Sairam friends,

Gurus love on you equals love of crores of Motherly love.

This pooja is dedicated to the Love i got from Guru of all Gurus,

Lord Dattatreya &

The greatest Datta avatar of this Yuga, Sai baba of Shirdi

Its 1 o clock night , I went near the Shirdi Sai baba and Lord Dattatreya Statue in my room, took some udi ( holy ash of shirdi sai baba ) and looked in to the glorious Sai and Datta.  All this day i was doing pooja for Lord Datta and Shirdi Sai baba and felt today itself i must write to all the devotees of shree Guru sharing how i did this pooja, what inspiration i got to do this pooja and why i named it “Bless us with love pooja”.

Devotion to Lord Dattatreya comes only when Datta wills :

For over  2 months my heart was desiring to get a Statue of Lord Dattatreya. It was a time my devotion to Datta sprug from the desert of my heart. Being a devotee of saint shirdi sai baba, any one would simply say “Sai is avatar of Dattatreya”, they might have simply bowed to a dattatreya Statue or photo in temple etc but devotion to Datta comes only if Datta wills.

This i have experienced very clearly . Sai avatar is the most sweetest linient of all saints. Sai will accept everyone good…bad…honest..dishonest into his darbar and try to bless them with materialistic benefits so that gradually sai can make them a better person. Infact this is one common aspect of all great saints. They dont have difference between evil and good people.

When it comes to Dattatreya, the Guru of all gurus known as Adi Guru and Shree Guru, i have realized only when a person is internally pure , has few good qualities, datta pulls him to his kingdom,increased their devotion on other saints and gods and gradually bless them with both materialistic and spiritual benefits.

Sai takes me in the path of light.

The light of Guru Deva Datta :

I was one amoung those shirdi sai baba devotee who only have great respect on Lord Dattatreya but never really got devotion towards Datta for years. There used to be a lord dattatreya photo in the Sai baba temple i visit regularly, i bow to the Datta and walk away to see our Sai. In south india people do know about Lord Dattatreya but we can’t find statues of Dattatreya in temples as we find in north india. So i only know that theres a God called Dattatreya and really never was so much devoted to Datta.

Seven months in mumbai was to pull my soul in to Datta devotion :

When i moved to mumbai for job,i really din’t know Gods plan or we can say our shirdi sai babas desire was to make me learn more about Shree Guru Dattatreya and be devoted to Datta. The place i stayed was named after a Datta Mandhir.

A divine invitation from Lord Hanuman :

Once i got a dream as if my mother is praying that i must do a job living closer to her and Hanuman says “see what happens tommorow”.The surprise was a week later, i visited a Hanuman temple where lord hanuman was in black stone same as the one i saw in dream. So it was a Hanuman who pulled me to his darshan .Friends, this experience made me realize how true are words of sai baba. Sai says

“It is not a devotee who comes to me, It is me who pulls a person towards me and make him worship me to be blessed” .

Similarly This sweet Hanuman gave me darshan in dream and after that made me visit his temple regularly.

Bow to Hanuman and Lord Surya everyday :

Every morning when i start to office , i get garlands for Lord Hanuman , bhel leaves for lord shiva and green grass for lord ganesha and offer in a small Hanuman temple, i also bow to lord Rama,sita,lakshman along with Long surya as the rays of sun enters in through the temple window. when i go near my office i visit another Shirdi Sai mandhir, offer garland to Parvathi  Maatha in that temple.

Irrespective of having a Datta mandhir in the same area, i was not aware of it for many months. Later my devotion to datta increased as given below and one fine day there was a decoration in a road. My friend Ashish called me and said theres a Datta mandhir in this place. It was december 12th 2008 , Datta Jayanthi when i first entered this Datta Mandhir.

Before this Datta temple darshan i had darshan of Ek mukhi Dattatreya in sakori village which is 7 miles from shirdi near upasini baba ashram. The reason i mention this is that when we are devoted and have pure thoughts, Gradually Shree Guru makes us understand his powers, love and finally makes us love him by his magnetic power of pulling his devotees once they are purified internally.

Dattatreya with a affectionate, caring smile in Dwarakamai :

After 2-3 month, something very strange happened. When ever i closed my eyes to remember Shirdi Sai baba, i saw Lord Dattatreya beautifully gloriously showing me a darshan from the walls of Dwarakamai and Chawdi. I have a habit of imagining that i am always inside dwarakamai because the entire universe is dwarkamai for a person who lives keeping sai as his soul.

Somehow i realized its not my imagination but really when ever i close my eyes remembering Dwarakamai ( the masjid where saibaba stayed for 60 years ) and saibaba , Dattatreya is giving me a darshan with a beautiful smiling face. When ever i has this vision i used to have lots of love for sai and Datta . I felt like getting a statue of Lord Dattatreya. Meanwhile one sai friend sent me a book of Saint Shree Paadha Shree Vallabha , the first avatar of Lord Dattatreya. Only when i started to read this book, i got the above vision of shree guru.

Since i was very tired, at times after reading few pages of sai satcharita or any holy books, I used to Hug this book and sleep and was really blessed with divine dreams. I used to think Sai is with me close to my heart when ever i do this. Datta and Sai gives me dreams which were hard to understand but i was very sure that its not meaning of dreams which matters. What matters is Datta and sai have been so kind to me that they inspire me to be more devoted to their holy feets.

Desire to get a Dattatreya Statue in Shirdi :

I tried to get statue of Dattatreya in mumbai but the shops i went had original marble and it was costing more than 20,000 rs . So i was worried for long time. In the month of november 2008 i went to Shirdi for 2 days. I had happy darshan of our Sai and got 2 statues of Lord Dattatreya. My sai guru Gopi sir helped me to get the statues. One little statue of datta, i kept for myself in mumbai. The task now was to pack the big dattatreya statue safely so that it can be couried to my hometown for my parents to show devotion to Datta.

This Big Dattatreya you see in all these photos was bought somewhere outside dwarakamai of our Sai in Shirdi. Gopi sir helped me pack the datta safely and we couriered it to hometown with lots of Care. By Sai grace, Dattatreya reached our house safe.

When ever my parents called up in phone, i used to ask “How is Dattatreya” as if Datta is a family member. My parents used to say ” Datta is fine” .Sometimes i request my parents to offer beetle leaves, at times halva, at times nice lunch to sai baba and Datta in our house. The next day i used to confirm if the offering was done. I am gifted to get such parents who supports me in all the ways to show my love for Shree Guru.

When this Big Beautiful Datta came to our house , my Mothers health was very much in trouble. My mother and father used to read the sacred book Guru Charitra regularly and they feel its the blessings of this Datta that my mother recovered.

When ever i look at this Dattatreya and Sai baba i touch them with a thought in mind that they have been so kind and caring for our family.

Finally i came back to hometown to see Dattatreya :

After few months , i came back to hometown once for all. As soon as i reached home , i kept my bags,spoke few words to parents , directly went to my room and fell on the holy feets of Dattatreya and Sai baba. The first thought which crossed my mind was “Datta looks like Lord Murugan ( karthikeya  ) ” The trishool in lord dattas hands made me feel he looks like Lord subramaniya with his Vel.

Lord Murugan ( karthikeya ) and Dattatreya :

When i was in mumbai i used to ask myself why theres so less Dattatreya temples in south and why so much in north. Then slowly i used to remember the sloka of lord Murugan” Skandha Guru Kavasam” . Its my favourite mantra.  Murugan himself is seen as a Guru and many lines in Skandha Guru kavasam suits the life of Shirdi Sai baba and any good saint. It speaks about Love,light and detachment.

so i childishly thought myself that may be Lord Murugan and Lord Dattatreya are one and the same just forms are different. The best part was i did got 2-3 dreams before i made dattatreyalotus.com relating Lord Murugan and Dattatreya. I told this to Gopi sir who lives in shirdi casually. He called me next day and said he also had a dream in which he saw lord Dattatreya in the form of Lord Murugan.

The divine leela has more confirmations. I got a email from someone in delhi asking me if Lord Karthikeya ( murugan ) is same as Dattatreya and this devotee feels so and prays.

I was really happy that God satisfied my childish feeling that may be Lord Murugan and Dattatreya are one.

( I request the spirirual seekers to forgive me if u oppose this . I am not saying what i say is right , i am only sharing the experience i had honestly . Divine leelas are known only to God. I am ignorant ordinary devotee )

Desire to do Pooja for Lord Dattatreya and Shirdi Sai baba :

Now that i am in my own house, Datta is always in our room. The first thing i did was to keep sai statue near Datta because to me , i need to show my love for both Sai and Datta . Ofcourse Sai is DATTA avatar .

Aadi Guru Dattatreya with Sathguru Sainath :

Sometimes my friend in mumbai and even after i came here to hometown my parents used to feel , as if i am deviating from Sainath and now a days more devoted towards Dattatreya. Infact the fact is Sai baba loves it when we are devoted to Datta. This way we are also making our Sai happy.

Sai loves Devotion to Dattatreya –

Incident during saibaba’s life time :

When i was in shirdi last time, i visited the Datta Paar mandhir situated in the banks of Godavari in kopergoan village. This temple has its place in the sacred book of sai “Shree Sai satcharita.” There is a incident where a devotee regularly has darshan of this Datta mandhir and then comes to shirdi to have darshan of Sai.

Once due to some issue, the devotee skip his visit to datta mandhir and directly comes to see sai in dwarkamai. On his way the devotees legs will be hurted by thorn. Sai baba will ask the devotee why he skiped his usual darshan of Datta mandhir , Hence this punishment from God as a reminder .

See how beautifully sai insists a devotee to be devoted to Lord Dattatreya.

Sai Dattatreya – ” Bless us with Love Pooja “

On march 5th 2009, by Grace of   Lord Ganesha i prepared for Datta pooja. I already got few lemons the day before and kept under holy feets of datta.

In the morning ,i took bath, prayed Lord Ganesha to bless me to do the Sai Datta Pooja and started it.

Its very simple..I offered one lemon , 2 little beetle leaves , a 2 rupee coin and 2 leaf of Money plant as dakshina to Sai and Dattatreya. The reason i kept 2 leaf of money plant is that, i dint bought any flowers and in our house all the plants in which the flowers grow were dried when my mother was sick 2 months back. So only the beetle leaves plant and money plant. I remembered the words of Lord krishna in Gita

“Who ever offers me a flower,a fruit or a leaf with purity of mind and devotion ,i will accept it”

so i decided surely the saints will accept not only the little beetle leaves but also the money plant leaves and started the pooja.

Reciting Mantra written by

Saint Vasudevandha saraswathi – Datta Stavam :

My main interest during the pooja was to read Datta stavam 108 times.I did started sincerely..i would have told datta stavam simoultaneously, cutting the lemons, applying kumkum, doing holy bath for Sai and Dattatreya and then pouring oil, keeping the wicks and then lighting lamps.

Once i lit the lamps, i also have to make sure this divine pooja i do childishly out of love on sai and Datta must inspire all children of Shree Guru ( devotees ). So i took my Camera which my sister got me and started taking photos , while taking photos also i tried to chant Datta Stavam. Sometimes when i forgot the sentences , i used to look at the paper in which i wrote Datta Stavam mantra.

Then i started Chanting

“Dhigambara Dhigambara Shree Paadha Vallabha Dhigambara” …

Then i started chanting

” Om sai Namo Namaha,

Sri Sai Namo Namaha,

Jay Jay Sai namo Namaha,

Sadhguru Sai Namo Namaha”

I was sweating while taking the photos and also doing Pooja. Sometimes i felt am i really doing this pooja with love on Sai Datta because i had to do photography also. Anyway i believe that if thoughts are pure and if we keen doing Naam smaran of Gods name of any mantra surely is a good pooja.

I really dint finish chanting 108 times of Datta stavam mantra. I would have recited more than 30 times for sure.  My mother already made lunch and was keep on calling me for lunch. I was also hungry.

Sai , I want Love :

So i thought of reading sacred books and then finish the pooja. I took Devotees experiences of shirdi saibaba by narasimha swamiji . Theres a beautiful incident explained by a devotee . Once the son in law of Hamadpant had a dream in which sai appeared to him and asked what do you want  ?He has replied ” I want prem ( love )” . From that time onwards when ever he remembers sai or meditates, he could feel enourmous love in him towards guru and Gurus love on him.

When i read this beautiful leela of sai baba, i looked at the statue of Sai beautifully smiling at me with the rudraksha mala. I felt Sai wants me to create a pooja and name it in such a way that the young generation will also be interested in doing such pooja or atleast realizing the value of a Guru’s Love, A saints love and Gods love.

There is no greater Gift than

the Love of Guru on us and our Love on Guru.

Guru is greater than God because a Guru resides in ones own soul as a Antaryami. The Guru guides and protects a devotee in each and every aspect of life. Such is the motherly affection of Guru. If we learn that being a sai devotee or Datta devotee itself is a gift that is enough for this life time because when we show our devotion to Saints, their love on us will protect us , help us lead a good wordly life and also spiritually lead us in the path of light.

Let your soul be offered to Datta Sai so that you realize the presence of Greater Soul in you. The light of love.

I dedicate this pooja in the holy feets of Shirdi Sai baba , lord Dattatreya and My parents who gave me their ashirwad after i did the pooja.  This is not a traditional pooja, its something i did with love on sai Datta and also to let all devotees understand that ofcourse rules are rituals are there but what a Saint looks in you, is your pure love on him.

Let us ever  be in love with our Lord Sai and Dattatreya.

The most beautiful memory of this pooja is that i requested my parents to give me ashirwad, i fall in their feets and they blessed me with Sacred ash.Then my Amma called me for lunch. I took the plate with rice into my room, sat infront of Sai and Datta and playfully, took rice, gave it to them and then had myself. It might be childish but its the way i expressed my love for Saibaba. I also told saibaba not to think i am doing all stupid things because all i have is the Love of SAI  to me and my family and friends.

Sai Datta, please bless all who reads this with good health, good relationships , prosperity and peace of mind.

Sai ki jai

C.Venkat Raman

Always in the holy feets of Shirdi SAI BABA.

march 5th 2009.

You can mail me from the email address at www.starsai.com