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"LOVE ALL SERVE ALL" "HELP EVER, HURT NEVER" Sai Baba

The scriptures proclaim “Janthunam Narajanmam Durlabham”, that is, it is a rare privilege to be born as a human being. Swami says, “Human birth is very difficult to attain. It cannot be had for a song. It is very precious.” 

There are eighty four million different species of life. All are God’s creation. As part of God’s creation, all are equal. Yet, Swami says “No one has any special claim for preference.” If so, why does He and the scriptures speak of human birth as a rare privilege? It is because humans have been gifted with two extra faculties. 

The first one is the Buddhi (intellect). Plants just exist. Birds and beasts act on impulses. It is only we humans who have been blessed with the ability to think, analyse, question and discriminate. Using this faculty, we alone can discover the purpose and goal of life. The purpose of life is to know who we are, to recognise our true identity. The Self within is divine, realizing this inherent divinity is the goal of life.  

Life is a pilgrimage. It is a sacred journey towards God, who is our ultimate destination. That is why the scriptures adore Him as Parandhama - the Supreme Abode, the ultimate destination. In the previous yugas, people had to perform severe penance and elaborate rituals to reach Him. But in this Kali age, Namasmarana, that is chanting the sacred name of the Lord, is the simplest as well as the surest means of reaching Him.

For Namasmarana no expense is involved, no materials are needed, and no special place or time to be provided. No qualification of scholarship or caste or sex has to be proved.

Birds and beasts have tongues but they cannot speak. The ability to speak is a special gift, the second extra faculty that has been given to us by God. Therefore, we must use this gift to chant His name and ultimately merge in Him.

It is impossible to describe the sacredness and the greatness of the Lord’s name, and the benefits that we can get by chanting His name. This Kali Yuga has become Kalmasha Yuga, the age of impurities. Swami says, “Chanting the Lord’s name is the only way to purify the polluted atmosphere.” The name destroys all the sins and fills the heart with virtues. It helps us control the wavering mind and receive inner vision.

In the Padmapurana, Lord Shiva has promised the vision of the Lord to anyone who constantly repeats the name. Swami has declared that the Lord will become our companion, guide, and mentor through Namasmarana. He has assured us that He will be at our beck and call if we constantly chant His name with faith and feeling.

There are innumerable incidences mentioned in the scriptures that proclaim and prove the efficacy of Namasmarana. It was the power of the name Narayana that protected Prahlad. It was the greatness of the Krishna Nam that protected Draupadi’s honour when she was disrobed and humiliated in the open court. It was the glory of Rama Nam that transformed Ratnakar, a robber, into Valmiki, a great sage. Swami says, “The name is enough to give you all the results of every type of Sadhana.”

Just as there are many forms of God, there are millions of names for Him. One name and one form may not be appealing to everyone since we all have different tastes, likes and preferences. Each one of us can choose a name and form that appeals to us most. As devotees of Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba, it is natural that we worship God in the form of Sai.

The Sathya Sai Ashtothra Sathanama Rathnamala, commonly known as Namavali, consists of 108 sacred names of our beloved Swami. The number 108 itself is sacred and significant. When we add 1+0+8 the total comes to 9. According to the scriptures, the number 9 symbolises God. When we multiply 9 with any number, the sum total of the numbers in the result still remains 9. For example, 9 x 2 = 18 (1+8 = 9) and 9 x 5 = 45 (4+5=9). Thus, it symbolises the changeless and eternal aspect of divinity. In the same way, each name reveals a certain attribute of Swami.

But He does not insist that there should be 108. God is not pleased or elated by the number of names and the length of time spent in chanting them. Even though there are hundreds of taxis on the road we do not travel by all of them. All we need is just one vehicle to take us to our destination. In the same way, just one name is enough to win His grace, to reach Him.

The  ultimate reality is One but the wise call it by many names. The One has assumed innumerable names and forms and permeates the entire cosmos. Without one there cannot be other numbers and, thus, through the study of numbers our ancients came to the conclusion that God is one. Moreover, all these 108 names cannot reveal the full glory,   the majesty and the mystery of Swami.

That is why He says, “You cannot understand My reality either today or even after hundreds of years of penance or enquiry, not even if all mankind join you in this effort”. Therefore, we need not, and in fact should not, be obsessed with the numbers nor be frightened by the length of the Names or the difficulty of the language. Swami is our Divine Mother. He knows us intimately. He is aware of our intentions and the intensity of our feelings. He knows our abilities as well as our limitations.

Therefore, whatever name we choose, chanting it with faith and feeling will surely take us close to Him. The name of the lord must be chanted with awe and wonder, with humility and reverence. Feeling is the force that makes the name reach the nami; the bearer of the name.

Namasmarana is Japa Sahitha Dhyanam, i.e. recitation plus meditation. When the name is being chanted by the tongue, the mind should think of the form and the attributes associated with it. In order to be able to chant the chosen name with feeling, we need to have some understanding of that particular name and the attributes associated with it.

Below are some articles on the Namavali which speak about a few aspects of Swami’s glory. Like blind people attempting to describe the might and majesty of the elephant, or like ants trying to measure the depth of the ocean, it is just a humble attempt to speak of Swami’s glory in a variety of simple ways.

By listening to and reading about Swami’s glory, the mind gradually gets absorbed in divine thoughts. Since the efficacy of the Namasmarana depends on our faith and feeling, we hope that this humble attempt will be useful in developing the intensity of our faith and feeling. Swami says, “This is a human form in which every divine entity, every divine principle, that is to say all names and forms ascribed by man to God are manifest. If you have steady faith in this you will have a vision of my reality.”

Hanuman crossed the ocean by chanting the Ram Nam. We too can cross the ocean of life by chanting the sacred name of our beloved Swami. Name is the raft that will take you across the stormy sea darkened by hate and fear, churned by anxiety and terror.

Sai Baba Avatar
Attributes of God
Sai Baba Protector and Sustainer
The Divine Teacher
Lord of the Universe

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