Lessons From Sabari’s Sadhana… Sabari, the aboriginal character in the epic Ramayana is a great celebrity in the world of devotees as she epitomised highest sadhana with her pure unsullied love for Her Beloved Lord Sri Ramachandra. An aboriginal woman she was, Sabari grew curious after she heard of Lord Rama and His proposed visit to Sage Matanga’s hermitage, during Rama’s sojourn in the forest. Ever-since she remained God-intoxicated thinking of Rama alone, desiring for His darshan. Narrating this beautiful story, Bhagawan urges His devotees to take a cue from the illustrious life of this devotee of His Treta Avatar and attain the Ultimate. Sabari had a very tender compassionate heart. How she came to Matanga Rishi and stayed at his hermitage is a very interesting story. Her marriage was arranged by her parents, and as was the custom among the Adivasis (aboriginals) a goat was to be offered to the tribal Goddess, on the night previous to the cere¬mony, in order to win the Grace for the couple. When Sabari came to know about this slaughter, she wept, and fell at the feet of her parents, praying them to save the goat. She asked, “How can our married life be happy, when the dying bleat of this goat is the prologue?” But, the father pushed her aside and proceeded with the cruel rite. That night, Sabari stole out of that den of torture, and hid herself in the depths of the jungle that was not far off. When day dawned, her parents as well as the groom’s party were plunged in grief and anxiety; they combed the area, even where she was lying low amidst the thick bushes, and they went back, saying among themselves, “She could not have gone to the her¬mitage, for no woman would be given asylum there.” She heard these words and so, she concluded that the hermitage was the safest place for her. She felt that some monk will take pity on her, and not send her back. Matanga espied her and gave her permission to be in his habitation. He told her that God in the form of Sri Rama was coming to the hermitage some day, since He had been exiled into the Forests for t4 years and He is eager to save the monks and seekers, doing Tapas in the forests, from the ravages of the demonic enemies of peace! Rama, he said, was proceeding from one region to another with His consort Sita and His brother, Lakshmana. From that day Sabari had no other thought than that of Rama, no other desire than the desire to have the darshan of Rama, the chance to touch His Feet and the opportunity to speak with Him. Her heart was saturated with the Ramarasa (the essence of Rama principle), the sweetness of the Rama principle. She had no other Japam or Dhyana or spiritual exercise. She spent her time preparing for the visit of Rama to the hermitage; just as she cleaned the paths, she cleaned her heart, too. Pebbles and thorns disappeared from both through her efforts. She walked through the undergrowth and removed overhanging creepers and briars, for she imagined Rama would not have com¬bed His hair and it might get caught. She broke the lumps of earth, for she feared the tender soles of Sita will be hurt when she walks over them. She gathered fruits and tubers from the jungle trees and plants and kept them by every day, for no one knew when Rama will arrive! And, she took no risks. She tasted every fruit, whether it was bitter, sour or sweet, so that Rama could eat the best. She smoothed the surface of all stones that lay by the side of the tracks in the jungle for, she expected Rama, Lakshmana or Sita to sit upon any one of them when they got tired of walking. She hoped that one of them would rest awhile on one of the rocks she had polished with great care. Thus her heart became Rama-hridaya! Sabari was so immersed in Rama that the ascetics lost all awareness of her sex; they allowed her to remain in the hermitage, after Matanga related to them the high level of her Sadhana. Matanga also left this body and gave away his hermitage to Sabari, saying, “You alone deserve to be here when Rama arrives!” The Sadhana Sabari did to earn the bliss of serving Rama, you can do, when you serve Sai Rama in the poor. By this service, you realise the Self as Rama. II Samasta Lokah Sukhino Bhavantu II

Radha – Supreme Devotee Of Lord Krishna Pine for dhara, dhara and you find that you are pining for Radha, Radha, said Bhagawan discoursing on the Unmatched Supreme devotion of Radharani for Bhagawan Sri Krishna. Many are the wondrous tales of her devotional feats for Lord Krishna and Bhagawan had narrated some such wondrous tales in His Divine Discourses. Remembering the Mother Of Supreme Devotion, Radharani, a couple of beautiful stories from the life of Radharani, as recounted by Bhagawan Himself. You can understand Radha only if you can fathom the depth of that thirst. Radha believed that Krishna is the Adhar (basis) and she did Aradh (worship) to Krishna in a continuous Dhara (stream). In fact, she is dhara or nature which is another form of the Lord or Purusha Himself. Prakrithi is dhara. Think of it always. Pine for dhara, dhara and you find that you are pining for Radha, Radha. So Radha is the becoming and Krishna is the being. There is a story about Radha and her faith in Krishna. The elders in Brindavan who revelled in scandalizing Krishna set an ordeal for Radha to test her virtue. She was given a mud pot with hundred holes and was asked to bring water in that pot from Yamuna to her house! She was so full of Krishna consciousness that she never knew the condition of the pot. She immersed it in the river repeating the Name of Krishna as usual with every intake of the breath and every exhalation. Every time the Name Krishna was uttered, a hole was covered, so that by the time the pot was full, it was whole! That was the measure of her faith. Faith can affect even the inanimate objects. On another occasion, She was sent to one of the villages, and in agony she sang, “There is trouble in the village and there is not a shade where I can take shelter! So I have come and I am maintaining this life breath in myself for your sake. Show Yourself atleast in my dream. My mind cannot rest even for a moment if I cannot see You. You are like my eyeball within myself, if I am to describe You. But if I have to see You, You are like a small baby who is outside me. But if I have no eyeball in me, then I cannot even look at this small baby. You are the One Who shows and You are the One Whom I aspire to see. In Your gross human form, will You show Yourself to me atleast once? At that time Krishna was in Mathura. In the prayer of Radha we notice that even though she had no place for her to take shelter, yet she was maintaining her life breath solely for the sake of Krishna. While she was engaging herself in this kind of introspection, it looked to her as if her companions were playing some games. One group of gopikas were singing and saying that Gopala has returned. As soon as she heard that song, she thought that Gopala has really returned and she jumped out of the bamboo thicket into the hot sand and she was running forward to meet Gopala, not minding the heat of the sand. Radha’s bhakti was such that she was always on the banks of river Yamuna, both in the heat and in the cold. In the heat, her body was getting scorched, but she never bothered. II Samasta Lokah Sukhino Bhavantu II

How Arjuna learnt the Big Lesson?!? Implicit obedience to The Lord is what is desirable for an ideal devotee. The veil of delusion which covers up the Divinity inherent in man is so thick that it inflates man’s ego, tempting him to forget even God. Arjuna, while being driven by Lord Krishna  in the Kurukshetra battlefield, donning the role of Charioteer, was in this ‘tight-spot’ with his ego pumped up for a moment, only to learn the big lesson finally reposing full faith in Lord Krishna. Those were the days of Mahabharata war. At the end of the 9th day of the war, Arjuna returned with Krishna from the battlefield filled with excitement of victory. On that day, ego entered his mind and he considered Krishna merely a charioteer of his chariot and himself as the cause of the victory. Krishna stopped the chariot near the camp of Arjuna and asked him, “Brother-in-law, get down from the chariot.” As is the common practice those days that the driver of the car gets down from the car first and opens the door of the car to enable the owner to get down from it, Arjuna wanted Krishna to observe the same decorum and get down first. He asked Him with pride and impertinence, “Brother-in-law, You should get down first.” In reply, Krishna said to him, “Brother-in-law, you get down and go inside.” But Arjuna was stubborn and said to Krishna, “You get down first and I will get down after that only.” Then Krishna sternly commanded Arjuna, “No, no. You have to get down first.” In this way, there were arguments and counter arguments between Arjuna and Krishna for some time. In the end, Arjuna unwillingly got down from the chariot fearing what Krishna might do if he did not obey Him. Krishna then ordered him to go inside. Arjuna was surprised and did not understand why Krishna was ordering him so forcefully like that. As Arjuna went inside, Krishna jumped down from the chariot. As soon as He did so, the chariot was engulfed in flames and reduced to ashes. Then Arjuna asked Krishna, “What is all this?” Krishna said to Arjuna, smilingly, “It is for the same reason that I asked you to get down from the chariot first, though you were not willing to do so. In today’s war, Bhishma attacked you with fierce fiery weapons. In order to protect you, I suppressed them under My Feet. If I had got down from the chariot before you, you would have been burned down along with the chariot.” Thinking of the dreadful consequence if he had not got down from the chariot first, Arjuna was filled with repentance. Such is the veil of delusion which covers up the divinity inherent in man and inflates his ego. Reposing his full faith in Krishna, Arjuna worshipped Him with great devotion. Lord Krishna, therefore, was always with him and protected him. We can attain the grace of the Lord by following His command. II Samasta Lokah Sukhino Bhavantu II

Secret of Spiritual Success Defining His Avataric mission, dividing His mission into 16 years apiece with defined tasks, Bhagawan, delivering His ‘first public Divine Discourse said: …”not that I Am determined to exclude leela and mahima from My activity after that…. I only mean that re-establishing Dharma, correcting the crookedness of the human mind and guiding humanity back to Sanathana Dharma will be My task thereafter. Read on… Do not be led away by doubt and vain argument; do not question how and whether I can do all this. The cowherds of Brindavan also doubted whether the little boy who grew in their midst could lift Govardanagiri and hold it aloft! The thing needed is Faith, and yet more Faith. Once Krishna and Arjuna were going together along the open road. Seeing a bird in the sky, Krishna asked Arjuna, “Is that a dove?” He replied, “Yes, it is a dove.” He asked Arjuna, “Is it an eagle?’ Arjuna replied promptly, “Yes, it is an eagle.” “No, Arjuna, it looks like a crow to Me. Is it not a crow?” asked Krishna. Arjuna replied, “I am sorry, it is a crow beyond doubt.” Krishna laughed and chided him for his agreeing to whatever suggestion was given. But Arjuna said, “For me, your Words are far more weighty than the evidence of my eyes; you can make it a crow, a dove or an eagle and when you say it is a crow, it must be one.” Implicit faith is the secret of spiritual success. The Lord loves, not the bhaktha but his bhakthi, remember. The Lord’s Grace is like rain, pure water, falling equally everywhere; but its taste gets changed according to the soil through which it flows. So also the Lord’s words are sweet to some, bitter to others. The Lord’s ways are mysterious; He blessed Vidhura with the words, “Be destroyed” and Dhusshaasana with the words, “Live for a thousand years;” He meant that Vidhura’s ‘I’ will be destroyed and that the wicked Dhusshaasana will have to suffer the ills and tribulations of this world for ten centuries. You do not know the real reasons behind the actions of the Lord. You cannot understand the motives of other men who are almost like you in everything, actuated by the same motives and having the same likes and dislikes! But yet, how easily you discover the motives of One who is far, far above the level of Man! How glibly you talk and judge of something that is as strange to you as atmosphere to a fish! II Samastha Lokah Sukhino Bhavantu II

He who feeds the distressed in hunger really serves Me… Shirdi Sai’s sojourn on Earth was most incomprehensible for the normal ones, His ways being supra-mysterious. Baba, in fact, lived His life teaching His followers at every step, guiding them to higher levels of consciousness, evolution. How Bhagawan sent across the poignant, powerful message of the absolute need to see Madhava in every being? …an interesting story from the illustrious Sai Samartha Satcharita. One evening, Baba was sitting against the wall, leaning His chest against the banisters, engaged in lovable talk, when Lakshmi arrived there. Tatya Patil was nearby and there were others also. Lakshmi made her obeisance to Baba, when Baba said to her: “Lakshmi, I Am hungry.” “Baba, I will go and bring bhakri (a round flat unleavened bread often used in the cuisine, in Maharashtra, India). No sooner than I go that I shall return with it.” Saying this she left immediately. She baked some bhakris and returned without loss of time, along with some vegetables and chutney, and placed this snack before Baba. Baba picked up the plate and put it before the dog as it was. “Baba, what have You done?”, Lakshmi asked promptly. “In spite of my having gone so swiftly and baked the bhakris quickly, You offered them to the dog! What is this novel way of Yours! You said You were hungry. What kind of marvelous hunger is this? You have not even had one small morsel of it! You have unnecessarily troubled me.” Then Baba said to her: “Why do you fret unnecessarily? Satisfying the same hunger of this dog is the same as giving Me appeasement. Bear this in mind. Isn’t this dog a living creature? All beings experience the same hunger. Though it is dumb and I can speak, is there any difference in the hunger that both experience? “He who feeds those distressed by hunger really serves Me with food. Know this and regard it as an axiomatic truth.” II Samastha Lokah Sukhino Bhavantu II