1. “Ramah shriman sa nah
Prabhu”
(English translation of Marathi discourse given by P. P. Aniruddha Bapu on 03rd August
2006 on Ramraksha at New English High School, Bandra)
HARI OM
„Ramah shriman sa‟ , sa means him, sah also means him, the
meaning of the Sanskrit word nah is „ours‟. In sanskrit we say that a
word flows. What does this mean? Suppose we take the word Ram or
one takes the common form of Ram, “sah,- tau, te, tam, tau, tan, ten,
tabham, tebhyam, “ or we take the word “aham” which means me, it
would be “aham avam, vayam, mam ma avam nau, asman nah” the
plural „nah‟ means ours.
“Ram shriman sa nah Prabhu” - This Ram is my Prabhu (God). But
how?
The
Ram
who
is
“Abhiramsrilokanam,
Aaram
kalpavrukshanaam Viraam Sakalapadam” is my Swami, my master,
my Prabhu. He is my guide, He is my pillar of support, He is my
caretaker, He looks after us, He is our father. The real meaning of
„prabhu‟ is not master or Swami. But the fact that it is used in Sanskrit
the real meaning is, „ All that is created, the one who creates it and
incessantly is creating it is Prabhu‟ Prabhu is the only One. The one
who makes us aware that everything that is created, is being created
and the strength behind everything that is being created is our Ram
who is our Prabhu. But Bapu what is so unusual about this? We all
know that He is our master, our father, He is the origin of all of us, He
is our creator. But why is Buddhakaushik Rishi telling us this over
here? He mentions it here not merely as it is written here but we must
understand that „when a man is moving in a particular direction, eg. in
school we move ahead in a normal course from the sixth to the
seventh to the eighth till the tenth and then we are confounded where
to go after the tenth. Should we send to commerce, arts or science.?
Will we be able to manage science? Nowadays there are so many
entrance exams will be able to cope up with them?
Then here again we are confused what to do, engineering or
science? When we were in Inter Science there was no 10th and 12th.
S.S.C was in the 11th standard and then there was college where we
had F.Y.Science and Inter Science where students were divided into
two groups, A group and B group. The students who had left Maths
were „B‟group and the ones who had taken Maths were in the „A‟

2. group. Therefore the engineering and medical students were
segregated. The students in „A‟ group could not apply for medicine
and the students in B group could not apply for engineering. Later this
division was done away with and the students had to take both the
subjects in the 12th standard. Therefore they could apply at both the
places. Then the question arises. We see many students taking
admission in engineering and after they secure admission in medical,
they release the engineering seat or it is vice versa. Then the 1st list
is put up by the colleges, then the 2nd list and then the 3rd list is put
up. Those who have not got admission in the 1st list are eagerly
waiting for the 2nd or 3rd list. We eventually realize that we cannot
decide the direction we wish to take as it depends on many other
factors. It is not because we are fools or idiots that we cannot decide.
What is it that is in our hands? We have to study, get good marks,
thereafter see the number of seats that are available, how many
marks more or less have been obtained by others? Which seats have
been opened and at what marks? Hw many have moved from one
faculty to another and those who have not moved? Therefore one can
see that everything does not depend upon my efforts but also
depends on the surrounding circumstances. Remember this simple
thing.
Well, this was about exams and admission, but as for a normal
person with two hands and feet. I am always telling you that you that
you must learn English and learn to converse well in English. It is
very important that one learns English and talks in English. I often
see a common mistake being done. I correct them. When I was the
boss, students entering my room would ask me, Can I come in, Sir? I
would call them in and give them a tight slap and tell them. Yes, you
can but you may not! You have two feet and two hands. Since you
have two feet you can come in walking. You can but you may not, as
I have not given you permission. So, what should you ask? May I
come in Sir? Can I come in? is the literal translation from Marathi or
any Indian language but it does not convey the real meaning. So
what is the correct English? It is, May I come in Sir? When you say
Can I come in? it means you can come in walking but there is no
permission, as I am the master of this room. It is simple, so what do
we understand from this? I have two legs but can I go into his office?
No, I cannot enter his office without his permission. He may an officer
or a doctor or a collector or a minister or an executive, here I have
strength to go in but my entry does not entirely depend on my

3. strength but depends on the permission of the person who so ever it
may be, he should allow me to enter. It depends on whether or not I
have entry.
Nowadays we see a board put up outside many buildings, „Hawkers
are prohibited from entering the premises.‟ They are moving from
place to place selling their wares but since there is a board but they
may not. If they do they will be caught as they are refused
permission. In fact at some places „prohibited area‟ is written. So from
this we can understand that we can walk or do a particular thing with
our hands but it is not permitted. Let‟s take a simple example. There
is an electric fuse, a switch and the switch of the adaptor is on. The
switch next to it is on. Can I touch it ? Yes, I can. But should I do it?
No, I should not do it, if I do it what will happen? I will get a shock,
correct. The „tava‟ (fry pan) is cold so the lady easily holds it and puts
it on the gas. Then she cooks the „bhakri‟ (thick chapatti) on it and
she does it easily. If the men here try, my goodness, they will get
burnt and take off their hand. But she is habituated in doing it. Even if
she is used to it should she put her hand on the heated tava which is
on the gas? You would say – Can she? She can do it but she should
not. That means what should she not do? It is simple, what I should
not do does not necessarily depends on the permission and therefore
for whatever I do I should find the right direction which depends not
only on my efforts but also on the surroundings
. Now we shall take the same example of the „shegadi‟ (old kind of
cooking fire ), now of course we have gas burners. Earlier one had to
blow air for the „shegadi‟ to burn, has anyone here done it? I tell you it
was not easy task, while blowing the eyes would be red and one
would get exhausted. When we were young we enjoyed doing it. We
would tell our granny and aunty that we wished to do it and she would
happily give it to us and very often it would be windy or the logs of
wood were wet so they would just catch fire easily. Now see, when
the rice is new it takes a longer time to cook, most of the ladies may
have experienced it, and also it cannot be cooked with the normal
consistency of water. Therefore one realizes that it does not entirely
depend on her cooking skill. Suppose we get vegetables which are
not fresh, however good her culinary skills may be, tell me, can she
do anything about it? Thus things do not depend on my qualities but
on the surrounding circumstances and how they react to me. It
depends on my relations to the surrounding circumstances. Every

4. event happens only on the merging of my qualities with the
surroundings. Without this we cannot find the right direction.
In Sai Satcharitra we read the experience in the 22nd chapter, it is a
beautiful chapter. In fact each and every chapter in Sai Satcharitra is
beautiful, one can open any page and even that is beautiful because
Hemadpant‟s language is pristine and pure. It tells us only the truth
and is full of devotion. In one of the chapters he tells his Sai, ”As long
as I am alive, let my breath be only for your mission”, and then at the
end of the 52nd chapter he writes, “Now I am offering this writing and
myself to your divine feet.” And it so happened that there was no
verse after this. As long as he lived (breathed) he carried on his
mission and as long as his mission was going on he breathed. After
his mission was over there was no closing sentence and he did not
even live to write the last 53rd chapter, which is the summing up
chapter, as he did not want to take the credit of, „I have written it „ on
him. It is for this very reason that we can read the Sai Satcharitra
peacefully anytime. Many people ask me, especially ladies, Bapu we
cannot read holy books during our monthly periods, then how can we
read Sai Satcharitra? Sai Satcharitra can be read any time. Hanuman
stotra can be chanted during monthly periods, why is it so? Because
for Hanuman every lady is his mother and Hemadpant whose has
written the Sai Satcharitra is none other than Shukmuni. And
Hemadpant has written it with utmost purity and is pristine and that no
one can ever make it impure or defile it. Therefore nothing can ever
come in its way. While reading Sai Satcharitra, no problem, no twelve
day mourning can ever be an impediment. I am telling you from the
bottom of my heart that the beginning of the 22nd chapter is so
beautiful, do go through it in a day or two. Initially Hemadpant tells us,
”When there is little light”, „alpaandhar‟ means when there is little
darkness and little light, in such a situation I imagine it is a snake and
I am scared. Earlier when there was total darkness I did not
understand whether it was a snake or a rope so there was no fear, so
there was total ignorance.
At first, I could not see anything so I was unaware whether a rope
had fallen or it was a snake- therefore there was no fear. Then when
darkness reduced the caretaker came and said, “I can see something
coiled up.‟ My goodness, hope it is not a snake? If it is a rope there is
no problem but if it is a snake? Then there is fear in the mind. But
Hemadpant tells us once there is light of knowledge then the fear
disappears because if it is a rope then why should I get scared. Then

5. Hemadpant tells us, “ O Sainatha you are the master of all these
three states, the first when there was no fear because of ignorance or
lack of knowledge , then fear because of half knowledge and then
with the light of knowledge a total fearless state. Who is the master of
this? You are the only One and for me you are the only one. Just see
Hemadpant has started it so beautifully, he considered Him as his
God and he became his God, he became his God for his entire life.
Complete darkness is ignorance, partial darkness means half
knowledge and then complete knowledge is being in full of light. That
means in the first state and the third state there is no fear. But the
fearlessness of the first state is more fearful. Suppose there is a
snake, then what? In partial darkness we do not know whether it is a
snake or a rope. At least I am alerted and then by God‟s grace when
there is light then I can see well. Well, there is no reason for you to
get scared. I can then clearly and emphatically tell you whether it is a
snake or a rope and then you can go ahead. But then who gives us
this light? It is the Sadguru and this Hemadpant has clearly told us
that his master is no one else because the meaning of the word Guru
itself tells us. „Guru is the one who transforms darkness into light.‟ He
does not leave any darkness in our life and then after this introduction
of the 22nd chapter Hemadpant narrates to us one by one stories of
snakes, scorpions, „Lambe Baba‟, „Bade baba‟ (snakes) and then
eventually Hemadpant narrates his own story. When Hemadpant tells
us his story he has an argument with Muktaram as to whether one
should kill a snake or not? They ask Baba, Baba replies that the one
at the bedside of Abdul should be killed at once. What is „vivashi‟ is it
a ghost.
As soon the snake comes it is killed immediately, Baba even tells us
this story. On being asked what does Baba reply? To kill or not to kill,
He does answer but he tells us, “ Remember well, a snake or a
scorpion will never bite you unless it is wished by the Lord, and even
if he bites it can not kill you. We realize that the snake may have
venom, the scorpion may have poison he may also sit on your hand
or like Kakasaheb Mirikar the snake sat on his „uparna‟ (upper dhotar)
but Madhavrao was being send by Baba to protect him. Someone
may ask me, Bapu why did Baba not stop the snake from going to
him? Why did He allow it to climb on his „uparna‟? He should have
been stopped earlier, correct. But we only go on asking questions we
do not do bhakti. One must see first that the danger was averted and
then ask questions. Many have asked this question in the

6. questionnaires, Bapu in Kakasaheb Mirikar‟s story, in Balasaheb
Mirikar‟s story, I would say Kakasaheb as he was staunch bhakta of
Sai, his son Balasaheb, why did the snake go upto his „uparna‟? Why
was it not stopped earlier? Why was it allowed to come out of its
hole? The only important answer to this is that Baba did not let it bite
him. We must understand this first for which Baba warned him by
asking him, “My dear do you this one? (gesture of a snake). He
replied “No, I do not know”. Baba ordered him, ”Take Madhavrao
along with you.” To which Balasaheb said, ”Madhavrao why are you
coming along with me to Chitali.” Madhavrao “ O.k. then I will go
back.” On going back to Baba, Baba said, “ We mean well, we have
done our job of telling him.” Then Balasaheb changed his mind, all
because of his father‟s bhakti, he realized that he must obey Baba.
Then Balasaheb says,” Madhavrao please do come with me.” The
fact that Baba is telling me that means that there something behind it
which I do not know. Madhavrao went back to take Baba‟s
permission, without His command he cannot go ahead. Baba then
tells him, “Will the Dwarkamai ever forget its inherent quality? Will it
not ward off the dangers of her children who come to her shelter. Go
with him.“ And Madhavrao then accompanies him. With both of them
together, he and the guard could kill the snake to pieces. So we can
realize that He plans everything, knowing well that it was in his
destiny that the snake would bite him, but due to his father‟s firm faith
and his faith Baba protected him. He let the event happen and the
bear the fruit of it but the result was not disastrous.
We must remember this well, that it was in his destiny that a snake
climbs on him, his getting scared and the snake biting him but due to
his bhakti Baba had wiped off 90% of the important part of biting from
his destiny and let only 10% of it remain. The snake came, went
hissing, fear arose in his mind, the snake came down and was killed
and the biting part which is the biggest is averted by Baba. At the end
of the chapter Baba tells us, “We must all know that snakes,
scorpions all are under the Lord‟s control. They have there own
freedom to sting. But the Lord too has His freedom of how to save his
children from the poison.”
”Isn‟t the saviour greater than the killer?” Baba has told this clearly to
us, which we must know. But when does this happen? Only when we
consider Sainath as our „Prabhu‟ like Hemadpant. But if we consider
ourselves as God, that we are great and God exists only for us our
prayers, for „navas‟ (reciprocal conditions), to give us strength and we

7. will use this strength the way we want, then he no longer remains
my Prabhu. Here Hemadpant tells us the same in Sai Satcharitra
what Buddhakaushik has told us. Truly, in the 22nd chapter beautiful
stories are told to us and based on these stories Hemadpant
describes Baba‟s leela‟s to us. At the end Baba tells us, ”Be it a
snake or a scorpion you need not fear if you have sought protection
and are under the shelter of Dwarkamai, that is Baba‟s feet, then no
snake can dare sting you. It may have climbed on your uparna, or it
may be on your mattress yet you need not fear. A scorpion had
climbed on Hemadpant‟s shoulder, it will sit on your shoulder but will
not sting you. </
Then we read the story of Gopalrao Butty. An astrologer tells him,
“Today is a tragic day for you and you may pass off.” No one had told
Baba about it . Gopalrao came to Baba trembling and stood in front
off Baba calmly. He does not tell Baba, what if Baba gets angry? In
Sai Satcharitra we read that Baba asks him, “What, is the astrologer
going to kill you? Does he have the guts to kill you, when I, your
Father is sitting here.” Accordingly Butty goes home and then he
goes for toilet in the backyard, which was quite far from the house.
There he came across a snake but the snake could do nothing to
him, he jumped and came out running. Lahanu, his servant pelted
stones at the snake. See and appreciate God‟s leela here. By the
grace of Sai even when Butty was afraid his mind was steady and he
told his servant, “Do not show too much bravado, if it gets hurt with
the stones it will bite and create trouble. Instead calmly go inside and
get a stick and kill it. If you hurt it and let it go it will surely bite you. It
had come to bite Gopalrao but if the stone is from you then it will bite
you.” Just see the buddhi Sai Baba gave him at that point of time.
Lahanu accordingly went to get the stick and the snake escaped in its
hole. “Na rahegi baas, na rahegi basuri” But why does all this
happen? This is for us to realize why we should study Sai Satcharitra,
I have repeatedly told you this, it is not to see Sai‟s leelas. Sai Baba
is great. There is no doubt about it! It is to learn about the true
bhaktas of Sai and also about the ordinary bhaktas and how and why
they had miracles in their lives and also to learn about their
demeanor.
We see here that Madhavrao Deshpande is bitten by a snake.
Everyone tells him to go to „viroba‟s‟ temple, he refused, he told them,
“I will not go, I will go to my Baba” On going there just the
contradictory happens, as we read it in the story. Does anyone

8. remember it? Say Yes … (audience) Yes.. That‟s better, now I feel
nice. It happened just the opposite, Baba started shouting and
cursing him, “Go down, Get down, Dare not come up.” Madhavrao
was really afraid, I have come to my mother‟s shelter and if she kicks
me where shall I go? „Go ,get down.‟ Correct? This order was not for
Madhavrao, then for whom was this order? It was for the snake
poison. He is send home and Baba sends Dikshit after him with
instructions that he should not sleep throughout the night. Keep him
awake and then by morning the effect of the venom had subsided.
Only his little finger had slight pain. One must know why did this
happen, it was because Madhavrao had firm faith on Baba. If
tomorrow you say that if a snake bites you in Mumbai I will not take
any injections, in spite of anti venom injections being available, and I
must be cured like Madhavrao, this can never happen. Baba will beat
you with his „satka‟. In Shirdi there were no anti venomous injections
therefore it was Baba‟s responsibility to save his children. If injections
are available till the time you reach the doctor Baba will definitely take
care of you. He definitely takes care but you have to go to take the
injection. You must realize the difference that Baba did this miracle
when injections were not available. When inspite of anti venomous
injections being available today we say that Baba will take care then
we make a mistake because Baba never did these kind of miracles.
When Baba came to Shirdi what did he do?
He was a doctor and would give medicines. He would give people
ayurvedic medicines and later also he would treat people with
medicines given through Dr. Pillai. But when Baba‟s hand was burnt,
in fact he got it burnt, Nanasaheb Chandorkar got Dr. Parmanand
from Mumbai to treat him. Nanasaheb Chandarkor did not say, “What
Baba? Baba puts „bibva‟ in the eyes and cures people, then why
should I worry about his hand?” No, he never said this. Madhavrao
Deshpande sent a message, “My Baba‟s hand is burnt, Chandorkar,
immediately brings the best doctor from Mumbai to Shirdi. My Baba‟s
hand is burnt very badly.” Did he say that he is God and cure it
himself. No, he never said this. In fact Madhavrao was tensed and
worried. In such a situation the letter reaches immediately. To whom?
Chandorkar and he immediately brings Dr. Parmanand to Shirdi. He
was the topmost surgeon of Mumbai whose fee then was Rs. 100/just for examining the patient. Just imagine, in 1914-1915 Rs. 100/was real big money. He was the doctor to only the Kings, princely
states, governors and British officers. It was only for his friendship

9. with Nanasaheb that he came to Shirdi. He did not even know Baba.
Hemadpant tells us that his medicines were not even opened in
Shirdi. Baba refused to show his hand to him. But Baba got it
massaged with ghee from the leprosy stricken Shinde. One must
appreciate that Baba was capable of doing of everything and for this
feeling to arise in our minds we must read the Sai Satcharitra.
To know how the bhaktas conducted themselves. What was
demeanor of Nanasaheb Chandorkar, of Madhavrao Deshpande, of
Mhalsapati, of Dixit of Bayjabai? Did Bayjabai believe that these
people who get bhakri (Indian bread) and vegetable for Baba or that
Baba would come to her house and eat it. I will lay the table, serve
and wait for him to come? Did she do this? No. No one knew Baba
then. She would take the bhakri and vegetable in a basket and go in
search of Baba in the forest. Do we run after him in the forest? We do
not. We must realize that at least to a certain extend we must try and
live like this, that does not mean that you live ditto like her, may not
be possible. There is no harm in trying bit by bit. That means suppose
a lady takes a basket and goes throughout the village in search of
Baba, this would be madness to copy like this. But we should have
the urge in us, only then he becomes our „Prabhu‟. He is always our
Prabhu but only passively. When does he become active? Only when
you accept him as your Prabhu, only then. Madhavrao did not accept
Viroba . Madhavarao went running to his Sai, we must comprehend
this. It is so simple, from Sai Satcharitra we can learn how to accept
Him as your Prabhu.
Buddhakuashik only gives us this one line, but Sai Satcharitra totally
guides us how to make Him our Prabhu, all the bhaktas big or small
are our guides. For example the lady who gets the „khichadi‟ (rice
cooked with dal) for Baba, she is yearning to give it to him. Baba sits
for his lunch with the curtain let down, till then no one dare enter
when the curtain was let down. That lady had travelled so far just to
give Baba the khichadi, how could she wait any longer. Hemadpant
further tells us that she drew the curtain aside and went inside and
Baba was delighted and began to eat morsel after morsel? Why did
He do so? Because Sai knew the earnestness of the lady. We all
must know that through this way we can make our Sai, our Ram as
our Prabhu in our lives.
Then we read the story of the two gentlemen from Goa. As usual
Mhalsapati, Shama, Dixit and the others were sitting with Baba,
Narke was also with them. These two gentlemen came from Goa,

10. prostrated and sat down and then Baba started his story, “If I get a
job, my first month‟s salary i.e. 15 rupees I will offer it to God then my
salary increased 5 times, 6 times but I did not give God anything.”
Then he tells the next story, “Once while I was wandering, I was
staying in a mansion, I went to a rich brahmin‟s mansion and I slept
near a cupboard and the Brahmin scissored off all the money from
my pocket, he took away 30,000 rupees of mine.“ Madhavrao was
sharp to realize that this was not Baba‟s story, Baba did not know of
any sea, or any boatman or any peon and then Baba continues the
story, he gives the proper sequence, first the officer and then the
peon. Then Madhavrao was ordered by Baba to take them home for
food and the two went to his place for food. At dinner Madhavrao
wonders as to why Baba had told this story. The two tell him that this
is their story, one of them tells his story, ”My native place is on the
ghats but since I had acquaintances in Goa I went to Goa to secure a
job and I prayed to Dattaguru and took a vow that I will offer my first
month‟s entire salary to your feet. That salary was Rs.15/- and Baba
asked only for Rs. 15/-, “ how much did he ask only Rs. 15/- and he
did not take a single paisa from the other one. Madhavrao asks
Baba,” Deva, why this distinction, from one you ask for 15 rupees and
the other gave you 35 rupees which you refused to take, I would not
have done this.” Baba replied, “ I take nothing from anybody, I only
ask what they owe the Dwarkamai, that‟s all, otherwise I am not
concerned.“ Baba owned nothing even the „kafani‟ he wore was torn
which he would stitch himself. These two were shocked and
confessed that it was their story and that they had forgotten to fulfill
their vow.
We shall see a similar story but the other part, that of Cholkar. We
have seen his story, he did not forget his vow. He also took a vow for
a job, “Baba, I am a simple person, I want to be made permanent in
my job, I will go to Shirdi and distribute sugar candy.” He passes the
exam, gets a higher post and is made permanent. But he could not
afford to go to Shirdi. He resolved that until he goes to Shirdi he will
not partake any sugar or eat any sweet dishes. When Cholkar
reaches Shirdi no one recognized him. In Shirdi, Baba says,” Give
him cups of tea saturated with sugar.” This was signifying that he had
got his sugar candy as per his vow, „pavali vacha datta sharkara‟.
Yes, from this we should know how to behave. We have these two
examples in front of us, these two Goa bhaktas had forgotten their
vow, but there was no intention of not fulfilling it, their bhakti was

11. same, they earnestly wished to meet Baba so Baba pulled them to
him and got their vow fulfilled. Whilst Cholkar took a vow, did not
forget the vow, infact to fulfill the vow he punished himself by making
a determination not to eat anything sweet. Baba brought him to
Shirdi, got it fulfilled and by His significant words „pavali vacha datta
sharkara‟ hinted that he got the sugar candy as per his vow. My dear
children, Baba did this as Cholkar had accepted Him as his Prabhu.
We read the Sai Satcharitra and from the bhaktas stories we must
bear in mind that we should never compare. Who are we to compare.
We must try and understand what is beneficial to us. We must study
the conduct of these bhaktas and accordingly inculcate those values
in our life.
Hemadpant was sent to Madhavrao Deshpande to get 15 rupees.
Madhavrao tells him „where do I have 15 rupees with me‟. What was
the salary of the school master (Shama)? Only 2 rupees and 75 paise
for a school master. A school master earning Rs. 2 75 paise how will
he give Rs. 15/ - , he was neither fraudulent nor did he extract money
from others. He says, “Take my 15 namaskars as my 15 rupees.” Did
Hemadpant say, “Baba has asked for Rs.15 and I will take only Rs.
15” No, in fact he said I take these 15 namaskars of yours. And now
we shall chit chat. They chit chated and then the story of Radhabai
Deshmukh comes up. The moment he heard the word „anugraha,‟ he
is convinced the reason for which Baba has sent him here. Then
when they both went back the aarti had already started and
Madhavrao pulled him up inside the Dwarkamai, the bhaktas were
singing the aarti and Baba was enjoying his talk with Hemadpant.
Baba asked him, “Did you talk and tell me all that you talked about.”
Baba leaned forward and heard the entire story and then after the
aarti, Jog came with sugar candy and Baba put the entire sugar
candy into Hemadpant‟s hands and said, ”let your life be as sweet as
the sugar candy.”
From this we understand the greatness of the Sadguru – the sending
of Hemadpant to Madhavrao; Hemadpant completing the daily portion
of his reading of the Bhagwat; telling him a true story of „anugraha‟
and hinting at its relevance to him by telling him ,”Remember this
well, hold this close to your heart and then your life will be as sweet
as sugar candy.” Truly, his life was as sweet as sugar candy only
because he made Sai his Prabhu, this we must remember well.
“Ramah shriman sa nah Prabhu” Why do I take these Panchsheel
exams. Rajano, this sentence is your sentence and this Ramraksha is

12. yours and everyones. In this “Ramah shriman sa nah Prabhu” you
may say Ram or say, Krishna or even say Sai. You may use any one
of them which is dear to you but we are always perplexed by the fact
that how are we going to make this Almighty our „Prabhu‟ and what
efforts should we take for it
We listen to Bapu‟s pravarchan. We remember a little of it up to
Friday evening but by Saturday in the hustle-bustle of our daily
activities and the household chores, we tend to forget the whole
pravachan, it is not possible to remember. In fact, Bapu has been
giving discourses right since 1996. there must have been some of
you who would have been attending the discourses since 1996
without missing a single Thursday. How much must be written, how
much can we read? How much out of that would you remember? Tell
me how much can we remember? Not possible. Now our Bapu has
also published a „granth‟ (holy book) and the Sai Satcharitra to whom
our Bapu pays obeisance every Thursday must definitely be our
guide. In fact, in the second part of the granth Bapu has said that he
has five Gurus – “Dattaguru is my Sadguru, Gayatrimata is my
Vatsalyaguru (one who has motherly love), Ram is my Kartaguru
(Guru of action), Hanumant is my Rakshakguru (the protecting Guru)
and Sai is my Digdarshak Guru (Guru who guides me).” If Sai is the
guide of Bapu, then Sai Satcharitra is bound to be a guide for all
Bapu‟s friends and shall always remain a guide. This is why Bapu
conducts Panchsheel Exams and tells us, dear children sit and study
for these exams. When we study for these exams, we not only learn
from Sai Satcharitra but also imbibe the good things from it. A mere
reading of Sai Satcharitra does not give us the benefits which an
exam gives. Even if a particular thing gets imbibed by us, it starts
flowing in our lives and this flow is nothing but Ram being our Prabhu.
Let me honestly tell you that here I am reminded of a very beautiful
story. Truly a beautiful story. The story is of my beloved great
grandmother, „Mai‟ on whose shoulders I have grown up. Once, Mai
had gone to Shirdi. This was after the demise of Gopinath Shastri
Padhye. It must be some time after 1940 before the first death
anniversary of Gopinath Shastri Padhye.
My grandmother urged Mai to go with her to Shirdi. My grandmother
was aware of her sorrow, she was not one who would exhibit the
same. She used to be a very serene lady with a voice so soft that the
person sitting next to her could barely hear her voice. She was short,
about 4 ft - 6 in. and extremely fair. My grandmother requested Mai,

13. “Let‟s go to Shirdi.” My grandmother, Mai along with two others went
to Shirdi. She always believed that one should not enter Shirdi by a
vehicle so it was essential that the „tanga‟ (horse cart) stops at the
border of Shirdi. She firmly believed that on the soil on which Baba
walked could not be used by a tanga. She therefore left the tanga on
the outskirts of Shirdi and started „dandavat‟ (rolling) towards the
Dwarkamai. Please understand that rolling to the Dwarkamai was not
easy because the distance from the end of the village to the
Dwarkamai was quite a bit. However, Gopinath Shastri Padhye, Mai
and Ramabai and later my grandmother – did all these people always
roll from the outskirts of Shirdi upto the Dwarkamai? Just see the
sentiments, their faith, that they could not put their feet on soil on
which Baba had treaded. Tell me how can we walk on the soil that my
Baba has walked on, therefore we must roll on this soil. This was
indeed a very difficult task. My grandmother and one of her uncles,
Harikaka Pandit held my great grandmother, Mai and took her to the
Dwarkamai. Extremely old and tired she sat in the Dwarkamai. Baba
had already shed his mortal coil. Mai‟s husband had also passed
away. My grandmother who was her step-daughter but she was
extremely dear to her. A young girl, these three ladies along with and
some relatives reached Shirdi. Sitting in the Dwarkamai, Mai closed
her eyes. My grandmother put her hand on her shoulders and
realised that Mai was overwhelmed with emotion that until now she
always came to the Dwarkamai along with my father, that is Gopinath
Shastri Padhye, and this was the first time that she came alone. She
had never come alone to Shirdi.
My grandmother felt like crying but she would always
tell me Bapu, I don‟t know how I controlled my
feelings? I had to control myself. She further said that
when she put her hand on Mai‟s shoulder, Mai held
her hand and said to my grandmother that you too are
coming for the first time without your father Gopinath Shastri Padhye.
The daughter was concerned about her mother and the mother was
concerned about her daughter. Mai addressed my grandmother as
“Malai” which was her maiden name. Her married name was
Shakuntala Pandit. Mai told my great grandmother, “Malai you are
coming here for the first time without your father, today your father is
not here nor is this father, Saibaba here. And Malai I do not have
strength to take over the charge of this father and your father. Malai
what can I do for you?” Just see the love and care they had for each

14. other and Baba cared and loved both of them. While both of them
were talking, Just then with the breeze a flower which was offered to
Baba‟s photo fell into Mai‟s sari, it was a pretty rose which actually fell
in her hand. Mai picked up the rose and gave it to her daughter
saying, “Malai see Baba has blessed us and shown that He is always
be with us. Now we need not worry and feel sad about anything, you
are not alone. Baba has given this rose to me only to give me
strength to take care of you, as your father and mother, as you are
alone.” You must understand that my grandmother had become a
widow at the young age of 22 years and she had one daughter, that
is my mother. Mai also told her, “Malai that you are not alone and I
am fully supporting you and that is the reason why Baba gave me this
rose.” That old lady did not say that Baba gave her Prasad but
instead she said that Baba gave her strength through that flower to
take care of her widowed daughter. She was to perform the role of
the mother as well as the father for her daughter.
Tell me, should you not have devotion like this towards the Lord?
While this incident was taking place, one of the relatives amongst
them asked Mai, “Mai and Malutai, you always come doing „dandavat‟
(rolling) into Shirdi, but what about those people who permanently
stay in this village? It is not possible for them to do it everyday.” Mai
responded, “It is correct, we come once in a while and therefore we
need to do „dandavat‟ in Shirdi. If people who stay here permanently
start doing it, how will they do their daily work and do Baba‟s seva?”
See how balanced her thoughts were. Seeing this, some of the
people staying in Shirdi asked her whether they should also do
„dandavat‟ in Shirdi every day as Baba has treaded on this soil, and
she responded that this would be silly as they would then not be able
to perform Baba‟s work. We need to do „dandavat‟ in Shirdi because
we come once in a while but you serve Baba every day. Your bowing
down to Baba once in the morning would suffice. Please understand
that this was a very simple and uneducated lady, not even a graduate
but she teaches us how to follow the footsteps of Sai‟s bhaktas. This
was only because she had made Ram her Prabhu. Right until her
dying moment, her Vitthal, her Sai and her chanting of Ram Raksha
was never missed. My grandmother used to chant Ram Raksha 108
times a day. She never missed it except on one occasion. I had an
elder sister. Her name was Koyna. She passed away at the age of
12. Her friend is sitting here and I am sure she will be saddened by
my narration. My sister was my dearest friend but she passed away

15. at the young age of 12. She was the dearest grandchild of my
grandmother. When the news of her death was known in our house,
Mai had gone out. She hurriedly came back and saw that my
grandmother was hysterical whereas my mother was dumbfounded.
My sister had passed away suddenly. My mother was dumbfounded
she would not cry, she would not even speak to anybody. She was
more like a statue, whereas my grandmother was hysterical and she
was banging her head and crying.
At that stage, Mai walked in. All the ladies and neighbours had
gathered. Mai was about to cry but on seeing the condition of my
mother and grandmother, in a moment she controlled herself. She put
one hand on her daughter‟s shoulder and the other on her
granddaughter‟s and erect at the age of 80, she sat next to them
knowing that both of them were full of sorrow and the need of the
hour was to give support to both these ladies. Not only this, she also
realized that today my daughter, Mali would not be in a mental frame
of mind to chant her Ram Raksha 108 times and that this
determination of hers should not be missed. It was night time and
people had already taken away the body of my sister. The near and
dear ones had stayed back and at night my grandmother suddenly
banged her head, cursed herself that because of the sorrow of her
granddaughter she was not able to chant Ram Raksha 108 times but
at that moment Mai told her daughter, “My child do not worry. Your
Ram Raksha has been chanted by me.” Tell me, even in that moment
of sorrow, Mai had the presence of mind and concern for her
daughter that she did not miss the chanting of Ram Raksha. Tell me,
Mai also was full of sorrow for she had lost her fourth generation
daughter who was only 12 years old. She must have wailing too but
she realized that on one hand was the girl‟s mother whose heart had
turned to stone and was dumbfounded and her grandmother had
become hysterical. Who would take care of these two ladies if she
herself became emotional and that is why she had to be the pillar of
strength for these two ladies and at the same time had to take care of
her daughter‟s chanting of Ram Raksha, 108 times. Even in this
extreme moment of sorrow, she did not leave her Ram. In my
grandmother‟s sorrow on that day, I had missed my Ram but the
sorrow was so great that it was pardonable. But her Ram was always
with her, He did not leave her and that is why Ram himself ensured
that her mother completed the chanting of Ram Raksha. She never

16. missed this chanting all throughout her life. Next day onwards she
continued chanting her Ram Raksha.
One of her lady relatives who came to meet her the next day said,
“Bai, (during those days it was common to address a lady as “Bai”)
You chant Ram Raksha 108 times every day, all of you are such
staunch devotees of Lord Vitthal and Saibaba, then how did your
granddaughter pass away like this?” My grandmother responded,
“Bai, when my granddaughter was born did you come and ask me as
to why Ram gave her birth. You never asked this question then.
When she literally fell into the valley, when going to Pune our car had
stopped at Duke‟s Nose and at that time she bent over to look and
she went tumbling down into the valley. Then my Ram had saved her.
Had you asked this question then? No, you did not ask So please do
not ask this question now. He has done what is apt. I am soaked in
the sorrow of my daughter and you have no such sorrow. I am only
praying to the Lord Almighty that you should not experience such
sorrow.” See how magnanimous this lady was. Her faith on God did
not get shaken a bit and that is why her life was pristine. She had the
good fortune of seeing her great grandson, Pauras. When Pauras
was born, my grandmother came happily, by that time Mai had
passed away. My grandmother had become a great grandmother with
great joy she came to meet him. She took the child in her lap and
kissed him. Then my wife had gone for her first delivery to her
mother‟s place, after she came back my grandmother would bathe
the great grandchild every day. Even though she was 80 years old
she would bathe him everyday, and Pauras would bathe with her for
almost an hour with her. Till about he was about 5 years old, his great
grandmother would still bathe him and he would play with water,
putting water from one bucket to another, and they had all the
freedom to do it.
The day when Shakambari, my daughter, was born, she was born at
Breach Candy Hospital. When a boy is born the ward boys expect a
lot of money and sweets from the relatives sitting out and they are not
used to getting money when a girl is born. This hospital was for the
elite class but my father was the Head of the Department of
Biochemistry in Breach Candy Hospital. In fact, he was the first
Marathi person in fact the first Indian person, earlier they had only
Europeans and Parsis. The senior most wardboy who was old
refused to go out and tell that a girl was born because he did not
expect people to give money. However, when the relatives heard that

17. a girl was born, they were jumping with joy and distributed a lot of
money. In fact, my father-in-law, who is sitting here, was a witness to
this, my father was elated and when he said that they have got back
the girl they lost, all became euphoric. The celebration was thousand
times more than that of a boy being born. My father came out and
gave away all the money he had in his wallet. The senior most
wardboy started crying as he missed out on all the money being
gifted, people would generally give just Rs. 100/ but here all their
pockets are emptied. When my grandmother came to know of this,
she very peacefully went to my mother, took her close and said to
her, “Aru ( as she would call her, her name was Arundhati) Look, Lord
had taken away our daughter (my sister) but He has given you a
daughter. As I mentioned to you, the Lord never forsakes anyone. Let
me tell you that getting angry with the Lord is not right. From today
onwards, you must shun this anger as He has blessed us with such a
cute child. One needs to have a little patience, endurance as one
does not know what is in store in the future.” You will see that the first
thing that this lady did was to pacify her daughter and help her to
shed her anger, as now she has got not a granddaughter but her
daughter. She could regained her happiness only because her Ram
was her Prabhu in her life.
There is one story in Sai Satcharitra which is extremely touching.
Truly, I must tell you this story. Hemadpant sees a sannyasi in his
dreams and he tells him that he would visit his place next day for
lunch. However, Hemadpant recognizes that this sannyasi is none
other than Sai Himself. Next day was the festival of Holi Poornima.
Hemadpant is confused as to whether he should narrate this dream
of Saibaba to others. However, he mentions it to his wife as he knows
that she will believe him. She was a simple, devout lady. She asks
why would Baba leave Shirdi on such an auspicious day leaving the
delicious spread of food and come to our house? While we would
make just about one sweet at our place. However, Hemadpant
insisted to her that she should take a little more rice as that would not
be a burden to him and she also accedes to his request. By noon, the
plates are laid and the food is served, all relatives including the sonsin-law are ready to eat and at the centre of this layout is placed a
plate by Hemadpant for his Sai. For he has a firm belief that his Baba
will definitely come as he had mentioned in his dreams, He would
visit him in some form or the other. He in fact said to his wife that I am
not saying that Baba will come physically but I am sure he will come

18. in some form. Whoever comes at this time, I shall consider him to be
Baba. Honestly, I am extremely touched at this point where
Hemadpant expressed that whoever comes at that time, whether it be
a man, dog or even a mosquito, would be treated as Saibaba.
Whoever comes would be his Baba himself even a whiff of wind
coming in would be considered as Baba by Hemadpant.
That was his firm belief. While it was late, all the people were dressed
in „saula‟ (silk dhoti) and awaiting the prayers to start their food.
During those days, people would not have their food on holy
Poornima day without wearing a „saula‟. Hemadpant was about to
start the prayer, Baba‟s plate was also laid for Hemadpant was sure
Baba would come, just then somebody knocked on the door.
Hemadpant went ahead to open the door of the Sai Nivas which
exists even today with the same door, the same structure. Believe
me, it is the same edifice that you see at Bandra. He opened the door
and two people who were not Hindus came in and seeing the people
having food apologized for having come during their meal time.
Saying this, they handed over a box requesting him to keep the same
with him. They did not tell the contents of the box but Hemadpant had
firm belief that his Sai would come. When he opened the box he
found that there was a frame with a very beautiful idol of Saibaba.
The frame was then put on the seat where Hemadpant expected
Saibaba to have his meal and even today this is put on a seat in the
same manner. While it was past lunch time and at noon the „holi‟
(holy fire) also had been lit. The situation was such that the relatives
may ridicule him but Hemadpant did not get shaken at all, this was
only possible because of his firm faith on Saibaba and Baba also
gives a prompt response to this firm faith by coming in the form of
that frame and placing himself on the seat for having a meal at his
place. Hemadpant assures later that on each Holi Poornima day this
idol will get served by me in the same manner. When did this
happen? This happened in the year 1916. Before Baba shed his
mortal coil. Baba sent his idol to Hemadpant only and no one else.
Please remember that Baba‟s idol was never done before that. There
were only photos and frames. This is the first idol that has been done
during the lifetime of Baba.
We must consider ourselves fortunate that even today we can get
darshan of this idol at Hemadpant‟s place. We must remember this
well. It is touching to know that Hemadpant followed the path of
devotion without having an iota of doubt as to whether Baba is lying

19. to him or whether or not his dream would be true. He was firm that his
Baba was going to come and this faith of Hemadpant compelled
Saibaba to come to Sai Nivas and stay there and later the same
situation was created by Meenatai. She earnestly believed that my
Bappa is the only One, no one else and that He is my beloved, also
my dear child and also my Lord. How much she cared for me? One
day you won‟t believe but I was bitten by an insect. She promptly got
up, went inside and got a Betnovate tube and gave it to her husband,
Appa, to apply it on the insect bite. She told him that once I had
applied Betnovate I would feel better. One day she felt that my feet
were warm while doing namaskar. Quickly she went inside made
some sandalwood paste and said, “Oh Lord, I am applying some
sandalwood paste.” She would be concerned about the smallest of
things about me. She would offer fried slices of brinjal and what pains
she would take to select the brinjal, she would also ensure that the
slices were cut in a particular manner and they are fried in a particular
manner. In spite of my being full, she would always feel that I had
eaten less and it is amazing the way she knew my appetite and
always felt that I have eaten less. That is why she could
authoritatively say that Sai is my mother and Aniruddha is my father,
but my dearest friend is this handsome „saavala‟ Aniruddha. She
would say that this „saavala‟ (dark profile) is in fact my child, this dear
little one is my child. And that is why all of you have seen that in a
span of one year I lit the funeral pyre for the last rites of my father in
February, for my mother who expired in May, and for my mother who
gave birth to my mission, Meena vaini.
As her eldest son, I performed her last rites. I accepted three major
sorrows in one year – my parents who gave birth to me and my
mother, who initiated my mission It was for her, in her house and for
her devotion that I had to stop playing hide and seek and manifest
myself. Such was her stature for me, similar to that of Yashodamata,
the one who cared for me, I performed her last rites too. Chetan, her
son, also lit the funeral pyre but I as her eldest son lit it first. Why
could she become my mother? In the true sense she was an ascetic,
she required no strength from me. Whatever strength I blessed her
with, she distributed to others. She never kept back anything for
herself. But some people have misused it which we have seen. She
neither kept back anything for herself nor did she ask for anything.
“Nako Golueeche loni, nako Dwarkeche hire Maj havai phakta Deva,
phakta tuje hone ||

20. She would say that I do not want the butter of Gokul or the diamonds
of Dwarka. I only want to be yours, only yours my Lord. I do not want
anything else. She would put a black dot on me considering me to be
her son, she further says that with it she herself has become dark.
However, those of you who would have seen her body being brought
home would have seen that the fair lady had become dark, as dark as
her Lord Vitthal and then when her mother caressed her on her head,
she got back her radiant personality. Each word of hers always came
true. She was constantly striving to find her life‟s lamp to do the aarti
of the Lord. She herself became the aarti. She, in fact lived the Sai
Satcharitra all through her life. She quarreled, fought, no one could
beat her in it, but all this fighting was because He did not come, my
child has not come, my Lord has not come. As soon as she heard the
footsteps of the Lord her hustle and bustle would start and she would
be in all readiness for His divine feet and that is the reason why
Hemadpant himself showed her the 32nd sign of Sai. He indeed told
her that she was correct and showed the 32nd sign of the Lord. We
get one reference in the Sai Satcharitra of 32 and this reference of 32
was proved by Meenatai to the world. What was unknown, was a
secret to the world was told by Hemadpant to his daughter, his
daughter-in-law and the moment she saw the 32nd sign, her life was
fulfilled, she achieved everything. In today‟s world, we need to be
guided by these devotees in Sai Satcharitra, looking at Nanasaheb
Chandorkar, Dasganu, Mhalsapati, Bayjabai we need to progress and
it is for us to decide as to how we should lead our lives. To make
Ram our Prabhu of our lives our guide is the Sai Satcharitra.
HARI OM