Written by London swaminathan

Date: 8 December 2015

Post No. 2373

Time uploaded in London :– 13-37

( Thanks for the Pictures  ) 

DON’T REBLOG IT AT LEAST FOR A WEEK!  DON’T USE THE PICTURES; THEY ARE COPYRIGHTED BY SOMEONE.

I have heard that Shirdi Sai Baba Samadhi has got good divine vibrations. I have visited Puttaparthi several times from 1964. I was planning to visit Shirdi for several years and at last it happened on 30^th November 2015.

We travelled from Mumbai via Nashik to Shirdi by car and stayed in a mediocre hotel paying Rs.2000 per double room. My driver told me that there will be tea stalls along the road for those who go to Kakad Arti at 4-30 am. But we skipped it and stood in the queue at 6 am and finished our ‘darshan’ (viewing) by 7 am. Then we had a good breakfast in the Udupi restaurant opposite the temple. While we were queuing, sweet (Boondi) packets were distributed to us as Prasad inside the temple.

No mobile, no cameras inside temples– a good policy

In Shirdi Baba’s Samadhi temple, only lady’s hand bags are allowed. l liked the restrictions on mobile phones and cameras inside all the temples. If they allow the mobile phones inside the temples, there will be unnecessary shouting and giggling spoiling the divine atmosphere. Cameras, I pads and mobile phones are used for selfies disrupting other activities. Those who want to take pictures of the temples may be taken in escorted groups for a fee at a specified time.

After the ‘darshan’ we went round the temple where there are a few more ‘Samadhis’ (burial places of holy people) including a Muslim devotee’s. Then we queued for the ‘Udi’ holy ash, which is derived from the eternal fire near the Samadhi.

There is a very good museum inside the Samadhi complex. Baba devotees would love to see the objects used by Baba during his life time. His disciples’ rare black and white photos are also displayed there.

Cheats in the Q

People visit holy places to acquire good virtues, but we saw some cheats in two places. One group of people wearing badges hung in blue strings jumped the Q. Many of us thought they were working there. But  they were actually cheating “devotees”. In Trayambakeswar, one person sent his children first and tried to follow them crying “Oh Bacha, bacha”. These cheats won’t get the blessings of the Lord or the saint.

What I don’t like…………………………….

Mahatma Gandhi did a Himalayan blunder by corrupting the famous old Hindu Bhajan song ‘Ragupati ragava rajaram’ by inserting Allah’s name etc. Not many Muslims sang this or uttered Vandemataram. They shouted Allahu Akbar and divided the country. In the same way Sathya Sai Baba devotees corrupted the age old Hindu Bhajans by inserting baba’s name in the last lines saying you are Rama, Krishna, Nanak, Allah, Jesus and Moses. Only  Hindus sing this Bhajan. Not the followers of other religions.

I am a devotee of both the Babas. But I don’t like or approve this sort of corruption. The second blunder was showing Arti to a ‘holy man’ instead of God. Great philosophers like Sankara , Ramanuja, Madhwa, Ramakrishna, Ramana, Vallabha never did this. Now following this Puttaparti custom, all fraudulant Babas, Bhagavans and  Anandas inserted their names in the traditional Bhajans and accept Arti for them instead of God!

Already ignorant Hindu parents were not able to answer their children’s genuine questions. After two or three generations, the children may wonder whether these fraudulent Swamijis were real Gods or the Hindu Trinity real Gods. Every month we read in the newspapers of an Ananada or Baba or Bhagawan arrested for rape or murder. So it is our duty not to allow such corruptions. But everyone has the right to praise his own Guru separately. It is individual’s belief. What I am opposed is to getting their names included in the traditional Bhajans replacing our Gods’ names.

You may wonder why I mentioned all these things in an article on Shirdi pilgrimage. My taxi driver loaded a newly bought Shirdi CD into his car CD player. The music and voice was beautiful. But the wordings irked me. “You won’t get peace when you go to Banaras or Mathura , you will get it only when you visit Shirdi”. I thought it was too much. You praise Shirdi, but don’t decry the Hindus’ holiest shrine Kasi! If we allow such things, then we need another Adi Shakara who wiped out 96 bad sects of Hinduism and established Shanmatha (Six sects)!

Bad Experience in a London Temple

Hare Krishna devotees decry Lord Shiva as demi god. Swaminarayans believe the Brahmin boy Neelakanda as God himself. Some fanatic Vaishnavites don’t even enter the Saivaite temples. I took one such Vaishnavite into London Murugan temple with his wife, because the venue happened to be the temple hall. Since it is the custom of the priests and temple authorities to honour all the speakers who come into temple, I took him into the sanctum sanctorum. As the priests honoured him, they gave him Vibhuti (holy ash) Prasad which he simply threw it on the floor. We were all angry, but yet did not say anything against the visiting guest. It is customary to give the visitor an envelope containing a small gift (amount). The priests who were angry did not present him the envelope. His wife did not insult Lord Muruga/Skanda. When they left the temple, the priests came running to me saying that they wanted to give him the envelope. I commented. “ I know why you didn’t give him in the first place. I also think he did not deserve your honorarium. Please save it for the next guest speaker.”

In short, we have to stop such parochial attitudes and teach basic Hinduism to our youths like the Chinmaya Mission, Divine Life Society, Ramakrishna Mission and other non-sectarian organisations. Gurus can be praised and sung, without altering the age old hymns and customs.

Street Vendors in Shirdi

Om Sri Sai Ram!!!