sep 2016

www.saibharadwaja.org;Visit Online Satsangam @ www.saimasterforums.org                                                                                                SEPTEMBER 2016     IN THIS ISSUE:    1.SAI SUKTHI ACHARYA VANI       2.HIGHEST HONOR TO LORD GANESHA        3.SRI PADA SRIVALLABHA SWAMY       4.SRI CHIRALA SWAMY       5.PARIPRASANA        6.SRI CHAITANYA SWAMYJI'S MESSAGE       7.ABOUT THIS EMAIL. .____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________    SAI SUKTHI -ACHARYA VANI  ONE SHOULD KNOW THE MASTER (ELSE) WHY HAVE YOU COME?TO COLLECT THE  DUNG CAKES. ONCE THE STRINGS ARE ENTRUSTED TO THE SADGURU THERE’S NO CAUSE FOR GRIEF.                                                 SRI SAI BABA.  IN KALIYUGA,REGULAR PARAYANA OF THE LIFE HISTORIES OF LORD DATTATREYA,  IS THE ONLY WAY TO RECOGNIZE SADGURU AND OBTAIN HIS GRACE.THIS TRUTH IS CONFIRMED BY THE EXPERIENCES OF SEVERAL DEVOTEES, WHICH ARE CLEARLY MENTIONED IN THE LIFE HISTORIES OF INCARNATIONS OF LORD SRI DATTATREYA.                                  BHAGAVAN SRI BHARADWAJA. __________________________________________________________________________________________________________   LORD GANESHA : ORIGIN BY BHAGAVAN SRI BHARADWAJA.      Even though there are three crores of Gods in Hinduism, Lord Ganesha is given the greatest importance. Vaishnavas,Shaivas, Brahmins, saktheyulu – no matter which God is worshipped primarily by them, when it comes to special occasions like marriage, upanayanam, and before doing daily Pooja, every one worships Lord Ganesha  to overcome obstacles. It is essential to think why so much importance is given to Him in the Hindu society. It is easy to conclude it as a blind belief. Any belief that is present for several thousands of years attracting millions of people indicates that somewhere in the depth of their hearts there is strong belief of its usefulness. To analyze about that usefulness is wisdom. To discard everything as blind belief is the modern superstition.      Human being understood after living several years on this earth that the progress of any individual, country is linked with remaining part of nature. He understood that it is essential to consume only the necessary things from the nature and it is important to respect and not to cause distress the other living beings, including plant kingdom. On one hand with advancement of the culture and civilization this idea lead to the formation of principle of non-violence. On the other hand, Human being recognized that it is important to respect the remaining part of nature including rivers, mountains which provide support to us and to the rest of living creatures. He recognized that nature is responsible providing day to day necessities, for our happiness, bliss, to all the living creatures. To sincerely express that thought is worshipping the nature. Human has the vision of the creative power in all the living and nonliving objects in the nature and he worshipped it.        This point of view is comprised in the worship of Ganesha. Lord Ganesha is the symbolization of all the animals starting from the biggest animal - Elephant to the smallest animal –rat that moves in the houses. The fact that human being is also an inseparable, integral part of the nature is indicated by the human form in Lord Ganesha‘s figure. This category of the fauna is supported by the flora. So we worship Him with different types of leaves (PATRI). Earth is the main support for all types living creatures.  So for worship of Ganesha, the main thing is idol of Ganesha made with clay. If water is not present on this Earth then neither the plants nor the animals would not have evolved and survived. The bodies of all living beings are formed by absorbing the essence from the Earth through water. To remember this, after the pooja, the clay idol of Ganesha, the flowers, and leaves are submerged in sacred rivers, temple tanks (kooneeru). Wells are also used for the same purpose, when it is not possible to do it in the rivers.    Now a days, it is natural to think it as superstition, or an example for ignorance of people. Day by day, the situation is such that our kids are not aware of the appearance of common animals like cows and buffaloes. Kids are thinking that milk is coming from Dairy Farms .Except for those who live close to the poultries, there are generations brought up in big cities without knowing the appearance of hens. In addition to this, there are so many people who are only bothered about their house hold necessities and don’t want to know anything else. The next generation kids are formed in such a way that they are concerned only about their likes and dislikes, without being aware of even the family necessities. Collectively the human race is yearning for temporary pleasures, pomp and ceremonies, political powers etc and forgot about humanity. Human race forgot that it is part of nature. Human existence lies in the nature’s existence. We are in a pathetic situation to honour people who discovered this fact as great scientists. Foreigners   realized that if the same situation continues there is no existence for human race. So they recognized that in order to  improve the quality of life, common man should learn to love and respect nature. Festivals like Vinayaka chavithi may appear strange to the educated who don’t know about the scientific and modern processes involved in this. It requires constructive research to figure out that the truth of life discovered by foreign scientists is already present Vinayaka chavithi Festival. Is it true that if one worships lord Ganapathi all the obstacles will be removed? In the entire nation, every one celebrates Vinayaka chavithi. Does it mean that people don’t have problems and obstacles? Obstacles and problems can be broadly classified into three types. Death, illness, war, earth quakes etc which cannot be prevented and that occur due to changes in nature come under first category. The second category consists of accidents of trains, buses and flights, corruption, communal riots, political disturbances, robberies etc. The third category comprises of obstacles that arise due to hatred, affection and lack of concentration. The first category of obstacles cannot be prevented. The remaining two categories can be prevented and rectified by human effort. Atleast, it is theoretically possible. If one can elaborate and preach to the society, the hidden meaning in Vinayaka pooja, the second type of problems can be prevented. To prevent the third type of problems, one should realize the real entity of performing Vinayaka pooja. If one understands the delicacy of doing pooja and meditation, then it results in the development of keen intellect. It increases the capacity of deep understanding about every matter, which means wisdom is increased. As a result, inordinate desires will disappear. Illusions like superiority and inferiority feelings will be removed and an individual will give importance to the basic necessary elements that improve the welfare of human life .If an individual understands the real entity of Ganapathi pooja as stated above, then he will understand and learn how to behave with nature and other human beings. He gives importance to lead this type of life and become detached to the unavoidable difficulties and pleasures in life. Depending on how many individuals will implement this type of life style, the development of the individual and the society welfare will be decided.  One should perform Ganapathi pooja with proper understanding not only on Vinayaka chavithi but also more frequently. Up till now we recollected the elements from the existing knowledge and common views. But Holy persons (Mahaneeyulu) brought to our attention a lot more excellent concealed subjects. For instance, remember the life history of Sri Sai Baba. It reveals the fact that the soul (atma) or the energy that exists in all living beings is one. Our consciousness did not develop enough to understand and experience the omnipresent spirit. Sri Sai  showed unerring ,at-one-ment with all the living beings and aware of  what is transpired within and without the devotees everywhere .For six decades, all the devotees who had  his darshan are aware of an omnipresent and omniscient Baba. In the beginning of the essay, this is described as the real entity of Lord Ganesha. So after surrendering to such a great Sadguru there is no need to worship other deities. Not only that, the  real entity of Lord Ganesha is clearly understood only after reading the life history of Sri Sai. _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________   SRI PADA SRI VALLABHA SWAMY :- ORIGIN BY BHAGAVAN SRI BHARADWAJA. In Dwapara Yuga, when dharma is several folds higher than now, Sri Krishna said in Bhagavadgeetha “manushyanam sahasreshu kaschidyathati siddhaye” meaning- “one who really strives for self-realization is one in several thousands.” In such case, how many are there in this Kali Yuga? Who is there to teach the mankind the right path and help them implement it? People don’t follow righteous nature (dharma), religious sacrifices (yagnamu), penance (tapassu), Karma (good action), donation (Danam), so the demigods are unkind towards humans. So the merciful Lord Dattatreya incarnated in this yuga as SRI PADA VALLABHA, SRI NRISIMHA SARASWATHI, SRI MANIKYA PRABHU, SRI SWAMY SAMARTHA, SRI SHRIDI SAI BABA. The existence of these incarnations of Lord Datta would not be affected, even after they leave their mortal bodies. The reason being, even when they are with their physical frames they appeared to the devotees in troubles in different forms and saved them .      This miracle is continuing, even after leaving their mortal bodies. They assured that, it will continue like  this forever. The simple and best way to obtain their grace is to do devout study of the life histories of these incarnations, to  think and chant their namam (names). When King Parikshin Maharaj was about to die, Maharshi Sukha narrated the stories of  God from “Bhagavatam” and gave him Mukti (salvation). It is best to do parayana of the life Histories of the incarnations of Lord  Dattatreya, either before visiting or during their stay at the Datta Kshetras. If the stay is only for short period of time, then it is  better to do parayana of the below given brief stories, read the stotras, and chant their namam. These Mahatmas, through their  stories which are imbued with glory, enter into the hearts of the devotees and destroy their sins and bad tendencies. Mahatmas  assured that those devotees who do parayana will obtain livelihood and attain Salvation. One can fulfill their desires, obtain their  livelihood and achieve salvation by listening to “SRI GURU CHARITRA.” Weekly parayana (saptaha parayana) or listening to Sri  GuruCharitra blesses them with progeny. Lord Nrisimha Saraswathi promised that if one does parayana of Sri Guru charitra,  then Goddess Lakshmi would leave her natural unsteadiness and will stay permanently in the devotees house. Kritha  janardhano devo, tretayam raghunandana IIDwapare rama, krishnascha, kalau Sri Pada vallabha II    Meaning: Bhavishya  Puranam says “In krita yuga -- Janardhana, In treta yuga it is Rama, In Dwapara Yuga -- Krishna and Balarama and In Kali  Yuga -- Sri Pada Vallabha are the Gods (daivam) .       “On the bank of sacred Godavari river in Pithapur , (East Godavari District Andhra pradesh) ,lived a Brahmin couple  Appalaraju Sarma and Sumathi .They are devotees of Lord Dattatreya.They had many children, of whom only two survived and  one was lame and the other was blind. They worshipped Lord Dattatreya and never failed to offer food to medicaments and  monks. One day, on amavasya, they were performing the annual ceremony in their house and before the guests partake their  food, Lord Dattatreya appeared as a renunciate sadhu asked for food. The house wife with immense faith gave him food. The  Lord was happy and he at once granted her vision of his true form. Then asked her wish. She said “Oh Lord! You addressed me  as mother. Keep your word.” He granted the wish and told her to implicitly do what the son says and not to be attached to the  son. Not long after, Sumathi conceived and delivered male child on Badrapatha chaturthi. As the child had all the divine features   it was fittingly named as SRIPADA. Giving birth to the Birth less, eternal, Supreme lord and granting the mankind -- The  supreme  Lord, Sri Guru charitra and the Datta tradition was such a good fortune which was once obtained to Anasuya and  again now to  Sumathi. When Sri Pada vallabha turned seven he was invested with sacred thread. Soon after the sacred thread  ceremony (upanayanam), He said vedam. He started imparting Vedic knowledge to pupils and stayed in the house till 16  years  of age.  Mean while, his parents started looking for suitable bride. But Sri Pada Swamy declared that he shall renounce  everything and   do penance. Then his mother cried “Son! After seeing you I forgot my grief. Your brothers are handicapped.  You have to get  married and fulfill your duty as my son. Who will take care of us in old age? ”Then Sri Pada touched his  brothers and made  them  whole in trice .He granted the vision of his real divine form and said “Contemplate on this form you  now see. These two  sons of  yours will serve you .You shall soon attain eternal unity with me.” With this, the veil of delusion  dispelled and sumathi  gave  permission. Sri Pada renounced all the worldly ties, and trekked to holy places Dwaraka,  Brindavan, Mathura, and  Badrinath.  He  stayed in Badrinath for some time. Then he stayed in Gokarna for 3 years, in    Srisailam for four months, and  finally went to  Kuruvupura. In kurupuram, a Brahmin had a son who is dullard and idiot. The boy  was unable to do gayatri  mantra after sacred  thread ceremony. The depressed Brahmin died, leaving his wife and son to live  by begging .All the villagers  used to heckle the  son saying, “Oh son of a learned man, you live in vain. You are not fit to live by  sacred alms.” Unable to  stand that, amba and  the son went to Krishna River to commit suicide. Sri Pada stopped them saying   “Committing suicide is  sin.” He listened to the  lament of the Brahmin lady and said “You worship Lord Shiva the rest of your  life, and then in next life  you will have a son of my  spiritual nature.” He appeared to her as Lord Shiva. Then He kept his hand  on the boy and uttered  the pranava “Om” instantly  the boy became a wise one. She was very happy and dedicated the rest of  her life to worship Shiva.  Similarly a washer man,  used to worship and serve Sri Pada Swamy. One day he went to the river  and saw the ruler of the land  sporting in the water and  the followers who came with him in grand way and thought “He is truly  blessed. How can I dream of  such fortune? ” Then he  went to Sri Pada Swamy darshan. Sri Pada said “My dear, you are now  quite old. You will not be able t  to enjoy such pleasures  even if you get them now, so in the next life you will be the Muslim king  of the city vaidurya. ” He  bowed to Sri Pada and said  “Lord grant me that I shall have firm faith in you.” Sri Pada blessed him  saying “then I will be  incarnated as Nrisimha saraswathi.  Then I will keep you with me. ” After that Sri Pada to keep his word  given to the Brahmin  lady that he will incarnate as her son,disappeared in Krishna River in the asweeja month, star mrigasira.  Though unseen, he  has been granting the wishes of those  who serve him. There was a Brahmin named Vallabhesha, who  vowed that he would  have darshan of kuruvapuram and feed  several Brahmins, if he prospered in his business by the grace of  the Lord. By Swamy’s  grace, his wish is fulfilled. When he  started to kuruvapuram, band of four robbers joined him, took his  money and killed him in a  solitary place. Lord Sri Pada  appeared there and killed them with his trident. The lord gave holy ash  to another traveler and  asked him sprinkle on the dead  body of Vallabhesha. Vallabhesha revived, and sat up like the one  awakened from sleep and l  learned of all that had happened.  He worshipped Sri Pada in kuruvapuram, and fed 4000 Brahmins  Devotees who worshipped  and served Sri Pada described the  lord like this. He wears kashayam, padukalu, vibhuti,  rudrakshas. Sri Pada Swamy holds  water-vessel (kamandalam) in his  hand, with long matted hair, with radiant face like full  moon. He takes bath three times in  Krishna river, and chant gayatri japam  thousand times and do 108 surya namaskarams.  _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ SRI CHIRALA SWAMY : Origin by Bhagavan Sri Bharadwaja. In 1967, I was laid up with a relapse of typhoid and was admitted in a hospital at Chirala (Prakasam Dt. A.P.). I wondered why Baba who almost always intervened in my affairs to set them right, had allowed this to happen. One day when I was telling my fellow patients and visitors about Sri Saibaba and other saints, one of the patients told me that there lived at Chirala, an old bearded man in rags, with matted hair, and that he never minded wind, sun or rain. I was told that he continuously wandered from place to place, resting now and then on the roadside; that he did not speak to anyone nor did he accept anything from anyone except the one whom he chose. The fellow patient asked me to see the man described and determine whether he was a saint or not. It was on a Thurday morning after my prayer, that I was told all this and it at once struck me that, probably, Baba had used my illness to serve the purpose of getting me in touch with a living great saint. So I at once told my visitor friend to take me to him that day. My friend was at first hesitant to do so and asked me to wait till I was well. But I insisted. My friend first went out and saw where the holy one was and took me there in a rickshaw. There, in the front verandah of a thatched hotel was seated, a man of about 50 or 55, his clothes all dirty and dust-laden, his whole body unwashed, his hair and beard growing long and twined like ropes. He had a leg swollen with elephantiasis. He sat there smoking and blinking at the world like one stupefied. I at first felt that he could be anything but a saint. Even when I stood close to him he took no notice of me. I wondered whether he was sane at all. Time passed in awkward silence and I tried twice to attract his attention by bowing to him. He did not seem to have noticed it at all. I immediately became aware of a subtle but significant change gradually coming in my mind. All thoughts regarding the Swami and the self-conscious waiting on my part and my apprehensions of what the passers by on the road would think of me were rapidly dissolved into a profound inner peace which deepened more and more firmly. I sat down and my body was getting more and more locked up in one posture and it was imbibing the peace. I at once knew that I was in the presence of a perfect avadhuta. He just glanced at me and I joined my palms in salutation. He took no notice of it. I gradually grew aware of my friend’s presence by my side. I felt I should see the saint alone and left for the hospital. The words of Bhagavan Ramana that the inner peace we experience effortlessly in the presence of a sage is the hallmark of his perfect jnana had sealed my opinion of the swami. However, I wished to take another chance. Next day, I saw him alone at the same place. During the first few minutes I met with the same seeming indifference of the sage to my presence accompanied by the same peace. I bowed to him thrice and he took no notice of it. A painful apprehension that I was not worth his attention was slowly occupying my heart. I was in a mood to quit. Suddenly a way of trying to contact him flashed in my mind. I silently prayed to Baba, “Baba, you have demonstrated that you are one with all saints. If, indeed, you are identical with this one too, and if you want me to see him often, you have to demonstrate it to me. I shall silently repeat your sacred name a hundred times and if, before I finish the number, this saint gives me something without my asking, I shall take it that I am his as I am yours”. So saying, I started silently repeating Baba’s name. By the time I repeated it some 40 times, the saint sat upright, took out something from his pocket and gave it to me saying, “Take it!”. I stretched my hand for it and he placed a cigarette and a match box. “Smoke it” he said. I never smoked in my life earlier nor was I willing to do so then. Just when I was about to say ‘No’ it occurred to me that it was I that prayed for some token of grace from him and I looked on him as Baba. How improper to reject what he deigned to offer me as a token of grace! I took it and smoked it. He immediately offered me another and I smoked it too. In the meanwhile, the hotel-keeper came out and asked the swami what he wanted. “Serve idli, chilli powder and chutney to this swami”, he said pointing at me. In a moment a bearer handed him the same which the swami passed on to me. I almost panicked. How improper for one who was passing the ninth day of relapse of typhoid to eat the stuff! Yet my feelings again told me, ‘This is a test of your faith that it is Baba who responds to you through the swami’. I at once ate what was given. Then came dosa, upma and a glass of milk! Then followed two packets of cigarettes all of which I smoked. It was 3-45 p.m. and I had to be in the hospital by 4 p.m. when the doctor arrives there. As this thought crossed my mind the swami said, “You may go, swami!”. As I returned to the hospital in a rickshaw, I could not decide whether I should tell the doctor what I ate that day or not, I decided to wait till 10 p.m. and tell him the same if necessary. Quite surprisingly there was no fever any longer! It was evident that Baba gave me a great demonstration of his grace, more than I had asked for. Subsequently, for about five years I visited the swami as often as I could. Thus Baba had blessed me with the darshan of one more great saint for which I had prayed him at Shirdi years earlier. Further, he had won for me the blessings and prasad of this saint and demonstrated that he was not different from the avadhuta. This is a typical instance of my experiences with all saints I had seen and in almost all cases, I invariably had a demonstration, subtle or gross, of Baba’s oneness with all of them. I now firmly believe that one who is dear to Baba will invariably be so to any other great saint. One who loves Baba for no other gain than true enlightenment is sure to win the grace of other saints. To show that it is not my individual experience alone, I shall quote a few instances of other devotees’ experiences known to me. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________  PARIPRASNA: ORIGIN BY BHAGAVAN SRI BHARADWAJA.          Q : I always chant Sri Sai namam and sing songs on Sri Sai while doing my regular chores. I have been told that i   it is not correct way and I should sit and do with lot more concentration. Is it true?         A: Religious texts and Mahatmas said that one should remember Sadguru all the time while doing any type of    work and that is the main duty for all of us. It is not useful to chant his name and sing his songs mechanically  without remembering and feeling his  presence. However, it is not a big mistake to do so. Baba is in our house all  the time. The presence of husband  and kids will be remembered all the time and you do things for them, similarly  the presence of Baba is to be  remembered and realize that he is the head of the family, then anything you do will  be a form of practice  (sadhana). If this needs any type of change, he will give the appropriate directions in the  dream. In Sai's  tradition  nothing is greater than the standard set by him.In this aspect don’t believe others and  listen to their  advice. __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ SRI CHAITANYA SWAMYJI'S MESSAGE : A LAZY PERSON IS NOT USEFUL FOR MATERIALISTIC AS WELL AS SPIRITUAL LIFE. HOLY PERSONS   NEVER AGREED  LAZINESS. ALL HUMAN BEINGS SHOULD BE ACTIVE AND WORK INCESSANTLY THROUGH SADHANA TO REACH THE HOLY FEET OF THE GOD ONE WHO TRIES TO MOULD HIS LIFE ONLY FOR THE AFFECTION OF GOD ,BUT NOT FOR THE FONDNESS OF WORLD WILL DEFINITELY REACH THE HOLY FEET OF THE GOD. ___________________________________________________________________________________ ABOUT THIS EMAIL  Sai Baba The Master is a newsletter started with the divine blessings of Divya janani Alivelumangatayaru garu . This newsletter is devoted to the life, philosophy and teachings of Sri Sai Baba of Shirdi. 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