Why should we read or listen to the Shri Sai SatCharita or life stories of great sages and saints?

In this chapter, I will be narrating the story about the significance of why we all should read and listen to the beautiful life stories and teachings of the great sages, saints and gurus. What are the benefits it bestows upon humankind?

Saibaba gave his consent to the writing of the Shri Sai Charita and said to Hemadpant, “You do your duty of writing. Don’t be afraid, and have faith in my words. If my Leelas are written, then Avidya or Ignorance will vanish and if they are listened to attentively, the consciousness of the worldly existence will abate. A strong wave of love and devotion will rise for the Divine. If one dives deep into the Leelas, such a person will get precious jewels of knowledge. Hearing this, Hemad was pleased, and he became fearless and confident to begin the writing with faith leading to its successful completion. SaiBaba said, anyone who utters My name with love, I shall fulfil all their wishes & increase his devotion. If the devotees sing the praises of my life deeds, them, I shall beset from all sides. Those devotees attached to my heart and soul will naturally feel happy when they hear these stories of my life. Anybody who sings my leelas, I will give him infinite joy & everlasting contentment. It is my unique characteristic to free any person who surrenders completely unto me and worship with unflinching faith. If my stories are listened to, all the diseases will be extirpated. So, hear my stories with respect and contemplate on them. This is the way of purifying one’s mind and heart. The pride and egotism will vanish, and there will be calmness in mind. By chanting of Sai’s name,’ the sins of speech and hearing will go away.

The philosophical significance of reading and listening to the life stories of the great sages and saints – The Lord entrusts different works to different devotees. Some are given the work of building temples and maths or ghats on rivers. Some are made to sing the glories of God, like Das Ganu, Meera Bai, or Tukaram Maharaj. Some are sent on pilgrimages. But, in the case of Hemad, Saibaba entrusted him the work of writing the Sai SatCharita. Saibaba’s grace alone enabled Hemad to accomplish the difficult task of writing Baba’s life stories. When Hemad took the pen in his hand, Saibaba himself got his stories written through Hemad by taking away his egoism. Though a Brahmin by birth, Hemad lacked the two eyes of the sight and vision of Shruti and Smriti. But the grace of the Lord makes even a dumb man talk or a lame to cross the mountain. The flute nor the harmonium knows how the sounds are produced. Only the player knows. Lighthouse is constructed in the sea to avoid the rocks and dangers and make the boatman sail safely.

Saibaba’s stories serve a similar purpose for us humans to avoid the pitfalls in the ocean of worldly existence. When these stories enter our hearts through the ears, the body consciousness, egoism, and the sense of duality will vanish. When these stories are stored in the heart, doubts will go away, pride of the body will fall off, and wisdom will shine forth effulgently. Similarly is a beautiful story about King Parikshit, the grandson of Arjuna who once, while hunting being fatigued, came across the hermit of sage Shamika who was in his meditation. He asks the sage the whereabouts of a deer he was hunting, and the sage doesn’t respond as he was in deep samadhi. Angry at this, Parikshit places a dead snake lying nearby around the sage Shamika’s neck. The sage’s son Sringin who comes to know about the incident becomes furious. He curses Parikshit to die of a ‘Snakebite’ in seven days for disrespecting his father, Shamika. The sage comes out of his meditative state and is dissatisfied with his son, who had cursed a righteous king. However, the curse couldn’t be annulled. Shamika ordered his disciple Gaurmukha to inform king Parikshit about the condemnation and his death. When Parikshit heard about the curse, he gets upset and accepts his fate. He consults his ministers, the sages and saints who instruct the king to perform the sacrifices to mitigate the curse. While performing the Yagya, he sees Sukadev, son of Ved Vyasa, on the river bank. When the king approached Sukadev, who then tells the king that the only way to overcome sin is by listening to the life stories and the divine leelas of the Lord and starts reciting to Parikshit the ‘Bhagavad Purna.’ The entire Shrimad Bhagavad is recited to Parikshit, who dies on the seventh day and attains the Lotus Feet of Lord Shree Krsna.

Therefore, the description of Saibaba’s pure glories and hearing the same with love will destroy and absolve all our sins. This is the simple sadhana or practice for attaining salvation. The sadhana for Krita Yuga or Age was Shama-dama (Tranquility of mind & body); for Treta Yuga was Sacrifice; for Dwapara it was Worship; and for Kali Yuga, it is Bhakti, the path of love and devotion which is open to all the people of the four-class – Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Vaishyas, and Shudras. The other sadhanas, such as Yoga, Yagya, Dhyana (meditation) and Dharana (Concentration), are very difficult to practice. But singing and listening to the stories and glories of the Lord is easy to practice, which will remove the attachment to the senses and the sense-objects and will make the devotees dispassionate, ultimately leading them to God or Self realization.

With the Grace of my KrsnaGuruji, I have been able to pen this most wonderful story from Sai SatCharita in a string of words. Thank you for reading, and do watch out for my next blog about “The necessity of a Guru.”