‘Do not get up, Brahmin Get back. Descend.’ Hatmage, Hatmage

[Guest guest]

……“Baba's sense of humour was of a very peculiar kind being at first hardly intelligible to people around him. The humour consisted in there being two applications for the words he uttered, one being patent and the other often being discovered after some time and enquiry. We shall give some examples.

 

In the case of one G.D. Pelaspi who approached Baba, the latter according to his custom of revealing his antarjnana about the visitor so as to infuse faith in him, mentioned the fact that the trouble of Pelaspi was that a debtor of his, named Bapu Saheb was delaying and evading payment of Rs. 4000 due to Pelaspi. So Baba said when Pelaspi came, 'What is Bapu Saheb doing?' Thinking that Baba referred to Bapu Saheb Jog, someone present said, 'He is sleeping'. Baba said, 'When he comes here, beat him.

 

He owes me Rs.4000 and is delaying payment'. People fancied that Baba was angry with Bapu Saheb Jog for the alleged non-payment of debt to him. But Baba was referring only to the pandit of Pelaspi. Pelaspi understood Baba's words well enough and took Baba's words as good augury that pressure would be brought upon his debtor to make the payment quickly. But the others who misunderstood Baba thought that he referred to his poojari namely, Bapu Saheb Jog.

 

They informed him of Baba's words and he was very upset by Baba's statement, for he did not owe Rs. 4000 to Baba and he said, 'The claim is unjust'. But Baba was enjoying the fun. Similarly Baba used the words, Tatya, Bapu, Vani, referring to particular persons or particular sorts of persons. People who heard him could not make out the real reference. Baba enjoyed the fun.

 

On one occasion, when Shama was bitten by a serpent, he was advised to go to the Bairoba temple to which people usually resorted to when bitten by cobras. But he said that his temple was Baba’s place, and he ran up to Baba. Baba had wonderful powers of curing cobra bite and other poisons. But when Shama came and climbed up the steps of the Dwarakamayee, Baba said, ‘Do not get up, Brahmin Get back. Descend.’ Hatmage, Hatmage.

 

Shama was shocked. Here was his hope in Baba, and Baba was. asking him not to get up but to get down. Baba enjoyed his confusion for a moment and then asked him to get up. Baba said, 'Come up. The fakir is kind. You will be cured'. He then told people to take Shama home and see that he did not go to sleep, but was kept awake for 24 hours till the poison should be completely absorbed in or expelled from the system.

 

The humour in Baba's words was in the fact of the words, Do not get up Brahmin, which appeared to be addressed to the Brahmin Shama, when Brahmin was used in the vocative case. But that word was used by Baba in the accusative case. The words addressed were not to the Brahmin but to the cobra poison, and the cobra poison was directed by the command of Baba not to go up the Brahmin, that is, go up Shama's body. Get down, Get down, were addressed similarly to the poison and not to the Brahmin. So, the poison had to get down his body and get away.â€â€¦â€¦