{"type":"rich","version":"1.0","provider_name":"Transistor","provider_url":"https://transistor.fm","author_name":"The Essential Sai Satcharita","title":"Chapter 2","html":"","width":"100%","height":180,"duration":1605,"description":"The Purpose Of This Work\r\n\r\nIn the first Chapter, we witnessed Baba's leela in which He prevented the cholera epidemic from entering Shirdi by grinding wheat at the quern stone and having the flour strewn along the borders of the village.\r\n\r\nAs Hemadpant began to hear and experience these marvellous leelas of Sai, his heart overflowed with joy and love. This ecstatic devotion for Baba that he felt found expression in the sacred verses that he wrote. \r\n\r\nThe thought came to Hemadpant that the sins of the listener would be mitigated by hearing the leelas of Sai. He felt that other devotees would experience the same joy that he and others who witnessed these leelas had felt from their firsthand experience. \r\n\r\nDocumenting the life of a saint is, however, not an easy task, and it is certainly not possible unless it is ordained by the saint himself. Hemadpant thought to himself, \"In trying to determine the true nature of the Self, the scriptures and all the four Vedas fall silent. How then will I know your true nature, O Sai?\"\r\n\r\nIn whatever manner a devotee may wish to serve the Sadguru, it is truly the Sadguru who Himself gets the service done. The inspiration comes from the saints, and the devotees chosen for the service are mere instruments and not the doers.\r\n\r\nHaving witnessed Baba's leelas for years, the idea of sharing these precious jewels for the benefit of the simple and earnest devotees was germinating in Hemadpant's mind and heart.\r\n\r\nThose devotees who had not had actual darshan of Baba could gain merit by listening to the stories of His sacred life. It is indeed the one who is blessed who feels an urge to read these stories and is, in turn, blessed with an experience of joy and inner peace when he does so.\r\n\r\n\r\nBaba Grants Permission For The Writing Of His Stories\r\n\r\nHemadpant, at the time, was nearly sixty years of age and doubted his own ability to write the book. He felt that neither his mind nor body would be able to support him and feared that the...","thumbnail_url":"https://img.transistorcdn.com/QnnIKBNwZIUwRq7hoOOyIf5L6ic1pME-TnhP441Ez4M/rs:fill:0:0:1/w:400/h:400/q:60/mb:500000/aHR0cHM6Ly9pbWct/dXBsb2FkLXByb2R1/Y3Rpb24udHJhbnNp/c3Rvci5mbS9zaG93/LzEyNDgyLzE1OTQ4/ODUxODItYXJ0d29y/ay5qcGc.webp","thumbnail_width":300,"thumbnail_height":300}