What is Prarabdh (our Destiny)

Soul - A soul has to take on a body made up of five elements to come to this earth. It is said that soul has to take birth to learn and to experience each and every aspect of human emotion without forgetting its original state i.e, purity, love and bliss. It is through this human life that a soul can finally merge with the holy divine Supreme from which it was separated millions of years ago. In every birth, the soul strives to reach the perfection so that it can get enlightened and become aware of the truth about oneness of the universe i.e., ALL IS ONE. All souls are the tiny part of that Supreme Divine Power thereby implying that all souls have that tiny spark of Supreme Spirit within. However, after taking human birth, in ignorance, the soul cannot recall its original state, gets entangled in the earthly enjoyments and forgets its mission of self realization and subsequently the God realization.

Karma - In its human form the soul cannot sit idle. It performs various karmas to get on with the life, becomes attached to materialism over and above spiritualism. Whether the karma is ‘good’ or ‘bad’, it is immaterial. The universal law takes note of all the actions a soul performs to carry out its earthly existence. It is said that all such karmas accumulate and become Sanchit Karma(Accumulated Karma). It is said that all our karmas are recorded and stored in our Akashic records. A soul cannot merge with the spirit unless it has worked out the cause and effect of its Karma because universal law functions flawlessly and impartially. When the soul is reborn again, it brings with it some portion out of this Sanchit karma to work out in the present birth. This portion of karma is called Prarabdh. It is said that seventy five percent life of a soul is preordained and a soul has no say in it. Soul has to bear it whether it brings wordly happiness or worldly sadness. For the balance twenty five percent life the soul can use its God given freewill which creates Kriyaman Karma(Active Karma). These kriyaman karma also result in accumulating more Sanchit karma.


Prarabdh - Outcome of Prarabdh are those happenings in the souls earthly life which happen without any or little effort. Soul feels happy when it gains materialistic comforts, pleasures and position in life but it gets totally baffled when it loses the very same possessions unexpectatedly, without any explainable reason. Soul does not realize that this is the fruit or effect of cause of its Prarabdh in this lifetime. For example, we find a good human being doing all the best for the world but yet suffering from a deadly disease, a selfish person getting success in almost any activity it undertakes. All this is happening due to Prarabdh of these souls


Imagine how it could be when different souls come together in a lifetime and form a family. Each soul has its own Prarabdh and its own individual journey. But universal law is perfect. It arranges the soul groups so affectively that one soul’s Prarabdh matches with the Prarabdh of other souls. Thus souls living in a family life not only perform their respective earthly duties but also work out their Prarabdh together. This way they keep coming back on earth again and again, learn their lessons and help each other to work out their balance karmas till their last earthly desires has been fulfilled. The soul discards its human body once its Prarabdh of current lifetime is worked out completely. However, Maya plays such a strong role that it takes ages for an ignorant soul to work out all its karma and realize that the Supreme Divine Power is nowhere else but within.

How to work out Karma - The biggest question is how can the effect of Karmas be effaced? Man's actions or karmas are the manifestations of his thoughts. Karma is any action, thought, feeling, emotion generated by mind of a Man. The mind, by projecting thoughts to sense-organs, enjoys pleasures. It, more or less, identifies itself with these thoughts and pleasures. At that time, it does not think of any thing else. In actual, the earthly thoughts and impulses should be converted into the zeal for securing internal bliss and happiness after attaining a perfect balance between materialism and spiritualism. In simple terms, soul must perform duties required to be performed in its earthly lifetime with a sense of detachment i.e, without feeling sad about losses and without feeling elated about gains. But then it is easier said than done.

Meditation - Meditation is one way for the soul to connect to the higher self. Shirdi SaiBaba advised mankind to look inwards. The soul should find a quiet place, close eyes and meditate. The purpose is to withdraw all the five sense inwards, make them inactive because these senses have been given to the soul to see, hear, taste, touch and enjoy the external world only. The practice of meditation in solitude consists in reverting and raising internal spark of the soul to try to reach the high self. It is said that the seat of that spark is at midpoint behind the eyes called Third Eye or Krishna / Christ Consciousness. When such a condition begins to supervene to some extent, as a result of performing the meditation practices, the working of Karmas, both internally and externally, is automatically enfeebled. On getting some bliss and joy internally, and on witnessing the love, grace and mercy of the Supreme Being, the meditators’ mind is, of itself, detached from the world and its pleasures. The pleasures of the world become insipid. The situation is the same, however, its effect on the meditators mind changes. The soul finds peace in all the situations it finds itself in whether good or bad, it doesnot matter anymore.

After this, the longing for progress in meditation, and higher and higher bliss, goes on increasing. Worldly desires are curtailed. The soul always gives priority to the will, grace and mercy of the Supreme Being in whatever he does. It subordinates its desires to the will of the Supreme Being. Thus the soul is entangled in Kriyaman(active) Karmas very little or not at all. This cuts short the chain of its Karmas.

Prarabdh Karmas, which are unfolding in this very life will be very much mitigated by the grace and mercy of the Divine Spirit. This way the soul is able to withdraw from the eyes, it goes on getting detached from the body and the world. In the wakeful state, the seat of the spirit is behind the eyes. It is here that pains and pleasures are felt and Karmas are performed. Therefore, as the spark of soul is withdrawn from here with the help of spiritual exercises, pains and pleasures cease to be felt. In this way, the effect of Prarabdh Karmas is lightened.

As to the Sanchit Karmas, that are stored in Akashic records (mind-sky/ collective universal consciousness) in the form of seed-impressions. They will fructify in a future life. As the soul penetrates these records in its ascent to higher regions, the Sanchit Karmas appear in the form of thoughts and impulses. They come into play for a short while only and are obliterated and finally the Sanchit karma are also cleared off.

If one has the grace of Sadguru (special messengers of God like Jesus or Saibaba), it will not take long for a soul to achieve the desired results. With Guru/ God’s grace, the soul realizes that meditator, object of meditation all are ONE.

Bhakti (devotion) - As per Sai Satcharita (book containing life and teachings of Shirdi SaiBaba) taking the road of devotion ( towards any one particular God of your choice) is the easiest way to get free from the Karmas. A mind cannot sit idle but if we give it some wise thought, say, chanting ‘Sai Sai’ (you can substitute this with name of God you believe in) always, get rid of feeling of doership and surrender all our actions, thoughts and ourselves to our God, we have taken our first step towards working out our karma fast. Saibaba(God) will work internally and remind the soul of its purpose of taking human birth. This doesnot mean that the soul will not have to work out the Prarabdh. Saibaba(God) will not come in the functioning of the universal law but will make the soul strong enough that it will not feel the effect of Prarabdh i.e, soul will not be ecstatic when it gains and will not feel depressed when it suffers. God or spirit guides and angels will grace us with strength necessary to work out our Prarabdh easily. This is what we mean when we say that God works out the karma of devotees. But then are we willing to work for ourselves, absolve ourselves of our Prarabdh the way Baba(substitute with the name of God you believe in) has advised us.

Vandana Ritik
New Delhi

Meaning of Devotion

I am a simple person and at first instant I feel ‘Devotion’ is nothing but ‘Bhakti’. However, thinking seriously I feel that though ‘devotion’ sounds such a simple word but it is so profound and has such deep meaning that after looking up all dictionaries on Web, I am still not sure whether I got the true meaning of this one single & simple word namely ‘Devotion’. One could say that devotion is ‘pure unconditional love without expecting any return’ like a mother is devoted to her child, a wife is devoted to her husband and a son/ daughter is devoted to his/ her parents. And then there is devotion of a Bhakta to his/her deity. This devotion is so very different from the aforementioned devotion because a Bhakta worships his God with the belief that he exists and is taking care of him without even a single meeting with the God. I consider myself as a Shirdi Sai Baba devotee and am still trying to learn right method of devotion. To me, Devotion means - my relationship with SaiBaba which has developed over the years.

When I was a child, I had this fascination for this particular filmstar. I would leave all my work and rush to TV every time his movie or song was being telecast. I thought I was so crazily devoted to this actor. Then suddenly one day I felt disgust at my behaviour and a thought came into my mind. Why am I wasting my time, energy and thoughts on a person I don’t know and haven’t even met. Simultaneously, I thought that if I could be even half as crazy for God Almighty, as I am for this actor, then I would be so lucky.

I remember as a kid, I had to accompany my parents to Shiva temple everyday which I did not like. But today I am very thankful to them for showing me the right path at such an early age. When I got married my husband would take me to Saibaba Lodhi Road temple. I would bow my head down before Baba and silently talk to him ‘Baba I don’t know anything about you. I am coming here to you because my husband is coming here. If I could know something more about you and your Leela’s then things would be different’. Luckily, after few days, we had guests in our home who spoke about Baba so lovingly and also discussed their experiences of reading ‘Sai Satcharita’. Internally, I wanted to have this book. Lol! I found one brand new Sai Satcharita in our home library itself. I read it in seven days and my life changed altogether thereafter. This was Baba’s first response to my sprouting ‘devotion’.

I felt myself drawn towards Shirdi Sai Baba. I felt Shiva, Krishna, Durga, Ganapathi, Hanuman – all are in Sai and Sai is in all. I understood meaning of ‘Oneness of Gods’. I became ‘devoted’ to Sai and started visiting Baba temples, read material available on him. I just started loving Baba. Once I saw a beautiful Saibaba murti left by a devotee under a Peepal tree outside the temple because it was slightly damaged ( one portion of middle finger was broken and base of stone on which Baba was sitting was slightly chipped off). I just could not stop myself. I picked up the Murti, hugged it and brought home and kept it in my temple. If I were to suffer a fracture my family won’t discard me. So what one devotee discarded as inauspicious became a very auspicious blessing for another devotee. Does devotion has different meaning for different devotees. I am blessed that Murti is still in my home and I can feel the change. Earlier Baba’s face looked grim but over the years, the murti has got luster and smile on face. I am very attached to that Murti. I feel immense peace when I hug this Murti in my good as well as bad times. I talk to Murti as if Baba were alive in this Murti. Today it is placed at a prime place in my living room because I consider Saibaba as a family member- the head of the family. Sometimes I wonder if this is devotion or a crazy act.

One day I wanted to visit Saibaba temple very earnestly and requested my elder son to take care of his younger brother for atleast one hour so than I can go to temple. He agreed but also added ‘SaiBaba is in your Home Maa. Why do you need to go to temple’. Something hit me that day in those innocent words. I thought my ‘devotion’ towards Baba was actually ritualistic. Baba is inside me I just have to look inward and I’ll find Shirdi & Baba all inside me. I am also part and parcel of that ‘Oneness of Universe’. Thus Baba was working on me internally.

And Why not, even Baba has said that there is no distinction between God, Guru and Devotee. Now ‘devotion’ had another meaning for me – True love for Baba and considering whole creation as Baba. I soon realized it was easier said than done. Though I could now compose and sing Baba’s Bhajans, participate in his Satsang but internally I was still expecting response from Baba in some form or the other. Not that Baba was not responding. Baba always responded but sometime when I did not understand this response I would feel Baba is not looking at me. All in all I was expecting Baba’s response in return of my devotion. I was praying to God, thanking him but was also seeking favours in return because I always felt that I was a good devotee - going to God in good times and not bothering him during my bad times. I was exercising choice, discrimination in my ‘devotion’ to Baba. But still my internal communication with Baba continued. I conversed with Baba almost most of the day. I always felt him beside me and I was so satisfied in this feeling that I thought with Baba around me nothing can go wrong. Baba is the protector. Afterall, I was not seeking ‘big’ favours from him anymore. I thought I may not be the best devotee of Saibaba but still I was a good devotee.

Then came the biggest jolt in my life, a real test of my devotion, an eye (internal) openor. I lost my older son (18 years) in a sudden road accident. Few days before his passing Baba had appeared in my dream lying on the ground with a white cloth covering his body. I found my son’s lifeless body in similar position in AIIMS mortuary. What was Baba trying to tell me? Suddenly, I felt my whole devotion had gone for a toss. It was so very painful for me. I could think of nothing but my lost son and my feeling of utter despair at my big loss. Where was my ‘devotion’? I was complaining. Why did Baba not save him?.

And did Baba respond? Yes. All the way. I feel him much more closer to me now. I started reading material available on afterlife, NDEs, ADCs etc. As I got more and more insight into my tragedy I felt foolish for blaming Baba for this mishap in my life. Sai Satcharita is full of stories about Prarabdha and now I was actually understanding their meaning. Practical was absolutely different from theory. This ‘pain’ and ‘separation’ from my son awakened me to entirely new understanding of soul (me), spirit (Baba) and spirituality which I had understood only at intellectual level till now. Baba gave me answers to all my queries through so many methods including visions and dream visits. I was seeing my life in bits and pieces while Baba knew all past and future. Baba, very kindly, made me realize and understand that my son was with him – all safe, sound, happy and blissful. What more can a mother ask for? Baba gave to my son after his 18 years of earthly life what I have not been able to gain even after 40 years.

Nine months down my tragedy, I seem to have understood a new meaning of word devotion. Now, devotion to me is loving SaiBaba, no matter what happens in my life, with complete faith and trust and without any expectation and return at all. Devotion springs from Love and complete confidence in God. Devotion is my relationship with SaiBaba. I pray that Baba keeps holding my hand all the time for the fear that if I hold his hand, I might lose my grip when faced with sudden upheaval in life. But SaiBaba will never let go of this grip.

Idol worship, visiting temples, reading religious books, performing religious ceremonies are some acts of Devotion. Complete devotion could be something like - continuous offering of the whole of you – mind, thoughts, actions – with supreme love to the God who is creator of all animate and inanimate things. I cannot offer parts of my life to God. I have to offer all my past, present and future - my entire being & existence to God. I cannot measure Devotion. All the time I feel something is lacking in my devotion. That others are more devoted than me. That I still have to refine my devotion towards my Baba. I have to live for Saibaba while simultaneously fulfilling all my worldly duties and responsibilities efficiently. I have to believe and follow all the words that SaiBaba ever spoke. Only SaiBaba knows what is my qualification in his Darbar.

Devotion could mean anything to anybody. To me, Devotion means my relationship with SaiBaba. As this relationship evolves, so does my devotion to Baba and it continues to evolve. I have no idea where this relationship is going to end for I have surrendered all my intellectual and spiritual learning at the holy feet of SaiBaba. I feel that I don’t know anything. My Sadguru SaiBaba knows everything. He has taken care of my son, sorry his own son, in heaven. He will take care of me and my family too on earth as well as when we cross over. But I have to continue to strive, to strengthen my devotion to SaiBaba. How? SaiBaba will grace me with his holy guidance from time to time as and when HE wills it for he alone knows what is suitable for an ignorant person like me.


Vandana Ritik

Heritage of Shirdi Sai
New Delhi

How God (SaiBaba) helped in passing over of my son

The hit and run accident and on the spot passing over of my 18 year old son, Ritik (Honey) on 14th Feb, 2007 - Valentine day at a Flyover in Delhi left me in a state of shock. In fact, when I was rushing to the hospital after hearing about accident of my son I was sure nothing would have happened to him. But I was totally in for a shock when I found his body in the mortuary at AIIMS Hospital. First words that came out of my sobbing husband were ‘Woh chala gaya. Tere SaiBaba jhoote nikle’ (He's gone. Your Saibaba turned out to be a liar).

I could not believe how could Baba do this to me as I was always so devoted to Baba not only during crisis but even during happy times, I always chatted with him as if I were talking to a friend. I was always thankful and grateful to him and always felt that I must have done something very nice in my previous birth to deserve this kind of happiness. After looking at lifeless body of my dear son, I hated Baba. What was the use of so much of devotion, belief and faith in Baba when he could not save my son’s life. People who did no such thing were much better and happy. Maybe I was worshipping the wrong God. I was content with whatever I had, I did not crave for more but still Baba gave me this pain which was so unbearable. Was there any Baba at all or not? If I have to suffer for consequences of my karma, in any case, what was the use of praying to Baba. How can he help me. He could not save my son’s life. May be ‘meri bhakti mein shakti nahin’(My devotion is not effective/ powerful enough). I don’t know what type of devotion do you want, I asked Baba. If you do not like my way of devotion then I will not worship Baba or anybody, I resolved in my mind and was also vocal about it to other Baba devotees.

Everyone coming to us for condolences was also wondering how could somebody who was religious, worshipped and had so much faith in Baba had to suffer like this. I also asked Baba how he was feeling - ‘tumhari badnami ho rahi hai’(you are getting defamed). In fact, I had sent a letter to Baba on the day of this accident itself through my friend (incidentally called Shama and a true Sai Baba devotee) who was going to Shirdi with a request to call me, my husband and our two sons to Shirdi. But my son passed over even before the letter reached Shirdi. My friend got my SMS when she reached Shirdi. She informed that this was the first time she forgot to take sweets for Baba with her from Delhi as was her normal practice. So she went to Samadhi mandir(Holy Temple where Shirdi SaiBaba's body rests) without sweet and she said Baba was looking sad that day. I knew I was crying and so was Baba.

Later on, when I was little more composed and I reflected back at happenings few months before my son’s physical departure on 14th Feb, 07, I could sense what all things Baba had been doing for me. I was grieving loss of my son and was just not controllable enough to understand. I was wailing all the time as to why Baba did not save him. My son could have been hurt badly but he need not have left us forever like this. How will I worship Baba after this. But something in me was telling me that even Baba was shedding tears with me. But still my faith was shaking. Shradha(faith) and Saburi(patience) were just looking meaningless to me and I did not want to believe in any God for it was looking useless to me now.

When I joined my duties in office, I took out my diary where I write down some important happenings of my life. The last note I had written was on 18th Aug, 06 which caught my eye instantly. As per my note, on previous day i.e, 17th Aug, 06, a fibre murti(idol) of sitting posture of Saibaba (one of the two murtis I have) which I had been worshipping for a long time was hit by a ball from my younger son accidentally and it fell off. Even though it was made of an unbreakable material, it broke very badly. The head of Baba was severed off from rest of the body and I was shocked badly. I had recorded this in my diary note and written ‘what problem of mine have you taken on yourself Baba?' Incidentally, my elder son (who is not physically present with us now) went with us to Yamuna river banks to drown the murti properly in the running river water while all the time I was feeling so sorry at what had happened and kept asking for forgiveness. As time passed, the memory of this mishap faded.

I was reminded of this mishap only after my Ritik departed from this earth in Feb, 07. It struck to me that Baba had perhaps given extension of life to my son by giving his head but still I was not so sure about it. But it did make sense somehow because my son had also succumbed to his head injuries. For the six months after breaking of ‘murti’ both my husband and me were spending lot of time with our elder son, Ritik, without realizing that he was to pass over soon while Baba knew this all and how he did this:

My husband holds a senior post in a central PSU. During Aug, 06 end, he had some altercation with top most level following which he was suddenly transferred, posted and relieved immediately to join at remote area in central India which was not even a family station. He left and joined there but after few days he fell sick suddenly. He said he never ever felt sick like this before.

My elder son, Ritik, went all alone (on his first trip) by a late night train to give support to his sick father. One week later, both of them returned to Delhi and my son told me not to send his papa back to that remote station as there was no work at all for him there and also that if he goes there he will fall sick. So in 25 years of his service, my husband was on leave four months and stayed at home with his late son day and night. To give moral support to my husband I also took leave in between and stayed at home. All along my late son gave us his moral support. He would encourage his father to quit Govt job and join some MNC instead. "Do not be scared of anyone Papa", he said.

All efforts to reverse these transfer orders, either politically or even administratively, were failing and we were wondering why this simple problem was not resolving. I used to pray to Baba to do whatever he feels is good for us and also to make us strong enough to withstand this professional crisis of life. Those days my prayers to Baba had increased manifold. All the time I was doing ‘naam jaap’(continous chanting of God's name). I could not sleep properly, so at night also, I would keep looking at Baba’s picture in my bedroom and ask him what and why this was happening. My intensity had increased so much that I could now compose and even sing Baba’s bhajans(hymns) with zeal all the time sure that something will work out and my husband will ultimately join his duties only we should have Shraddha and Saburi(unshakable faith and patience). Baba knows what is good for us and why he is doing this for he only knows the whole plan of our life while we only see our life in bits and pieces. Our life had come to a standstill.

Both my husband and I were on leave, so we would go to various malls etc and everytime we would end up purchasing for my elder son only. His clothes, his shoes, his belt, his gloves etc. At home, I would end up cooking his favourite food etc. Obviously, Baba had given us time to spend with our son. My son who did not believe in God earlier, began going to Gurudwaras(Place of worship for Sikhs) with full devotion on every Sunday. He even changed password of his computer to ‘saibaba’. He visited Saibaba temple also with us on New year i.e, 1st Jan, 2007. He said, he did that to make me happy. He became so attached to me in last few months that he began discussing everything under the sun with me, his smoking, his girlfriend and his after college activities. I was so happy at this special bond that we made with each other in his last few months. And to think today that Baba was behind all this.

My son, Ritik, became so religious, calm, mature, helpful, compassionate and understanding in his last months. Baba was doing all this. Internally, changing all of us and keeping us together in that extension of life that he gave to our son. With Baba’s blessings, my son had developed so much of wisdom that he knew how, when and where he will passover. Of course, we came to know these details only after he crossed over to the spiritual world leaving us crying behind him. His favorite rock band is named ‘Nirvana’. I have placed his small picture in lap of Baba’s ‘murti’ in my home because I know he is in Baba’s light now. And how do I know this. Three things happened in gap of one month each.

1. During mourning period of 12 days, I was so upset that I would tell everyone that my praying to God always did not help in saving my son’s life so I have stopped believing in God. One unknown lady came to meet me especially in those days and told me that though she did not know me she wanted to meet me and tell my that my son was in a very happy and blissful state and that I should not mourn his passing over as he had been called to God’s home for his further higher spiritual education. She referred to Yogananada’s Gita and some of its extracts that she had brought with her. I felt a bit comfortable and when she left I saw a SaiBaba sticker on the rear glass of her car and I thought how kind of Baba to have sent her to me for comforting.

2. One month after this, Once when I was alone, I wept bitterly in front of Baba’s murti and prayed from the depth of my heart. I asked Baba, ‘why did you not save my son Baba. He could have been hurt but not gone. Where were you? Unless you give me reply to this Question yourself I will not believe anyone. I compared myself to his devotee ‘ the doubting Hari Kanoba’ mentioned in Sri Satcharita(containing life and teachings of Shirdi SaiBaba - a Bible for Saibaba devotees). Half an hour later, my husband came and suggested that we see the SaiBaba serial on Starplus. I said that the serial must be over and I don’t want to see it anyway. But he insisted that we’ll see last scene atleast. So the TV was switched on. The scene was where Bhagat Mahalsapati ( a very close devotee of Saibaba when he was alive physically) is forced by Baba to go home and when he reaches there reluctantly, his young son dies in his arms singing Baba’s aarti(prayer). Everybody around is surprised as to why Baba could not save his favourite devotees’ son’s life. SaiBaba tells Mahalasapati that even Krishna, God himself, could not save Pandavas sons. Your son was meant to be with you for this much time only. This all ‘lena dena’ ( give & take) is due to our ‘renanubandh’(dues carried forward from previous births). Therefore, one should not grief. If Baba had not sent him home, he would not have been able to meet his son in last time. Similarly, Baba had arranged circumstances in such a way that my husband spent his leave period with his son during his last six months. Not to mention that my husband was lucky he kept away from that controversial posting because later on various enquiries were ordered and my husband was saved as he was on leave. Thanks to Baba.

In the same serial SaiBaba had referred to a premonition about passing away of his son to Mahalsapati. In dream Yama(God of death) had entered Mahalsapati’s house and wanted to eat something as he was very hungry. Without looking up and without realizing, Mahalsapati, who was busy writing something, permitted Yama to eat whatever was there in house. Few days later, his only son passed away, This reminded me of dream that I had around one week before my dear son passed away. In my dream, I saw pictures of mostly all the Gods – Shiva, Krishna, Rama, Bhagawati etc – but SaiBaba’s sitting posture statute was lying on the floor with a white cloth all over it. Only the forehead was partially visible so that I could recognize, it was SaiBaba. I could not understand this dream and I asked my dear friend Shama (referred to above) as to why I could see faces of other Gods while Baba’s face was covered with white cloth. What did this mean. Even she could not figure out, She felt that it meant that I had blessings of Baba and that Baba is with me. However, one week later when we went to mortuary to identify my son’s body, I saw a similar white cloth on his body. Only his forehead was partially visible and as he had long gold tinted hair, I could identify my son immediately. I feel that dream was Baba’s message to me about my destiny.

3. One month after this, during meditation in garden, I had a beautiful vision. I was meditating in my living room at home. Suddenly, my late son walked in wearing a red Nike T-shirt and asked me ‘why are you sleeping Maa(mother)’. I replied that if I opened my eyes, he would go away. He said that he will not go away and that I should get up. As I opened my eyes I saw him standing there and he pointed towards, Sai Baba who was standing next to him. I was totally choked and cried, ‘you have brought SaiBaba for me’. Then I bent & bowed down at Baba’s feet and thanked him so much. I could distinctly feel Baba’s off-white thick clothes. Baba said ‘Now you can see that your son is with me. You were unnecessarily crying’. I thanked Baba and requested him to give my son what he wanted. Baba asked ‘What’. I said ‘Give him Nirvana’. Suddenly, SaiBaba produced a flame shaped bright light. My son walked into it and spread his arms in happiness once he was inside it and said ‘Thankyou Maa(Mother)’. The vision was over. I realized I was in garden still meditating.

Today, even my husband also believes that Shirdi SaiBaba had actually given my son an extension of life for few months. What was predestined had to happen and it happened ultimately. But by this vision, Baba showed me that my son was with him. Of course, being mother, I feel the pain of losing my teenaged son but I am thankful to Saibaba for taking him in his light. I am sure that my son has ultimately got his Sadgati(Nirvana - merged with God), thanks to Baba. I feel blessed. My son, you are indeed very very lucky. Maa loves you forever and till eternity.

My Valentine, RitikSai merged with Universal Valentine on Valentine Day, 14th Feb, 2007. On his inspiration I started writing in name of Vandana Ritik.

Vandana Ritik

Heritage of Shirdi Sai

New Delhi

Believer of Shirdi Sai Baba

I was introduced to Sai baba by mother when I was very young. I saw his morning bath and kakad aarti in Shirdi. . We purchased rings, Baba's murti etc. Then I forgot all about it.

I worshipped Lord Shiva as my father is his staunch devotee. But after my marriage, while reading Shiv Purana I read that wife should worship the same God as husband. So when my husband took me to Lodhi Road Mandir, I asked Baba - I don't know u. Who are u. I want to know about u.

Within a week some guest came to our home and over dinners told us the miracle of reading Sai Satcharitra in one week. It fulfils your wishes.

Few days later I saw Sai Satcharitra in my in-laws room. My son had become very adamant and had refused to go to School those days when he was in Class II all of a sudden. I was upset. I decided to read the book with the wish that he stops doing this. And lo! he stopped before the week was over. He told me why he did not want to go to School -due to a teacher- I went to School spoke to Father - and my problem was solved.

I got to know about life story of Shirdi Sai Baba and started liking his teachings which were very down to earth and easy to follow. Sai Baba thus came into my life.