SHRI SAI THE SUPERMAN - Material Gains

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SHRI SAI THE SUPERMAN

By

Swami Sai Sharan Anand

 

 

MATERIAL GAINS

 

 

Necessities have to law

 

 

"Aged parents, Chaste wife, infant son must be maintained at any

cost"….Manu.

 

 

I take upon myself the burden of getting and protecting the wealth of

those who worship me meditate on me and see nothing but myself I this

world… B. Gita-IX-22

 

 

It seems Baba did not like that any of His able-bodied devotees

should remain idle and be a burden on society or his kith and kin. He

always preached, "A man should always be doing something." He Himself

never sat idle but was always busy doing something. In the noon when

no work was at hand He would just take a needle and repair His torn

out Dhoti or His robe etc. and if at such a time somebody would turn

up and question Baba, "Why should you take this trouble when we all

are ready and willing to do this for you?" He would at once reply,

"One has to be always busy doing something and so far as possible he

should avoid troubling others for his own piece of work."

 

 

How a man seeking to escape the discharge of his worldly duties by

running away for good from it on the excuse of going on a pilgrimage,

was persuaded by Baba to return home and to shoulder his

responsibilities like a man, is best seen in the life of one Janardan

Moreshwer Fanse alias Haribhau Fanse. Wearied with carrying on the

burden of his worldly cares, informing his mother Haribhau left his

home for Rameshwar; however as Shirdi was on the way to Rameshwar,

with a view to have the blessings of the far famed Shri Baba he came

to Shirdi and felt so much attracted by Baba,. That he stayed at

Shirdi for a week. When thereafter he asked Baba's permission to go

to Rameshwar. He ordered him to go home, saying his mother had

abstained from food since the day he had left home and if he failed

to return home she might die. The mother was very much pleased t see

her son back at home and was convinced that Baba was omniscient. In

the meanwhile a person of his village being attacked with Cholera

approached him; he administered to him Shri Baba's holy ashes and he

was cured. This led the people to believe that he was a physician.

The holy ashes were however soon exhausted and so Haribhau was

embarrassed as to how he should deal with another Cholera case, if he

got one. But luckily for him Cholera left his village since that day.

Thereafter he happened to go to a nearby village and casually met

some Marwadi merchant known to him. The merchant seeing that a simple

devotee had come to meet him, told Haribhau," Look here, my brother

is seriously ill, all physicians, doctors have tried their utmost to

cure him but they have all failed; now since you are Shri Sai Baba's

devotee, if your Sai Baba is really a sainty, He must cure my brother

through you." Haribhau saw the patient found the case to be serious,

was therefore anxious to slip away but as it was night, he could not

leave for home. At night when Haribhau's Bhajan (prayer) time became

due, the patient himself made the necessary preparations for Bhajan

and throughout the Bhajan sat concentration on Baba's Photo. This

surprised all and the Marwadi now said," Whether the patient dies or

survives I will have his medicine form none but you." To shirk the

responsibility Haribhau purposely quoted his fees in excess of those

of the Civil Surgeon, at Rs.200/-. The Marwadi agreed to that. That

night Baba appeared in Haribhau's dream and told him what the disease

was and the medicine to be prescribed for it. Haribhau prescribed the

said medicine and the patient started taking this medicine; the

patient full recovered after a time and so the Marwadi offered

Rs.200/- the stipulated fees to Haribhau, but Haribhau would not

accept it stating he had done nothing, it was his Guru's work.

Marwadi could not rest satisfied till he requited Haribhau's labour

in some form or other so he bought a scarf worth Rs.200/- and going

to Haribhau's house when he was out, left it there. Haribhau could

not now refuse the acceptance but he felt that the price-amount of

the scarf should be sent to Baba. However as he was penniless and

Baba had also left off His body in the meanwhile, while offering his

usual night prayers, tears rolled down his eyes. That very night Baba

appeared to him in his dream and said, "There is famine all round at

present, so sell off the scarf and purchase rice from this amount of

Rs.200/-, sell it at under price for the present; carry on this rice

business till this amount of Rs.200/- runs out. Then sell rice at

profit and you will be able to make a living." Following these

instructions Haribhau prospered, became happy and then never thought

of deserting home.

 

 

Baba did not and does not even today want that His devotees should

starve; of course He discouraged greed but He wanted that His

devotees should have a proper living and so He helped most of them up

to a job or provided them with facilities for business. To mention a

few of the thousands of such instances of every day occurrence.

 

 

In the year 1915 one Shri R.A. Tarkhad had to be without service for

a pretty long time after he gave up the Mill Manager's post he had

held; so he came and stayed at Shirdi with his wife. When he had

stayed for very many days he asked Baba's permission to return home.

Baba permitted them to return but asked them to go to their Bombay

home via Poona and not via Manmad; as this route was a little longer

they had to spend a little more. As Mr. Tarkhad was without a job for

many many days his wife felt it inconvenient but Mr. Tarkhad knew the

significance of Baba's instructions, so overruling the objection of

Mrs. they took the Poona route and put up at their friend's for

night. Learning from Mr. Tarkhad that he was in search of a proper

job for himself his friend informed him that a mill owner there was

in bad need of a Manager able to control labour; immediately Mr.

Tarkhad saw the mill owner and the Mill owner was so much impressed

with the conversation he had with Mr. Tarkhad that there and then he

appointee Mr. Tarkhad as his Mill Manager Mr. And Mrs. Tarkhad were

naturally very much pleased with this, and this had brought home to

her the importance of Baba's instruction to them about taking Poona

route.

 

 

Another time one Ghanpatrao Narke, who after graduation had spent

three years at Manchester for specialisation in Geology and Mining

went to Shirdi to see his father-in-law Shriman Booty. Being of a

spiritually inquisitive turn of mind he saw and pain his respects to

Baba and soon became so much attached to Him, that in all important

matters he would not do anything without Baba's permission. For some

years he could get only job work for a few months and that too in

different provinces. Being tired of this camp life when he heard of a

vacancy of a Professor's post at Benares College carrying a salary of

Rs.300/- per mensem, he sought Baba's permission to accept it; but

Baba asked him to desist from such an attempt and continue the job

work he had been doing. Till then there was no chair for geology and

Mining at Poona College, but in 1917 an advertisement appeared

calling for applications for such a post in the Poona Engineering

College. With Baba's consent Mr. Narke applied for it and was

appointed a professor Geology and Mining on a salary of Rs. 600/- P.M

Why Baba had prevented Narke from taking up Benares University

professorship for Rs. 300/- P.M. only was now understood and

appreciated by Narke and consequently his faith in Baba grew stronger.

 

 

But it was not always that Baba took care to guard the interests of

persons with high academic qualifications; he took equal interest and

care of even non-qualified persons provided he had the necessary

devotion and faith in Him. One Cholkar vowed that if he would be able

to pass his P.Sc. Examination and get a teacher's post and he would

go and pay his respects to Sai Baba; He prepared for his examination,

took it and passed out and obtained a teacher's post as well through

Shri Baba's grace, but as his salary was meager, he was not able to

spare money enough for going to Shirdi. He therefore took another vow

that he would not take sugar until he was able to go to Shirdi. At

last he was able to spare the necessary money so he left for Shirdi

and one morning he saw Baba and paid his respects to Him. Just at

that time Bapu Saheb Jog turned up. Baba said to Mr. Jog, "Take this

man to your place and give him a sugarful cup of tea, Bapu Saheb

accordingly took Cholkar with him and learnt from him that Baba had

added "Sugarful" to a cup of tea, to show to Cholkar that He was

fully aware of his vow of abstaining from sugar till he had seen

Baba. This pleased Cholkar and he felt that he had met one who was

ready to be his guide, philosopher and friend if he stuck to Him,

with faith.

 

 

In another case, a young man named Bapurao Boravke who went to Shirdi

on foot with only three annas in his pocket earned lakhs of Rupees

through Shri's grace. Boravke had lost his parents when he was almost

an infant; and taking advantage of his age, his relatives squandered

away his ancestral property with the result that Bapurao was forced

to look up for a job so soon as he had gone upto the entrance (SSc)

class. The only relative he had was his maternal uncle, a devotee of

Sai Baba at Shirdi; so he went upto Kopergaon by railway but the

funds that he had, had run out and with only three annas balance in

his pocket he could not get a seat on the tanga, so he went to Shirdi

on foot and paid his respects to Baba. He was well received by his

maternal uncle, so he stayed with him looking after his sugar crop

improved so much that the neighbouring field owner took Boravke into

partnership. Boravke now looked after both the fields. Next few years

they got bumper sugar candy crops, the prices also went up

considerable, and so within two years Bapurao made a lac of Rupees;

he realised that, all that was due to Shri Baba's grace and so

purchasing a piece of land at Shirdi he now grew Oranges, Mosambi in

it, Build a bunglow for himself and settled down there to be able to

pay his respects to Baba everyday. Even today we are reminded of

Shri's powerful grace when we see this bunglow with his fruit garden

on the way to Rahata a Few Furlongs from Shirdi.

 

 

One Christian Police inspector Joseph of 46, Turner Road, Bandra,

Having failed to get any clue about culprits in a criminal case

prayed to Baba to help him; Baba was pleased to appear in his dream

and to give him the necessary instructions for investigation.

Following Shri's instructions Joseph was able to find out the proper

culprit.

 

 

Again Baba helped the late Mr. Tendulkar Raghunathrao in obtaining a

fairly good pension Both Mrs. Savitribai Tendulkar and Mr. R.

Tendulkar were ardent devotees of Baba; both of them jointly and

severally composed songs on Baba's glory. Raghunathrao had grown grey

in Bombay Graham & Co's service and had then attacks of epilepsy fits

and dimmed vision. He put in an application for pension and in the

usual course of events his pension would have been fixed at Rs. 75/-

the one half of his salary. So Savitribai felt a bit embarrassed as

to how she could cope with the expenses of her large family in Rs.

75/-. To set her at rest the all knowing Baba appeared in

Savitribai's dream and said, "I have a mind to fix up your pension at

Rs. 100/-. Will that satisfy you?" Savitribai said, "We have full

faith, that you will do the needful for us." A fortnight after the

dream, the Company considered Tendulkar's application and going

beyond the usual rule, fixed his pension at Rs. 110/-. This was

enough to satisfy the husband and wife who thereafter spent the rest

of their lives in singing songs of God's glory.

 

 

Not only did Baba provide money to his devotees but he also saw to it

that they did not by their thoughtless ventures run into losses. An

old devotee of Baba Shri Damuanna Kasar at the instance of his Bombay

friend, thought of going in for a purchase of cotton bales; he

therefore sought Baba's advice on the point, through another Shirdi

devotee. Baba replied, "Sheth seems to have lost his sense. He should

rest contented with what little he has got; he should not run after

lakhs' Seeing that the cotton prices were going up everyday, Sheth

said to himself, the devotee who has obtained Baba's advice for me in

this matter does not seem to have properly put before Baba all the

facts, so he ran down to Shirdi, paid his respects to Baba and

started massaging his legs. While doing so, it occurred to him that

if he reserved a certain portion of the profits for Baba in that

transaction Baba would permit him to enter into the proposed

contract. Without being asked, Baba at once said, "I would never be a

party to any body's business." Hearing this Sheth looked down and

entirely gave up the idea of the purchase. His Bombay friend again

wrote to him that in following the advice of a Fakir, Sheth was

committing a gross error of judgement; but the Bombay friend was soon

disillusioned, when the cotton prices went down and down and he

suffered a heavy loss in that transaction; Damuanna now realised how

he was saved by following Baba's advice in preference to his friend's

and thanked Him from the bottom of his heart.

 

 

Thefts and robbery are well known sources of loss of people; Baba

saved several of His devotees from such inroads on their purse. A

cook who had put in thirty-five years of service under a Baba's

devotee bored a hole in his master's wall treasury and removed Rs.

30,000/- currency notes, which was all, the master had saved in his

life. Inquiries and investigations were all made but they bore no

fruit. Once the master was sitting outside his house on his Otta

ruminating over his loss, when a fakir passed by him; beckoning him

he narrated the loss he had sustained by theft; the Fakir thereupon

advised him to swear that he would go to Shirdi of Kopergaon Taluka

in Ahmednagar District and there pay his respects to the great Saint

Sai Baba and that he should give up one of the foods he liked most

till he was able to fulfil his vow of going to Shirdi. The master

took the vow and gave up a food of his liking. Even before a

fortnight had elapsed, the cook thief thought better of the matter,

so with all the currency notes of Rs. 30,00/- he approached his

master, returned the currency notes and remorsefully requested the

master to pardon him. The master was naturally overjoyed at the turn

the cook's mind had taken and then fulfilled his vow by going to

Shirdi and paying his thankful respects to Shri Sai Baba.

 

 

One Ganpat Dhond Kadam was saved from a gang of Bhil robbers in the

year 914. Mr. Kadam was proceeding to Shirdi with his family. After

he had left Nasik a gang of Bhils boarded the Running train and

entered into the compartment where Kadam was sitting with his wife

and children. Kadam was reading a book of holy songs. Thinking the

Bhils were interested in listening to the Songs he started reading

them louder. The gang waited there for about five minutes and then

left the running train one by one in the same way as they had entered

into it. The wonderful part of this story was that Mr. Kadam saw a

Fakir sitting in front of him, as the gang boarded the running train

and then as soon as they left the train the Fakir disappeared, no one

knew where. When Kadam reached Shirdi and paid his respects to Baba,

He asked him, "Well, have you come safe, well guarded?" Kadam at once

understood that Baba had appeared before him in the compartment on

the entrance of the gang into the compartment and it was only as a

result thereof that the gang of Bhils got frightened and left the

train leaving him safe and unscathed.

 

 

Another Vakil Devotee Vaman Chintaman Muke of the village Basant of

Taluka Nifad, Staying in his field-house escaped the loss of all his

property, though a party of four trespassed upon his house after mid-

night and boring a hole in the northern wall, one of them had entered

into it. A small trunk under the cot, where the vakil slept, was

removed by the inside thief and passed over to one of his companions

outside. That small trunk had some promissory notes and Rupees Two

Hundred in currency notes. When after that the said thief tried to

remove a big trunk containing ornaments, silver vessels, documents

worth about Rs. 10.000/- the vakil's sister-in-law suddenly awoke and

seeing the intruder called out, "Thief! Thief!". The Vakil was fast

asleep, he could not hear his sister-in law's shouts; but Baba

appearing in his dream said to him, "You are robbed of your trunk,

awake, awake." At once the Vakil awake, and ran frightened with a

cudgel shouting "thief! Thief!". The thief in the house made his way

through the hole they had bored and all of them scaped. The only loss

the vakil thought he had sustained, was that of a small bag but even

this bag which the thieves had thrown away through fright in the

neighbouring field was brought in tact to the Vakil by a farmer of

that field. So ultimately it was found that the Vakil had lost

nothing at all through Shri's grace.

 

 

So Also when a thief broke into the rail quarters of a Railway

Telegraph master Ratanlal of Vani (Nadiad-Gujarat) and was fumbling

for valuables hare and there a child cried and the thief's leg dashed

itself against a bucket so Ratanlal awoke and with a strick in his

hand ran after the scampering thief; on return home the Rly. Master

found that through Shri's grace he had lost nothing.

 

 

Sakhrevadi Sugar Mill Doctor M.R. Tagare had a similar experience in

914. He was Proceeding to Kopergaon post office with a bag in a

bullock cart, to encash his war Bonds of Rs. 2500/-. While he was

busy talking with a fellow passenger, the containing the bonds

slipped down the cart unnoticed by the Doctor. As soon as he noticed

that the bag had dropped down on the way, leaving the cart he ran

helter skelter a mile or two in search of it without success.

Uneasiness on account of this loss allowed him no sleep till about

mid-night, when he thought of sitting near Sai baba's Photo, he has

in his house and praying to him. While he was so praying he seemed to

hear someone telling him, `cease worrying.' This brought him peace of

mind and he could then sleep. Next morning he had to attend upon an

ill friend at a nearby village; so he went there, examined his

friend, gave him medicine and casually talked to him about the loss

of his bag containing the said war bonds. A girl who was standing by

listening sympathetically to the Doctor's talk, at once ran out and

returned with a bag saying that it was found lying on the road the

previous day. Looking up the bag, the Doctor found that though the

parpers had all been disturbed and turned up and down, the finder

finding nothing valuable in his eyes, had removed nothing from the

bag, that the war bonds were in tact. The Doctor was overpleased and

heartily thanked Baba for His favour and grace.

 

 

Again a cashier of a well-known Bombay firm had made away with a

large sum and come to Shirdi to save himself from arrest etc. A

warrant was obtained and the work of executing the warrant was

entrusted to the firm manager, a Baba's devotee. The manager tried

his utmost to trace the culprit cashier but he could not find him. He

was at a loss to understand whether he should continue the search or

return to Bombay; so he came to Baba to have his decision in the

matter. To his surprise, he found there the cashier seated shampooing

baba's feet. On seeing the manager, the cashier got nervous,

prostrated himself before Baba and earnestly prayed to Him for saving

him. Baba advised him to accompany the manager to Bombay, to confess

his crime to his master and to request him to pardon him. The cashier

carried out Baba's instructions in toto and was waved from criminal

prosecution and the manager also received his master's thanks for

dexterously handling this affair.

 

 

Through Baba's grace His devotees were able to secure necessary loans

for their personal use for business, for getting a so educated and

trained I foreign countries. So also through his grace loans were

returned unasked to Shri's devotees to enable them to go to Shirdi.

Bapusaheb Jog had a loan of Rs. 1,400/-, advanced to his wife's

relative returned to him after a lapse of 14 years. We quote here

only two such instances out of the innumerable that are extant.

 

 

A farmer was very anxious to obtain from Govt. a loan of Rs. 500/-

for a well on his farm and he applied twice to the Government but

both his applications were refused. The farmer approached Baba in the

matter and he spoke to Nanasaheb the then collector's chitnis about

it. Nana said he would certainly present his application as required

by Baba, though he had no hope of the application being granted. The

farmer therefore applied to the Collector again and Nanasaheb

presented the application to the collector informing him at the same

time that two similar applications of his were rejected previously.

The Collector thereupon asked the farmer, "Why do you press the Govt.

for a loan?" The farmer himself clearly put his case before the

Collector. He said, "Sir, I owe s. 500/- to Government. I am anxious

to repay the loan. I cannot do this until I have a well to water my

land and to get better crops. I have started digging the well but the

work had to be stopped owing to the intervening beg rocks; unless

they are fired by Dynamite and removed, the well work cannot be

completed and I can't have water. Without water, I can't have crops

enough to return the Government loan and so I press this application.

The Collector at once granted the application and the farmer obtained

the loan be badly required through Babs's grace.

 

 

In another case Baba enabled a disciple of Gadge Maharaj to pay to

his Master (Guru) a sum of Rs. 100/- he had promised him. The

disciple Shri Ramchandra Maharaj was required by his master to defray

a day's expenses of the Yagna a sacrifice the Guru was performing; so

Ramchandra went to Belapur and Round-about places performing Kirtans

(racitations of God's glory accompanied by music etc.) and obtaining

promises of the sum required. More than the sum required had been

promised, so he thought he had nothing to worry about; when therefore

a very few days were left for sending the promised amount to the

Guru, Gadge Maharaj, he once again repaired to Belapur, for it was

from that place that he had received promises for the largest portion

of the required amount; but as usually happens the Belapur people

evaded payment of the promised sums. This set Ramchandra thinking; he

could not understand how to make up the amount required; he therefore

offered up an earnest prayer to Baba to help him keep his to grant

the just prayer to Baba to help him keep his promise to Gadge Maharaj

and Baba ever ready to grant the just prayers of his devotees,

inspired one man to pay the whole of the promised sum of Rs. 100/- to

Ramchandra during the Kirtan the next morning. Need it be said that

this strengthened Shri Ramchandra's attachment to the ever kind Sai

Baba?