FIRST GURU POORNIMA POOJA

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FIRST GURU POORNIMA PUJA AND

CONGREGATIONAL PRAYER APPROVAL.

 

Sri H. V. Sathe wanted to put up a house or wada at Shirdi where his

father-in-law Dada Kelkar should live and where other pilgrims could

lodge when they visited Shirdi. When he was thinking so, Baba told

him, "Pull down the village wall and build". Sathe thought that he

was asked to erect a wall around the whole village, and that would

involve an immense cost at which he was frightened. But soon he found

that Baba's proposal was that a small site near the crumbling

remnants of the village wall should be taken up by him, and that he

should put up a building including the village wall. And this was

done. Baba also pointed out that his building would include the gode

neem tree, where Baba's Guru's tomb is situated. So, Sathe bought the

land and used the remnants of the village wall to put up a wada

enclosing and surrounding the margosa tree. Baba told him that close

to the tree, was his Guru's tomb, and so in putting up a wall for

wada, a niche was to be provided over that Guru's tomb and in the

niche Baba's Guru was to be worshipped. Baba gave the name of his

Guru, and Sathe thought it ended with a Shah or Sa. But elsewhere the

information is given that Baba said that his Guru was Kabir. Some

people think that this may be Kabir's tomb. Kabir of course did not

live and die at Shirdi but only at Benaras. But it is well known that

his Hindu and Mohammedan followers had a dispute as to the disposal

of his remains, and when they lifted up the cloth covering it, they

discovered that it had turned into leaves and flowers. These leaves

and flowers were taken to a number of places where tombs were erected

over them, and it is believed by some that under the said margosa

tree some of the leaves representing Kabir's body might have been

buried. Sathe himself went and resided at Shirdi for some time.

Baba's arati and puja had begun about the beginning of century, with

the arati song modeled on the lines of the Pandharpur puja and

approved by Nana Saheb Chandorkar. When Bapugir Ramgir Gosavi took

some udhi to Jamner for Minatai's delivery he took the arati song for

Chandorkar's approval around 1900 or 1904. There was no special

celebration of Guru Poornima, and each person worshipped separately

with that arati song. There was no congregational worship. As for

Guru Poonima Baba told Dada Kelkar on a Guru Poornima day, Don't you

know that this is a Guru Poornima Day? Come with your worship

materials and do your Guru Pooja. So, from that day, every year

Gurupooja is being conducted by all devotees at Shirdi. And still, at

other times, it was individual puja alone. It developed into

congregational puja when H. V. Sathe sent a Brahmin named Megha to

Shirdi. Megha was a very peculiar orthodox Brahmin. He did not even

know his Gayathri. But he did not wish to go near Muslim or have

anything to do with the worship of Muslims. Sathe found him living at

Viramgaon when he was the Deputy Collector there. He found Megha

always repeating Namas-Sivaya. So, finding that he was sufficiently

pious, Sathe taught him Sandhya and Gayathri and sent him to Broach

to worship Siva there. After he did Siva worship at Broach, Sathe

sent him to Shirdi telling him that Siva was in flesh and blood at

Shirdi in the form of Sai Baba and gave him the necessary money. But

at the Broach railway station, Megha learnt that Sai Baba was a

Muslim and he was horrified. What? Have I to go and bow to a Muslim

and pray? He thought. He requested Sathe not to send him to Shirdi.

But Sathe insisted and gave him a letter to Dada Kelkar who, he said,

would introduce him to Baba and make him understand Baba. But when

Megha went to the Shirdi Mosque, Baba got angry and would not allow

him to get into the Mosque. Baba said, "Kick out that rascal" and

asked, "What a fool is this Saheb to send this man here?" Megha then

went away to Triambak and worshipped Gangadareswarar for a year and

half. He suffered there from severe pains in his abdomen. During that

time he got faith in Baba and came back to Shirdi. Dada Kelkar

interceded on his behalf and Baba allowed him to stay at Shirdi and

worship him at the Mosque.

 

Baba's work on Megha was purely internal. Baba did not give any oral

instruction at all. But by that internal change. Megha became the

most remarkable bhakta of Sai Baba, whom he considered really as

Siva. Megha, being a hardy man, would go to Godavari daily, which is

locally called Ganga (5 miles away from Shirdi en route to Kopergaon

station), bring Ganga water and pour it on the head of Siva, Siva

being Sai Baba. Sri R. B. Purandhare, an Ankita of Baba, mentions

here one chamatkar of Baba. In his anxiety to pour Ganga water on

Baba, Megha had brought a whole pot. Baba told him, "Arre, the head

it the chief thing," sarvasya gatrasya sirah pradhanam, "so put a few

drops on the head and that will suffice". But the impetuousness of

Megha's bhakti made him take up the whole pot and turn it upside down

over the head of Baba. Strangely, not a drop of water fell on the

body of Baba. The whole pot of water had fallen on the head without

touching Baba's body. So, just as Siva had tied up Ganga in his own

tuft, Baba also used his head for retaining and throwing away the

water so as not to touch his body or cloths. Megha was treated by

Baba very kindly and Baba suited himself to Megha's taste. As he

specialized in Siva worship, Baba gave him a Pindi or lingam as we

call it, that is, an elongated round stone which is worshipped as

Siva, when placed in the hollow of another stone, which is called

yoni. Somebody had brought a pindi to Baba, and Baba presented it to

Megha and asked him to go on with its worship. This was installed in

Sathe wada, and Megha worshipped the Siva linga there. Just

immediately before this pindi came, Baba appeared in Megha's sleep

and told him, "Draw up a Trisul" that is, Siva's Trident. Megha

wondered how Baba's voice could be heard inside the wada. So, he went

to the Mosque and asked Baba whether he gave the order. Baba said he

did, and when asked how he could get entrance into the wada when door

was bolted. Baba declared, "Bolted doors do not bar access to Me".

Megha was also given a huge picture of Baba by H. S. Dixit to be

placed by the side of his pindi so that he could worship the Siva

linga together with Sai Baba's picture. Baba noting his peculiar

idiosyncrasy to worship all the gods in the temples of the village,

that is, Devi, Sani, Siva, Maruti and Khandoba, told him, "After

worshipping all these, come and worship Me". Megha did so regularly.

Megha was impressed with Baba's omnipresence, by his directions on

some occasions. One day when he went to Khandoba's, Upasani Maharaj,

who lived there, had bolted the door from within, and he could not

enter into the temple and worship Khandoba. So he returned to Baba.

Khandoba's temple is very long way off from Baba's Mosque and is not

visible from there. When Megha went to worship Baba on that day, Baba

told him, "You have not yet done worship at Khandoba's. If you go

there now you will find the door open. Do the puja of Khandoba and

then come here. Megha then went to Khandoba and saw the door open as

stated by Baba. After doing that puja, he went to Sai Baba for puja.

 

Megha died in 1912 at Shirdi. Baba's appreciation was shown by his

coming to the corpse and placing his hands over it saying, "This was

a true devotee of mine". Baba bore the expenses of the funeral dinner

and Kaka Saheb Dixit carried out his order.

 

Written by: HH Pujyasri B. V. Narasimha Swamiji

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