According
to the ancient and revered custom, Hemadpant begins the
work, Sai Satcharitra, with various salutations.
First, he makes obeisance to the God Ganesha to remove
all obstacles and make the work a success and says that
Shri Sai is the God Ganesha.
Then, to the Goddess Saraswati to inspire him to write
out the work and says that Shri Sai is one with this
Goddess and that He is Himself singing His own life.
Then, to the Gods; Brahma, Vishnu and Shankar - the
Creating, Preserving and Destroying Deities
respectively, and says that Sainath is one with them and
He, as the great Teacher, will carry us across the River
of Wordly Existence.
Then, to his tutelary Deity Narayan Adinath who
manifested himself in Konkan - the land reclaimed by
Parashurama, (Rama in the Hindi version) from the sea;
and to the Adi (Original) Purusha of the family.
Then, to the Bharadwaja Muni, into whose gotra (clan) he
was born and also to various Rishis, Yagnyavalkya,
Bhrugu, Parashar, Narad, Vedavyas, Sanak, Sanandan,
Sanatkumar, Shuka. Shounak, Vishwamitra, Vasistha,
Valmiki, Vamadev, Jaimini, Vaishampayan, Nava Yogindra
etc, and also modern Saints such as Nivrutti, Dnyanadev,
Sopan, Muktabai, Janardan, Eknath, Namdev, Tukaram,
Kanha, and Narahari etc.
Then, to his grandfather Sadashiv, father Raghunath, his
mother, who left him in his infancy, to his paternal
aunt, who brought him up, and to his loving elder
brother.
Then, to the readers and prays them to give their whole
and undivided attention to his work.
And lastly, to his Guru Shri Sainath - an Incarnation of
Shri Dattatreya, Who is his sole Refuge and Who will
make him realize that Brahma is the Reality and the
world an illusion; and incidentally, to all the Beings
in whom the Lord God dwells.
After describing in brief the various modes of devotion
according to Parashar, Vyasa and Shandilya etc., the
author goes on to relate the following story:
"It was sometime after 1910 A.D. that I went, one fine
morning, to the Masjid in Shirdi for getting a darshan
of Sai Baba. I was wonder-struck to see the following
phenomenon. After washing His mouth and face, Sai Baba
began to make preparations for grinding wheat. He spread
a sack on the floor, and thereon set a hand-mill. He
took some quantity of wheat in a winnowing fan, and then
drawing up the sleeves of His Kafni (robe); and taking
hold of the peg of the hand-mill, started grinding the
wheat by putting a few handfuls of wheat in the upper
opening of the mill and rotated it. I thought ‘What
business Baba had with the grinding of wheat, when He
possessed nothing and stored nothing, and as He lived on
alms!’ Some people who had come there thought likewise,
but none had the courage to ask baba what He was doing.
Immediately, this news of Baba's grinding wheat spread
into the village, and at once men and women ran to the
Masjid and flocked there to see Baba's act. Four bold
women, from the crowd, forced their way up and pushing
Baba aside, took forcibly the peg or handle into their
hands, and, singing Baba's Leelas, started grinding. At
first Baba was enraged, but on seeing the women's love
and devotion, He was much pleased and began to smile.
While they were grinding, they began to think that Baba
had no house, no property, no children, none to look
after, and He lived on alms, He did not require any
wheat-flour for making bread or roti, what will He do
with this big quantity of flour? Perhaps as Baba is very
kind, He will distribute the flour amongst us. Thinking
in this way while singing, they finished the grinding
and after putting the hand-mill aside, they divided the
flour into four portions and began to remove them one
per head. Baba, Who was calm and quiet up till now, got
wild and started abusing them saying, "Ladies, have you
gone mad? Whose father's property are you looting away?
Have I borrowed any wheat from you, so that you can
safely take the flour? Now do this! Take the flour
and throw it on the village border limits." On
hearing this, the women felt abashed and whispering
amongst themselves, went away to the outskirts of the
village and spread the flour as directed by Baba.
I asked the Shirdi people - "What was this that Baba
did?" They replied that as the Cholera Epidemic was
spreading in the village and this was Baba's remedy
against the same; it was not wheat that was ground but
the Cholera itself was ground to pieces and pushed out
of the village. From this time onward, the Cholera
Epidemic subsided and the people of the village were
happy. I was much pleased to know all this; but at the
same time my curiosity was also aroused. I began to ask
myself - What earthly connection was there between wheat
flour and Cholera? What was the casual relation between
the two? and how to reconcile them? The incident seems
to be inexplicable. I should write something on this and
sing to my heart's content Baba's sweet Leelas. Thinking
in this way about this Leela, my heart was filled with
joy and I was thus inspired to write Baba's Life - The
Satcharita.
And as we know, with Baba's grace and blessing this work
was successfully accomplished.
Philosophical Significance of Grinding
Apart from the meaning which the people of Shirdi put on
this incident of grinding wheat, there is, we think, a
philosophical significance too. Sai Baba lived in Shirdi
for about sixty years and during this long period, He
did the business of grinding almost every day - not,
however, the wheat alone; but the sins, the mental and
physical afflications and the miseries of His
innumerable devotees. The two stones of His mill
consisted of Karma and Bhakti, the former being the
lower and the latter the upper one. The handle with
which Baba worked the mill consisted of dhyan. It was
the firm conviction of Baba that Knowledge or
Self-realization is not possible, unless there is the
prior act of grinding of all our impulses, desires,
sins; and of the three gunas, viz. Sattva, Rajas and
Tamas; and the Ahankar, which is so subtle and therefore
so difficult to get rid of.
This reminds us of a similar story of Kabir who seeing a
woman grinding corn said to his Guru, Nipatniranjan, "I
am weeping because I feel the agony of being crushed in
this wheel of wordly existence like the corn in the
hand-mill." Nipatniranjan replied, "Do not be afraid;
hold fast to the handle of knowledge of this mill, as I
do, and do not wander far away from the same but turn
inward to the Centre, and you are sure to be saved."
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