Baba said, "He (the devotee) should be modest and humble towards all, and worship Me with heart and soul. If he does this, he will get eternal happiness" in Sri Sai Satcharitra Ch.III. If you derive the least benefit from anyone, or should anyone contribute to your happiness in any way, acknowledge his services sincerely and feel grateful to him. Never for a moment think that the benefit of happiness you derived was due to your own Prarabdha and he was only an instrument and did nothing to earn your gratitude. On the contrary, you should feel that he conferred a great happiness. Gratefully remember the help received from him, do not forget it throughout your life even when circumstances have changed and always try to make him happy and be of service to him. Do not hesitate, when necessary, to acknowledge his services to you openly before a large gathering. This will foster mutual love between you and your benefactor and promote happiness and peace; the spirit of making others happy will grow from more to more among people, mutual sympathy and the spirit of service will receive encouragement. Remember that he who cherishes a feeling of gratitude towards his benefactor renders a great service to the world at large; for such an attitude pleases the heart of the benefactor, he feels encouraged, and the spirit of service and benevolence gets strengthened within him. God pleased with those who are grateful, and angry with those who are ungrateful. Therefore, be grateful and never forget the obligation of your benefactor.

(Courtesy: Wavelets of Bliss - by Sri. Hanumanprasad Poddar)
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Contributed Article:Bhaja Govindam Sloka 15 (Attributed to Hastamalaka)

Contributed by Paritala Gopi Krishna, New Delhi, India

Angam Galitam Palitam Mundam
Dasanaviheenam Jaatam Tundam
Vriddho Yaati Griheetvaa Dandam
Tadapi Na Munchatyaasaapindam
Bhaja Govindam, Bhaja Govindam.......

Meaning:
Angam - the body, Galitam - (has been) worn out, Palitam - has turned gray, Mundam - the hair (the head), Dasanaviheenam - toothless, Jaatam - has become, Tundam - mouth, Vriddhah - the old man, Yaati - moves (goes) about, Griheetvaa - having taken (leaning on), Dandam - (his) staff, Tadapi - even then, Na - never, Munchaty - leaves, Aasaapindam - the bundle of desires.

Substance:
The body has become worn out. The head has become bald or turned gray. The mouth has become toothless. The old man moves about with the support of crutches. Even then, the attachment is so strong that he clings firmly to the bundle of (fruitless) desires.

Commentary:
Whatever activity one may be engaged in, that should be governed by the spirit of renunciation in the heart. The mind should always be kept pure; whatever may be the external form. To give up truly is to abandon the desires that work up the mind. It is possible by only one method, i.e., by keeping the heart and mind pure. The only possible way out is that one should become pure in heart and mind by meditating on the All-pervasive Almighty in whatever form one likes or closer to one's heart with love and devotion. One should cry for God as incessantly as a small child cries for her or his mother. As one progresses, by HIS karuna and kripa, one will get enlightenment and power in some measure to ward off desires. The state of renunciation cannot be attained and one will not get enlightenment by mere book learning (like me) without having devotion and complete surrender to God.

The power of desire to enjoy through sense objects is irresistible. As we learnt in sloka 7, we spent our energies in games and play when we are children, in youth, we waste our energies on sense-passions and when we grow old, we keep thinking about the children and their welfare and the life in the old age. In spite of dilapidated physical form with tottered age, hair grown gray, toothless mouth, leaning on a stick for support, we still cling on to desires. The mind is not controlled, as it never learnt, when the body was young, the intellect plans for future still, but unfortunately, the body does not support these. Thus, suffering from the ravages of time, one leads an agonizing life.

The essence is that when one is young, one should learn and put into practice the art of renunciation of desires, which is the basic reason for all sufferings, so that by the time one gets old, it becomes a habit to adjust oneself to the situation at that time and one retires with peace of mind and ultimately leaves the body in tranquility and inner joy.

Contributed Poem: Anmol Ratan

Contributed by Aparna Sanghvi

Shirdi ki maati mein
Ubhara yeh anmol ratan

Sakshat shivji aaye dhartipaar
Shirdi ko bana diya swarg sa sundar

Is maati ko pavan dham banakar
Bas gaye sabke mann mandir mein

Apni zoli mein laaye brahma gyan bhar ke
Baatatein gaye dil kholke

Hai yeh aisa ek ANMOL RATAN
Suraj ki kirnosein tej

Aasmaan jaisa dil hai uska
Samandar ki gehraiyon sa dayalu mann uska
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Experiences of Devotees

Sai devotee
After my inter exams I appeared for EAMCET and I got a very big rank. I lost hopes of getting admission in an engineering college. Therefore, I joined in B.Com. After 3 months, I received an interview letter one Thursday afternoon. My mother was surprised to find the contents saying that they were some seats left, as some people did not show up for interview, so if I am interested I can attend the interview. I thus attended the interview and joined in Eng College. Saibaba thus fulfilled my dreams. This shows that even though we give up but Sai never gives up on his devotees he is always there looking after us. We should have firm faith and patience in him. My message to everybody is have faith in Baba's lotus feet. I thank saibaba.org for giving me this opportunity to share my Sai experience with everybody.

Sandeep Kolwadkar
With the grace of SAI, my marriage was fixed with a girl who was also an ardent SAI devotee. AS a tradition of my house, we posted the marriage invitation to our Kulswami i.e. Tirupati Balaji and dispatched one to Shirdi.

In my Poojaroom in the house, I requested SAI to be present in my marriage and requested to indicate his presence. In Maharashtra, there is a system of Mangla astak during which both the girl and boy stands with garland. The Poojaries hold a cloth piece called "Antarpath" in between the two couple so that they cannot see each other. During the subhmuhrat, the poojari remove the Antarpath and the girl and boy then puts garland to each other. When my marriage was taking place, my video camera man took out one piece of good satin cloth and told poojari to use it as Antarpath. After the marriage ceremony was over, the cameraman came and told me that the cloth, which he gave, was from Shirdi, where he offered the same for SAI samadhi.

I was so thrilled that during the most auspicious moment of my marriage my SAI was present as the witness in between the two couple and informed me about his presence as I requested him. So if your wishes are true and with love, it will always be heard and fulfilled by SAI.
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Devotees say...

A Sai Devotee
Om Sadguru Sri Sainath Maharaj Ki Jai. Please control all the bad thoughts which come even though I think of you most of the time, I get lot of bad thoughts and even I start thinking about other which is leading to jealousy which I want to avoid. Please show me the way or you have shown me so much bliss so I pray even control my thoughts and make me a good human. Om Sadguru Sri Sainath Maharaj Ki Jai

Anil
Baba I want to know how important is counting of Nam Japa? Can't we just keep chanting it all the time?
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Prayer Club

Khusraj
Baba, I am extremely worried about the future of my family because my job which is bringing money to run all the household things everyday smoothly till date, now comes to end by this June 2003. Please give me courage and bless me to find out some good opportunity.

A Sai Devotee
Om Sri Sairam, dear Baba, please bless my daughter with a good alliance soon. Our pranams to You, my Lord.

Tirumala
Jai Sai Baba, I got a job after long time. Please help me retain the job. Just now I applied for Green Card, please help me complete that process. Till now I don't have any money, please help me. My parents and my wife are very much worried about my life, please give them peace of mind by continuation of my job. Please help me in the job Sainath.Until now I lost a lot of money for Green card process, on my and my wife's health problems and lost so much money on the last job. I did not have a job for long time. My wife had a miscarriage. Please help me by getting over all these things happened in the past. Please help me get my wish true. Give my parents, my in-laws and my wife peace of mind by retaining this job for a long time or getting a good job. Please bless us with children, money and your sangatyam. Please be with us for our lifetime. Baba ne padalaki na koti namasakaralu!!! Jai Sadguru Sainath.

Sudarshan T R
Oh God Saibaba, kindly bestow your love and affection (Blessings) on the sorrowful family of yours and forgive me if at all I am doing some mistake in the lives different ways of living and bless me with good thoughts, love and affection, successful in my works for which I shall be always grateful. With regards and pranams. Om Sai Sree Sai Jaya Jaya Sai.

Sai Devotee
I feel ashamed that I ask for favors from Sai, knowing very well he is the creator, protector and destroyer but I am helpless now, and I have no other go. Sai is my only refuge. I have developed a sudden onset of speech difficulty for a week now, which I have never had before. I am just 29, so far all investigations are negative and I have been started on medication. I sincerely pray that I will be cured of this ailment. Sai please shower your blessings on us.
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Quotation of the Week
" Do not compete with any one. Do not blame anyone. Do not talk ill of any one"-Saibaba of Shirdi
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Question of the Week

Q. What did Hemadpanth mean when he said about Megha, "Baba worked on Megha internally so that Megha changed considerably"?
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Sai Activities

Shirdi Sai Satsang, Houston, TX
Shirdi Sai Jalaram Mandir, Houston, Texas, USA cordially invites you for Thursday satsang at the following location: 5645 Hillcroft, Suite #304, Houston, Texas, 77036 between 6.30pm to 8.30pm. For more information; Phone: (713) 789 7486, (832) 567 7861; Web: http://www.babamandir.org; Email: saibabahouston@yahoo.com

Shirdi Saibaba Satsang in Columbus, OH
Satsang in Columbus, OH has been taking place for the past few years. We are grateful to our Lord Sainath who has taken us to the 5th consecutive year. We always have felt him among us in our Satsang sessions making us feel blissful. Devotees around Columbus, OH area can visit: http://www.srishirdisaibabamandir.org or email: sssb_temple@yahoo.com for more details on events and join us in serving Mother Sai.

Shirdi Sai Baba Prayer Center, Twin Cities, MN
By the grace and blessings of Sadguru Sainath Maharaj, Shirdi Saibaba Prayer Center has started for the benefit of Sai devotees in the Twin Cities and surrounding areas of Minnesota at 725-139 NE Lake Street, Hopkins, MN. The program will include Sai Bhajans, Kirthans and Sai Naama Jap. For details, please contact hamaresai@yahoo.com. Or call Sangeeta (651-481-6782), Kiran (952-233-1819), Ravi (651-342-0600) Bhuva (651-681-2042) or Sathya (651-739-2105)

Shirdi Sai Utsav 2003 - Orlando, FL, USA
Sai devotees of Orlando, FL are organizing Shirdi Sai Utsav 2003 on 4th and 5th of October. The proposed program includes Akhanda Naam Jap, Bhajans and Satsangh. For further details, please contact: Sai Sharan, 5230 Cona Reef Court , Orlando, Florida 32810-4075, USA Ph: (407) 445 2520 Email: Shirdisaiutsav2003@yahoo.com Or Sai Bandhu, Sri at sathgurusai2002@yahoo.com . Ph(407) 445 2520 Sai Bandhu, Smita at smitaprasad@yahoo.com Ph: (561) 416 5282

Shirdi Sai Baba Chitra Yatra And Weekly Satsang, Canada
Shirdi Saibaba Sansthan of Canada, Toronto, cordially extends to all the best wishes for the New Year hoping with Baba's grace you will leap into 2003 with prosperity health and happiness and invites you all to for Thursday satsang at the following 2 locations: Durga Temple, 2691 Markham Rd. Scarborough, ph: 416 754 2983 and Shri Vithal Hindu Mandir, 5359 Timber Lea Blvd. Mississauga, ph: 905 238 0946. between 6:15pm to 7:15pm.

Sri Shirdi Sai satsangs in Auckland, New Zealand
Sri Shirdi Sai Sansthan,NZ is celebrating Sri Ramanavami on the Sunday 13th April 2003 at the Mt Eden war memorial hall, Mt Eden, Auckland. The morning will start with reciting Sri Sai Sahasranamavali, followed by Bhajans, Pravachan, Arathi and Maha Prasad. Also all Sai devotees are invited to participate in Sai Bhajans, discourse and arathi every Thursday at 7:30 pm.The venue is located at Balmoral Mandir, Balmoral, Auckland, NZ. For more details please contact Dr Ram Prasad at prasads@quicksilver.net.nz.

Shri Shirdi Sai Chitra Yatra in USA
"Shri Shirdi Sai Chitra Yatra(Pictorial Journey)", started in USA on Jan 01, 2002. With anchor points across USA concurrently participating from day one, this unique event is off to a great start.

The journey which involves the ceremonial travel of Baba in the form of a portrait will stop at all Baba devotees homes who are interested in being a host to his protrait. The Yatra which will run till fall of this year, is open to one and all. There is no fees or charges involved to take part in this event. You may participate either as a host home or serve as an anchor point in your community.

Visit online at yatra page for all the details and to register.

For questions, comments, suggestions or to get details on an Anchor home in your area, send us an email at maildrop@saibaba.org with the subject line of "Shri Sai Chitra Yatra".
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