Books on Sainath!

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 special. For Late Shree Govind Ragunath Dabholkar alias Hemadpant sought the permission of Sai Baba before writing this epic of a book. Shree Hemadpant went with Late Shree Madhao Rao Deshpande (Who was called Shama by Baba). Hemadpantji asked Shama Guruji (He was called thus, because he was a school teacher) to seek permission of Baba, as he was then a staunch devotee of Baba. Shama asked Baba thus "Deva, Shree Govind Ragunath Dabholkar ji, whom you affectionately call Hemadpant wants to write about your glory and splendor. Now I know this Deva! You will say you are a humble fakir and what is the need to write his biography. But you must not deny us of our desire like this Deva!" . To this Baba replied, "So Hemadpant, you want to write my Jeevni(biography)? Write! Write!". Saying thus, he smeared the udi (Ash obtained from the ever burning fire at Dwarkamayee called Dhuni) and said to Shree Madhao Rao Deshpande “Let him make a collection of stories and experiences, keep notes and memos. I will help him. He is only an outward instrument. I should write myself my autobiography and satisfy the wishes of my devotees. He should get rid of his ego, place (or surrender) it at my feet… When his ego is completely annihilated and there is left no trace of it, I myself shall enter into him and shall myself write my own life. Hearing my stories and teachings will create faith in devotees’ hearts and they will easily get self-realization and bliss; let there be no insistence on establishing one’s own view, no attempt to refute other’s opinions, no discussions of pros and cons of any subject.” (Shri Sai Satcharita, Ch. 2) . This makes this book a very holy and precious book indeed.

Another book which is considered authentic and contains a lot of information about the life of Sai Baba is "The Shirdi Diary" written by the famous advocate and freedom fighter from Amraoati the Honarable Shree G.S.Kharpade. Even I do not claim to have read this. It is a diary maintained by Shree kharpade during his visit to Shirdi. One of the last entries contains a very remarkable incident. Shree Kharpade writes "Today, I went with Shree Bal Gangadar Tilak to take darshan of Shree Sainath". The revolutionary freedom fighter also came to seek Sainath's blessings. It is said Sainath commended him on his work and asked him to take rest henceforth. There was a meaning hidden in this last sentence. For a few days later Shree Bal Gangadar Tilak passed away. Baba had known this earlier. Hence he asked Shree Bal Gangadar Tilak to take rest henceforth.

Now apart from these books a number of books have been written. One very good book that I came across was a book called "Shirdi Sai Baba A unique saint." written by Shree M.V.Kamath, formerly editor of Sunday Times, and it's Washington correspondent and Shree V.B.Kher, A Gandhian and a great devotee of Sai Baba. It is an excellent book in that it truly tries to take a historical perspective and justifies why majority of the saints came from the Deccan, especially Maharashtra. Here I will write some excerpts from the book.

According to the authors, "Sai Baba of Shirdi is a unique saint. He established no ashram or peetham. He established no new religion and yet, he had a profound knowledge of both Hindu and Islamic scriptures. Instead he asked people to follow their own religion and in that he said they would find humanity. During his 60 years of stay in Shirdi, he performed many miracles, but in no manner as to impress anyone, devotee or otherwise. That is why, Sai Baba of Shirdi is a unique saint."

This is how the book begins. It is a very nice and very informative book. This book also attempts to unravel the mystery behind Baba's birth and about his parents. This of course is only speculation and guesswork. For Baba never revealed what religion he belonged to, who his parents were and was even silent on who his Guru was.

About this topic, I would like to say, what our good friend from Shirdi Mr.Dilip has to say. This is what he had to say when asked about Sainath's origins and about his religion and other mysterious things. He said thus "Baba really was an Avatara purusha or an incarnation. It was god himself who came to Shirdi in the guise of a fakir (Arabic term for a mendicant) . For if he came to this world in the normal way, then there must have been some people, who knew about his parentage and religion would have come forward and told this world. As far as we know, there were no such people and Baba himself maintained silence about his origin. Therefore I am firmly of the origin that he is an avatara purusha who came on this earth in the form of a man, and I think when I say this, I speak on behalf of all the people of Shirdi"

Also in the words of Shri Jayanth Sasne, Hon president of the Sai Sansthan Shirdi " Some people misguide the Sai devotees in relation to birth of Shri Saibaba and his things. It is said that one should not look into such matters about the origin of a Sadhu, just as one should not try to find the origin of a river. Therefore one most know about the teachings of Saibaba and walk on the path of this teachings. This is important because we will be blessed as well as receive "Moksha" by doing so. It is not important to know who has planted the tree, how tall it is, how many fruits does it bear etc because we have to spend a lot of time and energy in getting answers to these questions."

Shri. Sasane advised that it is important to have the sweet fruits of the tree and enjoy them."

I do not wish to meander anymore from the main topic. The intent of writing this post was to introduce the readers to the different books available on Lord Sainath, and to briefly discuss the purport of the few books that I have been fortunate to read.

I will discuss more about the life in India, especially in the Deccan during the and before the times of Baba. The harsh life that people led. It was then that, to give hope to the people and the increase bhakthi (Devotion) in god, several saints came in the form of Avatara purushas (divine incarnation),saints and Sadgurus.

I hope that all the readers will read these wonderful books too, and derive great bliss and peace of mind that comes out of it.

Bow to Shree Sai! Peace Be to All!