|
Chapter
XX
Das
Ganu's Problem Solved by Kaka's Maid-Servant
In this
Chapter, Hemadpant describes, how Das Ganu's problem was
solved by Kakasaheb Dixit's maid-servant.
Preliminary
Sai
(Lord) was originally formless. he assumed a form for the
sake of Bhaktas. With the help of the actress Maya, He
played the part of the Actor in the big drama of the
universe. Let us remember and visualize Shri Sai. Let us
go to Shirdi, and see carefully the programmes, after the
noon-Arati. After the Arati ceremony was over, Sai used to
come out of the Masjid, and standing on its edge,
distribute udi to the devotees with very kind and loving
looks. The Bhaktas also got up with equal fervour, clasped
His Feet, and standing and staring at Him, enjoyed the
shower of Udi. Baba passed handfuls of Udi into the palms
of the devotees and marked their foreheads with Udi with
His fingers. The love He bore for them in His heart was
boundless. Then He addressed the Bhaktas as follows:-
"Oh Bhau, go to take your lunch; you Anna, go to your
lodgings; you Bapu, enjoy your dishes". In this way
He accosted each and every devotee and sent them home.
Even now, you can enjoy these sights if you bring into
play your imagination. You can visualize and enjoy them.
Now bringing Sai before our mental vision, let us meditate
on Him, from His Feet upwards to His face, and prostrating
before Him humbly, lovingly and respectfully, revert to
the story of this Chapter.
Ishavasya
Upanishad
Das
Ganu once started to write a Marathi commentary ont he
Ishavasya Upanishad. Let us first give a brief idea of
this Upanishad, before proceeding further. It is called a
`Mantropanishad', as it is embodied in the Mantras of the
Vedic Samhita. It constitutes the last or the 40th Chapter
of the Vajasaneyi Samhita (Yajurveda) and it is,
therefore, called Vajasaneyi Samhitopanishad. Being
embodied in Vedic Samhitas, this is regarded as superior
to all other Upanishads, which occur in the Brahmanas and
Aranyakas (explanatory treatises on Martras and rituals).
Not only this, other Upanishads are considered to be
commentaries on the truths mentioned briefly in the
Ishavasya Upanishad. For instance, the biggest of the
Upanishads, viz, the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad, is
considered by Pandit Satwalekar to be a running commentary
on the Ishavasya Upanishad.
Profesor
R.D. Ranade says:- "The Ishopanishad is quite a small
Upanishad; and yet it contains many hints which show an
extraordinarily piercing insight. Within the short compass
of 18 verses, it gives a valuable mystical description of
the Atman, a description of the ideal sage, who stands
unruffled in the minds of temptations and sorrows; and
adumbration of the doctrine of Karma-Yoga as later
formulated, and finally a reconciliation of the claims of
knowledge and works. The most valuable ideas, that lies at
the root of the Upanishad, is that of a logical synthesis
between the two opposites of knowledge; and work, which
are both required according to the Upanishad to be
annulled in a higher synthesis". (page 24 of the
Constructive Survey of the Upanishad Philosophy). In
another place he says that "The poetry of the
Ishopanishad is a Commixture of moral, mystical and
metaphysical (ibid, Page 41)".
From the
brief description given above about this Upanishad, any
one can see how difficult it is to translate this
Upanishad in a vernacular language, and brief out its
exact meaning. Das Ganu translated it in Marathi 'Ovi'metre,
verse by verse, but as he did not comprehend the gist or
essence of the Upanishad, he was not satisfied with his
performance. He therefore consulted some learned men
regarding his doubts and difficulties and discussed with
them at great length. They did not solve them nor did they
give him any rational and satisfactory explanation. So Das
Ganu was a little restless over this matter.
SadGuru
only competent and Qualified to Explain
As
we have seen, this Upanishad is the quintessence of the
Vedas. It is the science of self-realization, it is the
scythe or weapon which can rend asunder the bondage of
life and death, and make us free. Therefore, he thought,
that he who has himself attained self-realization, can
only give him the true or correct interpretation of the
Upanishad. When nobody could satisfy Das Ganu, he resolved
to consult Sai Baba about this. When he got an opportunity
to go to Shirdi, he saw Sai Baba, prostrated himself
before Him, and mentioned his difficulties about the
Ishavasya Upanishad and requested Him to give the correct
solution. Sai Baba, blessed him and said- "You need
not be anxious, there is no difficulty about the matter,
the mind-servant of Kaka (Kakasaheb Dixit) will solve your
doubts at Vile Parle, on your way home". The people
who went present then and heard this, thought that Baba
was joking and said, "How could an illiterate
maid-servant solve the difficulties of this nature",
but Das Garu thought otherwise. He was sure, that whatever
Baba spoke, must come true, Baba's word was the decree of
the Brahma (Almighty).
Kaka's
Maid-Servant
On
fully believing in Baba's words, he left Shirdi and came
to Vile Parle (a suburb of Bombay), and stayed with
Kakasaheb Dixit. There the next day, when Das Ganu was
enjoying his morning nap (some say when he was engaged in
worship), he heard a poor girl singing a beautiful song in
clear and melodious tones. The subject matter of the song
was a crimson coloured Sari, how nice it was, how fine was
its embroidery, how beautiful were its ends and borders
etc. He liked the song so much that he came out, and saw
that it was being sung by a young girl, the sister of
Namya, who was a servant of Kakasaheb. The girl was
cleaning vessels, and had only a torn rag on her person.
On seeing her impoverished condition, and her jovial
temperament, Das Ganu felt pity for her and when Rao
Bahadur M.V.Pradhan next day gave him a pair of dhotars,
he requested him to give a sari to the poor little girl
also. Rao Bahadur bought a good Chirdi (small Sari) and
presented it to her. Like a starving person getting
luckily good dishes to eat, her joy knew to bounds. Next
day she wore the new Sari, and out of great joy and
merriment, whirled, danced round and played `Fugadi' with
other girls and excelled them all. The Day following, she
kept the new Sari in her box at home and came with the old
and torn rags, but she looked as merry as she did the
previous day. On seeing this, Das Ganu's pity was
transferred into admiration. He thought that the girl
being poor had to wear a torn rag, but now she had a new
Sari which she kept in reserve and putting on the old rag,
strutted herself, showing no trace of sorrow or dejection.
Thus he realized that all our feelings of pain and
pleasure depend upon the attitude of our mind. On thinking
deeply over this incident, he realized that a man ought to
enjoy whatever God has bestowed on him in the firm
conviction that He besets every thing, from behind and
before, and on all sides and that whatever is bestowed on
him by God must be for his good. In this particular case,
the impoverished condition of the poor girl, her torn rag
and the new Sari, the donor, the dance and the acceptance
were all parts of the Lord and pervaded by Him. Hence, Das
Ganu got a practical demonstration of the lesson of the
Upanishad - the lesson of contentment with one's own lot
in the belief that whatever happens, is ordained by God,
and is ultimately good for us.
Unique
Method of Teaching
From
the above incident, the reader will see that Baba's method
was unique and varied. Though Baba never left Shirdi, He
sent some to Machhindragad, some to Kolhapur or Sholapur
for practising sadhanas. To some He appeared in His usual
form, to some He appeared in waking or dreaming state, day
or night and satisfied their desires. It is impossible to
describe all the methods, that Baba used in imparting
instructions to His Bhaktas. In this particular case, He
sent Das Ganu to Vile Parle, where he got his problem
solved, through the maid-servant. To those, who say that
it was not necessary to sent Das Ganu outside and that
Baba could have personally taught him, we say that Baba
followed the right or best course, or how else could Das
Ganu would have learnt a great lesson, that the poor
maid-servant and her Sari were pervaded by the Lord.
Now
we close the Chapter with another beautiful extract about
this Upanishad.
The
Ethics of the Ishavasya Upanishad
"One
of the main features of the Ishavasya Upanishad, is the
ethical advice it offers, and it is interesting to note
that the ethics of the Upanishad are definitely based upon
the meta-physical position advanced in it. The very
opening words of the Upanishad tell us that God pervades
every thing. As a corollary from this metaphysical
position, the ethical advice it offers is, that a man
ought to enjoy whatever God bestows on him in the firm
belief, that as He pervades everything, whatever is
bestowed on him by God must be good. It follows naturally,
that the Upanishad should forbid us from coveting another
man's property. In fact, we are fittingly taught here a
lesson of contentment with one's own lot in the belief
that whatever happens, it is divinely ordained and it is
hence good for us. Another moral advice is, that man must
spend his life-time always in doing action, specially the
karmas enjoined in the Shastras, in a mood of believing
resignation to His will. Inactivity, according to this
Upanishad, would be the canker of the soul. It is only
when a man spends his life-time on doing actions in this
manner, that he can hope to attain the ideal of
Naishkarmya. Finally, the text goes on to say that a man,
who sees all beings in the Self and sees the Self as
existing in all beings; in fact, for whom all beings and
everything that exists have becomes the Self - how can
such a man suffer infatuation? What ground would such a
man have for grief? Loathfulness, infatuation and grief
verily proceed from our not being able to see the Atman in
all things. But a man, who realizes the oneness of all
things, for whom everything has become the Self, must ipso
facto, cease to be affected by the common foibles of
humanity. (Page 169-170 of The Creative Period by Messrs.
Belvalkar and Ranade).
Bow
to Shri Sai - Peace be to all
|
