. No sooner had I uttered this prayer mentally, a unique miracle manifested itself! As I turned my eyes to the door, I saw a porter standing there, looking at me quizzically. How can a porter have appeared just at that identical moment in my compartment and this too in a running train which had not stopped at any station! Was he indeed a real porter or was he a projection of my Masters thought of protection for one who took refuge in him? Anyway I sprang up from my seat with alacrity, told the porter to remove my luggage and cleared out into the open corridor bogie. As I left the compartment I cast a glance at the miscreant and saw a look of utter disconcerted surprise on his face. As I occupied another seat, I tried to tip the porter, but looking at me with indulgence he refused to take the money. I took his hand and pressed a coin into it, whereat the Divine messenger quietly took it and went away. Now very strangely enough all this time I did not realize what a miracle I was experiencing. It was only a minute after the porter went away that I understood with a shock the significance of it all. I rushed up and down the whole corridor looking everywhere for my savior, but there was no sign of him. I got down at Poona thrilled and chastened.

Since both these miracles are extraordinary, I relate them in detail, without the slightest exaggeration. These miracles may seem incredible to skeptics, but it is not our concern to convince the non-believers. Faith is a gift, and it is only those who have the faith and vision who are able to achieve. Much of lifes secret beauty and fascination would be lost without the basic attitude of faith. To be responsive to the hidden powers and charm of mysticism is an enlightened approach. It confirms mans humble realization of his very restricted knowledge and thus lays him open to lovely glimpses of the Eternal. Faith, therefor, is a conquest, as it renews our vision and redirects our energies silently towards the enigma of creation.

These and many miracles occurred in my life in the early years of my attachment to my Guru. Every time I experienced a miracle, I was drawn closer to my Master in wonderment and gratitude. But a stage came when the miracles stopped completely and abruptly. Sai Baba had achieved his purpose. Through this very human medium he roused me from apathy and won me over to God, as it were, and when he knew that I was securely transformed and loved him for his own sake, then Baba stopped these spontaneous expressions of his infinite compassion. The miracle is not an end, it is the means for securing the sadhakas interest in his own ultimate purpose and destiny. Thus, God and Gurus fulfill themselves in strange and varied ways.

CHAPTER 8 HOW THE MASTER LIVED: DAKSHINA

Almost a century ago one Maha Purush in the form of a young boy of 20 appeared and settled in the unobtrusive little hamlet of Shirdi. Dressed in a long kufni and with a begging bowl as his sole possession, this young and handsome lad, appearing from nowhere as it were, came and sat beneath a neem tree. He soon lit a fire in front of him which he always kept burning. When he felt hungry he went off and begged for his crust of bread. To all intents and purposes he might have been just an ordinary fakir, a little touched in the head, so some people of the village imagined at first when they heard him mumbling to himself. But soon the glory of his atma began to attract mortals to him as bees are attracted to a hive. Somehow, to man is given by the Almightys grace a kind of super-sense which enables him to

recognize the greatness of the holy ones by mere contact with their presence. No doubt we have, and we will always have, in our midst the unbelievers, those men of little faith, the philistines who, due probably to their karma, are not prepared to receive the grace of sadgurus. But, on the whole, there are not many amongst us who are not strengthened by this contact with saints and who do not come to recognize in time the sweetness of a life of righteousness. Wherever a Maha Yogi chooses to install himself, around him there grows an atmosphere of sanctity, and thousands of pilgrims are ready to take refuge in him, in his dharma and in the glorious satsang which he keeps open in his infinite mercy to the rich and poor, to the great and humble alike.

So it was with this great Yogi too. He had no pretensions., he assumed no title. He called himself a fakir and accepted the simple name Sai. He sat under the neem tree and later in the adjoining mosque for 60 long years and around these spots there grew imperceptibly the Ashram as it stands today. Gradually the fame of the enigmatic one began to spread. No one seemed to know who he was or where he had come from. Some spoke of his compassionate bearing, others raved about his healing touch and some related stories of his remarkable all-knowingness. If he went to beg for food, he was like no ordinary beggar. One day he astounded a lady who refused him charity by gently rebuking her thus: Mother you have such and such number of Chapatis, so much rice(Naming the exact quantity), why do you refuse a crust to the poor fakir?

Slowly but surely the influence of this strange avatar spread far and wide. Those who came to visit him out of curiosity remained forever in the bliss of the Masters presence.

Till the day of his passing Sai Baba retained his simple and ascetic habits. Though in a very short while money began to flow into his coffers, and he could have lived like a prince, he still chose to beg for his food., and every morning the sweet and lovable figure would be seen going out with the begging bowl to four or five neighboring houses from where he collected his ration of food. Much later he relaxed this severe discipline and would partake of the naiveda i.e. food given as offering by any of the visiting devotees. But this he did more as a concession to the feelings of those who loved and worshipped him. Nor did the Master ever change his mode of dress. A long loose robe reaching to the ankles and piece of cloth tied around his head completed his attire. He did not posses a wardrobe, and it was useless to give

him any clothes for he immediately gave them away! The kufni remained on his body until it was torn and tattered or until some devotee forcibly took it off him and made him don another. Even so the great one would sometimes sit with a needle and thread repairing the torn garment with incorrigible obstinacy! But it is these habits that caused him to be loved so intimately. Veteran devotees still recount with tears in their eyes some of these very human and humble traits of the Master. He did indeed descend from his heavenly abode to be as one of us, and, what is more, to be akin to the poorest among men so that he might with greater understanding and assurance relieve their sorrows and wants. Though he could have lived in a magnificent palace if he so chose, with all the comforts at his command, he showed a vairagya for material things by living in a hut with few or no wants, and at one time with a rickety plank for a bedstead.

It was characteristic of the Master, that though he lived in such austerities, he neither preached nor allowed his devotees to practice any sort of physical mortification. Indeed he was against austerity for the sake of austerity. He never forbade anyone from eating flesh or other palatable food. He sometimes even forced his orthodox devotees to eat onions against their will; and on occasions he is reported to have cooked meat and distributed to all and sundry. This the Master did because he sensed the danger of men forgetting the spirit of the dhrama in the mere letter of its formal rituals. No amount of physical and external vairagya would serve any purpose if the man who practiced it remained impure in mind and heart. Therefore, Baba cautioned his devotees not to make self-mortification an end in itself. Austerities are a means only to inward purification, and if they do not promote this effect, they are not only useless and unprofitable but even dangerous, he preached.

Baba did not deem it am evil to satisfy the natural wants of the body, and if devotees undertook a penance fast, Baba always pointed out the uselessness of their endeavors until these erroneous ideals of self-affliction which chilled their hearts melted away under the gentle warmth of the Masters persuasion. How can any one be free from self by leading a wretched life, if he does not succeed in quenching the fires of lust and greed?

In Babas ashram, therefore, there was no dearth of good and plenty of food. He himself sometimes indulged in cooking. A huge vessel was placed on the fire in which Baba poured ghee and then all manner of vegetables and rice and spices were thrown in and cooked in a mighty hotch-potch! Out of this

magnificent repast Baba himself served out the food to all those who were in the ashram; and it is said that no matter how many people came forward to eat there was enough food to go round.

As a matter of fact, the atmosphere in the ashram used to be delightfully informal and happy, and, as pointed out elsewhere, did not in the least resemble the puritanical atmosphere of a monastery.

The great Guru was always approachable. Men, women and children could go to him and at any time without fear of being rebuffed. Most of the time Baba sat in the masjid ministering unto his people. Whenever an opportunity offered itself he gave discourse on moral and philosophical issues and brought home to the assembly the futility of lives absorbed in material pursuits. The rest of the time he busied himself in solving the problems of the ordinary householder, healing the sick and restoring hope and comfort to the afflicted. People came to him for all their wants and sorrows. They had but to ask, and it seemed to be the Maters business to give to all those who asked, provided in his wise estimation they did not ask amiss.

Sometimes, however, the compassionate one wistfully waited for the people tp ask for the real treasures of the spirit. No one cares to listen to me or the wisdom I can give, he sorrowfully complained. And if in the assembly there were a few who showed a thirst for eternal values, Baba felt radiantly happy and sought in every way to guide such seekers to the right source. The Masters knowledge of the Shastras, the Puranas, the Quoran, the Gita and other scriptures was phenomenal. He could quote verse and line, to show where a particular truth was embodied, much to the amazement of the Pandits and scholars who went to him, and his interpretations and elucidations of the difficult passages were extremely revealing and inspiring. Such was Babas durbar. There was never a dull moment in the Sages presence. On the contrary, Baba always made the proceedings lively and interesting by his wit and charm, and due to his extremely cordial and freindly demeanour, no one stood inawe of the great Saint. People both loved and revered him. He was generally very sweet tempered and tolerant, and he allowed people to take all manner of with his person, in that they adorned him with flowers or sandal paste and vermilion and performed all kinds of rites and pujas on him. He submitted to all this, with the true meekness which only the great ones possess. But there were times when Baba got into towering rage and raved and shouted like one possessed. This show of temper would last for a few moments, and then Baba would again melt into

tenderness. Devotees sometimes were at a loss to understand such manifestations of wrath. It must be explained here that the anger which realized beings exibit is not of the same quality that ordinary men indulge in. When saints get angry they do so for the good of those who are so chided. The Guru only appears to be wrathful, but there is no scar in his heart which is always full of love for his children. Every morning for a couple of hours Baba retired to the Lendi Gardens where he remained alone and undisturbed. At that time too his aspect was forbidding and stern. Indeed, he looked so very awesome and terrific in those hours that devotees could not go anywhere near him. It seemed as if he assumed at times the third and most awe-inspiring aspect of the trimurtic conception of the Divine. As Shiva the Destroyer and Preserver did the Maha-Yogi manifest himself. But soon after his return from the gardens the Master would relax again and become his sweet and gentle self. His ways were indeed sometimes mysterious!

Before we close this chapter giving these few glimpses of the habits and temperaments of the beloved Master, it is necessary to give an explanation of the strange practice of giving and taking of dakshina which was a practice peculiar only to Shri Sai Baba of Shirdi. There were certain devotees from whom Sai Baba always extracted money, and the huge amount of wealth he collected in this way, it was his practice to distribute among other devotees. His allotments were peculiar too. People used to get fixed allowances every day ranging from Rs. 4 to Rs. 100. This was not some crude form of socialism which Baba sought to put into practice, for he did not invariably collect money from the rich to distribute to the poor. There seemed to be a deeper purpose behind this strange giving and taking of dakshinawhich is difficult to understand from our level of consiousness. The ways of the Almighty are not all the time comprehensible, but nevertheless they have their own mysterious function in the entire pattern. Once when Baba was asked why he took so much money, he replied: I do not ask everyone. I ask only from those whom the fakir (God) points out. But in exchange I have to give that man ten times the amount which I have taken from him. And this proved to be true in every case. Whenever Baba took away either money or valuable articles from anyone, that man was not impoverished. On the contrary, in some mysterious way he got back what he had paid ten times over in the shape of a sudden fortune or gift or through a rise in his salary. Baba often demanded dakshina from a person who could ill afford it, but thought to be a greater privilege to be asked for dakshina might also have been a powerful means of promoting vairagya for wealth and worldly possessions. Probably Baba sometimes felt that attachment to money was the only weakness that delayed the spiritual growth of certain devotees, and this was his way of curing that weakness. In the same way, if Baba found that a person had

collected money which he did not merit, he took this exact amount away on the pretext of demanding dakshina. Likewise did he denude that man of the amount which in some moment he had promised to give away in charity if his wishes were fulfilled, but conveniently forgot to do so now that he was prosperous. The trouble was that nothing was hidden from this Maha Yogi. No matter how deeply embedded even in the subconscious a devotees thoughts and desires were, Baba always knew! Dakshina had, therefore, both a literal and a symbolic meaning and value. Every morning Baba started his day as a penniless fakir. As the day advanced he would amass a fortune which even princes would have envied; then again, before eventide, his treasury was once again empty! This too was one of the leelas of the Saint of Shirdi.

These are some interesting glimpses of the habits and temperaments of the beloved Guru. We can understand from these significant details of his life that in all that he did and said Baba clearly revealed his transcendental origin. When the Divine descends into the earth consciousness He has no need to learn or acquire knowledge. Knowledge and wisdom are immanent in him, for, is He not that from which all knowledge, all wisdom emanate? Is He not the fountain source from which spring all beauty and goodness? Why need we go to any other source but this! But the Divine is also all merciful, and so that the priceless gems of wisdom may be grasped and assimilated by mortal men, He chooses thus to embody Himself in a shape and form which men can worship and cherish and understand more readily than an abstract ideal of the Godhead. This is why to millions of Sai bhaktas the Master is the resurrection and the life, and that is why Baba often said, Those who come to me reach their Chaitanya, their God. Simply say Sai-Sai, he declared, I care not for show of respect and forms.

CHAPTER 9 WHAT THE MASTER TAUGHT

Again and again during his eventful pilgrimage on earth, the Master exhorted his devotees to spend all their time, energy and thought in knowing the self. Steady and disciplined inherence in the self was what he always advocated. After all, the most fundamental thought in the mind of every individual is the thought of I and Me. Therefore, it is only through a concentrated selfenquiry that one can arrive at the Truth -- thus taught the Master. That is why he repeatedly said, Who am I, think, always think about this. We have only

to see the self, he said once to a devotee, and the rest becomes revealed.

It used to be the custom in those days in Shirdi for devotees to go to Baba, on particular occasions, each with a religious book in his hand, in order to invoke the Sages blessing on that particular work which the devotee found inspiring. On one such occasion a certain devotee went empty handed. Instead of rebuking him, as was expected by those present, Baba on the contrary turned to this devotee with a radiant smile and told him that he was wise, for it was not by reading pages and pages from the Shastras that a man could assimilate wisdom. True wisdom lay in ones own atma. Even in order to understand what meditation is, one must first and foremost understand the meditator. If man is mass of contradictions and conflicts internally, how can he assimilate anything from the outside! The impression of a confused and unintegrated person would necessarily be confused and unreliable. This was one example of the Masters teaching.

Such preoccupation with the self leads one in time to realize that the self is identical with God. Baba felt that by constantly regarding oneself as God, the importance that one unconsciously gives to the changing and mutable qualities of the Jiva would be given up. Mans attention would then be focused on that which is changeless. According to Sai Guru this process of identifying oneself with the supreme Being can be greatly strengthened by contact with saints.

When people quarreled and fought, Babas favorite method of chiding them was asking them a counter question, Who is quarreling with whom, he asked, Just think of that. What the Master wished to emphasize was that if we see God in every place and in everyone, then we would have no scope left for hatred and dissension. Therefore, let none hate and let none forget that I, you and all the world are parts of the Lord, said Baba.

But the blessed master did not merely stop at giving this injunction. He showed ways and means whereby this could be put into practice. It was all very well to advise men to conduct an enquiry into the true nature of the Self. How was an ordinary mortal to set about this difficult task of knowing himself? After all, it was not given to every one to be introspective, nor was it possible for the majority of the human beings to grapple with abstractions. Baba knew that what people needed was practical guidance and help. It

would not be of much use to preach about metaphysical subtleties if the common man cannot assimilate it. Babas practice was to elaborate his injunction by constant references to practical modes of approach.

The best way of giving effect to this process of knowing oneself was, according to Sai Baba, through a complete surrender to God. Ideas of what God is varies widely. Those who believe in a personal deities embodied in the form of a Guru, for instance, can get a tremendous push forward in the evolution of their spiritual growth. Surely, to be able to call upon a power like this which is the master of all material conditions is to have that pearl of great price, for which we may well work, watch and pray.

It seems then that the Sage of Shirdi did favor the path of bhakti for attaining salvation. Once when comparing gnan and bhakti, the Master likened the former to Ramphal and the latter to Sitaphal. The pulp of ramphal is difficult to comb out, but the sitaphal is sweet and its pulp is easily accessible. If the gnani falls, there is a danger of his remaining in that state, since he may not be able to help himself, but the bhakta always has the compassionate succour of his master to support and reinstate him. Perhaps Sai Baba felt that the crying urgency of this Kali Yuga was bhakti. The first and most fundamental requisite is of course a strong desire for moksha, a hunger and thirst for the Divine which no material conditions can ever assuage. Wealth, kith and kin are all transient. So long as the material attachments occupy a vital part of mans thoughts he cannot go far. Equipped with this burning desire for a union with the Lord, if a devotee has complete faith in His mercy and surrenders all to His wisdom, then his task becomes less arduous and his ultimate success is assured. Not only this, but bhakti even when practiced not too thoroughly is nevertheless a powerful weapon of purification, in that it gradually leads the bhakta to greater and greater concentration of worship; that is to say, if one may so express it, even a casual bhakta is transformed into an ardent one sooner or later. Only a beginning has to be made, the rest is taken care of. How reassuring this thought is. We cannot take the wrong path if we keep conscious of the Light. Baba, therefore gave great importance to all those practices that aid concentration in the Divine. He greatly favored the use of Japam i.e. repetition of the Guru-gods name either audibly, or mentally. Such repetition, Baba said, may seem mechanical at first, but it slowly draws the mind into the vortex of a one-pointed concentration. From a practical aspect its aim is to cultivate emotional and mental stability, and thus prepare the soil for the realization of Brahman.

It is important at this stage to make clear distinction between the kind of bhakti that Sai Baba enjoined on his followers, and the undisciplined emotionalism that sometimes goes by the name of bhakti. Baba gave bhakti the highest place in any sadhana, but he wanted that this emotion should also be purified. The emotion must not be allowed to degenerate into mere sentimentalism which has not the same poise and balance of disciplined bhakti. True Bhakti can be easily distinguished from mere hysterical emotionalism. For in the latter there is ultimately a feeling of incompleteness and exhaustion. This lower type of bhakti is a kind of deluded extension of self-love. It has its roots in the ego, that is why it is impatient of returns. But the bhakti that Baba enjoined is bhakti plus yoga -- bhakti that is discipline. In the giving of such devotion there is a feeling of completeness and fulfillment and a total conserving of ones energies, so that the true bhakta never has a sense of frustration, nor is he ever exhausted.

There is no doubt that Shri Sai Baba was the apostle of love and that his predictions lay more in the direction of the bhakti way to salvation. Not once, but several times did he emphasize the great value he attached to devotion and surrender. I am the bond slave of my devotees. I love devotion. If one ever dwells on me in his mind and will not even taste food before offering it to me, I become his slave -- so also if he hungers and thirsts after me and treats all else as unimportant. Such was the illuminating language in which the sage gave predominance to the function of love. Shri Sai Babas followers, therefore, have so to elevate their understanding as will enable them to realize the living beauty of love, its divine energies, its health-giving properties, its power to demonstrate immortality.

The Master revealed himself to be the true and sensitive psychologists, in that he always recognized that the need and the desire to adore is inherent in man. Bhakti is the natural state of the human heart; one does not have to acquire it or be initiated into it. It is there, and to ignore it is to ignore one of the most vital traits of human nature. Like any other innate gift, however, bhakti has to be developed and chiseled into the right shape before it can yield any creative results, before it can effect an opening for the Divine to enter.

Baba did not in any sense belittle the supreme value of knowledge. At the same time, he did not make it incumbent upon every sadhaka to grasp the subtitles of fundamental truths with the intellect. It is enough if a devotee earnestly aspired in the silence of his heart to become one with the Lord. To

such a one is given infinite protection and guidance, and ultimately the bhakta necessarily becomes a gnani too. Knowledge comes of itself through an instrument that is far more potent than the mind. Bhakti brings in its wake knowledge that is both spontaneous and effortless.

Those seekers who have a purely intellectual bias sometimes wonder why Shri Sai Baba tolerated and even fostered external forms of worship. But Baba deliberately encouraged rituals and ceremonials and held them to be the outflowing expressions of the inner devotion. Symbols are the very source and support of life. Man thinks in terms of symbols. Why then should there not be symbols in the adoration which man seeks to express for the Divine?

Besides, majority of human beings do need physical and concrete outlets for their emotions. They cannot realize anything except through visible and tangible symbols. The symbol of the crucifix and the attendant ceremonials commemorating the life and events of the Christ are powerful assets of the Christian faith. They have a dynamic appeal for a mans imagination, and as such they play no small part in keeping the religion alive and potent; so do many of the colorful religious rituals of the Hindus. Certainly the danger of rituals and ceremonials being misused and even abused has to be reckoned with; but for all that one cannot deny them their value, nor can one deny that they have a significant place in the religious impulse of man. So long as these expressions of worship were an index to the inward spiritual aspiration, Baba treated these with respect and allowed the devotee to pursue unhampered all the outward forms of worship which were dear to his heart. But whenever the sage found that these pujas and ceremonies were just subterfuges used in order to conceal false pretensions of piety, or when Baba felt that they were just empty customs practiced through sheer force of habit, then he either ruthlessly destroyed them or discouraged them.

The sadhana of devotion prescribed by Shri Sai Baba has a warm appeal for all those whose aesthetic sensibilities are predominantly developed. The sensitive and the artistically inclined are lured by the prospect of a union with the Divine which combines in it so much ecstasy and fulfillment. The way is not cold and austere, but replete with the intimate fullness of loving and being loved. The perfect Master of Shirdi is also the perfect artist, and beckons to those who are temperamentally colorful, warm and vigorous, and sweet-scented with loves distillations.

The Masters message is the message of love raised to its actual perfection, and since love is not a mere abstraction, it is natural that the soul of the bhakta should turn to some living embodiment of the Divine. That is why in the sadhana of Shri Sai Babas choice the Guru becomes the supreme reality. To a living, palpable image of God alone can the love-smitten disciple pour out his devotion in all the fullness and warmth of his ardour; and the beloved can be sought by any and all of us. We are now in a position to realize why Sai Baba laid such overwhelming emphasis on the dependence of the sadhaka on the Guru by whose grace and contact the seeker can advance very rapidly. Therefore, to the man or woman who puts his or her hand in the hand of the omnipresent God-guru like Sai Baba the outlook can never be dreary.

CHAPTER 10 GURU-BHAKTA RELATIONSHIP

Since Shri Sai Baba gave tremendous importance to the adoption of the Guru in ones spiritual Sadhana, it would be relevant to devote a chapter in discussing the importance of a Guru and his intimate bond with the bhakta. With an innate compassion Shri Sai Baba often declared -- I am your savior, not only from the weight of sin, but from the weight of care and misery. Guru is all the Gods, said the Saint of Shirdi, thus putting into a nutshell his trend of thought. Moreover, the Baba declared reassuringly that though as the all pervading Guru he would naturally expect complete surrender, obedience and loyalty, he promised that through his supreme powers he would extend complete protection to those who put their implicit faith in him. The security and vastness of such a protection is indeed a tempting bait.

Bharats ancient seers also gave considerable importance to the concept of Guru. The Vedas, which incidentally are the oldest of all Shastras. are often called Shrutis. because the Vedas are supposed to have been Revelations given by the Vedic Rishis. The authority of these scriptures is undisputed. According to these ancient vedic seers, the concept of the Guru is like the fundamental axiom for any spiritual path. It may be that some seekers do not consider it necessary to have a personalized Guru or a transcendent Guru. They feel that the self in ones own Being acts as the immanent Guru. Nevertheless, whether transcendent or immanent, the Guru

is the supreme reality in all our endeavors for seeking absolute salvation.

Since, however, we have given great importance to Bhakti Yoga in which the transcendent Guru is the pivot of progress, it would not be amiss to describe the Guru-Bhakti relationship according to the traditional demands.

The Guru is necessarily the perfect spiritual preceptor, but the disciple too must fulfill his obligations by cultivating in himself a true spirit of dedication to the Guru. The entire matrix upon which the relationship is founded is the familiar idea of reciprocity. The gracious act of giving by the Guru would lose much of its benefits, if the acceptance of such gifts was not equally gracious and spontaneous.

The human soul, even though initiated in the spiritual path, cannot love an abstract power; and it is for this reason that the scriptures advise us not to venerate those who lead us to God and to love their physical presence as the Divine manifesting itself in human form. The Gurus physical body is just a receptacle of the mighty Divine, and as such worthy of the utmost devotion and reverence. The central principle is that the Almighty and his medium of manifestation are identical. The art of being the perfect disciple is in itself an arduous sadhana in India. The spiritual impulse is certainly latent in every man, but it needs great inspiration to bring it to the surface, and that inspiration can come only through inspired contacts with the great Seers and Saints who have taken birth among men to conscientiously fulfill this sacred purpose. Theoretical knowledge derived from books can never achieve what the Gurus compassionate guidance can do.

It is said that an intense hunger for God in a sadhak inevitably summons a supreme force that responds from above -- and lo! The genuine Guru tenderly manifests himself to help and guide him (the sadhak). The sadhas task then is to lay himself exclusively open to the Gurus power, protection and love. Once this divinely ordained contact is established, the relationship between the Master and the disciple becomes a thing of beauty, where each completes the other to bring about a rare and lyrical fusion. It must be remembered that the Guru too has his needs and longings, because once the link is established, once the Guru admits a sadhak into his heart, the Guru actually craves to sustain the link for life, if not for eternity. Such indeed is the Gurus infinite compassion. On the other hand, the indulgence that

seasoned sadhaks shower on their sadgurus is no less moving. If the sadhak succeeds, achieve or gain in any field, they attribute it to the Gurus Grace: If they fail and falter, they accept it as just retribution for their own shortcomings. Such self-effacing dedication, however, is also a gift bestowed by the Divine Himself!

But, initially, the Guru is cautious and slow in bestowing his Grace. He stands aloof, and displays a certain sensitive diffidence to enter into the Bhaktas heart.............Yes, indeed the Guru is shy -- he respects the bhaktas privacy and hesitates to enter his heart as an uninvited guest! But, once the Guru is sure of the bhaktas surrender, the Guru with great love and labor guides his disciple in his efforts, and does not leave the bhakta till he too is able to experience the utter wonderment of the cosmic Realization.

The Gurus mission is two-fold -- the first and the more important is to help the aspirant to achieve a total surrender to himself as Gods true representative. Knowing full well that the human mind cannot be awakened without an alter of dedication, the Guru projects himself as an ideal. For, to constantly contemplate on some Divine embodiment establishes a divine channel of reflection which automatically leads to meditation. Thus to awaken, elevate and transform are the Gurus sacred mission. But the second purpose of the Guru is paradoxically to help the sadhak to transcend this state of complete dependence which he (the Guru) himself in partnership with the sadhak took such pains to foster. For, the final spurt of Realization is exclusively the bhaktas job, and the Guru withdraws his tangible hold on the one who is now ready to go beyond all that is personal and individual to a universal realization of Truth.

The concept of the Guru is a very ancient one in Bharat, for, it dates back to the ancient Puranic age. Possibly, the doctrine of Brahma manifesting as Iswara who is a sadguna aspect of God attributes predicated of Him, gave rise in time of a belief in the possibility of God Incarnate. In fact, it was this faith in the visitations of God as persons incarnate that was considered a great contribution of the Puranic period. This belief in Incarnations was further strengthened by actual appearances from time to time on this holy soil of ours of spiritual Giants endowed with extraordinary qualities. Through a great faith in Incarnations and the traditional respect accorded to all teachers of spiritual knowledge was created a happy fusion of ideals that had created the concept of the Guru. The Gurus, in India initiate their chosen bhaktas in many different traditional methods -- they are (1) by Look (2) by

Touch (3) by Speech --or all them combined. Very often the Guru bestows a holy and a secret Mantra which generates a tremendous help in the sadhaks spiritual evolution; for the Mantra is bestowed as the outcome of a penetrating scrutiny of the recipients vital psychic needs. An attempt to analyze this exquisite relationship can never be complete or satisfying, for, it is replete with inexhaustible possibilities. Almost every Guru enriches its lyrical composition with some delicate nuances, some subtle touches from perennial beauty of his own Impersonality.

Thus, an ancient Bharat gifted to mankind through its mighty seers an incredible depth of scholarship which is as profound as it is beautiful and which has not been duplicated in any other civilization or culture.

In the writers humble opinion, Bharatvasis themselves today need to go back to this ancient Cradle of Knowledge and Wisdom in order to rejuvenate their values.

CHAPTER 11 SAI BABA SPEAKS: HIS CHARTER AND SAYINGS

The sayings of a Sat Purush are self-validating. There is no need to explain them; no is it necessary to comment on or interpret these few intimate charters of the great Master. They have come down to us as the priceless heritage of spiritual wisdom, happily preserved by his devoted and loyal disciples. We owe a debt of gratitude to these bhaktas for giving us these cherished maxims in their original form, particularly to the great Shri Narasimha Swamiji and Shri Annasaheb Dabolkar from whose works these maxims have been culled and reproduced.

Shri Sai Baba did not give any sermons, nor did he write any spiritual thesis, though his scholarship was profound and he could surpass the knowledge of the many pandits and moulanas who often came to him for elucidation of the texts. The source of Sai Babas mastery over the scriptures of all religions was as unfathomable as his entire personality was enigmatic. No one knew

how this incredible avatar was able to amass so much knowledge and that too in all its immaculate details! Sai Baba had settled in Shirdi at the tender age of 20, and after that no one saw him studying or reading a single book. In him was manifested the innate genius who had fathomed the profundities of that luminous Reality, knowing which everything else becomes self-revealed. Just as Baba was Guru Incarnate, he was also Knowledge Incarnate. Sai Baba, however, preferred to transmit knowledge and teachings through the spoken word in the age-long tradition of Bharat. Not only spiritual masters but venerated teachers of classical nritya and sangeet preferred this method of transmitting knowledge in the ancient past and many of them do so now. Like the rishis of old, Sai Baba also believed in a close and intimate association of the teacher and the taught. Each sadhakas spiritual and material problems were peculiar only to him; therefore, Baba preferred a very individual transmission of Grace and instruction to his flock of disciples. He neither gave any formal talks nor wrote any books.

Shri Sai Babas conversation and sayings were not delivered with the purpose of dazzling a handfull of intellectuals with technical discussions of philosophy; his aim was to rouse the moral insight of the average seeker. Often employing analogies and similies drawn from experiences that are common to all men and women, the Master was able to carry conviction and inspiration to those who came to him. Using simple stories and clothing great truths in simple parables like Jesus Christ, Baba was able to create a pyramid of perceptions in the listener.

Somehow, when a Satpurush speaks, subtle forces are at work, and the words of these great Masters acquire a strange power, which perhaps is not inherent in the words themselves. Even the familiar stock-in-trade of ethical admonishments and moral reflections assume a compelling power which again is not inherent in them, for, the same words issuing out of the mouths of ordinary men would sound common place and platitudinous. Hundreds of disciples, however, would listen to Babas words in rapt wonderment which soon changed to conviction. This is because one knows that the truths uttered by realized persons have been actually experienced by them; their words consequently carry authority and conviction. One Mr. Francis Brabazon in an introduction to one of Avatar Meher Babas brochures very succinctly confirms this in the following sentence: The words of (Ordinary) men are like candles which burn out leaving both the speaker and his audience in darkness; but the message of the Divine Incarnatiom, both at the time of utterance and for posterity, is a sun which never sets and is always available if one will but pull up the blind of prejudice and partake of its light.

Some of Sai Babas sayings reveal the hunger in his heart for true and selfless adoration. The Masters yearning for the love, freindship and understanding of the bhaktas who belonged to him with a touching and lovely fact of his relationship with his disciples.

As a matter of fact, Sai Baba often hinted that he had not come to teach but to awaken. He sought to bring about this awakening through the impact of his love. Through the centuries men had read volumes of philosophy, but so long as there is no integration between thought and practice, sadhakas do not grow in spiritual Grace. Sai Baba, therefore, simplified his teachings so that the bhaktas may get down to the sheer practice of spiritual sadhanas. As the Master repeatedly told his followers, all great work for God is done first in the individual soul of the worker.

The Saint of Shirdi was one of the most compassionate of the avatars. He accepted all the self-imposed limitations, restrictions and sufferings that the ordinary human body is heir to, so that he may inspire men by the example of his magnificent life. He descended from that eternal abode of peace to embroil himself in the affairs of men. This was his supreme act of redemption for humanity which he loved so tenderly. The living thoughts of a saint who has taken samadhi have constantly to be restated, reinterpreted and reassessed, and, thus to use Platos lovely words, restored to youth and beauty.

SAI BABAS CHARTERS

Dwarka Mayi:

1. This is not just a mosque. It is Dwarka (Mercy). Those who seek refuge here will never be harmed. 2. As soon as one climbs the steps of the mosque, sufferings due to karma are at an end and joy begins.

3. When one enters the Dwarka Mayi, his goal is achieved. Sai Babas assurances:

1. My eye is ever on those who love me. 2. Whatever you do, wherever you may be, ever bear this in mind that I am always aware of everything you do. 3. If one meditates on me, repeats my name and sings about my deeds -- he is transformed and his karma is destroyed. I stay by his side always. 4. If one perpetually thinks of me, and makes me his sole refuge, I become his debtor and will give my head to save him. 5. I am the bond slave of my devotees. I love devotion. He who withdraws his heart from the world and loves me is my true lover and he merges in ME like a river in the sea. 6. If you make me the sole object of your thoughts and aims you will gain Paramathama. 7. Look at me and I will look to you. 8. Trust in the guru fully. This is the only sadhana. Guru is all the Gods. 9. Repeat my name. Seek refuge in me. But to know who I am, practice sravana and manana. 10. I shall be active and vigorous even from my tomb. Even after my mahasamadhi, I shall be with you the moment you think of me. The declarations of Divinity:

I am God. I am Mahalaxmi. I speak the truth sitting as I do in the mosque. I am Vithoba. I am Ganapathy. All offerings made to Ganapathy have reached me. I am Dattatreya. I am Laxmi Narayan. Why go to Ganga elsewhere. Hold your palm at my feet -- here flows Ganga. I am Maruti. True Being:

1. I am the attributeless absolute Nirguna. I have no name and no residence. 2. I embroiled myself in karma and got this body. Brahman is my father and

Maya is my mother. I am formless and in everything. I fill all space and am omnipresent. I am in water, in dry places, in crowd and solitary wilderness. I am in the fire and in ether. 3. I am the Progenitor of God. Meditate on me as pure Anand Nirakara, but if you cannot do this, then meditate on this Sai Body exactly as you see it. 4. I am not the body or the senses. I am the eternal Sakshi (Witness). His wistful longing.

My Master told me to give bounteously to all that ask. No one asks with wisdom. My treasury is open. No one brings carts to take away the real treasures. I say: dig and search, but no one wants to take any pains. Be the true sons of the Divine Mother and fully stock yourself. What is to become of us. This body will return to earth and the air we breath will melt into air. This opportunity will not return.

CHAPTER 12 THE PASSING OF SAI BABA

The 15th of October of the year 1918 was a sorrowful and fateful day for the little village of Shirdi. On Tuesday the 15th of October at about 2.30 in the heavy hours of the noon the beloved Master suddenly breathed his last. His self-allotted labour of love was perhaps deemed by him in his inscrutable wisdom to have been finished. The all-too-brief span of sixty glorious years, the period that he had set himself for his Messiahship, came to an abrupt end, as the blessed one gave up his body on that eventful afternoon. Quietly and unobtrusively, without any fuss or complaint, Sai Baba released his breath and let his head fall gently on the shoulders of a near disciple. The last words that he uttered were that he should be taken to an adjoining wada as he did not feel well in the masjid. But hardly were these words out of his mouth when the Saint of Shirdi passed away. The news of his death spread like wild fire in the village of Shirdi, and soon the ashram was filled with men, women and children who had been suddenly plunged into the throes of an agonizing grief. All the magic light seemed to have died out -- that erst-while had given to those thousands of seekers so much courage and hope. In a moment all the chambers of the ashram seemed emptied of delight, and a strange desolation of spirit filled each heart.

But the great Avatar of love and compassion did not forsake his suffering people even in the hour of his so-called death. The outflow of peace that radiated from his body soothed the mourners. The older devotees of the Saint -- those who are still alive -- tell us of the sudden calmness and beauty that seemed to descent on the atmosphere. For, the devotees who had gathered there now remembered how Baba had always sought to give them the true perspective of death. Like worn-out garments the body is cast away by God, and what is made of earth returns to the earth; why should, therefore, any one bemoan death or exult over a birth? True wisdom, true feeling lies in being unaffected both these events which are eternal processes in the cycle of creation. So-called death and life, said Baba, are manifestations of Gods activity; you cannot separate the two. But when a preserving selfsearch at last reveals to man who he really is, when man really learns to know, not merely because someone else tells hi, but with that knowledge that comes of direct experience -- then man ceases to identify himself with the body, and is unaffected by the death of the physical form which is not the reality of his being. The real man is deathless and eternal. However, the flesh is weak, and to grieve for the physical loss of a dear one is common to the race, and Sai Baba who was ever compassionately mindful of the frailties of human beings, did not in the moment of his mahasamadhi arrest his tender indulgence of mans natural sorrow. On the very next day after his death Baba, appeared to one of his devotees in a dream-vision, saying, Jog thinks I am dead, I am alive. Go and perform my morning arati. Soon, other devotees also began to get unmistakable signs of the Masters deathless presence until almost each disciple was able to claim with conviction -- The Master is come again, he cannot die.

In the meantime, the physical body of the beloved Guru lay in quiet splendor. There was a dispute about how and where to dispose of the Sages mortal remains, but I the overwhelming serenity that enveloped the atmosphere, all disputes and controversy were incredibly smoothed out, without any untoward loss of temper. Hindu and Muslim devotees alike unanimously decided to inter the body of the Saint in the center of the wada. The body had lain intact for 36 hours, and it is significant that though so many hours had elapsed, the body had lost none of its living lusture and radiance. Indeed the rigor mortis so common in death had not at all set in, and the flesh had so far retained its elasticity, that the kufni of the beloved Master could be removed easily, and comfortably as from a living and supple body. The physical form of the gracious Guru was laid to rest in the central hall with all due formalities and obsequies, but his eternal spirit rose from the tomb to proclaim to his followers again and again the indisputable evidence of his resurrection and life. The master had often promised that his tomb would speak and move

with those who made him their refuge, that even after his mahasamadhi, he would appear the moment a devotee called upon him with implicit faith and love; and happily even today, though 53 years have passed away, these promises are abundantly fulfilled. The Master manifests himself in different ways to different devotees. His voice is not hushed. Nor is his physical presence lost to his devotees. Testimonials come pouring in from all quarters of the tangible reappearance of Sai Baba. In many cases the Master gives darshan in actual flesh and blood, not only to those who had been his close disciples during his life time, but also to many others who had not even seen him or heard of him. This deliberate choosing of fresh disciples and devotees by vouchsafing to them some kind of mystical experience is very characteristic of the Saint of Shirdi.

Through such visitations the great Yogi is gradually widening the scope of his influence and hold. It is as it were the Avatar of Shirdi still feels that a humanized symbol of Godhead, the mediating aspect of the Supreme is the support that reassures. To make the vast spiritual joy intimate, living, visible and possible to man is the Masters mission. One is reminded here of Arjunas plaintive cry when he saw Lord Krishna manifested in his supreme universal character. Blinded by this terrible vision, Arjuna cried out, I would see thee even as before crowned and with thy mace and discus. Assume Thy fourarmed shape, oh thousand-armed, O Form Universal. And when the Mahatama resumed once more the desired form of Grace and love and sweetness, Arjuna was consoled. Sai Baba is like Shri Krishna in this merciful aspect of a friendly deity, who both inspires and delights.

It is a pleasing sadhana that Sai Baba outlines for the eager aspirant -- the longing for a guru, the complete surrender to that guru when he is eventually found, and then striving through the guru to achieve a feeling of unity with all creatures. This sadhana of attaining unity with all creatures was advocated because in all life there is oneness with the cosmic God-head whom the guru represents. Absolute love for God and His creation is the way to a spiritual transcendence of the troublesome ego which is at the root of all evil. And this contains in essence all those ethical principles which make human relationship a pleasant adventure, rather than an intrusion of bitterness and strife. Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself -- if he does not say so in so many words, it is the same commandment that Baba gives precedence to above all other rules of conduct. When man truly loves his fellow-man, he loves me, Baba said, and when one dislikes or fears or hates ones fellowmen, such a person entertains actually the same feeling towards me, for all men are one in principle since they are bits of me. So, though Baba

was often indulgent to the other frailties of human nature, though he even condoned moral lapses of character, he was most miserable and unhappy when he found people bickering and quarreling. We are told that a spasm of deep pain would shoot across his face whenever he heard of strifes and disagreements, and that he would use all his loving influence to nip them in the bud. He even disallowed heated debates and discussions of metaphysical problems, for he thought them futile and disruptive of ones inner harmony.

Perhaps it could be said that Sai Babas teachings and precepts develop true individualism, even rugged individualism, for is not salvation individual? But this individualism thrives only if it is matched with a spirit of true democracy and co-operation. Real freedom of life and action is possible only in and through a proper guard of ones neighbour. The absence of this sensitive solicitude for others leaves the door open for conflicts and friction. How can any man hope to progress deeply if his personality brings about this kind of disturbing reaction? Sai Baba is all for love which alone can bring about that unimaginable transformation in man.

This is but a brief resume of what has been outlined already in the preceding chapters. Writing of the life and leelas of this supreme guru has been an extraordinary experience. The author is conscious of a curious pang of regret as the end of this little book looms in sight. It is as it were a separation from the Guru himself to cease writing about him. When the Sage of Shirdi passed away on the 15th of October in 1918, the light was dimmed -- but only for a brief second, for re-birth and resurrection ever keep pace and outlive the forces of death and destruction. Sai Baba is more alive today to his bhaktas than he was years ago when he lived in Shirdi.

CHAPTER 13 SHRI UPASANI BABA

Shri Upasani Baba has a distinctive place in the galaxy of holy men who have blessed our country. Not only was he a saint with vision, but he had the unique ability and amazing practical drive which enabled him to give concrete shape to his spiritual ideals.

The vision implies a progressive building up of the kingdom of God on earth. This kingdom is a slow and gradual growth and its consummation is sometimes beyond the limits of a fixed era. The noble ideals of this great sage found their peak of fulfillment much later, when the institution he planned and conceived and ultimately created started functioning with almost an eerie conformity to his dreams. The sculptor alone is able to visualize the possibility of a Venus De Milo or a Shri Krishna or any other image of Beauty in the inert block of marble before him. Similarly, the spiritual sculptor was able to foresee great potentialities in the women of Bharat. Holding this idea as his core of inspiration, Shri Upasani Baba evolved which was called the Kanya Kumari Sthan.

The Kanya Kumari Sthan is the unique contribution of Shri Upasani Baba. It is a great experiment in harnessing the female Shakti and has given a new dimension to Bharats spiritual endeavors. The sage had the intuition to recognize the innate chastity of the woman. His great plan was to select virgin girls at a tender age and to train them rigorously to achieve the unfettered state of spiritual enlightenment. Before these young novelties were initiated into the sacred order of Kanyahood, they were given a comprehensive training in Sanskrit and in memorizing and reciting the Vedas and other ancient Scriptures; moreover, the kanyas were also expected to imbibe the traditional spiritual philosophies of this ancient civilization which is Bharat.

Believing that spirituality aims at the integration of mans whole being and a radical change into a higher level of consciousness where the aspirant becomes the perfect medium of both bliss and beauty, the Master carved out an arduous program by which the young girls would remain absorbed in the contemplation of the Divine throughout their waking hours. The emphasis was on the traditional path par excellence of the Kali Yuga. Gradually, the Sthan achieved the triumphant revival of the old Vedic atmosphere when women took a leading part in the spiritual regeneration of the country. This daring and courageous departure from the old orthodox customs of debarring women from religious rites and spiritual adventures brought down a storm of criticism and vile abuse on the reformer. Shri Upasani was persecuted endlessly and mispresented, but with unflinching courage and the spiritual power which is innate in him, Shri Baba was able to overcome all ignorant and bigotted opposition. Moreover, the dedication and purity of the Kanyas and their impeccable achievements could not assert themselves, impressing both the priest and the laity alike. Today, sequestered in the quite little village of Sakori (a village in Ahmednagar district) the Kanya Kumari Sthan

stand as a proud monument of spiritual inspiration, a mighty creation of a mighty sage who dared to dream dreams, no mortal ever dreamt before.

Shri Upasani Babas Ashram has a threefold nucleus of inspiration: it has restored the women to her right pedestal; it has brought about a powerful renaissance of the traditional path of Bhakti, and last but not the least, it has served to create the enduring Guru-Parampara. In all the Kanyas, one sees the potential Divine evolving very fast, so that in time each one will become herself an infinite source of strength and inspiration. It is gratifying to know that the Sthan will never be without a spiritual realized successor.

But the credit of upholding Shri Upasani Babas ideals in all their immaculate purity and strength goes to his radiant successor -- Sati Godavari Mataji. Not only has the holy Mother maintained her Gurus creation, but she has vivified it with lovely touches that emanate from her own transcendental stature!

The Kanya Kumari Sthan has today about 35 to 40 Kanyas working efficiently under Mothers inspired guidance and tutelage.

Though the pre-occupation of this holy order is with the Kanyas and their spiritual evolution, both the Gurus show great concern for other bhaktas too. Men and women con go to be purified gradually so that they turn to God through the path of Devotion. Godavari Mataji always asserts that a spiritual career can be established by the householder too, for , the sancity of the home is embedded in our very culture.

Shri Upasani Babas life reads like an incredible romance. Born in Satna in 1870, in a family renowned for its spiritual culture, Shri Upasani, then known a Kasinath, gave early evidence of his supreme destiny. Even as a child he showed an unusual hunger for God and would often lose himself in meditation of the true self. His love for God was so painfully intense that it made him restless. He ignored his formal studies -- indeed he had no need for it, for like many other saints, he was Wisdom Incarnate. Upasani Baba developed a wanderlust, not to enliven his senses, but because he had an irresistible urge to find God.

In the period that he stayed at home, Baba studied Aurvedic medicine exhaustively, and his mastery over this science enabled him to minister to the sick and the ailing. But in 1890, during one of his wanderings, there came a crisis in Shri Upasani Babas life, because it was then that the realization of his exalted state came to him. Seeking sheer isolation, Baba lowered himself into a small nook in a precipice at Bhorgad, and as soon as he sat there a strange peace enveloped him, completely absorbing him in deep samadhi, and in this blissful state he remained immersed for a full year without moving or satisfying the natural wants of the body. The sage then experienced an ascetic union with the Creator.

The next great crisis followed in 1910 when his separation from God became so intolerable that Upasani Baba renounced all worldly considerations and repaired to a forest where he plunged into deep meditation. This time his samadhi was so profound that no thought of any kind, not even a spiritual one disturbed his consciousness. But when he emerged from this state, Baba found to his dismay that he could not breath. This respiratory trouble, however, ultimately proved to be a blessing, for, it led him to seek the help of Sai Baba, thus restoring to his Gurus feet.

By this time Upasani Baba had attained the highest perfection, but he was not yet conscious of his supreme divinity. This is an alluring facet of the Avatars appearance that when he incarnates in human form, he brings upon himself a veil. When the moment is ripe the veil is removed from the Avatars consciousness and from that moment the Avatar consciously starts his role as the Avatar. This is Meher Babas brilliant elucidation of the Avatars transition from unconscious to conscious divinity.

The perfect Master, though established in God, was still pinning for his perfect disciple. When Godavari Mataji came to him, drawn thither by her inevitable destiny, Shri Upasani Baba knew that he had reached his culmination. In the year 1941, the great master gave up his body, but only after he was assured that what he had dreamt of and worked and striven for could now be safely entrusted to his successor. For, Baba knew that under Mothers dynamic guidance, the Kanyas as well as the other bhaktas would be able to utilize the supreme opportunity afforded by human birth to realize the majesty, the power and the beauty of God.

Unlike his Guru Sai Baba and his successor Sati Godavari Mataji, Shri Upasani Baba was a dynamic preacher. Like Swami Vivekananda, he acted as a channel for spreading the Gospel of his Guru.Shri Sai Baba brought about a powerful renaissance of the path of Devotion, but the sage of Sakori gave the whole movement a definite orientation. Bhakti is not just ignorant sentimentalism; it is a rich emotion of the human heart, and it has to be moulded and developed into a disciplined sadhana. Shri Upasani Baba was essentially a scholar, and he probed deep into the ancient wisdom of Bharat to find out the comprehensive significence of bhakti established by the rishis of ancient Bharat. His profound studies or perhaps his innate wisdom soon led him to recogonize the importance of the word-symbol -- the intense and latent energies of sound vibrations. Occult sciences have reaveled to us that words are the most powerful agents of the mind, and in this discovery these sciences have but confirmed the wisdom which ancient India preached centuries ago.

The greatness of Shri Upasani Baba lies in the way he restored this neglected reservoir of wisdom. Bhakti can become a great power, and can create enlightenment through the medium of Recitation -- the recitation of th ancient Vedas, Shastras, and Mantras. The utterance of Gods name may sound simple, but it is a highly evolved technique which has to be learnt and mastered through years of tapasya and scholarship. Recitations must be executed with precision and purity. Shri Upasani Babas name has acquired immortality because of his insight into this branch of knowledge. Shri Upasani was not contented with his own scholarship; he set about training almost ruthlessly those who were going to be the heirs to this great tradition. His sthan became an academy, a seat of learning and culture. The Kanyas developed into scholars under his initiative and guidance of their eminent Master.

The Master began to disseminate knowledge through his spontaneous sermons. The sermons that he delivered were prolific. He preached abou the relative and absolute aspects of Reality and of the innumerable conflicts and problems of man at all stages and levels of human existence. But Shri Upasani Baba was pre-eminently an Avatar of love and compassion; he was not just an intellectual philosopher. His primary concern, like that of his Master, was to awaken the masses and the intelligentsia from their moral and spiritual apathy. He, therefore, used a pragmatic approach which could appeal to sadhakas. He simplified his sermons, and in the process enriched them by introducing effective similes drawn from the daily chores of life, so that listeners could understand and be induced to practice what he preached.

Shri Upasani Babas sermons are priceless gifts which he has lft behind for his bhaktas.His sermons are read and expounded in the Sthan every day by the Kanyas.

Shri Upasani Baba was a rigid discipliranian. He was exacting, uncompromisingly strict and almost harsh to all faults of omission and laziness. He really believed in the truth of the well known proverb Spare the rod and spoil the child. But these were surface-traits of his personality; deep within, Baba was full of love and his heart was overflowing with the tenderness and solicitude of a mother. Those who came in intimate contact with Baba sensed Babas essential traits of love and, therefore, they adored him despite his rough exterior. Shri Upasani Babas passion for austerities led him to impose fantastic restraints on his disciples, particularly on the Kanyas. He somehow hated any display of the elegant and the beautiful, either in attire or in modes of living -- and yet the temple that he erected as a symbol for the Kanyas is a structure of intense and exquisite beauty, almost touching in its tender lines and hues. The image of the Kanyas installed in the temple as a symbolic idol is also resplendent and beautiful. Such strange anomalies of character and personality make our sages and saints even more irresistable! Moreover, when the great one began to relize that his successor Godavari Mataji was not one bit inclined to preserve his austere way of life, he uttered no protest. He meekly accepted the inevitable, the complete transition to gracious and comfortable living which Mataji was subtly bringing into being. A little ruefully, but with a child-like helplessness, Baba said, It is no use, this Mother will sweep away all my old-fashioned and orthodox restrictions with her indulgence! Such simplicity and humility are hallmarks of true greatness, and they only srved to make the Master more lovable and loved. Besides, Baba was secure in his conviction that the changes would be only in the superficial ways of life. He knew that his exalted mission would not be sacrificed, but on the contrary it would be heightened by the holy Mother.

CHAPTER 14 SATI GODAVARI MATAJI A SHORT APPRECIATION

In 1941 Sati Godavari Mataji assumed the mantle of her Guru Shri Upasani

Baba Maharaj with the strength, simplicity and dignity of a realized being. When she ascended the Gadi of spiritual eminence, Mataji was only 26 years old. In the freshness of youth, Mataji had a rare and ethereal beauty of face and form. Today, though she looks deceptively frail and simple, there is a quiet radiance and strength, the strength and radiance of immaculate purity stored up in her. The life eternal flows through her spirit, mind and body, cleansing healing and restoring all those look up to her as the manifestation of Shakti. Soft spoken and gentle, with nothing spectacular about her personality and preaching, Mataji nevertheless encloses in her frail form a dynamic fulfillment of God as Mother.

Tantric philosophy gives great importance to the Shakti aspect of the creator. This aspect is represented in Bharat in the forms of Durga, Chandi, Tara, Kali, Bhuvneshwari and Jagatdhari. According to this branch of philosophy, Shakti represents the manifested aspect of the Divine, where God, is looked upon as personified Divine Mother. To this school of thought we owe the evolution and development of the whole concept of Shakti wherein God asserts himself more powerfully as a female presence. It is maintained that God can become infinitely more lovable, approachable and intimate if He chooses to manifest as Mother. Even at the ordinary human level the mother is looked upon as the embodiment of perfect love. There is scarcely a person who has not, to a greater or lesser degree, experienced the peerless purity of a mothers heart and the sacrifices she alone is capable of making for her children. There is almost an instinctive and universal turning to the mothers love as providing a solace for all suffering. Consequently, when the Divine manifests as Mother, that being becomes ever more powerful and irresistible. When Godavari Mataji was born on 24th December 1914, another para-shakti was created in this land. It is no wonder that in his last years Shri Upasani Baba should have told many bhaktas who were about to prostrate themselves before him: Do not bow to me, worship her, for she is the supreme Shakti and her very darshan will wash away the sins and impurities of men and women. This was indeed a magnificent tribute of the Guru to one who recognized as his supreme successor.

Godavari Mataji was born on the 24th of December 1914 at the virginal hour just 23 - 1/2 minutes after sunrise, when night meets the day in the unspeakable serenity of dawn. Her parents, like the parents of many Avatars were pious and God-fearing. Godavaris mother Ramabai had an extraordinary vision which gave clear indication of her daughters exalted destiny. One night, while Ramabai was sleeping between her two infant daughters, she suddenly saw a white and unearthly glow fill the whole room

with its dazzling radiance. Out of this strange luminosity a lovely apparition appeared, dressed in pure white. his ethereal form came up to them and caressed both the girls and then bending down whispered something in the child Godavaris ears. Ramabai woke up with a strange elation and conviction that this was not just a dream, but an actual vision. She felt that the radiant visitation was no less than a Goddess who had come down to bless her elder daughter.

This early and portentous sign heralding an unusual destiny was further strengthened by Godavaris extraordinary qualities, even as a child. Preoccupied and sensitive, mother took delight in creating for herself with her childs imagination images of Gods from pieces of stones, and then showed a premature inclination to be absorbed in worship and adoration of these symbols of her creation. Moreover, she had a magic touch, and the food that she touched seemed to grow in abundance. Indeed her touch would unlock, as it were, the Divine storehouse of unlimited resources. The child Godavaris prodigious memory was another of her assets. She had an amazingly retentive memory which enabled her to recite any poem or passage that was read out to her only once. Another notable feature of Matajis early childhood was her instinctive attraction to all holy men, and the reciprocal affection and interest she immediately provoked in the hearts of great Yogis and Mahatmas who probably recognized in this young child great dimensions of spiritual realization. In fact one of these great ones even went so far as to tell her parents: This daughter of yours is not an ordinary soul. One day she will meet a great Yogi through whom she will realize her exalted status and lead hundreds of souls to their goals. Indeed the prophecy has been abundantly fulfilled. The full moon day in February 1924 was the starting point, for, it was on that day that Godavari Mataji went to Sakori at the tender age of ten. She was taken there as a visitor, but she recognized in the holy soil of the Sthan her own spiritual abode, and stayed their for the rest of her life as a devotee and disciple, and later as the presiding Mother of the Kanya Kumari Sthan.

The moment of meeting between Shri Upasani Baba and the child Godavari was filled with ecstasy for both of them. The Master recognized his completion in her who stood before him, looking at him with her childs gaze of acceptance, and she even at that age, from some ineluctable stillness of her mature self, knew that she confronted her Guru, the one who would be the medium for releasing the imprisoned splendor of her true identity.

Godavari Matajis unique out pouring of devotion to her Guru, and the many

incredible hardship she suffered with great fortitude and humility in the service of the Master are inspiring examples of what a true sadhana means. As a matter of fact, she suffered calculable hardships and persecution due to the petty jealousies of some women at the Ashram. These women resented Babas exalted opinion of this young disciple, and because they could not transcend their own lower natures, they resented mothers innate purity, and did their best to break it by pouring on her all the scorn and contumely they could viciously devise. But Mother towered over all these difficulties. Her sensitive spirit knew that it was only through the conquest of such fierce ordeals that she could ascend to the heights which her Guru expected and demanded of her.

Not that the mother needed a sadhana to find herself; she was born in liberation, and her birth and apparent efforts were just a leela of her manifested divinity to serve as an example and inspiration to others. Her early life is a moving saga of surrender and devotion which cannot fail to inspire those who seek salvation through the path of Para Bhakti. But, once when asked by a devotee when exactly she had obtained that bliss which is inseparable from self-realization, Godavari Mataji blurted out in a declaration of unguarded spontaneity: When! there never was a moment when I did not have it!

Today, Godavari Mataji is perhaps the greatest living apostle of the path of Devotion. She advocates the practice of God-adoration in any way suitable to the temperament and caliber of the aspirant. Japa Siddhi, according to Mother, has been given to us as a special and easy method of attainment in this difficult Yuga. Mother lays great stress on the powers of the Mantra Shastra, and she usually initiates deserving sadhakas by giving them appropriate Names or Mantras. Those who have been blessed with such initiation by Mataji, know the powerful impact of these mantras on their inner lives and perceptions. Herself the personification of purity, the Mother lays great stress on the gradual cleansing of ones thoughts, motives and actions. She gives tremendous push to those who seek her Grace for spiritual progress, but at the same time she enjoins on the sadhakas the necessity of persistent effort. Gurus Grace does not operate until it is drawn down by the persistent hunger and effort. Mataji says: The highest state man can aspire to is that of God, and to attain it, he has to exert himself. By self-effort man becomes God. Effort can make even God descend on earth, or those of the earth attain heaven.

Though nurtured in almost monastic traditions of ascetic living, Mataji has had the courage and the vision to reject all formal manifestations of austerities. She has ushered in an era of gracious living, where tyag, according to her, is to be practiced to control ones inner life, thoughts and desires.

To look well-groomed and attractive, and to live with beauty, without getting attached in moha, is Godavari Matajis way of life. Not for her the arid philosophy of frugal living. The Divine Beloved is the king of Kings, avows Mother, so why go to him in mortification, in ugliness and woe! Thus Godavari Mataji has met the challenges of progress by re-affirming old intuitions in new ventures, in the comprehensive outlook of religion tempered with love. Broad-minded and progressive, indulgent to the minor frailties of her bhaktas, Mataji can none-the-less be exacting in the demands she makes on her disciples. Her demands are almost always for the bhaktas genuine love, faith and loyalty to the chosen Ishta. The rest will be taken care of is Matajis assurance. This adoration of God in his supreme personality gets for the bhakta, not only the knowledge of the nirguna aspect of the Divine, but also brings him the bliss and ecstasy of a union with the personal aspect of God as Ishwara.

Herself a true votary of Beauty, both in its visual and subtler creations, Mother favours ritualism. She strongly advises against a scornful attitude of these humbler methods of worship. On the contrary, Mother encourages the performance of poojas, and maintains that to worship and adorn idols with flowers, jewels and sandal paste is an outlet of mans primitive aesthetical impulse.

The Kanya Kumari Sthan has sometimes been the target of an unenlightened criticism. It is said that the Ashram and its inmates do nothing in way of social service. But each Avatar has his or her own unique way of spreading the Light. Godavari Mataji feels that the most pressing need of this Yuga is to fashion self-realized Souls. The purpose of saints like Godavari Mataji, Shri Upasani Baba and Shri Sai Baba is two-fold Not only do they uphold dharma, but they make men and women conscious of their own latent Divinity and help them to find it.

Sati Godavari Mataji is a living Incarnation. In a secluded corner of India, in

the remote village of Sakori, Mataji is pre-occupied with the Herculean task of creating and maintaining such conditions as may usher in the birth of a greater India.

We offer our humble homage and tribute to this splendid parampara of radiant Gurus -- Shri Sai Baba, Shri Upasani Baba and Godavari Mataji. In their vigorous Bhakti cult there is also a touch of mysticism which lifts their teachings to the stature of a redeeming Gospel.

CHAPTER 15 A PERSONAL REACTION THE CHARISMA OF SHRI SATYA SAI BABA

In the year 1971, when the first edition of Shri Sai Baba, the Saint of Shirdi was published by Somaiya Publications Pvt. Ltd., the writer was not even aware of the manifestation of this Maha Yogi known as Shri Satya Sai Baba. For this reason Shri Satya Sai Babas name was not included in the chapter entitled The successors of Sai Baba in part II of my book. But, subsequently, the writer had the privilege of meeting Satya Sai Baba quite frequently, and each meeting was an experience and a revelation! Truly the leelas of the Divine are inscrutable! For, now that I have been commissioned to prepare this fourth and revised edition of the Saint of Shirdi, I feel that it is a God given opportunity to include in the second part of my book a chapter on Shri Satya Sai Baba as also one of the illustrious successors of the Saint of Shirdi -- at whose lotus feet I have found my refuge and shelter. Since this chapter comprises a very intimate portrayal of my personal reactions to and my experiences of Shri Satya Sai Babas Grace, I have taken the liberty of discarding the conventional phrase the writer. substituting in its place the personal pronoun I whenever I have felt the necessity to express my emotional reaction more effectively to the charisma of Shri Satya Sai Babas unusual outpouring of Grace on this humble writer. Destinys deep contrasts are but the Leelas draping the unanimity of the one Divine!

At the outset, I would like to say that I have no intention of getting involved in the controversy whether Shri Satya Sai Baba is or is not an Incarnation of the Shirdi Baba. In any case, the writer feels that at out level of consciousness

such speculations are presumptuous -- and therefore futile. It is sufficient to recognize Shri Satya Sai Baba as one of Bharats Maha Yogis.

It is only when one actually sees the Baba that one realizes that his pictures which appear in the papers do not do him justice. For, the main attraction of the Yogi is in his eyes which are not only magnetic, but are also brimful of love and compassion. His bizarre miracles of producing Uddhi from empty space and the materialization of all kinds of silver and gold images and rings from his mouth give one a queer feeling of apparent showmanship which is not attractive....but one soon learns to accept these powers as an unusual method of the saint to lure people to him by giving them what they want so that later they may learn to crave for the jewels of the Spirit. Each Yogi has his own peculiar modus operandi, and who are we to judge whether they are right or wrong? For, as soon as we come in contact with this incredible Master, we realize that his ultimate mission is not to give material satisfaction to his flock, but rather to lead them gradually to appreciate the glittering virtues of the spirit.

The social services that this Avatar organizes for the benefit of the humanity are many. Hospitals, Schools and Colleges are built and commissioned to help the cause of education and to give relief to the sick and the ailing. Perhaps, no other saint has involved himself in such practical solutions of the countrys welfare. There is no dearth of volunteers who dedicate their services to the institutions started by the Baba who infuses the spirit of service and dedicated work to his followers. We are reminded of Swami Vivekananda who said years ago that Work is Worship. Baba has not much respect for the Yogi who spends his time enjoying his own individual Bliss, showing supreme indifference to the sufferings of the others. This life says Baba is preface to the epic of the supreme which requires the practice of an internal Yoga. It is no wonder, therefore, that Shri Satya Sai Baba is recognized by even the highest Government officials and enjoys a popularity which has no parallel among the godmen of Bharat.

But despite this preoccupation with the vaster issues of life, Shri Satya Sai Baba, like Sai Baba of Shirdi, gives an amazing outpouring of love and understanding of the problems of men an women individually. His heart is full of compassion for the woes and miseries of the ordinary householder. Satya Sais miracles for the upliftment of those who are oppressed with the diseases of the body and the agony of the mind are well known to those who go to him with Faith.

It is on this note that I should like to conclude this brief chapter after relating the two personal tokens for one who does not merit such favours.

(1) Round about the year 1978 Shri P.K. Savant, who was then one of the ministers of the Maharashtra Government, met me at a public function and said to me -- Mrs. Sahukar, I have read and appreciated your book, Sai Baba, the Saint of Shirdi, but how is it that you refrain from prostrating at the feet of his Incarnation, Shri Satya Sai Baba? I was taken aback, as I replied -Mr. Savant, I do not know much about Shri Satya Sai Baba, but even so I would not hesitate to pay my homage to one whom I recognize as one of our spiritual Masters. Due, however, to my physical ailments, I am unable to go into big crowds, so I keep away. However, Mr. Savant graciously invited me and my husband to a small gathering in his house where Shri Baba was to come. We went to this function gladly. When we reached Mr. Savants house, we were told that Baba had gone upstairs for a brief respite. The staircase was guarded by volunteers. I pleaded with one of these volunteers to let us go up as we were special guests of Shri Savant, but the man was rude and refused to comply. I started getting sore, and rebuked this man, and while this unseemly row was going on, Shri Sai Baba himself came down the stairs, much to my embarrassment. I wished then that the ground would open and swallow me up! But the Beloved Master only looked at me with a gleam of loving amusement in his eyes. he had a garland of flowers in his hand which he put around my neck. This gracious gesture took my breath away, and I prostrated myself at his holy feet.

(2) The second Miracle of Grace took place in White Field, Babas Ashram in Bangalore. Just a day before we were due to leave for Bombay, we learnt that Baba was arriving from Puttaparthy. Very naturally, my husband and I went there for the holy saints darshan. About three to four hundred bhaktas were already seated in neat rows. I joined the women who told me that Baba would emerge from a cottage we could see in the background. Then Baba would walk through certain rows and leaving other rows alone, all according to his sweet will. Soon, we saw the frail Swamiji walking towards us. My heart was pounding like a machine. Would he walk through the aisle where I was? He approached us and them swerved away from us. He then went to a small dais at the end of the compound and sat on the chair. It was all over. The lucky ones who were blessed with Uddhi were chirping, and the unfortunate one (I among them) felt desolate. But, since I felt completely forsaken, from the depth of my being I prayed to my Master the Saint of Shirdi. Beloved

Sai, I silently begged, Do not let him ignore me like this. Somehow make Satya Sai Baba come to me. Then a great miracle manifested itself. Shri Satya Sai Baba in response to my silent cry, suddenly got up and came down the dais and made a bee-line for me. He came close to me and lightly touched my forehead and then walked away to the cottage. There were two or three more of such extraordinary miracles which swept me off my feet. But despite all these supreme tokens of his Grace and love for me, I have never felt a desire to go to puttaparthy. Perhaps for me the image and form in which I have been worshipping Sai Baba through the years -- the beloved old man with white beard and hair sitting cross-legged is like an indelible image in my heart and no other image can replace it. It may also be an unconscious yet deep feeling within me that if Satya Sai Baba is indeed my beloved Gurus Incarnation, then my staunch dedication, love and devotion to this supreme being would automatically reach any manifestation who is an Incarnation of Shri Sai Baba, the Saint of Shirdi.

I end this chapter in all humility, leaving stone by stone the pattern to the Designer.

EPILOGUE Reaffirmation -- Rsum

Writing about the Glory of ancient Bharat, both as a dominant world and a unique contribution to the spiritual culture of the world has been an extraordinary experience. The writer is conscious of a pang of regret as the end of the looms in sight. It is, as it were, an awakening from a dream, a wonderful dream in which the writer got involved with the wisdom, beauty and inspiration of higher values, in the contemplation of Truth and Beauty as a way of life found in ancient Bharat. The transition to the modern ways of life with its tensions and frustrations is hardly pleasant.

What the writer is trying to establish in her thesis is that it is in the domain of the Spiritual that Bharat has scored over all other countries and cultures of the world. Indias exalted physics, the daring discoveries of philosophical concepts, like the Doctrine of Karma and Reincarnation, the concept of Purusha, Prakriti, the recognition of the Avatar, the detailed working out of the spiritual paths whereby the sadhak can attain unity with the Divine,

the establishment of shrutis and shastras which prevailed in the Vedas, the significance of the Creator and his manifestations, and, above all, the assertion of Mans destiny of attaining his potential Divinity through effort and grace -- to all these and many other sublime expressions of Truth, enlightened men and women of the world owe a deep debt of gratitude to Bharats ancient rituals and legends and the endearing stories of her epics showing a deep spiritual insight are also facets of great inspiration. It is in this arena of Knowledge that ancient Bharat excels and provided a cradle of wisdom and intuition to seekers of the world.

It is mans privilege to have been endowed with capacity to experiment with Truth. When a man uses this innate ability, he brings about a higher life is the essential characteristic of the Indo-Aryan culture, and later became the central ideal of Bharats spiritual faith. The success of religion in India is due to its spiritual basis rather than its ethical doctrines. The importance of moral rectitude in the building up of the spiritual life is undisputed, and, indeed, ethical principles form the common denominator of all religious faith. But, morality alone does not lead to enlightenment, nor does it bring about a complete integration of mans personality, whereas spirituality aims at an allinclusive integration of mans total being; moreover, spirituality is a radical change into a higher level of consciousness where man becomes the perfect medium of both beauty and bliss through his perfection. This creative idea has been the making of Bharat and is the cause of its survival.

It is the moha or a false sense of attachment to fleeting values that acts as a check on an outlook of expanded vision. But when a hunger to grow in spiritual grace manifests itself in the human heart, God appears in the form of a Guru, sometimes within the human heart itself, but more often in the form of another personality, to awaken and illumine the sadhak. India, this holy motherland of ours has ever given birth to a galaxy of such Incarnations or Sages. These sages appear amongst us, not only in fulfillment of Shri Krishnas promise that when the need for such advent is urgent the saviour must appear, but in all ages and at all times. For, is there indeed a moment when the need is not urgent? In the Kali Yuga there is a perpetual upheaval of vice and suffering; nevertheless, it is a blessed era in that the misery it throws up acts like a challenge and brings forth a corresponding release of great spiritual power in satwik persons. Thus, very often when the darkness within us becomes sufficiently dark, as it were, the thin streak of light that is abiding somewhere in the deep recesses of our being manifests its weak flicker, and if in that moment of awareness we mercifully come in contact with the Guru. this tiny glow becomes a gradually widening oasis of Light.

Our anchor is in the Lord, very often in the embodied incarnations who serve as Gurus. Surrender to such perfect Masters can bring about selffulfillment. Out of infinite compassion the Divine assumes a human form. This, of course, is no ordinary birth into ignorance as we understand it, but the descent of the illuminated light with all the semblance of finiteness. But though the Divine does so limit itself voluntarily, it does not at the same time get entangled in the inevitable functioning of karmis laws which constrict the ordinary human birth.

The assumption of limitation by the Divine Avatar renders Him approachable, and consequently proves to be our source of guidance and security in all things. There is no limit to His power to save. But the turning to that vibrant compassion is the sadhaks obligation, for, the Divine respects the right of each individual soul to work out its own salvation.

If a culture is to live, it has to assert itself again and again destroying the ignorant prejudices of man. Though Hinduism is true for all times, though it is a perennial philosophy, in reinstating it a great upheaval of spiritual truth has to be created. This can only be done by the great saints and Avatars. Despite the chaos prevailing today, one need not be pessimistic, though we are bound to admit that in surveying the existing conditions of life today, one is oppressed with an overwhelming impression of the forces of evil triumphing over good, a widespread immorality and corruption all over the world, which seems to be at war with itself! There are some bitter lessons which humanity must learn before it can emerge into the Light. Moreover, there are unmistakable glimpses of sanity showing through the tensions of human life. The dynamic values of Truth, Beauty and Love keep asserting themselves like smoldering flames. They cannot be extinguished because they are sustained by the Grace of the Great Ones.

All the wonderful discoveries as well as the progress made in all branches of science have come to stay. If the user of all these progressive discoveries is still a pigmy morally and spiritually and misuses these blessings, then the solution lies not in rejecting scientific progress, but in raising this pigmy to the stature of a spiritual giant. This can be done by turning to the immoral lessons of our ancient scriptures, and the recourse to this source is brought about by the imperceptible yet powerful directions of Bharats Master Yogis.

Therefore, the birth of a Satpurush is the greatest good that can befall humanity. God as the Impersonal Creator eludes our imagination. As it has been aptly said --- Our loftiest human notions about the Creator cannot but fix delusive limits to this Immensity. But when a human temple enshrines divinity in the form of the Guru, we begin to understand through this familiar medium the purpose of life and the greatness of our own ultimate destiny. Liberation lies in the direct knowledge of the Supreme Reality, but it has to be clothed in raiments which are cognisable to our earth-bound vision....and a Satpurush is born.

The sadhana of Love brings about a deep and lasting satisfaction. True Love is self-consuming in its constant effort to achieve perfect devotion for the Beloved. Most of us do not really want to love; our eternal and abnormal greed is to be loved. But, contact with the spiritual Guru reverses our outlook, because the Guru quietly purifies our responses to life. With the subjugation of selfish desires, receiving no longer seems to be important; giving, on the contrary, brings a new thrill of fulfillment to the sadhak. In the words of the immortal bard Shakespeare Love is not love which alters when it alteration finds. The core of the human progress lies in an inner transformation of Man as an individual and also in a perfect order of collective spiritual living as a pattern of a progressive social order. According to the old Masters of Bharat, spiritual discipline requires the aspirant to give himself up completely to God, while at the same time dwelling in loving brotherhood with his fellowmen.

Strangely enough, nowadays, a belief is current in this country of ours, especially amongst its arrogant and westernized youth, that looking back to the past is detrimental to the health and vitality of a race. India is thought to be backward because of this tendency to extol the glories of her ancient civilization and the many inspired eras of thought and culture that this country enjoyed in the past. Indulging in the habit of reminiscing and dreaming about ones ancient past, however great it may have been, is considered by the cynics to be a waste of time. Moving forward is urged is urged as an alternative policy, though we are not enlightened as to how this is to be done! According to the peculiar psychology of these preachers of extreme modernism, the tendency to look back is somehow felt to be a stumbling block, as if knowing the Wisdom of past sages can, forsooth, prevent us from being wise in the present or the future. On the contrary, is it not more rational and sensible to believe that what is today recognized by

the Enlightened to be profound and beautiful would necessarily act as a compelling influence which can raise us to a deeper understanding and wisdom?

Indeed with our broad-minded acceptance of all Avatars, we feel that if the Christian countries of Europe had looked back for inspiration and guidance to their own Prophet of Love, Jesus Christ, the world today would not have been victimized by immoral wars and bloodshed, again and again.

In India, certainly, the moral and cultural sterility that we suffer from today would not have been so appalling if India had not so completely forgotten her past. Each country and civilization thrive on their own native pattern of life and culture. In imbibing the wisdom of the past lies Indias virility, and it is essentially a past from which a satisfactory future can be molded. We must affirm again and again that bearing upon its sacred soil, the recurring birth of holy Ones, Mother India is sanctified. Ramakrishna Paramhansa declared that at each birth of such an Avatar, the eternal religion of Bharat shines anew like the eclipsed moon freed from Rahu.

The writer feels that the Main Charisma of Hinduism is in the tenets already presented in the body of this chapter.

We repeat that the beauty and excellence that lie in our ancient wisdom and way of life are eternally valid. To seek guidance and inspiration from such timeless achievements in Time is the only approach now left to Bharats posterity.

Even discerning scholars of the West feel with mounting conviction that India will lead the world in this task of spiritualizing life at all levels. Seekers too in all parts of the world are turning to our motherland for solace and the greater understanding of Truth. It has been generally accepted that India, as the pioneer of this new adventure, is revealing today the secret mantra that she has preserved through the ages, the mantra that will liberate Man into the truth, the bliss and the freedom of a higher existence. Shri Aurobindo, one of the greatest of our seers and thinkers, feels that India has the key to this wisdom. We quote Shri Aurobindos words --India can, if she wills, give a new and decisive turn to the problems over which all mankind is labouring and

stumbling, for the clue to their solution is there in her ancient knowledge. Whether she will rise or not to the height of her opportunity in the renaissance which is coming upon her is the question of her destiny.

In conclusion, the writer would like to confess that writing about the Glory of Ancient Bharat has been both a privilege and a tapasya! The writer also submits that through dedicated efforts and the Gurus Grace, she hopes, she has been able to establish the sublimity of Bharats ancient and immortal scriptures, which has no parallel in the spiritual history of the world.

Modern life has changed many things. It has changed even the mode of living of the modern Guru, many of whom live today in luxury. When we compare this to the utter simplicity of Shri Sai Babas life, we cannot but be overcome with emotion. Though he could have lived like a prince, Shri Sai Baba chose to adopt the life of a poor mendicant. It is this quality of his unique and concrete compassion that endears our beloved Master not only to the poor and the lowly, but also to all else who have the sensitivity to understand Shri Sai Babas noble gesture.