This Chapter describes Shama's strip to Kashi,
Prayag and Gaya and how Baba (in the Form of His portrait) was
there ahead of him; it also describes Baba's reminiscences of
the past birth of two goats.
Preliminary
Blessed, Oh Sai, are Your Feet, blessed is Your remembrance and
blessed is Your darshana which frees us from the bond of Karma.
Though Your Form is invisible to us now, still if the devotees
believe in You, they get living experiences from You. By an invisible
and subtle thread You draw Your devotees from far and near to
Your Feet and embrace them like a kind and loving mother. The
devotees do not know where You are, but You so skillfully pull
the wires that they ultimately realize that You are at their back
to help and support them. The intelligent, wise and learned folk
fall into the pit of the samsar on account of their egoism, but
You save, by Your power, the poor, simple and devout persons.
Inwardly and invisibly you play all the game, but show that you
are not concerned with it. You do things and pose yourself as
a non-doer. Nobody ever knows Your life. The best course therefore
for us is to surrender our body, speech and mind to Your Feet
and always chant Your name for destroying our sins. You fulfill
the wishes of the devotees and to those who are without any desire
You give bliss supreme. Chanting Your sweet name is the easiest
sadhan for devotees. By this sadhan (means), our sins, Rajas and
Tamas qualities will vanish, the Sattwa qualities and righteousness
will gain predominance and along with this, discrimination, dispassion
and knowledge will follow. Then we shall abide in our Self and
our Guru (who are one and the same). This is what is called complete
surrender to the Guru. The only sure sign of this is that our
mind gets calm and peaceful. The greatness of this surrender,
devotion and knowledge is unique; for peace, non-attachment, fame
and salvation etc., come in its train.
If Baba accepts a devotee, He follows him and
stands by him, day and night, at his home or abroad. Let the devotee
go anywhere he likes, Baba is there ahead of him in some form
in an inconceivable manner. The following story illustrates this.
Sometime after Kakasaheb Dixit was introduced
to Sai Baba, he decided to perform the thread (Upanayan) ceremony
of his eldest son Babu at Nagpur. At about the same time Nanasaheb
Chandorkar decided to perform the marriage ceremony of his eldest
son at Gwalior. Both Dixit and Chandorkar came to shirdi and lovingly
invited Baba for these functions. Baba asked them to take Shama
as His representative. When He was pressed to come in person.
Baba told them to take Shama with them and that "after doing
Banares and Prayag He would be ahead of Shama." Now mark
these words for they show Baba's all-pervasiveness.
Taking the permission of Baba, Shama decided
to go to Nagpur and Gwalior for these functions and ceremonies
and thence to Kashi, Prayag and Gaya. Appa Kote made up his mind
to accompany him. They both went first to Nagpur for the thread
ceremony. Kakasaheb Dixit gave Shama Rs.200/- for his expenses.
Then they went to Gwalior for the marriage ceremony. There Nanasaheb
Chandorkar gave Shama Rs.100/- and his Vyahi (relation) Mr.Jather
gave him also Rs.100/-. Then Shama went to Kashi, and then to
Ayodhya where he was well received in Jather's beautiful temple
of Laxmi-Narayan at Kashi (Varanasi or Banares) and in the Rama-Mandir
at Ayodhya by Jathar's manager. They (Shama and Kote) stayed for
21 days in Ayodhya and two months in Kashi (Banares). Then they
left for Gaya. In the train they felt a little uneasy on hearing
that plague was prevailing in Gaya. At night they alighted at
Gaya station and stayed in the Dharmashala. In the morning the
Gayawala (the Priest who arranges and provides for the lodging
and boarding of the pilgrims) came there and aid - "The pilgrims
have already started, you better make haste." Shama casually
asked him whether there was plague in Gaya. "No" said
the Gayawala. "Please come without any fear or anxiety and
see yourself." Then they went with him and stayed in his
house which was a big and commodious Wada. Shama was pleased with
the accommodation provided for him, but what pleased him most,
was the beautiful big portrait of Baba fixed in the central and
front portion of the building. Seeing this portrait Shama was
overwhelmed with emotion. He remembered Baba's words, viz., "After
doing Kashi and Prayag He would be ahead of Shama" and burst
into tears. His hairs stood on end, his throat was choked and
he began to sob. The Gayawala thought that he was afraid of plague
prevailing there and therefore was crying. But Shama enquired
of him whence he got Baba's portrait there. He replied that he
had 200 or 300 agents working at Manmad and Punatambe for looking
to the convenience of the pilgrims to Gaya and from them he heard
about Baba's fame. Then about 12 years ago he went to Shirdi and
took Baba's darshana. There he wanted Baba's portrait hung in
Shama's house and with Baba's permission Shama gave it to him.
This was the same protrait. Shama then remembered this former
incident. The Gayawalas's joy knew no bounds when he learnt that
the same Shama who obliged him before, was his guest then. Then
they both exchanged love and service and were most delighted and
happy. The Gayawala gave him a right royal welcome. He was a very
rich man. He sat in a palanquin and made Shama ride an elephant
and attended to all his comforts and conveniences.
The moral of the story is this:- That Baba's
words came out true to the letter and unbounded was His love towards
the devotees. But leave this aside. He also loved all creatures
equally, for He felt that He was one with them. The following
story will illustrate this.
Two Goats
Baba was once returning from Lendi, when He saw a flock of goats.
Two of them attracted His attention. He went to them, caressed
and fondled them and bought them for Rs.32/-. The devotees were
surprised at this conduct of Baba. They thought that Baba was
duped in this bargain, as the goats would fetch Rs.two each, at
the most Rs.3/- or 4/- each, i.e., Rs.8/- for both. They began
to take Baba to task for this, but Baba kept calm and cool. Shama
and Tatya Kote asked Baba for an explanation. He said He should
not store money as He had no home, and any family to look after.
He asked them to purchase at His cost 4 seers of 'dal' (lentil)
and feed the goats. After this was done, Baba returned the goats
to the owner of the flock and gave out of the following reminiscences
and story of the goats.
"Oh, Shama and Tatya, you think that I have
been deceived in this bargain. No. Listen to their story. In their
former birth they were human beings and had the good fortune to
be My companions and sit by My side. They were uterine brothers,
loving each other at first, but later on, they became enemies.
The elder brother was an idle fellow while the younger one was
an active chap and earned a lot of money. The former became greedy
and jealous and wanted to kill his brother and take away his money.
They forgot thier fraternal relations and began to quarrel with
each other. The elder brother resorted to many devices to kill
his younger brother, but all of his attempts failed. Thus they
became deadly enemies and finally on one occasion the elder gave
a deadly blow with a big stick on the latter's head while the
latter struck the former with an axe, with the result that both
fell dead on the spot. As the result of their actions, they were
both born as goats. As they passed by me, I at once recognized
them. I remembered their past history. Taking pity on them I wanted
to feed them and give them rest and comfort and for this reason
I spent all the money for which you reprove me. As you did not
like My bargain I sent them back to their shepherd." Such
was Sai's love for the goats!
Bow to Shri Sai - Peace be to all
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