6.6 - Expansion of Worship

According to the Sastras, all gods are parts of God Agni Anya devathah. Hence He was all gods. Baba had the complete realization of the fullness of God, not merely of God forms, but God essence. He was Sat Chit Ananada. He had absolute freedom from attachment to all earthly objects and emotions, which take persons away from God. Therefore, Baba was best fitted to bring all persons into a common fold. People had desires or objects that religion could grant through service to Him and acceptance of Him as the Gurudeva or guide. This work, which occupied so many decades of Baba’s life on earth, has greatly developed since his journey to HEAVEN.

Justice Mr. M.B. Rege made remarks in his foreword to Baba’s Charters and Sayings as: ‘ Now that the fleshy body is gone, he is to me only God’.

The fleshy body repelled many people who came to him because of their sectarian or other prejudices. When a person reads about Baba and note the effect of prayer to him with full faith, the physical body of Baba, the Muslim appearance, is not visible to repel him. Thus, his casting off the fleshy body in 1918 leaving tens of thousands bound to him by love and a system of worship by love. With the fame of his leelas He continued his mission to unify all faiths by acceptance of him as the common Gurudeva. Both Hindus and Muslims practice the worship of, or prayer to, tombs of saints. Hence it was easy for him to complete his mission successfully, even when He was not alive.

Kabir objected to images and image worship. On the other hand, Baba allowed people and even directed people to get to particular temples to worship the images there. He presented lingas, paduks, coins, and pictures to devotees as fit objects of worship especially his own pictures. These images too are needed to make the minds steady and concentrated in meditation. These steps helped others to bring more people into Baba’s fold.

Regardless of castes or creeds, any one who pins his faith to Baba, and appeals to him, gets remarkable relief. Therefore, leaving aside Baba’s birth, parentage, or training, in his corporeal life, people feel and convinced that this Sai is nothing but god. He is the dispenser of desired things to those who want them and make the proper approach. So Baba is the God or the God-man to all Sai devotees. While unifying India on that basis, he is the granter to millions of individual devotees, of all their cherished or most ardently longed for objects.