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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