published March 2010
Shirdi Sai Baba and dedication
by Satrughna (Koen van Velzen)
Dedication means selfless service
Shirdi Sai Baba never demanded from his devotees any service. Instead, he would serve them all the time, and for his own needs he would cater himself, until his last day. But sometimes, he would ask them to do something for him, which invariably turned out to be for their benefit rather than his own. Baba never needed anything.
Baba did explain about the merits of service, however. He explained that service done in the spirit of total surrender, without the least thought of our own desires, wants and needs, is a royal road to God realisation.
As Krishna explains in the Bhagavad Gita, the practice of Karma Yoga is the way to surrender all thoughts of ‘I’ and ‘mine’, and dedicate every action to God. It means doing every chore, every action, however menial, in the knowledge that it is not I who am doing this, but it is God, acting through this body. I think that since this has been repeatedly said by Bhagavan Baba, and by Swami, the readers will understand what is meant by this: We are not this body. In reality we are the Atma, which is none other than God himself, disguised as a human being. The spiritual practice of Karma yoga, Baba explains, is seeing God as the Doer, and ourselves as the Witnesses. That is true dedication: dedicate every action, word and even every thought to God. Every deed done as an offering to God is without karmic consequences, because when God is the Doer, He bears the load, says Lord Krishna.
To me it is obvious that this is quite a task, but Baba promises that it’s not a tiresome job. As God is Pure Joy, Ananda, the direct communion with him will also be pure joy.
There are not many recorded lectures of Shirdi Sai Baba on this topic. I believe he rather demonstrated this value in his daily life, by serving each and every person, animal and other being. Even if it seemed that he acted harshly, it would always be for that devotee’s best interest.
Most devotees would come to Shirdi Sai Baba and serve him with the intention of receiving some boon in return, or would not even serve him, only beg for their wishes to be fulfilled.
Jyotindra Tarkhad was a devotee who already at a very young age understood that he had struck gold in finding Baba. He never asked anything for himself, but was ever ready to serve Baba, in a spirit of surrender and devoid of ego. And then the time came that Baba wanted to test his dedication.
Jyotindra Tarkhad is tested by Baba
Baba had become very old and he would walk with the help of two devotees, one on each side of him. One evening after placing the petroleum lanterns in their required places, Jyotindra noticed that Baba looked very tired. He asked Baba whether he could press his legs in order to give him some relief and comfort. Baba then said “As you have expressed the desire, you may proceed and satisfy yourself”. Jyotindra then sat near his feet.
After a little while Baba turned to him and said “Bhau, this is our last meeting and we will not meet after this. As you know many kinds of people come to Shirdi and ask different kinds of grant like wealth, children, good health etcetera from me. I do not displease any one and ask my Lord on their behalf. My Lord responses positively to my prayers and grants them their requirements. You are one person I have come across who has not asked for anything. Possibly you are not married and have no family, so perhaps you don’t feel any need for anything. But Bhau, since we will not meet anymore please ask for anything you desire, otherwise I will always feel indebted to you for all the services you have rendered to me so far.”
Jyotindra then said, “Baba, with your grace I have everything in life and I really do not need any materialistic thing. Only make sure your blessings are always there with me and under no circumstances you should flee away from my memory in future “.
Then Baba said, “Bhau, I am in any case duty bound towards my devotees and I am asking you to ask something personally for yourself, because each individual has his/her separate identity and needs some external help to successfully sail through his/her lifecycle. Please feel free and ask!”
Jyotindra realized that it was an acid test for him, so he said, “Baba now that you are emphasizing so much, I want to know before I ask: will you promise me that you will positively grant me my wish? ‘Then Baba said, “Bhau, I have granted the wishes of so many, you should not have a least doubt in me, just ask and I grant.” Jyotindra answered, “Baba, I need only one thing from you. Promise me that every time I am born I will be able to see your feet.”
Baba was then silent for some time. He broke His silence saying, “Bhau, I am not able to grant this wish of yours.” Jyotindra then said, “Baba, I was not asking for anything and you only forced me into this. I do not need anything other than this from you.” Then Baba gave a smile and said, “Bhau, so many people come to Shirdi but very few are like you who have completely understood me. By your wish you want to bind me up for ever and I do not have such permission from my Lord to get bound like this with anyone. However you need not get disappointed. I promise you that in our next birth, when we are ten years old, we will be sitting together and eating from one plate”. Jyotindra then said, “Baba, as you wish.”
In short Baba promised him to meet again in the next birth. Jyotindra was satisfied and he prostrated before him instantly. Baba lifted him and then dropped his hand in the pot of Udi next to him and offered him a handful and said, “Bhau, please preserve this with utmost care and use it very sparingly, as it contains enormous power, even of putting life back into any body.” It was the time for evening Arathi. Jyotindra had a very content feeling at that time. At the same time he was rather sad because Baba had declared that it was their last meeting. Next day Baba asked him to leave for Mumbai.
My own experiences with dedication are mostly related to my work. I am a sculptor, and recently I was asked to carve a stone sculpture of Saint John the Baptist. At a certain point I didn’t really know how to do some of the details, but as I took some time for a tea-break, images of that work began to flow into my mind.
It really went quite smooth after that, and in retrospect this assignment was a training in surrender and dedication. It felt as if I was being led. There have been more of those moments, as perhaps we all know them. And, of course, even more moments of forgetting to dedicate my work and actions, and thinking that I was the one doing all this.
I still find the most challenging situations in every day family affairs, because there it happens most often that I wish I had done some things different, which indicates that I have forgotten to dedicate my actions to God. Bhagavan Shri Sathya Sai Baba always emphasizes that it is not necessary to retreat in caves or forests, because life in society is the best training. In this forest of mine at home, the lions and tigers are inside instead of outside- but luckily, so is God!
