LIFE HISTORY OF SHIRDI SAI BABA Part 8 To 10

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Om Sri Sai Ram

LIFE HISTORY OF SHIRDI SAI BABA

By Ammula Sambasiva Rao

English Translation by Thota Bhaskara Rao

Chapter VIII

Apart from the villagers of Shirdi, people residing in distant places also began to consider Baba as God-Incarnation. After seeing Baba in the state of Samadhi for three days, those who used to criticize him became great devotees and those saw him as a mad fakir and threw stones at him in the beginning, started coming with garlands in their hands to worship him. They chanted emotionally "Sri Satchidananda Sainath Maharaj Ki Jai!" Mahalasapati acted as the main Pujari for Baba. Shama also did different kinds of service to him. Bhagoji Shinde who was cured of leprosy by him, served all through Baba’s life, and he was the only person who was with him at all times. He did not get into family bonds and dedicated himself to Baba’s service.

 

Practice of ‘Yogas’ by Baba

There was big banyan tree, far from the mosque, towards the north. There was a well near the tree. Once in two or three days Baba went there to take his bath. One day Baba brought out his lungs from his inside by vomiting, cleared them with water and dried them in sunlight; this was actually seen by some villagers of Shirdi. He also used to practice dhouti, which means cleansing the intestines. He used to swallow a piece of cloth measuring 3 inches in width and 22-1/2 inches in length, keeping it inside the stomach for half an hour. Then the cloth would stretch fully into the intestines. Afterwards, he would slowly pull out the cloth, thus cleaning the inside of the intestines.

Similarly, Sai Baba used to separate all the limbs from his body and put them in different places in the mosque. One night, a devotee saw this and feared that someone might have killed Baba. He wanted to report this matter to the village Munsiff, but later he kept quiet fearing that as he would be the first to complain, the authorities would think that he had something to do with it. Unable to suppress his curiosity, he went to the mosque early in the morning and to his astonishment found Baba sitting as usual there. Then he prostrated before him. The act of separation of all the limbs of the body is called "Kanda Yoga". Similarly, he once treated some nervous ailment in the right leg, by removing the flesh over that part, rectified the affected nerves and again put back the flesh, which he had cut. Perhaps, Sai Baba used to wear the long shirt covering his entire body, with a view not to

exhibit such things on his body.

 

He used to practice all kinds of ‘Yogas' from his younger days. But he had never exhibited them before anyone publicly. Now and then piercing light rays used to emanate from his eyes and hand (Abhaya Hastha) . These light rays were very powerful and capable of curing all ailments.

 

In the 14 years between 1886 and 1900, Baba dragged several persons to Shirdi just like tying a thread to a sparrow and dragging it. He taught them Bhakti, Jnana and Vairagya. The Tahsildar of Kopergaon named Bharva, used to visit Baba frequently and got relief for several of his ailments. In this way, several persons, from high officials to ordinary people from all religions and nationalities used to come to Baba, and Shirdi became a holy place of pilgrimage. For some devotees, the moment they thought of visiting Shirdi, their problems got solved. In those days, there were no proper facilities for the devotees at Shirdi. For those who wanted to stay for a couple of days at there, the only place for their stay was the open place in front of Dwarakamayi and under the Neem tree in Gurusthan.

 

Construction of Sathe Wada

It was in the year 1904; Hari Vinayak Sathe was the Deputy Collector of Ahmednagar. Once he came on an official work to Kopergaon. He had heard about Sai Baba’s greatness and so he went to Shirdi, as he was attracted to Baba. He purchased a piece of land near Gurusthan in the year 1906 and constructed a Wada (resting place) for the devotees, naming it Sathe Wada, which still remains with some changes.

 

From the year 1904, devotees had started giving arathis three times a day in Dwarakamayi. Nana Chandorkar, a great devotee of Baba, had finalised the procedure and the songs to be sung during the arathis. For the afternoon Aarti all the villagers assembled near the mosque and sometimes the mosque overflowed with the devotees. Even though thousands flocked there, Baba blessed them. No true devotee ever left Shirdi empty-handed. Some devotees thought that since Baba had not seen them nor heard their problems, how could they get relief? Baba knew their doubts and announced publicly, "Oh my devotees! You will get rewarded for the devotion and confidence you reposed in me. The moment you enter Shirdi village all your worries and difficulties will be over. Those who step into Dwarakamayi, irrespective of their status, will get happiness. This ‘mother’

is very benevolent."

 

Rescue of Shama from Snakebite

Once when Shama was walking on the outskirts of Shirdi village, a poisonous snake bit his little toe. Poison started to spread in his body. He was very much afraid. His friend Bala Saheb and others wanted to take him to the temple of Vithoba, where snakebites got cured. But Shama, for whom Baba was everything, wanted them to take him to Baba. On seeing Shama, Baba became furious and uttered, "Do not go up. If you do so, see what I will do!" and again said, "Get out, climb down and get out!" Shama, hearing these words, thought that Baba asked him not to go up the stairs of Dwarakamayi, but to get out. He was disappointed very much, since Baba who was everything to him had uttered these words. But the truth was that these words of Baba were meant for the poison inside Shama’s body and not to Shama. Even before Shama was taken inside the mosque, and Baba told about the snakebite, Baba knew

everything and ordered the poison to get out of Shama’s body. Afterwards he went and sat near Shama and told him, "Do not fear. This fakir will definitely save you. Do not go here and there but go home and take rest. But do not sleep." Within a few minutes Shama got cured. The important thing we have to learn from the above incident is that Baba’s words are more powerful than mantras. His word itself is a Mahamantra. So, Sai devotees who prefer to cure by mantras need not run after any astrologers. The astrologers can only indicate the coming difficulties, but Sai Baba, through his blessings, can get rid of those difficulties and bring happiness.

 

Cholera in Shirdi

In the year 1905 cholera spread to Shirdi village. Visits to and from other villages had dwindled. To eradicate cholera, the village elders had put two stipulations (1) Carts carrying firewood should not enter the village, and (2) No one should kill a got in the village. Baba knew that these two were useless stipulations. One day, a cart carrying firewood was entering the village. The villagers tried to stop it. Knowing this, Baba came to the place, and instructed the cart man to take the cart to the mosque. No one had the courage to go against Baba’s instructions.

 

Testing the Devotion towards Guru

Baba broke the second stipulation of the village elders- that no one shall kill a goat in the village. Someone brought an aged goat to the mosque. Bade Baba was at that time present there. Sai Baba who had special regard for Bade Baba ordered him to kill the goat with one stroke of the knife. Baba gave him a daily portion of the amount he received by way of Dakshina from his devotees. He used to make him sit by his side at the time of smoking the pipe or taking food. Whenever Bade Baba went to other places, Baba used to accompany him up to 100 footsteps and then return to the mosque. The real name of Bade Baba was Mohammed. Such a close associate of Baba declined to kill the goat when asked by Baba. The Baba called Shama and told him to kill the goat. Shama went to the Wada to bring a knife, but delayed much in coming back. Thereupon, Baba ordered Kaka Saheb Dixit to kill the goat. Dixit

was an orthodox Brahmin. In spite of this he took a knife, lifted and got ready to kill the goat. Immediately Baba asked him to stop and told him, "What a merciless Brahmin you are! You are getting ready to kill the goat!" Hearing this Dixit kept aside the knife and told Baba, "Your nectar-like words are like law to us. Those words are treated as the orders of God. We always remember you. We always pray to your form. Day and night we obey your orders. We do not go into its merits when once you give an order. It is our duty to follow your orders to the last word. This is our Dharma. For your sake, we are prepared to sacrifice everything, including this body and wealth."

Baba had done all this just to test the devotion of his pupil’s towards their Guru. He also showed how many kinds of pupil were there.

 

There are three kinds of Sishyas or disciples. The best kind of disciples are those who guess what their Guru wants and immediately carry it out and serve, without waiting for an order from him. The average disciples are those who carry out the orders of the Guru to the letter. The third kind of disciples are those who go on postponing carrying out the orders of their Guru and make mistakes at every step. The first two categories of disciples only can get benefits from their Guru. Nowadays there are a number of persons who feel that they are the disciples of so and so God. But they belong to the last category. Once we go to Baba, we must surrender ourselves completely and offer everything we have. Then only will we come to know the real powers of Sai Baba who has come down from Kailas. Sometimes, the firm confidence we have in Baba may become shaky. That is why we should also exercise

Saburi (waiting with utmost patience). This is also necessary for the devotee. Prayer without faith and devotion without patience are not at all useful and nobody can benefit by such type of devotion.

May Sai Baba remain in the hearts of our readers permanently! Let Sai Baba be one of their family members. Let the Sai Devotees have shraddha (respect) and saburi (patience). Let Sai’s protection be for the entire world. In those who read this chapter with devotion, let the tree called Sai Bhakti grow in their hearts into a big banyan tree which gives shade to all who come to it, without differentiation between caste and creed, rich and poor.

 

"Om Shanti! Shanti! Shantihi"

Chapter IX

It was the year 1903. A person was charged with theft of some articles, and brought to the court of the magistrate, Dhulia. The accused told the court that Sai Baba had given him those articles. Therefore, the Magistrate, to appear in the court to give evidence, issued summons to Sai Baba. On a suggestion from Nana Chandorkar, all the devotees prepared an appeal to the magistrate, stating that Sai Baba was a great divine personality and all of them regarding him as God and it was not proper to ask such a ‘Mahatma’ to appear in the court. In case the court felt that the evidence of Sai Baba was very essential, then it could send a Commissioner to Shirdi to record the evidence of Sai Baba. The court accepted the plea of the devotees and sent Nana Joshi, who was the Assistant Collector and First Class Magistrate to Shirdi to record the evidence of Sai Baba. In Shirdi no one knew that

Nana Joshi was coming.

 

But Baba knew about this and made arrangements before Dwarakamayi, by arranging tables and chairs, making it appear like a courtroom. From the questions put by the Court Commissioner and the answers given by Baba, we glean some facts about Baba. The questions and answers were as follows:

 

Commissioner: Your Name

Sai Baba: All call me by the name of Sai Baba

Commissioner: Your father's name?

Sai Baba: His name was also Sai Baba

Commissioner: Your Guru's name?

Sai Baba: Venkusa

Commissioner: Your religion?

Sai Baba: The religion of Kabir

Commissioner: Your age?

Sai Baba: Millions of years

Commissioner: You take oath that you will tell the truth only

Sai Baba: I Never told any lies before and I shall never tell lies in future also

Commissioner: Do you know the accused?

Sai Baba: There are none whom I do not know

Commissioner: The accused says that he is your devotee and he knows you.

Sai Baba: I am with all and all are mine.

Commissioner: Did you give those articles to the accused?

Sai Baba: In this world, whoever wants anything, I give them

Commissioner: What kind of right do you have over the articles given to him?

Sai Baba: Everything in this world is mine. There is nothing, which does not belong to me.

Commissioner: This is a matter of serious nature involving theft. The accused says that you have given him these articles

Sai Baba: What is all this fuss? I have no connection with this affair

 

The Commissioner was surprised at the answers given by Baba to all the earlier questions. But he was confused at the answer given to the last question and did not know how to decide the case. But after thinking over it for sometime he sent for the village diary and found that the accused had never visited the village and also that Sai Baba had gone out of the village. Therefore, the statement of the accused that Baba gave him the articles was false. The accused was punished.

 

From the answers given by Baba to the questions of the Commissioner it was evident that there was no living being or articles unknown to Baba in this world and he had control over everything. We also learn that he never told lies under any circumstances. This is an important aspect we have to learn from him. Truth is God. In Ramayana, Rama was looked upon as God only because of this quality. This is how the divine words, "Satyam Vadha - Dharmam Chara" originated.

 

Nanda Deep

Towards the northeast of Lendi Bagh, Baba used to keep a lighted lamp. This was started by him in the year 1890. He dug a small pit in the ground and kept the lamp inside and covered the pit with basket. As time passed by, the lamp continued to burn and two trees, one Neem and another banyan, were planted on each side. Even now devotees go round the trees and the lighted lamp (Nanda Deep). Most of the devotees believe that by going round the Nanda Deep, there will not be any quarrels among wife and husband and they would lead a happy life with the blessings of Baba.

 

Nana Chandorkar’s Arrival in Shirdi

It was the year 1892. Before leaving the village, the devotees would come to Baba, touch his feet and take his permission to leave the village. One day, the village Munsiff Appa went to Baba and sought his permission to go to, Kopergaon to meet the Deputy Collector who was camping there. Baba told Appa to inform the Deputy Collector, Nana Chandorkar, that Baba wanted him to come to Shirdi. Appa was surprised at this because Baba was a fakir in a small village, asking the Deputy Collector to come to him.

 

With great hesitation Appa informed Nana Chandorkar about Baba’s message. But Nana Chandorkar ignored this twice or thrice. But after some days, he came to Shirdi. At the very first meeting with Baba, he felt that both of them knew each other from several births and felt very happy. The acquaintance with Baba slowly grew and Nana Chandorkar became a staunch devotee of Baba. After personally experiencing several Leelas of Sai Baba, Nana Chandorkar concluded that Baba was the incarnation of God.

 

Nana Chandorkar had one sentry named Ganapathi Rai Sahasra Budhe. Against his wish, he was bought to Shirdi in the year 1893 by Nana Chandorkar and made to visit Baba. In this way Ganapathi Rao visited Baba several times, understood Baba’s supernatural powers, and saw his miracles. He later became famous as Das Ganu.

 

There is no written record of Baba’s Leelas prior to the visit of Nana Chandorkar. Having noticed this, Nana Chandorkar gave diaries to all the close devotees of Baba with a request to record whenever and whatever they noticed about his greatness, his Leelas and miracles. The life history of Baba became possible to compile only because of the foresight of Nana Chandorkar. Nana Chandorkar also regulated the various procedures for conducting Poojas, giving Aarti, etc.. He gave lectures about Baba and made known etc. were also regulated by Nana Chandorkar. He gave lectures about Baba and made known Baba’s Leelas to the people.

 

Ganapathi Rao Sahasra Bude alias Das Ganu was a talented singer and actor. Throughout Maharashtra he spread Baba’s stories through Hari Kathas. The changes brought in the life of Das Ganu by Sai Baba will be narrated in the coming chapters.

Let us pray to Sai Baba to remove our difficulties and delusions, so that we will dedicate our life towards the spreading of Sai’s message (Sai Tatva) as was done by Das Ganu.

 

"Om Shanti! Shanti! Shantihi"

Chapter X

In the year 1898, Das Ganu (Ganapathi Rao), who was a police constable, was entrusted by the Government to catch the notorious dacoit Khana Bhill. Once or twice Khana Bhill’s associates caught hold of Das Ganu but left him with pity. Das Ganu was contemplating to leave his police job and dedicate himself in the service of Sai Baba as willed by Baba. But Das Ganu thought that if he could catch the notorious dacoit, the Government would be pleased and give him promotion, which after enjoying for some time, he would leave the job and serve Baba. Khana Bhill’s associates got hold of Das Ganu for the third time and they wanted to kill him. Das Ganu prayed to Baba. He took a vow that if he was saved by Baba this time, he would leave his job and dedicate himself to Baba. In an unexpected way, Khana Bhill let go Das Ganu. Afterwards Das Ganu continued in the service for some time and finally

left his job in the year 1903.

The devotion to Baba started in Das Ganu in the year 1893, slowly fortified in the year 1903 when he left his job. These 10 years he used to visit Baba now and then. Baba brought about several changes in Das Ganu. He used to declare that even if his devotee was beyond the seven seas he would drag him to Shirdi in the same manner as tying a thread to the leg of sparrow and dragging it. This had come true in the case of Das Ganu. After 1903, Das Ganu spread the message of Baba throughout Maharashtra by means of Hari Katha. He also used to keep a big photo of Baba on the stage whenever he gave programmes. This Hari Katha programme used to last for four or five hours and thousands of people would attend. Similarly, Nana Chandorkar spread Baba’s message through his lectures.

 

The Story of Maina Thai

In 1904, Nana Chandorkar was working at a place called Jamner, which was about 100 miles from Shirdi. His daughter Maina Thai was in labour pains since two days and was suffering a lot . Eminent doctors came to his house and gave medical aid, but delivery did not take place and she continued to suffer unbearable pains. Then Nana Chandorkar prayed to Baba and sought his help. At the same time in Shirdi, a sanyasi named Ramgiri Buva sought permission of Baba to go home. Baba gave him permission and his blessings and asked him to visit Jamner on the way and hand over the udi and Aarti hymn to Nana Chandorkar. But Ramgiri Buva hesitated because he had no money to go to Jamner. Baba told him not to worry and that all arrangements for his journey to Jamner would be made and asked him to proceed immediately. He used to call him Bapugiri Buva.

 

Having complete faith in Baba, he started for Jamner. He alighted at Jalgaon station at night at about one o’ clock. The money he had with him was sufficient for the journey upto Jalgaon only. To go to Jamner he had to go by a Tonga (horse-drawn carriage) for 30 miles. Not knowing what to do he sat down and prayed to Baba. At the same time, a well-built person was calling out "Who is Bapugiri Buva? Who has come from Shirdi?" On hearing this Bapugiri Buva met him and the person informed him that Nana Chandorkar had sent the Tonga. Thereupon, they proceeded in the Tonga, which traveled very fast. The Tonga driver stopped near a rivulet and offered some eatables saying that Nana Chandorkar sent them. After eating them and drinking fresh water from the rivulet, they proceeded again. In the early hours before daybreak, the Tonga reached the outskirts of Jamner. Babugiri Buva got out of the

Tonga and went to answer nature’s call. When he returned, he did not find the Tonga or the driver. He wondered what had happened to them. He went into the village and after making enquiries reached Nana Chandorkar’s house. He handed over the udi and the Aarti hymn. Everybody was happy to receive the udi sent by Baba. Immediately they mixed it with water and made Maina Thai drink it. While they began singing the Aarti song, Maina Thai delivered a male child.

 

All those present there who saw this miracle praised Baba by saying aloud "Bhagawan Shree Sainath Ki Jai!" When Bapugiri Buva thanked Nana Chandorkar for sending the Tonga, Nana Chandorkar was wonderstruck and told Bapugiri Buva that he had no Tonga and he had not sent anyone to the station. Bapugiri Buva concluded that it was all Baba’s Leela; it was Baba who called him by name at the Jalgaon station. Baba in the forms of horse, Tonga and Tonga driver simultaneously had driven him to Jamner. He experienced supreme bliss at Baba’s love. So did Nana Chandorkar knowing how Baba saved his daughter. On seeing this miracle, the members of Nana Chandorkar’s family and people from nearby became great devotees of Baba.

 

"I am spread all over this world. I do not require a Tonga or cart or any other mode of travel, to come to you. If my devotee prays to me, then I shall be by his side." This charter of Baba came true in the case of Nana Chandorkar.

 

Baba was Akkalkot Maharaj

In the year 1876 Sarardha Akkalkot Maharaj attained Samadhi in the village of Akkalkot. A devotee of his was preparing to go to Akkalkot in 1904. But Akkalkot Maharaj appeared in his dream and told him that there was no need to come to Akkalkot as he was at Shirdi in the Avatar of Sai Baba. When the devotee visited Baba, the latter blessed him and told him that Akkalkot Maharaj and he are the same.

Sai Baba is not merely Akkalkot Maharaj; he is also the incarnation of all gods. He appeared as Rama, Krishna, Maruti, Datta and also as Ganesh to several devotees.

 

Before closing this chapter, let us pray at the feet of Sai Baba who is the incarnation of all gods and protector of all, to show mercy on us, and increase our devotion towards Him.

To be continued…