Kakasaheb’s Doubt and Anandrao’s Vision –
Wooden Plank – Baba’s bed-stead and not Bhagat’s.
Preliminary
We have described in the last three chapters Baba’s
passing away. His physical or finite form has, no doubt, disappeared
from our view, but the infinite or spiritual form (Spirit of Baba) ever
lives. The Leelas, which occurred during His lifetime, have been dwelt
upon at great length, up till now. Ever since His passing away, more
Leelas have taken place and are even now happening. This clearly
shows that, Baba is ever-living and helping His devotees as before. The
people, who got the contact of Baba, when He was living, were indeed
very fortunate, but if any of them did not get a dispassion for the things
and enjoyments of the world, and had not their minds turned to the
Lord, it was their sheer ill-luck. What was then desired, and is still
desired, is the whole-hearted devotion to Baba. All our senses, organs,
and mind should co-operate in worshipping and serving Baba. It is no
use, in engaging some organs in the worship and deflecting others. If
a thing like worship or meditation is to be done, it ought to be done with
all our mind and soul.
The love that a chaste woman bears to her husband, is some times
compared to that, which a disciple bears to his master (Guru). Yet, the
former falls far short of the latter, which is incomparable. No one,
whether he be father, mother, brother or any other relation, comes to our
aid in attaining the goal of life (self-realization). We have to chalk out
and traverse the path of self-realization ourselves. We have to
discriminate between the unreal and the Real, renounce the things and
enjoyments of this world and the next and control our senses and mind,
and aspire for liberation only. Instead of depending upon others, we
should have full faith in ourselves. When we begin to practice
discrimination we come to know that the world is transient and unreal
and our passion for worldly things becomes less, and ultimately we get
dispassion or non-attachment for them. When we know that Brahma,
which is no other than our Guru, is the sole reality; and as It transcends
and besets the seeming universe, we begin to worship It in all creatures.
This is the unitive Bhajan or worship. When we thus worship Brahma
or Guru whole-heartedly, we become one with Him and attain self-
realization In short, always chanting the name of the Guru and
meditating on Him, enables us to see Him in all beings, and confers
eternal Bliss on us. The following story will illustrate this.
Kakasaheb’s Doubt and Anandrao’s Vision
It is well-known that Sai Baba had enjoined Kakasaheb Dixit to
read daily two works of Shri Eknath : (1) Bhagwat and (2) Bhavartha
Ramayan. Kakasaheb read these daily, while Baba was living and he
followed the practice, even after Baba’s passing away. Once in Kaka
Mahajani’s house in Choupati Mumbai, Kakasaheb was reading Eknathi
Bhagwat in the morning. Madhavrao Deshpande, alias Shama, and
Kaka Mahajani were then present and listened attentively to the portion
read, viz., the 2nd chapter, 11th Skandha of the book. Therein the nine
Nathas or Siddhas of the Rishabha family, viz., Kavi, Hari, Antariksha,
Prabuddha, Pippalayan, Avirhotra, Drumil, Chamas and Karabhajan
expounded the principles of the Bhagwat Dharma to King Janak. The
latter asked, all the nine Nathas, most important questions and each of
them answered them satisfactorily. The first, i.e., Kavi explained, what
is Bhagwat Dharm; Hari, the characteristics of a Bhakta (devotee);
Antariksha, what is Maya; Prabuddha, how to cross Maya; Pippalayan,
what is Para-Brahma; Avirhotra, what is Karma; Drumil, the incarnations
of God and their deeds; Chamas, how a non-devotee fares after death;
Karabhajan, the different modes of worship of God in different ages.
The substance of all the exposition was that, in this Kali age, the only
means of liberation was the remembrance of Hari’s (Lord’s) or Guru’s
feet. After the reading was over, Kakasaheb said in a despondent tone
to Madhavrao and others : “How wonderful is the discourse of the nine
Nathas on Bhakti or devotion. But, at the same time, how difficult it is,
to put it into practice! The Nathas were perfect, but is it possible for
fools like us to attain devotion as delineated by them? We won’t get it
even after several births, then, how are we to get salvation? It seems that
there is no hope for us.” Madhavrao did not like this pessimistic attitude
of Kakasaheb. He said, “It is a pity that one, who by his good luck got
such a jewel (Guru) as Baba, should cry out so disparagingly, if he has
unwavering faith in Baba, why should he feel restless? The Bhakti of
the Nathas may be strong and powerful, but is not ours’ loving and
affectionate? And has not Baba told us authoritatively that remembering
and chanting Hari’s and Guru’s name confers salvation? Then, where
is the cause for fear and anxiety?” Kakasaheb was not satisfied with
Madhavrao’s explanation. He continued to be anxious and restless the
whole day, thinking and brooding over, how to get the powerful Bhakti
of the Nathas. Next morning, the following miracle took place :
One gentleman, named Anandrao Pakhade came there, in search
of Madhavrao. The reading of the Bhagwat was then going on. Mr.
Pakhade sat near Madhavrao and was whispering something to him.
He was mentioning in low tone, his dream-vision. As there was some
interruption in the reading by this whispering, Kakasaheb stopped the
reading and asked Madhavrao, what the matter was. The latter said,
“Yesterday, you expressed your doubt, now, here is the explanation of
it, hear Mr. Pakhade’vision, explaining the characteristic of devotion
and showing that, the devotion, in the form of bowing down to or
worshipping of Guru’s feet is sufficient.” All were anxious to hear the
vision, specially Kakasaheb. At their suggestion Mr. Pakhade began to
relate the vision as follows :
I was standing in deep sea in waist-deep water. There, I saw Sai
Baba all of a sudden. He was sitting on a beautiful throne studded with
diamonds, with His Feet submerged in water. I was most pleased and
satisfied with the Form of Baba. The vision was so realistic that, I never
thought that, it was a dream. Curiously enough, Madhavrao was also
standing there. He said to me feelingly, “Anandrao, fall at Baba’s Feet.”
I rejoined, “I also wish to do so, but His Feet are in water, how can I
place my head on them? I am helpless.” Hearing this, he said to Baba,
“Oh Deva, take out Your Feet, which are under water.” Then, Baba
immediately took out His Feet. I caught them without delay and bowed
down to them. On seeing this, Baba blessed me saying, “Go now, you
will attain your welfare, there is no cause for fear and anxiety.” He also
added, “Give a silk-bordered Dhotar to my Shama, you will benefit
thereby.”
In compliance with Baba’s order, Mr. Pakhade had brought the
Dhotar, and requested Kakasaheb to hand it over to Madhavrao, but the
latter refused to accept it, saying that unless Baba gave a hint or
suggestion for acceptance, he would not accept it. Then, after some
discussion Kakasaheb decided to cast lots. It was the practice of
Kakasaheb to cast lots in all the significant matters, and to abide by the
decision, as given in the picked up chit. In this particular case, two
chits, on one of which was written ‘To accept’ and on other ‘To reject,’
were placed at the Feet of Baba and a child was asked to pick one of
them. The ‘Accept’ chit was picked up and the Dhotar was accepted by
Madhavrao. In this way both Anandrao and Madhavrao were satisfied,
and Kakasaheb’s difficulty was solved.
This story exhorts us to give respect to the words of other saints,
but at the same time asks us to have full faith in our Mother, i.e., the
Guru, and abide by His instructions, for he knows our welfare better
than any other person. Carve out on your heart, the following words of
Baba : “There are innumerable saints in this world, but ‘our father’
(Guru) is the Father (Real Guru). Others might say many good things,
but we should never forget our Guru’s words. In short, love your Guru
whole-heartedly, surrender to Him completely and prostrate yourselves
before Him reverentially; and then, you will see that there is no sea of
mundane existence, before you to cross as there is no darkness for the
sun”.
Wooden plank Baba’s Bed-Stead, and not Bhagat’s
In His earlier days, Baba slept on a wooden plank, 4 arms in
length and only a span in breadth with Panatis (earthen lamps) burning
at its four corners. Later on, He broke the plank into pieces and threw
it away (Vide chapter X). Once, Baba was describing the greatness or
importance of this plank to Kakasaheb. On hearing this, the latter said
to Baba, “If you still love the wooden plank, I will again suspend or
hang up one in the Masjid for You to sleep at ease.” Baba replied, “I
won’t like to sleep up leaving Mhalsapati down on the ground.” Then,
Kakasaheb said, “I will provide another plank for Mhalsapati too.”
Baba said, “How can he sleep on the plank? It is not easy to sleep on
the plank. He who has many good qualities in him, only can do so. He
who can sleep with his eyes wide open can effect that. When I go to
sleep I often ask Mhalsapati to sit by My side, place his hand on My
heart and watch the ‘chanting of the Lord’s name’ there, and if he finds
Me sleepy, wake Me up. He can’t do even this. He himself gets drowsy
and begins to nod his head. When, I feel his hand heavy as a stone on
My heart and cry out ‘Oh Bhagat, he moves and opens his eyes. How
can he, who can’t sit and sleep well on the ground, and whose Asana
(posture) is not steady, and who is slave to sleep, can sleep high up on
a plank?” On many other occasions, Baba said, out of love for His
devotees “What is our’s (whether good or bad), is with us, and what
is other’s is with them.”
Bow to Shri Sai – Peace be to all
Wooden Plank – Baba’s bed-stead and not Bhagat’s.
Preliminary
We have described in the last three chapters Baba’s
passing away. His physical or finite form has, no doubt, disappeared
from our view, but the infinite or spiritual form (Spirit of Baba) ever
lives. The Leelas, which occurred during His lifetime, have been dwelt
upon at great length, up till now. Ever since His passing away, more
Leelas have taken place and are even now happening. This clearly
shows that, Baba is ever-living and helping His devotees as before. The
people, who got the contact of Baba, when He was living, were indeed
very fortunate, but if any of them did not get a dispassion for the things
and enjoyments of the world, and had not their minds turned to the
Lord, it was their sheer ill-luck. What was then desired, and is still
desired, is the whole-hearted devotion to Baba. All our senses, organs,
and mind should co-operate in worshipping and serving Baba. It is no
use, in engaging some organs in the worship and deflecting others. If
a thing like worship or meditation is to be done, it ought to be done with
all our mind and soul.
The love that a chaste woman bears to her husband, is some times
compared to that, which a disciple bears to his master (Guru). Yet, the
former falls far short of the latter, which is incomparable. No one,
whether he be father, mother, brother or any other relation, comes to our
aid in attaining the goal of life (self-realization). We have to chalk out
and traverse the path of self-realization ourselves. We have to
discriminate between the unreal and the Real, renounce the things and
enjoyments of this world and the next and control our senses and mind,
and aspire for liberation only. Instead of depending upon others, we
should have full faith in ourselves. When we begin to practice
discrimination we come to know that the world is transient and unreal
and our passion for worldly things becomes less, and ultimately we get
dispassion or non-attachment for them. When we know that Brahma,
which is no other than our Guru, is the sole reality; and as It transcends
and besets the seeming universe, we begin to worship It in all creatures.
This is the unitive Bhajan or worship. When we thus worship Brahma
or Guru whole-heartedly, we become one with Him and attain self-
realization In short, always chanting the name of the Guru and
meditating on Him, enables us to see Him in all beings, and confers
eternal Bliss on us. The following story will illustrate this.
Kakasaheb’s Doubt and Anandrao’s Vision
It is well-known that Sai Baba had enjoined Kakasaheb Dixit to
read daily two works of Shri Eknath : (1) Bhagwat and (2) Bhavartha
Ramayan. Kakasaheb read these daily, while Baba was living and he
followed the practice, even after Baba’s passing away. Once in Kaka
Mahajani’s house in Choupati Mumbai, Kakasaheb was reading Eknathi
Bhagwat in the morning. Madhavrao Deshpande, alias Shama, and
Kaka Mahajani were then present and listened attentively to the portion
read, viz., the 2nd chapter, 11th Skandha of the book. Therein the nine
Nathas or Siddhas of the Rishabha family, viz., Kavi, Hari, Antariksha,
Prabuddha, Pippalayan, Avirhotra, Drumil, Chamas and Karabhajan
expounded the principles of the Bhagwat Dharma to King Janak. The
latter asked, all the nine Nathas, most important questions and each of
them answered them satisfactorily. The first, i.e., Kavi explained, what
is Bhagwat Dharm; Hari, the characteristics of a Bhakta (devotee);
Antariksha, what is Maya; Prabuddha, how to cross Maya; Pippalayan,
what is Para-Brahma; Avirhotra, what is Karma; Drumil, the incarnations
of God and their deeds; Chamas, how a non-devotee fares after death;
Karabhajan, the different modes of worship of God in different ages.
The substance of all the exposition was that, in this Kali age, the only
means of liberation was the remembrance of Hari’s (Lord’s) or Guru’s
feet. After the reading was over, Kakasaheb said in a despondent tone
to Madhavrao and others : “How wonderful is the discourse of the nine
Nathas on Bhakti or devotion. But, at the same time, how difficult it is,
to put it into practice! The Nathas were perfect, but is it possible for
fools like us to attain devotion as delineated by them? We won’t get it
even after several births, then, how are we to get salvation? It seems that
there is no hope for us.” Madhavrao did not like this pessimistic attitude
of Kakasaheb. He said, “It is a pity that one, who by his good luck got
such a jewel (Guru) as Baba, should cry out so disparagingly, if he has
unwavering faith in Baba, why should he feel restless? The Bhakti of
the Nathas may be strong and powerful, but is not ours’ loving and
affectionate? And has not Baba told us authoritatively that remembering
and chanting Hari’s and Guru’s name confers salvation? Then, where
is the cause for fear and anxiety?” Kakasaheb was not satisfied with
Madhavrao’s explanation. He continued to be anxious and restless the
whole day, thinking and brooding over, how to get the powerful Bhakti
of the Nathas. Next morning, the following miracle took place :
One gentleman, named Anandrao Pakhade came there, in search
of Madhavrao. The reading of the Bhagwat was then going on. Mr.
Pakhade sat near Madhavrao and was whispering something to him.
He was mentioning in low tone, his dream-vision. As there was some
interruption in the reading by this whispering, Kakasaheb stopped the
reading and asked Madhavrao, what the matter was. The latter said,
“Yesterday, you expressed your doubt, now, here is the explanation of
it, hear Mr. Pakhade’vision, explaining the characteristic of devotion
and showing that, the devotion, in the form of bowing down to or
worshipping of Guru’s feet is sufficient.” All were anxious to hear the
vision, specially Kakasaheb. At their suggestion Mr. Pakhade began to
relate the vision as follows :
I was standing in deep sea in waist-deep water. There, I saw Sai
Baba all of a sudden. He was sitting on a beautiful throne studded with
diamonds, with His Feet submerged in water. I was most pleased and
satisfied with the Form of Baba. The vision was so realistic that, I never
thought that, it was a dream. Curiously enough, Madhavrao was also
standing there. He said to me feelingly, “Anandrao, fall at Baba’s Feet.”
I rejoined, “I also wish to do so, but His Feet are in water, how can I
place my head on them? I am helpless.” Hearing this, he said to Baba,
“Oh Deva, take out Your Feet, which are under water.” Then, Baba
immediately took out His Feet. I caught them without delay and bowed
down to them. On seeing this, Baba blessed me saying, “Go now, you
will attain your welfare, there is no cause for fear and anxiety.” He also
added, “Give a silk-bordered Dhotar to my Shama, you will benefit
thereby.”
In compliance with Baba’s order, Mr. Pakhade had brought the
Dhotar, and requested Kakasaheb to hand it over to Madhavrao, but the
latter refused to accept it, saying that unless Baba gave a hint or
suggestion for acceptance, he would not accept it. Then, after some
discussion Kakasaheb decided to cast lots. It was the practice of
Kakasaheb to cast lots in all the significant matters, and to abide by the
decision, as given in the picked up chit. In this particular case, two
chits, on one of which was written ‘To accept’ and on other ‘To reject,’
were placed at the Feet of Baba and a child was asked to pick one of
them. The ‘Accept’ chit was picked up and the Dhotar was accepted by
Madhavrao. In this way both Anandrao and Madhavrao were satisfied,
and Kakasaheb’s difficulty was solved.
This story exhorts us to give respect to the words of other saints,
but at the same time asks us to have full faith in our Mother, i.e., the
Guru, and abide by His instructions, for he knows our welfare better
than any other person. Carve out on your heart, the following words of
Baba : “There are innumerable saints in this world, but ‘our father’
(Guru) is the Father (Real Guru). Others might say many good things,
but we should never forget our Guru’s words. In short, love your Guru
whole-heartedly, surrender to Him completely and prostrate yourselves
before Him reverentially; and then, you will see that there is no sea of
mundane existence, before you to cross as there is no darkness for the
sun”.
Wooden plank Baba’s Bed-Stead, and not Bhagat’s
In His earlier days, Baba slept on a wooden plank, 4 arms in
length and only a span in breadth with Panatis (earthen lamps) burning
at its four corners. Later on, He broke the plank into pieces and threw
it away (Vide chapter X). Once, Baba was describing the greatness or
importance of this plank to Kakasaheb. On hearing this, the latter said
to Baba, “If you still love the wooden plank, I will again suspend or
hang up one in the Masjid for You to sleep at ease.” Baba replied, “I
won’t like to sleep up leaving Mhalsapati down on the ground.” Then,
Kakasaheb said, “I will provide another plank for Mhalsapati too.”
Baba said, “How can he sleep on the plank? It is not easy to sleep on
the plank. He who has many good qualities in him, only can do so. He
who can sleep with his eyes wide open can effect that. When I go to
sleep I often ask Mhalsapati to sit by My side, place his hand on My
heart and watch the ‘chanting of the Lord’s name’ there, and if he finds
Me sleepy, wake Me up. He can’t do even this. He himself gets drowsy
and begins to nod his head. When, I feel his hand heavy as a stone on
My heart and cry out ‘Oh Bhagat, he moves and opens his eyes. How
can he, who can’t sit and sleep well on the ground, and whose Asana
(posture) is not steady, and who is slave to sleep, can sleep high up on
a plank?” On many other occasions, Baba said, out of love for His
devotees “What is our’s (whether good or bad), is with us, and what
is other’s is with them.”
Bow to Shri Sai – Peace be to all
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