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Chapter
XLV
Kakasaheb's
Doubt and Anandrao's Vision - Wooden Plank Baba's
bed-stead and not Bhagat's.
Preliminary
We
have described in the last three chapters Baba's Passing
away. His physical or finite form has no doubt disappeared
from our view; but the infinite or spiritual form (Spirit
of Baba) ever lives. The Leelas which occurred during His
lifetime have been dwelt upon at great length up till now.
Ever since His passing away, fresh Leelas have taken place
and are even now happening. This clearly shows that Baba
is ever-living and helping His devotees as before. The
people who got the contact of Baba when He was living,
were indeed very fortunate, but if any of them did not get
a dispassion for the things and enjoyments of the world
and had not their minds turned to the Lord, it was sheerly
their ill-luck. What was then wanted and is now wanted is
the whole-hearted devotion to Baba. All our senses,
organs, and mind should co-operate in worshipping and
serving Baba. It is no use in engaging some organs in the
worship and deflecting others. If a thing like worhsip or
meditation is to be done, it ought to be done with all our
mind and soul.
The love
that a chaste woman bears to her husband is sometimes
compared to that which a disciple bears to his master
(Guru). Yet the former falls far short of the latter,
which is incomparable. No one, whether he be father,
mother, brother or any other relation, comes to our aid in
attaining the goal of life (self-realization). We have to
chalk out and traverse the path of self-realization
ourselves. We have to discriminate between the Unreal and
the Real, renounce the things and enjoyments of this world
and the next, control our senses and mind, and aspire for
liberation only. Instead of depending upon others, we
should have full faith in ourselves. When we begin to
practice discrimination, we come to know, that the world
is transient and unreal and our passion for worldly things
becomes less and less, and ultimately we get dispassion or
non-attachment for them. Then we know that the Brahma
which is no other than our Guru is the sole reality and as
It transcends and besets the seeming universe, we begin to
worship It in all creatures. This is the unitive Bhajan or
worship. When we thus worship the Brahma or Guru
whole-heartedly, we become one with Him and attain
self-realization. In short, always chanting the name of
the Guru, and meditating on Him enables us to see Him in
all beings, and confers eternal bliss on us. The following
story will illustrate this.
Kakasaheb's
Doubt and Anandrao's Vision
It
is well-known, that Sai Baba had enjoined Kakasaheb Dixit
to read daily two works of Shri Ekanath: (1) Bhagawat and
(2) Bhawartha Ramayan. Kakasaheb read these daily while
Baba was living and he followed the practice even after
Baba's passing away. Once in Kaka Mahajani's house in
Choupati, Bombay, Kakasaheb was reading Ekanathi Bhagawat
in the morning. Madhavarao Deshpande alias Shama and Kaka
Mahajani were then present and listened attentively to the
portion read, viz., the 2nd Chapter, 11th skandha of the
book. Therein the nine Nathas or Siddhas of the Rishabha
family, viz., Kavi, Hari, Antariksha, Prabuddha,
Pippalayan, Avirhotra, Drumil, Chamas and Karabhajan
expounded the principles of the Bhagawat Dharma to King
Janak. The latter asked all the nine Nathas most important
questions and each of them answered them satisfactorily.
The first, i.e., Kavi explained what is Bhagawat Dharma;
Hari, the characteristics of a Bhakta (devotee);
Antariksha, what is Maya; Prabuddha, how to cross Maya;
Pippalayan, what is Para-Brahma; Avirhotra, what is Karma;
Drumil, the incarnations of God and their deeds; Chamas,
how a non-devotee fares after death; Karabhajan, the
different modes of worship of God in different ages. The
substance of all the exposition was that in this Kali age,
the only means of liberation was the remembrance of Hari's
(Lord's) or Guru's feet. After the reading was over,
Kakasaheb said in a despondent tone to Madhavarao and
others - "How wonderful is the discourse of the nine
Nathas on Bhakti or devotion. But at the same time how
difficult it is to put it into practice! The Nathas were
perfect, but is it possible for fools like us to attain
the devotion as delineated by them? we won't get it even
after several births, then how are we to get salvation? It
seems that there is no hope for us." Madhavarao did
not like this pessimistic attitude of Kakasaheb. He said -
"It is a pity that one who by his good luck got such
a jewel (Guru) as Baba, should cry out so disparagingly;
If he has unwavering faith in Baba, why should he feel
restless? The Bhakti of the Nathas may be strong and
wonderful, but is not ours' loving and affectionate? And
has not Baba told us authoritatively that remembering and
chanting Hari's and Guru's name confers salvation? Then
where is the cause for fear and anxiety? Kakasaheb was not
satisfied with Madhavarao's explanation. He continued to
be anxious and restless, the whole day, thinking and
brooding over how to get the powerful Bhakti of the Nathas.
Next morning, the following miracle took place.
One
gentleman, named Anandrao Pakhade came there in search of
Madhavarao. The reading of the Bhagawat was then going on.
Mr.Pakhade sat near Madhavarao and was whispering
something to him. He was mentioning in low tone his
dream-vision. As there was some interruption in the
reading by this whispering, Kakasaheb stopped the reading,
and asked Madhavarao what the matter was. The latter said
- "Yesterday you expressed your doubt, now here is
the explanation of it; hear Mr.Pakhade's vision which Baba
gave him, explaining the characteristic of 'saving'
devotion and showing that the devotion in the form of bow
to, or worship of, Guru's feet is sufficient." All
were anxious to hear the vision specially Kakasaheb. At
their suggestion Mr.Pakhade began to relate the vision as
follows.
I was
standing in a deep sea in waist-deep water. There I saw
Sai Baba all of a sudden. He was sitting on a beautiful
throne studded with diamonds, with His Feet in water. I
was most pleased and satisfied with the Form of Baba. The
vision was so realistic that I never thought that it was a
dream. Curiously enough Madhavarao was also standing
there. He said to me feelingly - 'Anandrao, fall at Baba's
Feet.' I rejoined - "I also wish to do so, but His
Feet are in water, how can I place my head on them? I am
helpless." Hearing this he said to Baba - "Oh
Deva, take out Your Feet which are under water." Then
Baba immediately took out His feet. I caught them without
delay and bowed to them. On seeing this Baba blessed me
saying - Go now, you will attain your welfare, there is no
cause for fear and anxiety. He also added - "Give a
silk-bordered dhotar to my Shama, you will profit,
thereby."
In
compliance with Baba's order, Mr.Pakhade brought the
dhotar and requested Kakasaheb to hand it over to
Madhavarao; but the latter refused to accept it, saying
that unless Baba gave a hint or suggestion for acceptance,
he would not accept it. Then after some discussion
Kakasaheb decided to cast lots. It was the invariable
practice of Kakasaheb to cast lots in all dubious matters
and to abide by the decision as shown by the picked up
chit or lot. In this particular case two chits, on one of
which was written 'To accept' and on another 'To reject',
were placed at the feet of Baba's picture and an infant
was asked to pick one of them. The 'To accept' chit was
picked up and the dhotar was handed over to, and accepted
by, Madhavarao. In this way both Anandrao and Madhavarao
were satisfied and Kakasaheb's difficulty was solved.
This
story exhorts us to give respect to the words of other
saints, but at the same time asks us to have full faith in
our Mother, i.e., the Guru, and abide by His instructions:
for he knows our welfare better than any other person.
Carve out on your heart, the following words of Baba -
"There are innumerable saints in this world, but 'Our
father' (Guru) is the Father (Real Guru). Others might say
many good things, but we should never forget our Guru's
words. In short, love your Guru whole-heartedly, surrender
to Him completely and prostrate yourselves before Him
reverentially and then you will see that there is no sea
of the mundane existence before you to cross, there is no
darkness before the sun."
Wooden
plank Baba's Bed-Stead, and not Bhagat's
In His
earlier days, Baba slept on a wooden plank, 4 arms in
length and only a span in breadth with panatis (earthen
lamps) burning at the four corners. Later on He broke the
plank into pieces and threw it away (Vide Chapter X). Once
Baba was describing the greatness or importance of this
plank to Kakasaheb. Hearing this the latter said to Baba -
"If You still love the wooden plank, I will again
suspend or hang up one in the Masjid again for You to
sleep at ease." Baba replied - "I won't like to
sleep up, leaving Mhalasapati down on the ground."
Then Kakasaheb said - "I will provide another plank
for Mhalasapati." Baba - "How can he sleep on
the plank? It is not easy to sleep up on the plank. He who
has many good qualities in him can do so. He who can sleep
'with his eyes wide open' can effect that. When I go to
sleep I ask often Mhalasapati to sit by My side, place his
hand on My heart and watch the 'chanting of the Lord's
name' there, and if he finds Me sleepy, wake Me up. He
can't do even this. He himself gets drowsy and begins to
nod his head. When I feel his hand heavy as a stone on My
heart and cry out - 'Oh Bhagat', he moves and opens his
eyes. How can he, who can't sit and sleep well on the
ground and whose asana (posture) is not steady and who is
a slave to sleep, sleep high up on a plank? On many other
occasions Baba said, out of love for His devotees -
"What (whether good or bad) is ours, is with us, and
what is another's is with him."
Bow
to Shri Sai - Peace be to all
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