Nana Saheb’s Daughter Mainatai

By: Mrs. Seetha Vijayakumar

Smt. Mainatai was the eldest daughter of Nanasaheb Chandorkar and was born in 1887. She first visited Shirdi in 1900 when she was 13 years old along with her family. They visited Shirdi numerous times and Mainatai was able to witness many miracles and was aware of all the advice given to her father. She learned early in life the consequences of disobeying Baba’s orders at the time of departure. Once she and her family were going to Nasik to attend a marriage. Though Baba did not permit them to go, they left on their own and the result was they could not get any food for three or four hours. On the other hand, their experiences proved that obeying Baba’s orders was sure to result in a comfortable and happy journey.

Mainatai was married at a very young age and moved to Pune with her husband. Her husband died in the plague epidemic in 1904. She realized that she was pregnant at that time, so her mother took her to Jamner. Before her delivery, she had severe pain and a great deal of difficulty. They performed ‘Navchandi Havan/Homam’ and recitation of “Saptashati Path” to overcome the difficulty in her delivery, but her pains continued unabated.

At the same time, one day in the evening, Baba called Ramghir Bua (who was also thinking of going to his native village in Khandesh) and asked him to go to Jamner (towards Khandesh side) starting immediately and carry with him a packet of Udi and a copy of arati song and deliver them to Nanasaheb Chandorkar who was Mamlatdar at Jamner in Khandesh province. Ramghir told Baba that he had with him only Rs.2 and asked Baba how that amount would be sufficient to travel from Kopergaon to Jalgaon by train and from Jalgaon to Jamner by cart as the total distance is more than 100 miles. Baba said that everything would be taken care of and that he should not worry about the journey. That was a Friday and Ramghir immediately started and reached Manmad at 7:30 PM and Jalgaon at 2:45 AM on Saturday. At the Jalgaon railway station, there were some restrictions due to the outbreak of the plague and he had some trouble. When he came out from the station at about 3:00 AM, a peon in boots with beard and mustaches, with a turban on head and equipped with all good dress, appeared with a tonga and started calling who was “Bapughir Bua” from Shirdi. It was only Baba who used to call him by that name and nobody else. Then the peon told him that he came there on orders from Nanasaheb Chandorkar to take him to Jamner. Then Ramghir sat in the tonga which raced to Jamner at a very high speed as the distance to be covered was 30 miles. On the way to Baghoor, the peon offered some refreshments to Ramghir who hesitated to eat them. Seeing his hesitation, the peon said that he was a Kshatriya Hindu from Garhwal and Rajput by caste. Ramghir partook of the food offered. Then they reached Jamner early in the morning. Ramghir went to attend a nature’s call, returned, and found to his surprise that the tongawala, tonga, and horses had all disappeared.

He was near the house of Nanasaheb. He went there and gave the Udi packet and the copy of the arati to Nanasaheb. Then Baba’s Udi was given to Mainatai, and the arati sung after which she had a safe delivery of a male child.

Ramghir thanked Nanasaheb for having sent his peon with a tonga to Jalgaon and this had helped him to come quickly to Nanasaheb’s house. At that, Nanasaheb said that he did not send the peon and tonga as he was not aware of Ramghir’s arrival. Ramghir was totally surprised and recollected Baba’s words that everything would be taken care of and Ramghir need not worry at all. This was a great miracle as Baba himself came as a peon, tongawala, and horses and managed and arranged the necessary things precisely and accurately to help the devotees. This was considered as Jamner miracle which had happened in 1904.

Unfortunately, the child did not live long. Mainatai had lost her husband just before the delivery in 1904. This second death was a serious blow to the family.

In a disheartened mood, Nanasaheb went to Shirdi along with his wife. He sat at the feet of Baba and asked Baba, “We are always under the shelter of Your blessings. Even then, we are facing so many hardships and unfortunate calamities. What shall we do?” The advice that Baba imparted by way of reply was highly philosophic and required deep pondering. Baba told him, “Nana, if you were coming to me only to save the lives of your son-in-law and grandson, then it is your mistake. Don’t come to me for such a reason because I don’t have control over birth and death. They are dependent on the deeds of the respective earlier births. Even the Almighty God does not interfere in such matters. Will He ask the sun or the moon to change the times of their rising or setting? He cannot do it and He will not do it. Because it will create chaos in the Universe.” Nana then asked, “Then, how do you predict, what is going to happen in the future?” Baba provided clarification about the ‘miracles’ that He performed. He said, “Nana, I don’t perform miracles. I am only able to look into the future events and I narrate them to you. You feel that these are miracles. When I predict such events, you direct your devotion towards me. I redirect it to the Almighty and ensure your welfare.” This shows, how concerned Baba was about the wellbeing of His devotees! All these confirm the inscrutability of God’s actions.

Das Ganu on hearing about Mainatai’s tragic situation gave her a pair of silver padukas for worship. Her father also comforted her. She found solace in performing puja to the padukas daily. She lived in a large joint family in Pune, led a peaceful life, and then merged in Sai Baba in 1945.

Baba preached the theory of karma and educated his devotees that our actions of the past births are responsible for our joy or sorrow in the present birth. He also advised his devotees that unconditional surrender at the feet of Guru and unswerving faith can elevate the lives of devotees.