Preliminary
The Vedas and the Puranas cannot sufficiently praise
(describe) Brahma or Sad-guru; then how can we, who are
ignorant, describe our Sad-guru Shri Sai Baba? We think
that it is better for us to keep quiet in this matter.
In reality the observance of the vow of silence is the
best way of praising the Sad-guru; but the good
qualities of Sai Baba make us forget our vow of silence
and inspire us to open our mouth. Good dishes taste flat
if there be no company of friends and relations to
partake of the dishes with us, but when they join us,
the dishes acquire additional flavour. The same is the
case with the Sai Leelamrit - the nectar in the form of
Sai's leelas. This nectar we cannot partake alone.
Friends and brothers have to join us - the more the
better.
It is Sai Baba Himself that inspires these stories and
gets them written as He desires. Our duty is to
surrender completely to Him and meditate on Him.
Practising penance is better than pilgrimage, vow,
sacrifice, and charity. Worshipping Hari (Lord) is
better than penance, and meditation on the Sad-guru is
the best of all. We have, therefore, to chant Sai's name
by mouth, think over His sayings in our mind, meditate
on His form, feel real love for Him in our heart and do
all our actions for His sake. There is no better means
than this for snapping the bondage of samsar. If we can
do our duty on our part as stated above, Sai is bound to
help and liberate us. Now we revert to the stories of
this chapter.
Hari Kanoba
A gentleman of Bombay named Hari Kanoba heard from his
friends and relations many Leelas of Baba. He did not
believe in them as he was a doutbing Thomas. He wanted
to test Baba himself. So he came to Shirdi with some
Bombay friends. He wore a lace-bordered turban on his
head and a new pair of sandals on his feet. Seeing Baba
from a distance he thought of going to Him and
prostrating himself before Him. He did not know what to
do with his new sandals. Still going to some corner
outside in the open courtyard, he placed them there and
went in the Masjid and took Baba's darshan. He made a
reverential bow to Baba, took udi and prasad from Baba
and returned. When he reached the corner he found that
his sandals had disappeared. He searched for them in
vain and returned to his lodging very much dejected.
He bathed, offered worship and naivedya and sat for
meals, but all the while he was thinking about nothing
but his sandals. After finishing his meals, he came out
to wash his hands when he saw a Maratha boy coming
towards him. He had in his hand a stick, on the top of
which was suspended a pair of new sandals. He said to
the men who had come out to wash their hands that Baba
sent him with this stick in hand and asked him to go on
the streets crying - "Hari Ka Beta. Jari Ka Pheta" and
told him that "If anybody claims these sandals, first
assure yourself that his name is Hari and that he is the
son of Ka, i.e., Kanoba, and that he wears a
lace-bordered turban and then give them to him." Hearing
this, Hari Kanoba was pleasantly surprised. He went
ahead to the boy and claimed the sandals as his own. He
said to the boy that his name was Hari and that he was
the son of Ka (Kanoba) and showed him his lace-bordered
turban. The boy was satisfied and returned the sandals
to him. Hari Kanoba wondered in his mind saying that his
lace-bordered turban was visible to all and Baba might
have seen it, but how could he know his name Hari and
that he was the son of Kanoba, as this was his first
trip to Shirdi. He came there with the sole object of
testing Baba and with no other motive. He came to know
by this incident that Baba was a great Satpurush. He got
what he wanted and returned home well-pleased.
Somadeva Swami
Now hear the story of another man who came to try Baba.
Bhaiji, brother of Kakasaheb Dixit was staying at Nagpur.
When he had gone to the Himalayas in 1906 A.D., he made
an acquaintance with one Somadeva Swami of Haradwar at
Uttarkashi down the Gangotri valley. Both took down each
other's names in their diaries. Five years afterwards
Somadeva Swami came to Nagpur and was Bhaiji's guest.
There he was pleased to hear the Leelas of Baba and a
strong desire arose in his mind to go to Shirdi and see
Him. He got a letter of introduction from Bhaiji and
left for Shirdi. After passing Manmad and Kopergaon, he
took a tanga and drove to Shirdi. As he came near Shirdi
he saw two high flags floating over the Masjid in Shirdi.
Generally we find different ways of behaviour, different
modes of living and different outward paraphernalia with
different saints. But these outward signs should never
be our standards to judge the worth of the saints. But
with Somadeva Swami it was different. As soon as he saw
the flags flying, he thought - "Why should a saint take
a liking for the flags, does this denote sainthood? It
implies the saint's hankering after fame." Thinking thus
he wished to cancel his Shirdi trip and said to his
fellow travellers that he would go back. They said to
him - "Then why did you come so long? If your mind gets
restless by the sight of the flags, how much more
agitated would you be on seeing in Shirdi the Ratha
(car), the palanquin, the horse and all other
paraphernalia?" The Swami got more confounded and said -
"Not a few such Sadhus, with horses, palanquins and
tom-toms have I seen and it is better for me to return
than see such Sadhus." Saying this he started to return.
The fellow-travellers pressed him not to do so, but to
proceed. They asked him to stop his crooked way of
thinking and told him that the Sadhu, i.e., Baba did not
care a bit for the flags and other paraphernalia, nor
for fame. It was the people, His devotees that kept up
all this paraphernalia out of love and devotion to Him.
Finally he was persuaded to continue his journey, go to
Shirdi and see Baba. When he went and saw Baba from the
courtyard, he was melted inside, his eyes were full of
tears, his throat was choked and all his evil and
crooked thoughts vanished. He remembered his Guru's
saying that - 'that is our abode and place of rest where
the mind is most pleased and charmed.' He wished to roll
himself in the dust of Baba's Feet and when he
approached Baba, the latter got wild and cried aloud -
"Let all our humbug (paraphernalia) be with us, you go
back to your home, beware if you come back to this
Masjid. Why take the darshan of one who flies a flag
over his Masjid? Is this a sign of sainthood? Remain
here not a moment." The Swami was taken aback by
surprise. He realized that Baba read his heart and spoke
it out. How omniscient He was! He knew that he was least
intelligent and that Baba was noble and pure. He saw
Baba embracing somebody, touching someone with his hand,
comforting others, staring kindly at some, laughing at
others, giving udi prasad to some and thus pleasing and
satisfying all. Why should he alone be dealt with so
harshly? Thinking seriously he came to realize that
Baba's conduct responded exactly to his inner thought
and that he should take a lesson from this and improve;
and that Baba's wrath was a blessing in disguise. It is
needless to say that later on, his faith in Baba was
confirmed and he became a staunch devotee of Baba.
Nanasaheb Chandorkar
Hemadpant concludes this chapter with a story of
Nanasaheb Chandorkar. When Nanasaheb was once sitting in
the Masjid with Mhalasapati and others, a Mahomedan
gentlemen from Bijapur came with his family to see Baba.
Seeing gosha (veiled) ladies with him, Nanasaheb wanted
to go away, but Baba prevented him from doing so. The
ladies came and took the darshan of Baba. When one of
the ladies removed her veil in saluting Baba's feet and
then resumed it again, Nanasaheb, who saw her face, was
so much smitten with her rare beauty that he wished to
see her face again. Knowing Nana's restlessness of mind,
Baba spoke to him after the lady had left the place as
follows - "Nana, why are you getting agitated in vain?
Let the senses do their allotted work, or duty, we
should not meddle with their work. God has created this
beautiful world and it is our duty to appreciate its
beauty. The mind will get steady and calm slowly and
gradually. When the front door was open, why go by the
back one? When the heart is pure, there is no
difficulty, whatsoever. Why should one be afraid of any
one if there be no evil thought in us? The eyes may do
their work, why should you feel shy and tottering?"
Shama was there and he could not follow the meaning of
what Baba said. So he asked Nana about this on their way
home. Nana told him about his restlessness at the sight
of the beautiful lady, how Baba knew it and advised him
about it. Nana explained Baba's meaning as follows -
"That our mind is fickle by nature, it should not be
allowed to get wild. The senses may get restless, the
body, however, should be held in check and not allowed
to be impatient. Senses run after objects, but we should
not follow them and crave for their objects. By slow and
gradual practice retlessness can be conquered. We should
not be swayed by the senses, but they cannot be
completely controlled. We should curb them rightly and
properly according to the need of the occasion. Beauty
is the subject of sight; we should fearlessly look at
the beauty of objects. There is no room for shyness or
fear. Only we should never entertain evil thoughts.
Making the mind desireless, observe God's works of
beauty. In this way the senses will be easily and
naturally controlled and even in enjoying objects you
will be reminded of God. If the outer senses are not
held in check and if the mind be allowed to run after
objects and be attached to them, our cycle of births and
deaths will not come to an end. Objects of sense are
things harmful. With Viveka (discrimination) as our
charioteer, we will control the mind and will not allow
the senses to go astray. With such a charioteer we reach
the Vishnu-pada, the final abode, our real Home from
which there is no return."
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