Four Books on Sai Baba

Description

Book Specification

Item Code:	NAK409
Author:	Vinny Chitluri
Publisher:	Sterling Paperbacks
Language:	English
Pages:	711 (334 Color Illustrations)
Cover:	Paperback
Other Details	8.5 inch x 5.5 inch
Weight	1 kg

Book Description

This set consists of the following 4 Books:
Baba’s Rinanubandh (Leelas during His Sojourn in Shirdi)
Baba’s Gurukul (Shirdi)
Baba’s Anurag (Love for His Devotees)
Baba’s Vaani (His Sayings and Teachings)

Baba’s Rinanubandh (Leelas during His Sojourn in Shirdi)

ISBN: 9788120734036
Edition: 2012

Back of the Book

The word ‘Rinanubandh’ literally means ‘Karmic debt’. It is an impossible task to write the exact meaning of this word, as a lot of the nuances are lost while doing so. When you read about the lives of Baba’s devotees you realise that it has a deeper meaning. A bond that has existed for many generations.

His devotees came from varied backgrounds. Some highly educated, others were rustic villagers. Some were young, while others were middle-aged and set in their ways. They went to Shirdi not knowing what to expect. Others went there by chance. But once they met Baba their lives were changed forever. And the ‘Karmic bond” started unfolding. Thus they returned time and again to be with the living God who blessed them and gave them a handful of udi. In the years that followed, no matter what befell them they knew that Baba was always with them.

This book is a kaleidoscope of leelas, photographs and the lives of Baba’s devotees. It will make the reading of Shri Sai Satcharita easier and fruitful.

Vinny Chitluri was born in Arvankadu (Nilgiris), but was educated in Jabalpur (Madhya Pradesh). She did her postgraduation in Pediatrics from Kalawati Saren Hospital, Delhi. Then she went to the U.S., passed the board examination and was conferred the ‘Diplomat of the American Academy of Pediatrics’.

While in the U.S. she started thinking seriously about her Karmic bonds with her family. As her father worshipped Baba she was also able to do the same from a very young age. She has been worshipping Baba for sixty years. Her relationship with Baba is that of a ‘best friend’ as He loves her no matter what she does.

She retired from the medical profession at the age of fifty and came to Shirdi in 1994 and settled there. Then she set about trying to know more about Baba. She soon realised that ‘the more she learned about Him the more ignorant she was’. Alas, it would take her many lives to know a little about this inscrutable God. But her quest is on-going.

Preface

My father in 1950, on one of his visits to Shirdi brought N.V. Gunaji’s Shri Sai Satcharita. We took turns to read it. At that time I read it more like a storybook. I learned about Baba’s leelas and His divinity. Through the years I read and reread it. But I could not understand many things. For instance, Mrs Tarkhad’s son was sitting in the Dwarkamai right in front of Baba, yet he wanted to return home to offer naivedya to the photograph? Who was this child? Why couldn’t he just offer naivedya to the Shaktar Ishwar sitting in front of him? Was there another story in this story? (Shri Sai Satcharita, Chapter 9].

It bothered me a lot that Baba who had control of the elements [Shri Sai Satcharita, Chapter 11] who was “Deva di Dev” [God of God’s] lost a wrestling bout with Mohiddin? [Chapter 5]. The Parabhrama, who made this shrishti [cosmos], and guided it! He who was omnipresent and omnipotent, after losing this match wore a torn kafni. Why a Kafni? What did it symbolise? Baba, though God Almighty on a personal level was close to the common man, the rustic villager; the well educated, and famous devotee. The rich and the poor, the famous and not so famous flocked to His feet. Was it because of His ‘chamatkars’? Or was it His equality of vision? Was there something deeper, a rinanubandh [karmic ties or debt] that brought them to Shirdi? They came not knowing what to expect! And they stayed devoted to Baba for the rest of their lives. His divinity, His love, and compassion, His equality of vision endeared Him to every devotee.

Almost in each and every chapter of the Shri Sai Satcharita there are portions, words and parables that I could not understand. So I set out trying to find some answers. Along the way I met the descendants of these “Ankita Bhaktas”. I pestered them with questions about their grandparents. I read various books, old Sai Leela magazines, and other books and found some answers there. At other times I drove my friend Manjula nuts. I coerced her to read the Upanishads and Nirukti and find answers for me. “Do anything, read anything but give me answers with references,” I said. And she did. That’s what Gurus are supposed to do! Not all the material is in this book. I for one found many answers. As I am sure many of you did. Some I have included, and you may have found other answers. But at least it is a start.

This book is a kaleidoscope, of leelas, photographs, and lives of some devotees which illustrate the karmic and rinanubandhic ties with Baba. I strongly believe that the visuals stay with us for a long time. I hope, that this book will make reading of Sbri Sai Satcharita easier and fruitful.

Contents

Leela 1	: Dev Baba alias Anant Prabhu Walavalkar	1
Leela 2	: Anandrao Trimbak Karnik	4
Leela 3	: Amidas Bhavani Mehta	7
Leela 4	: Firozshah Hormazji Pudumjee	9
Leela 5	: Equality of Vision	10
Leela 6	: Munim and 2 1 Lakhs	11
Leela 7	: Uddhavesh alias Shyamdas Baba	13
Leela 8	: Quenching the Thirst	17
Leela 9	: Shyamdas on Girnar Parvat	19
Leela 10	: Ramachandra Atmaram Tarkhad	22
Leela 11	: Three Annas Became One Lakh Rupees	23
Leela 12	: Krishnaji Kashinath Joshi (Kusha Bhau)	25
Leela 13	: Shyamdas and Dwarka	29
Leela 14	: Ramachandra Dada Patil	35
Leela 15	: Hazarat Durvesh Haji Mohamed Siddique Phalke	49
Leela 16	: Neelkant Ramachandra Sahasrabudhe alias Baba Sahib	54
Leela 17	: Lakshman Krishnaji Nulkar alias Tatya Sahib Nulkar	57
Leela 18	: Viswanath Lakshman Nulkar	60
Leela 19	: Maina Tai Ganesh Kuvelkar [Chandorkar’s daughter]	61
Leela 20	: Bappaji Lakshman Ratna Parke	63
Leela 21	: Anna Sahib Karindkar	65
Leela 22	: Sakharam Hari alias Bapu Sahib Jog	67
Leela 23	: Samadhi of Bapu Sahib at Sakori	71
Leela 24	: Pralad Ramachandra Muley Shastri	71
Leela 25	: Adveyndra Saraswati alias Gholap Swami or Baba Swami	73
Leela 26	: Gopal Rao Mukundrao Butti	75
Leela 27	: The Brick	79
Leela 28	: Aare Maja Sava Rupiya!	81
Leela 29	: Bala Krishna Keshev Vaidya alias Dada Maharaj Patgaonkar	83
Leela 30	: Vishnu Ghati	84
Leela 31	: Pangya and the Coin	87
Leela 32	: Baba Gave His Tooth to Kashi Bai	88
Leela 33	: How did Baba’s Tooth Became Enshrined in Shivaji Nagar Temple in Pune	89
Leela 34	: Lakshmi Bai Ganesh Khaparde	90
Leela 35	: Damodar Vaman Atwale alias Dammu Anna	91
Leela 36	: Mari Aai and Death	95
Leela 37	: The Leela of Evil Spirit	97
Leela 38	: Vinayak Shankar Giridhar	98
Leela 39	: Anandrao Pakharde	101
Leela 40	: Govind Damodar Pandit	102
Leela 41	: Lakshmi Bai Tuse	104
Leela 42	: Shakaram Krishna Pangarkar	106
Leela 43	: Ramachandra Keshev Naik	109
Leela 44	: Nangin Das Motilal	111
Leela 45	: Householder and His Younger Brother	113
Leela 46	: Tumache Me Bhar Vahine Sarvatha (I will carry your burden)	116
Leela 47	: “What a Great Mother You Are? Here Take Your Baby”	117
Leela 48	: Kashinath Shankar Dubey and Raghunath Dubey	118
Leela 49	: Eka Sai Bhakta Kadurr [From A Sai Bhakta]	120
Leela 50	: Mrs Jog and the Buffalo	122
Leela 51	: Jog and Ganga Snaan	124
Leela 52	: Vitthal Darshan	126
Leela 53	: Shankar Rao Gavankar and Lala Lakhmichand	128
Leela 54	: Yoga and Siddhis	134
Leela 55	: Goddess Annapurna in Shirdi	136
Leela 56	: Baba Goes Three Times a Day to Tarkhad’s Home	138
Leela 57	: Babancha Hemard Offers Paan Vida to Baba	139
Leela 58	: Ram Krishna Nana Vagal and Harish Chandra Pithale	142
Leela 59	: Harish Chandra and his Epileptic Son	146
Leela 60	: Purushotham R. A vasthi and Radha Krishna Mayi’s Leelas	147
Leela 61	: Avasthi’s Prasad	148
Leela 62	: Madhav Rao Deshpande [Shama]	149
Leela 63	: Shama’s Quest to Know the Ramayana	150
Lee1a 64	: Shama Had an Eye Infection	151
Leela 65	: Baba Shows Shama the Trilok (Three Worlds)	153
Lee1a 66	: Shama and the Vishnu Shashranaam	154
Leela 67	: Shama and Money	156
Lee1a 68	: Shama Visits Nagpur	159
Lee1a 69	: Shama and Ekadashi Fast	160
Lee1a 70	: Ramachandra M Adkar	162
Lee1a 71	: Gopal Rao Somnath Nimonkar	163
Leela 72	: Sarojini Muley (Kaka Sahib Mahajini’s Daughter)	164
Lee1a 73	: Baba’s Pocket	165
Lee1a 74	: Savitri Bai Raghunath Tendulkar	169
Leela 75	: Mahadev N. Chandorkar alias Bapu	170
Leela 76	: Babu Chandorkar alias Vasudev Narayan Chandorkar	172
Lee1a 77	: Raghuvir B. Purandhare	173
Leela 78	: Samadhi of K. J. Bhishma	175
Lee1a 79	: Lakshmi Bai Chinchnikar	176
Leela 80	: Abdul jan Pathan	178
Lee1a 81	: Ram Baba	179
Lee1a 82	: Bala Sahib Rudra	180
	Conclusion	182

Baba’s Gurukul (Shirdi)

ISBN: 9788120747708
Edition: 2014

Back of the Book

This book begins from the small village Shiladhi, where a young fakir clad in white arrived with a marriage party. He stayed on and his divine powers were slowly recognized by the laity around him. Slowly the dilapidated Mashid mayee gets transformed into Dwarka Mai lit up by the warm Dhuni Mai and the ever burning lamps. Vehement skeptics and devotees flock alike to Shirdi, as the Kul-adhipathi Sai Baba gathers them in his Gurukul. The book describes in detail the various well known miracles of Baba and illustrates their meaning in a lucid manner. The author brings a rare insight and an almost personal touch to this book as she describes the various articles used by Him and the places He visited regularly.

This book came about by this irresistible urge to share Shirdi, so readers can profit from it. The articles used and handled by Baba are with the Sansthan so the readers can see them and gain insight in their significance.

Vinny Chitluri was born is Arvankadu (Nilgiris), but was educated in Jabalpur (Madhya Pradesh). She did her post graduation in pediatrics from Kalawati Saren Hospital, Delhi. Then she went to the US, passed the board examination and was conferred the ‘Diplomat of the American Academy of Pediatrics’.

While in the US, she started thinking serious about her Karmic bonds with her family. As her father worshipped Baba, she was also able to do the same from a very young age. She has been worshipping Baba for sixty years. Her relationship with Baba is that of a ‘best friend’ as He loves her no matter what she does.

She retired from the medical profession at the age of fifty and came to Shirdi in 1994 and settled there. Then she set about trying to know more about Baba. She soon realized that ‘the more she learned about Him, the more ignorant she was’. Alas! It would take her many lives to know a little about this inscrutable God. But her quest is ongoing.

Preface

Baba spoke of the future of Shirdi to Mhalsapati and other devotees. He said, “There will be huge palatial buildings, big fairs will be held, high ranking officials will come here. My Brahmins will gather here”. And so it came to pass. The small remote village called Shiladhi turned into what it is now. I have tried to show what Shridi and the sacred sites were like in the 20’s, the 80′,s and at present.

Each site has a spiritual significance and each devotee gets what he wants from it. A devotee goes to a sacred place with a purpose and that gets fulfilled and he returns with an answer. Those who come to learn from Baba’s life and at each place they get an answer. What it is we do not know, but they are closer to the most important person in their lives?

Without a formal induction into a learning program each devotee finds an answer to his quest. He goes back a happier and contented person. Each devotee has a preference for a special site and gets and individual personal experience.

Devotees have many questions to ask about these sites and I have tried to explain their significance.

Introduction

At the time that Baba manifested in Shiladhi it was a small, remote village, in Kopergaon Taluka, in the district of Ahmednagar. This was a district of the composite Bombay Province up to 1960 (now called Maharashtra). Shiladhi was small about 3.3 sq miles, calculated on the basis of the census, of a medium-sized family. Now, it is spread far and wide.

In the 1884 Bombay Gazetteer (Vol. XVII) of Ahmednagar district, it is mentioned in a chart of ‘Kopergaon villages of 1883’. It is grouped under ‘Taraf Korhale thirty villages’, where it is spelt as Shirdi. The Gazetteer says there is only one road in the Kopergaon Taluka to Malegaon. “This road enters the Kopergaon sub-division at the 45th mile from Ahmednagar near the village of Ashtagaon, and Shirdi is at its 53rd mile. The Godavari River is crossed by a wire-rope ferry”.

In the 50’s, as the bridge over the Godavari was low, it was often under water. Later the huge bridge was built. The Godavari flowed swiftly, and a boat used to ferry devotees to the other shore. Then the journey was by tonga; it was exciting to see the flag over the Samadhi Mandir far off from Neemgaon. Now there are so many buildings that it is not visible. Recently, a railway station has been built near Neemgaon.

Mamledar B V Dev first visited Shirdi in 1910. He recorded his impressions in the Sai Leela Magazine, in 1932. He states that Shirdi was originally known as ‘Shiladhi’ or ‘Shailadhi’. At that time the village was tiny and had about 400 houses. A few were large while others were small mud huts. The village had two wells and two schools. One school was up to the 7th standard in the Marathi medium and the other was a Marathi mission school.

The village had two panmalas (betel leaf vineyards), two orchards, one flower garden, one sugar mill, one flour mill and a water mill. There was one dharamshala for pilgrims to stay in. besides this, there were nine temples and two masjids.

The total population was about 2,586. The Muslims were the minority (about 10%) and the rest were Hindus. The Hindus were divided into the following castes- Brahmins, Marwadis, Marathas, Dhangars (Shepherds), Malis (growers of fruits and vegetables), Sonars (goldsmiths), Sutras (carpenters), Lohar (Blacksmiths), Kumbhars (potters), Parits (washermen), Mahars, Mangs Chamars (tanners and leather workers), Kolis, Bhils (scheduled tribes), Guravs and Vadars. There was a wide cross section of castes. Shirdi though small and remote was quite prosperous. The population was of a working class and Shirdi seemed to be quite self-sufficient.

In the 20’s and up to the 70’s there were many ‘Gow Shalas’ in and around Shirdi. Many of the neighbouring villages and villages as far away as Sinner and Nasik used to do ‘Gow dann’ to Shirdi Kshetra. They would bring cow and release it in Shirdi; hence there were numerous Gow Shalas. It is interesting to note that Baba is given butter sweetened with sugar as Prasad after kakad arati.

There is an interesting legend in the puranas. The sage Gautama brought the river (originally the Ganga) from the matted locks of Lord Shiva. Lord Shiva once vigorously shook his locks and dashed them on the ground. At that site the Godavari or Goda Mai originated, atop the Bramhagiri mountain near Tryambakeshwar.

The word ‘Godavari’ is broken down as, Go which means bhumi (earth or land), da means (bestower) and vari means shresth (the best or excellent). So Godavari means the land that bestowed the best. The banks of the Godavari have nurtured many a saint. But at Shirdi, it nurtured the ‘Parabramha’ who walked in the alleys and gullies and sanctified the soil. Shirdi is situated about eight miles south of the blanks of the Godavari.

Contents

	Dedication and Acknowledgements	v
	Preface	vii
	Introduction	1
	Shiladhi	3
	Shiladhi the Seat of Spiritual Learning	3
	Baba’s Unique Gurukul	8
Chapter 1	Gurupaduka Sthan (Gurusthan)	12
	The Celler near the Neem Tree	14
	The Gurusthan or Guru Padukasthan	16
	Baba’s Idol	16
	Baba’s Original Photograph	17
	The Possible Meaning of the “Baba Sitting on the Stone” Pose	17
	Shiva Linga	18
	Baba’s Padukas	19
	The Ever Burning Lamps	21
	The Sacred Neem Tree	21
Chapter 2	The Mashid or Dwarka Mai	23
	Dwarka Mai in the 1920s	25
	The Bell	28
	Flags (nishans) of Dwarka Mai	28
	The Small Red Pillar	29
	Three Steps in Front of the Pillar	30
	Padukas in Front of the Chariot Room	31
	The Choolha	31
	The Chariot (Rath) Room	33
	The Dhuni Mai	34
	Small Silver Padukas in Front of Dhuni Mai	35
	Possible Meaning of ‘Baba Sitting in Front of Dhuni Mai’ Posture	36
	The Kolamba	37
	Maath or Water Pot	38
	The Magical Chillim (clay pipe)	40
	The Hooks on the Ceiling	41
	The Nimbar or Allah Mia Che Jagha	42
	The Ever Burning Lamps	43
	The Jaath or Queen	43
	The Sack of Wheat	44
	Portrait of Baba in front of Dhuni Mai (Dwarka Mai pose)	48
	The Possible meaning of the Dwarka Mai Pose	48
	The Padukas in Front of Baba’s Portrait	49
	The Kathada (railing) on which Baba Rested his Hand	50
	The Udi Stand	51
	Baba’s Bathing Stone	56
	The Three Steps next to the Ota	56
	The Ota or Platform with the Agarbatti Stand	56
	The Tortoise	59
	The Mythology of Tulsi Vivaha	61
	The Idol of Shyam Karan	62
	The Stone on which Baba Sat	62
	The Big Portrait of Baba above the Stone	63
	The Idol of the Tiger	64
	Shyam Sundar Hall	64
Chapter 3	The Chavadi	68
	Big Painting of Baba on the Northern Wall	70
	The Small Photograph of Baba on a Silver Throne	71
	The Wooden Cot and the Wheelchair	73
Chapter 4	Lendi Baugh	74
	The Flower Garden	77
	The Neem Trees’	77
	Nanda Deep’	79
	Meaning of Nanda Deep	79
	The Ashwatha or Peepul Tree	80
	Baba’s Well	81
	The Dattatreya Mandir	82
	The Samadhi of Amidas Bhavani Mehta	82
	The Samadhi of Mukta Ram	83
	The Samadhi of Shyam Karan	86
Chapter 5	The Three Wadas in Shirdi
	Sathe Wada	88
	Dixit Wada	90
Chapter 6	Samadhis on the Way to Lendi Baugh	93
	The Samadhi of Haji Abdul Baba	93
	Samadhi of Bhau Maharaj Kumbhar	94
	The Samadhi of Nanavali	96
	The Samadhi of V p Iyer	97
	The Samadhi of Tatya Kote Patil	98
Chapter 7	The Five Blessed Houses that Baba took Bhiksha from
	1. Sakharam Patil Shelke’s house	102
	2. Vamanarao Gondkar’s house	103
	3. Bayyaji Appa Kote Patil’s house	103
	4. Bayaja Bai Ganpath Kote Patil’s house	104
	5. nandram Marvadi Sanklecha’s house	105
Chapter 8	Temples in Shirdi
	Khandoba Mandir in Shirdi	108
	The Banyan Tree	110
	The Kanifnath Mandir	110
	As hta Lakshmi Mandir	110
	Vitthal Mandir	111
	Dakshina Mukhi Shri Hanuman Mandir	112
	Ganapathi, Shani and Mahadev Temples	113
	The Samadhi of the Tiger	114
Chapter 9	Abdul Baba’s Cottage	115
Chapter 10	Festivals Celebrated in Shirdi	116
	Gudi Padava, the Maharashtrian New Year	117
	Rama Navami, the Festival of Rama’s Birth	117
	The Urs and Sandal Procession	120
	Puja of the Sadguru, or Guru Purnima	121
	Vijay Dashmi or Baba’s Aaradhana Vidhi	122
	Kojagiri Purnima	125
	Baba’s Daily Routine	125
Chapter 11	Shri Che Samadhi Mandir or Dagdi Wada aliasa Butti Wada	128
	Gopalrao Mukundrao Butti	128
	The Samadhi Mandir	129
	The beautiful Wooden Doors and the Plaques behind them	130
	Baba’s show room	132
	The Survarna (golden) Kalash	133
	The Sculpting of Baba’s Murty	136
	The Pran Prathista of Baba’s Idol	138
	The Samadhi	140
	Baba’s Murty (Idol)	143
	The Significance of Padukas	146
	Significance of the bathing stone	151
Chapter 12	Baba Going for Bhiksha	154
Chapter 13	Invisible Baba	155
Chapter 14	Baba Sitting on the Ota in the Sabhamandap	156
	Conclusion	157
	Glossary	158

Baba’s Anurag (Love for His Devotees)

ISBN: 9788120754478
Edition: 2012

Back of the Book

Baba’s love encompassed the whole universe with an equality of vision. However he had deep emotional and spiritual ties with some of his devotees. Although Baba rarely left Shirdi in his physical form but he did visit the homes of the Dengle family in Neemgaon and the Saand family in Rahata. He went to some of his devotees place in the form of bas-relief images. The descendents of these devotees have preserved these images and venerated them till today. They were blessed not only in this life, but also for many past lives, that they had the good fortune of welcoming Baba into their homes.

This book describes the homes of many of his devotees in and around Shirdi. Their homes and lives are described vividly so that we too can have a virtual tour of them and can partake a little of the ambrosia and fragrance of Baba’s love. Baba also had deep ties with devotees who resided in Shirdi. They eagerly waited for him to pass by their homes as he wandered through the villages so that the dust from his feet would sanctify their homes and their mundane lives. This book transports one to the bygone days and describes the various leelas of Baba from which valuable lessons can be derived.

Vinny Chitluri was born in Arvankadu (Nilgiris), but was educated in Jabalpur (Madhya Pradesh). She did her post graduation in Pediatrics from Kalawati Saren Hospital, Delhi. Then she went to the US, passed the board examination and was conferred the Diplomat of the American Academy of Pediatrics.

While in the US, she started thinking seriously about her Karmic bonds with her family. As her father worshipped Baba, she was also able to do the same from a very young age. She has been worshipping Baba for sixty years. Her relationship with Baba is that of a best friend’ as He loves her no matter what she does.

She retired from the medical profession at the age of fifty and came to Shirdi in 1994 and settled there. Then she set about trying to know more about Baba. She soon realised that the more she learned about Him, the more ignorant she was Alas! it would take her many lives to know a little abou