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The Previous Sareeram (Body) -
Part 1
Extracts from Sai Vaani
September 28th
is the Date of Birth of Shirdi Sai Baba. On this auspicious day,
we shall read some of the messages from Bhagavan about this
previous Avatar in His own words. Here are some extracts from "SAI
VAANI".
Bhagavan says:-
In the former
Nizam’s dominion, in Aurangabad district, there was a remote
village called Pathri. In that village, there lived a couple by
name Gangabhavadya and Devagiriamma. They were aggrieved because
they did not have any children. In answer to their prayers, a son
was born to Devagiriamma, on September 28th, 1835. That
child was Sai Baba.
On account of
passage of time and circumstances, no one knew the exact dates of
Baba’s birth and passing. In this context, the mystery relating to
Baba’s birth should be noted. Gangabhavadya and Devagiriamma
hailed from Pathri village, and they were ardent worshippers of
Eshwara and Parvathi. They had no offspring for a long time. They
intensified their prayers. Gangabhavadya used to ply a boat near
the village for living. One night, when it was raining heavily,
Gangabhavadya left his house to take care of the boat, informing
his wife that he would not return that night. After her husband
had left, Devagiriamma had her food and went to bed early. At 9
p.m., there was a knock at the door. Devagiriamma opened the door
expecting the likely return of her husband. Instead, a very
elderly man entered the house. He pleaded, "It is very cold
outside. Please permit me, mother, to stay inside." Being
a pious woman, Devagiriamma allowed him to stay in the verandah
and went inside the house after bolting the inner door. A little
while later, there was a knock on the inner door. She opened the
door. The old man said, "I am feeling hungry, give me some
food." Finding that there was no food, the woman mixed
some flour with curds and gave it to him. There was again another
knock after some time. When she opened the door, the old man said,
"My legs are aching. Mother, will you massage them?"
Devagiriamma went inside, sat in prayer room and prayed: "Oh
Mother! Why are you testing me like this? What should I do? Should
I serve him or refuse?" Going out of the house by the back
door, she went in search of someone who could be engaged to render
this service. No one was available. As she returned there was
another knock from the old man. At the same time, a woman knocked
at the back door. The woman said, "It appears you came to my
house and sought some feminine help. I was away at that time.
Please let me know what service I should render." Feeling
happy that Goddess Parvathi herself had sent the woman in response
to here prayers, Devagiriamma sent the newcomer to the verandah
for serving the old man and closed the door.
The elderly man and
the woman who came to render help were none other than
Parameshwara and Parvathi. Parameshwara told Parvathi, "Fulfill
the cherished desire of this lady." Parvathi replied, "You
are the supreme one. Please shower Your grace on her Yourself."
Eshawara said, "I came to test her. You came in
answer to her prayers. Hence You must bless her.". They
knocked the door once again. This time Devagiriamma promptly
opened the door, because the presence of another woman emboldened
her. Parvathi and Parameshwara appeared before her in teir Divine
forms. Unable to contain her joy, Devagiriamma fell at their feet.
Parvathi then blessed her, "I grant you a son to maintain
the lineage and a daughter for Kanyadana (a girl to be offered in
marriage). Then Devagiriamma fell at the feet of Eashwara.
Eashwara said,
"I am immensely
pleased with your devotion. I shall take birth as your third
child." When
Devagiriama got up, the Divine couple was not there. Feeling
ecstatic over the experience, Devagiriamma eagerly awaited the
return of her husband in the morning to relate to him the whole
experience.
The husband returned
in the morning. She related to him all that happened the previous
night. The husband said, "Devagiri, what is this entirely
fanciful tale! It is all a dream. Parvathi and Parameshwara
appearing before you and giving Darshan! It is pure fantasy!"
Gangabhavadya dismissed the whole episode as incredible and
fanciful.
But, as time passed,
Devagiriamma became enceinte and a son was born. A year later a
daughter was born. Gangabhavadya was convinced that the birth of
the two children was the result of the blessings conferred by
Parvathi and Parameshwara. He told his wife, "You had the
good fortune of having Darshan of Parvathi and Parameshwara. I did
not have that luck." When Devagiriamma conceived again,
Gangabhavadya began to feel an urge to give up hearth and home and
go in search of Divine couple. He told his wife that he was
leaving for the forest to do penance. Devoted wife that she was,
Devagiriamma decided to follow him though she was in the ninth
month of her pregnancy. After following her husband for some
distance, she developed labor pains. She delivered a boy. Wrapping
the babe in a piece of cloth, she left the child by the roadside
and followed her husband.
In the same village,
there lived a Sufi Fakir. He too was childless. He took charge of
this child and brought him up in his home. The boy stayed in the
fakir’s home for four years (1835 to 1839) The fakir passed away
in the tide of time. The fakir’s wife, wh9o had lavished great
affection on the child, was grief-stricken. To add to her worries,
the boy was behaving in a troublesome manner. In those days,
Hindu-Muslim differences in that area, were growing. At an
alarming rate. The boy used to visit Hindu temples and sing some
songs in praise of Allah. "Mein Allah hoon" (I am God). "Allah
Malik Hai" (Allah is supreme Lord.) He used to declare in this
manner in the temple. The Hindus used to chastise the boy in
various ways for his misbehavior. He would enter a mosque and
declare, "Rama is God", "Siva is Allah". His behavior of
singing about Rama and Siva in a mosque and about Allah in the
Hindu temple was a puzzle to the public. Members belonging to both
the communities went to the fakir’s wife and complained about the
boy’s behavior. Unable to deal with the situation, the fakir’s
wife handed over the boy to a pious scholar, Gopal Rao Deshmukh,
who was called Venkusa by the people on account of his
scholarship and wisdom. The boy stayed in Venkusa’s ashram for 12
years from 1839 to 1851. Venkusa was extremely fond of the boy. In
every matter, he used to give priority to this boy’s views. Seeing
this, in the course of time, members of the ashram developed envy
towards the boy. Observing this, one night (1851) the boy left the
ashram. He reached Shirdi – a very small village at that time.
At Shirdi,
Mahalsapathi a priest in a local temple saw him entering the local
temple. Looking at his appearance as a Muslim, Mahalsapathi turned
him out of the temple. The boy went back and sat under a neem
tree. He was only 16 years old at that time. No one knew then what
his name was. If anyone asked his name, he would give no answer.
He would sometimes retort saying, "Why do you want to know
My name?" Because of this, nobody could find out His name.
Some villagers from
nearby places used to visit Him under the tree and get relief from
their ailments. He would take out some leaves, crush them and give
them to the ailing persons as a medicine. In this manner, He cured
many a person of their illness. News of His healing powers spread
all over the surrounding villages. As a result, a large number of
people used to come to Him, receive the crushed leaves from Him
and get cured of their ailments. Suddenly one morning He
disappeared. A futile search was made in the nearby areas to trace
Him. He had stayed in Shirdi for barely two months before setting
about to wander from place to place. Later in 1858, He returned to
Shirdi.
There was a village
called Dhoop in Aurangabad. A person by name Chandubhai Patel,
belonging to a middle class family, lived in Dhoop. As no other
form of transport was available in those days, people used to go
only on horseback. Chandubhai went on his horse to Aurangabad on
some urgent business. When he had finished his business, there at
the end of three days, he found that the horse was missing.
Disappointed over the missing horse, Chandubhai was returning to
Dhoop through dense forests on the way. On his way, he saw a fakir
sitting under a tree. The fakir appeared to be lost in his own
thoughts. Suddenly the fakir hailed Chandubhai with the words, "Hey
Patel! Come here." The fakir liked to smoke chilim
(Hookah). As there was no water nearby, the fakir hit the ground
with a stick and water gushed forth from the place. He hit again
another place with a stick and there was fire. Using the water and
the fire, He started smoking his hookah and offered it to
Chandubhai also. Chandubhai declined the offer. The fakir asked
Chandubhai, "What is worrying you Patel?". Patel asked, "How
did you know I am Patel?". "I know everything" replied the
Fakir. "You are worried about your horse. You are keeping you
eyes on the top of your head! You must lower them to trace your
horse. Your horse is grazing under the tree there." Chandubhai
saw his horse there. He had a search conducted for the horse in
the same place with the help of some workers, but could not find
it. But, now he saw it under a tree close to him. Chandubhai was
astonished that the fakir had produced water and fire out of earth
and had located his missing horse. He appealed to the fakir, "Swami!
You have rendered great help to me. Please come with me and share
my hospitality." "All right, let us go," the fakir replied.
About this time, the
marriage of Chandubhai’s niece, who was residing in Shirdi, was
settled. Chandubhai had to go to Shirdi for the wedding. He
requested the fakir to come along with them. They went in carts to
Sshirdi. Mahalsapathi saw the fakir getting down from a cart, and
went to Him, and said, "Aayiye! Baba, Aayiye Sai!".
The name "SAI" was given by Mahalsapathi. Till then no one had
conferred a name on Him. Sometime later, Baba was accused in a
criminal case. He had to give evidence in a case that related to
the theft of some valuables from a rich man’s house by a gang of
thieves. The police caught the thieves and questioned them about
the stolen articles. The thieves said that the valuables had been
given to them by a fakir. Searching for the fakir, they came to
Baba. They asked Him, "Fakir, did you give these articles to
them?" "Yes" He said. "Where did you get them from?"
was the next question. Baba replied, "They have come from the
same place from which all things come." Finally they asked,
"Who gave them to you?" "I gave them myself", was His
reply.
Baba gave such
intriguing answers, which the police could not understand. "I
am the giver of everything. How can anyone get anything without My
sanction?" declared Baba. Feeling that it was futile to
question him further, the police prepared a report. Baba received
summons from the magistrate to give evidence in the case.
Chandubhai Patel did not want Baba to go to the Magistrate and so
he arranged for Baba being examined by a commission (in Shirdi
itself). During the examination by the commission, Baba was
asked, "What is your father’s name?" He replied, "Baba".
(Baba means father and the reply meant that the father’s name was
father.)
Question: "What is
your religion?"
Answer: "The
Religion of God"
Q:: "Where do you
come from?"
Ans: "I have come
from Atma"
Q: "What is your
caste?"
Ans: The case of the
Divine".
Baba answered all
the questions in this manner. Earlier He had been hailed as "SAI".
In this examination, He had given his father’s name as Baba. By
the combination of these two names, He was therefore called "SAI
BABA" No one knew when and where Sai Baba was born and who
gave Him that name. Baba came to Shirdi for the second time in
1858. He did not move out of Shirdi from that time. He remained
there for sixty years, till 1918. Baba lived for eighty-three
years.
Part 1
- Part 2 - Part 3 -
Part 4
Lovingly shared by Venkatachalam
Srinivasan
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