Five Laddus Meant K. J. Bhisma To Start Sai Sagunopasana

By : D. Sankaraiah

Krishnashastri Jageshwar Bhishma (K.J. Bhishma) was a resident of a village called Bori in the district of Nagpur. He lived on the income derived from his farms. He got married but his married life was short lived. He married once again. He had four children. He became restless after the death of his second wife. He was a Revenue Inspector at that time and left the job. His relatives advised him to remarry but he declined.

In 1908, on one night, he had a dream in which he saw a Vaishnavite in traditional dress performing pooja to a holy man. In the dream, the holy man gave Bhishma a newspaper and Bhishma desired to know who he was and enquired, but the holy man did not reply. Instead he pointed to the newspaper on which “Sat-Chit-Ananda” was printed in bold letters. When Bhishma wanted to know what it was, the holy man again simply pointed to the newspaper wherein appeared another set of words, “Mantra va shikava” which means “chant mantra and learn”. It was not clear to Bhishma. But both the holy person and the newspaper disappeared.

Bhishma could not make out anything and the Vaishnava saint too vanished. Bhishma was puzzled and totally confused, and his dream ended. He immediately recorded the dream and was thinking about it.After some time, a sadhu, a devotee of Ganesha, visited Bori. Bhishma narrated his dream to the sadhu who told him that “Sat-Chit-Ananda Swami” was his guru and gave him the mantra “va shikava”. Bhishma had 90 acres of land and was affluent. He renounced all his property and became an ascetic and started wearing ochre robes. He was a prolific writer and wrote many religious books. He started spending his life in performing kirtans and bhajans. He was interested in social work and removing untouchability.

After some time Bhishma happened to visit Amraoti and met his friend Dadasaheb Khaparde. Khaparde was visiting Shirdi and asked Bhishma to accompany him. Bhishma agreed. Khaparde was in the habit of maintaining diaries and there is a mention about Bhishma in Khaparde’s diary. Khaparde stayed for a long time in Shirdi beginning from 6th December 1911. When Bhishma went into the masjid for Baba’s darshan, Baba uttered with folded hands, “Jai Sat-Chit-Ananda”. Bhishma, though perplexed initially, was wonder-struck as to whether the holy man of his dream was Baba himself. But he thought that the holy man of his dream was a Vaishnavite while Baba appeared to be a Muslim.

While at Shirdi though he saw many Brahmins devoutly receiving Baba’s pada teerth without any hesitation, but he gently avoided. Baba was in the habit of smoking tobacco from a chillum and as he smoked, he used to offer a puff to the devotees present. Bhishma was apprehensive at heart at the possibility of smoking a chillum polluted by the lips of a Muslim. As per his internal thought, for the first few days, Baba never offered a puff to Bhishma even though he was sitting very close by.

One day while Baba was narrating a parable to a group of devotees including Bhishma, a devotee got the chillum ready and gave it to Baba. Baba held it out to Bhishma and directed him to smoke after merely touching the chillum to his mouth. Bhishma followed Baba’s order without any demur and had a puff and then returned it to Baba. Baba accepted it and remarked, “I roam everywhere, my friend – Mumbai, Pune, Satara, Nagpur; all those towns are filled with the presence of Rama”. Then he suddenly said to Bhishma in a complaining tone, “Well, Why do you eat the laddus all by yourself without offering a single piece to me? At least now give me five!”

As Baba spoke those words something happened which changed the basic outlook of Bhishma. His mental outlook and orthodox proclivity suddenly got changed, as if blown away in the single puff he had from Baba’s chillum. Baba’s remark had created the desired effect on Bhishma and it resulted in the disappearance of the distinction between the Vaishnav Saint who appeared in his dream and Sai Baba of Shirdi. He was also convinced that it was Baba who appeared in his dream in the garb of a Vaishnav saint. Then on his own he asked for Baba’s pada teertha and wholeheartedly placed his head on Baba’s feet. Baba blessed him by placing his hands on his head for a few moments which brought about a strange ecstasy in his mind. Then he went to the wada and started worrying as to how he could prepare five laddus in a new place where he was a guest. But he was still thinking in his mind about Baba’s cryptic remarks about the five laddus.

He did not take Baba’s words literally. He also could not understand what actually Baba meant by “five laddus”. Then it flashed on him that Baba desired him to compose five verses to worship him. It was his plan for Bhishma to undertake ‘Sagunopasana’ – worship him with ‘Pancharathi’. Thus, the regular worship of Baba with Arati and with singing of Arati song and playing of musical instruments started at that time.

In the beginning, there was no regular worship of Baba except accepting garlands brought by the devotees. In the year 1900, during one of Nanasaheb Chandorkar’s visits to Shirdi, his second son, Mahadeo at the age of 4 years took the liberty of performing puja to Baba by decorating Baba’s head with flowers. He also started applying chandan to Baba’s forehead and this became the practice subsequently.

Baba started permitting devotees to apply sandal-paste to his fore-head and offer him flowers. It was Tatyasaheb Noolkar who introduced for the first time puja to Baba by offering Arati by waving of five lighted lamps around Baba in an arch. This practice started on a Guru Poornima Day and later this became the regular practice.