DIVINE GRACE – BABA KNOWS YOUR HUNGRY

05-14-2005, 08:04 PM

DIVINE GRACE – BABA KNOWS YOUR HUNGRY
Sadashiv Trimbuk Vdhavkar, Kayastha Prabhu, aged 68, Retired Goods Clerk of
G.I.P.R. now living at Mahagiri, Thana says:
I was a goods clerk at Dadar some 28 years ago (i.e., about 1909). I had a
distant relation, a Tamane, was a devotee of Baba. He told me to go Shirdi and
see Baba. So I went up about 1909 with my friend Tamane and engaged a tonga for
going to Shirdi and returning back to Kopergaon.
When we went to Baba at the Mosque, we had left behind a couple of mangoes in
the tonga for our own consumption and took the rest of the fruits which along
with some tobacco and a quantity of copper coins I presented to Baba. Baba
said, "Where are those two mangoes? Why do you keep them there? Bring them
here." Baba knew the facts evidently by his own wonderful power. These were
then brought and presented. Baba ordered all the fruits to be cut up and
distributed as prasad to all the people that were present. He then smoked away.
I was about 11 a.m. I felt very hungry as my usual mealtime was 9 a.m. and I had
no meal that morning. But, out of delicacy, I said nothing of my hunger and
merely continued to sit at the Mosque. Then someone came with a pocket of
pedhas and placed it before Baba as present. Baba usually touches nothing, but
on this occasion, as soon as the pocket came, he opened it, took up one pedha.
It was a good size pedha and he
throws it on my lap. I was some yards off from him. I thought that it was prasad
and a precious gift to be taken home and not anything that I should eat then and
there. But, Baba seeing that I held it in my hand without eating said, "It was
given to you not for keeping it." Then I was obliged to eat up. I felt that my
hungry was half appeased. Then again, Baba picked up another pedha from the
packet and flung it at me. This pedha at least is to be carried home; I fancied
and retained it in my hand. But Baba again repeated his remark; "It was not
given to you for retention." So I ate it up and felt my hunger wholly appeased.
Baba did not throw any more pedha at me nor did he give any pedha to any of the
others present. Baba evidently knew of hungry state, half appeased state and
fully appeased state without a word from me.
Then after the arati was over, the question of food for my friend and me had to
be considered. It was very late, too late to start cooking. But Baba had
evidently anticipated things. We learnt that he had told the retired mamlatdar
(probably Babasaheb Bhate) in the morning that he would go and dine with him.
So extra meals were ready at the gentleman’s house. When the arati was over,
Baba told him to take us two and a third Brahmin stranger to his house and feed
us. We were the persons to represent Baba and we had a satisfactory meal.
At the time when Baba was sending, that official to us at his place to feed us,
he said to him, "This young man (referring to me) has needless anxiety. His
business is already accomplished." That gentleman came to us and reported
Baba’s words and asked what for we had gone for Shirdi. The fact was that I was
anxious to get upadesh and hoped that Baba would give me some upadesh.
In the afternoon, the tonga man was hurrying us up to go back to Kopergaon. Some
people told us that Baba did not usually permit people to get back the same day
they visited him, but we had to go for two reasons. First, the cartman had to
be paid his return fare even if we did not start that day. Secondly, I had got
away from my office by reporting myself sick and had to present myself before
the Railway Medical Officer at Dadar on the following morning. Anyhow, we told
the tongawalla to wait and sat before Baba. Even there the tongawalla came.
Baba looked at his face and asked him to go away saying, "Where is the hurry?"
then, anyway he knew my other difficulty and so gave us leave. He told me to
take udhi. I took it and we came away. His parting words to me were "Have no
anxieties. Your business is already accomplished" It was not clear to me what
business of mine he was referring to or he could refer too as already
accomplished. The only
business I had with him if it could be described as business was taking upadesh
and it was not accomplished for he gave me none. I returned to Dadar and in 7
or 8 days, I had a dream. In that dream, my family priest who was at Indore at
that time came to me to give upadesh. When I woke in the morning, I had no
intimation by letter or otherwise of the priest’s visit, but in a few days, he
suddenly turned up at my office and said he would stay with me. I told him of
the dream. He said he knew that and had gone to me then specially for giving me
upadesh. But, he did not tell me how he happened already to be aware of my
dream. Next morning, after due and proper performance of the requisite
ceremonies he gave me formal upadesh a regular initiation to Siva Mantra. I am
a Saivite. Thus, my business was accomplished. And as evidently the priest
intended to give it to me sometime earlier, Baba’s words were real statements
of fact, or powerful words that forced the intended business into the
mind of my priest (who lived at Indore far away from Shirdi and who had not gone to Shirdi)
[This gentleman is a devotee of Hubli Siddharud Swami and went to Shirdi only
once after the above visit and that was in 1935 in grateful memory of Baba]
(Written by: HH Pujyasri B. V. Narasimha Swamiji in Devotees Experiences on 12th September 1936)
Arun Reddy Nukala
http://groups.msn.com/sabkamalikek
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