Importance of Human Birth

I have been reading the English adaptation of the original Marathi book, Shri Sai Satcharita - The Wonderful Life and Teachings of Shri Shirdi Sai Baba , by Govind Raghuanath Dabholkar alias 'Hemadpant'.

I found answers to the "Importance of Human Birth" in Chapter VIII of the book and wish to highlight some of the extracts and share related aspects of the wonderful teachings.

"In this wonderful universe, God has created billions of creatures or beings inhabiting heaven, hell, earth, ocean, sky and other intermediate regions. Of these, those creatures or souls whose merits preponderate, go to heaven and live there till they enjoy the fruits of their actions and when this is done, they are cast down; while those souls, whose sins or demerits preponderate, go down to hell and suffer the consequences of their misdeeds for as log as they deserve it. When the merits and demerits of these creatures or beings balance each other, they are born on earth as human beings and are given a chance to work out their salvation. Ultimately, when their merits and demerits both are worked out completely, they get their deliverance and become free. To put the matter in a nutshell, souls get their birth or transmigration according to their deeds and evolvement.

Special Value of the Human Body

As we all know, four things are common to all the creatures, viz., food, sleep, fear and sexual union. In the case of man, he is endowed with a special faculty,viz, knowledge, with the help of which he can attain God-vision, which is impossible in any other birth...

Some say that there is nothing worse than the human body, which is full of filth, mucus, phlegm and dirt and which is subject to decay, disease and death. This is true to a certain extent, but in spite of these drawbacks and defects, the special value of the human body is - that man has got capacity to acquire knowledge. It is only due to the human body or on account of it , that one can think of the perishable and transitory nature of the body itself and of the world, and have an aversion for the sense-enjoyments, and can discriminate between the unreal and real, and thus attain God-vision... The proper course therefore, for us to pursue, is the following; that the body should neither be neglected nor fondled, but should be properly cared for... The body should ever be used or engaged to attain God-vision or self-realization, which is the supreme end of life.

Man's Endeavour

Realizing how precious the human life is and knowing that death is certain and may snatch us at any time, we should be ever alert to achieve the object of our life, we should not make the least delay, but make every possible haste to gain our object... So with all earnestness, we should strive to attain our end, i.e, self-realization. Casting aside laziness, warding off drowsiness, we should day and night meditate on the self. If we fail to do this, we reduce ourselves to the level of beasts.

How to Proceed?

The most effective and speedy way to gain our object is to approach a worthy saint or sage - Sadguru, who has himself attained God-Vision. What cannot be achieved by hearing religious discourses and study of religious texts is easily obtained in the company of such worthy souls. Just as the sun gives light, which all the stars out together cannot do, so the Sadguru alone imparts spiritual wisdom, which all the sacred books and sermons cannot do. His movements and simple talks give us 'silent' advice. The virtues of forgiveness, calmness, disinterstedness, charity, benevolence, control of mind and body, egolessness etc, are observed by the disciples, as they are being practised in such pure and holy company. The enlightens their minds and lifts them up spiritually. Sai Baba was such a Sage or Sadguru.

Allah Maalik - Peace be to all