First-person testimony · Part III

Shama Rao Jayker

Context

Shamrao Jaykar is the artist whose life-like portrait of Sai Baba is preserved at the masjid at Shirdi. The Satcharitra notes (Chapter 43-44): "Though Baba has no body now, his life-like portrait by Shamrao Jaykar — a famous artist and well-known devotee of Baba — adorns the masjid. To a devout spectator this portrait can give the satisfaction of darshan even today." The Jaykar portrait is one of the principal extant visual records of Baba.

About the 1936 statement

Shamrao Jaykar's own 1936 statement at page 268 of Part III preserves the artist's-perspective account of meeting Baba, sketching him, and producing the portrait that became Baba's visual presence after the 1918 Mahasamadhi.

Verbatim excerpt from Narasimha Swami (1940s)

amatma) and the world are dif ferent from him, is an error inherited from innumerable past births. From action based on it, he has derived his joy, sorrows and mixtures of both. To remove this delusion, this error, this root ignorance, he must start the inquiry. How did the ignorance arise? Where is it? And to show him this is called the guru’s upadesh. The following are in stances of ajnana: 1. I am a jiva- creature. 2. Body is the soul (I am the body). 3. God, world and jiva are different. 4. I am not God. 5. Not knowing taht body is not the soul. 6. Not knowing that God, world and jiva are one. Unless these errors are exposed to his view, the disciple can not learn wha is God jiva, world, body, how they are interrelated and whether they are different from each other or are one and teh same. To teach him these and destroy his ignorance, is this instruction in jnana or ajnana. Why should jnan be imparted to the jiva (who is) a Jnanamurthi? Upadesh is merely to show him his error and destroy his ignorance. Baba added: (1) Pranipata implies surrender.

Source: B. V. Narasimha Swami, Devotees' Experiences of Sri Sai Baba (All India Sai Samaj, Madras, 1940s; reprint Akhanda Sainama Sapthaha Samithi, Hyderabad). PDF on Internet Archive · OCR full text. Excerpt matched on the term: Shama Rao Jayker. This is the canonical English excerpt; please consult the original PDF for context.