Sri Sai Satcharitra Sārāmsh - Sunday Paarayan

Sri Ganeshayanamaha      Sri Saraswatyainamaha      Sri Gurubhyonnamaha

 Sri Sai Ramachandrayanamaha

Sri Sai Satcharitra Sārāmsh

(Sunday Paarayan)

Source: Sri Sai Satcharitra written by Sri Hemad Pant and published by Shirdi Samsthan

Abridged by: Ch. K. Surya Prakasa Rao, Visakhapatnam (A.P., India), 

Sai Devotee

 Translated by: Suryanarayana Vulimiri, Morrisville, NC USA, 

Sai Devotee

23^rd Chapter:

     Jeeva (human soul) transcends the three qualities (gunas), viz., Sattwa, Rajas and Tamas, but often being masked by illusion (Māya). He who forgets his nature of being “Pure Consciousness-knowledge-bliss (Sat-chit-ānanda) and assumes that he is the doer, and thus entangles himself in endless miseries, and not obtaining salvation. The only way for liberation is to have loving devotion towards Guru’s feet.  In order to cross the ocean of illusion one should pray Baba by thinking of his divine feet in their hearts. Baba always used to say that he is the servant of God.

     Hemad Pant describes desciples as three kinds. 1. Those who recognize Guru’s needs and provide them even before Guru orders them are Best (uttama); 2. Those who obey Guru’s orders faithfully without any delay are Average (madhyama); and 3. Those who always procrastinate and commit plenty of mistakes are Ordinary (adhama) disciples.

24^th Chapter:

     Unless we surrender our ego at Sadguru’s feet we will not be victorious in our endeavors. Our success is assured if we are free of egoism. By worshipping Sai Baba we can attain both worldly and spiritual objectives. We will have peace of mind and happiness. Mind and heart will experience materialistic pleasures even before the five senses do. For this reason we should think of God before eating anything.  Those who discriminate between Guru and God cannot envision divinity anywhere.

     Baba used to allow his devotees to serve him by whatever way they chose to. He never liked anyone else interfering with their approaches. He says “Whoever does not share with others the food they have, will suffer the misery similar to Kuchēla (Sudhāma)”.

25^th Chapter:

     The wishes of devotees will be fulfilled quickly if their faith is steady and devotion is complete.  Baba said “Even if I attain Samādhi, my bones will talk from the grave. They will provide you with hope and faith. Besides, my Samadhi would move and also speak to those who seek my shelter whole-heartedly.  Never get anxious that I am not near you. Even my bones would talk to you and enquire about your welfare. Always remember me. Keep your heart and soul filled with trust in me. Then you will get the utmost benefit.

     Whenever or wherever you think of me, I will be there momentarily.  Be aware that all the flowers that blossom on a mango tree will not turn into fruits. Most of them will fall off as flowers or unripe fruits before becoming actual fruits.  Similarly all those who come to me may not get my blessings. To get my blessings one should have devotion and faith.  Baba never liked astrologers or their words.

26^th Chapter:

     Baba to his devotees “Whatever it might happen, never give up the grip on seeking Guru’s shelter.  Always be steadfast and be reciting Guru’s name. God will always protect those who have faith and patience in Him. Yogis, just like Gods, also depend on their devotees. God would only help those who seek His shelter with soul and heart”.

     Baba told a devotee Mr. Baba Ambedkar, “You have to experience the fruits of bad or good deeds that you have done in your previous birth or due to your past actions. If it is not complete, suicide won’t help you. You have to be born again and suffer again. Why don’t you experience the fruit of your past deeds for some time now before you die naturally? You need to repay all you debts of bad deeds once for all.

27^th Chapter:

     Baba is a like a sacred tree that fulfills all our wishes. He is an ocean of knowledge.  Sri Sai is the Guru who would show us the path to self-realization.  He is the Lord of saints who can show the God in all creatures great and small.  He is the adorable person who knows the minds of his devotees; he touches and consecrates them and gives his devotees different religious books to read and recite regularly.

28^th Chapter:

     Baba is omni-present. Usually father creates the body and gives life, while death chases the life at a later time.  But a sadguru will rescue us from the cycle of birth and death. So they are the most kind-hearted souls.  Baba said, “Wherever my devotees live I can pull them to Shirdi just like how you can drag a sparrow with a thread tied to its feet. I do not need any doors to enter. I am formless and live everywhere. Whoever keeps the faith in me and gets immersed in my smaran, I will take care of their deeds staying behind the scene like a director who pulls the threads of puppets”.

     Baba opines that one should not take a debt for the sake of seeing the God or celebrating a festival or for going on a pilgrimage. One day, Meghashyama, a true devotee of Sai wanted to give head-bath to Baba. By chanting “Hare Ganga! Hare Ganga!” he poured water on Baba’s head. Although the head got wet, Baba’s body remained dry. All the devotees were surprised to see this leela of Sai.

29^th Chapter:

     Baba knows what is safe and secure for his devotees.  Doubts and troubles surround us in order to make our devotion stronger and deeper. They test us. However, all our endeavors will eventually become successful if we work hard, as well as worship Baba with complete faith.

30^th Chapter:

     Although Baba is indifferent to the three gunas, and is formless (nirguna), he attains a form (saguna) form for the sake of his devotees. Even though others leave us and go, Sai would never desert us. Those who taste his mercy and kindness will attain surplus amounts of power, knowledge and the ability to distinguish between permanent and temporary intelligence.  Baba always understands the wishes of the devotees and fulfills them in a timely manner. The higher the intensity of pain a devotee takes and the greater the faith and devotion he shows to have a glimpse of the yogi, the faster and stronger it will take to get his desire fulfilled.

Sri Satchidanand Sadguru Sainath Maharaj Ki Jai!

Sri Sai Satcharitra Sārāmsh - Saturday Paarayan

Sri Ganeshayanamaha      Sri Saraswatyainamaha      Sri Gurubhyonnamaha

 Sri Sai Ramachandrayanamaha

Sri Sai Satcharitra Sārāmsh

(Saturday Paarayan)

Source: Sri Sai Satcharitra written by Sri Hemad Pant and published by Shirdi Samsthan

Abridged by: Ch. K. Surya Prakasa Rao, Visakhapatnam (A.P., India), 

Sai Devotee

 Translated by: Suryanarayana Vulimiri, Morrisville, NC USA, 

Sai Devotee

16^th and 17^th Chapters:

                To a rich man who came seeking brahma-jnyān Baba said, “It is not easy to obtain brahma-jnyān.  Especially, it is difficult for an avaricious person. In order to obtain brahma-jnyān one has to surrender 5 things, viz., 1. Five Prānas 2. Five senses, 3. Mind, 4. Intellect, and 5. Ego.  A miser will not have peace of mind, satisfaction or stern determination.

                “My treasury is full. I can give whatever people want from me. But I should test them first whether they are worth receiving my gift or not. If you heed to what I say, you will be benefitted. I never tell untruth while sitting in this mosque”. The greatness of Baba lies in the fact that although he attained self-realization, he is the foremost to strive for the welfare of people.

18^th and 19^th Chapters:

                By the time a human being completes to repay the debt from his past sin, God will arrange him to meet with one of the sacred saints. They give timely advice and check the welfare of devotees. Saibaba is one such Lord of saints. We are fortunate that we could reach his holy feet. Baba used to ask 2 paise as Dakshina. One paisa is for firm faith (shraddha) and the other paisa is for patience or perseverance (saburi).

Baba’s message:

                Never try to get Mantra or Upadesh from anybody. Always use your thoughts and actions for me. You will definitely attain the path of life. Look towards me with complete faith, and I in turn look at you the same way. Keep turst and faith in your Guru and consider Him as the incarnation of the trinity. He is blessed.  Being seated in this mosque I will always tell the truth and nothing else. Meditation is necessary for self-realization.

                Unless we are bonded, one does not go to the other. If some one comes to you for monetary help, if you do not like it, do not give. But don’t bark at him like a dog. Even if others speak very rudely to you, you never give them a harsh answer.  If you can tolerate those people you will certainly achieve happiness.

                Remove the cross-wall separating you and Me. Those who attain the goal of their life would remain immortal and blissful. All others will just be alive as long as their breath stays. It does not help you if you blame others. One has to strive to attain self-realization. The more the efforts you put the better it will be. One has to surrender to the God completely, and at the same time fulfilling his assigned duties. They need not fear from anything. Those who trust the God completely; those who listen to his leelas and spread them to others; those who do not think of anything else except Him, they will definitely attain self-realization. One should not keep labor earned by others. One should pay the dues of the worker promptly and generously.

20^th Chapter:

Sai was originally formless.  He assumed a form for the sake of his devotees. Troubles or comforts that we experience depend on our state of mind.  As per the moral essence taught by Upansihads, we should be contented with what we have. Whatever is happening to us,  is happening upon the instructions of God. We should realize that eventually it happens in our best interest only.  Another moral advice is that man should obey his assigned duties, specifically Karmas enjoined in the Shastras, otherwise it leads to self-destruction.

21^st Chapter:

                Various saints incarnate in several places as per the instructions of God. Although they work in different places, they always knew what other saints are doing. If someone starts a project, another one would compete it. Baba said to V.K. Thakur, “The spiritual path is very difficult to follow. It needs lot of efforts. Bookish knowledge without guru’s blessings is useless. What ever the theory you read, always you should put your thoughts in practice”.

                Baba to Anantharao Paitl: “Practices, such as japa, tapa, yoga, reading religious books or teaching their contents to others without having devotion is useless”.

                Baba to Pandaripur pleader: “How cunning are these people. They fall on the feet and give Dakshina, but abuse people behind their back”.

22^nd Chapter:

                Baba said, “If you want to see my true Form, give up ego first. Then, meditate on My toe through the opening between index and middle fingers and then you will be able to see My Light This is the easiest way”.

Dwarakamayi in Shirdi is like mother to us. Whoever sits on the lap of Dwarakamayi just once, Dwarakamayi will remove their troubles and will bring happiness.

Baba’s Opinion:

                “We shall love all the creatures. Unless God wishes nobody can do any harm to others. Nobody is independent. The Almighty lives in everybody. God’s permission is necessary for anything to happen”.

Sri Satchidananda Sadguru Sainath Maharaj Ki Jai!

Sri Sai Satcharitra Sārāmsh - Friday Paarayan

Sri Ganeshayanamaha      Sri Saraswatyainamaha      Sri Gurubhyonnamaha

 Sri Sai Ramachandrayanamaha

Sri Sai Satcharitra Sārāmsh

(Friday Paarayan)

Source: Sri Sai Satcharitra written by Sri Hemad Pant and published by Shirdi Samsthan

Abridged by: Ch. K. Surya Prakasa Rao, Visakhapatnam (A.P., India), 

Sai Devotee

 Translated by: Suryanarayana Vulimiri, Morrisville, NC USA, 

Sai Devotee

8^th Chapter:

                Human beings can see the God only by obtaining knowledge (jnyana). It is not possible in any other birth.

The path that humans should follow: Never neglect your body. And at the same time you should not be in love with it. Just take enough care as required.

Humans should try these: One should realize that human birth is valuable, but death is inevitable at the end; so one should be careful in trying to achieve the purpose of this precious life.

The path to be taken: Good qualities such as, forgiving, calmness, detachment, charity, righteousness, controlling body and mind, shedding egoism etc. Saibaba is such a yogi and sadguru.

9^th Chapter:

Whenever a devotee intends to offer Baba something, but tends to forget, Baba always reminds them to give him what they promised and blesses them. Baba said “I will give the shelter to my devotees similar to the way they trust me”. He always says “First feed the hungry creatures and then only you eat. Please remember this carefully. Those who can see me in all living creatures are my trusted devotees. So give up the dual concept that I am different from other creatures and serve me whole-heartedly”.

10^th Chapter:

                Baba possessed the 8 siddhis (ashta siddhis). Baba neither practiced them nor wanted them. Since he is a complete person he acquired them naturally. Those who cannot figure out his real power and those who consider him as an ordinary man are the real unfortunate people around.  Baba said, “If anyone hurts you, please do not hurt them back. If at all you could do something for others, always do only good to them”. This is the essence of Baba’s teaching. It will be useful for both mundane and spiritual worlds. Our hearts do not agree to listen to the stories of yogis unless we obtain the mercy of God. Yogeeswars will incarnate on this earth on their own. Because of the good deeds we did in our previous birth we sought the shelter of Sai’s feet.

11^th Chapter:

                 Baba could control all the five elements (pancha bhutas). A sadguru is much superior than an idol of worship, the platform of sacrifice, fire, light, sun, water, brahmam etc. Such a sadguru incarnated in the form of Sai in the village Shirdi.

12^th Chapter:

                God will incarnate on this earth in order to punish the evil and protect the good. But the role of yogis is different. For them, both good guys and bad guys are equal. They shower mercy on evil-doers and put them on right path and transform them into nice human beings.  Saibaba is prominent among such yogis.  Without His wish devotees cannot come to him. Even if they come to Baba and wish to stay in his presence, they cannot stay there. They can only stay in Shirdi as long as Baba wishes.

13^th Chapter:

                Those who seek the refuge of God would get His mercy and escape from illusion (māya). Those who are fortunate and whose sins were destroyed will be able to worship me. For those who always say “Sai! Sai!”, I can make them cross the seven seas. I am not concerned with the protocol of my worship. Wherever devotion dwells, that is my abode. Trust me. You will be benefited”. Baba never asked anything from his devotees.  What he wanted from them is to remember the benefit you obtain from others, and have unchanging strong faith and devotion.  Baba cured many diseases without using medicines. Baba’s words and blessings are great, just like the arrow of Sri Rama, meaning it cannot be reverted.

14^th Chapter:

                We were born as human beings due to the good deeds we have done in the previous births. So with the help of this gift we should become devotional and spiritual and should attain the stage of not being born again. Since Baba is omniscient.  Although he lived in Shirdi he knew what is going on elsewhere in the world. The reason behind Baba asking dakshina from everybody is to teach us about benefit of being charitable and helping them in getting rid of our infatuation towards wealth. Baba’s possessions are one Koupin (codpiece), one stray piece of  cloth, one Kafni, one tinpot. When we prove that we are detached from women and wealth, our progress in spiritual life will become faster and stronger with the blessings of Baba.

15^th Chapter:

                Baba says, “If you stretch your hands in front of me with devotion, I will be with you round the clock.  Although I am bodily present here, I know what you do beyond the seven seas. Wherever you go in this wide world, I still stay with you. I dwell in your body. Your heart is my abode.  Always worship me in your heart and everybody’s hearts. Those who can recognize me this way are blessed and very fortunate”.

                To prove that He is omniscient, Baba said to Babasaheb Jog, “Give tea with lot of sugar added to our guest Mr. Cholkar”. Also when a devotee asked Baba about the meaning of the tick-ticking of the lizard, Baba told him that her sister was coming from a far off place to see her.

Sri Satchidananda Sadguru Sainath Maharaj Ki Jai!

 

Sri Sai Satcharitra Sārāmsh - Thursday Pārāyan

Sri Ganeshayanamaha      Sri Saraswatyainamaha      Sri Gurubhyonnamaha

 Sri Sai Ramachandrayanamaha

Sri Sai Satcharitra Sārāmsh

(Thursday Paarayan)

Source: Sri Sai Satcharitra written by Sri Hemad Pant and published by Shirdi Samsthan

Abridged by: Ch. K. Surya Prakasa Rao, Visakhapatnam (A.P., India), 

Sai Devotee

 Translated by: Suryanarayana Vulimiri, Morrisville, NC USA, 

Sai Devotee

Introduction

Sri Sai Baba is the Sadguru, incarnation of the trinity and omniscient. He is the protector of those seeking his shelter. He is the saint of all saints (yogeeswara). Sai says “Assume that those who think that Baba is only in Shirdi are those who really did not understand him”.

Prarthana (prayer)

Now we prostrate in front of Sai Baba and by touching his lotus feet, recite this prayer for the benefit of the mankind.

Please do not let our minds waver or oscillate. Let our hearts desire nothing but your mercy. Let us have this Satcharitra in every household. Let us do the reading (pārāyana) of Sai’s message everyday. Let the troubles or misery of those who do the parayana of this book be removed forever.

Baba’s message:

Please remember that wherever you are and what ever you are doing I knew everything. I rule the hearts of all my devotees. I live in everybody’s heart. I am present in all animate or inanimate objects and creatures of the world. I am the master or the key behind everybody’s life in this world. Those who look at me will never get any troubles or miseries.  Maya (illusion) punishes those who forget me. All creatures including worms, ants or any moving or sedentary life has my body and my appearance.

1^st Chapter:

Baba says that in order to obtain knowledge and self-realization one has to wipe out all the impulses, desires and sins. Then one should be free of all the three gunas (sattwa, rajas and tamas).  In addition they should shed their ego.

2^nd Chapter:

I will immensely help those who leave their ego at my feet.

3^rd Chapter:

Keep your mind steady. Keep faith in my words. By writing my stories, illiteracy leaves out of your mind. Who ever listens to my stories with sincerity and patience, will be detached with the worldly affections and infatuations. In turn strong waves of devotion and love will rise. Who ever is immersed in my leelas, will find the gems of knowledge.  For those who ever surrender themselves to me; those who ever worship me with devotion and faith; those who ever think of me alone, who ever installs my image in their minds, it is my utmost duty to get them detached from their mundane bonds. Just by reciting the name “Sai! Sai” they can get rid of the sin incurred by listening or saying bad things to others.

4^th Chapter:

As quoted by Lord Srikrishna in the 4^th chapter, 7^th and 8^th shlokas (verses) of bhagavad-geeta, in every yug (era) when dharma diminishes and adharma perpetrates, in order to save the good, punish the evil and establish dharma, either God himself or his representatives such as yogis, sanyasis will incarnate on earth and perform their duties.  One such yogeeswara among yogis is Sri Shirdi Saināth. Baba always used to say “allāh mālik”, meaning “allah is the master”. Baba used to do the nāma smarana (reciting the name) round the clock for 7 days, which is known as “nāma saptāham”.

                Baba told Dasaganu “There is no need to go to Prayaga for a holy bath. Both Ganga and Yamuna are here itself”. By saying this Baba made to let Ganga and Yamuna flow from the thumbs of his feet. Baba told everybody that the place where he sits in Shirdi is his gurusthān where his guru’s samādhi (grave) is located and that it should be protected.

5^th Chapter:

Baba said to Bhai Krishnaji “What is there in Akkal Kota? Why do you go there? The king who lived there, is present in Shirdi right now and it is me who was in Akkal Kota”. In order for the world to realize that he is the yogeeswara, Baba surprised a rich man named Chand Patil by disclosing the whereabouts of his lost horse. During his first visit to Shirdi, as Baba stepped down from the tānga (horse carriage) at the Khandoba temple a devotee  named Mahalsapathi first saw him and addressed as “welcome Sai”. Since then Baba is popularly being called as “Sai Baba”.

6^th Chapter:

                There are four paths to realize the God, which are the paths of karma, jnyana, yoga and bhakti. Among them, the path of bhakti is the most difficult one to follow. Its full of thorns and ditches. However, with the help of a sadguru (true teacher) all these obstacles can be overcome and one can reach the destination easily. Baba always tells his devotees to believe in this. He also used to say that “there is no dearth of food and clothes in my devotees homes. To attain this one should keep his mind steady without any waverings.

                Baba always liked annadāna or feeding people.  He converted unpottable water into drinkable water by throwing flowers into the well. For Baba all religions are equal.  For example, in Shirdi Baba encouraged Hindus to celebrate Srirāma Navami during day time and let Muslims perform Chandanotsavam during night time.

7^th Chapter: Mercy

Baba rescued the child of a blacksmith by putting his hand into a burning furnace. At that time Baba said “I am not worried that my hand is burnt, but I am happy that my child is being saved”. In order to save Kaparde’s son Baba experienced the pain of four big plague pustules onto his body and said “Look I always experience the pain of my devotees and I always assume that the troubles or problems of my devotees are actually my problems”. Sai never showed any discrepancy in the name of caste or religion. He is omniscient, but still always appears to be unaware of all these things.

Sri Satchidananda Sadguru Sainath Maharaj Ki Jai!

 

Sri Sai Satcharitra Sārāmsh - Foreword

Sri Ganeshayanamaha      Sri Saraswatyainamaha      Sri Gurubhyonnamaha

 Sri Sai Ramachandrayanamaha

Sri Sai Satcharitra Sārāmsh

(Nitya Paarayana Granth)

Source: Sri Sai Satcharitra written by Sri Hemad Pant and published by Shirdi Samsthan

Abridged by: Ch. K. Surya Prakasa Rao, Visakhapatnam (A.P., India), 

Sai Devotee

 Translated by: Suryanarayana Vulimiri, Morrisville, NC USA, 

Sai Devotee

FOREWORD

To readers:

The main purpose of writing this small booklet titled “Sai Satcharitra Saramsamsh” is as follows:

       When I worked as a Civil Engineer in Nagarjuna Sagar near Ongole (Andhra Pradesh, India) in 1984, several things happened, such as visiting the Shirdi Sai Mandir in Lawyerpet (a close by place), having a darshan of Sri Ekkirala Bharadwaja garu, visiting the holy shrine of Baba in Shirdi etc. From that time onwards Sai’s mercy showered on me and my family.  I never looked back in Sai’s service since that time. My experiences are multi-fold.

      I did parayanam (reading) of several versions of Sai Satcharitra books written by different authors. However, I did not get the same satisfaction with these versions, compared to what I got from the original Sai Satcharitra published by Sai Sansthan of Shirdi.  During several of my visits to Shirdi, I always prayed Baba to provide me an opportunity to make a condensed version of Sai Satcharitra. The main reason is that in the present day life, everything is mechanical and with so many changes in day-to-day life, it is becoming increasingly difficult for Sai devotees to do the parayanam of the original Satcharitra of 350 pages.  So the purpose of writing this condensed version is “to spread the essence of Sai’s message to all Sai devotees without changing the content of the original Sai Satcharitra published by Sai Sansthan of Shirdi”. I feel that I could succeed in this endeavor due to the punya I acquired in my previous birth, which allowed me to write this small book with the blessings of Sri Saibaba to whom I am very much grateful.

      The leelas (miracles) of Sai are infinite and intriguing. Nobody understands them completely.  It so happened that I and my wife Smt. Lakshmi came to America for the third time and happened to stay at my daughter chi.sou.Gayatri Nanduri’s house. On the auspicious occasion of Guru Pournami (July 25, 2010) in a special function at their house I narrated the essence of Baba’s message to several enthusiastic Sai devotees. Everybody was so impressed and asked for copies of this small booklet.  Although I wrote this book in Telugu since it is my mother tongue, several devotees wanted to have a translation into English so that non-Telugu speaking devotees as well as kids born here in US can also read and understand Sai’s message.  Its all Sai’s miracle or mercy what ever you name it.  I am optimistic that you all do the parayana of this book and obtain Sri Sai’s mercy.

Always I surrender myself to Sri Sai Baba.

Sai Devotee

Ch.K.Surya Prakasa Rao

Visakhapatnam (A.P. India)

Note: The parayana publishing on the web begins from tomorrow (Thursday) and concludes the following Thursday.

Sri Satchidananda Sadguru Sainath Maharaj Ki Jai!