SAI IN RAMAYAN

Sri Ganeshaya Namaha. Sri Saraswatye Namaha. Samartha Sadguru Sainathaye Namaha.
In Sai Sat Charitra Baba says, “ you need not go anywhere in search of Me. Barring your name and form , there exists in you, as well as in all beings, a sense of being or consciousness of existence. That is Myself. Knowing this you see me inside yourself as well as in all human beings. He who sees me in all creatures is my beloved”. Baba is there in every soul, so I convey my pranams to everybody here.

Nowadays all Sai devotees greet each other as “Sai Ram”. What is the greatness of Sairam? Sai is indeed Ram. My object is to prove that Sai is Ram and Ram is Sai by projecting similar incidents from Ramayan and Sai Sat charitra. You must be aware that Ramayan contains, Bala Kandam, Ayodhya kandam, Aaranya kandam, Kishkinta kandam, Sundara kandam and Yudha kandam, I am taking few incidents from all this to bring out the similarity between Ram and Sai.

Hemadpant has said, “when I read Ramayan, I could see Sai in Ramayan and when I read Bhagavatam I again could see Sai in Bhagavatam” . To test this I started reading Bhagavatam and I also found Sai in Bhagavatam. And I found Sai in Ramayan also . That is the reason for the discourse today. I will give you relevant examples which will help you conclude that Sai is Ram.

One day, to the Dhulia Commission officer at Shirdi, Baba disclosed his age as lakhs of years which means, for lakhs of years Baba was Ram. It must be true as Sai was a realized soul and an ageless chiranjeevi like Ram. So this proves to us that Baba and Ram are one and the same and both are beyond death and mortality.

Where Ram is there Hanuman is.
Where ever Ram is you can find Hanuman around. Ram and Hanuman are inseparable. Hanuman will be ahead of Ram to greet Ram on his arrival. And wherever Ram nama is heard, Hanuman is sure be around.

Similarly, at Shirdi, there is a Maruthi Mandir besides Dwarakamayi, where Shirdi Sai Baba lived. Here also Hanuman was ahead of Baba to greet and receive His master on His arrival to Dwarakamayi. We should feel happy that Shirdi is also Ayodhya for us as we have Hanuman and Ram in the form of Sai.

Importance of Namasmarana:
Lord Shiva is also called as Garlakanta or Neelakanta. He is called so because, he consumed the deadly poison and kept it in his throat without swallowing. If he spit it out the entire universe would be in flames. It is a very difficult task but Lord Shiva could manage this because every moment He used to utter the taraka mantra “Ram , Ram”, and He could bear the pain and the ill-effect of poison by uttering Rama nama.

In Chapter X of Sai Sat Charita, Hemadpant says that Baba never prescribed any asanas , sitting between the fires, sacrifices or eight fold yoga to his sishyas. He told them to leave all cleverness and always utter “Sai, Sai” and by uttering the name of Sai all our shackles will be removed and we will be free. Sai Ram is the taraka mantra and in this Kaliyug, in which Baba lived, only namasmarana can remove our fear and carry us safely across the ocean of worldly existence.
Godliness not realized

In the Tretya Yuga, Ram is portrayed in the beginning only as a human being and not as an incarnation of God. But the divine qualities that Ram possessed made people conclude that Ram was an avatar Purusha - the incarnation of Lord Srihari. This happened only towards the end of Ramayana.

Similarly, when we begin to read Sai Sat Charitra, we think of Sairam only as a human being. Only after reading all the fifty-one chapters, we come to realize that Sai is God. Even though Mahalsapati invited Sai, he did not allow Him to stay in the Kandoba temple but asked Him to stay in the Dwarakamai because Sainath looked like a fakir. Sairam took His Mahasamadhi in the year 1918, and even till 1918 many people did not realize that He was an avatar Purusha.
Blessings for a male child

In Ramanyan, King Dasaratha had all the prosperity but he was gloomy and sad because he had no son. He got sage Rishyasringa to perform Putrakameshti Yaaga ( a yaaga for childbirth) and was blessed with 4 sons Ram, Lakshman, Bharatha and Satrugan

In Sai Sat Charita there is a similar incident. Ratanji Shapurji Wadia was a multi millionaire. But with all this wealth, he was totally unhappy because he did not have a son. When he approached Baba and gave Rs 5/ as dakshina, Baba told him that he had already given Him Rs 3 and 14 annas and took only the balance. But at the end Baba blessed him saying, “God will satisfy your heart’s desire”. Baba’s words were true and Ratanji was blessed with a son.

Guru Vakya Paripalana - Ordeal of Guru Bhakti
In Ramayan in the Baalakand , Viswamitra takes Ram and Lakshman to the forest to defeat and kill the raakshasas who were obstructing his yaaga. When Thaataka approached fiercely to kill Ram and Lakshman and to destroy the yaaga, Viswamitra asked Rama to kill Thaataki immediately. Though it was against Kshatriya Dharma to kill a woman, Ram did not hesitate a minute. He said, “it is my duty to obey my Guru without asking any question,” and so saying He strung His bow and the arrow pierced her chest and Thaataki fell down lifeless. Ram proved here that “guru Vakya” i.e order of the guru is very important.

Similarly in chapter XXIII of Sai Sat Charita, Sai tested his disciples. While the cholera ordinance was in force, someone brought a goat to the Dwarakamai to be killed. Sai put some of his closest devotees to test. He first asked Bade Baba to behead it, who flatly refused. Then Baba asked Shama to kill the goat and he also went to fetch a knife but did not return . Baba finally asked Kakasaheb Dixit, a pure Brahmin , who never in his life knew killing, to behead the goat. Though quite averse to do any act of violence, Kakasahib Dixit tightened his dhotar and raising the knife waited for Baba’s permission. When Baba said “strike”, the knife was about to come down on the goat . But Baba said , “ Stop. How cruel you are. Being a Brahmin you are killing a goat”.

Kakasahib Dixit said, “Baba, Your nectar like word is law to me. I do not know whether it is right or wrong to kill, but I know implicit and prompt compliance with Guru’s orders is my duty and Dharma”. Here Kakasaheb Dixit has taken the words of Baba as law.

Parasthri Vyamoham:
In Ramayan, Ahalya, the wife of Gautama Muni was turned to a stone by her husband when she yielded to the unholy desire of Indra. Ramayan teaches a lesson that Parasthri Vyamoham i.e. yearning for another man’s woman is very bad offence.

In Sai Sat Charitam XLIX chapter, Sai also preaches that Parasthri Vyamoham is bad. Once when Nanasaheb Chandorkar was sitting in the Dwarakamai with Baba, a Mohammedian gentleman came with his family. When a muslim lady removed her barkha(veil) to salute Baba, Nana was smitten by her beauty and was tempted to see her face once again. Baba knowing Nana’s restlessness says to Nana, “Our mind is fickle by nature, it should not be allowed to get wild. You can enjoy beauty but you cannot aspire for it. Beauty is the subject of sight, but we should never entertain evil thoughts in our mind.”

Kamadhenu
Viswamitra comes to the ashram of Vasista with his followers and , he sees Kamadhenu the divine cow of Heaven, which grants all the wishes and desires of Vasista. When Viswamitra asked Vasista about the importance of Kamadhenu, Vasista praises the Holy cow and says that She , emerged from the ocean and was created by Brahma to serve mankind.

Sai speaks about Kamadhenu in Chapter XXVII in Sai Sat Charita. Smt Lakshmi Bai Khaparde was the wife of a very rich and famous advocate but she was very humble like her husband. Both the Khapardes were faithful devotees of Sai. While she stayed at Shirdi, every noon she brought naivedya for Sai, One day when she brought the Naivedya, Baba ran to her and snatching the plate began to partake the dish zealously. Shama asked Baba, “ Why this partiality? You throw away dishes of others, but you are eating this lady’s food . Why is the dish of this woman so sweet?”. Baba then explained, “ this food is really extraordinary. In her former birth(five janma’s back) she was a cow yielding much milk. I have tasted that milk . She has come back to me after her five janmas. I saw her after a very long time. Let me take some sweet morsels of food from her dish.” Baba as Ram would have tasted the milk of Kamadhenu. As Baba has said, “ I will follow my baktha birth after birth” , He still remembers her . If an animal or creature does something good to the society, they will be born as a human being in the next birth. This is the moral , which Sai indicates to us.

Vengeance Kills:
In Ramayan, Kekaya Maharaj suffered for a great sin committed by him for the sake of momentary pleasure. When Kekaya Maharaj was young, he had the skill to use his bow against unseen targets. For the pleasure of exercising this skill, he once killed a love intoxicated male deer sporting his joy of love with a female deer. The male deer fell down dead. The female deer seeing her husband dead ran to her mother to fetch the sanjeevini moolika and bring her husband back to life. The mother of the female deer begged Kekaya Maharaj to handover the body of the male deer but Kekaya Maharaj refused. She then proclaimed in anger. “ Kekaya Maharaj, in this birth you have killed my son in law. So in the next birth I will take revenge and I will be responsible for the death of your son in law and show you how painful it is” .The mother in law deer was born in the next birth as Mandhara. Mandhara’s evil counseling to Kaikeyi was the main cause of Ram’s exile and later King Dasaratha’s death. Dasaratha had married Kaikeyi, the daughter of Kekaya Maharaj. This is narrated in Tulsi Ramayan. If one dies with the feeling of revenge, it will be carried to the next janma.

In chapter XLVII of Sai Sat Charita, Sai narrates this incident . Chennabasappa and Veerabhadrappa were enemies in their previous birth. They were always quarrelling and threatening to kill one another. They died and in the next birth, Chennabasappa was born as a frog and Veerabhadrappa was born as a snake. Once when Sai was scrolling along a small riverbank, He heard the croaking of a frog and soon found that a huge black snake was holding a big frog in its mouth. Sai recognized them as Chennabasappa and Veerabhadrappa. He addressed them, “Have you not forgotten your enmity? Though born as a frog and snake, you still maintain enmity against each other? Be ashamed of yourself. Give up your hatred now and be at rest”. Baba preaches that the feeling of revenge , whether it is in human being or animal should not be carried to the next janma. Many people like Megha and Somadev Swamiji had insulted Baba in the beginning and refused to bow before Him because He was a fakir. But Baba pardoned them and finally they became His ardent devotees. Grudge is a very bad vice, and people should learn to forgive and forget instead of carrying their grudge , birth after birth.

The Lord is the humblest of all
In Ramayana, Kaikeyi told Ram that she wanted her son Baratha to be the heir to the throne and asked Ram to go in to exile for fourteen years. Ram without the slightest sign of disappointment or sorrow, said that He would be the happiest person to give the throne to Bharatha and go to the forest to fulfill His father’s promise.

There was in Shirdi , a very queer person , by name Nanavalli. He once approached Baba who was sitting in His seat in Dwarakamayi and asked Baba to get up as he wanted to occupy the same. Baba did not show the slightest displeasure in being dictated and ousted. He very happily got up from his seat and offered Nanavalli his seat.

Lesson on Charity
Before going to vanavas, Ram donated all his jewels to the poor and needy people. Even when a Brahmin approached Him on the way, Ram ordered Sumantha to gift him as many cows as he needed . Rama wore only a bark dress and carried His bow and arrow as his belongings.
Same way Baba used to collect dakshina everyday from devotees who visited Him, which sometimes amounted to Rs.500/- . But, He would distribute the money thus collected to poor and needy people on the same day and the next morning He would be a fakir as usual. Baba did this to teach His devotees the lesson of Charity and to remove their attachment to money.
Power of Interpretation of the language of the creatures

Kekaya Maharaj had the rare power of understanding the language of animals and creatures. He could understand the language of the ants Jumbanaka and could interpret it to his wife.
Similarly, Baba could also understand the language of other creatures. Once when Baba was sitting in the Dwarakamai, a lizard tick-ticked. One devotee asked Baba whether this tick-ticking signified anything. Baba said that the lizard was overjoyed as her sister from Aurangabad was coming to see her. Immediately a gentleman from Aurangabad came on horseback to see Baba. He took out a big bag of grams to feed his hungry horse. A lizard jumped out of the bag and climbed the wall and went strutting towards her sister. Baba’s prophecy of the meeting of the two lizards proved the omniscience – the all-knowing nature of Baba.

All are equal in the eyes of GOD
On the first day of Vanavas, Ram reached the bank of the Ganga . Guha, the chieftain of the tribes who dwelt on the banks of Ganga welcomed Ram and offered Him lavish food. Ram moved by Guha’s hospitality happily ate the food lovingly offered by Guha. Ram did not discriminate Guha on the basis of His caste or creed.

Same way when Baba was wandering in the jungle in quest of His Guru, a Vanjari offers Him food. Baba moved by the Vanjari’s extraordinary love, accepted the food offered by Vanjari and happily ate the loaf of bread.

Kshatriya Dharma:
Ram is a Kshatriya and it is the duty of a Kshatriya to protect anyone who takes refuge in him. He has protected Sugriva and then Vibeeshana who took refuge in Him. This is Kshatriya Dharma. This also illustrates the doctrine that Lord accepts all who seek absolute surrender at His feet.

Sainath also followed this dharma. He protected anyone who surrendered to Him regardless of his or her merits or demerits. During His lifetime Baba never revealed his caste to anyone. But Baba has indirectly told 33rd in chapter of the Sai Sat Charita in the Jamner Miracle that He was a Hindu Kshatriya. When Mainatai , the daughter of Nana Chandorkar was suffering from labour pain , Nana cried to Baba for help. Baba asked Ramgirbuva, who was going to his native place, to stop at Jamner and give a packet of Udi and Aarthi song to Nana Chandorkar. When Ramgirbuva refused to go saying he did not have enough money, Baba said that He would take care of everything. Ramgirbuva reached Jamner and there a tonga was waiting for him with the tongawala to take him to Jamner. The tongawala was none other that Sai himself. On the way, the tongawala(Sai) offered food to Ramgirbuva. Ramgirbuva suspected the tongawala to be a Muslim and was unwilling to take the food. Here Baba(tongawala) says that He was a Hindu, a Kshatriya of Garhwal . From this incident I personally feel that Baba is also a Kshatriya like Ram. He has gone one more step and promised to take care of the devotees who surrender to Him not only in this birth but also in births to come.

The best of bhaktas honored
When Ravana kidnapped Sita, Jatayu, king of eagles, attacked Ravana. In the encounter, Ravana unsheathed his sword and cut both the wings of Jatayu. Ram saw the bleeding Jatayu on his way and Jatayu after conveying to Ram that Ravana had taken Sita to Lanka, died in Ram’s arms. Ram’s sorrow knew no bounds. He embraced Jatayu and lamented loudly. Though Ram knew Jatayu only for a very short time, Jatayu won the heart of Ram by exhibiting true love and devotion to Ram . Ram, who could not to perform the last rites for His own father, performed the last rites for this eagle father , honored Jatayu and gave him Moksha.

Same is the case of Megha in Sai Sat Charita. Megha was an illiterate Brahmin ,and an ardent devotee of Lord Shiva. He served Baba only for a very short time. When he first came to Shirdi , he refused to bow before Baba whom he thought was a Muslim. Baba read his thought and drove him away. But Megha who had realized Baba’s divinity, came again and again to Baba and became one of his closest devotees. He started worshipping Baba with bilva leaves and ganga water just as he worshipped Lord Shiva. When Megha died, Baba was grief stricken and he wept like a close relative. He followed the funeral procession, covered his body with flowers and served a funeral dinner on his behalf. when He performed the last rites of Megha tears flowed from Baba’s eyes and like an ordinary mortal. Baba showed himself overcome with grief and sorrow. Krishna performed last rites of his disciple Astavakra. Ram performed the last rites of Jatayu and Sairam performed the last rites of Megha.

Epitome of love and devotion:
In Ramayana, Ram on his way to Lanka , visited the ashram a tribal woman Baktha Sabari, on the banks of Pampa. Sabari was very old and she was leading a saintly life. She was waiting for the arrival of Ram and for the bliss of His darshan. She received Ram and Lakshman and offered them fruits that she had collected from the forest . Out of her great desire to give nothing but the best among her collection of fruits to Ram , Sabari checked the ripeness of the fruits that she collected for Sri Ram by tasting each fruit and gave only those fruits that she thought was ripe, to Sri Ram. Ram understood her true affection and so without the slightest hesitation accepted Sabari’s offerings and ate them happily.

Similarly , in the year 1914, on a Ram Navami day, a poor old woman came to take darshan of Sai Ram . She brought three rotis to offer to Sairam . But there was a huge crowd and she could not go near Sai. She was very hungry as she had traveled all through the day by foot to meet Sai and so she started eating the rotis which she had brought to offer for Sai. Sai knew it and he called Shama and asked him to bring the old lady from the crowd. When the old lady came near, Sai snatched the remaining half roti that she had in her hand and ate it. Such was the greatness of Sai. He expects only pure love and is ready to accept anything that is offered to Him with pure love and devotion.

A lie to benefit Mankind
When Ram was going to the forest, King Dasaratha ordered minister Sumantha to bring back Ram. Dasaratha told Sumantha that as a king Ram had to obey his orders and return immediately to Ayodhya to ascend the throne. But to Ram no pleasure was higher than honoring his fathers pledge(pitruvakiya paripalana). Ram also knew that He was going to the forest to kill Ravana .So He told Sumanta to tell a lie that Ram did not hear him as the crowd was shouting wildly. Ram told a lie for the first and last time in his life to fulfill his father’s word and to uphold dharma.

Baba has told in Sat Charita, “ I never tell lies” but Baba has told a lie, to teach the world, the importance of Vishnu Sahasranama. Shama was a very intimate devotee of Baba and Baba wanted to favor him by giving him a copy of Vishnu Sahasranama. A Ramadasi had the habit of reciting Vishnu Sahasranama at the Dwarakamayi daily. Baba once told the Ramadasi that He was suffering from intense stomach pain and asked him to get a particular drug for him. When the Ramdasi went out, Baba took the Vishnusahasranama, which the Ramdasi was reading and gave it to Shama and asked him to read it. At the same time, He convinced the Ramadasi saying that He wanted everyone to read Vishnu Sahasranama. to save them from the miseries of worldly existence. Sai told this lie for the benefit of His devotees. Such is the efficacy of Vishnu Sahasranam. Baba has once told me in meditation, “ when you are traveling in the boat of Samsar on the ocean of worldly troubles, when ever you have a problem, hoist the flag of Vishnu Sahasranam on your boat and it will save you”.

Lord’s Paadukas
In Ramayana, Bharatha went to the forest to request Ram to return and rule Ayodhya. But Ram refused to return. So Baratha asked for Ram’s Padukas. Baratha kept these padukas in the throne and paid reverent homage to the Padukas. He worshipped these Padukas with great respect.

In the 5th chapter of Sai Sat Charita there is a similar incident. Bai Krishnaji thought that there must be some memorial of the fact of Sai Baba’s coming to Shirdi and sitting under the neem tree. So he consulted with Upasani Maharaj and others and made the Padukas. Baba touched the Padukas and asked them to install on Sravana poornima day at the Gurusthan . But after installation, Baba said that the padukas were not His , but were the feet of the Lord and asked the people to worship it as Lord’s Padukas.

Om Tat Sat
After fulfilling the duty of His avatar of killing Ravana , Ram felt it was time for him now to leave the sorrow of earthly life and resume his celestial identity as Vishnu. As He set forth on his final journey, the people of Ayodhya and the vanaras followed him. They followed him as He walked out of the capital and straight to the banks of the Sarayu River. He paused for a moment on the shore. He shone like the sun in all its radiance. A serene smile lit his face. He descended into the water of river Sarayu, submerged himself under the surface and instantly rose again and transformed into His eternal form as Vishnu. Effulgent on the coils of his serpent seat, that Lord revealed himself briefly to those left behind, then ascended to His Celestial abode.

Sai also left his mortal coil happily. In fact two years before leaving this world , Baba gave an indication that He would attain Mahasamadhi on Vijayadasami. On the day of His Mahasamadhi , He gave nine coins to Laxmibai Shinde as a token of her bakthi. In order that He should not be entangled with love and affection, He ordered all His devotees to go and have their noon meals. He never told anyone the exact time of His departure to heaven. After accomplishing His mission of Lokasamrakshana, Baba left His mortal coil on a Vijayadasami day peacefully.

There are many more incidents but I conclude today with this. I thank the organizers of this function for giving me this opportunity and also to the devotees assembled here.

Jai Sai Ram


Sai Banisa's Mission:
"To help Sri Shirdi Sai devotees in realising that Sai lives in their Heart."