Shri Sai Satcharitra Chapter 2

Chapter – 2

Object of Writing the Work - Incapacity and Boldness in the Undertaking, Hot Discussion - Conferring Significant and Prophetic Title of Hemadpant - Necessity of a Guru

Object of writing the work

In the first chapter I described Sai Baba’s miracle of checking and destroying the epidemic of cholera by grinding wheat and throwing the flour on the outskirts of the village. I heard other miracles of Sai Baba to my great delight and this enthusiasm burst forth in this poetic work. I also thought that the description of these grand miracles of Sai Baba would be interesting and instructive to His devotees and would remove their sins, so I began to write the sacred life and teachings of Sai Baba. The life of a saint is neither logic nor dialectic. It shows us the true and great path.

Incapacity and boldness in undertaking the work

Hemadpant thought he was not fit to undertake the work. He said, “As I do not know the life of my intimate friend, nor do I know my own mind, how then can I write about the life of a saint or describe the nature of incarnations which even the Vedas were unable to do? One must be a saint himself before he can know other saints. How can I describe their glory? To write about the life of a saint is most difficult. One may as well measure the depth of the water in the seven seas or enclose the sky with cloth trappings. I know this will be a most venturous undertaking which might expose me to ridicule. I, therefore, must always invoke Sai Baba’s grace.”

The premier poet-saint of Maharashtra, Shri Janeshwar Maharaj, stated that the Lord loves those who write about the lives of saints, and the saints have their own peculiar method of having the service, which the devotees long for, successfully accomplished. The saints inspire the work. The devotee becomes only an indirect cause, or instrument, to achieve the end. For instance, in shaka year 1700, the poet Mahipati aspired to write about the lives of the saints. The saints inspired him to get the work done, and he wrote four works: Bhakta Vijaya, Santa Vijaya, Bhakta Leelamrit and Santa Leelamrit. Then later, in shaka year 1800, Das Ganu’s service was accepted. He wrote two books, Bhakta Leelamrit and Santa Kathamarit, in which the lives of modern saints are described. In chapters 31, 32, and 33 of Bhakta Leelamrit and in chapter 57 of Santa Kathamrit, the sweet life and teachings of Sai Baba are very well depicted. These have been separately published in ‘Sai Leela’ Magazine, Nos. 11 and 12, in Volume 17. The readers are advised to read these chapters. Sai Baba’s wonderful leelas are also described in a small spiritual book named Shri Sainath Bhajana Mala by Mrs. Savitribai Raghunath Tendulkar of Bandra. Various sweet poems on Sai Baba composed by Das Ganu Maharaj, and also some by a devotee named Amidas Bhavani Mehta, have been published in ‘Gujarati’. ‘Sainath Prabha’, a magazine published by Dakshina Bhiksha Sanstha of Shirdi, has published Sai’s leelas as well. The question then arises that while so many works regarding Sai Baba are extant, why should this Shri Sai Satcharita be written and what is its necessity?

The answer is quite simple. The life of Sai Baba is as wide and deep as the infinite ocean, and all can dive deep in and take out precious gems (of knowledge and bhakti) and distribute them to the aspiring public. The stories, parables, and teachings of Sai Baba are all quite wonderful and bestow knowledge and wisdom, both in worldly and spiritual domains. They give peace and happiness to people who are heavily afflicted with sorrows and the miseries of worldly existence. If these teachings of Sai Baba, which are as interesting and instructive as Vedic lore, are listened to and meditated upon, the devotees will get what they long for, viz., union with Brahma, mastery in eight fold yoga, bliss in meditation etc. I thought, therefore, that I should put these stories together - which would be my best upasana. The collection would be most delightful to those souls whose eyes were not blessed with Sai Baba’s darshan. I then set about collecting Sai Baba’s teachings and expressions - the outcome of His boundless and natural Self-realization. It was Sai Baba who inspired me in this matter; in fact, I surrendered my ego at His feet and felt my path was clear.

Since I personally could not ask Sai Baba to give me permission for the work, I requested Madhavrao Deshpande, alias Shama, Baba’s most intimate devotee, to speak for me. He pleaded my cause and said to Sai Baba, “This Annasaheb wishes to write about your life. Don’t say You are a poor begging fakir and there is no necessity to write of Your life, but if You agree and help him, he will write, or rather Your grace, will accomplish the work. Without Your consent and blessing, nothing can be done successfully.” When Sai Baba heard this request, He was moved and blessed me by giving me His udi (sacred ashes). He then placed His boon-bestowing hand on my head and said, “Let him make a collection of stories and experiences and keep notes and memos. I will help him. He is only an outward instrument. I, Myself, will write My life and satisfy the wishes of My devotees. He should get rid of his ego. Let him surrender it at My feet. He who acts like this in life, him I help most. What of My life stories? I shall serve him in his house in all possible ways. When his ego is completely annihilated and there is no trace left, then I, Myself, shall enter into him and shall write My life’s story. Hearing My stories and teachings will create faith in devotees’ hearts and they will easily get Self-realization and bliss. Let there be no insistence on establishing one’s own view, no attempt to refute other’s opinions, and no discussion of pros and cons of any subject.”

The word ‘discussion’ reminded me of my promise to explain the story of my getting the title of Hemadpant, and now I will begin to relate such. I was on close friendly terms with Kakasaheb Dixit and Nanasaheb Chandorkar. They urged me to go to Shirdi and have Baba’s darshan and I promised them to do so, but something in the interval turned up which prevented me from going. The son of a friend of mine at Lonavala fell ill. My friend tried all possible means, physical and spiritual, but the fever would not abate. At last he got his guru to sit by the bedside of his son, but this, too, was of no avail. Hearing this, I thought, ‘What was the necessity of a guru, if he could not save my friend’s son? If the guru can’t do anything for us, why should I go to Shirdi at all?’ Thinking this way, I postponed my Shirdi trip, but the inevitable must happen, and it happened in my case as follows: Nanasaheb Chandorkar, who was a Prant officer, was going on tour to Bassein. He came from Thana and arrived in Dadar and was presently waiting for a train bound for Bassein. In the meanwhile, a Bandra local train arrived. Nana boarded it, went to Bandra, and then sent for me. He took me to task for putting off my Shirdi trip. Nana’s argument for my Shirdi trip was convincing and inspiring, and so I decided to start for Shirdi the same night. I packed my luggage and started for Shirdi. I planned to go to Dadar to catch the train for Manmad there, so I booked myself for Dadar and got in the train. Just as the train was about to start, a Mohammedan came hastily into my compartment and, seeing all my paraphernalia, asked me where I was bound. I told him my plan. He suggested that I go straight to Boribunder and not stop at Dadar because the Manmad Mail did not stop at Dadar at all. If this little miracle or leela had not happened, I would not have reached Shirdi the next day and many doubts would have assailed me. But that was not to be. As fortune favored me, I reached Shirdi the next day before 9 or 10 a.m. and met Mr. Bausaheb (Kaka) Dixit who was awaiting my arrival. (This was in 1910, when there was only one place viz. Sathe’s Wada for lodging pilgrim devotees.) After alighting from the tonga, I was anxious to have darshan, when Tatyasaheb Noolkar, a great devotee of Baba who was returning from the masjid said, “Sai Baba is at the corner of the wada. First, get the preliminary darshan, and then after bath, see Him at your leisure.” Hearing this, I ran and prostrated before Baba and then my joy knew no bounds. I felt more than what Nana Chandorkar had described. All my senses were satisfied and I forgot thirst and hunger. The moment I touched Sai Baba’s feet, I began a new lease on life. I felt myself much obliged to those who spurred and helped me to get the darshan and I considered them as my real relatives. I cannot repay their debt. I only remember them and prostrate (mentally) before them. The peculiarity of Sai Baba’s darshan, as I found it, is that by His darshan our thoughts are changed, the force of previous actions is abated, and gradually, non-attachment or dispassion towards worldly objects develops. It is by merit of actions in many past births that such darshan is received, and if you see Sai Baba, the entire world becomes or assumes the form of Sai Baba.

Hot Discussion

On the first day of my arrival in Shirdi, there was a discussion between me and Balasaheb Bhate regarding the necessity of a guru. I contended, “Why should we lose our freedom and submit to others?” When we have to do our duty, why is a guru necessary? One must try his best and save himself. What can the guru do to a man who does nothing but sleeps indolently?” Thus, I pleaded freewill, while Mr. Bhate took up the other side, viz. destiny, and said, “Whatever is bound to happen must happen; even great men have failed. Man proposes one way, but God disposes the other (contrary) way. Brush aside your cleverness. Pride or egoism won’t help you.” This discussion, with all its pros and cons went on for an hour or so and, as usual, no decision was arrived at. We had ultimately to stop the discussion as we were exhausted. The net result of this was that I lost peace of mind and realized that if there were no strong body consciousness and egoism, there would be no discussion.

Then, when we went to the masjid with others, Baba asked Kakasaheb Dixit the following:

“What was going on in Sathe’s Wada? What was the discussion about?” and staring at me, Baba further added, “What did this Hemadpant say?”

Hearing these words, I was quite surprised. The masjid was at a considerable distance from Sathe’s Wada where I was staying and where the discussion was going on. How could Baba know our discussion unless He is omniscient and Inner Ruler of us all?

Significant and Prophetic Title

I began to think why Sai Baba should call me by the name Hemadpant. This word is a corrupt form of Hemadripant. This Hemadripant was a well known minister of the kings Mahadev and Ramadev of Devgiri of the Yadav dynasty. He was very learned, good-natured, and the author of good works, such as Chaturvarga Chintamani (dealing with spiritual subjects) and Rajprashasti. He invented and started new methods of accounts and was the originator of the Modi (Marathi shorthand) script. But as I was quite the opposite, an ignoramus, and of dull, mediocre intellect, I could not understand why the name or title was conferred upon me. Thinking seriously about it, however, I thought the title was a dart to destroy my ego, so that I should always remain meek and humble. It was also a compliment paid to me for my cleverness in the discussion.

In retrospect, we think that Baba’s word (calling Mr. Dabholkar as Hemadpant) was significant and prophetic, as we find that he looked after the management of Sai Sansthan very intelligently, kept all the accounts nicely, and was the author of the fine work, Shri Sai Satcharita, which deals with such important and spiritual subjects as jnana, bhakti dispassion, self-surrender and Self-realization.

About the necessity of a guru

Hemadpant has left no note or memo about what Baba said regarding this subject, but Kakasaheb Dixit has published his notes regarding this matter. The next day after Hemadpant’s meeting with Sai Baba, Kakasaheb went to Baba and asked whether he should leave Shirdi. Baba said yes. Then someone asked, “Baba, where should one go?” Baba said, “High up.” Then the man said, “Which way?” Baba said, “There are many ways leading there. There is also one way from here (Shirdi). The way is difficult. There are tigers and wolves in the jungles on the way.” Kakasaheb asked, “But Baba, what if we take a guide with us?” Baba answered, “Then there is no difficulty. The guide will take you straight to your destination, avoiding wolves, tigers and ditches etc. on the way. If there be no guide, there is the danger of your being lost in the jungles or falling into ditches.” Mr. Dabholkar (Hemadpant) was present on this occasion and he considered this Baba’s answer to the question regarding whether a guru was a necessity. (vide ‘Sai Leela’ vol.I, no.5, page 47). Hemadpant thereupon took the hint that no discussion of the problem, whether man is free or bound, is of any use in spiritual matters, but on the contrary, real paramartha is possible only as the result of the teachings of the guru. This is illustrated in the chapter of the original work describing great avatars, like Rama and Krishna, who had to submit themselves to their gurus, Vasistha and Sandipani respectively, to achieve Self-realization. The only virtues necessary for such progress are faith and patience. (nishta and saburi) - (vide Sai Satcharita, ch. II pp.191-192.)

Bow to Shri Sai - Peace be to all