with grateful acknowledgements to www.saiamrithadhara.com

Dear Sai Bandhus!

“SwadeshikasyaivaKeertanamSwayantuAnantasyaSivasyaKeertanam |
SwadeshikasyaivaNaamasmaranamSwayantuAnantasyaSivasyaNaamasmaranam ||”

(Meaning:- Singing the Glory of One’s Guru is same as singing the Glory of the Supreme One and   remembering the holy name of One’s Guru is nothing but remembering the Supreme One)

These words were uttered by none other than the Universal Lord Siva to Mother Parvathi (this conversation between Lord Mahadev and MaaParvathiis famous as “GURU GEETHA” from SkandaPurana) extolling the greatness of GURU and explaining to the latter the Oneness of Siva and Guru. Infact, Siva himself says that a true bhakta should identify and find no difference between Guru and Siva (i.e. Supreme One), further he adds that one who tries to draw a line of distinction between Guru and the Lord has failed to understand the greatness of Guru (Siva Gurorabhinnatva).

The unique feature of Guru is that, though he is one with the Supreme Spirit (in other words SaakshaatParabrahman) still assume a form and manifests to uplift the mankind by guiding them in the right path through his valuable teachings, warding off obstacles along their spiritual path and finally making them reach their goal. Thus speaking about the Guru tathva , Lord Siva goes to the extent of saying that “….such an unique quality exists in Guru alone. Hence Oh Parvathi! Guru should be revered first and next everyone, nay Guru is greater than God himself”. How wonderful and prophetic are the words of Lord Shankara!

The manifestation of Parabrahman as an edifice of Guru Thatva is present in totality in Lord Saibaba of Shirdi. To speak of Sai in his Sagunaroopam alone itself is a tough job then let alone his Nirguna aspect where we are speechless, left spellbound just becoming a mere spectator of his myriad creation.

The Unmanifest Non dual Supreme Self manifested as our beloved Sai Samartha in the tiny hamlet of Shirdi. Dear brotherhood, Sai is our Guru, God and everything, nay our very breath. Sai attained Samadhi in 1918, but it is only with respect to his body (i.e. casting away the mortal coil in accordance to the scriptures which say- PatanaavadhiMaranaavadhiShareerah) and not his eternal principle. This eternal principle or Thatva is existent in every atom, every particle and every miniscule of this creation and is extending beyond the terrains of the creation itself as the never ending, imperishable principle (AnaadyantaAvinaashitatvam). To understand this Leelavishwambharatvam of Lord Sai one has to invariably resort to “Sree Sai Satcharitra” which was authored by Sri AnnasahebDhabolkaralias Hemadpanth (in reality, it was Sri Sai Baba himself who said to the author “Shed your egoism at my feet, I shall myself hold your hand and make you write my charitra”. Devotees kindly refer to Hemadpanth’sSai Satcharitra, chapter-2).

Dear brotherhood, I am again referring to the words “resort toSai Satcharitra”. If this raises a question why only Sai Satcharitra?? Kindly allow me to say a few words from our BhaagavataPurana which is considered as the essence of Brahma Vidya also called as “ParamahamasaSamhita”. In SrimadBhagavatam, the Supreme Lord manifests in the form of a divine Swan in front of Lord Brahma (the four faced creator) and bestows the knowledge of Brahman (Brahma Jnaana) in a few couplets (Shlokas) which is famous as the “HamsaGeetha” (Song of the divine Swan). Though the number of couplets are small in number, yet each and every letter, word and psalm in it have an in-depth meaning of the Veda vedaantasaara which help us unite with the Supreme Self. Similarly every letter, every word in Sai Satcharitra is impregnated with Brahma Jnaana. To attain Brahma Jnaana, one has to make continuous saadhana in his life. AdhyaatmaSaadhana doesn’t begin with Brahma chintana, bhajana, poojana, vrataaacharanaetc etc. It begins with how well we integral with ourselves, how well we have fulfilled our responsibilities in the society in which we have taken birth (it may be as a son, daughter, husband, wife, citizen or by profession). If this is untrue, then why did Lord Krishna speak of Karma maarga to Arjuna? So, to progress in the AdhyatmaMarga one has to first fulfill the duties of his Saamajikamarga. These duties are of course bound with materialism. Now. It is left to the discretion of the people who would like to pick up the “Needs” or “Wants” of this materialism. A prudent one would resort to the former because it always keeps the saadhaka’s feet firmly rooted on ground and is the first step of progression in Adhyaatmamarga. But the latter is like an unquenched thirst, the more we earn the more we crave – the source reason for our downfall. Now, coming back to our point- We read Sai Satcharitra which is gold mine of Brahma vidya with an intention of fulfillment of the desires (Kaamitaarthasiddhyarthe), is it wrong??? The answer is an affirmative “NO”. Sai Baba and Sai Satcharitra are no different (how can Brahman and Brahma Vidya be different!). Lord Sai clearly says in Satcharitra…” How can ocean turn away the rivers? How can a mother turn away its child? Similarly how can I turn away the people who come to me? “ .. Guru is veritably a loving mother incarnate and never hates anyone who comes to him either with desires of materialism or spirituality. The uniqueness of Sadguru is he bestows the materialistic needs of his devotees (provided those needs are sane and proper ones) initially, then makes him feel all his mundane desires are but an obstacle to his adhyatmayaatra thereby lighting a lamp of knowledge in the saadhaka’s mind. So, a devotee should not get carried away saying that, “I did Paarayana of Satcharitra and got this desire of mine fulfilled”. No doubt Sai Satcharitra is indeed the Wish fulfilling Tree (Kalpavruksha) to all of us. But dear Guru Bandhus, Sai Satcharitra is also a book which will give us the state where we have no more wishes left (Nirvikalpaavasthaa or Vishayaanaasaktataasthiti).

Of course, to attain a state where we have no wishes, first our wishes (kindly note only the good ones that take us ahead in our path and the negative ones have the reverse effect) must be fulfilled. As Guru Bhaktaas, we must remember at every step of our life that whatever materialistic need we are asking Lord Sai for or reading Sai Satcharitra for, should be centered on a strong dictum- “Baba! I am praying you or doing Parayana of Sai Satcharitra for the fulfillment of this desire only with the intention that, once this need of mine is addressed then I am minus one bondage or duty as a samsaari. I shall consider this need not just as a materialistic gain but as a stepping stone for my future path towards you.” If we pray Lord Sai or do Satcharitrapaarayana in this manner no doubt our needs are addressed but also our progression in Adhyaatmamarga is guaranteed. Slowly such a Saadhaka will start feeling detached from his bondages and finally will pray to lord Sai, “Baba! I have one final desire and that is the desire that I should become desire less”. This is the beauty of a Sadguru which is manifest in totality in Sai Baba.

Like “HamsaGeetha” of SrimadBhagavatam , “Sai Satcharitra” is our “Sai Geetha” which was sung by the divine Swan (Paramahamsa) Lord Sai himself though Hemadpanth for the upliftment of mankind , nay the entire Universe. It is doubtless that Lord Sai is “JAGADGURU” himself. If someone questions the valediction of Sai Satcharitra being a filtrate (Saaram) of the scriptures, it is my humble request to those learned seers who consider themselves as the fountain heads of knowledge to kindly read the Satcharitra properly.

 If studied with attention one can hear the leonine roar of Vedanta in chapters dealing with a gentleman coming to Lord Sai asking for quick Brahma Jnaana, one can perceive the humming of the bee personified with a sadhaka for the nectar in the form of Brahma Jnaana from the fully bloomed lotus (i.e. Sadguru) in the pond of Vedanta in the chapter where Baba explained the bhaavartha of Ishaavasya Brahma to Dasganu through Kakasaheb’s maid sevant. The words of Geethacharya (Sri Krishna) echoes in each and every chapter (i.e. karma, bhakti and jnaanayogas) of the book. The samanvaya or the establishment of equity between the various ideas of Brahma niroopana well explained in chapter 2, 3 and 4. The essentiality of having firm faith in one’s own Guru as depicted in Mule Shastri’s story, realizing the oneness between Guru and God as in the story of Meghashyam and Offering whatever we partake before we eat to the Lord (I.e. doing Brahmaarpana) by making Anna SahebDhabolkar as a medium. Annasaheb recounts the same story in Satcharitra by recollecting the story of Sri Krishna and Sudhama. This story of Sri Krishna and Sudhama has to be essentially understood with spirit of Vedanta that whatever we partake has to be first offered to the Supreme Lord first (remember the Vedic verse which says “Brahmaarpanam Brahma havihBrahmaajnauBrahmanaahutam……”). Let us not argue over the point whether the aforesaid story of Krishna Sudhama had been taken from VyaasaBhagavata nor consider this as a sacrilege committed towards Sudhama by the author Hemadpanth. When we read Satcharitra clearly, we realize how great a devotee (Bhagavad Bhakta) Sri Heamadpath was. In fact, if Hemadpath (AnnasahebDhabolkar) was not a true bhakta then how would Sai Maharaj choose him as a medium to write his Charitra.Dhabolkar with all his humility said in Satcharitra that he was but a “Jada heenamandamathi” (i.e. dullard of an intellect) and it was Sai who out of compassion on the former showered blessings and wrote his own Charitra by making the former as a medium. Who but a ripe, humble and realized soul (paripakhvajnaani) like AnnasahebDhabolkar speak this way? In fact, Sri Hemadpanth was adept with all Vedantic works and scriptures. Still, he never used this scriptural knowledge for name and fame nor did he use this for any criticisms, instead felt that all this “Bookish Knowledge” was useless without the grace of Guru and hence in quest of Guru, finally arrived at Shirdi and found his Preceptor in Sai Baba who was an embodiment of Brahmavidyaa. Can such a Bhagavad bhakta like Dhabolkar speak lowly of BhagavatottamaSudhama?

Though SaiSatcharitra is a work of this great poet of 20th century,it still carries the essence of all the scriptural knowledge which take us to the portals of Brahman. Every letter, every word in this book is as great as a psalm (mantra) or verse (shloka) of our ancient scriptures. In this dark age of kali, where the true meanings to the great scriptures are being confabulated according to whims and fancies of the interpreters, where there is paucity of understanding the true spirit of Sanaatana Dharma then would the stories of a Guru would stand as the beacon light guiding all those who reverentially sing it to the heart’s content? By reading the Guru Charitra, a saadhaka gets all his materialistic needs fulfilled, does all his actions (karma acharana) in light of attainment of the ultimate goal and finally reach the same. Here the Guru’s charitra can be the life of any Sadguru- it may be “Sri Sai Satcharitra” or it can be “Sri Guru Charitra” (story which deals with the advent of the holy trinity in one form as Dattatreya and his first two incarnations as SripadSrivallabh and Sri Nrisimhasarswathi). Sri Guru Charitra speaks of Sadguru a union of the holy Trinity (HariHara Brahmaatmakah Guru). The Shaktis (spoken as consorts in our scriptures) of the holy trinity also manifest in the Guru as his thatva. A saadhaka, by worshipping SadguruSamartha who is trimurthi personified automatically gets the blessings of the shaktis associated with the trimurthis (Saraswathi with Brahma who bestows knowledge of Jnaana, Lakshmi with Narayana who bestows wealth of Bhakti and Paravathi with Siva who bestows the power of Vairagya). Further Lord Dattatreya clearly states in Guru Charitra that HE is no different from HIS Charitra. So, devotees, our Guru Charitra is Sai Satcharitra and if our SadguruSai is “SakshaathSaraswathiswaroopa”, then certainly every letter, every word, every sentence in Satcharitra is “SaaraswataVidya” nay veritably “MaaBhagavathiSaraswathi” herself.

On the day of Guru Poornima (which falls on the full moon day of the month of Ashaada) all the Guru bhaktaasworship the Guru as Parabrahman. Guru Poornima happens to be the birthday of Sage Veda Vyasa and hence also famous as “VyasaPoornima”. The word “Vyasa” means to divide. Sage Vyasa was instrumental in dividing the entire Vedic knowledge into four Vedas (Rigveda, Yajurveda, Samaveda and Atharva Veda) and vedangas (theirauxiliary branches), further he penned the famous Mahabharata and all the Puranas. Vedas and Puranas are rich in knowledge of Brahman and properly guide a saadhaka in his path towards the goal ultimatum. Since, Sage Vyasa was responsible for accomplishing such a herculean task, all his disciples reverentially worshipped him as Guru (i.e. the one who properly guides everyone from the darkness of ignorance towards the light of Knowledge) on the full moon day of Ashaadawhich has henceforth become famous as “Guru Poornima”. All the principles of Veda vedaantasaara that properly guide a spiritual aspirant are completely manifest in Sadguru and hence the tathva of a Guru is but the Vedanta tathva.

When I use the word “Sadguru” here, am making no distinction between various Gurus. If I should call myself as a Sai Bhakta then I should see my dear Sai Samartha in all the Gurus and make no distinction between anyone. In fact, the “Guru Parabrahmathatva” is the same in all the Gurus may it be BhagavanRamanaMaharshi or Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa or Sri Vivekananda or Sri Sankaracharya and others. In other words, if the Vedanta thatva propounded by VyasaMaharshiis completely manifest in a Sadguru, then the latter should also be considered as one with Sage Veda Vyasa. It would be futile to discuss whether one Guru is greater than the other when it is the same “Parabrahmasadvastu” that shines in both VyasaMaharshi and Lord Sainath.

Sai Maharaj is SaakshatNirgunaParabrahma himself and Sai Satcharitra is our Vedapramaana. We seek refuge in none but “Sai Baba” and resort to his abhinnatathva “Sri Sai Satcharitra”. May Sai samartha bless all with clarity of mind, thoughts and action.

- Jaya JayaSadguru Sai Samartha-
                    - AnanthakotiBrahmaandaNaayaka Sri SainaathaParabrahmaneNamah-
         - SamarthaSadguruSriSainaathayaMangalam-
    - JayatuJayatu Sri SadguruSai  SatcharitrasarvadaaDigvijayataam-

By Dr. P.V. Sivacharan