Shri Sai Satcharitra Chapter 1

Chapter – 1

Salutations - The story of grinding wheat and its philosophical significance

According to the ancient and revered custom, Hemadpant begins the work, Sai Satcharita, with various salutations:

First, he makes obeisance to the God Ganesh to remove all obstacles and make the work a success, saying that Shri Sai is the God Ganesh.

Next, to the Goddess Saraswati, to inspire him to write the work, saying that Shri Sai is one with this goddess, and that He, Himself, is singing His own life.

Then to the Gods Brahma, Vishnu and Shankar - the creating, preserving and destroying deities respectively - saying that Sainath is one with them and He, as the great teacher, will carry us across the river of worldly existence.

Then to his tutelary deity, Narayan Adinat, who manifested himself in Konkon – the land reclaimed by Parashuram from the sea; and to the Adi (original) purush of the family.

Then to the Bharadwaja Muni, into whose gotra (clan) he was born, and also to various rishis, Yajnavalkya, Bhrigu, Parashara, Narad, Vedavyasa, Sanak, Sanandan, Sanatkumar, Shuka, Shounak, Vishwamitra, Vasistha, Valmiki, Vamadeva, Jaimini, Vaishampayan, Nava, Yogindra etc. as well as to the modern saints such as Nivritti, Jnanadev, Sopan, Muktabai, Janardan, Ekanath, Namdev, Tukaram, Kanha, Narahari etc.

Then to his grandfather Sadashiv, to his father Raghunath, to his mother who left him in his infancy, to his paternal aunt who brought him up, and to his loving elder brother.

Then to the readers who, he prays, will give their whole and undivided attention to this work.

Then to his guru Shri Sainath, an incarnation of Sri Dattatreya, who is his sole refuge and who will make him realize that Brahma is the only reality and the world an illusion.

Finally, to all beings in whom the Lord God dwells.

After describing in brief the various modes of devotion according to Parashara, Vyasa and Shandilya etc., the author goes on to relate the following story:

Sometime after 1910, I went to the masjid in Shirdi one morning to receive Sai Baba’s darshan. I was wonderstruck to see the following phenomenon. After washing His mouth and face, Sai Baba began to make preparations for grinding wheat. He spread a sack on the floor, upon which He set a hand-mill. He then took some wheat in a winnowing fan, drew up the sleeves of His kafni (robe), and taking hold of the peg of the hand-mill, started grinding the wheat by putting a few handfuls of wheat in the upper opening of the mill and turning it. I then thought, “Why would Baba be grinding wheat, when He possessed nothing, and stored nothing, as He lived on alms?” Some people who had come there had similar thoughts, but none had the courage to ask Baba what He was doing.

Immediately, the news of Baba’s grinding wheat spread into the village and at once, men and women flocked to the masjid to watch Baba as He worked. Four bold women forced their way through the crowd and, moving Baba aside, forcibly took the peg (handle) into their own hands. They started singing Baba’s leelas while beginning to grind the wheat. At first Baba was enraged, but seeing the women’s love and devotion, He became pleased and began to smile.

While the women were grinding the wheat, they began to think that Baba had no house, no property, no children, nor anyone to look after, and as He lived on alms, He did not require any wheat flour for making bread or roti. What would He do with this big quantity of flour? Perhaps as Baba is very kind, He will distribute the flour amongst us. Thinking in this way and singing, they finished the grinding and, putting the hand-mill aside, divided the flour into four portions and began to remove them, one by one. Baba, who was calm and quiet till then, became wild and started abusing them saying, “Ladies, have you gone mad? Whose father’s property are you looting away? Have I borrowed any wheat from you so that you can safely take the flour? Now please do this. Take the flour and throw it on the village border limits.” Hearing this, the women felt abashed and whispering amongst themselves, went off to the outskirts of the village and spread the flour as directed by Baba.

I asked the Shirdi people, “Why did Baba do this?” They replied that the cholera epidemic was spreading in the village and that was Baba’s remedy to stop it. It was not wheat that was ground, but cholera itself that was ground to pieces and cast out of the village. From that time onward, the cholera epidemic subsided and the people of the village were happy. I was very pleased to know all this, but at the same time, my curiosity was aroused. I began to ask myself, “What earthly connection was there between wheat flour and cholera? What was the causal relation between the two, and how could one reconcile them?” The incident seemed inexplicable. I thought perhaps I should write something about this and sing Baba’s sweet leelas to my heart’s content. Thus, thinking this way, my heart was filled with joy and I was inspired to write Baba’s life - the Shri Sai Satcharita - and as we know, with Baba’s grace and blessings, this work was successfully accomplished.

Philosophical Significance of Grinding

Apart from the meaning which the people of Shirdi attributed to this incident of grinding wheat, there is a philosophical significance too. Sai Baba lived in Shirdi for about sixty years and during this long period, He did the business of grinding almost every day - not, however, the wheat alone, but the sins, the mental and physical afflictions, and the miseries of His innumerable devotees. The two stones of His mill consisted of karma and bhakti, the former being the lower stone, and the latter, the upper one. The handle with which Baba worked the mill consisted of jnana. It was the firm conviction of Baba that knowledge of Self-realization is not possible unless there is the prior act of grinding all our impulses, desires, sins and the three gunas, viz. sattva, raja, and tamas, and the ahamkara, which is so subtle, and therefore so difficult to be rid of.

This reminds us of a similar story of Kabir, who, seeing a woman grinding corn, said to his guru Nipathiranjana, “I am weeping because I feel the agony of being crushed in this wheel of worldly existence like the corn in the hand-mill.” Nipathiranjana replied, “Do not be afraid. Hold fast to the handle of knowledge of this mill, as I do, and do not wander far away from the same, but turn inward to the center, and you are sure to be saved.”

Bow to Shri Sai - Peace be to all