January 2009Baba’s Punyatithi Baba’s Celebrations At Columbus, Ohio For Sri Saibaba Temple Society of Ohio, past couple of months have been the busiest periods with many the participation of over 700 devotees from Columbus and near by cities. Special pujas and Bhajans were Sai Baba's Murti Sthapna Anniversary Sthapna celebrated in Canbarra, Australia In Hindu Temple & Cultural Centre, the Sai Baba Temple of Canbarra, Australia, the 5th anniversary of Sai Baba's Murthy Sthapna was celeberated with full devotion and great enthusiasm. Many devotees were present there to avail Baba's blessings. The of Canbarra. From Sydney two buses carrying Sai devotees went to Canbarra to attend the function. A program of Sai Bhajans was organised by Mr. Kumar Advani. Mrs. Sangitha, Mr. celebrations including Dussehara Celebrations, followed by three day Yagnam and Diwali celebrations. The Columbus city has got a chance to witness the real essence of Hindu culture with the vedic and cultural ceremonies performed in and outside the Sai Baba Temple. Dussehara Celebrations: Baba’s 90th Punyatithi day was celebrated at Sri Sai Mandir Columbus, Ohio with Reddy, M r . R a o , M r s . advisor of Shri Sai Sumiran Lata, Mrs. Nancy, and artist Times, Mrs. Anibha Singh from Bhaj Man Re Bhajan also visited the Sai temple Mandal Mr. Tiru, Mr. Alind, Mrs. Ragini, Mr & Mrs. Naga Bhushan, Mr. Tarun and Ms. Jayanti recited Sai bhajans in their melodious voice. After Aarti mahaprasad was distributed. All devotees were given one bag of prasad. Shirdi Sai To arrive In Shanthidham At Bangalore Sri Sai Santoshi Maata Charitable Trust (SSSMC TRUST) at Bangalore has plans to construct Sai performed followed by Maha Temple at Bangalore. The prasad. c o n s t r u c t i o n Sri Datta Sai Yagnam – At the proposed temple grounds at Lewis Center, Contd. at page 2 commencement function was organized on 14th Dec 2008 which was attended by about 500 Sai devotees. Sai Sri Vishwa Chaitanya Swamy of Zee T V (Telugu) fame was the Chief Guest for the function. Swami did the construction initiation and also lighted the lamp. He also gave his blessings for early completion of the project. Contd. at page 2 Smiling Faces …….We have Faith Dhanvati & Lambodhar Tikoo Charitable Trust is founded by Sh. C. L. Tikoo – a visionary and, a social worker. He has this great noble vision for “Emerging India” – which is free of cast-based and religiouscentric ideologies. He vows for a great mission to uplift the downtrodden from the subversive society – assisting the ‘needy’ in whatever way it’s best suitable through; food, shelter, medical-aid and education. To be part of this mission , please email us on
[email protected] 2 New Delhi - January 2009 Shri Sai Sumiran Times Hansraj beats the cat Shri Sai Kriti On the and welts appear on 2008 Thursday,Shri 4th Dec recital of Sai Kriti paath was organised by Mrs. Baba's back Meena Kapoor at her Hansraj Vaani had asthma: finished eating, she it was very severe and tormented him day and night. He was advised by Narsinga Baba Maharaj of Nasik to seek refuge at Baba's feet. Hence he and his wife came to Shirdi and made it their home. Baba cautioned Hansraj, and told him not to eat curd, or acidic and pungent food items. But Hansraj loved curds and felt that the meals was incomplete without it. In fact he felt he could give up his life rather than give up eating curd. He forced his wife to prepare curd daily so he could have it for lunch. They had lunch after the noon aarti, and while they attended it a cat would sneak in and eat the curd. This bothered Hansraj a lot, as he had to have the meal without it. So he devised a plan, he asked his wife to keep the vessel in a sling and hang it from thereafter. Nonetheless, the cat somehow managed to eat it. One day he decided to catch the cat in the act and give it a good thrashing. He waited with a stick in his hand for the cat to commit the act. Indeed the cat came into the house and somehow managed to climb up and eat the curd. As soon as the cat had Contd. from page 1 The Miraculous Udi I am a sai devotee since last five years. I have one daughter who was recently born. Her name is Sai Nirmala. In my family we are giving respect to Baba as our boss. When my child was five months old she suffered some pain in her throat we went to the child specialist. He checked her throat (inside) and showed it to me that there was a little (pepper size) white color infection there. So doctor gave some medicines and asked me to come after one week. We have given the medicines as per his advice and after one week we went again, still the infection was there. Then he advised us to go to ENT specialist and asked to stop the medicine which was prescribed by Contd. from page 1 descended and Hansraj gave her a good thrashing. In the evening Hansraj went to the Dwaraka Mai, where Baba was sitting along with his devotees. Baba looking at Hansraj said, There is an Uptiya (one who does the reverse of what he is asked to do) who wants to die by eating sour and pungent things, but I will not allow him to do so. I went to his home in the form of a cat to eat the curd and he gave me a good thrashing." Then Baba exposed his back and there were red welts from the beating. Many a time Baba appeared before his bhaktas to assure and satisfy them. But he did so in unique and different roopas (forms). "Sometimes I am a dog. sometimg a pig, a cow, a cat, a fly and an aquatic creature. In various forms do I move about in the universe. Know that I like only him who sees me in all living beings. so give up this sense of differentiation, this is the way to worship me" said Baba to Mrs Tarkhad when she fed a hungry dog, and then a mud splattered pig. Courtesy Ambrossia In Shirdi residence in Sydney (Australia). The cassette of Shri Sai Kriti was played and the devotees sang along. Shri Sai Kriti is written and sung by Shri Surendra Saxena, popularly known as Saxena Bandhu. Shri Sai Kriti is the gist of Shri Sai Satcharitra. Everyone present there was engrossed in the recital. The paath of Shri Sai Kriti is organised every thursday by Sai devotee Mrs. Anibha Singh in Sydney. SHRI SAI SUMIRAN TIMES PUBLISHES DEVOTEES’ EXPERIENCES OF LORD SAI NATH OF SHIRDI. READERS CAN SEND THEIR EXPERIENCE TO THE EDITOR You can also subscribe for Shri Sai Sumiran Times.. Annual Subscription Rs. 150/- in India Rs. 1000/- Overseas For Subscription & Advertisements contact: Anju Tandon F-44-D, MIG Flats, G-8 Area, Hari Nagar, New Delhi - 110064 email:
[email protected] website: www..shrisaisumirantimes.com him. We prayed to Baba for her. In my family we all were very upset for her. I have got “dhuni vibhuti” thru my friend who is also a Sai devotee. I mixed the vibhuti with the milk and gave immediately to her. We did not meet any ENT specialist. After one week we went to the same doctor who is child specialist for vaccination. Before giving the vaccination he checked her throat but to our great surprise there was no sign of infection or no white color was seen there. We did not give any medicine for the infection. Really Baba is a greatest “hakkim”(doctor). Till now whenever she suffers Baba is saving her. Jai Sai Ram ! Courtesy Sai Vichaar Baba’s Punyatithi, .... Ohio this rare historical and divine event was performed meticulously by 4 vedic pandits assisted by 5 able purohits drawing huge number of devotee particpation even at the semi-sustainable weather conditions. Appreciations and good wishes overflowed from various sources including Mr.Windell Wheeler (Mayor, Delaware), Mr.Eagen (Orange County Chairman) Parivara Devata SamprokshanaOn the very same days of this grand yagna, Idol sanctification was done to the three pancha loha utsava murthis of Sri Natya Ganapathi, Sri Raja Rajeswari, Sri Abhaya Anjaneya Diwali Celebrations – Diwali was grandly celebrated at the temple premises with Lakshmi Pooja with more than 108 varieties of dishes, Annakoota Pooja to Lord Krishna, and Sri Chakra Pooja with deepa alankarana. Children happiness on this occasion seemed much brighter than the burning sparkles in their hands. There was an overwhelming response and devotee participation, some of whom travelled from other cities for this rare devotional events performed by Sri Saibaba Temple of Columbus. Most of the devotees have strongly felt the presence of Baba all over the temple and the temple site premises at Lewis center, Columbus, Ohio. Lots of compliments were exchanged and bestowed on the society and countless volunteers who involved with the success of this great event, Datta-Sai Yagnam for World Peace and Prosperity. -Varaha Appikatia Shirdi Sai ... Bangalore Quite a few number of devotees voluntarily came up and announced their donation to the Trust. All hereditary trustees, life trustees, and trustees were duly honored by the management committee of the Trust which comprised the followingShri A.N.Purushottam.Shri Prakash Nerwani, Shri A.G.Kulkarni, Shri Meda Ramakrishna, Shri V.Sainath.and Shri T.G. Venkateshwara Gupta.Shri Meda Ramakrishna has taken up the total responsibility for early execution of the project and is spending maximum time monitoring the progress. Shri G.Laxminarayana, Chief Advisor to the Trust explained in detail about Shanthidham Project and also highlighted the future plans of the Trust to help the poor an needy. The function concluded with vote of thanks by M.V.S.Appa Rao, s Sai devotee and resident of the colony. After the function all devotees present were given Sai Maha Prasadam. -G. Laxminarayana Shri Sai Sumiran Times wishes you all a very Happy New Year. As the New Year Dawns May it bring for you the beginning of New Hopes, Animated Movie On Baba Here‘s a very good news Baba Sansthan. The Movie Higher Aspirations & especially for the kids, a new titled “ SHRI SAIBABA “ Greater Possibilities. Legal Advise Column In this column our Legal Advisor would give advise to the querries of the readers. The desirous readers may send their querries to: Shri Sai Sumiran Times F-44-D, MIG Flats, G-8 Area, Hari Nagar, New Delhi -64 email:
[email protected] Animated movie based on the Life, Miracles & Teachings of Shri Sai Baba has just been released on VCD in Shirdi by the Shri Sai directed by Mr.Kishore Bhaskar and music by Shri Anoop Jalota is released in both Hindi And Marathi languages. Pratibha Rajput Shri Sai Sumiran Times New Delhi - January 2009 3 Sai Baba Sai Baba the saint, God who incarnated on this earth entirely and wholly for the upliftment of his devotees, living all His life in a dilapidated masque. He taught people how to live a simple spiritual and contented life to be happy in what God has ordained for us, to be contented with the basic minimums of life to perform one’s karma with full dedication, honesty, sincerity and amidst all this always chanting the Lord’s name with full faith in the power of His name and grace. He performed leelas as we call them the deeds performed by the incarnation Sai in a bodily form. leelas were basically his every day interactions with one and all but were given the name “leelas” as behind each such action was always hidden a deep divine message of the Lord. A message that would either fulfill itself with the passage of time on its own or by Sai’s grace open its true self right there and then. Many such Leelas have been depicted in the most sacred granth - The Sai Sat Charita and each leela is a deep divine message of Sai Baba to humanity to uplift from the gutters of selfishness to the epitome is selflessness. This sacred Granth is our Bible, Guru Granth sahib or in fact the Bhagwat Gita itself. It not only gives us to rise from the darkness of Maya to the light of spirituality but also takes us out of the small ditches & pits we keep falling into while traversing this path of life, fully engulfed by Maya. Sai Sat Charita is the ‘Light of the Lord’ which takes us from materialism to spirituality, form darkness to light, from Maya to Mayapati and from the wheel of Karma to the eternal take-off towards spirituality and moksha. For our own enhancement for our own utthan, we must read the Sai Sat Charita every day. It is not important to do formal pooja but more important is to cherish, love & call God from the depths of your heart. Lord is ominipresent. He is not bound by the four walls of a temple nor is he only present in formal rituals, instead he is always inside us, with us, around us, it is just that we have to realize this fact and remember them always with love and a devoted heart and be restassured you will be able to get His feel in your own heart beat. More important is love rather than formal pooja to which God responds. While doing all your duties, if you remember Him always, then that is a bigger upasana rather than going to the temple for 10 minutes and lighting a lamp in two minutes and just forgetting the Lord the whole day long. So with the NEW YEAR , let us just try to peep within our own self and analyse how much did we really remember or loved Sai genuinely. How much was a mere show off or a selfish venture. You will get your own answers but please be honest to your own self and see where you stand and promise your own self to enhance your present position further to go closer to Sai, to increase your love towards Him and not moving closer to this false materialistic world and just fooling your own self by calling mere formal pooja bhakti and mere selfish venture as love towards the lord. S.K. Kapur Delhi My Experience about Sai Baba For the protection of the virtuous and for the destruction of the evil, the Almighty manifests Himself in a form and a name chosen by Him. Bhagawan Sai Baba of Shirdi is one of such manifestations of the Divine who has descended on the earth to save humanity from moral decay. The Divine Will was evidenced right from the very inception of the Avatar i.e. the secrecy of His birth. Nobody can Vouchsafe Baba’s caste or the place of his birth excepting several vague theories put forward by some of his contemporaries. He was loved and worshipped by Hindus and Muslims alike. People coming from all areas and from all faiths flocked to Shirdi to prostrate at His holy feet for their salvation. He was a Hindu living in Masjid. He was a Muslim for whom the Mosque was “Dwarka Mai " He is a servant to his devotees having no limitations of caste, creed or religion. Everyone has a right to demand anything he wants from Him. He is father, mother and sadguru to the entire humanity. Every minute aspect of this Avatar was so precisely moulded with meticulous care by Baba Himself, with a specific mission of establishing harmony among Muslims and Hindus. He is an incarnation of the Supreme Power reflected in different faiths. His teachings represent the gist of different faiths. Any attempt to describe this Deva and His glory can only be a part of it and not the whole. “If a man utters my name with love I shall fulfill all wishes, increase his devotion and if he sings earnestly my life and my deeds, him I shall be set in front and back and all sides" (Shri Sai Satcharitra) The above assurance of Baba is a matter of personal experience for several thousands of devotees, who look to Him and who are looked after by Him. In this connection I wanted to narrate my own humble experience with the blessings of Sai Baba which I think will appeal to all those who admire the supremacy of any faith by scientific reasoning or logic. It was in the year 1970 that I happened to go to Bombay on some personal work. As it happened to be my first visit I went for sight-seeing to several places in and around Bombay Suddenly I felt that I should go to Shirdi and visit the Mahasamadhi of Sai Baba more out of curiosity rather than devotion. But the visit was to be put off because of my brother-in-law’s arrival from the United States. I was very much disappointed and silently prayed to Baba that if He were to be a God. He should bless me with an opportunity to go to Shirdi. In the meanwhile a very interesting thing happened. We received a cable that my brother-in-law’s scheduled arrival had to be postponed on account of his prolonged stay enroute. Thus the seeds of faith were sowed in my heart by an u n e x p e c t e d accomplishment of my desire. Immediately I was in search of a person who could, help me with the details of the pilgrimage. When I was proceeding from Andheri to Dadar by electric train I surprisingly came across a devotee of Sai Baba who guided me with minute details. Thus the very first visit to the Shrine proved to be a preplanned sankalpa of Baba Himself to draw me towards Him. After taking a bath I went for a darshan which made me extremely happy. For a moment there appeared nothing but Sai Baba’s form in everything I saw in Shirdi. I prayed to Baba that He should help me with His Grace and give me solace and comfort throughout my life. I happened to make a study of several books available at Shirdi which makes one to feel that He is not merely a super-human form but the omnipotent God Himself. Since then my faith in Baba was steadily growing. One of my close friends was blessed with a daughter. Unfortunately she had an attack of paralysis and as a result of which she was not in a position to move her hands. My friend felt very unhappy as the treatment given by doctors did not produce the desired results. He had lost all hopes of recovery and felt dejected. I gave him a little vibhuti which I brought from Shirdi and asked him to apply it to the affected hand with complete faith in Baba’s mercy. Though he was not personally a believer in Saibaba he consented to do it on my persistence. He told me that he would worship Baba as God if the Vibhuti helped the recovery of his child in any way. With the application of vibhuti there was a tremendous improvement and very soon the baby recovered responding very well to the medical treatment which was a big surprise even to the Physician as he himself was not quite confident about the outcome of his trial. The grateful father of the child has become an ardent devotee of Sai Baba. Such was the kindness of the Saint who responds to the call of humanity if only the persons look to Him. Shri Y. Nagarjuna Rao, Hyderabad. Book for Children Bi-monthly, Magazine Sai Ke Bachche Annual Subscription Rs. 108/Contact Neelkanth Publications H-89, Lajpat Nagar-1 New Delhi - 110024 Ph. 9718305747, 9312645890, 9873405747
[email protected] Jai Sainath After the Grand Success of Superhit Sai Bhajan Albums ”SAI AAGMAN” & “SAI SHARAN” Releasing in January 2009 on Basant Pancham In the Melodious Voice of Renowned Sai Bhajan Singer SUNDEEP KAPOOR New Superhit Sai Bhajan Album “SAI AHSAAS” For any enquiry contact: Sundeep Kapoor Mob: 09811157275 Eco-Friendly Message Stop Using Plastic Bags Cdr. Sanjay Bhatt , Ph. :9911745863 Email:
[email protected] 4 New Delhi - January 2009 Shri Sai Sumiran Times