Chapters 43 and 44 continue the story of Baba's Passing
away, and therefore they are taken together.
Previous Preparation
It is the general practice amongst the Hindus that when
a man is about to die, some good religious scripture is
read out to him with the object that his mind should be
withdrawn from worldly things and fixed in matters
spiritual, so that his future progress should be natural
and easy. Everybody knows that when king Parikshiti was
cursed by the son of a Brahmin Rishi and was about to
die after a week, the great sage Shuka expounded to him
the famous Bahagwat Puran in that week. This practice is
followed even now and Gita, Bhagawat and other sacred
books are read out to dying persons. Baba being an
incarnation of God needed no such help, but just to set
an example to the people, He followed this practice.
When He knew that He was to pass away soon, He ordered
one Mr.Vaze to read Ramavijaya to Him. Mr.Vaze read the
book once in the week. Then Baba asked him to read the
same again day and night and he finished the second
reading in three days. Thus eleven days passed. Then
again he read for three days and was exhausted. So Baba
let him go and kept Himself quiet. He abided on His Self
and was waiting for the last moment.
Two or three days previous, Baba had stopped His morning
peregrinations and begging rounds and sat in the Masjid.
He was conscious to the last and was advising the
devotees not to lose heart. He let nobody know the exact
time of His departure. Kakasaheb Dixit and Shriman Booty
were dining daily with Him in the Masjid. That day (15th
October) after arati, He asked them to go to their
residence for dining. Still a few, viz., Laxmibai Shinde,
Bhagoji Shinde, Bayaji, Laxman Bala Shimpi and Nanasaheb
Nimonkar remained there. Shama was sitting down on the
steps. After giving Rs. 9/- to Laxmibai Shinde, Baba
said that He did not feel well there (in the Masjid) and
that He should be taken to the Dagadi (stone) Wada of
Booty, where He would be alright. Saying these last
words, He leaned on Bayaji's body and breathed His last.
Bhagoji noticed that His breathing had stopped and he
immediately told this to Nanasaheb Nimonkar who was
sitting below. Nanasaheb brought some water and poured
it in Baba's mouth. It came out. Then he cried out
loudly 'Oh Deva.' Baba seemed just to open His eyes and
say 'Ah' in a low tone. But it soon become evident that
Baba had left His body for good.
The news of Baba's passing away spread like a wild fire
in the village of Shirdi and all people, men, women and
children ran to the Masjid and began to mourn this loss
in various ways. Some cried out loudly, some wallowed on
in the streets and some fell down senseless. Tears ran
down from the eyes of all and every one was smitten with
sorrow.
Then the question arose - How to dispose off Baba's
body? Some (Mahomedans) said that the body should be
interred in an open space and a tomb built over it. Even
Khushalchand and Amir Shakkar shared this opinion. But
Ramachandra Patil, the village officer said to the
villagers with a firm and determined voice, "Your
thought is not acceptable to us. Baba's body should be
nowhere placed except in the Wada." Thus people were
divided on this point and discussion regarding this
point went on for 36 hours.
On Wednesday morning Baba appeared to Laxman Mama Joshi
in his dream and drawing him by His hand said - "Get up
soon; Bapusaheb thinks that I am dead and so he won't
come; you do the worship and the Kakad (morning) arati."
Laxman Mama was the village astrologer and was the
maternal uncle of Shama. He was an orthodox Brahmin and
daily first worshipped Baba in the morning and then all
the village deities. He had full faith in Baba. After
the vision he came with all the pooja materials and not
minding the protests of the moulvis, did the Pooja and
the Kakad arati with all due formalities and went away.
Then at noon Bapusaheb Jog came with all others and went
through the noon-arati ceremony as usual.
Paying due respect to Baba's words the people decided to
place His body in the Wada and started digging the
central portion there. In the evening of Tuesday the
Sub-Inspector came from Rahata and others from other
places turned up and they all agreed to the proposal.
Next morning Amirbhai came from Bombay and the Mamlatdar
from Kopergaon. The people seemed divided in their
opinion. Some insisted on interring His body in the open
field. The Mamlatdar therefore took a general plebiscite
and found that the proposal to use the Wada secured
double the number of votes. He, however, wanted to refer
the matter to the Collector and Kakasaheb Dixit got
himself ready to go to Ahmednagar. In the meanwhile, by
Baba's inspiration there was a change in the opinion of
the other people and all the people unanimously voted
for the proposal. On Wednesday evening Baba's body was
taken in procession and brought to the Wada and was
interred there with due formalities in the garbha, i.e.,
the central portion reserved for Murlidhar. In fact Baba
became the Murlidhar and the Wada became a temple and a
holy shrine, where so many devotees went and are going
now to find rest and peace. All the obsequies of Baba
were duly performed by Balasaheb Bhate and Upasani, a
great devotee of Baba.
Breaking of the Brick
Some days before Baba's departure, there occurred an
ominous sign foreboding the event. There was, in the
Masjid an old brick on which Baba rested His hand and
sat. At night time He leaned against it and had His asan.
This went on for many years. One day, during Baba's
absence, a boy who was sweeping the floor, took it up in
his hand, and unfortunately it slipped from thence fell
down broken into two pieces. When Baba came to know
about this, He bemoaned its loss, crying - "It is not
the brick but My fate that has been broken into pieces.
It was My life-long companion, with it I always
meditated on the Self, it was as dear to Me as My life,
it has left Me to-day." Some may raise here a question -
"Why should Baba express this sorrow for such an
inanimate thing as a brick?" To this Hemadpant replies
that saints incarnate in this world with the express
mission of saving the poor helpless people, and when
they embody themselves and mix and act with the people,
they act like them, i.e., outwardly laugh, play and cry
like all other people, but inwardly they are wide awake
to their duties and mission.
72 Hours' Samadhi
Thirty two years before this, i.e., in 1886 A.D., Baba
made an attempt to cross the border line. On a
Margashirsha Pournima (Full moon) day, Baba suffered
from a severe attack of asthma. To get rid of it Baba
decided to take His prana high up and go into samadhi.
He said to Bhagat Mhalasapti - "Protect My body for
three days. If I return, it will be alright; if I do
not, bury My body in that open land (pointing to it) and
fix two flags there as a mark." Saying this, Baba fell
down at about 10 P.M. His breathing stopped, as well as
His pulse. It seemed as if His prana left the body. All
the people including the villagers came there and wanted
to hold an inquest and bury the body in the place
pointed by Baba. But Mhalasapati prevented this. With
Baba's body on his lap he sat full three days guarding
it. After three days passed, Baba showed signs of life
at 3 A.M. His breathing commenced, the abdomen began to
move. His eyes opened and stretching His limbs, Baba
returned to consciousness (life) again.
From this and other accounts, let the readers consider
whether Sai Baba was the three and a half cubits' body
that He occupied for some years and that He left
thereafter or He was the Self inside. The body, composed
of the five elements is perishable and transient, but
the Self within is the thing - Absolute Reality which is
immortal and intransient. The pure Being, Consciousness
or Brahma, the Ruler and Controller of the senses and
mind is the thing Sai. This pervades all things in the
universe and there is no space without it. For
fulfilling His mission He assumed the body and after it
was fulfilled, He threw away the body (the finite
aspect), and assumed His infinite aspect. Sai ever
lives, as also the previous Incarnation of God Datta,
Shri Narsimha Saraswati of Ganagapur. His Passing away
is only an outward aspect, but really He pervades all
animate and inanimate things and is their Inner
Controller and Ruler. This can be, and is even now
experienced by many who surrender themselves completely
to Him and worship Him with whole-hearted devotion.
Though it is not possible for us to see Baba's form now,
still if we go to Shirdi, we shall find His beautiful
life-like portrait adorning the masjid. This has been
drawn by Shamrao Jaykar, a famous artist and well-known
devotee of Baba. To an imaginative and devout spectator
this portrait can give even to-day the satisfaction of
taking Baba's darshana. Though Baba has no body now, He
lives there and everywhere, and will effect the welfare
of the devotees even now as He was doing before when He
was embodied. Saints like Baba never die, though they
look like men, they are in reality God Himself.
Bapusaheb Jog's Sannyas
Hemadpant closes this chapter with the account of Jog's
sannyas. Sakharam Hari alias Bapusaheb Jog was the uncle
of the famous Varkari Vishnubuva Jog of Poona. After his
retirement from Govt. Service (He was a Supervisor in
the P.W. Department) in 1909 A.D., he came and lived in
Shirdi with his wife. He had no issue. Both husband and
wife loved Baba and spent all their time in worshipping
and serving Baba. After Megha's death, Bapusaheb daily
did the arati ceremony in the Masjid and Chavadi till
Baba's maha-samadhi. He was also entrusted with the work
of reading and explaining Jnaneshwari and Ekanathi
Bhagawat in Sathe's Wada to the audience. After serving
for many years, Jog asked Baba - "I have served you so
long, my mind is not yet calm and composed, how is it
that my contact with Saints has not improved me? When
will You bless me?" - Hearing the Bhakta's prayer Baba
replied - "In due time your bad actions (their fruit or
result) will be destroyed, your merits and demerits will
be reduced to ashes, and I shall consider you blessed,
when you will renounce all attachments, conquer lust and
palate, and getting rid of all impediments, serve God
whole-heartedly and resort to the begging bowl (accept
sannyas)." After some time, Baba's words came true. His
wife predeceased him and as he had no other attachment,
he became free and accepted sannyas before his death and
realized the goal of his life.
Baba's Nectar-like words
The kind and merciful Sai Baba, said many a time the
following sweet words in the Masjid - "He who loves Me
most, always sees Me. The whole world is desolate to him
without Me, he tells no stories but Mine. He ceaselessly
meditates upon Me and always chants My name. I feel
indebted to him who surrenders himself completely to Me
and ever remembers Me. I shall repay his debt by giving
him salvation (self-realization). I am dependent on him
who thinks and hungers after Me and who does not eat
anything without first offering it to Me. He who thus
comes to Me, becomes one with Me, just as a river gets
to the sea and becomes merged (one) with it. So leaving
out pride and egoism and with no trace of them, you
should surrender yourself to Me Who am seated in your
heart."
Who is this ME?
Sai Baba expounded many a time Who this ME (or I) is. He
said "You need not go far or anywhere in search of Me.
Barring your name and form, there exists in you, as well
as in all beings, a sense of Being or Consciousness of
Existence. That is Myself. Knowing this, you see Me
inside yourself, as well as in all beings. If you
practise this, you will realize all-pervasiveness, and
thus attain oneness with Me."
Hemadpant, therefore, makes a bow to the readers and
requests them humbly and lovingly that they should love
and respect all Gods, saints and devotees. Has not Baba
often said "He who carps and cavils at others, pierces
Me in the heart and injures Me, but he that suffers and
endures, pleases Me most." Baba thus pervades all beings
and creatures and besets them on all sides. He likes
nothing but love to all beings. Such nectar, pure
auspicious ambrosia always flowed from Baba's lips. He
therefore, concludes - Those who lovingly sing Baba's
fame and those who hear the same with devotion, both
become one with Sai.
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