Guruvaar Prarthna
Our Beloved Sadguru Sainath, please accept our humble prayers on this Holy Day of Guruvaar. Baba, in this world, like honeybee we come to sip honey, but we have got stuck, we come to catch, instead we got caught, we come to rule, but we are being ruled, we need to grow in the spirit of detachment, but our life revolving on attachments. Since long, we are on look out to Your mercy to ward-off all difficulties, but the day of dawn is not at our sight. Baba, please take pity on us and shower your blessings on us. On this holy day we start our prayers by reading your divine guidance in Shri Sai Samartha Satcharitra.
Every day the sun rises and the sun sets. Thus the years roll on. Half of life is spent in sleep and the remaining is not enjoyed peacefully.
In the childhood a person is engrossed in play; in youth in wooing women; in the later days old age enfeebles the body and one is always suffering from infirmities.
To be born and to grow strong in body; to breathe and to have a prolonged life; is this the only purpose of living?
The goal of human life is only to reach God; otherwise what is the difference between humans and animals, such as a dog or a pig or others?
The dogs too eat and survive and procreate abundantly, then what is the greatness of a human being, if both lead a similar life?
To eat and be merry, copulate – if these are the only ways of using the human body and only this is the goal of life, then that human life is meaningless.
If the whole life is spent in these four ways i.e. eating, sleeping, being constantly afraid and indulging in sex, then what would be the difference between the human and the animal? Oh, you decide, using discretion.
If this is the only fulfilment of a human body, then the life of a tree would not be less valuable. Even the bellows breathe and dogs maintain their body.
That man is independent, he is without fear, he is free and eternal – if this awareness is present, then it can be said that life is fulfilled.
That person is said to be knowledgeable who knows from where he has come, who he is and what is the purpose of human life and what is his mission. Without this knowledge everything else is futile.
Just as the wick of an oil lamp1 is the same at the beginning and the end, but flickers and changes at every moment, similar is the state of the human body.
Childhood, youth and old age are the stages through which everybody goes; but how naturally they come and go is not understood by anybody.
What is seen is destroyed the same moment. There are such innumerable stages, but seemingly they look one. Similarly, the body which is perceivable at one moment will not be the same the next moment.
The body is evil (horrifying). It holds dirt, excreta, gases, pus, saliva etc.; and, besides, death is hovering about every moment.
The human body is the home of germs and viruses, harbours various diseases, not long-lasting and ends within a short period.
It is an accumulation of flesh and muscles, the cage or skeleton of bones and skin; a carrier of the muck of foulsmelling urine and what is vomitted (mucous and phlegm) – actually it is an obstacle to the soul.
Skin, flesh, blood and muscles, fat, bone-marrow, veins, bones and gases – all go to make this body impure and its existence of a short duration.
Although so sinful, perishable and short-lived is the human body, it is only through this that the abode of purity of God can be reached.
The cycle of birth and death is continuous. Even the very idea of death is extremely horrifying. This life will pass away without any inkling.
Who has kept a count, day and night, of those who are born and who die! Those born with a boon of Markandya3 also cannot escape destiny.
In case of such short-lived human life, the time which is spent in reading the scriptures and listening to the stories of God is fruitful, while the time spent otherwise is a waste.
I bow down to Sree Ganesh
I bow down to Sree Saraswati
I bow down to the Guru
I bow down to the Family Deity
I bow down to Sree Sita-Ramachandra
I bow down to Sree Sadguru Sainath.
Sarveshaam Svaastir Bhavatu
Sarveshaam Shaantir Bhavatu
Sarveshaam Poornam Bhavatu
Sarveshaam Mangalam Bhavatu
Om Shanti, Shanti, Shanteeh
-(from Shri Sai Samartha Satchrita, Chapter 8, Ovi 7 - 27)
