THE TIME TABLE OF BABA'S DAILY ROUTINE - 2

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THE TIME TABLE OF BABA’S DAILY ROUTINE - 2

While this was going on Madhav Fasle and Tukaram and other such attendants would

fill buckets with water. Baba never brushed his teeth. He would rinse his mouth

and wash his face, hands and feet. The way he washed his face was so delicate

that one loved to watch him. Those suffering from leprosy would take the water

Baba had used to rinse his mouth and would devotedly apply it to the effected

parts of their bodies. The water would help them in proportion to their faith

in Baba.

While Baba was washing his face the devotees would start coming for the Kakad

arati with mace, fans and other ceremonial accoutrements. Baba would welcome

them like a mother welcomes her children. Later the devotees would take udi

from Baba and depart for their daily chores. The Kakad arati and the Sej arati

would only be performed at chavadi on alternate days.

Baba did not bathe every day. A daily bath is forbidden to fakirs. In the early

days he would bathe either in the Lendi garden or amongst the bushes outside

the village. Later he started bathing at the mosque. The attendants would bring

two copper vessels full of hot water and two vessels of cold water and lower the

curtains around the mosque. Baba would mix the water to his liking and slowly

bathe, taking an hour and a half for the bath. He would then stand near the

dhuni while the close devotees wiped dry his back, neck and head. Devotees

would treat the water used by Baba as holy and used it to cure their diseases.

Ramji of Nasik, who was mentally ill and had come to Shirdi, became normal

after drinking this water. As a mark of his gratitude he presented Baba with a

stone to stand on while bathing. We can see this stone even now in Dwarakamai.

Baba would bathe once in seven or eight days. Sometimes he would not bathe for

even five to six weeks. When any devotee

questioned him regarding this he would say, "I have just bathed in the Ganges,

why should I bathe again?" What need does the ever-pure one have for bathing

when he, by mere will, can make rivers flow from his toes?

Baba would look very neat and clean even when he did not bathe. He would wear a

green cloth after bathing, and after rinsing his kufni, place it near the dhuni

to dry. He would put it on again after it had dried. He wore it at all times

except after the bath. His kufnis were made of coarse cloth. The devotees would

plead with Baba to change them when they became too old and torn, and only then

would Baba wear a new one. Tatya would be bent upon making Baba throw away his

bedraggled and torn kufni for a new one. He would go close to Baba on the

pretext of talking to him and saying, "Baba, what is this? Your kufni seems to

be torn!" and would put his fingers in the holes and tear them to make them

even bigger, thus making them impossible to mend. He would then feign innocence

and insist on Baba changing it saying, "Baba, your kufni is badly torn, you must

change it immediately." Baba could then no longer avoid wearing a new one. He

would call for Kashinath Shimpi, a

cloth merchant and say, "Kashinath, get me a kufni!" Once Kashinath brought it,

he would pay much more for it than it cost. He would wear the new kufni and

throw the old one into the dhuni. Normally whenever Baba wore a new kufni, he

would distribute new kufnis to the poor fakirs and other sadhus at the mosque.

So it was a festival for them whenever Baba changed his kufni. Once in 1914

Baba was distributing kufnis at the mosque. A devotee called Narke who was

standing there wished that he too would get a kufni from the hands of Baba. The

moment the thought entered his mind, Baba turned to him and said, "No, the Fakir

is not agreeable to your getting a kufni. What am I to do?" Baba would sometimes

call a barber called Bala and have his head shaved. He would also have his

moustache shaped by him and reward him handsomely.

_Suchitra Devi in Sai padham

 

 

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