NAMING A CHILD - BABA'S WAY

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NAMING A CHILD – BABA’S WAY

Nanasaheb Rasne (alias Daulat Shah, alias Dattatreya), the builder of the Sri

Sai Baba temple at Shivaji Nagar in Pune - where Baba’s tooth is kept - lives

forever in the hearts of Sai devotees. Baba had given him the name even before

his mother bore him. Let us now read about this great leela of Sri Sai Baba.

Sri Damodar Savalram Rasne (Nana’s father) married again when his first wife

failed to bear a child. This second wife also failed to present him with a

child. When he consulted astrologers, they examined his horoscope and found

that there was no possibility for him to have children. He then visited Sri Sai

Baba and begged him to grant him children. Sri Sai Baba gave him four mangoes as

prasad and blessed him saying, "Give these to your second wife and you will get

a total of eight children, the first two of whom will be boys. Name them Daulat

Shah and Than Shah respectively." Damodar Rasne wrote these details in his diary

as soon as he reached home. Within a year, in 1901, a male child was born just

as Baba had foretold. Damodar Rasne took the boy to Baba for his darshan when

he was fifteen months old and asked him what name should be given to him,

perhaps in the hope that Baba might give him a Hindu name this time instead of

the Muslim name he had

given earlier. Baba replied, "I told you long ago to name the child Daulat Shah.

You have also written the fact in your diary on page 3." Damodar Rasne named his

son Daulat Shah as Baba wished, but also added the Hindu name Dattatreya.

In 1906 Damodar Rasne took his son for Sri Sai Baba’s darshan again. At that

time the boy was five years old and Baba gave him a slate and a pencil.

Catching hold of the boy’s podgy fingers he wrote HARI on the slate, guiding

the boy, helping him to trace the words on the slate.

Why did Baba give a Muslim name such as Daulat Shah to a boy born in a

conservative Hindu family? Sri Sai Baba’s deeds and leelas are indeed

inscrutable and beyond the ken of mere mortals, as he himself stated on many

occasions. However, we can learn many lessons from this act of Baba. The unity

of all religions and the maintenance of mutual esteem and love between them are

one of the main features of Sri Sai’s incarnation. Nowadays people are being

named in such a manner as to indicate their religion and caste. If the

followers of one religion were to start using the names of another, we would

see the differences between the various religions and castes start to crumble -

at least outwardly. This may be the first step towards the unity of all

religions as desired by Sai Baba.

Only then would the great poet’s words - "May the entire world become one home,

may the differences be destroyed, may all religions disappear and may only

wisdom stand and shine forth," come true.

Beloved Sairam, we don’t want any golden era, but we want to live in Sai era.

Let us pray Baba to transform this world and give us an opportunity to live in

Universal Sai Community in the days to come!