Sri Sathya Sai Baba

Arathi / Aarti To Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba

Om Jai Jagadeesha Harey
Swaamee Sathya Sai Harey
Bhakta Janaa Samrakshaka
Partee Maheshwaraa
Om Jai Jagadeesha Harey

Victory to the Lord of the Universe, Lord Sathya Sai, who destroys grief, evil and the miseries of life and who guards and protects devotees. Victory to the Lord of the Universe, Lord of Puttaparthi.

Shashi Vadanaa Shreekaraa Sarvaa Prana Patey
Swaamee Sarvaa Praana Patey
Aashrita Kalpalateekaa Aapad Baandhavaa.
Om Jai Jagadesha Harey

Graceful and charming as a full Moon, O Auspicious One! O Lord Sai! Thou art the Indweller and Life-force of all Beings, the Wish-fulfilling Divine creeper to those, who have surrended to Thee. Thou art Kinsman, Protector and Friend in times of distress and calamities. Victory to the Lord of the Universe.

Maata Pitaa Guru Daivam Maree Antayu Neevey
Swaamee Maree Antayu Neevey
Naada Brahma Jaganaaathaa Naagendra Shayanaa
Om Jai Jagadesha Harey

O Lord Sai! Thou art Mother, Father, Noble Teacher, Supreme Divinity and everything to us. O Lord of the Universe! Thou art the Primeval Sound and Thou art reclined on the coiled serpent. (Reference here is to Lord Vishnu lying on the coiled serpent Shesha Naaga, in the Ocean of Milk – Ksheera Saagara).

Omkaara Roopa Ojaswee Om Sai Mahaadevaa
Sathya Sai Mahaadevaa
Mangal Aaratee Anduko Mandara Giridhaaree
Om Jai Jagadesha Harey

O Splendorous One! O Lord of Lords – Lord Sai! Thy Form is the Praanava. OM. We pray Thee to accept this auspicious waving of the flame or light (signifying the removal of ignorance) Victory to Thee, O Lord of the universe who (as Kurmaavataara) supported the Mandara Mountain during the churning of the Milky Ocean.

Narayana Narayana Om
Sathya Narayana Narayana Om
Narayana Narayana Om
Sathya Narayana Narayana Om
Sathya Narayana Narayana Om
Om Jai Sad Guru Devaa

Chant the name of Lord Sathya Sai Narayana, whose Form is the Praanava. Victory to the Noble Teacher and Supreme Lord Shri Sai Sathya Sai.

Notes :
Arathi is the finale of a Sai Bhajan session when a camphor flame is waved in front of Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba or His picture. Indeed, in any Hindu home or temple, the arathi signals the culmination of a ritual worship. This is because all rituals are the means to have the Darshan of God and the pure camphor (which does not leave any residue after burning) symbolises the total dedication of the devotee whose only aim is to serve the Lord and not leave behind a name or anything else to be remembered by. It is through the lives of such devotees, one can best ‘see’ God and understand His true nature and teachings.

Since the general meaning of the Arati song is given above, let us here consider in detail only the meanings and implications of the key words or phrases in it: This will facilitate the chanting with fervour and purpose rather than as a mechanical routine.

Every stanza in the song ends with the words “Om Jai Jagadeesa Harey” expressing the deep desire of the devotees that God (denoted by His sound symbol Om) must be victorious over the degrading forces of the world and assert His rule over it. Its purport is similar to the expression in the Lord’s prayer, “Thy kingdom come and thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven”. (Mathew 6:10)

In the first stanza, the Lord is described as ‘Bhakta Jana Samrakshaka’ that is, as the one who protects all the people devoted to Him. A discerning and unbiased person may have doubts regarding this statement. After all any number of cases can be cited where devotees have succumbed to illness or died in accidents just as any number of cases can be cited in which devotees have been saved from dangerous accidents or ailments. Evidently not all devotees are protected well enough.

However imagine the following situations: a steel safe is stolen and the police recover the money and precious jewels kept in it but not the safe itself. Should the police be thanked for the good job done or blamed for not securing the safe?

Again let a patient go to a doctor with some minor skin problem together with a sprain in the leg. Assume that on examination, the doctor happens to find that the patient is having a serious heart problem, which has to be attended to immediately. So, suppose the doctor without informing the patient (to avoid alarming him) sends him to the ICU for cardiac treatment, ignoring his other complaints. Has the doctor taken proper care of the patient or not?

Similarly, the omniscient Bhagawan Baba knows what is good for the soul. He knows what is best in view of the karma of the past and tendencies in the future (births). He does indeed what is best to the devotee and what is divinely right and just in the given circumstances. It is reported how in several cases He has pointed out to the relatives of deceased persons that He could have prevented the mishaps but let them happen in their particular cases only due to considerations of long range benefits and justice. In sum, therefore, it can be asserted that Bhagawan indeed protects well all His devotees taking into account all the various aspects of life. That is how Rama allowed his wife Sita to be abducted by Ravana, the demon-king; how Krishna allowed the only son of his great devotee Arjuna to be killed in battle; how Jesus allowed himself to be crucified though he knew about it in advance, and so on.

Next let us consider the statement in the third stanza viz., “Aasritha Kalpalatheeka” which means that the Lord Sai fulfills all our wishes like the mythical creeper of the heavens. Again this also can be questioned: does the Lord grant us all that we seek from him?

Indeed He does, if we go by the published and privately intimated experiences of many devotees. But in many other cases, apparently, “man proposes but God disposes.” However when one is patient and faithful enough, it will be discovered that the granting of devotees’ desires is only postponed – not denied: what was desired was not deserved or desirable at that point of time.

In the third stanza, the devotee claims that Baba is his mother, father, spiritual teacher and chosen deity. In a gathering of the office-bearers of Sri Sathya Sai Organisations sometime in the 1980s, Bhagawan quoted this and asked, “If you are sincere in regarding me as your mother and father, what are you? Are you not my sons and daughters? Are you conducting yourselves in accordance with that status? Are you behaving like brothers and sisters in the Organisation?” Let us have some introspection now and then on that.

In the fourth stanza, the Lord is described as the very personification of the mystic sound OM, with spiritual splendour and a shining aura all over Him. He is requested to accept the Mangala Arathi shown to him. Mangala means auspicious. How this word is derived? ‘maam galanaa’ is Mangalam i.e.; the dropping of ego is auspiciousness! Egolessness symbolised by the totally self-sacrificing camphor kindles the inner light and the awareness of the true and Eternal Self dawns in the devotee. That is the real culmination of the arathi ritual. What remains then? Only the awareness of the omnipresent God manifesting with different forms and names everywhere! The word ‘Narayana’ means the one who is within and without of all that is created (Ref: Narayana Upanishad 13:1 & 2) Hence the repetition of that name at the end of the arathi. Let us realise all this and be in harmony and peace with everyone and everything around us.

Om Shanthi Shanthi Shanthi.

— O. P. Vidayakar