Prayers to Shirdi Sai Baba

Shree Sai Samarth Maharaj,

Will continue from the quote from Gospel Of Sri Ramakrishna (Durga Puja Festival)

Incidentally Ram Navami Festival the festival so much dear to Shirdi is few days from now

“ Now the master (Sri Ramakrshna Paramhansha) began to pray : “ O Rama(God)! O Rama! I am without devotion and austerity, without knowledge and love: I have not performed any religious rights. O Rama, I have taken refuge in thee: I have taken shelter at thy feet. I do not want to creature comfort: I do not seek name and fame. O Rama I do not crave the eight occult powers. I do not care for a hundred occult powers! I am thy servant. I have taken refuge in Thee. Grant, O Rama that I may have love for Thy Lotus Feet: that I may not be deluded by Thy world bewitching maya(illusion)! O Rama, I have taken refuge in Thee.”

Further one can read,

As the Master (Sri Ramakrishna) prayed all eyes were turned towards him. Hearing his piteous voice, few could restrain their tears.

This prayer from the Master, the Paramhansha, who brought so many to the path of devotion and was a Guru of the Lion Sri Vivekananda teaches us much. A man with such grandeur such devotion that very few such devotees have walked on this earth, what does he says, what does his prayer says? “ I am without austerity, without knowledge, without love.” Such humbleness, and we sometimes do a fast, may be read the sacred book Sai SatCharitra in a week and or daily read it, go to Shirdi Sai Temple, perform Puja at home doing anything or all of these we might start feeling we have austerity, we have love for Shirdi Sai Baba, we have gain some knowledge. One have to read the life of Ramakrishna Paramhansa get some idea of the tremendous love of God he had.

Further the prayer says, “O Rama, I have taken refuge in thee: I have taken shelter at thy feet. I do not want to creature comfort: I do not seek name and fame. O Rama I do not crave the eight occult powers. I do not care for a hundred occult powers! I am thy servant. I have taken refuge in Thee” The writer have noted most of the time we devotees pray for the comfort and not for love of Shirdi Sai Baba. Or the prayers are for the name and fame of the petty self, which is always craving for some name and fame from the society. Or the prayers are for some kind of power, either the power of position or power over others. These three are most frequently prayed for, by us who calls ourselves devotees of Shirdi Sai Baba. The refuge taken is mostly for the above stated reasons.

“Grant, O Rama that I may have love for Thy Lotus Feet: that I may not be deluded by Thy world bewitching maya(illusion)! O Rama, I have taken refuge in Thee.” How many times we find ourselves praying for this, the love of Lotus Feet of Shirdi Sai Baba. We should seriously ask ourselves this question.

“As the Master (Sri Ramakrishna) prayed all eyes were turned towards him. Hearing his piteous voice, few could restrain their tears.” This is most important for a prayer, the love and cry for the Love of God, straight from the heart. Any kind of Puja or prayer if done as a routine, as a set of routines prescribed according to some scripture, or a scholar religious or other. If done without the heart in it has little meaning.

What Sri Sai Baba or God in any form or formlessness requires the heart in it, the love in it.

This also reminds a story to the writer, Once a prominent priest (name forgotten excuse me please) was passing through a forest. Passing by he happened to listen to a prayer, said by a very illiterate and poor resident of the forest. The illiterate man was praying in fact talking with God, straight from his heart. His prayers said, Oh God, I will clean you and bath you when you get dirty, O God I will remove the lice from your hair. Hearing this priest got angry and rushed to the man. He stopped the man from saying anything further. The man got scared. The priest than taught him the proper way (?) of praying.

All the glories attributed to the God was taught to the humble illiterate man. As the priest was returning feeling happy about teaching the right prayer to an illiterate man, he herd the voice of God. The thunderous voice, put him in awe. The voice of the God said, “What have you done?” “ I loved the prayer so much, you took that away from my beloved one.” At once go back and tell him to continue with his usual prayer, poor fellow will get himself entangled in remembering your prayer and the ways of prayer while praying. The love will be override by the ways and remembrance of the words used for prayer.

The priest rushed back to the man, asked his forgiveness from the depth of his heart and asked him to continue with the usual way of his prayer.

Happy Baba day!!!

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