WITH PATIENCE GAIN VICTORY OVER YOURSELF

[Guest guest]

WITH PATIENCE GAIN VICTORY OVER YOURSELF – Rig Veda

Some devotees are generally short tempered, and to such devotees Baba gave the

special advice that they should not yield to that weakness. R. B. Purandhare

and Mrs. Pradhan were two such persons Baba said to Purandhare, ‘If

anybody comes and abuses you or punishes you, do not quarrel with him. If you

cannot endure it, speak a simple word or two or else leave the place. But do

not battle with him and give tit for tat. I feel sick and disgusted when you

quarrel with others.’

He told Mrs. Pradhan, ‘If anyone talks ten words at us, let us answer with

one word, if we reply at all. Do not battle with any one.’ On another

occasion, Baba said, ‘If any one is angry with another, he wounds me to

the quick. If any one abuses another, I feel pain. if any one bravely endures

the abuse, I feel highly pleased.’

Baba’s self control and carrying out this same advice has been noticed at

times. A half-crazy sadhu called Nana Wali, on one occasion came to Baba and

standing before him, said, ‘Baba, get up; I want to sit in your

seat.’ Any other person would have kicked Nana Wali out, but Baba quietly

vacated his seat and the impertinent Nana Wali occupied it. After sitting on it

a few moments, the crazy man thought he had done too much. So, he got up,

requested Baba to resume his seat, and fell at his feet, and Baba was calm

throughout. This shows to what extend Baba could control his anger.

Baba said, ‘I get angry with none. Will a mother harm her little ones? I

love devotion. I am the bondslave of my devotees’. He also told Nana on

one occasion, ‘I am not angry with you’. Baba told Mrs. Pradhan,

‘You see I did not get angry with any one today.’ On one occasion,

when he was uttering words in a towering rage, he uttered in the middle,

‘Let blessing be to all’.

"Sarve janah sukhino bhavantu"

This blessing cannot co-exist with anger. It is characteristic of a peaceful and

loving frame of mind.

Courtesy: HH Pujyasri B. V. Narasimha Swamiji

(Vasuki Mahal Shri Shirdi Sai Baba Trust, Coimbatore-641025, India)