Sai Baba the Master by E.Bharadwaja

[Guest guest]

M.B. Rege was very devoted to Lord Vishnu from his boyhood. Even from his

younger days, he used to sit for long in one yogic posture, meditating on

his chosen deity. In his twenty-first year (about 1910), he had three

successive dream-visions in one night. At first, he experienced his

separation from his physical body and before him was the divine form of

Lord Vishnu. A second time the same vision recurred but this time there

was someone else standing beside Him: Lord Vishnu pointed to that stranger

and said, “This Sai Baba of Shirdi is your man; you must resort to him.”

In the third vision he again left his physical body and drifted in the air

to some village. There a stranger told him that it was Shirdi. Then he

enquired whether there was a holy man by name Sai Baba in that village.

The stranger led him to a mosque where Rege saw Sai Baba seated leaning

against its wall with his legs stretched before him. On seeing Rege, Sai

Baba got up and said, “Do you take my darshan? I am your debtor, I must

take your darshan! And placed his head reverently on Rege’s feet. Then the

vision ended. Though he saw Sai Baba’s picture earlier, he never knew that

Sai Baba’s most characteristic manner of sitting was with his legs

stretched out before him. Shortly after, Rege went to Shirdi to verify

whether Baba was his destined guru as the dream seemed to indicate. When

he actually saw Baba a doubt arose in his mind whether it would be proper

to worship a man like him. At once Baba said, “What, do you worship a

man?” The rebuff was keen and to the point. When every other devotee

retired to his room, Rege made bold to visit Sai, though it was thought

that no one should visit him at that hour, Baba, far from getting angry,

beckoned to him. Rege approached him and bowed in reverence. At once Sai

Baba hugged him with love and said, “You are my child. When others (i.e.,

strangers) are present, we (i.e., saints like me) keep off the children”.

Thus was the man’s dream confirmed.

 

On another afternoon Baba embraced him and said, “The key of my treasury

is now placed in your hands. Ask anything you want.” “Then Baba”, said

shrewd Rege, “I want this: In this and in any future birth that may befall

me, you should never part from me. You should always be with me.” Baba

patted him joyously and said, “Yes, I shall be with you, inside you and

outside you, whatever you may be or do”.

 

(To be contd....)

 

Source http://www.saibharadwaja.org)