Sainath Parabrahman called ‘Loving others and Serenity’ or non-violence” as weapons of the strong. He said love and truth are inseparable and presuppose one another. We may never be strong enough to be entirely non-violent in thought, word, and deed, but we must love all creatures as our own.
Love and non-violence instill a sense of morality, equality, and respect for the rights of all human beings and animals. They foster appreciation of all cultures and religions, as well as ecological concern and awareness. It is an expression of a universal relationship of love that promotes unity among people.
The four principles of love and non-violence among the six enumerated by Sai Maharaj are that non-violence seeks to defeat injustice, not people. It holds that suffering can educate and transform. Non-violence chooses love over hate. It is based on the premise that the universe is on the side of justice. The principle of non-violence rejects using physical violence to achieve social or political change.
Sai Maharaj explained his views to his devotees as the World War was going on at that time. He stated that all conflicts between individuals or nations could be resolved through discussions and adjustment philosophy as follows: “You not only refuse to shoot a man, but you refuse to hate him. Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”
At the individual level, non-violence has a more profound value, and a love for righteousness can often bring us prosperity eventually. Baba always insisted on my helping others. He appreciated my concern for an injured dog when I took care of it in Dixit Wada.
I had virtually wound up my practice as a Solicitor and was staying at Shirdi occasionally going to Mumbai. My resources also had dimmed down. At that time, my wife wanted an amount of Rupees 30,000.00 for an exigency. I did not know what to do and on the same night, I left for Mumbai.
I was praying to God to help me out of this situation. As I slept on the train, I had a dream. A
divine person – a monk in saffron robes appeared to me and said, “Dixit, there is one way you can get a huge amount of wealth. Tomorrow, you will find me coming to the shadow of the big banyan tree in front of the Ganesha temple near your house. I will sleep in the shade. All you have to do is pick up my stick and hit me on the head. My body will turn into a heap of gold. You can take it all.”
Out of curiosity, I went to the tree the next day. True to the dream, a holy man was there. As soon as he reached the shade of the tree, he put aside his stick and a bag and went to sleep. Nobody else was around. I could have easily hit the sleeping man and taken the gold. But I did nothing of the sort. Attacking another person is violence, even if permitted by the victim. I sat there looking at the calm face of the sleeping man for more than one hour. Finally, the holy man woke up. He asked with amazement: “Why? You had the chance of a lifetime? Don’t worry, I will give you another chance.”
I told him, “No Swamiji, even then, I am not going to do anything wrong.” I gave him a ‘Dakshina’ of two rupees. The holy man smiled. With the blessing, “You will be prosperous,” and then he left the place.
When I returned home, two of my old associates were waiting for me with an assignment carrying an advance payment of Rupees 30,000.00. Baba has always been close to my thoughts.
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