Sai Shiva
Taken from various Discourses of Swami : Shiva, Parameswara is represented by the Wonderful LINGA, which is the most divine act of creation. It represents life for everyone and everything. The Linga has three parts. The Bottom is Brahma, meaning Creation of everything in the Universe, whatever was, is and will be created is represented by the Brahma part of the Shivalingam . The middle or the second part is on the pedestal and is shaped like a Womb Vishnu, Which means the Supreme Being in the Universe, Lord Vishnu symbolises sustaining the Universe and protecting it, The third part is that rises above the pedestal and which Represent Lord Shiva, This means that Shiva is the culmination of Both Brahma and Vishnu, meaning he is the Creator, Sustainer and the Destroyer of the Universe and everything. This is what the Shiva Linga, It means that it has got the Three features of the World - Creation, Sustainance and Destruction. Understand this and you will understand what Shivarathri Signifies. Shiva is called NILAKANTA, or the one with the Plain Blue Throat, this happened because He Drank the Poison that came from the ocean which would have destroyed everything in the Universe. The Poison is in the Middle part of the Shivalinga meaning the part where Vishnu Resides meaning Sustainance, He drank the Poison to sustain the Universe, The most holy river Gangadevi flows from his matted hair which means that It is the Purest Form of Eeverything in the World. The Sun, Moon and stars form his crown symbolising the World is with Him. As NATARAJA HIS TANDAVA is the cosmic dance which controls everything in the World. The World dances to His Rhythm. Shiva as Shankara is the one who gives Joy to everyone, As Shambunatha he is the One in whom Joy resides. As Maheswara he is the one from whom all Knowledge emenates. His Great Vahana Nandeswara represents the Lord of all Animals and also Represent Dharma. This is what Shivalinga Means, It is the Purest Form in the Universe which sustains everything. Swami knows that all of you have Celebrated Shivarathri by singing Bhajans, Swami does not want only Bhajan, Bhojan (Food) and Sambhashan (Gossip, Talk), what is the use of doing Bhajans all day and night and doing the same things again and again, Try to understand what Swami has said and what Swami is going to say in future, I want all of you to do things which will help Society and help others, Shivarathri to SWAMI MEANS not only doing Bhajans and partaking Prasadam afterwards But to Understand Swami's Message during Shivarathri and take it to everyone and everywhere, Put My Words in action only then will any Words of Swami be puropseful and will make Swami happy. This is what is the Concept of the Shivalingam and when Swami creates it,It only means that Swami is Shiva, Vishnu and Parameswara together. What a Wonderful Understanding of Sai Shiva. Om Sai Ram
The Tender Heart of the Saint
The Tender Heart of the Saint The heart of a mother is full of tenderness, but it is limited to her child only; but the heart of the Saint is all inclusive, it knows the how and whence of the origin of each one and the vicissitudes they have to go through. The Saint is full of spiritual knowledge and pacific repose, there is nothing wanting. He practices his sadhana in such a way as not to be discovered by others; he has no use for the external marks of saintliness, he dresses in keeping with the time and climate. Being in touch with the atom, the first cause of the universe, he knows its nature quite well. Blossoming forth is the very nature of the core of this atom, hence changes and differentiation are bound to be there. Knowing this well, the Saint is neither elated by pleasing events nor depressed by the opposite ones. He has gauged the depth of the knowledge of the common man. He knows its nature from beginning to end. He knows the how and the why of the mentality, also the worthlessness of its achievements and failures. The needs of the body prompt the creature to acquire means of sustenance, but the greed for these makes the creature pursue them to the point of uselessness, and all of this without the least idea of what awaits the life in future. What the creature deems essential and strives to acquire, the Saint knows to be sheer trash. The Saint is never a victim of passions. Life is a mixture of passions and emotions; Atman, the origin of passions and emotions, is the very core of the Saint's vision, the nature of which he is thoroughly acquainted. He knows its activities and varieties of manifestation, as well as their consequences. The life principle is the principle of feelings, passions, and emotions. Desires and passions engendered in this principle are just emotive experiences, they have nothing of substance in them; yet the poor creature thinks them to be of great significance in his life, embraces the basically worthless desires, indulges in sense enjoyment, and runs after them helplessly. The mother, with sincerity but in ignorance, feeds the roots of misery, while the Saint, with the same intensity, weeds them out. The Saint knows what the welfare of the people lies in much better than does the mother of her child. That is why the heart of the Saint is said to be kind.
Police cover for Sai Baba Paduka Darshan
CM to receive Sai Baba Padukas HERALD REPORTER PANJIM, FEB 20 Chief Minister Digambar Kamat will receive the Padukas (sacred footwear) of Sai Baba at Patradevi on February 21, which will be displayed at Gymkhana Grounds, Campal, on February 22 for devotees to pay their respects. The Sai Baba Saunsthan Trust, Shirdi, has planned to organise a Sai Baba Sammelan in Panjim with a view to commemorate the centenary of the weekly tradition of Sai Baba's Palakhi (ceremonial palanquin procession) from Dwarkamai temple to the Chavadi (city gate) in Shirdi every Thursday. The organisers are expecting around one lakh devotees to pay their respects and also made arrangements for a queue of 10,000 persons at a time in the pandal at the Panjim Gymkhana. The chairman of the Sai Baba Paduka Darshan Sohala Samiti, Anil Counto, addressing a press conference here said that special arrangements have been made to display the Padukas in a pandal at Campal. The padukas would be received by the chief minister at Patradevi and thereafter would be received by the respective MLAs as the procession passes through the constituencies on the national highway, Counto said adding finally the padukas would be given a welcome in Panjim by Opposition leader Manohar Parrikar and Mayor Tony Rodrigues. We expect nearly 1 lakh people from Goa as well as neighbouring states of Karnataka and Maharashtra to visit the Paduka Darshan Sohala, he added. Preparations are going on in full swing, he said adding the work of erecting the pandals, stages and barricading is complete and arrangements are being made to facilitate the visit of over one lakh devotees. Speaking further, Mr Counto said that the traditional Sai aartis including Kakad aarti, Sanj aarti and Shej aarti would be performed on February 22, besides making available Mahaprasad (holy meal) and laddoos from Shirdi to the visiting devotees adding, ?Seating arrangements for senior citizens, volunteers to accompany the visiting physically challenged persons, drinking water facility, security, etc would be provided by the committee. The Sai Bhajans would also be sung by well-known groups at the venue, he informed, appealing to the local bhajan troupes to join the celebrations and contact the committee, if interested in presenting Sai Bhajans. Mr Counto said that the teachings of Shri Sai Baba are very much relevant in today?s times and go well with the secular nature of Goa. Sai Baba taught a moral code of love, forgiveness, helping others, charity, contentment, inner peace and finally, devotion to God and Guru. The sage has a large following of devotees from every religion. Mr Counto also appealed to the people to make contributions, even if they are token contributions, for the occasion and contact the committee for the same. Police cover for Sai Baba paduka darshan 21 Feb 2009, 0345 hrs IST, TNN PANAJI: Over a hundred private security guards and hundreds of policemen will provide security to ensure peace and order during the one-and-a-half-day Shirdi Sai Baba paduka darshan at Campal, Panaji. Chairman of the Goa Pradesh Shree Sai Baba Paduka Darshan Sohala Samiti, Anil Counto, said that they are expecting over a lakh devotees to gather at the Bandodkar ground on Sunday, February 22, from all over Goa to catch a glimpse and pay their respects to the Sai Baba Paduka, which will arrive all the way from Shirdi. Suresh Waable of the Saunsthan informed that the paduka will arrive in Goa on February 21at 4 pm, and will be welcomed by chief minister Digambar Kamat at Patradevi along with other cabinet ministers and MLAs. On Sunday, the Paduka Darshan of Shirdi Sai Baba and Bhakti Sammelan will be organised at the grounds at Campal. Governor of Goa S S Sidhu and chief minister Digambar Kamat will be present for the ceremony. Ashok Khambekar of the Shirdi Sai Saunstha said, The paduka abhishek will take place on Sunday at 6 am. Thereafter, devotees will be allowed darshan up to 12 noon.. At 6 pm Saanj aarti will be performed and Sez aarti at 10.30 pm. Dr Ekanth Gadekar said, At 4.30 pm on February 22 devotees will be offered Mahaprasad. We have made arrangements for 10,000 to stand in a queue at one time for the paduka darshan and 25,000 will be accommodated in the pandal at a time during the darshan. The event is being organised by the Shirdi Sai Saunstha and Goa Pradesh Shree Sai Baba Paduka Darshan Sohala Samiti to celebrate 100 years of the first Sai Baba palki or palanquin that travelled from Dwarka Mai to Chawdi in Shirdi in 1909.
The Personification Of Love
The Personification Of Love Bayajabai used to invite Baba to come in and rest a while whenever he came begging, but Baba would always politely decline. The most he would do was to sit in the shade in the forecourt of their house. Bayajabai would plead with Baba to sit inside the house and eat there in front of her but Baba would do as he pleased. Rarely would he sit in their forecourt and have his food there. Bayajabai would be ecstatic with happiness on those occasions when Baba ate in front of her. She would plead, Eat a little more, try this curry? and make him eat a little extra. Have something to drink, she would beg Baba. Normally Baba ate bhakri (unleavened bread of coarsely ground millet) with a little curry. Sometimes he would ask for milk, curd, buttermilk, pickles, onion or pappadam (very thin chapati-like preparation of black gram, fried in oil or roasted over coals) and eat them with relish. Bayajabai would always keep these foods ready in case he asked for them. Bayajabai served Baba thus with great love and unswerving devotion for a long time. We are unfortunate that no written record is available to us of what Baba taught Bayajabai or what divine experiences he gave her. One incident is, however, available to us about Bayajabai from the reminiscences of Tatya Patil. Radhakrishna Ayi was first staying at Pandharpur and later came to Shirdi. Once she decided to go on a pilgrimage to Pandharpur from Shirdi by foot. Bala Shimpi and Madhav Fasle also started along with her. They wanted to take part in the festival which would be held at Pandharpur on the 11th (ekadasi) day of the month of Ashaad. My mother, a few others, and I too decided to go to Pandharpur to take part in the festival. As Radhakrishna Ayi and her group had already left, we decided to go by cart as far as Ahmednagar and catch up with them, after which we could all proceed further by foot. My mother, my brother-in-law, Lakshmibai Shinde and a few other ladies all got ready for the trip. Before starting, we all went to the mosque to have the darshan of Baba and take his blessings for the trip. Baba blessed us and gave udi to each of us. Three carts packed with our stuff were standing ready under the tree at the village well. I went and broke a coconut at the Maruti temple so that our trip would go well without any problems, and later went to the temple of Saturn. About fifty villagers were standing at the village well to bid us farewell. While I was on my way to the temple of Saturn, I was surprised to see Baba standing where the Samadhi Mandir is at present. I broke a coconut at the temple of Saturn and came out. As I was coming out of the temple, Kondya, a Muslim devotee of Baba, came and told me that Baba was calling me. I went to Baba. He took me to the mosque. Some of the villagers who had come to bid us goodbye came with me to the mosque while the others stayed on at the well. I sat besides the railing at the mosque while Madhavrao Deshpande (Shama) sat opposite me. Madhavrao lit the pipe and gave it to Baba. Baba sat smoking. All were quiet. After a while Madhavrao said, Deva (Oh, God) your Bayajabai and the others are all waiting for him to come so that they can go to Pandharpur. Call Bayajabai, replied Baba. My mother hurried in and said, Baba, have you sent for me? The sun has set and the dusk is deepening. We are all ready to start. Baba placidly said, Mother, go home. Do not start today. Do not even start tomorrow. Start the day after tomorrow. Do not ask why. Do not consult anyone in this matter. Here, take this udi and go. My mother did not hesitate a second or even take time to think. She said, Alright Baba, we will go the day after as you say. We unloaded the carts and sent them off. The friends and relatives who had come to see us off left for their homes. Later, Madhavrao saw the astrological calendar and charts and said that the day was not an auspicious one for travel. On the morning of the third day, we again got ready to travel. Baba cheerfully gave udi to each of us and came as far as the highway to see us off. We reached Punthamba as planned and after bathing and having a light repast got into the train and reached Bewoor by 8:00 a.m. We met Radhakrishna Ayi's group by nine a.m. That day we reached Narsingpur by lunchtime and had the darshan of Sri Narsing Maharaj. Starting again from there, we reached Pandharpur by the evening of the next day. Cholera struck Pandharpur by the eleventh day of the waxing moon and by the next day was raging throughout the town. Some of us wanted to leave immediately for Shirdi but I was adamant that we should stay till the day of the full moon. My mother was also scared. She met the mamalatdar, Sri Nanasaheb Chandorkar, who was an ardent devotee of Baba, and asked him to convince me to return to Shirdi. Nana Saheb sent for Bala Shimpi and me and advised us to return immediately to Shirdi. Baba knew that
Baba Astrology
Do Sai devotees have to worry about Astrology? Sri Saibaba said Do Not Consult the Astrological Almanacs. Do Not Believe in astrology?. The sastras and the saints say that the planetary positions and horoscopes can have an effect on us only till we surrender to a competent Sadguru, once we have surrendered to a competent Sadguru such as Baba, the planets or horoscopes can do no harm to the devotee. Let us go through some of the incidents in Sai history. Baba himself, pointing this out, once said to a devotee, Where in your destiny was a child for you? I have split my body to present you with a son.? Another time he said to a devotee, What can the planets do to the children of Dwarakamayi?? *** Once a famous astrologer had come, to examine Baba's physiognomy and palms and thereby verify; Baba's divinity. As he reached the Masjid and was about to sit in a corner, Baba started shouting, Woh hamara jhompdi ka bamboo ginene ko aya. He has come to count the bamboos of my hut (the features of His body); there is nothing for him to see here. Get him out of here.? (Source: Sai Bhakti Sadhana Rahasyam Chapter - The belief in astrological almanacs how they prevent our complete surrender to Baba) Shri Rao Bahadur M.W. Pradhan in his work Shri Sai Baba of Shirdi: A Glimpse of Indian Spirituality depicts the following interesting incident involving Sadguru Sainath's all-pervadingness: Once, an astrologer who had heard about Sai Baba as a saint of a very high order, came to Shirdi with the avowed objective of placing a book on astrology into the hands of Sai Baba and receiving the same as prasad from Him. The astrologer sincerely believed that such a prasad from Sai Baba (consecration by Sai Baba) would make him very proficient astrologer and thus enable him to make a fortune. But Sai Baba, when implored to give the book to the astrologer, gave it instead to Bapusaheb Butti (the well-known multi-millionaire who is credited with the construction of Butti wada in Shirdi) who was sitting close by. Bapusaheb Butti, who was a wealthy man and did not have worldly wish took the book thrusted onto his hands by Sai Baba. The astrologer was disappointed. Bapusaheb, who never cared to read anything, skipped over the book now and then for a short time only because Sai Baba gave the book to him. Gradually he began to take interest in the book and the subject of astrology. After a few years, Bapusaheb Butti became proficient in astrologer and he began to help Sai devotees in their needs and was able to predict things with precision! He did all of this without any remuneration! The above incident, Sai Baba wanted to show that, He knew that it was not the destiny of the Astrologer to be proficient in Astrology as he had aimed at; That He wanted to show what any person who was the recipient of such a Prasad would be capable of (in this case Shri Bapusaheb Butti); and That Sai Baba wanted to teach His devotees that a person's proficiency in any art or science is used best when given gratis to humanity than for any love of lucre. ** There lived in Bandra (a suburb of Bombay) a Tendulkar family, all the members of which were devoted to Baba. . The son, Babu Tendulkar was studying hard day and night and wanted to appear for the medical examination. He consulted some astrologers. Examining his horoscope they told him that the stars were not favorable that year and that he should appear for the examination next year, when he would be certainly successful. This cast a gloom over him and made him restless. A few days afterwards his mother went to Shirdi and saw Baba. Amongst other things she mentioned the gloomy and morose condition of her son, who was to appear for the examination in a few days. Hearing this Baba said to her, Tell your son to believe in Me, to throw aside horoscopes and predictions of astrologers and palmists and go on with his studies. Let him appear for the examination with a calm mind, he is sure to pass this year. Ask him to trust in Me and not to get disappointed. The mother returned home and communicated Baba's message to her son. Then he studied hard and in due course appeared for the examination. In the written papers he did well, but being overwhelmed by doubts he thought that he would not secure sufficient marks for passing. So he did not care to appear for the oral examination. But the examiner was after him. He sent word through a fellow- student, stating that he had passed in the written examination and that he should appear for the oral. The son being thus encouraged appeared for the oral examination and was successful in both. Thus he got through the examination that year successfully by Baba's grace, though the stars were against him. It is to be noted here that doubts and difficulties surround us just to move us and confirm our faith. We are tested as it were. If we only hold on steadily to Baba with full
The 12 Jyothirlingams
yThe 12 Jyothirlingams Saurashtre Somanaatham Cha Sree Saile Mallikarjunam Ujjayinyaam Mahaakaalam Omkaare Mamaleswaram Himalaye to Kedaram Daakinyaam Bhimashankaram Vaaranaasyaam cha Viswesam Trayambakam Gowtameethate Paralyaam Vaidyanaatham cha Naagesam Daarukaavane Setubandhe Ramesham Grushnesam cha Shivaalaye || This is the famous sloka given in the Shiva Purana describing the 12 Jyotirlingas of Lord Shiva. There are thousands of lingams all over India but some of them have a special importance. The most important of these are called jyotirlingas and they are twelve in number. As given in the above Shloka, they are : Somnatha Mallikarjuna Mahakala Omkara Kedara Bhimshankara Vishvanatha Tryambaka Vaidynatha Nagesha Rameswara Ghushnesha Most of these are supposed to be self formed or sprouted out of their own will. A few have been installed by human hands. Every Shiva worshipper dreams of doing a pilgrimage to all these twelve jyotirlingas at least once in his lifetime. The Dwadasa Jyotirlinga shrines or the 12 shrines enshrining Shiva in the form of a Jyotirlingam, have been held in reverence since time immemorial in the Indian system of beliefs. The southernmost of these is located at Rameswaram, while the northernmost is located in the snowy heights of the Himalayas at Kedarnath.
