SHRI SAI LEELA
APRIL 1976
CONTENTS
1. Editorial Fiftyfour Years of Publication
2. The Science of
Religion Swami Chinmayananda
3. Shri Gurucharitra
Shri S. N. Huddar
4. The Guru of Shri Sai Baba Shri V. B. Kher
5. Saint Ramadas Dr. S. D. Parchure
6. Relaxed Hours
Dr. Anil Jaiswal
8. Shri B. R. Kakade
Passes Away
SHRI SAI LEELA
( Official Organ of
Shirdi Sansthan )
VOLUME 55
APRIL 1976
No. I
Secret of Unfolding
Inner Powers
If thou wilt serve
the Kingdom of the Spirit, thou must not think of being great. In loneliness is
strength.
Freed from the
tyranny of the outer freed from pride and self, and growing in meditation and
prayer, thou wilt unfold thine inner powers in silence and sacrifice.
Editor :
Shri K. S. PATHAK
Receiver,
Shirdi Sansthan of
Shri Sai Baba
Executive Editors;
Dr. S. D. Parchure
M. A., Ph. D.
Shri Sadanand
Chondwankar B. Sc., S. T. C, R. B. Pravin
Annual Subscription
Rs. 6.00 Single Copy Rs. 0.60
Office:
Sai Niketan. 804-B, Dr. Ambedkar Road,
Dadar Bombay 400014
Tel.! 443361
Fiftyfour Years of
Publication
With this issue,
Shri Sai Leela enters its fiftyfifth year of publication. It would not therefore be out of place to
recapitulate the history of its publication during the years gone by.
The publication
of Shri Sai Leela started in the year 1923.
The Ramnavmi is a very important festival at Shirdi. This festival comes in the Hindu calendar in
its very first month viz Chaitra. Hence
the Sai Leela magazine appears to have been started from the Chaitra of Shaka
1845 (1923 A. D.) The issues were published according to the Hindu calendar
from Chaitra to Falgun every year. Due
to low cost of paper and wages, the annual subscription was as low as Rupees
three and six annas while the cost of a single copy was six annas only.
After five years
of publication, Shri Sai Leela became a bi monthly magazine and brought out six
issues in a year. The annual subscription continued to be as before.
All Sai devotees
might be aware that the first biography of Shri Sai Baba was written in Marathi
in the verse form by Shri Govind Raghunath Dabholkar alias Hemadpant. Though
this work was started with the consent and blessings of Shri Sai Baba, it took
time for its completion and it had to be published somewhere. Shri Sai Leela magazine was thought to be
the proper medium for publication of the same and from the beginning some
portion of Saisatcharita was published regularly in Shri Sai Leela. The publication continued seriatim in Shri
Sai Leela and by 1930 complete Saisatcharita was published. This book is
considered very holy by all Sai devotees and like Gurucharitra Saptahas for
reading Saisatcharita continuously for seven days are observed at several
places according to our faith.
Though from the
beginning the name of Shri Laxman Ganesn Mahajani used to appear on Shri Sai
Leela as the Editor, yet Shri Dabholkar (Hemadpant) also took keen interest in
its publication. In Shaka 1850 i. e.
1928 A. D. we find the addition of the name of Shri Ramchandra Atmaram Tarkhad
as editor to the name of Shri Mahajani and from the next year i. e. 1929 A D.
the name of Shri Tarkhad alone appears as the editor. The name of Shri Tarkhad appears in Chapter IX of the Sai
Satcharita as a staunch devotee of Shri Sai Baba and his experience has been
narrated therein.
Due to paucity of
funds, the Shirdi Sansthan could not grant adequate subsidy towards the
publication of Shri Sai Leela and for some time the publication of the magazine
had to be suspended. Ultimately Dr. K.
B. Gavankar became the Chairman of the committee at Shirdi and he revived the
magazine in 1948 and started its publication as a quarterly. From that year the
issues were published in January, April, July and October. As there were only four issues in a year,
the yearly subscription was only two and a quarter rupees, while a single issue
used to cost annas ten only.
The get-up of the
magazine and the nature of articles published therein did not change.
According to the assurance given by Shri Sai Baba during his life time, he was
rushing to the need of his devotees in their difficulties and the devotees were
expressing their gratitude by visiting Shirdi and writing down their experiences. The unique experiences of the devotees had
always been a special feature of this magazine and even now they are being
published in it as and when they are received.
Shri Nagesh
Atmaram Sawant was a very sincere devotee of Shri Sai Baba. He had a flare for undertaking some sort of
service to Shri Sai Baba. Hence Dr.
Gavankar gave him the opportunity of becoming the editor of Shri Sai Leela and
we find his name as the editor in 1954, when the magazine had entered into the
thirtyfirst year of its publication. Shri Ramchandra Mahadeo Rane appears as
the joint editor along with Shri Sawant during the years 1957 and 1958.
From April 1959
the magazine was again converted into a monthly and the name of Shri Nagesh
Atmaram Sawant alone appears on it as the editor. In this new form there were only fortyeight pages in each issue. The annual subscription at that time was
rupees five and a single issue used to cost eight annas only. Soon after this the affairs of the Shirdi
Sansthan changed hands. The Court
Receiver was appointed to manage the affairs of the Sansthan and hence we find
the name Shri G. V. Kshirasagar as the editor of Shri Sai Leela from January
1961. Shri Nagesh Atmaram Sawant
appears to have therefore, shouldered the responsibility of editing the
magazine for a pretty long time of nearly eight years. Shri Sawant, the veteran editor of this
magazine recently passed away at Nagpur at the mature age of 81 years. His brief life sketch has been published in
the issue of this magazine for the last month on page 40.
We are now
embarking more or less on the modern history of Shri Sai Leela, which might be known
to many of our readers. After the
appointment of the first Court Receiver, Shri Kshirasagar, the subsequent Court
Receivers were appointed from time to time and they respectively took over the
editorship of the magazine, as a matter of course as shown below :—
Shri Sreepad Balkrishna
Darp December 1962
B. G. Potnis December 1964
D. D. Patankar July 1967
K. S. Pathak December 1970
Since April 1959,
the usual issue of Shri Sai Leela was having fortyeight pages and the annual
subscription was only rupees five; but the entire matter in the magazine used
to be in Marathi. The devotees of Shri
Sai Baba who did not know Marathi felt that they had no enough opportunity to
express their feelings and devotion to Shri Sai Baba and
hence in 1971, an English section
was added to this magazine and the number of pages was increased to about
80. Consequently the annual
subscription was raised to rupees ten and a single copy started costing rupee
one; but this arrangement could not continue for a long time. The readers who knew only Marathi language, felt that the
articles in English were of no use to them, while the readers who only knew
English, thought that the articles in Marathi were an unnecessary burden on
them. This situation was properly
judged by the Executive editor Prof. D. D. Parchure and in consultation with
Shri Pathak, the Court Receiver, who is always ready for giving a trial to any
good suggestion, the Marathi and English sections were separated. Thus from April 1973 the Sai Leela is being.published
separately in English and Marathi. The
pages have been limited to fortyeight and the annual subscription was fixed at
rupees six, a single copy costing only sixty paise. Since April 1973 there has been tremendous increase in the cost
of paper and printing. The Sansthan has
to grant an annual subsidy of nearly Rs. 20,000 in order to continue the
publication of Shri Sai. Leela.
Recently in the gathering of the contributors to Shri Sai Leela, held at
Shirdi during February 1976, a number of persons suggested that we might
increase the annual subscription and the cost of the single issue; but there is
so far no proposal to increase the subscription of this magazine.
In April 1974 we started a new series under the caption
Saints of Maharashtra and have regularly published articles about the saints of
Maharashtra during the last two years.
We hope our readers have liked the articles published in this
series. We hope to continue the series
this year also.
The publication
of Shri Gurucharjtra, which describes the leelas of Shri Shripad Shrivallabh
and Shri Narasimha Saraswati, who are the recent incarnations of Shri Datta,
was started in April 1975 and we hope our readers are happy to read about these
incarnations of Shri Datta. incidentally it may be mentionedthat some devotees also
believed that Shri Sai Baba is an incarnation of Shri Datta. We are half way through Shri Gurucharitra
and hope to continue its publication in this year also.
Shri Sai Leela
magazine was started and is continued with the idea of spreading the teachings
of Shri Sai Baba among the masses and thus lead them to Moksha. The experiences
of devotees are also published in this magazine in order to give assurance to
the devotees that Shri Sai Baba is fulfilling His promise which He gave to His
devotees. The ultimate aim of spreading the Sai cult in the world will thus be
achieved by this publication.
Sai cult is
spreading far & wide day by day. The number of Sai devotees is going up by
leaps and bounds. Shri Sai temples are coming up at different places in the
world. Sometimes it so happens that after returning from the visit to a town or
a city, we come to know that a Sai temple existed in that city and then we feel
sorry to have missed the opportunity to visit that temple. Hence we are going
to publish every month an account of one Sai temple. Inquisitive readers will
take advantage of these articles and pay their homage to Shri Sai Baba when
there will be an occasion for them to visit these places. Apart from the
personal visit of the devotees to these places it will help them to know how
far Sai devotion and Sai cult are spreading.
From Sai
Satcharita and from the teachings of Shri Sai Baba as told by various devotees
and a number of articles and poems that are being published in this
magazine, Sai devotees are now aware
that because Shri Sai Baba was staying in a masjid, He was dear to the Muslims
and they honoured Him. Because He
advocated the Hindu festivals like Ramnavami, Gokul Ashtami and Dassera, He was
liked by the Hindus and hence the present worship, abhishek and aarti, etc. at
Shirdi are being performed in the usual way in which they are being performed
at other Hindu temples. Similarly
because of the Dhuni in the Dwarkamai, the fire worshippers i.e., the Parsi community
also adore Shri Sai Baba and take pride in calling
themselves as the disciples of Shri Sai Baba.
It will thus be seen that the aim and teachings of Shri Sai Baba were to
unify all the religions and create a feeling of well-being among them. Secularism which was advocated strongly by
Late Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru and which is advocated now by the Indian
Government can thus be seen deeply rooted in the teachings of Shri Sai
Baba. Shri Sai Baba was establishing
this secular feeling among the masses, who came to Him as His devotees, a
century ago when no political leaders thought about it and herein lies the
greatness of Shri Sai Baba. In the gathering held at Shirdi in February 1976,
Shri Pathaksaheb, the Court Receiver, assured the contributors and devotees
that a magazine of this type devoted entirely to the propagation of Sai Baba’s
teachings and the publication of information regarding other past and present
saints and their message to mankind, will be continued at all costs so long as
he continues to be in the office of the Court Receiver in addition to the above
assurance from the Court Receiver our main support and inspiration comes from
Shri Sai Baba and with that unfailing support we hope to continue the
publication of this magazine with the active co-operation from our readers in
future.
THE SCIENCE OF RELIGION
By :
Swami Chinmayananda
ONE
PATH --- TWO NAMES
A time was why,
it is still with some of us, I feel,
when with fanatical faith the pursuers of wisdom through meditation
(Sankhya), and those who performed actions without anxiety to enjoy the fruits
thereof (Yoga), quarrel with each other; The two clash in their approach
to the path and here Krishna laughs at the hollow controversy and shows that
they are, in fact, integral, that they are not incompatible contradictory
paths, but Sannyasa and Yoga are complementary to each other.
With sharp satire
and suppressed indignation the Lord declares, (V-4) Children, not the wise will speak of knowledge (Sankhya)
and performance of action (Yoga) as
distinct. He who truly lives pursuing one, gains the rewards of both. A matured wise man who has read and
reflected upon what the scriptures say cannot draw any distinction between the
renunciation-of-ego (Sannyasa) and the renunciation-of-desire (Yoga). A true pandit learned scholar of
subtle reflections and independent right judgements will not see any contrariness
or even any distinction between these two approaches. In fact, they are integral they constitute one path with two
names. Only those with immature
understanding in their thoughtlessness will see any difference between these
two royal paths for self-rediscovery (sankhyayogo prathakbalah pravadanti na
pandithah).
Renunciation of
doer-ship is the Sankhyan-way, and
renunciation of enjoyer-ship is the Yoga-way. Now Krishna stuns Arjuna with his
declaration, He who truly lives in one, gains the rewards of both,
(ekamapyasthithah samyagubhyorvin-(dathe phalam). This cannot be such a
conundrum after all, to those who have followed so far, psychological
implications of these two paths.
By renouncing the
vanity of enjoyership (bhokthruthabhava), Yoga leads a seeker to exhaust his sensual Vasanas for pursuing happiness
in the world-of-objects. And when Vasanas are reduced the mind
becomes more and more steady, when the mind is steady it focusses its attention
at the spring of all Awareness and thus realises the Self. When all by itself the sense of doer-ship
ends, Sannyasa is
achieved.
Thus Yoga is the
means and Sankhya is the
Goal. Through renunciation of
enjoyership we arrive at the renunciation of doer-ship. The limited ego ends, the experience of the
effulgent Self fills the bosom with its enlightenment and its peace that
passeth all understaning. Yoga leads to Sankhya both are to be pursued
serially : the royal path to Self rediscovery starts as Yoga and fulfills as Sankhya.
It is one path with two different names. Pursuing even one of them the seeker will
come to gain the final reward - - - which is the one reward of both,
self-liberation from the ego.
To elucidate this
pointed assertion, Lord Krishna explains.
“The plane of experience reached by the Gyana-Yogins is also gained by
the Karma-Yogms. He who sees ‘Knowledge’ (Sankhya) and ‘performancee of action’ (Yoga), as
one, he alone sees these two are to be pursued as complementary to each
other. Their pursuance ends in the liquidation of the ego. When the ego ends, desire to enjoy
wanes. Where there is no
‘enjoyer-ship’, truly there is no trace of ‘doer-ship.’ High school classes are different from
college classes; yet, one who realises that by pursuing school he reaches
college and becomes a degree-holder; he alone becomes educated.
There are no other
theoretical proofs by which we can convince a seeker of truth of this
statement.
When the seeker diligently practises Yoga and comes to curb a little his
sense of-enjoyer-ship, his ego-centric vanity of ‘doer-ship’ also weakens the
seeker experiences then a certain amount of joyous expansion in his
Consciousness and to him the
significance of this statement becomes self-evident (yah pasyathi sa pasyathi
). Follow and reach the goal of both
where Sanbhyans reach there Yogins arrive in time (yathsankhyi prapyathe sthanam
tathyogi-rabi gamyathe)
If thus the two
are integral, each complementary to the other, why then did the Lord earlier
insist so eloquently upon Karma Yoga
- upon actions undertaken to fulfill one’s obligatory
duties, purely in the Yagna-spirit ? Why not we take to the path of Sankhya directly ? Such doubts
are cleared by the Geethacharya himself.
Krishna explains,
(V-6) ‘Renunciation-of-action’ is hard to achieve without perfor mance-of-
action Purified by his devotion to Yoga, the man of meditation ere long reaches Brahman. This is the reason why the Geeta advises the youth to make a stand in
life and holding on to an ideal, in a full spirit of dedication, act to fulfill
their duties in life. Without this
discipline, the inhibitions essentially in us cannot be emptied. So long as
Vasanas exist in the personality,
these powerful repressions and suppressions must burst forth muddying the clear
waters of thoughts in us. In the
resulting chaos within, even the existing wisdom can easily get clouded and
totally veilded from us. Karma Yoga, service to society, in the right
mental attitude of devotion and dedication to the ideal is an essential
discipline in purifying the heart, in cultivating true culture and effective
self-education. Thus Yoga-discipline in
life’s activities makes any individual a fully integrated personality (yuktha).
Therefore,
‘renunciation of doer-ship.’ (Sannyasa), is hard to obtain for
one who has not undergone the discipline of ‘renunciation of
enjoyer-ship’(Yoga) (sannyasasthu mahabaho dukhama-(pnumayogatha : ). Once an
individual practises sincerely the path of Karma Yoga, through his unselfish acts of dedicated love to
his fellow-men and to his duties, he becomes fit to enter the path of
meditation and such a meditator (yogayuktho muni), ere long gains the infinite
awakening of the Supreme Brahman (yogayuktho munibrahma nachirenadhigachathi ).
If the Karma Yoga discipline is not lived by an individual for
sufficiently long (ayogatha), for him O mighty-armed soldier, please
understand, Sannyasa (renunciation~of-the-ego),
is hard to achieve (sannyasth mahabaho dukhmapnumayogatha). To live in a spirit of dedication and to act
in a loving Yagna-spirit is the privilege of a fully grown man; an animal man
will live but a selfish life on sense pleasures and aggrandisement. A fully blossomed man alone can seek to
discover his divine stature and live its glory. Without Yoga, Sannyas
is indeed hard to gain.
Serve man before you become fit to serve God.
( Courtesy : Geeta
Office, Powai )
To The Editor,
Shri
Sai Leela
Twice I read the article ‘Search for Shri Sai Baba’s Birth Place’ published in Shri Sai Leela issue of January 1976
by Sai Devotee Shri V. B.
Kher. He has done a wonderful service
to Sai Devotees all of whom feel obliged to him. His systematic way, deligence,
labour and single-minded approach are all praiseworthy. Since quite some time or rather years, I had been thinking of doing this service but Baba had meant it rightly
for Shri Kher.
I am happy to
note that residents of Pathri are keen to buy that plot of house, where our Lord Sai appeared in human form, and erect a
memorial. We all Sai Devotees should come forward with all possible help in the
matter.
V. B. N
andwani Above Central Bank Building, 55 L. J. Road, Bombay, 16
SHRI
GURUCHARITRA
(Continued from March 1976 issue )
CHAPTER 34
Rajkumar and Mantrikumar
Devotees of Shri Shiva
Parashar further
said, “The monkey has taken birth as your son and the cook has become the
Mantri Kumar. Due to the training of
the previous birth both are Dnyanis and devotees of Shiva. Hearing this the king asked, “you have
narrated the account of the previous births of these kumars, but what is their
future?”
Parashar: “You ask about the future of your son, but
you will be grieved to know the same.”
The King: “Kindly
tell me the truth. If it gives me
grief, kindly suggest the means to get rid of it.”
Parashar : “Your
son will live for twelve years. He will
die on the eighth day from today. For this you worship Umakant (Shri Shiva),
the Guru of the universe, with Rudrasukta. The significance of this Rudrasukta
is very very great. This will save the life of your son.
”The four Vedas
came out of the four mouths of Brahma-deo.
Yajurveda contains this Rudrasukta. Brahmadev told this Rudra to
Maricha, Atri, etc. These Rishis taught
this to their disciples. Thus it has
come on this earth from generation to generation. By reciting Rudra all the sins are wiped off. You invite a hundred learned brahmins and
have ten thousand Rudra-Abhisheks on Shri Shiva Shankar. This will enable your son to live a long
life.”
The king invited
brahmins as instructed and Rudrabhishek was started ceremoniously. On the eighth day at mid-day the Rajkumar
all of a sudden fell on the ground senseless. Abhishek teerth was sprinkled on
his body and the brahmins also threw enchanted ‘akshat’ (rice) of Rudra on the
same. Due -to this, Yamadoot did not
dare to come near the Rajkumar who soon awoke from the swoon. His death was thus averted.
The king and the
people were very much delighted. The
king spent much in charity. In the
meantime, Naradmuni came there and said, “Oh king, while Yamadoots were taking
away your son, Shivadoots attacked them and freed your son. The Yamadoots fled away to Yama and
complained. Yama went to Shri Shankar
and asked, “why did your doots attack my doots?” Shri Shankar said, “when Rajkumar was granted long life why did
your doots go to snatch him without consulting Chitragupta (record-keeper of
lives of all beings) ? They ought not to to have gone.” When record of Chitragupta
was checked, it was found that though the kumar’s life was twelve years at
first, he was granted ten thousand years life later on. Seeing this Yama repented and went away.
“Your son got long life by virtue of Rudra-Jap. His death is averted. Such is the great power of Rudrasukta.”
CHAPTER 35
Kach-Devayani
The young wife
asked Shri Guru, “What is our future? How should I live hereafter ? Please
favour me with a mantra.”
Shri Guru said,
“A wife should serve her husband devotedly. She needs no other advice or
mantra. If a mantra is given to a woman some calamity falls. This is evident from the tale of
Kach-Devayani.
“In olden days the Gods and demons were often at war.
Shukracharya, the Guru of the demons, would recite Mrityunjaya mantra and the
dead demons would be made alive. Therefore it was rather difficult for the Gods
to win the war. Indra, the king of the
Gods went to Shri Shankar and told him this fact. Shri Shankar was very angry and he asked to call Shukra. Nandi,
Shri Shiva’s bull, went to Shukra, who was in meditation at that time. Nandi
therefore held him in his mouth and brought him to Shri Shankar. Shri Shankar at once devoured him. After some days, Shukra came out of the body
of Shri Shankar through his urine. He
again started reciting Mrityunjaya mantra and brought the demons to life.
Indra told
Brihaspati, Guru of Gods, about amrit Sanjivani mantra of Shukracharya and
said, “The guru of the demons makes them alive with the help of this
mantra. You being the Guru of the Gods
why should you not protect the Gods ?”
Brihaspati said,
“if Sanjivani mantra is heard by six ears, it will lose its importance. So it would be better to send someone as a
pupil to learn the mantra from Shukracharya, Let my son Kacha be sent to him. He will learn the mantra and return.”
Kacha took leave
of the Gods and came to Shukracharya.
He bowed to him and stood before him. Shukracharya inquired who he was
and why he had come to him. Kacha
replied “I am a Brahmin-kumar. Hearing
your fame, I have come to learn at your feet. Shukracharya’s only daughter
Devayani was standing by her father.
She liked the Brahmin youth and requested her father Shukracharya to
accept him as his pupil. Shukracharya agreed and Kacha started staying with
him.
The demons did not approve of this as they suspected that the Gods would learn the Sanjivani mantra from Shukracharya and then it would be impossible for them to win a victory over them. Therefore, when Kacha had been to the forest for bringing darbha (a kind of grass), the demons killed him.
In the evening,
when Kacha did not return home, Devayani requested her father to bring him home
soon. Shukra, by intuition knew that
Kacha was dead so he recited Sanjivani mantra and brought him to life. Kacha then came home. Once again when Kacha had been to the
forest, the demons killed him and the pieces of his body were thown in all
directions. Devayani again showed
anxiety for Kacha. Shukra again recited
Sanjivani mantra and brought him to life, as Devayani was his only daughter
and Shukracharya had great affection for her.
The demons now
contrived to kill Kacha on Ekadashi fast day.
They then mixed his flesh in wine and offered it to Shukracharya for
drinking. For the third time when Kacha
was missing, Devayani wept and requested him to bring him to life. Shukracharya realised that Kacha was not
seen anywhere but he was in his belly.
He told Davayani that Kacha was in his belly and if he is taken out, he
himself would die.
Devayani said,
“You are bringing to life all people and saying that you would die. How is this? Kacha is my soul. If he does not come back, I will give up my
life.”
Shukracharya:
“Besides myself none else knows Sanjivani mantra. There is a condition that this mantra should not be divulged to anyone. If it is heard by six ears (three persons)
it will loose its effect. This is a
problem with me.”
Devayani said,
“Teach me the mantra. I shall recite it and make you alive.”
Shukracharya:
“The Shastras prohibit telling a mantra to a woman.”
Devayani who was
greatly dejected said, “Then you may live with your mantra happily. I will give
up my life.” Saying so she fell on the
ground senseless. Shukracharya brought
her to consciousness and gave her the Sanjivani mantra. While he was reciting the mantra, Kacha, who
was in Shukra’s belly, also heard it.
Shukra recited the mantra and Kacha came out of his body tearing his
belly. Consequently Shukracharya fell
dead. Then Devayani recited the mantra third time and Shukra became alive. Thus
Kacha heard the mantra thrice and made it by heart.
Now Kacha folded
his hands and said to Shukracharya, ‘I have studied at your house so far. The demons do not allow me to live here
peacefully. Kindly therefore allow me
to go home now.’
Devayani
interrupted, “I have made you alive thrice. I love you, you should marry me “
Kacha : “Being
the daughter of my guru, you are my sister. You made me alive from time to time
and so you are like my mother. If I
marry you people will blame me.”
Hearing this,
Devayani felt sorry and at the same time she was enraged. She cursed him, “Your
learning will be futile. You will forget all that you have learnt.”
Kacha said, “You
have cursed me in vain. You will marry a person other than a Brahmin. Your
father has taught you Sanjivani mantra against the rules of Shastras. Hence it will not work now.” Saying this
Kacha went away. Seeing that Kacha had
returned, Indra and other Gods were delighted,
Shri Guru said,
“For a woman, service of her husband is the principal mantra. She should obey
him and observe vrat, etc. with his consent only.”
( To be continued )
[To unriddle the
mystery shrouding the guru of Sai Baba, the writer paid a personal visit to
Pathri, Sailu and Ahmedabad along with his wife, interviewed all who could
throw light on the dark corners, and patiently gathered relevant
information. He states the two theories
about Sai Baba’s guru, in this article. -Editor. ]
Some among the
devotees of Sai Baba regard him as Godhead and believe that he was not born as
others are born-no woman bore him.
There can be an honest difference of opinion about Sai Baba being an
incarnation or a saint depending on one’s attitude and belief but it is
difficult to accept the theory of his not being born as others are, in this age
of reason. Faith may, and often does,
transcend reason. But reason, too, has
its claims-albeit on a lower level where proof is possible and necessary,
where convincing evidence is available.
Reason should not be brushed aside simply because it is a limited
instrument Within the limited jurisdiction of reason, faith has to reckon
within it. I submit that the belief in
theory of his:not being born in the usual way is in conflict with
trained reason. Apart from any argument, Sai Baba, Himself is once said to have
spoken thus :
“My mother was
greatly rejoicing that she had got a son (i.e., me). I was for my part
wondering at her conduct. When did she
beget me? Was I begotten at all? Have I
not been already in existence ? Why is she rejoicing over this?[1]” What can we make of these words ? Surely,
Baba’s birth was like that of any other human though all his deeds were divine
and had a purpose,
There is not much
controversy about the birth-place of Sai Baba. However, about the guru of Sai
Baba there are two theories-one propounded by Das Guru Maharaj and the other
espoused by Swami Sai Sharanananda.
The two theories will first be stated, they will then be examined and
their validity tested.
DAS GANU MAHARAJ’S THEORY
It is the
proposition of Das Ganu that Shri Gopalrao Deshmukh of Sailu near Pathri was
the guru of Sai Baba[2]. Gopalrao Deshmukh obtained the jahagir of
Jintur Pargana in the Nizam’s State. He
was of humble disposition and was kind and merciful. He cured diseases and possessed eight maha siddhis[3]. The fame of Gopalrao spread all around and
people flocked from great distances to have his darshan. In course of time
Sailu became a place of pilgrimage like Pandharpur or Dwarka.[4]
In one of his
pilgrimages, Gopalrao reached Ahmedabad and visited the mausoleum Darga of
Suvagshah where a miracle happened which is worth recording[5]. When Gopalrao approached the maulsoleum, the
tomb perspired with joy and burst into speech. The following words came forth
out of the mausoleum. “Salaam Alekum ! Oh you great Sage Ramanand in your
previous birth, truly, you have not forgotten me even though you have changed”
your form and appear before me as a Deshmukh in the Moglai (Nizam’s Dominion).
From the town of Manwat, ten miles from Sailu, your former disciple Kabir will
come to you as a child of a Fakir. The
caretaker of the mausoleum was amazed and wondered wherefrom the voice came[6].
The legend of
Suvagshah has been sung by the Marathi poet-saint Sri Mahipati in the
forty-third chapter of his Bhakta Leelamrita[7].
As predicted, the
wife of the Fakir of Manwat came to Sailu to see Gopalrao. She was an old woman in her fifties and was
clad in rags. She had green bangles on
her wrists and carried on her back a boy of five who was Kabir in his previous
birth. The poor woman was stopped at
the gate by guards who would not allow her to enter the courtyard. So putting the boy down, with folded hands
she sent a prayer to Gopalrao, “Oh virtuous one, you are protector of the weak
and my sole refuge. It is over a month since my
husband departed telling me before his death to go to you for shelter.”[8]
The prayer
reached Gopalrao’s ears and he came out.
He welcomed them saying that he was waiting for the day when Kabir would
come to him. The boy recognised his
master and sought refuge in him. Both
the woman and the boy were provided with a roof by the master. Day by Day, the master grew fond of the boy
but that aroused the jealousy of the members of the household who wished him
harm. When the boy was twelve years old,
the Fakir’s wife died.[9]
One day at dusk,
both the master and the boy disappeared into the dense forest nearby and did
not return home for four months to the anxiety and fear of the household. They suspected the Fakir’s deceased wife of
having cast a spell over Gopalrao for how else could one account for the
fascination of a saintly Brahmin for a Muslim boy? So they argued and decided
that the only way out was to destroy the boy.
Thus resolved, a group of men entered the forest where they found the
master fast asleep with the boy by his side.
One of the group hurled a brick at the boy with the intention of killing
him but it missed its aim and hit the master on his head. Actually, the brick was suspended in the
mid-air by the master’s power for over an hour but its force had to terminate
at some point. The master offered his
head as the target for the boy’s sake and suffered the injury. The master sat
up at once and spread lime over the bleeding injury and bandaged it. The person who was responsible for the evil
deed fell down dead instantly by the power of the master[10]
with his brick which was the gift of the master to the boy (later known as Sai
Baba) and was used by Him in his later
life for resting, and which when broke, Sai Baba exclaimed that His time was
up.[11]
At the sight of
the master’s bleeding head the boy burst into tears. He craved forgiveness of the master for the suffering caused to
him, and asked to be sent away. The
master replied, “Do not regret for I have now very few days to pass. But to-day I wish to transfer all my powers
to you. Go to the cowherd yonder and
get me milk of a black cow. There is not a moment to lose.[12]” The boy hurried to the cowherd and asked for
milk of a black cow for the master. The
cowherd pointing to a black cow replied that the only cow of that colour was
barren and could yield no milk. To the
master he said that the cow had not calved even once in the-last fifteen years.
But the master gently touched the cow’s udders and milk oozed out. The master gathered three seers of creamy
milk and handed it over to the boy. He
then removed the piece of cloth covering his head and tied it round the boy’s
head saying “I have given you my entire wealth. The three seers of milk given to you are karma, bhakti and jnana. I have sanctified the milk; hence drink up
the whole of it and you will get jnana[13]. The boy touched the feet of the master with
his head and swallowed the milk. And
lo, everything to his vision appeared as if imbued with God.[14]
The master
caressed the boy and said, “Remember that you were Kabir in your former birth
and I was Ramananda. For your sake I
have given up the ascetic’s life in this birth. I say unto you that remain a
celibate, be of tranquil mind, and regard God and the world as one. Make your abode in one place and raise those
who surrender unto you. My mission
being achieved, I will proceed to Sailu and enter Mahasamadhi.[15]”
To the men who
had leagued against the boy, the master said, “why do you hide your faces from
me? The men immediately fell at his feet and entreated him to revive their
dead companion. But the master said
that the powers that he had, now resided in the boy and they should beseech
him. They did as they were told but the
boy was puzzled and looked at the master, who by a gesture, wished him to
revive the dead man. The boy took the
dust off his master’s feet and applied it to the forehead of the dead. He rose
to life and the men carried the master and his disciple to Sailu in a procession.[16]
Next day, the master assembled all his disciples and addressing them
said, “To-day, I will abandon my earthly tabernacle and at that place a Peepul
tree will rise. If you dig a little
near the tree, you will discover a purple, four-armed idol of Venkatesa. Erect a temple on that spot.” He read aloud
eighteen chapters of the Bhagwad Gita and asked all assembled to take the name
of Narayana. Then he gave the loin
cioth he had, on to the boy, for making a kafni, and signalled to him to leave
at once. Thrice he repeated the name of
God and left his physical frame. Things
occurred as the master had said and a temple was erected on the hallowed spot
in due course.[17]
At the master’s
order, the boy left Sailu and went towards the West until he came to the
terrain of Aurangabad. At Daulatabadi he worshipped at the shrine of
Janardana Swami. And with a mind filled with renunciation and vairagya he lived
in solitude in search of Brahman.[18]
One day, Chandbhai, a Muslim,
came to the forest in search of his missing horse and saw the boy ( Sai Baba)
sitting under a tree. Mistaking him for
a ghost or a sprit, he took to his heels in fright, but the boy assured him
that he was a man, a fakir, spending his time in the forest. He invited Chandbhai for a smoke. Chandbhai
sat down beside him and stuffed his clay pipe. But there was no fire to light
it. The fakir smiled and struck the ground with his tongs and produced fire.
Chandbhai was dumbfounded and honoured the fakir as if he were Paigambe[19]r. Turning to the fakir, he said “O Samartha,
for four days and nights I have been wandering in search of my lost mare
without food or drink, but cannot find her”. The fakir asked him to look beyond
the yonder hedge and Chandbhai really found his missing mare. He then invited the fakir to his house. The
fakir agreed to go the next day. Chandbhai had in the meanwhile spoken to the
villagers about this, the fakir’s, wonderful powers. So when the fakir arrived the next day, the whole village turned
out to pay him homage[20]. After passing a few days with Chandbhai, the
fakir accompanied him to Shirdi with the wedding party of Chandbhai’s
brother-in-law where he lived for the rest of his life.[21]
Shri B. V.
Narasimhaswami has adopted the story of Sai Baba’s guru narrated by Das Gunu
with some frill and embellishment in Volume 1 of the biography of Sai Baba,
SWAMI SAISHARANANANDA’S
THEORY
Swami
Saisharanananda tells the story of Sai Baba’s guru which is reproduced herein
in his own words in extenso.[22]
“I was only eight
years old when I left my parents and came to the Ganges ( Baba always named the
Godavari as the Ganges. ) Then I came to Shirdi. This was what Baba said (unasked to the writer). He continued, “I found my master in the
chawdi here. His calm, peaceful,
cheerful and meditative face attracted me, charmed me, almost bewitched me so
much so, that my eyes were ever riveted on his face and that even a moment’s
separation from him made me uneasy. In
his company I used to forget all my hunger and thirst. I served him with all my heart for years
together for more than twelve years.
The duties I had imposed on myself for him were very arduous. He never left his seat for any purpose, not
even to answer calls of nature. Merged
in meditation for ever, he entirely forgot that he had a body, mind etc. He ate, passed urine and stool etc on his
seat. I fed him, changed his clothes,
swept and kept his seat always clean.
As a reward of this he awarded me his blessings.saying, “Wherever you are,
here or even beyond the seven seas, I will be ever with you to guard and protect
you. Right at the start He had asked
me to pay His fees; and on my asking what His fees were, He coolly said His
fees were only two pice;... Nishta absolute faith and Saboori…patience. I readily gave him these two and although I
was very eager to obtain from his holy mouth some holy spell or formula which I
could go on chanting and repeating, He uttered nothing into my ears. He simply said, “I shall ever be with you,
protecting you by mere loving glance in the manner of a tortoise protecting his
young ones by mere glanc. The entire
credit of all this glory of mine goes to this guru. It is the outcome of his
blessings.”
On another occasion He said to
this writer, “My guru’s name is Roshan Sha Mian”. When Baba uttered these words, I took them as advising me to
take to the sun worship, as I am by caste a Brahmin and Brahmins are by their
scriptures required to worship the sun, three times a day at suniise, at noon
and the sunset and repeat the sun’s
Gayatri formula for at least 324 times a day. Subsequently Baba
made me repeat this Gayatri several thousand times for expiation of certain
sins committed by me in the past and also asked me to offer a few rice
oblations in the fire and set apart certain portions for gods, guests, cows,
dogs, etc. performing the Vaishwadeva ceremony before taking dinner. All this confirmed me in my belief that
Baba’s intention in telling me the name of His guru was to impress on me the
necessity of performing the six duties enjoined on Brahmins by
scriptures. Subsequently one marked
that Baba was from time to time also using the word Roshan. He used it particularly when He told some parables. Then He used that word in the sense of
‘light’ meaning knowledge as
opposed to ignorance. Applying the same sense to Roshan in
Koshan Shah the name Roshan Shah would mean the Lord of knowledge, the
Universal Soul .....
We do not however mean to suggest by the above interpretations that
person of the name Roshan Shah Mian did not materially exist. On the contrary we, by these interpretations desire to draw the
attention to the peculiar characteristic of the life events of such a superman
as Shri Sai Baba. This peculiarity is
that all the events of supermen’s life can always be interpreted mataphysically
as well as literally.
Accordingly one
should not be astonished if we say that Roshan Shah spoken of by Baba did exist
in flesh and blood and Baba strenuously served him for over twelve years. It seems Roshan Shah thereafter cast off his
mortal-coil his body and Baba entombed him under or near the neem tree at
present found in Shirdi near Navalkarwada.
When the previous owner of this Wada R. B Sathe wanted to put up a
storey and terrace at the time of putting a staircase he unearthed a tomb with
an underground cellar or a cave under the tree. Baba was asked as to what should be done about the tomb and the
cave. Baba said that “that place
belonged to his elders and it should neither be disturbad nor opened but it
should be covered up with a stone as before”.
Persons and some boys playing a hide and seek game removed the stone and
found under it several steps leading further down. They said that the cave was dark but rather long. Baba once told the writer pointing to a
pillar near His dhuni (sacred fire) in the Dwarkamai, that there was a cave
there; He always confined Himself to that cave; that once His beard had grown
so, long that it reached the ground; that He never came out of the cave unless
to meet some holy and religious man. It
seems this cellar or cave referred to by Baba started from under the neem tree
and extended upto and even beyond the Chawdi.
This cave was in fact Baba’s place of penance. )
( To be continued )
V. B. Kher
By Dr.
S. D. Parchure M. A., Ph. D.
(Continued from March 1976
issue)
All saints have
affinity for other contemporary saints. They honour each other from the bottom
of their hearts. Saint Ramdas was also
in touch with most of his contemporary saints.
He honoured them whenever they met him, but he was very close with the
following four saints. They took every
opportunity to visit each other and to talk on philosophical matters. Some times saint Ramdas invited all of them
to Chafal and they used to stay together for some days discussing materials
relating to the other world and to the life after death. Their discussions used to be of a very high
level and it was really a treat to listen to their discussions on religious
and philosophical topics.
Among these four
saints, Jayaram from Vadgaon can be mentioned to be a close friend of saiut
Ramdas. Whenever any calamities befell
him, saint Ramdas at once ran to his help. Like saint Ramdas he was also a poet
and he had the urge to ask the people to awaken and rise to the occasion. Four of his works in hand-written form are
still lying in his ‘math’ at Vadgoan.
It cannot be said whether they will at all be published or will be eaten
avvay by white ants before they see the light.
Jayaramswami also had high regard for saint Ramdas and has composed a
few songs in his praise. In Shaka 1594,
during the life time of saint Ramdas, Jayaramswami took samadhi.
The name of the
second saint, who belonged to the friends’’ circle of saint Ramdas, is Shri
Ranganathswami of Nigdi. This Swami was not of a sannyasi type like Ramdas. He
was a Raj-yogi. He always moved on horse-back and had a paraphernalia of
servants and disciples numbering over a hundred. He had a flare for
horse-riding and sometimes he used to cover over a hundred miles a day. Even though he did not hanker after riches
or wealth, it would follow him automatically.
He had composed thousands of verses out of which only a few have been
printed so far; but from whatever printed material is available, we feel that
he had poetic genious and imagination.
He respected
saint Ramdas very much and ran to him whenever he had any difficutly. Saint
Kamdas also used to entertain him and gave him whatever help he needed.
Ranganathswami took samadhi in Shaka 1606 after Ramdas took his samadhi.
Anandmoorty can
be mentioned to be another saint that belonged to the Daspanchak (group of
five). He was a resident of
Agalgao. The name of his father was
Brahmadeo Bhat and Savitribai was the name of his mother. The guru of Shri Anandmoorty was Shri Raghunath,
who was staying at Nasik. Unlike saint
Ramdas, Shri Anandmoorty was a married man.
He served his guru and remained with him for years. Ultimately Shri Raghu-nathswami took samadhi
at Brahmanath and Anandmoorty built a Vrindawan there. He also started living there and preaching
devotion to God. He lived for a long
time after saint Ramdas and took samadhi in Shaka 1618.
The fourth saint
of the circle was Keshavswami. There is
a town known as Kalyani near Latoor in the Maharashtra state. Atmarampant, the father of Keshavswami, was
the Kulkarni of that village . He and his wife Gangabai were a very pious
couple and lived at Kalyani engrossed in the worship of god. After a few years they got a son, but he was
dumb. Though the couple was dejected
and worried, still their faith in god did not get shattered in any way. They continued their worship of God with unabated
devotion, hoping for the best.
When Keshavswami
attained the age of five, Shri Shankara-charya happened to pay a visit to
Kalyani. The couple therefore, naturally thought of taking
their son to bow down to Shankara. charya.
When they narrated their story to Shri Shankaracharya, he immediately
blessed Keshavswami by placing his hand on his head. Because of this divine favour, the young lad started speaking
immediately. He started his education
thereafter and made remarkable progress within a short time. He started performing keertans later on and
was known to be one of the best^keertankars of his time. He was also a married man.
From Kalyani he
migrated to Bhaganagar (Hyderabad) and stayed there after establishing his
‘math’. He had high regards for saint
Ramdas and hence he was always advising his disciples to follow the example of
that saint. He always longed for the
meeting of saint Ramdas; but being away from Maharashtra, he could only have
occasional meetings with the saints named above. It is however recorded that the other saints who realised this
difficulty of Shri Keshavswami, themselves went to Bhaganagar to meet him. History has recorded the visits of saint
Ramdas, Jaya-ramswami and Ranganathswami to Keshavswami’s math at Bhaganagar.
Ihe Samadhi of this contemporary of saint Ramdas is located at Bhaganagar
(Hyderabad) on the bank of the river.
The above four
saints and saint Ramdas were together known as Daspanchak. As saint Ramdas was the source of
inspiration of this group of five saints, it was known after him. All these
saints were poets and they had high regard and appreciation for each other.
They spread far and wide the faith in god and the Hindu religion. They all have
composed verses in praise of god and in praise and appreciation of others. Awakening among the the masses was
considered by saint Ramdas to be the only solution to come out of the very
disrupted position of the Hindu community and this goal was also accepted by
the other four saints of the Daspanchak.
Hence because of their affinity for each other and because of their
common goal for the national uplift, this group of five friends has left a fasting
impression on the religious history of Maharashtra.
LEGENDS
Most of the
saints in the world are said to have supernatural powers. Hence many legends about all saints are
current. They are described at length
in their biographies. It is a matter of individual faith whether to believe
them or not. While narrating the life
of saint Ramdas, a few of the legends have been narrated from time to
time. However, we give here a few more
legends, which throw some more light on the character of this great saint.
Shri Ram was the
God, whose devotion was preached by saint Ramdas. as we have seen earlier. Hanuman, the faithful devotee and servant of
Ram, was considered equally sacred by Ramdas and he personally installed the idols
of Hanuman at thirteen different places. Every year on Hanuman Jayanti day i.
e. on the full-moon day in the month of Chaitra, the festival of the birth of
Hanuman was being celebrated at all these temples. The disciples of saint Ramdas, who were in charge of these temples,
wished that Ramdas should attend the function at their temple. The disciples were every year inviting saint
Ramdas very cordially and he was always assuring them that he would attend the
function if-he would be free to go to their town. On one Hanuman Jayanti day, it is recorded that Ramdas attended
the festival simultaneously at all the thirteen places! All the disciples were pleased more because
they thought that Ramdas showed them a special favour by attending only the
function at their temple. Later on they
started boasting that saint Ramdas attended the function only at their temple
and informed other disciples about it.
Everybody however claimed that saint Ramdas attended the function only
at his temple. This dispute in the end
reached the ears of Chhatrapati Shlwaji Maharaj, who then caused enquiries to
be made at all the places independently and it was found that saint Ramdas was
present at all the thirteen places simultaneously!
The fame of saint Ramdas was spreading far and wide and when the young Maratha leader like Shiwaji Maharaj started
honouring him and consulting him in religious matters, people from remote
corners came to saint Ramdas for his darshan.
It might be recalled that there is a mention in the life of saint Ramdas
that as a child, he and his elder brother were taken by their father to saint
Eknath. In those days, it appears that
it was a very common practice to pay a visit to the saints in the vicinity.
Shri Babajipant, the grandson of saint Eknath, went to Karnatak for
business. He completed the business
successfully and earned a good income.
He could lay by 101 Mohors out of the money earned by him as sale price
of his goods. On his return journey, he
had thought of paying a visit to saint Ramdas and get his blessings according
to the custom of the time referred to above.
Accordingly he went to Chafaf where he was informed that saint Ramdas
had gone to stay on the bank of the Krishna river in a grove. As Babajipant had decided to pay respects to
saint Ramdas, he naturally followed the saint over there. Babajipant was worried about the gold-mohors
that he was carrying, He therefore deposited them with saint Ramdas for safe
custody.
Some one hundred brahmins, who had come for the marriage ceremony of a
rich person’s son, were returning to their homes. In the meanwhile they also came to know about saint Ramadas and
they thought of paying their respects to him. When the Brahmins came to saint
Ramdas, it was noon time and Ramdas thought the Brahmins would expect him to
serve lunch to them. He, therefore,
requested them to have a bath in the waters of the never and to return for
lunch. The brahmins had thought to themselves, “This saint is staying on the
bank of a river in a grove. He has no
paraphernalia, nor complement of servants. How does he propose to serve lunch
for all hundred people at once ?”
The brahmins however went to
the river and had bath in the holy waters of the river. They returned back and to their utter
surprise they found that a sumptuous dinner was awaiting them. They all enjoyed
the hearty meal and the sweets served to them.
After lunch the Brahmins expected to get Dakshina from saint
Ramdas. This practice was known to the
saint and hence after the brahmins were sufficiently fed, saint Ramdas gave
dakshina of one Mohor to each of them.
The brahmins took leave of saint Ramdas, with their minds fully
satisfied. Babajipant also took leave of saint Ramdas; but he could not ask for
his 101 Mohors, as he saw that saint Ramdas; gave them to the brahmins in his
presence. He, therefore, returned to his house empty handed and with a vacant
and sad mind. When he came home in such
dejected mood, his father knew that something had gone amiss with his
son. He therefore, tried to console him
saying, “O son, don’t get dejected like this.
Are you not satisfied with the profit of one hundred and one gold-Mohors
that you have earned during your business tour of Karnatak ? Be satisfied. Do not hanker after large sums of
money”.Hearing this, Babajipant got completely baffled. He had seen with his own eyes that saint
Ramdas had given as dakshina those 101 gold mohors which he had given to him
for safe custody. Then under these
circumstances, how could those Mohors come to him ? He however ventured to ask his father as to who gave those Mohors
to him. The father started giving the
description of the person and Babajipant at once realised that the description
very surely pointed out to saint Ramdas.
After having come to know this leela of saint Ramdas, tears stood in the
eyes of Babajipant and he blamed himself for unnecessarily doubting the
fidelity of saint Ramdas.
He said to
himself, “Really the ways of the saints are very queer. We common people can
hardly know them.” So saying he bowed
down to saint Ramdas and begged his pardon for his folly.
( To be continued)
There was a man,
who once went to the ocean for a bath; but instead of taking the bath he sat
there for hours together on the sandy beach.
Others enquired of him, “What is the matter ? You have come since early morning, and still you are sitting
without taking bath, gazing towards the ocean?
Now the sun has come on the zenith.
When will you take bath, my friend ?”
The man replied,
“Let the waves that are coming one after the other stop. Then I shall take
bath.”
Are these waves
going to stop for this gentleman? It is his ignorance.
The same
phenomenon is applicable to our life too.
This world is an
ocean. The waves of sorrow,
difficulties and worries are going to come one after the other. There is no end to that. They will continue
to come during the whole of our life — from birth to death. No favourable time is going to come. Favourable and unfavourable are mere reflections
of our mind. If we think unfavourably,
everything is unfavourable for us all the time and vice versa. The man could not take a bath for want of a
quiet ocean. We shall also miss the
opportunity of ‘namasmaran’ for want of mental peace and internal tranquility.
Adopt the sadhana
of ‘namasmaran’ to obtain mental peace —just from this very moment Shri Sai
will bless your life!
Dr. Anil Jaiswal, M. B. B. S.
Nagpur-2
Sai
Temple at Saidham Wadi, Girgaum, Bombay
[Originally published in Shri
Sai Leela (Marathi), May 1974]
Near the Congress
House on the Vithalbhai Patel Road, in Girgaum, there is a Sai Temple which is
known as Shri Saidham. It is visited
by many Sai devotees on every day; but it is frequented regularly by a number
of Sai devotees on every Thursday. The
place, where this temple is situated, was once upon a time known as Duart Wadi,
but because of this Sai temple the place is now known as Saidham Wadi.
Shri Balaji
Wasant Talim, the famous sculptor of Bombay, founded in his Talim Art Studio in
Oecember 1952, the institution known as ‘Saidham’. The Sai temple in the Saidham Wadi is situated just near the
aforesaid studio. Shri Keshawrao Bhole,
who is a sincere Sai devotee and who takes keen interest in the spread of Sai
cult is one of the chief active members of ‘Shri Saidham’.- In the vicinity of the Talim Art Studio,
there is an Audumbar tree. The devotees
of Guru Datta believe that God Datta resides under this tree. Some Sai devotees
believe that Shri Sai Baba is an incarnation of God Datta. Shri Keshaw-rao Bhole, the first Pujari of
this temple, got an intuition that he should build a Sai temple near the
aforesaid Audumbar tree for the facility of the Sai devotees staying in
Bombay. Shri Bhole informed his friends
and Shri Talim, the owner of Talim Studio, about this order of Shri Sai Baba.
Shri Talim, who was himself Sai devottee, liked the idea and it was decided in
the first meeting held in Talim Studio that if the owner of the land is
prepared to grant the necessary permission then a Sai temple should be erected
at the site. As every good idea meets
with success, the owner of the land, Shri Bhausaheb Talim, immediately agreed
to part with the land on lease for the purpose of erecting a temple. Wben the question of the land was thus
solved, a fund for erection of the temple was started immediately and a few
donations were assured on the spot.
Shri Talim therefore, carved the statue of Shri Sai Baba and having
installed it temporarily in one hall of his own studio started the Sai Mandir. In this hall the temple was kept open to
the public only for two days in a week.
On Thursdays the temple was kept open up to 12 noon and from 4 p.m. to 8
p. m. and on Fridays the temple would be kept open from 4 p. m. to 8 p. m.
Nearly fifty thousand rupees were required to erect a separate temple,
while the trustees were able to collect only rupees twenty thousand upto the
time, when it was declared that the
hall in Talim studio would not be allowed far use as a temple any more. In order to tarry over this difficulty, Shri
Kashinath Timbak Dalvi, the owner of firewood depot nearby, came forward and he
offered a part of his depot for keeping the idol of Shri Sai Baba and carry on
there the pooja and aarti according to the wishes of the devotees. In course of time, however, the place was
found too small for the devotees and it also interrupted the business of Shri Dalvi.
Though he was a member of ‘Saidham’, he was forced to suggest the
trustees to find out a suitable place
for the temple, the Trustees were,
therefore, again in a fix and they started running helter-skelter in search of
a place for the temple.
The true urge of the Sai devotees aid not go unheard. By the grace of Shri Sai Baba, one old Christian lady in the Duart Lane, offered her house for the purposes of hoisting the temple; but the main scumbling block was the finance, in order to purchase the building, an amount of Rupees 56,000 was necessary. Number of Sai devotees therefore, decided to subscribe liberally towards the fund. By February I960, the necessary amount was collected and the building of Mrs. Valentine was duly purchased by the trustees of ‘Saidham’. Shri D.D. Neroy, the famous block maker and artist presented an imposing portrait of Shri Sai Baba to Saidham on the same day on which the trustees purchased the building. In Shirdi, Shri Sai Baba converted the Masjid into Dwarkamai. Similarly the house, of a Christian lady was modified into a Sai temple! The house was then remodelled so as to appear like a temple. This modification in the house cost additional twenty thousand rupees. In order that the public may know about this temple, an exibition of ‘Rangoli’ was arranged wherein the scenes from the life of Shri Sai Baba were dipicted. This exibition was inaugurated by the famous Congress leader Shri S. K.. Patil. After the usual ceremonies of Sacrifice etc the temple was inaugurated by Shri Yeshwantrao Chavan, the then Chief Minister of the Maharashtra state, on the Gudhi Padwa day in I960. At the time of the installation of the statue of Shri Sai Baba, the great Saint Tukdoji Maharaj was present.
The statue of
Shri Sai Baba in the Saidham is in-the sitting posture. The statue is finished
so nicely, that if you gaze at His face, you feel that Shri Sai Baba is
actually conversing with you. The left hand of the statue is resting on the
‘Lode’. The background of the statue is decorated in silver and there is a
silver umbrella hanging over the statue. There are the ‘Padukas’ in front of
the statue and there is a box for donations near them. This statue is carved by
the famous sculptor, Shri Balaji Wasant Talim. It may be mentioned here that
the imposing statue of Shri Sai Baba in the Samadhi Mandir at Shirdi is also
carved by Shri Talim himself. Schedule of Aarti at Saidham is almost the same
as at Shirdi. The ‘Kakad Aarti’ starts at 5 A. M. and Shej Arati takes place at
10 p. m. At 6 p. m. also one Aarti is performed. At the time of all the
Aarties, Sai devotees gather in the Mandir in large numbers. Festivals are celebrated in the mandir round
the year and Abhisheks and Satyanarayan Poojas are also being performed very
often.
The dream of Shri
Keshwarao Bhole to build a Sai temple under the Audumber tree near Talim studio
was thus fulfilled. In the garden in
the rear of the mandir attempts were made to plant two or three Audumber trees
but they failed; but one Audumbar tree rose out of the ground and it has now
grown up to a good height.
This tree is supposed to be a miracle. At present the Aarti is also conducted under this tree.
Shri Sai Baba was
of opinion that the service of the human beings was also as good as the worship
of God. Hence on the Gudhi Padwa day in
1961, a Charitable Homeopathic dispensary was started at Saidham for the poor
and needy people. Dr. Rajadhyaksha, Dr.
Anasuya Dhumatkar, Dr. Merchant and other famous doctors used to attend the
dispensary and gave medicines to the patients attending the dispensary. A nominal fee of 25 paise for the adult and
of 15 paise for the child is charged for the medicines in the dispensary.
The hall of the
Mandir is quite spacious and can accommodate about five hundred people. Cultural and educational films are screened
in the hall from time to time. The
office of Saidham is just adjoining to the hall. The Dhuni at Shirdi is burning all the time, similarly an oil
lamp is constantly burning in this temple. Shri Dattatraya Bhaskar Malpekar is
the president of Saidham for ,the last so many years. All Sai devotees should visit this holy mandir whenever they find
time.
RAMNAVAMI
FESTIVAL AT SAI NIKETAN BOMBAY
The Ramnavami. Festival
will be celebrated as usual at Sai Niketan, Dr. Amdedkar Road, Dadar on Friday,
the 9th of April 1976 From 9 a. m. to 12 noon. All Sai devotees are requested to attend
the Festival.
Shri
B. R. Kakade Passes Away
We are extremely sorry to
inform our readers that Shri B. R. Kakade, a staunch devotee of Shri Sal Baba,
passed away at 4-30 p. m. on Sunday, the 22nd February 1976 at his
residence at Dahisar. He was the
founder of Shri Sai Spiritual Center at Dahisar. He used to contribute his articles to Shri Sai Leela
(Marathi). He used to spread the Sai
cult through keertans on Shri Sai Baba’s life.
Last year he performed his keertan at Sai Niketan on the Ramnavmi day. His was nothing but a deluge of
devotion. May the departed soul rest in
peace !