By: B. Rajeshwari
During ‘Chavadi Procession’ at Shirdi on Thursdays, with the traditional hymns we also hear the sound of the deep bass drum. Written in 1915, it is a popular song among Sai devotees. The words of the song mean that devotees are gathering up their finest gifts to Lord Sainath. The little boy has no material goods as he was poor, and yet he decides that he has one gift that he can give Sainath which is his talent to play the drum. With Bhishma’s script, the boy meets Lord Sainath and offers to beat the drum. Sai Baba accepts his heartfelt gift and blesses him. At that moment, a great vocal singer of those days, Alladia Khan arrived at Dwarakamayi and was full of appreciation of the drummer boy! Incidentally Alladia Khan satiated Baba’s ears with his classical music on that day. The drummer boy has become immortal as that song is a part of ‘Palanquin procession’ on Thursdays.
Laxmibai Shinde’s experience is on similar lines. We are aware that Baba gifted her nine silver before his Mahasamadhi. Once, she had a secret desire of making an offering to Lord Sainath. So, one day in 1916, intending to make her offering, she went out to work and earned a small coin.
The oil merchant gave her a small amount of oil. That evening she went to Dwarakamayi, when Baba was not in his seat, poured the oil into an empty lamp and lit the wick, and made this wish: “Baba, I have nothing to offer but this tiny lamp. But through this, in the future may I be blessed with wisdom. May I work to free all beings from darkness, helping them to reach enlightenment”.
That night the oil in all the other lamps went out, but the lamp lit by Laxmibhai was still burning at dawn, when Abdulla came to collect all the lamps. When he saw that one was still alight, full of oil and with a new wick, he thought, “There is no reason why this lamp should still be burning in the day time”, and he tried to blow it out. He tried to snuff it, smother it, but still it burnt on.
Sai Baba was watching and said, “Abdulla, do you want to put out that lamp? You cannot. The water in all rivers and lakes would not extinguish it – because this lamp was offered with devotion and purity of heart and mind”. Sai Baba made a prophecy that in the future Laxmibai Shinde would become a great devotee, calling her ‘Light of the Lamp’. Accordingly, the nine coins gifted to her before his Mahasamadhi are a standing testimony to her devotion and dedication.
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