Shri Sai Satcharitra Chapter 46

Chapter – 46

Baba’s Gaya Trip - Story of Two Goat

This chapter describes Shama’s trip 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 darshan, which frees us from the bond of karma. Though Your form is invisible to us now, still, devotees who believe in You 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. The devotees do not know where You are, but You so skillfully pull the wires, that they ultimately realize You are very close to them and support them. The intelligent, wise and learned folk fall into the pit of samsar on account of their egoism, but You save the poor, simple and devout people with Your power. You play the game inwardly and invisibly, but at the same time, demonstrate that you are not concerned with it. You do things, but pose as a nondoer. No one ever knows or understands Your life. The best course 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 supreme bliss. Chanting Your sweet name is the easiest sadhana for devotees. By this sadhana, our sins, rajas and tamas, will vanish. The sattwic qualities and righteousness will gain predominance and along with that, 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 the mind becoming peaceful and calm. 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 and 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.

Gaya Trip

Sometime after Kakasaheb Dixit was introduced to Sai Baba, he decided to perform the thread (Upanayan) ceremony of his eldest son, Bapu, 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 to these functions, but Baba asked them to take Shama as His representative. When they persisted and begged Him to come in person, Baba again told them to take Shama and added, “after doing Banares and Prayag, I will be ahead of Shama.” Now mark these words for they show Baba’s all pervasiveness. Having received Baba’s permission, Shama planned to go to Nagpur for the Upanayan and then to Gwalior for the marriage ceremony, after which, he planned to travel to Kashi, Prayag and Gaya. Appa Kote made up his mind to accompany Shama and so they both went first to Nagpur for the thread ceremony. Kakasaheb Dixit gave Shama Rs. 200/ for his expenses. They then went to Gwalior for the marriage ceremony. There, Nanasaheb Chandorkar gave Shama Rs.100/ and his vyahih (relation), Mr. Jathar, gave him Rs. 100/ as well.

After the marriage ceremony at Gwalior, Shama went to Kashi, (Banares) where he stayed for two months. He was well received there by Jathar’s manager in Jathar’s beautiful temple of Laxmi-Naraya. Following this, they visited the Rama Mandir at Ayodhya. Shama and Kote stayed in Ayodhya for twenty-one days and then left for Gaya by train. During the train ride, they felt a little uneasy on hearing that plague was prevailing in Gaya. When they reached Gaya station it was night time, so they stayed in the Dharmashala. In the morning, the gayawala (the priest who arranges and provides for the lodging and boarding of the pilgrims) came and told them, “The pilgrims have already started, you better make haste.” Shama casually asked whether there was plague in Gaya. The gayawala responded, “No” and continued, “Please come without any fear or anxiety and see for yourself.” Shama and Kote went with the priest and stayed in his house, which was a large and commodious wada. Shama was pleased with the accommodation provided for him, but what pleased him most, was the beautiful big portrait of Baba hanging in the central front portion of the building. He then remembered Baba’s words: “After doing Kashi and Prayag, I will 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 Shama was crying because he was afraid the plague might be prevailing there, but just then, Shama inquired where he had gotten Baba’s portrait. The priest replied he had two or three hundred agents working at Manmad and Punatambe who were looking after the comforts of the pilgrims going to Gaya and that he heard of Baba’s fame from them. He continued, saying that about twelve years ago, he went to Shirdi and took Baba’s darshan. There, in Shama’s house, he saw a portrait of Baba which he wanted. Having received Baba’s permission, Shama gave him the portrait. This was that very portrait. Shama then remembered the incident and the gayawala’s joy knew no bounds when he learnt that the same Shama who obliged him before, was now his guest. Both Shama and the priest were delighted and amazed.

The gayawala, who was a very rich man, gave Shama a royal welcome. He saw to it that all Shama’s comforts and conveniences were provided for. The gayawala sat in a palanquin and gave Shama a fine elephant to ride. The moral of the story is that Baba’s words came out true to the letter and He has unbounded love towards His devotees. Beyond this, Baba loves all creatures equally, for being in all, of all and through all, He is one with them. The following story will illustrate this.

Two Goats

Once, as Baba was returning from Lendi, He saw a flock of goats. Two of them attracted His attention. Baba went over to them, caressed and fondled them, and bought them for Rs. 32/. The devotees were surprised at this conduct of Baba. They felt Baba was duped in such a bargain, as the goats would fetch Rs. 2/ each, at the most Rs. 3/ or Rs. 4/ each, i.e., Rs. 8/ for both. They began to take Baba to task for that, but Baba kept calm and cool. Shama and Tatya Kote asked Baba for an explanation and He told them that as He had no home nor family to look after, He should not store money. He asked them to purchase at His own expense, 4 seers of ‘dal’ (lentil), and to feed the goats. After that was done, Baba returned the goats to the owner of the flock and described the following reminiscences and story of the goats. “Oh Shama and Tatya, you think I have been deceived in this bargain. Now 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 brothers, loving each other at first, but later on, they became enemies. The elder brother was an idle fellow, while the younger one was always active and earned a lot of money. The elder brother became greedy and jealous and wanted to kill his brother and take his money. They forgot their fraternal relations and began to quarrel with each other. The elder brother resorted to many devices to kill his younger brother, but all his attempts failed. Thus, they became deadly enemies and finally, on one occasion, the elder struck the younger on the head with a deadly blow with a big stick, while the latter struck the former with an ax. As a result, both brothers died of the injuries they each had sustained and, because of their evil actions, both were re-born as goats. As they passed by Me, I recognized them at once and 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