In this Chapter the story of two more devotees that were
drawn to Shirdi, is narrated.
Preliminary
Bow to the Kind Sai Who is the Abode of Mercy and Who is
affectionate towards His devotees. By His mere darshan,
He does away with their fear of this 'bhava' (samsar)
and destroys their calamities. He was first Nirgun
(formless), but on account of the devotion of His
Bhaktas, He was obliged to take a form. To give
liberation - self-realisation to the Bhaktas is the
mission of the saints, and for Sai - the Chief of them,
that mission is inevitable. Those who take refuge in His
Feet have all their sins destroyed and their progress is
certain. Remembering His Feet, Brahmins from holy places
come to Him and read scriptures and chant the Gayatri
mantra in His presence. We, who are weak and without any
merits, do not know what Bhakti is but we know this
much, that though all others may leave us, Sai won't
forsake us. Those whom He favours get enormous strength,
discrimination between the Unreal and the Real and
knowledge.
Sai knows fully the desire of His devotees and fulfills
the same. Hence they get what they want and are
grateful. So we invoke Him and prostrate ourselves
before Him. Forgetting all our faults let Him free us
from all anxieties. He who being overcome with
calamities remembers and prays Sai thus, will get his
mind calmed and pacified through His grace.
This Sai - the ocean of mercy, says Hemadpant, favoured
him and the result of this, is the present work -
Sai-Satcharia. Otherwise what qualifications had he and
who would undertake this enterprise? But as Sai took all
the responsibility, Hemadpant felt no burden, nor any
care about this. When the powerful Light of knowledge
was there to inspire his speech and pen, why should he
entertain any doubt or feel any anxiety? Sai got the
service in the form of this book done by him; this is
due to the accumulation of his merits in the past births
and, therefore, he thinks himself fortunate and blessed.
The following story is not a mere tale, but pure nectar.
He who drinks it will realise Sai's greatness and
all-pervasiveness. Those who want to argue and criticise,
should not go in for these stories. What is wanted here,
is not discussion but unlimited love and devotion.
Learned, devout and faithful believers or those, who
consider themselves as servants of the Saints, will like
and appreciate these stories, others will take them to
be fables. The fortunate Bhaktas of Sai, will find the
Sai-leelas as the Kalpataru (Wish-fulfilling Tree).
Drinking this nectar of Sai-leelas, will give liberation
to the ignorant Jivas, satisfaction to the house-holders
and a sadhana to the aspirants. Now to the story of this
Chapter.
Kakaji Vaidya
There lived in Vani, Nasik District, a man named Kakaji
Vaidya. He was the priest of the Goodness Sapta-Shringi
there. He was so much overwhelmed with adverse
circumstances and calamities that he lost peace of mind
and became quite restless. Under such circumstances one
evening he went into the temple of the Goodess and
prayed unto Her from the bottom of his heart and invoked
Her aid to free him from anxeity. The Goddess was
pleased with his devotion and the same night appeared to
him in his dream and said to him, "You go to Baba and
then your mind will become calm and composed". Kakaji
was anxious to know from Her who that Baba was, but
before he could get any explanation, he was awakened.
Then he began to think as to who might be that Baba, to
whom the Goodess has asked him to go. After some
thinking, he resolved that this Baba might be 'Tryambakeshwar'
(Lord Shiva). So he went to the holy place 'Tryambak' (Nasik
District) and stayed there for ten days. During this
period, he bathed early in the morning, chanted the 'Rudra'
hymns, did the 'Abhishekam' (pouring unceasingly fresh
cold water over the Pindi) and did other religious
rites; but with all that, he was as restless as before.
Then he returned to his place and again invoked the
Goddess most pitifully. They night She again appeared in
his dream and said - "Why did you go to Tryambakeshwar
in vain? I mean by Baba - Shri Sai Samarth of Shirdi."
The question before Kakaji now was 'How and when to go
to Shirdi and how to see Baba? If anybody is in real
earnest to see a Saint, not only the Saint but God also,
fulfills his wish. In fact the 'Sant' (Saint) and the 'Anant'
(God) are one and the same; there is not the least
difference between them. If anybody thinks that he will
go himself and see a Saint, that will be a mere boast.
Unless the Saint wills it, who is able to go and see
him? Even the leaf of the tree won't move without his
bidding. The more anxious a Bhakta is for the saint's
visit, the more devout anf faithful he is, the more
speedily and effectively is his wish satisfied to his
heart's content. He who invites anybody for a visit,
also arranges everything for his reception, and so it
happened with Kakaji.
Shama's Vows
When Kakaji was thinking his visit to Shirdi, a guest
came to him at his place to take him to Shirdi. He was
no other than Shama, a very close and intimate devotee
of Baba. How he came to Vani at this juncture, we shall
just see. Shama was severely ill when he was very young
and his mother had taken a vow to her family Goddess
Sapta-Shringi at Vani, that if the son got well, she
would bring and dedicate him at Her feet. Then after
some years the mother herself suffered much from
ring-worms on her breasts. At that time she again took
another vow to her Deity that if she got all right, she
would offer Her two silver breasts. These two vows
remained unfulfilled. At her death-bed she called her
son Shama to her and drew his attention to the vows and
after taking a promise from him that he would fulfills
them, she breathed her last. After some time, Shama
quite forgot about these vows and thus 30 years elapsed.
About this time a famous astrologer had come to Shirdi
and stayed there for a month. His predictions in the
case of Shriman Booty and others came true and everybody
was satisfied. Shama's younger brother Bapaji consulted
him and was told that his mother's vows, which his elder
brother promised to fulfill at her death-bed, were not
yet fulfilled; hence the Goddess was displeased with
them and bringing troubles on them. Bapaji told this to
his brother Shama who was then reminded of the
unfulfilled vows. Thinking that any further delay would
be dangerous, he called a goldsmith and got a pair of
silver breast prepared. Then he went to the Masjid,
prostrated himself before Baba and, placing before Him
the two silver breath, requested Him to accept them and
free him from the vows as He was to him his
Sapta-Shringi Goddess. Then Baba insisted upon him to go
himself to the temple of Sapta-Shringi and offer them in
person at the feet of the Goddess. Then after taking
Baba's permission and Udi, he left for Vani and
searching for the priest came to Kakaji's house. Kakaji
was then very anxious to visit Baba and Shama went there
to see him at that very time. What a wonderful
coincidence is this!
Kakaji asked him who he was and whence he had come, and
on learning that he came from Shirdi, he at once
embraced him. So overpowered was he with love! Then they
talked about Sai-leelas and after finishing the rites of
Shama's vows, they both started for Shirdi. On reaching
the place, Kakaji went to the Masjid, and fell at Baba's
Feet. His eyes were soon bedewed with tears, and his
mind attained calmness. According to the vision of the
Goddess, no sooner did he see Baba, that his mind lost
all its restlessness and it became calm and composed.
Kakaji began to think, in his mind, "What a wonderful
power is this! Baba spoke nothing, there was no question
and answer, no benediction pronounced; the mere darshana
itself was so conducive to happiness; the restlessness
of my mind disappeared by His mere darshan,
consciousness of joy came upon me - this is what is
called 'the greatness of darshan'." His vision was fixed
on Sai's feet and he could utter no word. Hearing Baba's
Leelas, his joy knew no bounds. He surrendered himself
completely to Baba, forgot his anxiety and cares and got
undiluted happiness. He lived happily there for twelve
days and after taking Baba's leave, Udi and blessings
returned home.
Khushalchand of Rahata
It is said that a dream, which we get in the small hours
of the morning, generally comes out true in the walking
state. This may be so, but regarding Baba's dreams there
is no restriction of time. To quote an instance :- Baba
told Kakasaheb Dixit one afternoon to go to Rahata and
fetch Khushalchand to Shirdi, as He had not seen him
since long. Kakasaheb accordingly took a tanga and went
to Rahata. He saw Khushalchand and gave him Baba's
message. Hearing it, Khushalchand was surprised and said
that he was taking a noon nap after meals when Baba
appeared in his dream and asked him to come to Shirdi
immediately and that he was anxious to go. As he had no
horse of his own nearby, he had sent his son to inform
Baba; when his son was just out of the village-border,
Dixit's tanga turned up. Dixit then said that he was
sent specially to bring him. Then they both went in the
tanga back to Shirdi. Khushalchand saw Baba and all were
pleased. Seeing this Leela of Baba, Khushalchand was
much moved.
Punjabi Ramalal of Bombay
Once a Punjabi Brahmin of Bombay named Ramalal got a
dream in which Baba appeared and asked him to come to
Shirdi. Baba appeared to him as a Mahant (Saint), but he
did not know His whereabouts. He thought that he should
go and see Him, but as he knew not His address, he did
not know what to do. But He Who calls anybody for an
interview makes the necessary arrangements for the same.
The same happened in this case. The same afternoon when
he was strolling in the streets, he saw a picture of
Baba in a shop. The features of the Mahant, he saw in
the dream, exactly tallied with those of the picture.
Then making enquiries, he came to know that the picture
was of Sai Baba of Shirdi. He then went soon after to
Shirdi and stayed there till his death.
In this way Baba brought His devotees to Shirdi for
darshan and satisfied their wants, material as well as
spiritual.
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