Preface
1854 young lad, fakir, entered Ainto an obscure village in Ahmednagar District in the then Bombay Presidency. The newcomer was around 16. years of age; nothing was known about his name, parentage, antecedents, etc. For a few months he stayed under the shade of trees and wandered in the nearby woods, caring little for food or comforts. Attracted by the divine glow radiating from this lad, a fortunate village lady, Baija Bai, chose to follow him and feed him. The lad abruptly left the village and came back after a few years with the marriage party of Chandbai Patel of Dhoopkeda. Thereafter, he never left Shirdi and its neighbourhood. Mahlsapathy, the venerated priest of Khandoba Temple, called him 'Baba Sayee', and the name Sai Baba stuck to him. Till date it is not authentically known if he was a Hindu Saint or a Muslim Aulia. Donned like a Muslim he stayed in the old mosque in the village, but large number of Hindus were attracted by his superhuman powers. Today, his name 'Sai Baba' is a household word, the credit for which goes to the tremendous prachar done by Sri Narasimha Swamiji for nearly two decades. In 1896, a young lad of seventeen years, responding to an inner call, entered into Arunachala (Tiruvannamalai) following a death experience he had and responding to the call of his Father. Entering into the innermost shrine of the temple of Lord Arunachaleswara was the supreme moment of his life, the point at which the old and false worldly life may be said to be 'rung out and the new and true life in the Father and the Self 'rung in'. He was always engaged in constant tapas totally devoid of body-consciousness. The masses called him 'Brahmana Swami and later he was revered as Ramana Maharshi and Bhagavan Ramana. As Sai Baba never left Shirdi till his Mahasamadhi in 1918 Bhagavan Ramana also never left Tiruvannamalai till his nirvana in 1950. Sri Narashimha Swamiji stayed for three years in the ashram of Ramana Maharshi seeking God or self-realisation; Sai Samartha and Ramana Maharshi there is a cave in the ashram named after Narashimha Swamiji, where he did tapas under the guidance of Ramana Maharshi. Sri Swamiji wrote the first biography of Ramana Maharshi appropriately titled as Self Realisation. Because the essence of Ramana's teaching was that everyone should realise the 'Self by constantly enquiring who the 'T' is. Then why did Swamiji leave Ramana? To understand the real nature of a 'rare' saint like Sai Baba, one should have the divine grace and powerful receptivity. Bhagavan Ramana provided these essentials and thus Swamiji was in a position to realise the divine nature of Sai Baba when he visited his Samadhi Mandir. The approach and teachings of the two Masters may seem to differ for a casual observer. But when one studies the two, no difference can be seen. Both of them stressed the need to do atmavichara, to find out 'Who am I?' The manner in which each of them taught depended upon the receptivity of the individual. Both of them extolled the efficacy of absolute or unconditional surrender, as effective means to efface the ego. Significant is the 'Love' that they radiated and showed to one and all without any discrimination. They exhorted their devotees to love all. In 2002, perhaps as ordained by both Sai Samartha and Ramana Maharshi. I was fortunate to get acquainted with Sri V. Venkataraman, grandson of Ramana's uncle Subbier from whose house at Madurai, Ramana started his journey to Arunachala in search of his 'Father'. Sri Venkataraman felt the similarities in the teachings of Sai and Ramana and persuaded me to write articles highlighting such similarities. He shared valuable books with me on the life and teachings of Ramana. As I read them, I found both the Masters distributed one and the same elixir, although in different flavours and containers. In February 2005, by the grace of my Master Sri Sai, I started writing editorials in Sai Sudha, official organ of All India Sai Samaj, Chennai, highlighting the remarkable similarities between the two masters. I hope these will be relished by the devotees of both Sri Sai and Sri Ramana.
About The Book
S. Seshadri (b. 1930) was employed in an American Oil Company, Caltex, Chennai, and keenly volunteered in Sri Ramakrishna Math and All India Sai Samaj (AISS), Chennar. He established a library of over 6000 books on various subjects left by Sri Narasimhaswamiji and joined as honorary librarian. He was also elected as a member of the Managing Committee of AISS and served as Honorary Secretary of AISS from 1964-70. He organised. All India Sai Devotees conventions every year in various parts of Madras state. He has edited and written editorials in Sai Sudha from 1997 to 2013. He republished the various books written by Sri Narasimhaswamiji, translated most of these books in Tamil and had them published by AISS. The first biography of Sri Sai Baba in Tamil in 1969, Kan Kanda Daivan, and the Tamil biography of Sri Narasimhaswamiji were authored by him. He translated the first biography of Sri Ramana Maharishi, Self Realisation by Sri Narasimhaswamiji, into Tamil and published it in 2013.
Vedas (1182)
Upanishads (493)
Puranas (624)
Ramayana (740)
Mahabharata (354)
Dharmasastras (165)
Goddess (496)
Bhakti (242)
Saints (1504)
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Shiva (370)
Journal (187)
Fiction (60)
Vedanta (362)
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