Beezone


Shri Sai Satcharitra

Chapter I

Salutations — The Story of Grinding Wheat and Its
Philosophical

Significance.

According to the ancient and revered custom, Hemadpant
begins

the work, Sai Satcharitra, with various salutations.

(1) First, he makes obeisance to the God Ganesha1 to
remove all

obstacles and make the work a success and says that Shri
Sai is the God

Ganesha.

(2) Then, to the Goddess Saraswati2 to inspire him to
write out the

work and says that Shri Sai is one with this Goddess and
that He is

Himself singing His own life.

(3) Then, to the Gods; Brahma, Vishnu and Shankar – the
Creating,

Preserving and Destroying Deities respectively; and says
that Sainath

is one with them and He as the great Teacher, will carry
us across the

River of Wordly Existence.

(4) Then, to his tutelary Deity Narayan Adinath who
manifested

himself in Konkan – the land reclaimed by Parashurama3,
(Rama in the

Hindi version) from the sea; and to the Adi (Original)
Purusha4 of the

family.

(5) Then, to the Bharadwaja Muni, into whose gotra (clan)
he

was born and also to various Rishis, Yagyavalakya,
Bhrigu, Parashara,

Narad, Vedavyasa, Sanak, Sanandan, Sanatkumar, Shuka.
Shounak,

Vishwamitra, Vasistha, Valmiki, Vamadeva, Jaimini,
Vaishampayan,

Nava Yogindra etc, and also modern Saints such as
Nivritti, Jnanadev,

Sopan, Muktabai, Janardan, Ekanath, Namdev, Tukaram,
Kanha, and

Narahari etc.

1. God Ganesha, a son of Lord Shiva, bears the head of an
elephant and the body

of a human being. When starting anything. He is
worshipped by the Hindu.

2. Goddess of learning.

3. One of the Avtars of incarnations of God (before Lord
Rama)

4. Man

2 SHRI SAI SATCHARITRA

(6) Then, to his grandfather Sadashiv, father Raghunath,
his mother,

who left him in his infancy, to his paternal aunt, who
brought him up,

and to his loving elder brother.

(7) Then, to the readers and prays them to give their
whole and

undivided attention to his work.

(8) And lastly, to his Guru Shri Sainath – an Incarnation
of Shri

Dattatreya, Who is his sole Refuge and Who will make him
realize that

Brahman is the Reality and the world an illusion; and
incidentally, to all

the Beings in whom the Lord God dwells.

After describing in brief the various modes of devotion
according

to Parashara, Vyasa and Shandilya etc., the author goes
on to relate the

following story:

“It was sometime after 1910 A.D. that I went, one fine
morning,

to the Masjid in Shirdi for getting a darshan of Sai
Baba. I was

wonderstruck to see the following phenomenon. After
washing His

mouth and face, Sai Baba began to make preparations for
grinding wheat.

He spread a sack on the floor; and thereon set a
hand-mill. He took

some quantity of wheat in a winnowing fan, and then
drawing up the

sleeves of His Kafni (robe); and taking hold of the peg
of the hand-mill,

started grinding the wheat by putting a few handfuls of
wheat in the

upper opening of the mill and rotoated it. I thought-
‘What business

Baba had with the grinding of wheat, when He possessed
nothing and

stored nothing, and as He lived on alms!’Some people who
had come

there thought likewise, but none had the courage to ask
baba what He

was doing. Immediately, this news of Baba’s grinding
wheat spread into

the village, and at once men and women ran to the Masjid
and flocked

there to see Baba’s act. Four bold women, fro m the
crowd, forced their

way up and pushing Baba aside, took forcibly the peg or
handle into

their hands, and, singing Baba’s Leelas, started
grinding. At first Baba

was enraged, but on seeing the women’s love and devotion,
He was

much pleased and began to smile. While they were
grinding, they began

to think that Baba had no house, no property, no
children, none to

look after, and He lived on alms, He did not require any
wheat-flour for

making bread or roti, what will He do with this big
quantity of flour?

Perhaps as Baba is very kind, He will distribute the
flour amongst us.

Thinking in this way while singing, they finished the
grinding and after

putting the hand-mill aside, they divided the flour into
four portions

and began to remove them one per head. Baba, Who was
calm

3

and quiet up till now, got wild and started abusing them
saying, “Ladies,

are you gone mad? Whose father’s property are you looting
away?

Have I borrowed any wheat from you, so that you can
safely take the

flour? Now please do this. Take the flour and throw it on
the village

border limits.” On hearing this, the women felt abashed
and whispering

amongst themselves, went away to the outskirts of the
village and spread

the flour as directed by Baba.

I asked the Shirdi people – “What was this that Baba
did?” They

replied that as the Cholera Epidemic was spreading in the
village and

this was Baba’s remedy against the same; it was not wheat
that was

ground but the Cholera itself was ground to pieces and
pushed out of the

village. From this time onward, the Cholera Epidemic
subsided and the

people of the village were happy. I was much pleased to
know all this;

but at the same time my curiosity was also aroused. I
began to ask myself

– What earthly connection was there between wheat flour
and Cholera?

What was the casual relation between the two? and how to
reconcile

them? The incident seems to be inexplicable. I should
write something

on this and sing to my heart’s content Baba’s sweet
Leelas. Thinking

in this way about this Leela, my heart was filled with
joy and I was

thus inspired to write Baba’s Life – The Satcharita.

And as we know, with Baba’s grace and blessing this work
was

successfully accomplished.

Philosophical Significance of Grinding

Apart from the meaning which the people of Shirdi put on
this

incident of grinding wheat, there is, we think, a
philosophical significance

too. Sai Baba lived in Shirdi for about sixty years and
during this

long period, He did the business of grinding almost every
day – not,

however, the wheat alone; but the sins, the mental and
physical afflications

and the miseries of His innumerable devotees. The two
stones of His

mill consisted of Karma and Bhakti, the former being the
lower and the

latter the upper one. The handle with which Baba worked
the mill consisted

of Jnana. It was the firm conviction of Baba that
Knowledge or

Self-realization is not possible, unless there is the
prior act of grinding

of all our impulses, desires, sins; and of the three
gunas, viz. Sattva,

Raja and Tama; and the Ahamkara, which is so subtle and
therefore so

difficult to be got rid of.

This reminds us of a similar story of Kabir who seeing a
woman

CHAPTER I

4 SHRI SAI SATCHARITRA

grinding corn said to his Guru, Nipathiranjana, “I am
weeping because I

 

feel the agony of being crushed in this wheel of wordly
existence like

the corn in the hand-mill.” Nipathiranjana replied, “Do
not be afraid;

hold fast to the handle of knowledge of this mill, as I
do, and do not

wander far away from the same but turn inward to the
Centre, and you

are sure to be saved.

Bow to Shri Sai — Peace be to all

 

 

Chapter II

Object of Writing the Work – Incapacity and Boldness in
the Undertaking

– Hot Discussion – Conferring Significant and Prophetic
Title

of Hemadpant – Necessity of a Guru.

In the last Chapter, the author mentioned in the original
Marathi

book that he would state the reason that led him to
undertake the work,

and the persons qualified to read the same and such other
points. Now in

this chapter, he starts to tell the same.

Object of Writing the Work

In the first chapter, I described Sai Baba’s miracle of
checking and

destroying the epidemic of Cholera by grinding wheat and
throwing the

flour, on the outskirts of the village. I heard other
miracles of Sai Baba

to my great delight, and this delight burst forth into
this poetic work. I

also thought, that the description of these grand
miracles of Sai Baba

would be interesting, and instructive to His devotees;
and would remove

their sins, and so I began to write the sacred life and
teachings of Sai

Baba. The life of the saint is neither logical nor
dialectical. It shows us

the true and great path.

Incapacity and Boldness in Undertaking the Work

Hemadpant thought that he was not a fit person to
undertake

the work. He said, “I do not know the life of my intimate
friend nor

do I know my own mind, then how can I write the life of a
saint or

describe the nature of Incarnations, which even the Vedas
were unable

to do? One must be a saint himself, before he could
know

other saints, then how can I describe their glory? To
write the life

of a saint is the most difficult, though one may as well
measure the

depth of the water of the seven seas or enclose the sky
with clothtrappings.

I knew, that this was the most venturous undertaking,

which might expose me to ridicule. I, therefore, invoked
Sai Baba’s

grace.

The premier poet-saint of Maharashtra, Shri Jnaneshwar
Maharaj,

has stated that the Lord loves those who write the lives
of saints; and

the saints also have a peculiar method of their own of
getting the

service, which the devotees long for, successfully
accomplished. The

6 SHRI SAI SATCHARITRA

saints inspire the work, the devotee becomes only an
indirect cause or

instrument to achieve the end. For instance, in 1700
Shaka year1, the

poet Mahipati aspired to write the lives of saints.
Saints inspired him,

and got the work done; so also in 1800 Shaka year,2 Das
Ganu’s service

was accepted. The former wrote 4 works-Bhakta Vijaya,
Santa Vijaya,

Bhakta Leelamrit and Santa Kathamrit, while the latter
wrote two –

“Bhakta Leelamrit and Santa Kathamrit”, in which the
lives of modern

Saints were described. In chapters 31,32,33 of Bhakta
Leelamrit and in

chapter 57 of Santa Kathamrit, the sweet life and
teachings of Sai Baba

are very well depicted. These have been separately
published in Sai Leela

Magazine, Nos. 11 and 12, Vol. 17; the readers are
advised to read these

chapters. So also Sai Baba’s wonderful Leelas are
described in a small

decent book named Shri Sainath Bhajana Mala by Mrs.
Savitribai

Raghunath Tendulkar of Bandra. Das-Ganu Maharaj also has
composed

various sweet poems on Sai Baba. A devotee named Amidas
Bhavani

Mehta, has also published some stories of Sri Baba in
Gujarathi; some

Nos. of Sainath Prabha, a magazine published by Dakshina
Bhiksha

Sanstha of Shirdi, are also published. Then the question
of objection

comes in, that while so many works regarding Sai Baba are
extant, why

should this (Satcharita) be written? and where is its
necessity?

The answer is plain and simple. The life of Sai Baba is
as wide

and deep as the infinite ocean; and all can dive deep
into the same and

take out precious gems (of knowledge and Bhakti), and
distribute them

to the aspiring public. The stories, parables, and
teachings of Sai Baba

are very wonderful. They will give peace and happiness to
the people,

who are afflicted with sorrows and heavily loaded with
miseries of

this worldly existence, and also bestow knowledge and
wisdom, both

in the worldly and in spiritual domains. If these
teachings of Sai Baba,

which are as interesting and instructive as the Vedic
lore, are listened

to and meditated upon, the devotees will get, what they
long for, viz.,

union with Brahman, mastery in eight-fold Yoga, Bliss of
meditation

etc. So I thought, that I should call these stories
together that would

be my best Upasana. This collection would be most
delightful to those

simple souls, whose eyes were not blessed with Sai Baba’s
darshana.

So, I set aboust collecting Sai Baba’s teachings and
expressions –

the outcome of His boundless and natural
self-realization. It was

1. 1700 SA + 78 = 1778 A.D.

A.D.+ 57 = Vikrami year

2. 1878 A.D.

7

Sai Baba, who inspired me in this matter; in fact, I
surrendered my ego

at His feet, and thought that my path was clear; and that
He would make

me quite happy here, and in the next world.

I could not myself ask Sai Baba to give me permission for
this

work; so I requested Mr. Madhavrao Deshpande alias Shama,
Baba’s

most intimate devotee, to speak to Him for me. He pleaded
for my cause

and said to Sai Baba, “This Annasaheb wishes to write
Your biography,

don’t say that You are a poor begging Fakir, and there is
no necessity to

write it, but if You agree and help him, he will write or
rather, Your feet

(grace) will accomplish the work. Without Your consent
and blessing,

nothing can be done successfully.” When Sai Baba heard
this request,

He was moved and blessed me by giving me His Udi (sacred
ashes) and

placing His boon-bestowing hand on my head said :- “Let
him make a

collection of stories and experiences, keep notes and
memos; I will help

him. He is only an outward instrument. I should write
Myself My autobiography

and satisfy the wishes of My devotees. He should get rid
of

his ego, place (or surrender) it at My feet. He who acts
like this in life,

him I help the most. What of My life-stories? I serve him
in his house in

all possible ways. When his ego is completely annihilated
and there is

left no trace of it, I Myself shall enter into him and
shall Myself write

My own life. Hearing my stories and teachings will create
faith in devotees’

hearts and they will easily get self – realization and
Bliss; let there

be no insistence on establishing one’s own view, no
attempt to refute

other’s opinions, no discussions of pros and cons of any
subject.”

The word ‘discussion’ put me in mind of my promise to
explain the

story of my getting the title of Hemadpant and now I
begin to relate the

same. I was on close friendly terms with Kakasaheb Dixit
and Nanasaheb

Chandorkar. They pressed me to go to Shirdi and have
Baba’s darshana,

and I promised them to do so. But something in the
interval turned up,

which prevented me from going to shirdi. The son of a
friend of mine at

Lonavala fell ill. My friend tried all possible means,
physical and spiritual,

but the fever would not abate. At length he got his Guru
to sit by the

bed-side of his son, but this too was of no avail.
Hearing this, I thought

ëwhat was the utility of the Guru, if he could not
save my friend’s son?

If the Guru can’t do anything for us, why should I go to
Shirdi at all?’

Thinking in this way, I postponed my Shirdi-trip; but the
inevitable must

happen and it happened in my case as follows : – Mr.
Nanasaheb

Chandorkar, who was a Prant Officer, was going on tour to
Bassein. From

Thana he came to Dadar and was waiting for a train bound
for Bassein.

CHAPTER II

8 SHRI SAI SATCHARITRA

In the meanwhile, a Bandra Local turned up. He, sat in it
and came to

Bandra; and sent for me and took me to task for putting
off my Shirdi

trip. Nana’s argument for my Shirdi trip was convincing
and delightful,

and so I decided to start for Shirdi, the same night. I
packed up my

luggage and started for Shirdi. I planned to go to Dadar
and there to

catch the train for Manmad, and so I booked myself for
Dadar and sat in

the train. While the train was to start, a Mahomedan came
hastily to my

compartment and seeing all my paraphernalia, asked me
where I was

bound to. I told him my plan. He then suggested that I
should straight go

to Boribunder, and not get down at Dadar, for the Manmad
Mail did not

get down at Dadar at all. If this little miracle or Leela
had not happened,

I would not have reached Shirdi next day as settled, and
many doubts

would have assailed me. But that was not to be. As
fortune favoured me,

I reached Shirdi the next day before 9 or 10 A.M. Mr.
Bhausaheb (Kaka)

Dixit was waiting for me there. This was in 1910 A.D.,
when there was

only one place, viz., Sathe’s Wada for lodging pilgrim
devotees. After

alighting from the Tonga, I was anxious to have darshana,
when the

great devotee, Tatyasaheb Noolkar returned from the
Masjid and said

that Sai Baba was at the corner of the Wada, and that I
should first get

the preliminary darshana and then, after bath, see Him at
leisure. Hearing

this I ran and prostrated before Baba and then my joy
knew no bounds.

I found more than what Nana Chandorkar had told me. All
my senses

were satisfied and I forgot thirst and hunger. The moment
I touched Sai

Baba’s feet, I began a new lease of life. I felt myself
much obliged to

those who spurred and helped me to get the darshana; and
I considered

them as my real relatives, and I cannot repay their debt.
I only remember

them and prostrate (mentally) before them. The
peculiarity of Sai

Baba’s darshana, as I found it, is that by His darshana
our thoughts are

changed, the force of previous actions is abated and
gradually nonattachment

of dispassion towards worldly objects grows up. It is by
the

merit of actions in many past births that such darshana
is got, and if only

you see Sai Baba, really all the world becomes or assumes
the form of

Sai Baba.

Hot Discussion

On the first day of my arrival in Shirdi, there was a
discussion

between me and Balasaheb Bhate regarding the necessity of
a Guru.

I contended, “Why should we lose our freedom and submit
to others?

When we have to do our duty, why a Guru is necessary?
One

must try his best and save himself. What can the Guru do
to a man

who does nothing but sleeps indolently?” Thus I pleaded
freewill,

9

while Mr. Bhate took up the other side, viz., Destiny,
and said, “Whatever

is bound to happen must happen; even great men have
failed, man

proposes one way, but God disposes the other (contrary)
way. Brush

aside your cleverness; pride or egoism won’t help you.”
This discussion,

with all its pros and cons went on for an hour or so, and
as usual no

decision was arrived at. We had to stop the discussion
ultimately as we

were exhausted. The net result of this was that I lost my
peace of mind

and found that unless there is strong body-consciousness
and egoism,

there would be no discussion; in other words, it is
egoism which breeds

discussion.

Then when we went to the Masjid with others, Baba
asked

Kakasaheb Dixit the following:-

“What was going on in the (Sathe’s) Wada? What was the
discussion

about?” and staring at me, Baba further added, “What did
this

Hemadpant say?”

Hearing these words, I was much surprised. The Masjid was
at a

considerable distance from Sathe’s Wada where I was
staying and where

the discussion was going on. How could Baba know our
discussion unless

He be omniscient and Inner Ruler of us all?

Significant and Prophetic Title

I began to think why Sai Baba should call me by the
name

Hemadpant. This word is a corrupt form of Hemadripant.
This

Hemadripant was a wellknown Minister of the kings Mahadev
and

Ramadev of Devgiri of the Yadav dynasty. He was very
learned, goodnatured

and the author of good works, such as Chaturvarga
Chintamani

(dealing with spiritual subjects) and Rajprashasti. He
invented and started

new methods of accounts and was the originator of the
Modi (Marathi

Shorthand) script. But I was quite the opposite, an
ignoramus, and of

dull, mediocre intellect. So I could not understand why
the name or title

was conferred upon me, but thinking seriously upon it, I
thought that the

title was a dart to destroy my ego, so that, I should
always remain meek

and humble. It was also a compliment paid to me for the
cleverness in

the discussion.

Looking to the future history, we think that Baba’s word
(calling

Mr. Dabholkar by the name Hemadpant) was significant
and

prophetic, as we find that he looked after the management
of Sai

Sansthan very intelligently, kept nicely all the accounts
and was also

the author of such a good work “Sai Satcharita”, which
deals with

CHAPTER II

1 0 SHRI SAI SATCHARITRA

such important and spiritual subjects as Jnana, Bhakti
and dispassion,

self-surrender and self-realization.

About the Necessity of a Guru

Hemadpant has left no note, no memo about what Baba said
regarding

this subject, but Kakasaheb Dixit has published his notes
regarding

this matter. Next day after Hemadpant’s meeting with Sai
Baba,

Kakasaheb went to Baba and asked whether he should leave
Shirdi. Baba

Said, “Yes”. Then someone asked – “Baba, where to go?”
Baba said,

“High up.” Then the man said, “How is the way?” Baba
said, “There are

many ways leading there; there is one way also from here
(Shirdi). The

way is difficult. There are tigers and wolves in the
jungles on the way.”

I (Kakasaheb) asked – “But Baba, what if we take a guide
with us?”

Baba answered, – “Then there is no difficulty. The guide
will take you

straight to your destination, avoiding wolves, tigers and
ditches etc. on

the way. If there be no guide, there is the danger of
your being lost in the

jungles or falling into ditches.” Mr. Dabholkar was
present on this occasion

and he thought that this was the answer Baba gave to the
question

whether Guru was a necessity (Vide Sai Leela Vol. I,
No.5, Page 47);

and he thereupon took the hint that no discussion of the
problem, whether

man is free or bound, is of any use in spiritual matters,
but that on the

contrary real Paramartha is possible only as the result
of the teachings

of the Guru, as is illustrated in this chapter of the
original work in the

instances of great Avatars like Rama and Krishna, who had
to submit

themselves to their Gurus, Vasishtha and Sandipani
respectively, for

getting self- realization and that the only virtues
necessary for such

progress are faith and patience. (Vide Sai Satcharita,
Ch. II, 191-92).

Bow to Shri Sai — Peace be to all

 

Chapter III

Sai Baba’s Sanction and Promise – Assignment of Work to
Devotees

– Baba’s Stories as Beacon – Light – His Motherly Love –
Rohilla’s

Story – His sweet and Nectar – like Words.

Sai Baba’s Sanction and Promise

As described in the previous chapter, Sai Baba gave His
complete

assent to the writing of the Sat-Charita and said, “I
fully agree with you

regarding the writing of Sat Charita. You do your duty,
don’t be afraid in

the least, steady your mind and have faith in My words.
If my Leelas are

written, the Avidya (nescience) will vanish and if they
are attentively,

and devoutly listened to, the consciousness of the
worldly existence will

abate, and strong waves of devotion, and love will rise
up and if one

dives deep into My Leelas, he would get precious jewels
of knowledge.”

Hearing this, author was much pleased, and he at once
became

fearless and confident, and thought that work was bound
to be a success.

Then turning to Shama (Madhavrao Deshpande) Sai Baba
said.

“If a man utters My name with love, I shall fulfill all
his wishes,

increase his devotion. And if he sings earnestly My life
and My deeds,

him I shall beset in front and back and on all sides.
Those devotees, who

are attached to Me, heart and soul, will naturally feel
happiness, when

they hear these stories. Believe Me that if anybody sings
My Leelas, I

will give him infinite joy and everlasting contentment.
It is My special

characteristic to free any person, who surrenders
completely to Me, and

who does worship Me faithfully, and who remembers Me, and
meditates

on Me constantly. How can they be conscious of worldly
objects

and sensations, who utter My name, who worship Me, who
think of My

stories and My life and who thus always remember Me? I
shall draw out

My devotees from the jaws of Death. If My stories are
listened to, all the

diseases will be got rid of. So, hear My stories with
respect; and think

and meditate on them, assimilate them. This is the way of
happiness and

contentment. The pride and egoism of My devotees will
vanish, the mind

of the hearers will be set at rest; and if it has
wholehearted and complete

faith, it will be one with Supreme Consciousness. The
simple remembrance

of My name as ‘Sai, Sai’ will do away with sins of speech
and

hearing”.

1 2 SHRI SAI SATCHARITRA

Different Works Assigned to Devotees

The Lord entrusts different works to different devotees.
Some are

given the work of building temples and maths, or ghats
(flight of steps)

on rivers; some are made to sing the glories of God; some
are sent on

pilgrimages; but to me was allotted the work of writing
the Sat Charita.

Being a jack of all trades but master of none, I was
quite unqualified for

this job. Then why should I undertake such a difficult
job? Who can

describe the true life of Sai Baba? Sai Baba’s grace
alone can enable one

to accomplish this difficult work. So, when I took up the
pen in my

hand, Sai Baba took away my egoism and wrote Himself His
stories.

The credit of relating these stories, therefore, goes to
Him and not to

me. Though Brahmin by birth, I lacked the two eyes. (i.e.
the sight or

vision) of Shruti and Smriti and therefore was not at all
capable of writing

the Sat-Charita, but the grace of the Lord makes a dumb
man talk,

enables a lame man to cross a mountain. He alone knows
the knack of

getting things done as He likes. Neither the flute, nor
the harmonium

knows how the sounds are produced. This is the concern of
the Player.

The oozing of Chandrakant jewel and the surging of the
sea are not due

to the jewel and the sea but to the rise of the moon.

Baba’s Stories as Beacon- Light

Light houses are constructed at various places in the
sea, to enable

the boatmen to avoid rocks and dangers, and make them
sail safely. Sai

Baba’s stories serve a similar purpose in the ocean of
worldly existence.

They surpass nectar in sweetness, and make our worldly
path smooth

and easy to traverse. Blessed are the stories of the
saints. When they

enter our hearts through the ears, the body –
consciousness or egoism

and the sense of duality vanish; and when they are stored
in the heart,

doubts fly out to all sides, pride of the body will fall,
and wisdom will be

stored in abundance. The description of Baba’s pure fame,
and the hearing

of the same, with love, will destroy the sins of the
devotee and,

therefore, this is the simple Sadhana for attaining
salvation. The Sadhana

for Krita Age was Shamadama (tranquillity of mind and
body), for Treta

Age, sacrifice, for Dwapara, worship, and for Kali
(present) Age, it is

singing of the name and glory of the Lord. This last
Sadhana is open to

all the people of the four varnas (Brahmins, etc.). The
other Sadhanas,

viz. Yoga, Yagya (sacrifice), Dhyana (meditation) and
Dharana (concentration)

are very difficult to practice, but singing and hearing
the stories

and the glory of the Lord (Sai Baba) is very easy. We
have only to turn

13

our attention towards them. The listening and singing of
the stories will

remove the attachment to the senses and their objects,
and will make the

devotees dispassionate, and will ultimately lead them to
self-realization.

With this end in view, Sai Baba made me or helped me to
write His

stories, Sat-Charitamrita. The devotees may now easily
read and hear

these stories of Sai Baba and while doing so, meditate on
Him, His form

and thus attain devotion to Guru and God (Sai Baba), get
detachment

and self-realization. In the preparation and writing of
this work, Sat-

Charitamrita, it is Sai Baba’s grace which has
accomplished everything,

making use of me as a mere instrument.

Motherly Love of Sai Baba

Everybody knows how a cow loves her infant calf. Her
udder is

always full and when the calf wants milk and dashes at
the udder, out

comes the milk in an unceasing flow. Similarly a human
mother knows

the wants of her child and feeds it, at her breast in
time. In case of dressing

and adorning the child, the mother takes particular care
to see that

this is well done. The child knows or cares nothing about
this, but the

mother’s joy knows no bounds, when she sees her child
beautifully

dressed and adorned. The love of mother is peculiar,
extraordinary and

disinterested, and has no parallel. Sadgurus feel this
motherly love towards

their disciples. Sai Baba had this same love towards me,
and I

give an instance of it below:-

In 1916 A.D. I retired from Government Service. The
pension that

was settled in my case was not sufficient to maintain my
family decently.

On Guru-Pournima (15th of Ashadha) day of that year, I
went to

Shirdi with other devotees. There, Mr. Anna Chinchanikar,
of his own

accord, prayed to Baba for me as follows:- “Please look
kindly on him,

the pension he gets is quite insufficient, his family is
growing. Give him

some other appointment, remove his anxiety and make him
happy.” Baba

replied – ” He will get some other job, but now he should
serve Me and

be happy. His dishes will be ever full and never empty.
He should turn

all his attention towards Me and avoid the company of
atheists, irreligious

and wicked people. He should be meek and humble towards
all

and worship Me heart and soul. If he does this, he will
get eternal

happiness”.

The question Who is this HE, Whose worship is advocated,
is already

answered in a note on “Who is Sai Baba” in the prologue,
at the

beginning of this work.

CHAPTER III

1 4 SHRI SAI SATCHARITRA

Rohilla’s Story

The story of the Rohilla illustrates Sai Baba’s all
embracing love.

One Rohilla, tall and well-built, strong as a bull, came
to Shirdi, wearing

a long Kafni (robe) and was enamoured of Sai who stayed
there.

Day and night he used to recite in a loud and harsh tone
Kalma (verses

from Holy Koran) and shout “ALLAH HO AKBAR” (God is
Great).

Most people of Shirdi, were working in their fields by
day and when

they returned to their homes at night, they were welcomed
with the

Rohilla’s harsh cries and shouts. They could get no sleep
and felt much

trouble and inconvenience. They suffered in silence this
nuisance for

some days, and when they could stand it no longer, they
approached

Baba, and requested Him to check the Rohilla and stop the
nuisance.

Baba did not attend to their complaint. On the contrary,
Baba took the

villagers to task, and asked them to mind their own
business, and not the

Rohilla. He said to them that the Rohilla had got a very
bad wife, a

Zantippi, who tried to come in and trouble the Rohilla
and Himself; but

hearing the Rohilla’s prayers, she dare not enter and
they were at peace

and happy. In fact, the Rohilla had no wife and by his
wife Baba meant

DURBUDDHI, i.e. bad thoughts. As Baba liked prayers and
cries to God

better than anything else, He took the side of the
Rohilla, and asked the

villagers to wait and suffer the nuisance, which would
abate in due course.

Baba’s Sweet and Nectar-like Words

One day at noon after the Arti, devotees were returning
to their

lodgings, when Baba gave the following beautiful
advice:-

“Be wherever you like, do whatever you choose, remember
this

well that all what you do is known to Me. I am the Inner
Ruler of all and

seated in their hearts. I envelope all the creatures, the
movable and immovable

world. I am the Controller – the wire-puller of the show
of this

Universe. I am the mother – origin of all beings – the
Harmony of three

Gunas, the propeller of all senses, the Creator,
Preserver and Destroyer.

Nothing will harm him, who turns his attention towards
Me, but Maya

will lash or whip him who forgets Me. All the insects,
ants, the visible,

movable and immovable world, is My Body or Form”.

Hearing these beautiful and precious words, I at once
decided

in my mind to serve no man henceforward, but my Guru
only; but

the reply of Baba to Anna Chinchanikar’s query (which was
really

mine) that I would get some job, began to revolve in my
mind, and I

began to think whether it would come to happen. As future
events

15

showed, Baba’s words came true and I got a Government
job, but that

was of short duration. Then I became free and solely
devoted my self to

the service of my Guru-Sai Baba.

Before concluding this Chapter, I request the readers to
leave out

the various hindrances viz. indolence, sleep, wandering
of mind, attachments

to senses, etc. and turn their whole and undivided
attention to

these stories of Sai Baba. Let their love be natural, let
them know the

secret of devotion; let them not exhaust themselves by
other Sadhanas,

let them stick to this one simple remedy, i.e. listening
to Sai Baba’s stories.

This will destroy their ignorance and will secure for
them salvation.

A miser may stay at various places; but he always thinks
of his

buried treasure. So let Sai Baba be enthroned in the
hearts of all.

In the next chapter, I shall speak of Sai Baba’s advent
in

Shirdi.

Bow to Shri Sai – Peace be to all

CHAPTER III

 

 

Chapter IV

SAI BABA’S FIRST ADVENT IN SHIRDI

Mission of the Saints – Shirdi a Holy Tirth – Personality
of Sai

Baba – Dictum of Goulibuva – Appearance of Vithal –
Kshirsagar’s Story

– Das Ganu’s Bath in Prayag – Immaculate Conception of
Sai Baba and

His First Advent in Shirdi – Three Wadas.

In the last chapter, I described the circumstances which
led me to

write Sai-Sat-Charita. Let me now describe the first
advent of Sai Baba

in Shirdi.

Mission of the Saints

Lord Krishna says in Bhagvadgita (Chapter IV, 7-8) that
“Whenever

there is a decay of Dharma (righteousness) and an
ascendancy of

unrighteousness, I manifest Myself; and for the
protection of the virtuous,

the destruction of the vicious and for the establishment
of righteousness,

I manifest Myself in age after age”.

This is the mission of Lord, and the Sages and Saints,
Who are His

representatives and Who appear here at proper times, help
in their own

way to fulfil that mission. For instance, when the twice
born, i.e. the

Brahmins, the Kshatriyas and the Vaishyas neglect their
duties and when

the Shudras try to usurp the rights of the higher
classes, when spiritual

preceptors are not respected but humiliated, when nobody
cares for religious

instructions, when every body thinks himself very
learned, when

people begin to partake of forbidden foods and
intoxicating drinks, when

under the cloak of religion, people indulge in
malpractices, when people

belonging to different sects fight amongst themselves,
when Brahmins

fail to do Sandhya adoration, and the orthodox their
religious practices,

when Yogis neglect their meditation, when people begin to
think

that wealth, progeny, wife are their sole concern, and
thus turn away

from the true path of salvation, then do Saints appear
and try to set matters

right by their words and action. They serve us as
beacon-lights, and

show us the right path, and the right way for us to
follow. In this way,

many saints, viz. Nivritti, Jnanadev, Muktabai, Namdev,
Gora, Gonayi,

Ekanath, Tukaram, Narahari, Narsi Bhai, Sajan Kasai,
Sawata, Ramdas,

and various others did appear at various times to show
the right path to

the people, and so presently came Shri Sai Baba of
Shirdi.

17

Shirdi – A Holy Tirth

The banks of the Godavari river, in the Ahmednagar
District, are

very fortunate for they gave birth and refuge to many a
Saint, prominent

amongst them being Jnaneshwar. Shirdi also falls in the
Kopargaon Taluka

of the Ahmednagar District. After crossing the Godavari
river at

Kopargaon, one gets the way to Shirdi. When you go three
Koss (9 miles),

you come to Nimgaon, from whence, Shirdi is visible.
Shirdi is as famous

and well-known as other holy places like Gangapur,
Narsinhwadi,

Audumbar on the banks of Krishna river. As the devotee
Damaji flourished

in and blessed Mangalvedha (near Pandharpur) as Samarth
Ramdas

at Sajjangad, as Shri Narasimha Saraswati at
Saraswatiwadi, so Sainath

flourished at Shirdi and blessed it.

Personality of Sai Baba

It is on account of Sai Baba that Shirdi grew into
importance. Let

us see what sort of a personage Sai Baba was. He
conquered this Samsar

(worldly existence), which is very difficult and hard to
cross. Peace or

mental calm was His ornament, and He was the repository
of wisdom.

He was the home of Vaishnava devotees, most liberal (like
Karna)

amongst liberals, the quint-essence of all essences. He
had no love for

perishable things, and was always engrossed in
self-realization, which

was His sole concern. He felt no pleasure in the things
of this world or

of the world beyond. His Antarang (heart) was as clear as
a mirror, and

His speech always rained nectar. The rich or poor people
were the same

to Him. He did not know or care for honour or dishonour.
He was the

Lord of all beings. He spoke freely and mixed with all
people, saw the

actings and dances of Nautchgirls and heard Gajjal songs.
Still, He

swerved not an inch from Samadhi (mental equilibrium).
The name of

Allah was always on His lips. While the world awoke, He
slept; and

while the world slept, He was vigilant. His abdomen
(Inside) was as

calm as the deep sea. His Ashram could not be determined,
nor His

actions could be definitely determined, and though He sat
(lived) in one

place, He knew all the transactions of the world. His
Darbar was imposing.

He told daily hundreds of stories, still He swerved not
an inch from

His vow of silence. He always leaned against the wall in
the Masjid or

walked morning, noon and evening towards Lendi (Nala) and
Chavadi;

still He at all times abided in the Self. Though a
Siddha, He acted like a

Sadhaka. He was meek, humble and egoless, and pleased
all. Such was

Sai Baba, and as the soil of Shirdi was trodden by Sai
Baba’s Feet, it

attained extraordinary importance. As jnaneshwar elevated
Alandi,

CHAPTER IV

1 8 SHRI SAI SATCHARITRA

Ekanath did to Paithan, so Sai Baba raised Shirdi.
Blessed are the grassleaves

and stones of Shirdi, for they could easily kiss the Holy
Feet of

Sai Baba, and take their dust on their head. Shirdi
became to us, devotees,

another Pandharpur, Jagannath, Dwarka, Banaras (Kashi)
and

Rameshwar, Badrikedar, Nasik, Tryambakeshwar, Ujjain, and
Maha

Kaleshwar or Mahabaleshwar Gokarn. Contact of Sai Baba in
Shirdi

was like our Veda and Tantra; it quieted our Samsara
(world consciousness)

and rendered self-realization easy. The darshana of shri
Sai was

our Yoga-Sadhana, and talk with Him removed our sins.
Shampooing

His Legs was our bath in Triveni Prayag, and drinking the
holy water of

His Feet destroyed our desires. To us, His commands were
Vedas, and

accepting (eating) His Udi (sacred ashes) and Prasad was
all purifying.

He was our Shri Krishna and Shri Rama who gave us solace
and He was

our Para Brahma (Absolute Reality). He was Himself beyond
the Pair of

dwandwas (opposite), never dejected nor elated. He was
always engrossed

in His Self as ëExistence, Knowledge and Bliss.’
Shirdi was His centre;

but His field of action extended far wide, to Punjab,
Calcutta, North

India, Gujarat, Dacca (Now in Bangladesh) and Konkan.
Thus the fame

of Sai Baba spread, far, and wide, and people from all
parts came to take

His darshana and be blessed. By mere darshan, minds of
people, whether,

pure or impure, would become at once quiet. They got here
the same

sort of unparalleled joy that devotees get at Pandharpur
by seeing Vithal

Rakhumai. This is not an exaggeration. Consider what a
devotee says in

this respect.

Dictum of Goulibuva

An old devotee by name Goulibuva, aged about 95 years,
was a

Varkari of Pandhari. He stayed 8 months at Pandharpur and
four months

– Ashadha to Kartik (July – November) on the banks of the
Ganges. He

had an ass with him for carrying his luggage, and a
disciple, as his companion.

Every year he made his Vari or trip to Pandharpur and
came to

Shirdi to see Sai Baba, Whom he loved most. He used to
stare at Baba

and say, “This is Pandharinath Vithal incarnate, the
merciful Lord of the

poor and helpless.” This Goulibuva was an old devotee of
Vithoba, and

had made many a trip to Pandhari; and he testified that
Sai Baba was

real Pandharinath.

Vithal Himself Appeared

Sai Baba was very fond of remembering and singing God’s
name.

He always uttered Allah Malik(God is Lord) ands in His
presence made

others sing God’s name continuously, day and night, for 7
days. This

19

is called Namasaptaha. Once He asked Das Ganu Maharaj to
do the

Namasaptaha. He replied that he would do it, provided he
was assured

that Vithal would appear at the end of the 7th day. Then
Baba, placing

His hand on his breast assured him that certainly Vithal
would appear,

but that the devotee must be ëearnest and devout’.
The Dankapuri

(Takore) of Takurnath, the Pandhari of Vithal, the Dwarka
of Ranchhod

(Krishna) is here (Shirdi). One need not go far out to
see Dwarka. Will

Vithal come here from some outside place? He is here.
Only when the

devotee is bursting with love and devotion, Vithal will
manifest Himself

here (Shirdi).*

After the Saptaha was over, Vithal did manifest Himself
in the

following manner. Kakasaheb Dixit was, as usual, sitting
in meditation

after the bath, and he saw Vithal in a vision. When he
went at noon for

Baba’s darshana, Baba asked him point-blank – “Did Vithal
Patil come?

Did you see Him? He is a very truant fellow, catch Him
firmly, otherwise,

he will escape, if you be a little inattentive.” This
happened in the

morning and at noon there was another Vithal darshana.
One hawker

from outside, came there for selling 25 or 30 pictures of
Vithoba. This

picture exactly tallied with the figure, that appeared in
Kakasaheb’s vision.

On seeing this and remembering Baba’s words, Kakasaheb
Dixit

was much surprised and delighted. He bought one picture
of Vithoba,

and placed it in his shrine for worship.

Bhagwantrao Kshirsagar’s Story

How fond was Baba for Vithal worship was illustrated
in

Bhagwantrao Kshirsagar’s story. The father of Bhagwantrao
was a

devotee of Vithoba, and used to make Varis (annual trips)
to

Pandharpur. He also had an image of Vithoba at home,
which he

*Mr. B.V.Deo, Retired Mamlatdar of Thana has proved by
his researches that Shirdi

comes in the limits of Pandharpur which was the
southern-most centre of Dwaraka and,

therefore, Shirdi was Dwaraka itself. (Vide Sai Leela,
Vol. 14. Nos. 1-2-3). I have come

across another definition of Dwarka, quoted from
Skanda-Puran by K.Narayan Aiyar in his

Permanent History of Bharatvarsha, Vol.2. Part 1. Page 90
which runs thus:-

îªûª’®Wg´’°œ
´®Ö_ù”ç
ߪ’vûª
üDy®ÖùÀ
Ææ®Wyûª” I

ÅûÓ
üDy®Ö´Bûª’uéh
Nü¿yGmlÆæhûªy¢ËCGm”
II

The place, where doors are open for all people, of the
four (Brahmin, Kshatriya,

Vaishya and Shudra) classes, for accomplishing the four
Purusharthas, viz. Dharma, Artha,

Karma and Moksha, is called Dwaraka by the wise
philosophers. Baba’s Masjid in Shirdi

was not only open to the four classes; but to the
depressed untouchables, lepers etc. like

Bhagoji Shinde and, therefore, it is very appropriately
styled Dwaraka.

CHAPTER IV

2 0 SHRI SAI SATCHARITRA

worshipped. After his death, the son stopped everything –
the Vari, the

worship and shraddha ceremony etc. When Bhagwantrao came
to Shirdi,

Baba on remembering his father, at once said – “His
father was my friend,

so I dragged him (the son) here. He never offered
naivaidya (offering of

food) and so he starved Vithal and Me. So I brought him
here. I shall

remonstrate him now and set him to worship.”

Das Ganu’s Bath in Prayag

The Hindus think that a bath in the holy Tirth of
Prayag1, where

the Ganga and Yamuna meet, is very meritorious and
thousands of pilgrims

go there, at periodical times, to have the sacred bath
there. Once,

Das Ganu thought that he should go to Prayag for a bath,
and came to

Baba to get His permission for doing so. Baba replied to
him – “It is not

necessary to go so long. Our Prayag is here, believe me.”
Then wonder

of wonders! When Das Ganu placed his head on Baba’s Feet,
out came

or flowed streams, of Ganga – Yamuna water, from both the
toes of Baba.

Seeing this miracle, Das Ganu was overwhelmed with
feelings of love

and adoration and was full of tears. Inwardly, he felt
inspired, and his

speech burst forth into a song in praise of Baba and His
Leelas.

Immaculate Conception of Sai Baba and

His First Advent in Shirdi

Nobody knew the parents, birth or birth-place of Sai
Baba. Many

inquiries were made, many questions were put to Baba and
others regarding

these items, but no satisfactory answer or information
has yet

been obtained. Practically we know nothing about these
matters.

Namdev and Kabir were not born like ordinary mortals.
They were

found as infants in mother-of-pearls, Namdev being found
on the bank

Bhimrathi river by Gonayee, and Kabir on the bank
Bhagirathi river

by Tamal. Similar was the case with Sai Baba. He first
manifested

Himself as a young lad of sixteen under a Neem tree in
Shirdi, for the

sake of Bhaktas. Even then He seemed to be full with the
knowledge

of Brahman. He had no desire for worldly objects even in
dream. He

kicked out Maya; and Mukti (deliverance) was serving at
His feet. One

old woman of Shirdi, the mother of Nana Chopdar,
described Him thus.

This young lad, fair, smart and very handsome, was first
seen under

the Neem tree, seated in an Asan. The people of the
village were

wonder-struck to see such a young lad practising hard
penance, not

1. Allahabad in U.P.

21

minding heat and cold. By day he associated with none, by
night he

was afraid of nobody. People were wondering and asking,
whence this

young chap had turned up. His form and features were so
beautiful that

a mere look endeared Him to all. He went to nobody’s
door, always sat

near the Neem tree. Outwardly he looked very young; but
by His action

he was really a Great Soul. He was the embodiment of
dispassion and

was an enigma to all. One day it so happened, that God
Khandoba possessed

the body of some devotee and people began to ask Him,
“Deva

(God), you please enquire what blessed father’s son is
this lad and whence

did He come”. God Khandoba asked them to bring a pick-axe
and dig in

a particular place. When it was dug, bricks were found
underneath a flat

stone. When the stone was removed, a corridor led to a
cellar where

cow-mouth-shaped structures, wooden boards, necklaces
were seen.

Khandoba said – “This lad practiced penance here for 12
years.” Then

the people began to question the lad about this. He put
them off the scent

by telling them that it was His Guru’s place, His holy
Watan and requested

them to guard it well. The people then closed the
corridor as

before. As Ashwattha and Audumbar trees are held sacred,
Baba regarded

this Neem tree equally sacred and loved it most.
Mhalasapati and other

Shirdi devotees regard this site as the resting place
(Samadhi-Sthana) of

Baba’s Guru and prostrate before it.

Three Wadas

(1) The site with the Neem tree and surrounding space was
bought

by Mr. Hari Vinayak Sathe, and on this site a big
building styled Sathe’s

Wada was erected. This Wada was the sole resting place
for pilgrims,

who flocked there. A Par (platform) was built round the
neem tree and

lofts with steps were constructed. Under the steps, there
is a niche facing

South and devotees sit on the Par (platform) facing
north. It is believed,

that he who burns incense there, on Thursday and Friday
evenings

will, by God’s grace, be happy. This Wada was old and
dilapidated

and wanted repairs. The necessary repairs, additions and
alterations have

been made now by the Sansthan. (2) Then after some years
another Wada,

Dixit’s Wada was constructed. Kakasaheb Dixit, Solicitor
of Bombay,

had gone to England. He had injured his leg by an
accident there. The

injury could not be got rid of by any means. Nanasaheb
Chandorkar

advised him to try Sai Baba. So he saw Sai Baba in 1909
A.D., and

requested Him to cure rather the lameness of his mind
than that of his

leg. He was so much pleased with the darshana of Sai
Baba, that he

decided to reside in Shirdi. So he built a Wada for
himself and other

devotees. The foundation of this building was laid on
10-12-1910.

CHAPTER IV

2 2 SHRI SAI SATCHARITRA

On this day, two other important events took place. (1)
Mr. Dadasaheb

Khaparde was given permission to return home, and (2) the
night Arti in

Chavadi was commenced. The Wada was complete and was
inhabited

on the Rama-Navami day in 1911 A.D., with due rites and
formalities.

(3) Then another Wada or palatial mansion was put up by
the famous

millionaire, Mr. Booty, of Nagpur. Lots of money were
spent on this

building, but all the amount was well utilized, as Sai
Baba’s body is

resting in this Wada, which is now called the Samadhi
Mandir. The site

of this Mandir had formerly a garden, which was watered
and looked

after by Baba. Three Wadas thus sprang up, where there
was none formerly.

Of these, Sathe’s Wada was most useful to all, in the
early days.

The story of the garden, attended to by Sai Baba with the
help of

Vaman Tatya, the temporary absence of Sai Baba from
Shirdi, and His

coming again to Shirdi with the marriage-party of Chand
Patil, the company

of Devidas, Jankidas and Gangagir, Baba’s wrestling match
with

Mohdin Tamboli, residence in Masjid, love of Mr. Dengale
and other

devotees; and other incidents will be described in the
next Chapter.

Bow to Shri Sai — Peace be to all

 

 

 


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Adi Da, Ramana Maharshi, Nityananda, Shridi Sai Baba, Upasani Baba,  Seshadri Swamigal , Meher Baba, Sivananda, Ramsuratkumar
“The perfect
among the sages is identical with Me. There is absolutely no
difference between us”
Tripura
Rahasya
,
Chap XX,
128-133


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