Jai Sairam! Jai Radhakrishnayee! Shri Sai Baba of Shiradi made us come together, to translate his Satcharita in Marathi, through Telugu, Kannada to Tamil. This happened in 2008. Since then, we had been meeting often, to discuss Baba's Lilas and devotional literature. During these meetings a thought struck us. We decided to write a biographical sketch of Radhakrishnayee, who in fact, laid the foundation for all the religious practices of Shiradi Samsthan, even in those early days. We built on the foundation provided by Shri Narasimha Swamiji's observations on Radhakrishnayee in relation to other devotees. Books written by Dr. Vinny Chitluri give substantial information on Ayee, whom she calls an excellent devotee and adds that volumes cannot adequately describe the greatness of Ayee. Several facts shedding light on the life of Ayee and her spiritual attainments have also been gathered from the following books: (1) Radhakrishna Mai by Kotharu Sri Sathyanarayana Rao; (2) Shri Vaman Rao Patel's book in Gujarathi and transcribed into Telugu as Devudunnadu Ledamtavema by Smt Vimala Sharma; (3) Sundari Kanda by Shri Sainath; (4) Sai by Shri Vinod Gaekwad (5) Shirdiche Saibaba by Dr Keshav Bhagwant Gavankar. The mystic touch given by Smt Pavani Nirmala in her Telugu work Sri Shirdi Sai Bhagavatham (we also managed to get a Kannada translation of the same by Smt Savitri Bhaskar for our reference) was also of immense value. We offer our respectful Pranams and express our gratefulness to Siddhaguru Sri Ramanananda Maharishi for having accorded permission to include in this book the 'Sri Radhakrishnamayee Ashtottara Shatanamavali'. Dr. Padmavathi Vindala, a devoted disciple of the Siddhaguru also provided us with very useful material for which we are grateful to her. We also wish to thank Shri Satish Avadhani of Aditya Enterprises Bengaluru for assisting us in giving shape to the 'Ashtottara Shatanamavali'. We are grateful to these personages and also to Dr Sainath Keshav Gawankar and Smt Asmitha who visited Bengaluru and gave us a lot of fresh material on the subject. We are also grateful to Shri R. Jayaraman of Kumbakonam for providing useful reference material and also a copy of the portrait of Ayee drawn by Shri M. Veeramani of Andipandal, which adorns the cover of this booklet. Ayee, as in this portrait, is being worshipped at several Sai Centres and homes of Sai devotees. After the Tamil booklet was published, we received a request from our circle of Sai friends for an English version of it, to reach a wider audience. When the work was nearing completion, we received a lot of invaluable and additional material from Shri Chillara Krishnamurthy, an ardent devotee of Sai. He not only provided the material through e-mail but also visited personally to explain the purport of various incidents and shared the sources of information. No words would be adequate to express our gratitude to him. His contribution has greatly enriched this English version. We are also grateful to Shri T.R Madhavan for providing additional material for incorporation in this edition. We thank Shri Ramanan for assistance in editing and Smt Sunanda and Smt Revati for preparing the typed transcripts. Shri Surinder Ghai has taken personal interest in designing and publishing this book and we are deeply grateful to him for encouraging us and bringing out this Book, for which the posterity and the family of Sai devotees would be ever indebted to him.
"Prema flows out as Bhakti from the flute of Muralidhara," runs an 'abhanga'. Abhanga literally means the unbroken thread of communion between Bhakta and Bhagavan. The saints of Maharashtra pour out their heart in loving devotion to Vitthala the Lord, who is hardly at the temple but is always beside the Bhakta in loving service. So, no wonder the Varkaris going in a dindi (a procession of devotees of Vitthal walking to Pandaripura) to assemble in Pandaripura on Ashada Ekadashi sing in ecstacy: "Pandari Nivasa Sakhya Panduranga"!
Every morning Arati composed by Sant Jana Bai for Vitthala, is sung at the Shiradi Mandir; we see Namadeva the Bhakta of Kaliyuga standing and doing Kirtana, with Jani at the back with both her eyes fixed on the Lord. Similarly, Das Ganu's immortal lines, "Shiradi Maajhe Pandaripura, Sai Baba Ramavara", sung at Shiradi Mandir during Madhyana Arati, which means "Shiradi is my Pandaripura and Sai Baba is the Lord of Ramaa (Vishnu)", again points to the fact that Pandaripura and Shiradi are no different. One can imagine a hologram with the 3D image of Sai and Vitthala, one superimposed on the other.
Hearing about the fame of Bhakta Pundalika, the Bhakta Sakha came from Dwaraka and got the name of Vitthala by standing on the brick (Vitta) thrown by the Bhakta. Sadguru Sainath too came from somewhere to make Shiradi his home, carrying a brick symbolising his Guru's prema.
As Sai spread His Guru's prema, which is all the Upadesha he received, many devotees gathered around him, rejoicing in his company. This biographical sketch is about one such devotee otee who has a special place among them. She too came from Pandaripura. Baba called her by the name "Radhakrishni".
Many close devotees of Sainath and many who wrote his charita regarded Radhakrishnayee (as she was known later) not only as the person who transformed Shiradi into a Samsthan but also as an Acharya who taught Prema Bhakti to the devotees of Sai, herself being a 'Prema Rathna' (a jewel that is prema) and a lady whose entire life is a saga of Prema Bhakti towards Sai Baba.
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