Day - 21: “Om Shri Sai Anna Vastradaya Namaha.”

Shirdi Sai Ashtotramala – Meaning, Meditation and Miracle 

Day - 21: “Om Shri Sai Anna Vastradaya Namaha.”

            

Meaning: 

Humble salutation to the one who gives food and clothes-in other words, sustenance. 

Meditation: 

Everything we experience is through the Self.  Self is the God within us.

The expression everything is done by God is in fact means we experience anything through the Self which is part of Brahmam. The moment self leaves the Body, nothing happens to us. There is no hunger, no happiness no sorrow; the Sun, moon, world and the universe cease to exist; the Maya ends. It is therefore God who sustains us, make us experience the sustenance. Food and clothes are simply a part of the sustenance among other things.

Baba said:

“There will never be any dearth or scarcity, regarding food or clothing in My devotee’s home. It is My special characteristic that I always look after and provide for, the welfare of those devotees, who worship Me whole heartedly with their minds ever fixed on Me.”

Baba was very happy to cook and serve food for the devotees and the poor in His Masjid.

It has been stated that, Baba required very little food for Himself, and whatever little He wanted was obtained by begging from a few houses. But when He decided to distribute food to all, He made all preparations, Himself. He depended on nobody and troubled none, in this matter. First He went to the bazaar and bought all the things, corn, flour, spices etc, paying cash. He also did the grinding. In the open court-yard of the Masjid, He arranged a big hearth and after lighting a fire, He kept a Handi over it with a proper measure of water. There were two kinds of Handis, one small and the other big. The former provided food for 50 persons, the latter for 100. At times, in the boiling Varan (soup), He let in small balls of thick or flat bread of wheat flour. He grinded the spices on a stone-slab and put the thin pulverized spices, into the cooking –pot. He took all pains to make the dishes very palatable. He prepared ‘Ambil’ by boiling Jawari- flour in water and latter mixing to it butter-milk, and then boiled both together. With the food, He distributed this Ambil to all alike. To see whether the food was properly cooked or not, Baba rolled up the sleeve of His Kafni and put His bare arm, in the boiling cauldron, without fear, and churned (moved) the whole mass from side to side and up and down. There was no mark of burn on His arm or fear on His face. When the cooking was over, He served the remaining contents with His own hand to all the poor and helpless people, to their heart’s content. Really blessed and fortunate must be those people, who got food, prepared by Baba and served by Him.

He loved to serve food to the needy and poor.  It was just a symbolic gesture, symbolizing the Bhagwan He was, providing the sustenance for the universe .His humility was genuine; His love for the devotees was immense. He is  Annavastradaya.