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Chapter
XLIX
Stories
of (1) Hari Kanoba - (2) Somadeva Swami - (3) Nanasaheb
Chandorkar.
Preliminary
The
Vedas and the Puranas cannot sufficiently praise
(describe) Brahma or Sad-guru; then how can we, who are
ignorant, describe our Sad-guru Shri Sai Baba? We think
that it is better for us to keep quiet in this matter. In
reality the observance of the vow of silence is the best
way of praising the Sad-guru; but the good qualities of
Sai Baba make us forget our vow of silence and inspire us
to open our mouth. Good dishes taste flat if there be no
company of friends and relations to partake of the dishes
with us, but when they join us, the dishes acquire
additional flavour. The same is the case with the Sai
Leelamrit - the nectar in the form of Sai's leelas. This
nectar we cannot partake alone. Friends and brothers have
to join us - the more the better.
It is Sai
Baba Himself that inspires these stories and gets them
written as He desires. Our duty is to surrender completely
to Him and meditate on Him. Practising penance is better
than pilgrimage, vow, sacrifice, and charity. Worshipping
Hari (Lord) is better than penance, and meditation on the
Sad-guru is the best of all. We have, therefore, to chant
Sai's name by mouth, think over His sayings in our mind,
meditate on His form, feel real love for Him in our heart
and do all our actions for His sake. There is no better
means than this for snapping the bondage of samsar. If we
can do our duty on our part as stated above, Sai is bound
to help and liberate us. Now we revert to the stories of
this chapter.
Hari
Kanoba
A
gentleman of Bombay named Hari Kanoba heard from his
friends and relations many Leelas of Baba. He did not
believe in them as he was a doutbing Thomas. He wanted to
test Baba himself. So he came to Shirdi with some Bombay
friends. He wore a lace-bordered turban on his head and a
new pair of sandals on his feet. Seeing Baba from a
distance he thought of going to Him and prostrating
himself before Him. He did not know what to do with his
new sandals. Still going to some corner outside in the
open courtyard, he placed them there and went in the
Masjid and took Baba's darshan. He made a reverential bow
to Baba, took udi and prasad from Baba and returned. When
he reached the corner he found that his sandals had
disappeared. He searched for them in vain and returned to
his lodging very much dejected.
He
bathed, offered worship and naivedya and sat for meals,
but all the while he was thinking about nothing but his
sandals. After finishing his meals, he came out to wash
his hands when he saw a Maratha boy coming towards him. He
had in his hand a stick, on the top of which was suspended
a pair of new sandals. He said to the men who had come out
to wash their hands that Baba sent him with this stick in
hand and asked him to go on the streets crying - "Hari
Ka Beta. Jari Ka Pheta" and told him that "If
anybody claims these sandals, first assure yourself that
his name is Hari and that he is the son of Ka, i.e.,
Kanoba, and that he wears a lace-bordered turban and then
give them to him." Hearing this, Hari Kanoba was
pleasantly surprised. He went ahead to the boy and claimed
the sandals as his own. He said to the boy that his name
was Hari and that he was the son of Ka (Kanoba) and showed
him his lace-bordered turban. The boy was satisfied and
returned the sandals to him. Hari Kanoba wondered in his
mind saying that his lace-bordered turban was visible to
all and Baba might have seen it, but how could he know his
name Hari and that he was the son of Kanoba, as this was
his first trip to Shirdi. He came there with the sole
object of testing Baba and with no other motive. He came
to know by this incident that Baba was a great Satpurush.
He got what he wanted and returned home well-pleased.
Somadeva
Swami
Now
hear the story of another man who came to try Baba. Bhaiji,
brother of Kakasaheb Dixit was staying at Nagpur. When he
had gone to the Himalayas in 1906 A.D., he made an
acquaintance with one Somadeva Swami of Haradwar at
Uttarkashi down the Gangotri valley. Both took down each
other's names in their diaries. Five years afterwards
Somadeva Swami came to Nagpur and was Bhaiji's guest.
There he was pleased to hear the Leelas of Baba and a
strong desire arose in his mind to go to Shirdi and see
Him. He got a letter of introduction from Bhaiji and left
for Shirdi. After passing Manmad and Kopergaon, he took a
tanga and drove to Shirdi. As he came near Shirdi he saw
two high flags floating over the Masjid in Shirdi.
Generally we find different ways of behaviour, different
modes of living and different outward paraphernalia with
different saints. But these outward signs should never be
our standards to judge the worth of the saints. But with
Somadeva Swami it was different. As soon as he saw the
flags flying, he thought - "Why should a saint take a
liking for the flags, does this denote sainthood? It
implies the saint's hankering after fame." Thinking
thus he wished to cancel his Shirdi trip and said to his
fellow travellers that he would go back. They said to him
- "Then why did you come so long? If your mind gets
restless by the sight of the flags, how much more agitated
would you be on seeing in Shirdi the Ratha (car), the
palanquin, the horse and all other paraphernalia?"
The Swami got more confounded and said - "Not a few
such Sadhus, with horses, palanquins and tom-toms have I
seen and it is better for me to return than see such
Sadhus." Saying this he started to return. The
fellow-travellers pressed him not to do so, but to
proceed. They asked him to stop his crooked
way of thinking and told him that the Sadhu, i.e.,
Baba did not care a bit for the flags and other
paraphernalia, nor for fame. It was the people, His
devotees that kept up all this paraphernalia out of love
and devotion to Him. Finally he was persuaded to continue
his journey, go to Shirdi and see Baba. When he went and
saw Baba from the courtyard, he was melted inside, his
eyes were full of tears, his throat was choked and all his
evil and crooked thoughts vanished. He remembered his
Guru's saying that - 'that is our abode and place of rest
where the mind is most pleased and charmed.' He wished to
roll himself in the dust of Baba's Feet and when he
approached Baba, the latter got wild and cried aloud -
"Let all our humbug (paraphernalia) be with us, you
go back to your home, beware if you come back to this
Masjid. Why take the darshan of one who flies a flag over
his Masjid? Is this a sign of sainthood? Remain here not a
moment." The Swami was taken aback by surprise. He
realized that Baba read his heart and spoke it out. How
omniscient He was! He knew that he was least intelligent
and that Baba was noble and pure. He saw Baba embracing
somebody, touching someone with his hand, comforting
others, staring kindly at some, laughing at others, giving
udi prasad to some and thus pleasing and satisfying all.
Why should he alone be dealt with so harshly? Thinking
seriously he came to realize that Baba's conduct responded
exactly to his inner thought and that he should take a
lesson from this and improve; and that Baba's wrath was a
blessing in disguise. It is needless to say that later on,
his faith in Baba was confirmed and he became a staunch
devotee of Baba.
Nanasaheb
Chandorkar
Hemadpant
concludes this chapter with a story of Nanasaheb
Chandorkar. When Nanasaheb was once sitting in the Masjid
with Mhalasapati and others, a Mahomedan gentlemen from
Bijapur came with his family to see Baba. Seeing gosha
(veiled) ladies with him, Nanasaheb wanted to go away, but
Baba prevented him from doing so. The ladies came and took
the darshan of Baba. When one of the ladies removed her
veil in saluting Baba's feet and then resumed it again,
Nanasaheb, who saw her face, was so much smitten with her
rare beauty that he wished to see her face again. Knowing
Nana's restlessness of mind, Baba spoke to him after the
lady had left the place as follows - "Nana, why are
you getting agitated in vain? Let the senses do their
allotted work, or duty, we should not meddle with their
work. God has created this beautiful world and it is our
duty to appreciate its beauty. The mind will get steady
and calm slowly and gradually. When the front door was
open, why go by the back one? When the heart is pure,
there is no difficulty, whatsoever. Why should one be
afraid of any one if there be no evil thought in us? The
eyes may do their work, why should you feel shy and
tottering?"
Shama was
there and he could not follow the meaning of what Baba
said. So he asked Nana about this on their way home. Nana
told him about his restlessness at the sight of the
beautiful lady, how Baba knew it and advised him about it.
Nana explained Baba's meaning as follows - "That our
mind is fickle by nature, it should not be allowed to get
wild. The senses may get restless, the body, however,
should be held in check and not allowed to be impatient.
Senses run after objects, but we should not follow them
and crave for their objects. By slow and gradual practice
retlessness can be conquered. We should not be swayed by
the senses, but they cannot be completely controlled. We
should curb them rightly and properly according to the
need of the occasion. Beauty is the subject of sight; we
should fearlessly look at the beauty of objects. There is
no room for shyness or fear. Only we should never
entertain evil thoughts. Making the mind desireless,
observe God's works of beauty. In this way the senses will
be easily and naturally controlled and even in enjoying
objects you will be reminded of God. If the outer senses
are not held in check and if the mind be allowed to run
after objects and be attached to them, our cycle of births
and deaths will not come to an end. Objects of sense are
things harmful. With Viveka (discrimination) as our
charioteer, we will control the mind and will not allow
the senses to go astray. With such a charioteer we reach
the Vishnu-pada, the final abode, our real Home from which
there is no return."
Bow
to Shri Sai - Peace be to all
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