1. Bhola bhandari

Baba

2. Shiva Shiva Shiva Sai

Baba

3. Anatha Rakshaka

4. Deena Dayala

5. Pathitha Paavana Sai

Baba

6. Yogeshwara Sai Murari

7. Yogeshwara Hey Tripurari

8 .Nithyananda

9. Brahmananda

10.Premananda Sai

o This Bhajan seems to be an answer to the

question : “ Who is Sai Baba to me ? ”

o It gives 10 descriptions of Sai Baba, as we can

observe from the lyrics.

o But, the real meaning comes out only when we

ask the question : “Who is describing Sai Baba ?”.

o It is a devotee who is describing Sai Baba.

o This description depicts the different stages that

devotees go through while trying to get an answer

to the question : “Who is Sai Baba to me?”.

Before we get to the theme, we need to understand the meaning of each line.

1. Bhola Bhandari – Simple Being.2. Shiva – Auspiciousness.3. Anatha Rakshaka – Protector of the Orphaned.4. Deena Dayala – Compassionate to the helpless.5. Pathitha Paavana – The holy one who has descended.6. Yogeshwara – The Master of Yoga.7. Murari – The one who killed demon Mura. ( as Krishna ) 8. Tripurari – The one who killed the demon Tripurasura .9. Nithyananda – Bliss eternal.10. Brahmananda –11. Premananda – Bliss of Love.

Now that we have gone through the meaning of each

line, we are ready to see the pattern.

We group the lines into the following stages:

Stage 1 : Bhola Bhandari , Shiva

Stage 2 : Anatha Rakshaka , Deena Dayala

Stage 3 : Pathitha Paavana

Stage 4 : Yogeshwara, Murari, Tripurari

Stage 5 : Nithyananda, Brahmananda, Premananda

Who is Sai Baba to me ?Stage 1: A simple ( Bhola Bhandari ) and

auspicious ( Shiva ) being.

Stage 2: A compassionate person ( after listening to all the help that Sai Baba has done to people) .

Stage 3: A Divine soul who has descended ( that’s the meaning of pathitha pavana; this realization comes after we look at Sai Baba beyond His Humanitarian work ).

Stage 4: The one who is a Master of Yoga

and who helped me kill the demons within

me ( the killing of the demons Mura and

Tripura refers to achieving control over the

5 senses . Excellent account of this have

been given by

Prof . Anil Kumar).

Stage 5: The one who is verily all forms of

Bliss.

1. One unique observation here is that as we sing the bhajan, we start in a very calm, low intensity tone and increase our intensity as we progress.

2. The intensity of the tone as well as the relationship reaches the peak in the stage of the transformation.

3. Once the transformation phase is over, the intensity reduces and there is a sense of serinityand peace wile singing the last line reflecting the state of the relationship between the devotee and Sai baba.

4. So, to put it mathematically, intensity in the voice is directly proportional to the intensity in the state of the relationship between the devotee and Sai Baba