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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