Lokambiga, Vadakara - Panja Bagavathi Kshetras

Lokanarkavu is located at Vadakara, a small town in Kozhikode - the renowned temple which is frequently alluded to in the Vadakkanpattu of kerala (ballads of North Malabar). The deity in this temple was worshipped by Thacholi Othenan, the legendary martial hero of Kerala. It is the abode of Goddess Lokambiga. This is said to be one of the Panja Bagavathi Kshetras.

Lokanarkavillama represents Amba, the feminine counterpart of the universal creator. It is believed that the goddess dwells in the sanctum's jewel studded pillar. The idol of goddess Durga is made of Panchaloha (an alloy of five metals, gold, silver, copper, brass and iron). With the 'Shanku' and 'Chakra' in two of her hands, the four handed deity also depicts the 'Abhaya' and 'Varada' mudras.There are numerous legends about the arrival of the goddess eulogized by Parasurama. One story holds that the local chieftains or landlords brought the Goddess from Lokamaleswaram in Kodungallur to Kadathanad. Another story is that the goddess is the patron deity of the Aryans who migrated to Kerala. In addition to the main deity of Lokanarkavillamma, this temple also has two adjacent shrines dedicated to Mahavishnu and Mahadeva. The shrine dedicated to Mahavishnu is at the south and the one dedicated to the goddess is at the north. At the centre lies the shrine dedicated to Siva. The deity of Vishnu is believed to be the oldest.

Note: The image of Amba is not available. If any of the devotees had it please share it with us, so that everyone can have a glimpse of Her and be blessed.

Sai Sacharitra - Chapter 6

Sai charitham - Introduction
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5

Sai Sachcharitam - Chapter 6

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Bhagwant Roa Kshirsagar's story, Dasganu's Prayag Bath, Sai Baba's First advent in Shirdi, Three wada

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Bhagwant Roa Kshirsagar's story

What a great interest Sri Sai Baba had in the worship of Vitthal became clear from the story of Bhagwant Roa Kshirsagar. The father of Bhagwant Roa was a great devotee of Vithova. he used to make a pilgrimage every year to pandharpur. In his house he had a picture of Vithova, which he worshipped daily. After his death, pilgrimage, worship, Shraddha, etc., everything was given up by his son Bhagwant Rao. When Bhagwant Roa reached Shirdi, Baba began to say on seeing him thus, " His father was my great friend. So I have called him here. he never gave 'Prashad' and starved me and Vithova. So i inspired him to come over here. Now I shall draw him forcibly towards worship".

Dasganu Prayag's Bath

Prayag is famous pilgrimage place on the banks of confluence of Ganga and Yamuna holy rivers. There is a belief among the Hindus that by taking bath there one's sins are washed away. On every holy occasion thousands of devotees gather and take advantage of taking bath there. Once dasganu also thought of going there for taking the holy bath. For this purpose, he went to Baba to take His permission. Baba told him, "what was the need of going that far? Our prayag is indeed here itself. Believe in me." Then a great miracle took place. As soon as Dasganu bowed at the lotus feet of Baba, there flowed out instantly holy water of Ganga-Yamuna from the feet of Baba.  watching this miracle dasganu was so overcome with devotion and love for Baba that tears began to flow from his eyes. He was enthrilled and spontaneously began to chant the hymns of praises to Sri Sai Baba.

Sri Sai Baba's first advent in Shirdi

Nobody knew anyhing about Parents, birth and place of Sri Sai Baba. Lots of research was done in this matters and enquiries made with the people, but no reliable information could be available. As a matter of fact we remain completely ignorant about these matters. Namdev and Kabir had no human birth, because they were not born like ordinary people. They were found as babies in the lap of nature. Namdev was found by Gonai lying at the bank of Bhimarathi and Kabir by Tamal at the bank of Bhagirathi. Similar was the case with Sri Sai Baba. he had appeared in Shirdi at the age of 16 years sitting under the neem tree for the benediction of devotees. Even at that time , He appeared to be God-realised and knocked out delusion (Maya) and liberation craved for His lotus feet. An old woman of Shirdi, mother of Nanachopdar, described Him as follows:
One young man, healthy, smart and extremely handsome was first seen sitting under 'Neem' tree engrossed in deep meditation. He cared nothing of cold and heat. people were astonished to see Him doing such hard penance. During day He met none and wandered all night. People would make enquiries about Him as to from where He came?  His form and face was so enchanting that by merely having a look at Him once people were attracted to Him. He always remained sitting under neem tree and went to nobody's door. although He appeared young, yet His conduct was like that of saints. he was verily, the form of sacrifice and non-attachement.

Once an interesing event occured. A devotee received command of lord Khandova. Out of inquisitiveness people asked Him, "O Lord! Please do tell us whose son is this boy and from where has He come here?" Lord khandova asked for a spade and pointed to dig at a particular place. when that place was dug deep bricks under a stone were discovered where four lamps were found being alight. The entry led to a caave where a building in the form of cow, wooden planks, garlands etc., were seen lying.

Lord Khandova began to say that this lad did penance at this place for twelve years. then people made enquiries from the lad, but He avoided by telling that this is the sacred place of my preceptor(Guru), and therefore, it is a sacred plaace worthy of worship for me. Then people closed the door as of before. Just as Ashwasth and Audhumbar trees are treated sacred, likewise baba treated this neem tree sacred and lovable. Mahalsapati and other devotees of Shirdi considered this place as 'Samadhi' of Baba's preceptor and always paid obeisaance to it.

Three wadas

The land around 'Neem' tree was purchased by vinayak Sathe who built a graand building there, which came to be known as Sathe wada. That was the only place to stay for the pilgrims coming there from far off places and it used to remain always crowded. a platform was raised around 'Neem' tree. In the south direction under the stairs there is a small temple where people sit on the platform facing the north. It is a general belief that devotees who would on Thursday and riday place burning fragrant sticks there shall always remain comfortable in life by the Graace of God. This wada was in depleted condition and required urgent renovation, which was done by the sai organisation.

Later another wada was built and it was named Dikshit wada. When Kaka Saheb Dikshit(legal advisor) was in england he got injured in his leg in some accident there. He underwent several treatments, but his leg was not healed. Nana Saheb Chandrokar advised him to avail of the grace of Sri Sai Baba. so in 1909, he had 'darshan' of Baba. He prayed Baba for the removal of incapicitation of his heart insead of his leg. By the mere 'darshan' of Baba he got so much exaltation that he accepted to stay in shirdi for ever. So he built his wada for the stay of devotees. The stone-laying ceremony was on 9-12-1910. The same day two other special events took place (1) Shri Dada Saheb Kahparne got permission to return to his home and (2) Night 'Aarti' commenced at 'Chavadi'. Within a short time the wada was completely built and on the auspicious occasion of Ramnavami(1911) it was inaugurated with approprite rites.

Thereafter, another mansion-like wada was built by the famous gentleman of Nagpur Shri Buty. Lots of money was spent on its construction and his entire property became worthy of a great cause, because the mortal coils of Baba lay resting there permanently and at present it is well known as 'Samadhi Mandhir'. there was a beautiful garden at this spot before. Baba Himself watered the plants grown there and took care of them. Earlier where not even small cottage was available, now there were threee huge wadas built, of which Sathe wada was greatly useful in those days.

Sri Maargabandhu sthothram

This great Stotra Rathna was written by Appayya Deekshitha  who lived from 1520-1593. He was the greatest interpreter of Advaita Siddhanta after Adi Sankara. This stotra is written in praise of the Lord Margabandhu of Virinchipuram, near Vellore of South Arcot district of Tamil Nadu. People undertaking any journey if recite it before traveling, and after the completion of travel, Lord Shiva as Margabandhu would always be with them and protect them.

Shambho Maha deva deva, Shiva Shambho Maha deva devesa Shambho, Shambho Mahadeva deva.

Meaning: Prostrations to He who blesses us with prosperity, Prostrations to the greatest God, Prostrations to the abode of peace,Prostrations to Him, who blesses us with riches, And Prostrations to him who is the God of Gods. (This sloka has to be recited every time immediately after reciting the five verses given below)

Phalavanamrath kireetam, Phala nethrachisha,

Dagdha pancheshu Keetam, Soolahathaaraathikootam,

Shudhamradhendu choodam, Bhaje Margabandhum (Shambho Mahadeva deva…)

Meaning: I pray to that friend of the path, Who wears a crown on his head, Who kills his enemies by his trident, Who wears a crescent which showers nectar, And who burnt by the fire of his eyes, Which are on his forehead, Him who has the five arrows like an insect.
Note: Manmatha, the lord of love has five flower arrows –lotus, Asoka, mango, jasmine and the blue lotus. Lord Shiva killed him by the fire generated by his third eye.

Ange virjangu jangam, Abhra Ganga tharangabhi Ramothamangam,

Omkaravati kurangam, Sidha samsevathangrivyagram,

Bhaje Margabandum (Shambho Mahadeva…)

Meaning: I pray to that friend of the path, Whose limbs are adorned by a snake,Who is a deer in the park of holy pranava, Whose feet is worshipped by great sages,and who looks charming with his head, Adorned by the Ganga of the sky.

Note: (Pranava is the holy letter “Om”. Akasa Ganga resides on the Head of Lord Shiva)

Nithyam, Chidanada roopam,

Ninhutha sesha lokesa vairi prathapam,

Kartheswaragendrachapam, krithivasam,

Bhaje divya sanmarga bandhum (Shambo mahadeva deva…)

Meaning: I pray to that friend of the good divine path, Who is perennial and of the form of, Truth, intelligence and bliss, Who destroyed without reminder, The glory of the fame of the enemy of Indra, Who used the golden Mount Meru, As his bow in the war against three asuras, And who dresses himself in hides of trees.

(Shiva destroyed the pride of Ravana when he visited his abode. He used Mount Meru as his bow to win over the Tripuras)

Kandarpa darpagna meesam, Kala kantam Mahesam Maha vyoma kesam,

Kundabhadandam Suresam, Koti surya prakasam, Bhajhe Marga bandhum. (Shambho mahadeva deva…)

Meaning: I pray to that friend of the path, Who put an end to the pride of God of love, Who is the great Lord who has a deep blue throat, Who has the great sky as his matted lock, Whose teeth resemble the white jasmine flowers, And who has the shine of billions of Suns.

Mandara Bhutherydaram, Mandaragendrasaaram, Mahagouryudooram,

Sindhoora dhoora pracharam, Sindhoorajathi dheeram,

Bhaje Margabandhum (Shambho Mahadeva deva…)

Meaning: I pray to that friend of the path, who is more generous than the wish giving tree, Who is the strength behind the great Mandara Mountain, Who is very close to the great Goddess Gauri, Who has a red colour far intense than red lead, And who is more resolute than the God of the ocean.(Mandara Mountain was used to churn the ocean of milk.)

Phala Sruthi - Narration Benefit

Appayyajjwendra Geetham stotra rajam, Patedhyasthu Bhakthya prayane,

Thasyartha sidhim Vidathe , marga madhye

Abhayam chaashuthosho Mahesa (Shambho Maha deva Shambho…)

Meaning: This king of stotras written by, Appayya who is the performer of sacrifices, If read with devotion during journey, Would ensure fulfillment of wishes, Protection during journey, And Lord Shiva would be easily pleased.

Sai Sacharitra - Chapter 5

Sai charitham - Introduction
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
chapter 4

Sai Sachcharitam - chapter 5

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Nission of Saints & Sai Avatar, Holy tirth Shirdi, Sri Sai Baba's personality, Gaulibuva's experience, Appearance of Vitthal.

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Lord Sri Krishna in the seventy - eight sloka of chapter four of Gita has said, " Whenever declination of 'Dharma' (righteousness) and ascendance of evil takes place I incarnate. In order to reinstate righteousness and destroy evil doers and uplift the virtuous and remove their sufferings, I incarnate from age to age. Saints are the embodiments of God. Emerging at appropriate time, they fulfil their mission in their own unique characteristic way.

Such an opportune time is also indicated and when the four 'Verna' (classes) Brahmin, martial and trading classes give up their respective duties and the 'Shudra' snatch away functions appropriate to these upper classes; When the saintly people are disrespected and maligned; When people give up distinction between eatable eatable and non-eatable foods and indulge in intoxications; When followers of various religion begin to quarrel among themselves and the people begin to develop indifference to religion; When yogis give up their meditation and when the common people hold he view that money, progeny and wife are the only aspirations to be ful-filled. Thus when people begin to degenrate into misdeeds by being misguided then Sints emerge to establish righteousness by their teachings and actions. They indeed by giving proper guidance inspire us to follow the path of truth and virtue. Several saints like Nivratinath, Gyandev, Muktabai, Namktabai, Namdev, Gora, Kasai, Savan mali ramdas etc., appeared in order to show the path of truth from time to time. Last of all these appeared the avatar of Sai Baba in Shirdi.

Holy thirth Shirdi

The banks of sacred Godavari river flowing through Ahmednagar are indeed greatly fortunate where many saints were born and lived. Sri sant gynaneswar Maharaj is prominent among them. Shirdi is situated in Kopargaon Taluka of ahmadnagar district. Crossing over Godavari river there goes the straight way to Shirdi. after going eight miles ahead when we reach Neemgao then Shirdi comes in such as Ganagpur, Navsinhwarhi, and Audumbar, Shirdi is a famous pilgrimage place. As Damoji purified Mangaal verha(near Pandharpur) samarth Ramdas purified saijangarh and the incarnation of Dattatreya Narsimgh Sarswati purified Warhi in the like manner by being incarnated at Shirdi Sai Nath purified it..

Sri Sai Baba's Personality

By proximity of Sri sai baba the importance of Shirdi had enhanced greatly. He had conquered the worldly ocean, which is usually very difficult for ordinary mortals. Peace was his ornamentation and he was wisdom(Gynanaswaroop) in human form. Devotees received shelter in Him. Among the doners, He was like Karna - the king of donars; and he was essence of all wisdom. He had no interest in wordly affairs. He always remained engrossed in His true self of 'Atomic reality'. his heart was always glittering like sparkling glass. From His mouth flowed incessantly sweet nectar - like words. He was totally indifferent to praise or condemnation. he used to discourse fearlessly, lived in the company of all sorts of people, watched the dance and acting of nautch girls and heard quwwalies as well.

Inspite of doing all this His deep meditation was never disturbed. God's name was always in His lips and He constantly kept on uttering - "Allah Malik", "Ram Maalik", when the world kept awake inner-shelf he was unrulledd like the deep sea. No one could fathom the way of His working. In the general sense, He lived at one place, but He was very fully aware of what was taking place in the whole world. His divine court was unique.

He used to say anecdotes often, but His peace was never disturbed. He always used to sit by the side of wall of the mosque and go for morning and evening walks towards Lendi and Chawadi, and even then He was engrossed in His 'Atomic-self'. Being self-realised and having attained the highest Siddhis and mystic powers He used to behave like ordinary aspirants. He was humble and without pride. He always gave happiness to all.  Shirdi became holy by the mere touch of His Lotus feet. Its importance became extra-ordinary. As Gynaneswar exalted Aalandi and Eknath Paithad, the same way exaltation was bestowed upon Shirdi by Sai Baba. Shirdi became for devotees another Pandharpur, Jagannath Puri, Dwaraka, Banaras(Kashi), Mahakaleswar and Kaukarna Mahabaleswar.

To have 'darshan' of sai was to receive Vedic mantra by which the wordly attachments decreased and the path of self-realisation became easy. His darshan was verily Yoga practice and conversation with Him was enough to get rid of sins. worshipping His holy feet was like taking a holy dip in the Ganga at praying as such and by drinking water of the worship of His holy feet all wishes got fulfilled.

His command was the command of the Vedas for us. By partaking of 'Prasad' and 'Udi' purification of mind was attained. He was our Sri ram and sri krishna who gave us liberation; He alone was our God-oncorporeal. he was always the living form of Consciousness, Bliss, Truth and Benediction.

In the general sense, Shirdi was His main headquarters but His sphare of divine works was spread to Punjab, Kolkatta, North-india, Gujarat, Dhaka, Konkani. The glory of Sri Sai Baba soon spread far and wide and devotees began to come from different places for his 'darshan' and to avail of His benevolence. By His mere 'darshan' people whether of pure or impure disposition got peace of their mind and experienced bliss in His proximity as was the case with the 'darshan' of Vithova at pandharpur. There is no exaggeration in this. Let us now see it with the experience of a devotee given here.

Guali Buva's experience

Guali Buva was approximately 90 years old. he was apilgri of Pandharpur. He used to live eight months at pandharpur and four months(July-October) at the bank of Ganga. he had a donkey with hm to carry his luggage and was always accompanied by a disciple. Every year he would go to Pandharpur and visit Shirdi on his return. He had deep faith in Baba. he would stare without being disturbed at baba for long and would pronounce spontaneously that He is Pandharinath avatar of vitthal who is the Lord of destitute, the forlorn and the Lord of poor and meek. Guali Buva was great devotee of Vithova. he would undertake several travels to Pandhari and had direct experience that Sri Sai Baba was indeed Pandharinath.

Appearance of Vithal

Sri Sai Baba had great passion for contemplation of God and chanting His divine glories. He always called out 'Allah Maalik' and got 'Sankirtan' performed by devotees which came to be knon as 'Namsaptah'(week-long 'Sankirtan').

Once He commanded dasaganu to perform 'Nama-Sankirtan'. Dasaganu pleaded with Him that he accepted His command, but he must get an assurance that Vitthal shall definitely appear at the end of the week. Touching His chest, Baba said Vitthal shall definitely appear, but simultaneously faith and keen inquisition is alsi inevitable on the part of devotees. Dankpuri of Thakurnath, Pandhari of Vitthal, Dwaraka of ranchchorh is here itself. None needs to go afar. Will Vitthal come from somewhere else? He is, verily, present here. When devotees love and faith shall over-flow Vitthal shall himself appear instantly.

After Sankirtan being over, when Kaka Saheb Dixit, as usual sat in meditation after taking bath then he had a vision of Vitthal. When he reached at noon for 'darshan' of baba then Baba asked him, "Did Vitthal Pati come? Did you have His vision? he is very instable, hold on to Him fast. If there be slightest carelessnee He will escape and run away". This was an event of morning, and at noon he had another vision again. That very day a picture vendor came there with 25-30 pictores of Vithova. This picture was exactly alike the one Kaka Saheb had seen in his vision. He was astonished and happy at seeing His picture aand remembering the words of Baba spoken to him in this respect, he bought a picture with great delight and installed it in his worship room.

The retired Mamalatar of tada shri B. V. Dev has proved it by his researches that Shirdi falls within Pandharpur. In the south, Pandharpur is well known place of Sri Krishna. Therefore Shirdi itself is Dwarka. There is another narrative about Dwarka which is taken from Skand Puran(part 2 of page 90) written by K. Narayan Ayyair. It is as follows:

Chaturvarnamapi Varganam yatra Dwarani Sarvatrah.

Ato dwaravakeetyukta Vidvadbhistatva vadibhih.