Chapter 5 (Part 5) – Scribblings of A Shirdi Sai Devotee

Devotee readers who have missed earlier chapters can read from the links below. Devotee readers who have missed earlier chapters can read from the links below.

Offerings at the Lotus Feet of Shri Sai Nath

12. An Ode to Sai

Sai
br>You are Love and Compassion Incarnate. While still in flesh and blood, You assured your devotees,

“Even though I give up this physical frame

My bones will always worry for you

And my Samadhi shall answer all your questions”

Millions of devotees all over the world

Experience the truth of your assurance

And feel drawn to you.

What a torture it must be for you

To run to the help of innumerable seekers

Whenever and wherever prayed for.

Even the thought baffles me

Little realising Sai is not the 31/2 cubic feet physical frame,

But a ‘Tatva’, we your children, fail to perceive

Dormant in everything existent and non- existent,

Conscious and unconscious.

Baba you are the Messiah of ‘Kaliyug’,

Your treasury is full of priceless possessions

Yet we ignorant humans

Seek your help and blessings

For providing mundane things of life,

Glory, wealth, children, position, success in business

And carnal comforts of life.

Never wanting what you wish to give to us

A place in the kingdom of God

Where nothing but peace eternal reigns.

Big and spacious temples

Laden with marble and granite

Come up in your name everyday

Giving joy and name to the rich

Many a time, I wonder

What for the creator of the universe

Needs a marvelous place

To install Himself into

Baba! Should we not your devotees

Take a cue from your own life?

The giver of solace to millions

Spent His life in a dilapidated mosque

Wearing a torn kafni.

Begging His food

And sharing it with men and animals alike

Sleeping with a brick under his head

And making no discrimination between the rich and poor,

High and low.

Would someone answer the question, Often agitating my mind

Which God realised sage or saint

To name a few
Kabir, Nanak, Gyaneshwar, Ramana Maharishi,Ramakrishna Paramhamsa, Tukaram, Namdev,

Built an ashram for himself

And enjoyed the comforts of life

Unlike the so-called gurus of today.

Permit me to recite a tale of saintly splendour

Swami Ramdas of Kanhangad, Kerela,

Who took samadhi not long ago.

While on a ‘Deshatan’ with his disciple Ramcharan,

Walking in a jungle, Had nothing to eat for days

Nobody offered them ‘Bhiksha’.

Feeling exhausted

Ramcharan’s patience broke down

With capacity to walk no more

He sat down under a tree.

“Ramcharan, Is your hunger overpowering you?

Wait! Ram shall surely send you something to eat”,

Thus said Swami Ramdas.

And lo! minutes later :

A woman appears from nowhere

With a plate full of delicious eatables in her hands

To offer food to both to their heart’s content.

Unnoticed by his Guru,

Ramcharan packs up the left over

And slips into his bag to eat for the morrow.

Soon both again started on their arduous journey.

Swami Ramdas soon realized

His legs would move no further

“Ramcharan I find it difficult to walk further

What could be the possible cause.

Wonder! if you have done something

Against the will of Ram”.

“Dev! I am carrying the left over food with me”.

Exclaimed Ramcharan.

“Have you no faith in Ram

If he could provide food today

Shall he not provide food tomorrow?

Throw it away and nave faith in him”.

Ramcharan threw away the packet

And both walked ahead happily.

Such is the power of faith and surrender.

An example of a worthy Guru

Taking his disciple onto the path of godhood.

Unlike most Gurus of today

Basking in the sunshine of comfort and luxury

Proclaiming their gurudom on every available occasion.

Let we Baba, devotees,

In word and deed,

Follow our master’s illustrious example

And learn to be unostentatious Humble, modest, sacrificing

And render service to the needy and the poor

So dear to Baba

And make ourselves worthy of His Grace.

13. An Offering of Love

(Composed on the occasion of 66th Birthday on llth Dec. 1999 of Shri Moti Lal Gupta, Founder Chairman, Shirdi Sai Baba Temple Society, Sai Dham, Tigaon Road, Faridabad

On the threshold of sixtysixth year of your life,

As you stand and look back

You feel thrilled with the joy of living a meaningful life.

You recollect that fateful day in 1986,

When as you passed from infront of the Lodi Road Temple,

A deep penetrating voice calling you

‘Moti! I had been waiting for long

Wouldn’t you come to me ?’

Fascinated by the sweetness of that melodious voice,

Oblivious of what you were doing,

You moved towards the Lodi Road Temple,

And found yourself standing face to face with Baba.

Not knowing who He was.

A chill ran through your veins

You felt you had been with Him in lives past

And instantaneously surrendered to Him heart and soul,

And made Him the object of your life thereafter.

Your flourishing business, the glitter of gold, the comfort of life.

Had lost all meaning to you.

What was it that made your life take a sudden turn,

Was it the compassionate gaze in Baba’s eyes?

Or was it His sitting on a rugged stone wearing a torn kafni?

Or was it His concern for the suffering humanity ?

Whatever it is.

Moti you are the blessed child of Sai,

How otherwise could you be instrumental in raising this beautiful edifice in His name

Where from the Ganges of Sai bhakti will flow,

And drown many a seekers in the Ocean of Bliss.

Keep up your devotion to Baba,

Keep up your monumental efforts to serve Him,

Keep up your service to humanity.

But be vigilant of the pitfalls on the path of bhakti

Which have taken the toll of many a budding devotee all through the ages

Beware of the I in you,

And the anger born out of it

Beware of the lust for name and fame.

Beware of the charm for donning the robe of Guru

And be content to be a servant of Him,

In word, deed and thought.

And be sure, He shall take you further and further on to the path.

Into the realm of Sai bliss

Where everything merges in Him.

And from ‘Moti’you shall turn into ‘Heera’.

Today as we gather to felicitate you,

In this beautiful mansion, the abode of the Lord of Shirdi,

We all pray to Him in unison,

To turn you into His Ankita Bhakta,

So that the fragrance emanating from your body,

Could attract thousands to bask in the sunshine of Baba’s Grace

Continued…Chapter 6 Part 1

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