By: Rajeshwari Somasekhar
Nana Saheb Chandorkar recorded in a letter to Kaka Dixit on 15th March 1915 about Mother Radhakrishna Mai, a young widow who was living on her own at Shirdi. She was making tea one morning and as she tried to pour some hot milk, it fell all over the kitchen floor. Normally one would clean it up right away, but instead, she thought of the neighbor’s two cats who might like a treat. The neighbor agreed. Half an hour later, the mess was mostly gone – the two cats had enjoyed most of it. Mother Radhakrishna Mai then cleaned up the rest. And thereafter, did not give the mishap a second thought.
In comparison to real-life problems, such an anecdote might seem trivial. However, life is a narrative we too often become over-identified with and so, even in the simplest of stories, we can discover something insightful: Mother Radhakrishna Mai could have become upset at the incident – after all, living on your own is hard enough in itself. But she did not react in such a way. By not cleaning up immediately, she gave herself a chance to consider her options – how best to deal with her postponed tea fix.
Often, when we get upset, we are tempted to react impulsively and not think about the situation first. By asking ourselves how we may overcome our reaction, we try to change it. Before life becomes too heavy, remember that at any given time, we have options at the ready. If we help ourselves and others when life just plays itself out, so much the better. Of course, we may also turn to Sai Maharaj in Dwarakamayi and seek help, but we need not shy away from working hard to give life a deeper meaning.
When she went to meet Sai Baba, in the noon. he incidentally asked her to recite Marathi poet-saint Tukaram’s Abhang 3364 which reads: “God does not possess salvation ready-made, so that he may hand it over to his devotee. Salvation consists in conquering the senses and mind and making them empty of the pursuit of objects.”
In the story, overcoming the senses would mean that we do not get upset by what we witness, but stay equanimous as much as possible. When it comes to the mind, things might be trickier: after all, dealing with emotions of anger and thoughts of despair can cause anyone to lose their balance. However, we might also say that they are only objects of living beings Jivahood: things always pass and change all the time.
Sai Baba explained that Tukaram is encouraging us to look beyond the samsara and find a deeper meaning in life. Why get upset over anything if it is only Maya and has nothing to do with the Supreme Truth? We can always allow good to come out of any challenging life situation. If we do, we will have done our best. The Divine cannot ask more of us, because as Dasganu Maharaj puts it in his Hymn to Sainath, verse 24: “He who through Thy grace has gained the human birth here, and yet does not strive to practice and walk rightly the spiritual path, but instead lives a life of sensual pleasures, is there a man more despicable in this world than he?” Mother Radhakrishna Mai was convinced.
Leave a Reply