Das Ganu's
Problem Solved by Kaka's Maid-Servant
In this Chapter, Hemadpant describes, how Das Ganu's
problem was solved by Kakasaheb Dixit's maid-servant.
Preliminary
Sai (Lord) was originally formless. he assumed a form
for the sake of Bhaktas. With the help of the actress
Maya, He played the part of the Actor in the big drama
of the universe. Let us remember and visualize Shri Sai.
Let us go to Shirdi, and see carefully the programmes,
after the noon-Arati. After the Arati ceremony was over,
Sai used to come out of the Masjid, and standing on its
edge, distribute udi to the devotees with very kind and
loving looks. The Bhaktas also got up with equal fervour,
clasped His Feet, and standing and staring at Him,
enjoyed the shower of Udi. Baba passed handfuls of Udi
into the palms of the devotees and marked their
foreheads with Udi with His fingers. The love He bore
for them in His heart was boundless. Then He addressed
the Bhaktas as follows:- "Oh Bhau, go to take your
lunch; you Anna, go to your lodgings; you Bapu, enjoy
your dishes". In this way He accosted each and every
devotee and sent them home. Even now, you can enjoy
these sights if you bring into play your imagination.
You can visualize and enjoy them. Now bringing Sai
before our mental vision, let us meditate on Him, from
His Feet upwards to His face, and prostrating before Him
humbly, lovingly and respectfully, revert to the story
of this Chapter.
Ishavasya Upanishad
Das Ganu once started to write a Marathi commentary ont
he Ishavasya Upanishad. Let us first give a brief idea
of this Upanishad, before proceeding further. It is
called a `Mantropanishad', as it is embodied in the
Mantras of the Vedic Samhita. It constitutes the last or
the 40th Chapter of the Vajasaneyi Samhita (Yajurveda)
and it is, therefore, called Vajasaneyi Samhitopanishad.
Being embodied in Vedic Samhitas, this is regarded as
superior to all other Upanishads, which occur in the
Brahmanas and Aranyakas (explanatory treatises on
Martras and rituals). Not only this, other Upanishads
are considered to be commentaries on the truths
mentioned briefly in the Ishavasya Upanishad. For
instance, the biggest of the Upanishads, viz, the
Brihadaranyaka Upanishad, is considered by Pandit
Satwalekar to be a running commentary on the Ishavasya
Upanishad.
Profesor R.D. Ranade says:- "The Ishopanishad is quite a
small Upanishad; and yet it contains many hints which
show an extraordinarily piercing insight. Within the
short compass of 18 verses, it gives a valuable mystical
description of the Atman, a description of the ideal
sage, who stands unruffled in the minds of temptations
and sorrows; and adumbration of the doctrine of
Karma-Yoga as later formulated, and finally a
reconciliation of the claims of knowledge and works. The
most valuable ideas, that lies at the root of the
Upanishad, is that of a logical synthesis between the
two opposites of knowledge; and work, which are both
required according to the Upanishad to be annulled in a
higher synthesis". (page 24 of the Constructive Survey
of the Upanishad Philosophy). In another place he says
that "The poetry of the Ishopanishad is a Commixture of
moral, mystical and metaphysical (ibid, Page 41)".
From the brief description given above about this
Upanishad, any one can see how difficult it is to
translate this Upanishad in a vernacular language, and
brief out its exact meaning. Das Ganu translated it in
Marathi 'Ovi'metre, verse by verse, but as he did not
comprehend the gist or essence of the Upanishad, he was
not satisfied with his performance. He therefore
consulted some learned men regarding his doubts and
difficulties and discussed with them at great length.
They did not solve them nor did they give him any
rational and satisfactory explanation. So Das Ganu was a
little restless over this matter.
SadGuru only competent and Qualified to Explain
As we have seen, this Upanishad is the quintessence of
the Vedas. It is the science of self-realization, it is
the scythe or weapon which can rend asunder the bondage
of life and death, and make us free. Therefore, he
thought, that he who has himself attained
self-realization, can only give him the true or correct
interpretation of the Upanishad. When nobody could
satisfy Das Ganu, he resolved to consult Sai Baba about
this. When he got an opportunity to go to Shirdi, he saw
Sai Baba, prostrated himself before Him, and mentioned
his difficulties about the Ishavasya Upanishad and
requested Him to give the correct solution. Sai Baba,
blessed him and said- "You need not be anxious, there is
no difficulty about the matter, the mind-servant of Kaka
(Kakasaheb Dixit) will solve your doubts at Vile Parle,
on your way home". The people who went present then and
heard this, thought that Baba was joking and said, "How
could an illiterate maid-servant solve the difficulties
of this nature", but Das Garu thought otherwise. He was
sure, that whatever Baba spoke, must come true, Baba's
word was the decree of the Brahma (Almighty).
Kaka's Maid-Servant
On fully believing in Baba's words, he left Shirdi and
came to Vile Parle (a suburb of Bombay), and stayed with
Kakasaheb Dixit. There the next day, when Das Ganu was
enjoying his morning nap (some say when he was engaged
in worship), he heard a poor girl singing a beautiful
song in clear and melodious tones. The subject matter of
the song was a crimson coloured Sari, how nice it was,
how fine was its embroidery, how beautiful were its ends
and borders etc. He liked the song so much that he came
out, and saw that it was being sung by a young girl, the
sister of Namya, who was a servant of Kakasaheb. The
girl was cleaning vessels, and had only a torn rag on
her person. On seeing her impoverished condition, and
her jovial temperament, Das Ganu felt pity for her and
when Rao Bahadur M.V.Pradhan next day gave him a pair of
dhotars, he requested him to give a sari to the poor
little girl also. Rao Bahadur bought a good Chirdi
(small Sari) and presented it to her. Like a starving
person getting luckily good dishes to eat, her joy knew
to bounds. Next day she wore the new Sari, and out of
great joy and merriment, whirled, danced round and
played `Fugadi' with other girls and excelled them all.
The Day following, she kept the new Sari in her box at
home and came with the old and torn rags, but she looked
as merry as she did the previous day. On seeing this,
Das Ganu's pity was transferred into admiration. He
thought that the girl being poor had to wear a torn rag,
but now she had a new Sari which she kept in reserve and
putting on the old rag, strutted herself, showing no
trace of sorrow or dejection. Thus he realized that all
our feelings of pain and pleasure depend upon the
attitude of our mind. On thinking deeply over this
incident, he realized that a man ought to enjoy whatever
God has bestowed on him in the firm conviction that He
besets every thing, from behind and before, and on all
sides and that whatever is bestowed on him by God must
be for his good. In this particular case, the
impoverished condition of the poor girl, her torn rag
and the new Sari, the donor, the dance and the
acceptance were all parts of the Lord and pervaded by
Him. Hence, Das Ganu got a practical demonstration of
the lesson of the Upanishad - the lesson of contentment
with one's own lot in the belief that whatever happens,
is ordained by God, and is ultimately good for us.
Unique Method of Teaching
From the above incident, the reader will see that Baba's
method was unique and varied. Though Baba never left
Shirdi, He sent some to Machhindragad, some to Kolhapur
or Sholapur for practising sadhanas. To some He appeared
in His usual form, to some He appeared in waking or
dreaming state, day or night and satisfied their
desires. It is impossible to describe all the methods,
that Baba used in imparting instructions to His Bhaktas.
In this particular case, He sent Das Ganu to Vile Parle,
where he got his problem solved, through the
maid-servant. To those, who say that it was not
necessary to sent Das Ganu outside and that Baba could
have personally taught him, we say that Baba followed
the right or best course, or how else could Das Ganu
would have learnt a great lesson, that the poor
maid-servant and her Sari were pervaded by the Lord.
Now we close the Chapter with another beautiful extract
about this Upanishad.
The Ethics of the Ishavasya Upanishad
"One of the main features of the Ishavasya Upanishad, is
the ethical advice it offers, and it is interesting to
note that the ethics of the Upanishad are definitely
based upon the meta-physical position advanced in it.
The very opening words of the Upanishad tell us that God
pervades every thing. As a corollary from this
metaphysical position, the ethical advice it offers is,
that a man ought to enjoy whatever God bestows on him in
the firm belief, that as He pervades everything,
whatever is bestowed on him by God must be good. It
follows naturally, that the Upanishad should forbid us
from coveting another man's property. In fact, we are
fittingly taught here a lesson of contentment with one's
own lot in the belief that whatever happens, it is
divinely ordained and it is hence good for us. Another
moral advice is, that man must spend his life-time
always in doing action, specially the karmas enjoined in
the Shastras, in a mood of believing resignation to His
will. Inactivity, according to this Upanishad, would be
the canker of the soul. It is only when a man spends his
life-time on doing actions in this manner, that he can
hope to attain the ideal of Naishkarmya. Finally, the
text goes on to say that a man, who sees all beings in
the Self and sees the Self as existing in all beings; in
fact, for whom all beings and everything that exists
have becomes the Self - how can such a man suffer
infatuation? What ground would such a man have for
grief? Loathfulness, infatuation and grief verily
proceed from our not being able to see the Atman in all
things. But a man, who realizes the oneness of all
things, for whom everything has become the Self, must
ipso facto, cease to be affected by the common foibles
of humanity. (Page 169-170 of The Creative Period by
Messrs. Belvalkar and Ranade).
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