In general, everyone likes wit and humor. However, none like to be a target of such jokes. But Baba’s methods were peculiar; when it was accompanied by gestures, it was very interesting and instructive. Therefore, people did not mind if they were held individually to scoff at. The author of Shri Sai Satcharitha, Shri Govindrao Raghunath Dhabholkar gives an insight into an incident during Shri Sai Baba’s time which was directed towards him and involved him directly. He narrates his own experience as below.
“In Shirdi, bazaar was held every Sunday and enormous number of people from the neighboring villages came there. They erected booths and stall on the street to sell their wares and commodities. Every noon, Masjid was crowded more or less; but on Sunday, it was crowded to suffocation. On one such day, Hemadpant (Govindrao Raghunath Dhabholkar) sat in front of Baba, shampooing His Legs and muttering God’s name. Shama was on Baba’s left, Vamanrao to His right Shriman Booty and Kakasaheb Dixit and others were also present there. Then Shama laughed and said to Annasaheb “See! Some grains seem to have stuck to the sleeve of your coat”. So saying he touched the sleeve and found that there were some more grains. Hemadpant straightened his left forearm to see what the matter was; all were amazed to see some grains of gram come rolling down and were picked up by few who were sitting there.
This incident provided a subject matter for a comic story for all. Everybody present began to wonder and said something or other as to how the grains found their way into the sleeve of the coat and lodged there so long. Hemadpant (Govindrao Raghunath Dhabholkar) also could not guess how they got into his sleeve. When nobody could give any satisfactory explanation in this matter and everybody was wondering about this mystery, this is when Baba speaks: “This fellow (Govindrao Raghunath Dhabholkar) has got the bad habit of eating alone. Today is a bazaar day and he was there chewing grams alone. I know his habit and these grams are a proof of it. What wonder is there in this matter?”
Hemadpant in a state of shock sadly said to Baba “Baba, I never know of eating things alone; then why do you thrust this bad habit on me? I have not yet seen Shirdi bazar. I never went to the bazar today, then how could I buy grams and how could I eat them if I had not bought them? I never eat anything unless I share it with others present near me”.
The conversation goes as per Baba’s prediction and Baba says:” It is true that you give to the persons present; but if none be nearby, what could you or I do but do you remember Me before eating? Am I not always with you? Then do you offer Me anything before you eat?” Let our love and faith be so strong for Baba that we feel His presence always with us to make Him part of our every action.
Source; Shri Sai Satcharitha
Chapter 24
Does such thought make us commit any wrong deed?
Sometime in 1954 or so, a man from a nearby village came to All India Sai Samaj in Mylapore, Madras (Chennai, Tamilnadu) and handed Shri Panini Rao, Secretary of the Samaj, a magnificent bunch of grapes, saying, “I have brought the finest grapes my vineyard has produced.” Shri Rao smiled, “I will take them to Shri Narasimha Swamiji immediately and he will be delighted with this offering.” But the villager said, “No, no, I brought them for you for whenever I come to Sai Samaj, you welcome me. When my crop was destroyed, and I needed help, you offered me money and food. I hope this bunch of grapes will remind you of the sun’s love, the rain’s beauty and the miracle of Sai Baba who made them grow so fine”.
Shri Rao held the bunch of grapes. It looked full and luscious. He was not tempted to devour the grapes alone. So, he decided to offer it to Shri Sai Baba. At that moment, Shri Narasimha Swamiji was performing Tulasi Archana (offering Basil leaves to the idol of the deity and singing the praise of the Lord) to Sai Baba.
Shri Narasimha Swamiji offered the bunch of grapes to Shri Sai Baba. Just before distributing it to all the devotees he thought of Shri Varada Rao, a devotee who was working for the Bank of Baroda. Shri Varada Rao was not keeping good health for quite some time, and just as the thought entered Swamiji’s mind, this devotee entered the temple. Swamiji offered the grapes to Shri Varada Rao.
However, the grapes did not stay with Shri Varada Rao for long. He reflected, “Shri Subramanian, the cook who prepares ‘Naivedya’ to Baba also has been feeding me such nourishing meals to help me recover. I am sure he will enjoy these.” He found the cook preparing ‘prasad’ (food offering made for the deity and then distributed amongst the devotees) and offered him the grapes saying, “These are for you. You work so hard. Take a moment to sit and enjoy these.”
Subramanian was amazed at the beauty of the grapes and then he thought of the newest entrant to his section. He decided to gift them to the youngster as he felt he might be bit lonely without his family, and also make him understand that the grace of Lord Sainath is seen even in the smallest details of creation.
When the novice received them, his heart was filled with the Glory of Lord Sainath, for he had never seen such beautiful bunch of grapes. He placed them on a plate and took it to the exit point to distribute to all devotees. The first person to receive was Shri Panini Rao himself. He was amazed that his concept of sharing joy had come a full circle! Grapes were distributed to everyone present there. Such thought of sharing changed many hands however the end result was the words of Sainath were followed “to share”.
By: Dr.C.Dwarakanath Gupta
When one is in deep thought, then work of Baba’s leelas becomes a part of life. It can even be coincidence but the love for Sai Baba makes one dedicate all actions to Him. Years ago, I met a few dedicated Sai devotees and had formed a spiritual bond with them. Our goal was to share the leelas of Baba and visit places in and around Shirdi. We all came from different cities and our congregation place was Shirdi. It was an immense joy to plan our trips and share Sai Baba’s leelas. During one such meet in 2011, my friend and I were sitting in Mukha Darshan hall right in front of Shri Sainath’s idol. We sat looking at Baba, soaking in his grace and enjoying the bliss the Mandir offered. My friend, who is a very kind-hearted dedicated person always found enigmatic experiences a very normal part of her life. As we sat there, few devotees were distributing Prasad to all present. A man carrying a cardboard box was distributing bunches of green grapes. My dear friend glanced at the box and prayed to Sai Baba expressing her wish to receive black grapes. The place we were sitting in was the Samadhi Mandir where people throng to get their wishes fulfilled. Here was a devotee whose desire was not only insignificant but also negligible. I looked at the person who was distributing the grapes. He was carrying a box of green grapes. I made no attempt to neither test nor ask Sainath to grant the wish, as the wish sounded simple yet a silly one to make. My thought was, “Why should Shri Sai Baba hear and grant such silly wish?” So, I just smiled at my friend while we extended our palms when it was our turn to receive the grapes. I looked at my bunch of green grapes and Lo! Black grapes in my dear blessed friend’s palm. None got black grapes except her. The Leela of sharing grapes and joy in full circle, experienced by Shri Panini Rao reminded me of my experience and confirms our belief that Sainath is omniscient and omnipresent. Strange are your ways Sai Baba. You make us speechless unable to verbalize and express our enigmatic experiences.
“See how selfish people are when it suits them they leave their companion. So attach yourself to one who will never forsake you. Ones you entrust yourself to the hands of sadguru you do not have to worry ‘I never forsake any one who relies on me”
Sai Baba
Leave a Reply