Shri Sai Satcharita
Chapter 45
Greatness of Holy Feet of Sai - Kakasaheb's
Doubt and Anandrao's Vision; Wooden Plank used by Baba.
Preliminary
We have described in the
last three chapters Baba's passing away. His physical or finite form has no
doubt disappeared from our view; but the infinite or spiritual form (Spirit of
Baba) ever lives. The Leelas which occurred during His lifetime have been dwelt
upon at great length up till now. Ever since His passing away, fresh Leelas
have taken place and are even now happening. This clearly shows that Baba is
ever living and helping His devotees as before. The people, who got the contact
of Baba when He was living, were indeed very fortunate, but if any of them did
not get a dispassion for the things and enjoyments of the world and had not
their minds turned to the Lord, it was their ill-luck. What was then wanted and
is now wanted is the wholehearted devotion to Baba. All our senses, organs, and
mind should cooperate in worshipping and serving Baba. It is no use in engaging
some organs in the worship and deflecting others. If a thing like worship or meditation
is to be done, it ought to be done with all our mind and soul.
The love that a chaste
woman bears to her husband is sometimes compared to that which a disciple bears
to his master (Guru). Yet the former falls far short of the latter, which is
incomparable. No one, whether he be father, mother, brother or any other
relation, comes to our aid in attaining the goal of life (self-realization). We
have to chalk out and traverse the path of self-realization ourselves. We have
to discriminate between the Unreal and the Real, renounce the things and
enjoyments of this world and the next, control our senses and mind, and aspire
for liberation only. Instead of depending upon others, we should have full
faith in ourselves. When we begin to practice discrimination, we come to know,
that the world is transient and unreal and our passion for worldly things
becomes less and less, and ultimately we get dispassion or nonattachment for
them. Then we know that the Brahma which is no other than our Guru is the sole
reality and as Brahma transcends and besets the seeming universe, we begin to
worship Brahma in all creatures. This is the unitive Bhajan or worship. When we
thus worship the Brahma or Guru wholeheartedly, we become one with Him and
attain self-realization.
In short, continuous chant
of the name of our Guru, and meditating on Him, enables us to see Him in all
beings, and confers eternal bliss on us. The following story will illustrate
this:
Greatness of the Holy Feet
of Sai: Kakasaheb's Doubt and Anandrao's Vision:
It is well-known, that Sai
Baba had instructed Kakasaheb Dixit to read daily two works of Shri Ekanath:
(1) Bhagawat and (2) Bhawartha Ramayan. Kakasaheb read these daily while Baba
was living and he followed the practice even after Baba's passing away. Once in
Kaka Mahajani's house in Choupati, Bombay, Kakasaheb was reading Ekanathi Bhagawat
in the morning. Madhavarao Deshpande alias Shama and Kaka Mahajani were then
present and listened attentively to the portion read, viz., the 2nd Chapter, 11th
skandha of the book.
Therein the nine Nathas or
Siddhas of the Rishabha family, viz., Kavi, Hari, Antariksha, Prabuddha,
Pippalayan, Avirhotra, Drumil, Chamas and Karabhajan expounded the principles
of the Bhagawat Dharma to King Janak. The latter asked all the nine Nathas most
important questions and each of them answered them satisfactorily. The first,
i.e., Kavi explained what is Bhagawat Dharma; Hari, the characteristics of a
Bhakta (devotee); Antariksha, what is Maya; Prabuddha, how to cross Maya;
Pippalayan, what is Para-Brahma; Avirhotra, what is Karma; Drumil, the
incarnations of God and their deeds; Chamas, how a non-devotee fares after death;
Karabhajan, the different modes of worship of God in different ages.
The substance of all the exposition was that in
this Kali age, the only means of liberation was the remembrance of Hari's
(Lord's) or Guru's feet.
After the reading was over,
Kakasaheb said in a despondent tone to Madhavarao and others “wonderful is the
discourse of the nine Nathas on Bhakti or devotion. But at the same time how
difficult it is to put it into practice! The Nathas were perfect, but is it
possible for fools like us to attain the devotion as delineated by them? We will not get it even after several births,
then how are we to get salvation? It seems that there is no hope for us”.
Madhavarao did not like
this pessimistic attitude of Kakasaheb. He said “it is a pity that one who by
his good luck got such a jewel (Guru) as Baba, should cry out so disparagingly;
if he has unwavering faith in Baba, why should he feel restless? The Bhakti of
the Nathas may be strong and powerful, but is not ours' loving and affectionate?
And has not Baba told us authoritatively that remembering and chanting Hari's
and Guru's name confers salvation? Then where is the cause for fear and
anxiety?"
Kakasaheb was not satisfied
with Madhavara's explanation. He continued to be anxious and restless, the whole
day, thinking and brooding over how to get the powerful Bhakti of the Nathas.
Next morning, the following
miracle took place. One gentleman, named Anandrao Pakhade came there in search of
Madhavarao. The reading of the Bhagawat was then going on. Mr.Pakhade sat near
Madhavarao and was whispering something to him. He was mentioning in low tone
his dream-vision. As there was some interruption in the reading by this
whispering, Kakasaheb stopped the reading, and asked Madhavarao what the matter
was. The latter said “you expressed your doubt, now here is the explanation of
it; hear Mr.Pakhade's vision which Baba gave him, explaining the characteristic
of 'saving' devotion and showing that the devotion in the form of bow to, or
worship of, Guru's feet is sufficient”.
All were anxious to hear the
vision specially Kakasaheb. At their suggestion Mr.Pakhade began to relate the
vision as follows:-
“I was standing in a deep
sea in waist-deep water. There I saw Sai Baba all of a sudden. He was sitting
on a beautiful throne studded with diamonds, with His Feet in water. I was most
pleased and satisfied with the Form of Baba. The vision was so realistic that I
never thought that it was a dream. Curiously enough Madhavarao was also
standing there. He said to me feelingly, 'Anandrao, fall at Baba's Feet.' I
rejoined that I also wish to do so, but His Feet are in water, how can I place
my head on The Holy Feet? I am helpless. Hearing this he said to Baba – ‘Deva,
take out Your Feet which are under water. Then Baba immediately took out His feet.
I caught them without delay and bowed to them. On seeing this Baba blessed me
saying - Go now, you will attain your welfare, there is no cause for fear and
anxiety. He also added – ‘Give a silk-bordered dhotar to my Shama, you will
profit, thereby”.
In compliance with Baba's
order, Mr.Pakhade brought the dhotar and requested Kakasaheb to hand it over to
Madhavarao; but the latter refused to accept it, saying that unless Baba gave a
hint or suggestion for acceptance, he would not accept it. Then after some
discussion Kakasaheb decided to cast lots. It was the invariable practice of Kakasaheb
to cast lots in all dubious matters and to abide by the decision as shown by
the picked up chit or lot. In this particular case two chits, on one of which
was written 'To accept' and on another 'To reject', were placed at the feet of
Baba's picture and an infant was asked to pick one of them. The 'To accept'
chit was picked up and the dhotar was handed over to, and accepted by,
Madhavarao. In this way both Anandrao and Madhavarao were satisfied and
Kakasaheb's difficulty was solved.
This story exhorts us to
give respect to the words of other saints, but at the same time asks us to have
full faith in our Mother, i.e., the Guru, and abide by His instructions: for he
knows our welfare better than any other person. Carve out on your heart, the
following words of Baba – “there are
innumerable saints in this world, but 'Our father' (Guru) is the Father (Real
Guru). Others might say many good things, but we should never forget our Guru's
words. Love your Guru wholeheartedly, surrender
to Him completely and prostrate yourselves before Him reverentially and then
you will see that there is no sea of the mundane existence before you to cross,
there is no darkness before the sun”.
Wooden plank used by Baba's
for sleeping
In His earlier days, Baba
slept on a wooden plank, 4 arms in length and only a span in breadth with
panatis (earthen lamps) burning at the four corners. Later on He broke the
plank into pieces and threw it away (Vide Chapter X). Once Baba was describing
the greatness or importance of this plank to Kakasaheb; hearing this the latter
said to Baba, “if You still love the wooden plank, I will again suspend or hang
up one in the Masjid again for You to sleep at ease”. Baba replied, I do not like
to sleep up, leaving Mhalasapati down on the ground”. Then Kakasaheb said that
he can provide another plank for Mhalsapati. Baba said, “Can he sleep on the
plank? It is not easy to sleep up on the plank. He who has many good qualities
in him can do so. He who can sleep 'with his eyes wide open' can affect that.
When I go to sleep I often ask Mhalsapati to sit by My side, place his hand on
My heart and watch the 'chanting of the Lord's name' there, and if he finds Me
sleepy, wake Me up. He cannot do even this. He himself gets drowsy and begins
to nod his head. When I feel his hand heavy as a stone on My heart and cry out -
'Oh Bhagat', he moves and opens his eyes. How can he, who cannot sit and sleep
well on the ground and whose asana (posture) is not steady and who is a slave
to sleep, sleep high up on a plank? On many other occasions Baba said, out of
love for His devotees - "What (whether good or bad) is ours, is with us,
and what is another's is with him."
Bow to Shri Sai - Peace be
to all
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