Chapter 38: Baba's Cooking Pot

Sri Sai Satcharitra: The Wonderful Life of Shirdi Sai Baba, A Modern Rendering of Hemadpant by Monika Penukonda

If a man utters my name with love, I shall fulfill all his wishes and increase his devotion. If he sings earnestly of my life and my deeds, I shall surround him in front and back and on all sides. Those devotees who are attached to me heart and soul will naturally feel happiness when they hear these stories. Believe me, if anybody sings my leelas I will give him infinite joy and everlasting happiness. ~ Shirdi Sai Baba

From this episode:

Different sadhanas are prescribed in the scriptures for different ages. Tapas (austerities) is recommended for the Krita age, jnana (knowledge) for the Treta age, yajna (sacrifice) for the Dwarpara age, and dana (charity) for the Kali (present) age. Of all the charities, giving food is the best one. We are very disturbed when we do not get food at noon. Other beings feel the same way under these circumstances. Knowing this, he who gives food to the poor and hungry is the best donor or charitable person. The Taittiriya Upanishad says, “Food is Brahma. From food all creatures are born, and having been born, by food they live, then having departed, into food again they enter.” When an uninvited guest comes to our door at noon, it is our duty to welcome him by giving him food. Other kinds of charities, like giving away wealth, property and clothes require some discrimination but in the matter of food no such consideration is necessary. Let anyone who comes to the door at noon be served immediately. If lame, crippled, blind or diseased indigents come, they should be fed first and then the able bodied persons and relations afterwards. The merit of feeding the former is much greater than that of feeding the latter. Other kinds of charity are imperfect, but anna dana (giving food) is the most meritorious. ...

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