Shri Sai Satcharita Chapter III

Shri Sai Satcharita Chapter III

Sai Baba’s Sanction and Promise - Assignment of Work to Devotees -

Baba’s Stories as Beacon Light - His Motherly Love - Rohilla’s Story -

His Sweet and Nectar-like Words

Sai Baba’s Sanction and Promise

As described in the previous chapter, Sai Baba gave His complete consent to the

writing of the Satcharita and said, “I fully agree with you regarding the writing of the Shri

Sai Satcharita. You do your duty. Don’t be afraid in the least, steady your mind and have

faith in My words. If My leelas are written, avidya (nescience) will vanish, and if they are

attentively and devoutly listened to, consciousness of worldly existence will abate and

strong waves of devotion and love will rise up. If one dives deep into My leelas, he will get

precious jewels of knowledge.”

Hearing this, the author was very pleased and immediately felt fearless and

confident and thought the work was bound to be a success. Then, turning to Shama

(Madhavrao Deshpande), Sai Baba said:

“If a man utters My name with love, I shall fulfill all his wishes and increase his

devotion. If he earnestly sings My life and My deeds, him I shall beset in front and

back and on all sides. Those devotees who are attached to Me heart and soul, will

naturally feel happiness when they hear these stories. Believe Me, if anyone sings

My leelas, I will give him infinite joy and everlasting contentment. It is My special

characteristic to free any person who surrenders completely to Me, worships Me

faithfully, and who remembers and meditates on Me constantly. How can they, who utter My name, worship Me, think of My stories and My life and who thus always

remember Me, be conscious of worldly objects and sensations? I shall draw My
devotees out of the jaws of death. If My stories are listened to, diseases will be
cured. So, hear My stories with respect and think and meditate on them. Assimilate
them. This is the way to happiness and contentment. The pride and egoism of My
devotees will vanish, and when the mind of the hearers will be set at rest with
wholehearted and complete faith, oneness with Supreme Consciousness will be
attained. The simple remembrance of My name as ‘Sai Sai’ will do away with sins of
speech and hearing.”

Different works assigned to Devotees

The Lord entrusts different works to different devotees. Some are given the work of
building temples and maths, or ghats (flights of steps) on rivers; some are made to sing the
glories of God; some are sent on pilgrimages, but to me was allotted the work of writing the
Satcharita. Being a jack of all trades, but master of none, I was quite unqualified for this
job. Why then should I under- take such a difficult job? Who can describe the true life of
Sai Baba? Sai Baba’s grace alone can enable one to accomplish this difficult work. So,
when I picked up my pen, Sai Baba took away my egoism and wrote His stories Himself.
The credit of relating these stories, therefore, goes to Him and not to me. Though Brahmin
by birth, I lacked the two eyes (i.e. the sight or vision) of shruti and smriti and, therefore,
was not at all capable of writing the Satcharita, but the grace of the Lord makes a dumb
man talk and enables a lame man to cross a mountain. He alone knows the knack of
getting things done as He likes. Neither the flute nor the harmonium know how the sounds
are produced. This is the concern of the player. The oozing of the chandrakant jewel and
the surging of the sea are not due to the jewel and the sea, but to the rise of the moon.

Baba’s stories as beacon light

Light houses are constructed at various places in the sea to enable boatmen to
avoid rocks and dangers, thus allowing safe sailing. Sai Baba’s stories serve a similar
purpose in the ocean of worldly existence. They surpass nectar in sweetness and make
our worldly path smooth and easy to traverse. Blessed are the stories of the saints, for
when they enter our hearts, our body consciousness, or egoism, and the sense of duality
vanishes. When these leelas are stored in our heart, doubts disappear, pride of the body
falls away, and we are filled with wisdom.


The description of Baba’s pure fame and the hearing of such with love and pure faith, destroys sins. This is, therefore, the best and most simple sadhana for attaining
salvation. The sadhana for Krita Age was sham-dama (tranquility of mind and body), for
Treta Age was sacrifice, for Dwapara, worship, and for Kali (present) Age, it is the singing
of the name and glory of the Lord. This last sadhana is open to all people. The other
sadhanas, viz. yoga, yaga (sacrifice), dhyana (meditation) and dharana (concentration) are
very difficult to practice, but singing and hearing the stories of the glory of the Lord (Sai
Baba) is very easy. We have only to turn our attention towards them.

The listening and singing of the stories (leelas) will remove the attachment to
the senses and their objects and will make the devotees dispassionate, ultimately
leading them to Self-realization. With this end in view, Sai Baba made me, or helped
me, to write His stories, Sat Charitamrita. The devotees may now easily read and hear
these stories of Sai Baba and while doing so, meditate on Him, His form, and thus attain
devotion to guru and God (Sai Baba). They will develop detachment and attain Selfrealization.
In the preparation and writing of this work, Shri Sai Satcharita, it is Sai Baba’s
grace which has accomplished everything, making use of me as a mere instrument.

Motherly Love of Sai Baba

Everybody knows how a cow loves her infant calf. Her udder is always full and
when the calf wants milk and dashes at the udder, out comes the milk in an unceasing
flow. Similarly, a human mother knows the wants of her child beforehand, and feeds it at
her breast just at the right time. In the dressing and grooming of the child, the mother
takes particular care to see this is well done. The child knows or cares nothing about this,
but the mother’s joy knows no bounds when she sees her child beautifully dressed and
adorned. The love of a mother is peculiar, extraordinary, protective, and has no parallel.
Satgurus feel this motherly love towards their disciples.

Sai Baba had this same love towards me and I give an instance of it below:

In 1916, I retired from government service. The pension amount settled in my case was
not sufficient to maintain my family decently. On Guru Pournima day (15th of Ashada) of
that year, I went to Shirdi with other devotees. There, Mr. Anna Chinchanikar, of his own
accord, prayed to Baba for me as follows: “Please look kindly on him. The pension he
receives is quite insufficient and his family is growing. Please give him some other
appointment, remove his anxiety, and make him happy.” Baba replied, “He will get
another job, but right now he should serve Me and be happy. His dishes will be ever full and never empty. He should turn all his attention toward Me and avoid the company
of atheists and irreligious and wicked people. He should be meek and humble
toward all and worship Me heart and soul. If he does this, he will geteternal
happiness.”

Rohilla’s Story

The story of the Rohilla illustrates Sai Baba’s all embracing love. A Rohilla, tall and
well built, strong as a he-buffalo, came to Shirdi wearing a long kafni (robe) and, being
enamoured of Sai, stayed there. Day and night he used to recite Kalma (verses from the
Holy Koran) in a loud, harsh tone and shout, “ALLAH HO AKBAR” (God is Great). Most of
the people of Shirdi were working in their fields by day, and when they returned to their
homes at night, were welcomed with the Rohilla’s harsh cries and shouts. They could get
no sleep and felt much trouble and inconvenience. They suffered in silence with this
nuisance for several days and when they could stand it no longer, they approached Baba
and requested him to check the Rohilla and stop the nuisance. Baba did not attend to their
complaint. On the contrary, Baba took the villagers to task and asked them to mind their
own business and not that of the Rohilla. He told them the Rohilla had a very bad wife, a
zantippi, who tried to come in and trouble the Rohilla and Himself, but upon hearing the
Rohilla’s prayers, she dared not enter, and so they were at peace and happy. In fact, the
Rohilla had no wife, and by his wife, Baba meant durbuddhi, i.e., bad thoughts. As Baba
liked prayers and cries to God better than anything else, He took the side of the Rohilla
and asked the villagers to wait and suffer the nuisance, which would abate in due course.

Baba’s Sweet and Nectar-like Words

One day at noon after the arati, devotees were returning to their lodgings when
Baba gave the following beautiful advice:

“Be wherever you like; do whatever you choose. Remember this well: all that
you do is known to Me. I am the Inner Ruler of all and seated in their hearts. I
envelope all creatures in the movable and immovable world. I am the Controller -
the wire puller of the show of this universe. I am the mother - the origin of all beings
- the harmony of the three gunas - the propeller of all the senses - the Creator,
Preserver, and Destroyer. Nothing will harm he who turns his attention towards Me,
but maya will lash or whip he who forgets Me. All the

insects, animals, the visible, movable and immovable world, is My body or form.”

Hearing these beautiful and precious words, I immediately decided in my mind to
serve no man henceforth but my guru, but the reply of Baba to Anna Chinchanikar’s query
(which was really mine - that I would get some job), caused me to ponder. I began to
wonder whether it would actually happen. As future events showed, Baba’s words came
true and I did get a government job, but it was of short duration. I then became free and
solely devoted myself to the service of my guru - Sai Baba.

Before concluding this chapter, I request the readers to ignore the various
hindrances, viz. indolence, sleep, wandering of mind, attachment to senses, etc. and turn
their whole and undivided attention to these stories of Sai Baba. Let their love be natural.
Let them know the secret of devotion. Let them not exhaust themselves with other
sadhanas. Let them stick to this one simple remedy, i.e. listening to Sai Baba’s stories.
This will destroy their ignorance and will secure for them salvation. A miser may stay at
various places, but he always thinks of his buried treasure. So let Sai Baba be enthroned
in the hearts of all.

In the next chapter, I shall speak of Sai Baba’s advent in Shirdi.

Bow to Shri Sai - Peace be to all