CONFUSION LEADING TO DELAYED DEVOTION

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CONFUSION LEADING TO DELAYED DEVOTION

 

In 1914, P. R. Avaste wanted to go to Pandharpur, and prayed to

Pandharinath for the fulfillment of the word of his lady Guru. Then

M. B. Rege, a devotee of Sai Baba, came to him and learning about his

intention to go to Pandharpur, told him to stop at Shirdi, which was

on the way from Indore to Pandharpur. Avaste promised to go with Rege

to Shirdi. So, during Christmas of 1914, they started. It was then

that they had the threatened interruption of the rail journey at Mhow

as already described. Eventually the Commander who first commandeered

the train allowed Avaste and Rege to continue their journey and when

they reached Shirdi, They went to stay with Ramakrishna Ayi, and she

appeared to him as a Sadguru. She recalled some peculiar incidents

that had taken place years ago in the company of his lady Guru, and

therefore struck him as a remarkable person. He agreed to treat her

as a sister of his lady Guru but not as a substitute for her. "Even

if I die will you not agree?" asked Ayi. He said, "No." Suddenly Ayi

cried out that she was dead; and lay flat on the ground as if she was

really dead. "This was exactly like his first Guru's conduct on the

first occasion when he had met her. He got upset and ran up to her

and put her head on his lap and shed tears. Then in order to revive

her, he began to loudly recite the Panchakshari mantras, which his

Guru had taught him, though his first Guru had said that he should

not loudly recite those mantras. He implored each of those gods

presiding over each of the Panchakshari letters to revive this lady.

He offered to give up all his punya of 16 years of japa of the mantra

if she revived. Then she gradually opened her eyes, as if she had

come out of her swoon. She said to him, "You go and mind your

business." He felt grateful for having repaired the consequences of

his folly. He felt sorry for violating his Guru's instruction not to

pronounce the mantras loudly. Then his mind was so upset that he

began to repeat the mantras again. He began to see one deity after

another coming down as in a magic lantern show. After the first two

or three deities appeared, Ayi told him, "Stop all this show. Lie

down. Go to sleep." He obeyed Ayi. During the succeeding days also,

he had similar experiences. On the final day, an Ekadasi day, he got

into a repentant mood for having to go Shirdi contrary to the advice

of his Guru. He had been told not to visit saints, as they would

molest him. Then he feared that his stay at Shirdi would endanger him

and his mantras would all lose their efficacy. In this mood, he was

slowly beginning to feel that he and even Ramakrishna Ayi were led to

astray by Sai, a juggler, an old fakir, who imposed upon the public

and upon so many honest and devout people including Ayi, inducing

them to believe him to be a saint and an incarnation of God. Suddenly

he felt that Sai was trying to overpower him by his sorcery and felt

he must protect himself and overcome him. So, he began uttering

loudly and vehemently Sri Ram, Sri Ram, and carried on that nama japa

for a long time. Ayi and Rege went up to Sai to free Avaste from this

fit of craziness, having passed the whole night in this way. He was

cured of this spell instantly when he heard in the morning Baba

uttering the words, in a solemn and melodious way, "Allah Malik hai

from the chavadi, which is fairly near the sala where Avaste was

staying. He then mentally apologised to Baba for his thought and

behaviour. As soon as the morning prayers and arati were finished,

Baba sent for Rege and told him to take Avaste away from Shirdi. A

Tonga was soon got ready and he and Rege started off. They saluted

Baba near the village gate and got his blessings for leaving. Every

male bird or beast on the way appeared to Avaste as Baba and female

birds and beasts as Ayi. That was so till they reached the Lendi

rivulet. After that, this spell left him. He lay quietly on his

friends lap and slept. He reached home safe.

 

One result of his visit to Shirdi was that his desire to go to

Pandharpur vanished. Baba had shown himself as Vittal. Thereafter

Avaste repeated his visits to Shirdi along with his family or

friends, twice or thrice each year, until Baba's Mahasamadhi in 1918.

 

Written by: HH Pujyasri B. V. Narasimha Swamiji in Life of Sai Baba

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

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