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Showing posts from 2008

Pundalika

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Om Jai Sairam! I humbly bow before by Sadguru, offering my ego at his lotus feet and I beseech his help and guidance in this most difficult task. By my Sadguru's grace, I have had the good fortune of listening to his leelas and the leelas of many saints who graced this land. All Saints are verily one and they are Sagun Sakar Parabrahma (Almighty with form). Even the vedas and the thousand tongued Shesha find it hard to describe his glory. How can a dullard like me try then? What hope is there for me. The hope to a sailor like me, near the reef called samsara in the darkness of Maya is the grace of the Sadguru which shines like a beacon light coming out of a lighthouse on the shore! Verily Sadguru is the doear. He is the creator , preserver and destroyer of the Universe. He is verily Brahma Vishnu and Maheshwara! He alone can sing his glory and I am a mere instrument in his hands. Therefore, putting the dust of his feet on my forehead and onto my mouth, so as to enable me to sing hi...

Maid Servent teaches Ishavasyopanishad

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Om Jai Sai Ram! By submitting my ego at the holy feet of my Sadguru, I beseech him to turn his merciful gaze towards me and to help me sing his glory. I cannot stress enough on the fact that a dullard like me cannot sufficiently write about adhyathma and my Sadguru let alone understand these things. But by the grace of Sadguru anything is possible. For Sainath is the doer and he alone is the divinity that resides in the heart of all beings. In the previous blogs, by the grace of Sainath, I wrote about some experiences of devotees and a fabulous experience in my own life. I now go on to narrate a beautiful story which goes to show Baba's unique method of imparting knowledge and dispelling avidya or ignorance. Sainath's method of teaching was verily unique and practical. To some he recommended yoga. For some the study of holy books like Jnaneshwari or Nath Bhagwath. To some he recommended Tukaram's Gatha. To some he suggested Namasmaran (Remembering the name of God.). And to ...

Shirdi is my Pandharpur and Sai Baba is Vitthala!

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Om Jai Sai Ram! Nothing can please the mind and soothe the heart like the leelas of Sainath. To sing his glory to the best of our ability brings us immense happiness. It is only by the grace of the Sadguru that I am able to sing his grace. I place my ego at the lotus feet of my Sadguru and beseech him to guide me in this endeavour of mine. In the previous post I described how one Guali Bua, an old devotee of Pandarinath of Pandarpur had the darshan of Vitthala in Shirdi. Guali Bua was convinced that Sainath himself is Vitthala of Pandarpur. Now I shall now write about the most beautiful experience that I had in Shirdi. This experience alone proved to me the omnipresence of Shri Sainath. It has been my good fortune that I had the oppertunity to visit Shirdi thrice. It was during the last of the these piligrimages that I had a most memorable experience. For you see, I had then taken a fancy to go to Pandarpur. It was the dearest wish of mine to see Panduranga along with mother Rukmini at...

The testimonial of one Gauli Bua-The sighting of Vitthal in Shirdi

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Om Jai Sainath! I humbly place my ego before the Sadguru, who is Hari,Hara and Brahma. He alone is the inner dweller of all beings. He is the wirepuller. He alone is god. I am quite unqualified to describe his greatness which even the Vedas do not fully describe. It is he alone who inspires me to write this blog. In the previous blog, I described the advent of Sainath in Shirdi. Now let us hear the testimony of one Gauli Bua and the sighting of Vitoba in Shirdi. Baba settled down in a broken down dilapidated old mosque which he called Dwarkamayee. Here, he started burning a fire and kept it alive like a pure agnihothri Brahmin.  To the hindus he looked like a pure agnihothri brahmin and sage. To the muslims, he looked like a pir-o-murshid, who had worn the garb of a fakir and who always used to utter god's name as "Allah Malik". To the Parsees, he was another prophet like zorastra who always worshipped the fire. Thus did people of different religions and castes come to vi...

Advent into Shirdi! The neem tree!

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Victory be unto Samartha Sadguru Sainath!  By singing his glories one can easily cross this wicked sea of samsara called life. It is only by his grace that all things are accomplished. I once again stress on the fact that I am indeed unqualified to write on my samartha sadguru, for I am verily a dullard. It is only the Sadguru who inspires me and who writes through me this blog. I therefore offer my ego at his feet and beseech him to guide me in this most difficult task. I described the experience I had on the day before Guru Pournima here in Dallas. I shall now describe Baba's advent into Shirdi, the neem tree and the eyewitness account of on Nana Chokdar's mother, who described the 16 year old Baba  and his habits in detail.. Shirdi before the advent of Baba was a small hamlet. The name Shirdi itself has come from the Sanskrit original name "Shaylidi","Shiladi" and later came to be called Shirdi. It belongs to the district of Ahmednagar. Before the advent ...

Guru Pournima festivities in Plano - On the Eve of Guru Pournima!

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Om Jai Sai Ram! Blessed are those who seek refuge in his feet! They will be liberated from the fear of samsara. I am unqualified to sing the glories of one, whom even the Vedas cannot describe completely, for the Sadguru is parabrahma himself, from whom the vedas have originated. I am writing this post on the eve of Guru pournima (The auspicious full moon day on which worship is offered to the Sadguru). I shall write something about what transpired today in this post. Today is Thursday, a day considered most auspicious by the devotees of Samartha Sadguru Sainath. The devotees who can render service to the holy and lotus feet of Sainath on this day are most fortunate. I myslef, had the good fortune, by the grace of Lord Sainath to visit his temple at Plano in Texas. I met Mr.Pandya,who started this temple in Plano. He told me that grand festivities will take place at the temple, just like they do in Shirdi during Guru poornima. I will meander here a little. In Shirdi totally 3 festival...

The Deccan during the Medeival times!

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Om Sai Ram. I am verily ignorant. I am a dullard and I do not claim to know the know the ways of the universe. If I do something and if I get to know a little, it is only because of my Satchitananda Sadguru Shree Sai Baba of Shirdi. Blessed are those who have sought refuge in him, for as he has promised, he will ferry us across the wicked ocean of Samsara(life,to be particular life of bondage). Just chanting "Sai,Sai" will give one infinite bliss and peace of mind. I therefore submit my ego at the lotus feet of my Sadguru, who is parbrahma and seek his blessings in describing his glory. For nothing brings one more happiness than singing his glory. The Deccan had become a harsh place. There was the mighty Devagiri fort built by the mighty Yadava kings of Karnataka, protecting the local populace from outside invasion. Unfortunately, there was decline in the society. The twice born had become corrupt. There was unrighteousness in the place. It was during this time that Lord Jn...

Books on Sainath!

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Om Jai Sai Ram! I place my ego at the lotus feet of my sadguru. I cannot stress enough on the fact that I have taken up a very audacious task for which I am hardly capable. It is only the sadguru who inspires me and who alone is the doer. He alone creates everything in this universe. Verily as the Ishavasyopanishad says "God alone does everything and is everything". And that god is none other than Samarth Sadguru Shri Sainath. By the grace of Sadguru Sainath I have come across many books which have expounded his glory. Many are the works written on him, inspired by him. First and foremost is "Shri Sai Sat Charita". This book was written originally in Marathi by the Late Shree Govind Ragunath Dabholkar, whom Baba used to call Hemadpant. This book describes all the sweet leelas of Sai Baba and is one of the few authentic books on Lord Sainath. Should someone ask me, I need to know all about Sai Baba of Shirdi, I would ask them do read this book. This book is very spec...

Malhar Rao Gaekwad

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Om! I humbly bow before the feet of my Sadguru, for those lotus feet verily represent the universe. I seek the sadguru's blessings in a task which only he can accomplish. I cannot stress enough on this. Hence though I type these words, it is verily the sadguru who makes me type them. Sadguru alone is the doer. He alone is the parabramha. It is my heart's desire to sing the glory of Shree Swami Samarth, whom as I have already mentioned is the same as Sadguru Sainath. Both are different incarnations of Shree Gurudeva Dattatreya. In later posts, I shall try to write briefly about how Akkalkot became transformed and how the soil became blessed by the feet of Lord Dattatreya who lived there in the form of Shree Swami Samarth. Verily, a British officer, Colonel Walcourt, who visited Akkalkot and had the darshan of Shree Swami Samarth is said to have remarked "I have seen god in Akkalkot!!!" The leelas of Lord Dattatreya are inscrutable. Within a few years after his arrival...

Trayambakeshwar,Nasik and Shree Swami Samarth!

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By Humbly and sincerely offering my ego at the feet of my Sadguru. I now continue to describe his leelas by his kind grace. I cannot emphasize enough of the fact that it is only the Sadguru who is the doer and we are all mere puppets at his hand. We proceeded from Shani Singanapur to the ancient city of Nasik. Nasik finds it's mention in the Ramayana, and it is due to an incident in the Ramayana that the place got it's name. Nasik, literally means "Nose" in Sanskrit. This blog will describe the historical aspect of this great place. It is said that everyone must burn in the fire of Karma Yoga (Often referred to as the yoga of work, it alludes to the fact that everyone must suffer the results of one's actions. Once the divine parabrahma through maya takes manifold forms(Purusha), every form has to go trough various changes,events often associated with the environment(Prakriti)). Lord Rama was the 7th avatara(incarnation) of Lord Vishnu. To teach us the ideal behav...

A Panacea to all problems

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I have attempted to describe the greatness of my Sadguru in the previous blog. But this is a very difficult task. For only my Sadguru can himself describe his immeasurable greatness. Therefore, by seeking refuge in his lotus feet, I pray for his guidance in this task. I know that he alone is the doer and it is he who inspires me to sing his glory. Let me describe how my first pilgrimage to Shirdi was. What all Leelas (Divine play-Often used in assosciation with the acts of Lord Krishna). I have already said, what happened as soon as I entered the village of Shirdi. The depression, the miserable and sad feeling that was lingering in the mind, the feeling of hopelessness all left me in a jiffy as soon as I entered the village. Then when I entered the samadhi Mandir (The temple which contains Baba's Samadhi or tomb(The word tomb is often a wrong word, but there is no appropriate word in english.)), I kept thinking "I am here finally! After waiting for so many years, here I am!...

My Sadguru

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Let me begin my essays on the saints by talking about my Sadguru. When I say "I", it is not really I who am writing the essay. For I am not at all qualified to write it. How can one who finds it difficult to understand the concepts of computer networks understand the Sadguru, who is Brahma,Vishnu and Maheshwara. He verily is the Parabrahma. He is without beginning and without end. For one must always be aware that the Sadguru verily is the doer and all of us are mere instruments. By seeking refuge in his feet, and by offering my ego at his feet, I seek the Sadguru's blessings in writing this essay. For I am merely a dullard. And to write about sadguru, whom even the vedas and the thousand tongued shesha find it hard to describe is an impossible task. Only the Sadguru can describe himself. And it is with his blessings that I have the courage and one might say audacity to attempt the task at hand. In here, I first try to write about what I know about Guru. My fond remembr...

Santhakathamritha!

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Om, I offer my Salutations to Lord Ganesha, the primordial source of the universe and the most intelligent one. The one true source of eternal bliss who removes vignas (obstacles), in the path of success. I then offer salutations to Mother Saraswathi, the embodiment of supreme intelligence and I seek refuge in her feet and beseech her to guide her child in writing these blogs. I then bow to my Sadguru, Shree Sai Baba of Shirdi. He is Parabrahama, he is Brahma,Vishnu and Maheshwara. He alone is the Saguna (With form) Brahman. I then offer Salutations to Lord Shiva and Mother Parvathi who as Chandala Parameshwari and Sangameshwara are my family deities and ask them to bless me in this venture. I then Salute my ancestor the great Sage Vasishta who was the guru of the Raghu Vamsha. I then salute the countless saints of the deccan who have proved to be such an inspiration to me in my life, namely Dhyaneshwar,Tukaram,Ghora Kumbhara,Namadeva,Pundalika,Samartha Ramdasa,Shreepadha Shree Vallab...