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Chapter
XLVII
Baba's
Reminiscences
Story
of Veerbhadrappa and Chenbassappa (Snake and frog)
The last
chapter described Baba's reminiscences about two goats.
This describes more such reminiscences and relates the
story of Veerbhadrappa and Chenbassappa.
Preliminary
Blessed
is the face of Sai. If we cast a glance at Him for a
moment, He destroys the sorrow of many past births and
confers great bliss on us; and if He looks at us with
grace, our bondage of Karma is immediately snapped away
and we are led to happiness. The river Ganges washes away
the dirt and sins of all people who go to her for a bath;
but she intently longs for the saints to come to her and
bless her with their feet and remove all the dirt (sins)
accumulated in her. She knows for certain that this
accumulation can only be removed by the holy feet of the
saints. Sai is the crest-jewel of the saints, and now hear
from Him the following purifying story.
The
Snake and the Frog
Sai
Baba said - "One morning after taking My breakfast I
strolled along till I came to a small river bank. As I was
tired, I rested there, washed My hands and feet and had a
bath and felt refreshed. There was a foot-path and a
cart-track sheltered by shady trees. The breeze was also
blowing gently. As I was preparing to smoke chillim
(pipe), I heard the croaking of a frog. I was striking the
flint and lighting the fire, when a traveller turned up,
sat by My side, bowed to Me and politely invited Me to his
house for meals and rest. He lit up the pipe and handed it
over to Me. The croaking was heard again and he wanted to
know what it was. I told him that a frog was in trouble
and was tasting the bitter fruit of its own karma. We have
to reap now the fruit of what we sow (do) in our past
life, and there is no use in crying about it. Then he
smoked and handed over the pipe to Me and said that he
would go there in person and see for himself. I told him
that a frog was caught by a big snake and was crying. Both
were very wicked in their past life and were now reaping
the fruit of their actions in these bodies. He went out
and found that a huge black serpent was holding a big frog
in its mouth.
He turned
to Me and said that in about 10 or 12 minutes the frog
would be eaten up by the snake. I said, "No, this
can't be. I am its father (protector) and I am here now.
How shall I allow the snake to eat it up, am I here for
nothing? Just see how I release it."
After
smoking again, we walked on to the place. He was afraid
and asked Me not to proceed further as the snake might
attack us. Not minding him, I went ahead and addressed the
creatures thus:- "Oh Veerbhadrappa, has not your
enemy Bassappa yet repented though he has been born as a
frog, and you too, though born as a serpent, still
maintain bitter enmity against him? Fie upon you, be
ashamed, give up your hatred now and rest in peace."
Hearing
these words, the snake left the frog quickly and dived
into the river and disappeared. The frog also jumped away
and hid itself in the bushes.
The
traveller was much surprised; he said that he could not
understand how the snake dropped the frog and disappeared
at the words uttered, who was Veerbhadrappa and who was
Basssappa, and what was the cause of their enmity. I
returned with him to the foot of the tree and after
sharing a few puffs of smoke with him I explained the
whole mystery to his as follows:-
There was
ancient holy place sanctified by a temple of Mahadev about
4 or 5 miles from My place. The temple was old and
dilapidated. The residents of the place collected funds
for its repairs. After a large amount was collected,
arrangement for worship was made and plans with estimates
for repairs were prepared. A rich local man was appointed
the Treasurer and the whole work was entrusted to him. He
was to keep regular accounts and be honest in all his
dealings. He was a first class miser and spent very little
for the repairs, which consequently made very little
progress. He spent all the funds, swallowed some amount
himself and spent nothing from his pocket. He had a sweet
tongue and was very clever in offering plausible
explanations regarding the poor and tardy progress of the
work. The people again went to him and said that unless he
lent his helping hand and tried his best, the work would
not be complete. They requested him to work out the scheme
and again collected subscriptions and sent the amount to
him. He received it, but sat as quiet as before without
making any progress. After some days, God (Mahadev)
appeared in his wife's dream and said to her - "You
get up, build the dome of the temple, I will give you a
hundred-fold of what you spend." She told this vision
to her husband. He was afraid that it would involve him in
some expenses and therefore laughed it out saying that it
was a mere dream, a thing not to be relied and acted upon,
or else why did not God appear to him and tell him? Was he
far off from her? This looks like a bad dream, having for
its object the creation of ill feeling between husband and
wife. She had to remain quiet.
God does
not like big subscriptions and donations collected against
the wishes of the donors, but He likes ever trifling
amounts given with love, devotion and appreciation. Some
days after, God again appeared in her dream and said -
"Do not bother yourself about your husband and the
collections with him. Don't press him to spend any amount
for the temple. What I want is, feeling and devotion. So
give, if you like, anything of your own." She
consulted her husband about this vision and decided to
give God her ornaments given by her father. The miser felt
disconcerted and decided to cheat even God in this item.
He undervalued the ornaments at Rs.1,000/- and bought them
himself and in lieu of the amount gave a field to God as
endowment or security. The wife agreed to this. The field
or land was not his own, it belonged to one poor woman
named Dubaki who mortgaged it to him for Rs.200/-. She was
not able to redeem it for long. So the cunning miser
cheated all, his wife, Dubaki and even God. The land was
sterile, uncultivated and worth nothing and yielded
nothing, even in best seasons.
Thus
ended this transaction and the land was given in the
possession of the poor priest who was pleased with the
endowment. Sometime later on, strange things happened.
There was a terrific storm and heavy down-pour of rain;
lightning struck the house of the miser, when he and his
wife both died. Dubaki also breathed her last.
In the
next life, the rich miser was born at Mathura in a Brahmin
family and was named Veerbhadrappa. His devout wife was
born as the daughter of the priest of the temple and was
named Gouri. The woman Dubaki (the mortgagor) was born as
a male in the family of the Gurav (attendent) of the the
temple and was named Chenbassappa. The priest was a friend
of Mine, He often came to Me, chatted and smoked with Me.
His daughter Gouri was also devoted to Me. She was growing
fast and her father was seeking a good husband for her. I
told him not to worry about this as the bridegroom himself
would come seeking her. Then there came a poor boy named
Veerbhadrappa of their caste, wandering and begging his
bread to the priest's house. With My consent Gouri was
given in marriage to him. He was also at first devoted to
Me as I recommended his marriage with Gouri. Even in this
new life he was hankering after money and asked Me to help
him to get it as he was leading a married man's life.
Strange
things happened. There was a sudden rise in prices. By
Gouri's good luck, there was a great demand for land and
the endowment land was sold for one lakh of rupees (100
times the worth of her ornaments). Half the amount was
paid in cash and the remaining was to be paid in 25
instalments of Rs. 2,000/- each. All agreed to this
transaction, but began to quarrel over the money. They
came to Me for consultation. I told them that the property
belonged to God and was vested in the priest and Gouri was
his sole heiress and proprietress and no amount should be
spent without her consent and that her husband had no
right whatsoever to the amount. Hearing my opinion
Veerbhadrappa was wroth with Me and said that I wanted to
establish Gouri's claim and embezzle her property. Hearing
his words, I remembered God and kept quiet. Veerbhadrappa
scolded his wife (Gouri) and she came to Me at noon and
requested Me not to mind the words of others and not to
discard her as she was My daughter. As she thus sought My
protection I gave her a pledge that I would cross seven
seas to help her. Then that night Gouri had a vision.
Mahadev appeared in her dream and said - "The whole
money is yours, do not give anything to anybody, spend
some amount for temple purposes in consultation with
Chenbassappa and if you want to use it for some other
purpose, consult Baba in the Masjid (Myself)." Gouri
told Me the vision and I gave her the proper advice in the
matter. I told her to take the principal or capital amount
to herself, give half the amount of interest to
Chenbassappa and that Veerbhadrappa had nothing to do in
the matter. While I was thus talking, both Veerbhadrappa
and Chenbassappa came there quarreling. I tried My best to
appease them and told them God's vision to Gouri.
Veerbhadrappa got wild and angry and threatened to kill
Chenbassappa cutting him to pieces. The latter was timid,
he caught my feet and sought my refuge. I pledged Myself
to save him from the wrath of his foe. Then after some
time Veerbhadrappa died and was born as a snake and
Chenbassappa died and was born as a frog. Hearing the
croaking of Chenbassappa and remembering my pledge, I came
here, saved him and kept My word. God runs to His devotees
for help in times of danger. He saved Chenbassappa (the
frog) by sending Me here. All this is God's Leela or
sport."
The
Moral
The
moral of the story is that one has to reap what one sows,
and there is no escape unless one suffers and squares up
one's old debts and dealings with others, and that greed
for money drags the greedy man to the lowest level and
ultimately brings destruction on him and others.
Bow
to Shri Sai - Peace be to all
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