My Meeting with Baba of Shirdi - by Shivamma Thayee

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SSS

 

Meetings with The Saint of Shirdi

 

The Story of Shivamma Thayee

 

 

Given the family name of Rajamma, Sai Baba of Shirdi renamed young

Rajamma to Shivamma Thayee in 1917, declaring she would become a

saint. Today her samadhi is placed her previous ashram in Madiwala on

the outskirts of Bangalore city. Shivamma was born in the small

village of Vellakinaru in Coimbatore district of Tamil Nadu (called

Madras Presidency at that time) and was the eldest of four children.

 

The parents, says Shivamma, were simple, loving and religious minded

people who encouraged the spiritual inclination of the children. At

the age of 13 according to customs, Shivamma was given away in

marriage to Sri Subramaniam Gunder. Shivamma gave birth to a son

after a year of the marriage and was very happy and content in her

new family-life. During this period Shivamma's uncle, Sri Thangavel

Gounder, had been inclined to become a Sanyasi (renunciate) and

traveled around the country in meeting of saints. One day the uncle

brought with him to their town near Coimbatore the famous Saint of

Shirdi: Sai Baba. Masses of enthusiastic people thronged to get a

glimpse of the famous saint, who was already then well known and felt

proud of his presence in their district of Tamil.

 

At this time, in year 1906, Baba is believed to have been about 70-71

years of age. Shirdi Sai Baba stayed in the town for two days and

Shivamma's uncle did not let escape the chance for his family and

relatives to meet the great saint, and hopefully to receive a

Matrupadesh (a sacred mantra and initiation) from him. Shivamma tells

of this first meeting, " At that very time, I was breast feeding my

one year old son Mani Raj, seated behind at some distance from my

cousin brothers and sisters. Baba cast a moving glance on all of us,

and then he asked me alone to come near him by his gestures. "

 

" Baba told my uncle, 'She is the only girl in the whole lot who will

be a highly elevated soul.' Baba then slowly chanted the Gayatri

Mantra to me and asked me to repeat the same. "

 

The following morning Shivamma had forgotten her mantra and the uncle

again brought her to the saint, asking for pardon. Shirdi Sai Baba

wrote the mantra on a piece of paper, and Shivamma, who barely knew

how to read, feebly tried to learn the mantra letter by letter in

halting Tamil.

 

As time passed, Shivamma's household duties kept her occupied so as

to loosing the precious paper with the given mantra. That same

evening she had a dream of Shirdi Sai who told her, " You search for

the paper on which I wrote the Gayatri Mantra, in the big pot in

which you store rice in your house. " The following morning she indeed

found the paper in the corner of the rice pot. From then on Shivamma

felt that Shirdi Sai was her genuine spiritual teacher and accepted

him as her Guru.

 

Soon after her initial meeting with the Saint of Shirdi, Shivamma

felt a desire to have darshan (vision/meeting) of the Saint at

Shirdi. Asking her husband the permission to leave for Shirdi, he

declined but on one condition: The family cow being old and of no

use, had to be sold within seven days. If this was to happen, the

husband promised enough faith in Baba and agreed to bring the wife

for darshan. As nothing can stop a devotee from seeing his or her

master when the time is ripe, within 4 days circumstances arranged

for the cow to be sold for a surprisingly good amount!

 

Shivamma says, " My entire family—my husband, son, myself and my

maidservant had Shirdi Sai Baba's darshan in his old Mosque

Dwarka 'Mai Masjid.' To others, Baba generally blessed them by

saying 'Allah achcha karega' (May the Allah do good to you). But to

me Baba spoke these two words in Tamil: 'Nalla iru' (Be prosperous).

Baba always spoke to me in my mother tongue Tamil and even to this

day in his spirit form he comes to me and talks to me in Tamil, which

is the only language I know and understand well. "

 

Baba was always surrounded by many devotees and visitors. Shivamma

describes his countenance, " Baba sat in the Masjid in a very simple

yet majestic manner. He was about six feet tall. He had very long

hands and the fingers of his hands stretched below his knees. His

color was very fair and he had a sharp nose with big nostrils. He was

neither thin nor fat. His eyes were not black but blue and deep. They

shone brightly and penetratingly. People used to say that Baba's eyes

glittered in the night like the eyes of a cat or a tiger. I was very

much fascinated by the charm of my charismatic divine Guru. "

 

Shivamma witnessed many of Shirdi Sai Baba's miracles and

powers. " Baba was fond of cooking for his devotees. Wood was burning

in the chullah (clay stove) and the ragi gruel was boiling in the

pot. Baba pulled up his sleeve and immersed his right hand into the

boiling gruel and stirred it many times. Evidently, there was no

effect of the boiling ragi on his hands. Many people witnessed this

sort of cooking done by Baba. Baba himself distributed his food to

all devotees, and even to animals and birds who happened to come to

his Masjid at that time. "

 

Shivamma used to travel alone to Shirdi to see Sai Baba three to four

times a year, despite her husbands growing unwillingness. She used to

stay in Shirdi for a few days at a time, having his darshan and

witnessing his powers in play.

 

Soon Shivamma became so attached to her Guru, that she started

chanting his name in her household and thus grew disinterested in

regular out-worldly life. She says, " Baba treated me as a daughter

and showered his grace on me. On many occasions, I was the sole

witness to his miracles. " One extraordinary 'yoga' practice Baba used

to do was called Khand Yoga. She explains, " One of my visists to

Shirdi was around 1915. I witnessed a very horrible thing; I was

staying in a rented room close to the Dwarka Mai. There was no

latrine in that house, and one night at 1:30 am I had to out in the

open space some distance away to urinate. It was pitch dark. As I

walked near the Dwarka Mai in the street, something like a wooden log

hit my feet. I took it up. To my horror, it was the leg of a human

body with blood on it. I put it down at once and moved ahead in fear.

 

After about five to six feet I hit upon another mutilated part of a

human body—it was a full arm cut off from the shoulder. I was

dreadfully frightened. At once I ran to my room and closed the door

immediately. " Shivamma thought that someone might have murdered

Shirdi Sai, and she could not sleep all night weeping and crying.

 

She continues, " At about 5 am I got up from my bed and mustered some

courage to peep through the window of my room towards the Dwarka Mai

Mosque. To my amazement I saw Shirdi Sai Baba sitting in the open

courtyard silently smoking his chillum (pipe). I went at once and

narrated to him the experience from the previous night. " Baba then

told her, " Daughter Rajamma, I had done my Khand Yoga last night,

which I do sometimes. I separate my limbs from my physical body, and

then my physical life is no more there. My Spirit have seen you

moving in the street and stumbling against my mutilated legs and

head. "

 

He had further told her that he would teach her the techniques of

Khand Yoga, which she refused to accept. Shivamma says, " To my

knowledge, he did not make such an offer to anyone among his

countless devotees during his lifetime. "

 

Another 'yoga' she witnessed Baba doing was Dhauti Yoga, where the

Mahatma used to swallow a long cloth, about 20 feet, and then pull it

out of his mouth by the local well. This was Shirdi Sai's way

of 'cleaning the intestines'.

 

For his devotees Baba was a very patient and caring Guru. He knew

about their past, present, and future and would deal with each case

according to this. At times, he would also become very angry and

scold people but his anger was a facade for disciplining his

follower. He taught his followers and disciples the higher truths of

spiritual life in very simplified words through depicting real life

stories, parable, and the accounts of previous lives of many persons,

and also other creatures. Shirdi Sai Baba, the incredible saint of

Shirdi, left his mortal frame (Mahasamadhi) on October 15, year 1918.

 

SSS