Preliminary
We have described in the last three chapters Baba's
Passing away. His physical or finite form has no doubt
disappeared from our view; but the infinite or spiritual
form (Spirit of Baba) ever lives. The Leelas which
occurred during His lifetime have been dwelt upon at
great length up till now. Ever since His passing away,
fresh Leelas have taken place and are even now
happening. This clearly shows that Baba is ever-living
and helping His devotees as before. The people who got
the contact of Baba when He was living, were indeed very
fortunate, but if any of them did not get a dispassion
for the things and enjoyments of the world and had not
their minds turned to the Lord, it was sheerly their
ill-luck. What was then wanted and is now wanted is the
whole-hearted devotion to Baba. All our senses, organs,
and mind should co-operate in worshipping and serving
Baba. It is no use in engaging some organs in the
worship and deflecting others. If a thing like worhsip
or meditation is to be done, it ought to be done with
all our mind and soul.
The love that a chaste woman bears to her husband is
sometimes compared to that which a disciple bears to his
master (Guru). Yet the former falls far short of the
latter, which is incomparable. No one, whether he be
father, mother, brother or any other relation, comes to
our aid in attaining the goal of life
(self-realization). We have to chalk out and traverse
the path of self-realization ourselves. We have to
discriminate between the Unreal and the Real, renounce
the things and enjoyments of this world and the next,
control our senses and mind, and aspire for liberation
only. Instead of depending upon others, we should have
full faith in ourselves. When we begin to practice
discrimination, we come to know, that the world is
transient and unreal and our passion for worldly things
becomes less and less, and ultimately we get dispassion
or non-attachment for them. Then we know that the Brahma
which is no other than our Guru is the sole reality and
as It transcends and besets the seeming universe, we
begin to worship It in all creatures. This is the
unitive Bhajan or worship. When we thus worship the
Brahma or Guru whole-heartedly, we become one with Him
and attain self-realization. In short, always chanting
the name of the Guru, and meditating on Him enables us
to see Him in all beings, and confers eternal bliss on
us. The following story will illustrate this.
Kakasaheb's Doubt and Anandrao's Vision
It is well-known, that Sai Baba had enjoined Kakasaheb
Dixit to read daily two works of Shri Ekanath: (1)
Bhagawat and (2) Bhawartha Ramayan. Kakasaheb read these
daily while Baba was living and he followed the practice
even after Baba's passing away. Once in Kaka Mahajani's
house in Choupati, Bombay, Kakasaheb was reading
Ekanathi Bhagawat in the morning. Madhavarao Deshpande
alias Shama and Kaka Mahajani were then present and
listened attentively to the portion read, viz., the 2nd
Chapter, 11th skandha of the book. Therein the nine
Nathas or Siddhas of the Rishabha family, viz., Kavi,
Hari, Antariksha, Prabuddha, Pippalayan, Avirhotra,
Drumil, Chamas and Karabhajan expounded the principles
of the Bhagawat Dharma to King Janak. The latter asked
all the nine Nathas most important questions and each of
them answered them satisfactorily. The first, i.e., Kavi
explained what is Bhagawat Dharma; Hari, the
characteristics of a Bhakta (devotee); Antariksha, what
is Maya; Prabuddha, how to cross Maya; Pippalayan, what
is Para-Brahma; Avirhotra, what is Karma; Drumil, the
incarnations of God and their deeds; Chamas, how a
non-devotee fares after death; Karabhajan, the different
modes of worship of God in different ages. The substance
of all the exposition was that in this Kali age, the
only means of liberation was the remembrance of Hari's
(Lord's) or Guru's feet. After the reading was over,
Kakasaheb said in a despondent tone to Madhavarao and
others - "How wonderful is the discourse of the nine
Nathas on Bhakti or devotion. But at the same time how
difficult it is to put it into practice! The Nathas were
perfect, but is it possible for fools like us to attain
the devotion as delineated by them? we won't get it even
after several births, then how are we to get salvation?
It seems that there is no hope for us." Madhavarao did
not like this pessimistic attitude of Kakasaheb. He said
- "It is a pity that one who by his good luck got such a
jewel (Guru) as Baba, should cry out so disparagingly;
If he has unwavering faith in Baba, why should he feel
restless? The Bhakti of the Nathas may be strong and
wonderful, but is not ours' loving and affectionate? And
has not Baba told us authoritatively that remembering
and chanting Hari's and Guru's name confers salvation?
Then where is the cause for fear and anxiety? Kakasaheb
was not satisfied with Madhavarao's explanation. He
continued to be anxious and restless, the whole day,
thinking and brooding over how to get the powerful
Bhakti of the Nathas. Next morning, the following
miracle took place.
One gentleman, named Anandrao Pakhade came there in
search of Madhavarao. The reading of the Bhagawat was
then going on. Mr.Pakhade sat near Madhavarao and was
whispering something to him. He was mentioning in low
tone his dream-vision. As there was some interruption in
the reading by this whispering, Kakasaheb stopped the
reading, and asked Madhavarao what the matter was. The
latter said - "Yesterday you expressed your doubt, now
here is the explanation of it; hear Mr.Pakhade's vision
which Baba gave him, explaining the characteristic of
'saving' devotion and showing that the devotion in the
form of bow to, or worship of, Guru's feet is
sufficient." All were anxious to hear the vision
specially Kakasaheb. At their suggestion Mr.Pakhade
began to relate the vision as follows.
I was standing in a deep sea in waist-deep water. There
I saw Sai Baba all of a sudden. He was sitting on a
beautiful throne studded with diamonds, with His Feet in
water. I was most pleased and satisfied with the Form of
Baba. The vision was so realistic that I never thought
that it was a dream. Curiously enough Madhavarao was
also standing there. He said to me feelingly - 'Anandrao,
fall at Baba's Feet.' I rejoined - "I also wish to do
so, but His Feet are in water, how can I place my head
on them? I am helpless." Hearing this he said to Baba -
"Oh Deva, take out Your Feet which are under water."
Then Baba immediately took out His feet. I caught them
without delay and bowed to them. On seeing this Baba
blessed me saying - Go now, you will attain your
welfare, there is no cause for fear and anxiety. He also
added - "Give a silk-bordered dhotar to my Shama, you
will profit, thereby."
In compliance with Baba's order, Mr.Pakhade brought the
dhotar and requested Kakasaheb to hand it over to
Madhavarao; but the latter refused to accept it, saying
that unless Baba gave a hint or suggestion for
acceptance, he would not accept it. Then after some
discussion Kakasaheb decided to cast lots. It was the
invariable practice of Kakasaheb to cast lots in all
dubious matters and to abide by the decision as shown by
the picked up chit or lot. In this particular case two
chits, on one of which was written 'To accept' and on
another 'To reject', were placed at the feet of Baba's
picture and an infant was asked to pick one of them. The
'To accept' chit was picked up and the dhotar was handed
over to, and accepted by, Madhavarao. In this way both
Anandrao and Madhavarao were satisfied and Kakasaheb's
difficulty was solved.
This story exhorts us to give respect to the words of
other saints, but at the same time asks us to have full
faith in our Mother, i.e., the Guru, and abide by His
instructions: for he knows our welfare better than any
other person. Carve out on your heart, the following
words of Baba - "There are innumerable saints in this
world, but 'Our father' (Guru) is the Father (Real
Guru). Others might say many good things, but we should
never forget our Guru's words. In short, love your Guru
whole-heartedly, surrender to Him completely and
prostrate yourselves before Him reverentially and then
you will see that there is no sea of the mundane
existence before you to cross, there is no darkness
before the sun."
Wooden plank Baba's Bed-Stead, and not Bhagat's
In His earlier days, Baba slept on a wooden plank, 4
arms in length and only a span in breadth with panatis
(earthen lamps) burning at the four corners. Later on He
broke the plank into pieces and threw it away (Vide
Chapter X). Once Baba was describing the greatness or
importance of this plank to Kakasaheb. Hearing this the
latter said to Baba - "If You still love the wooden
plank, I will again suspend or hang up one in the Masjid
again for You to sleep at ease." Baba replied - "I won't
like to sleep up, leaving Mhalasapati down on the
ground." Then Kakasaheb said - "I will provide another
plank for Mhalasapati." Baba - "How can he sleep on the
plank? It is not easy to sleep up on the plank. He who
has many good qualities in him can do so. He who can
sleep 'with his eyes wide open' can effect that. When I
go to sleep I ask often Mhalasapati to sit by My side,
place his hand on My heart and watch the 'chanting of
the Lord's name' there, and if he finds Me sleepy, wake
Me up. He can't do even this. He himself gets drowsy and
begins to nod his head. When I feel his hand heavy as a
stone on My heart and cry out - 'Oh Bhagat', he moves
and opens his eyes. How can he, who can't sit and sleep
well on the ground and whose asana (posture) is not
steady and who is a slave to sleep, sleep high up on a
plank? On many other occasions Baba said, out of love
for His devotees - "What (whether good or bad) is ours,
is with us, and what is another's is with him."
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