(104) OM SRI SAI AAPANNIVARINE NAMAH.
Aapad means calamity, misfortune, distress or adversity. Aapannivarine
means 'to Him who prevents calamities etc'. This means salutation to
Him who saves us from misfortune or adversity. Since misfortune or fortune
is the inevitable consequence of our actions, Baba saves us from them by
- strengthening us to bear their impact;
- reducing their impact by interposing Bhakthi towards Him, between the
distress and us (like an umbrella which shelters us from rain, or footwear
which prevents thorns from hurting our soles);
- preparing us to treat both fortune and misfortune as equally illusory and
meaningless;
- Himself bearing the illness and completely preventing it from affecting us.
- Himself appearing in person or as some other person to avert the calamity
in time, e.g., the Bhopal revolver incident where He appeared as 3 individuals
to change the mind of the person attempting suicide; the Jodi Adipalli Somappa
incident, where He appeared as 3 individuals to save a child from death, the
incident where He appeared in a moving train in Uttar Pradesh inside a coach
as a "Punkhawalla" to replace a fan's fuse and prevent a raging fire. His eyes
and ears are everywhere at all times and so, He saves and safeguards those
who call on Him or rely on Him, in all continents, on land or water, earth or
sky. He declares, "Ensuring the safety of the devotee is one of the tasks I
have taken on".