DIVINE GRACE - BABA KNOWS YOUR HUNGER

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DIVINE GRACE – BABA KNOWS YOUR HUNGRY

Sadashiv Trimbuk Vdhavkar, Kayastha Prabhu, aged 68, Retired Goods Clerk of

G.I.P.R. now living at Mahagiri, Thana says:

I was a goods clerk at Dadar some 28 years ago (i.e., about 1909). I had a

distant relation, a Tamane, was a devotee of Baba. He told me to go Shirdi and

see Baba. So I went up about 1909 with my friend Tamane and engaged a tonga for

going to Shirdi and returning back to Kopergaon.

When we went to Baba at the Mosque, we had left behind a couple of mangoes in

the tonga for our own consumption and took the rest of the fruits which along

with some tobacco and a quantity of copper coins I presented to Baba. Baba

said, "Where are those two mangoes? Why do you keep them there? Bring them

here." Baba knew the facts evidently by his own wonderful power. These were

then brought and presented. Baba ordered all the fruits to be cut up and

distributed as prasad to all the people that were present. He then smoked away.

I was about 11 a.m. I felt very hungry as my usual mealtime was 9 a.m. and I had

no meal that morning. But, out of delicacy, I said nothing of my hunger and

merely continued to sit at the Mosque. Then someone came with a pocket of

pedhas and placed it before Baba as present. Baba usually touches nothing, but

on this occasion, as soon as the pocket came, he opened it, took up one pedha.

It was a good size pedha and he throws it on my lap. I

was some yards off from him. I thought that it was prasad and a precious gift to

be taken home and not anything that I should eat then and there. But, Baba

seeing that I held it in my hand without eating said, "It was given to you not

for keeping it." Then I was obliged to eat up. I felt that my hungry was half

appeased. Then again, Baba picked up another pedha from the packet and flung it

at me. This pedha at least is to be carried home; I fancied and retained it in

my hand. But Baba again repeated his remark; "It was not given to you for

retention." So I ate it up and felt my hunger wholly appeased. Baba did not

throw any more pedha at me nor did he give any pedha to any of the others

present. Baba evidently knew of hungry state, half appeased state and fully

appeased state without a word from me.

Then after the arati was over, the question of food for my friend and me had to

be considered. It was very late, too late to start cooking. But Baba had

evidently anticipated things. We learnt that he had told the retired mamlatdar

(probably Babasaheb Bhate) in the morning that he would go and dine with him.

So extra meals were ready at the gentleman’s house. When the arati was over,

Baba told him to take us two and a third Brahmin stranger to his house and feed

us. We were the persons to represent Baba and we had a satisfactory meal.

At the time when Baba was sending, that official to us at his place to feed us,

he said to him, "This young man (referring to me) has needless anxiety. His

business is already accomplished." That gentleman came to us and reported

Baba’s words and asked what for we had gone for Shirdi. The fact was that I was

anxious to get upadesh and hoped that Baba would give me some upadesh.

In the afternoon, the tonga man was hurrying us up to go back to Kopergaon. Some

people told us that Baba did not usually permit people to get back the same day

they visited him, but we had to go for two reasons. First, the cartman had to

be paid his return fare even if we did not start that day. Secondly, I had got

away from my office by reporting myself sick and had to present myself before

the Railway Medical Officer at Dadar on the following morning. Anyhow, we told

the tongawalla to wait and sat before Baba. Even there the tongawalla came.

Baba looked at his face and asked him to go away saying, "Where is the hurry?"

then, anyway he knew my other difficulty and so gave us leave. He told me to

take udhi. I took it and we came away. His parting words to me were "Have no

anxieties. Your business is already accomplished" It was not clear to me what

business of mine he was referring to or he could refer too as already

accomplished. The only business I had with him if

it could be described as business was taking upadesh and it was not accomplished

for he gave me none. I returned to Dadar and in 7 or 8 days, I had a dream. In

that dream, my family priest who was at Indore at that time came to me to give

upadesh. When I woke in the morning, I had no intimation by letter or otherwise

of the priest’s visit, but in a few days, he suddenly turned up at my office and

said he would stay with me. I told him of the dream. He said he knew that and

had gone to me then specially for giving me upadesh. But, he did not tell me

how he happened already to be aware of my dream. Next morning, after due and

proper performance of the requisite ceremonies he gave me formal upadesh a

regular initiation to Siva Mantra. I am a Saivite. Thus, my business was

accomplished. And as evidently the priest intended to give it to me sometime

earlier, Baba’s words were real statements of fact, or powerful words that

forced the intended business into the mind of my priest (who

lived at Indore far away from Shirdi and who had not gone to Shirdi)

[This gentleman is a devotee of Hubli Siddharud Swami and went to Shirdi only

once after the above visit and that was in 1935 in grateful memory of Baba]

(Written by: HH Pujyasri B. V. Narasimha Swamiji in Devotees Experiences on 12th September 1936)

 

 

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