Sai Baba the Master by E.Bharadwaja

[Guest guest]

Six years after, Sagun came to Belgaum for doing business and stayed there

for seven years, then a devotee of Lord Dattatreya by name Dattopant

became his friend and attracted Sagun to the spiritual path. After some

time Sagun wanted to go on a pilgrimage to Narrasobawadi, a famous

Dattasthan. There he had the good fortune of meeting the famous saint and

devotee of Lord Dattatreya, Sri Tembe Swamiji Maharaj. The saint, when he

saw Sagun, said to him, “Your are the man of a great durbar, What more

should I tell You?’ Sagun could not understand the significance of these

words at that time.

 

Two or three years afterwards, Sagun went to Hyderabad and was introduced

to one Seth who was a devotee of Sai Baba. He took Sagun to Shirdi along

with him in 1912.

 

Baba was returning to the mosque after his usual walk to Lendi and met

them on the way. A large group of people were following. Sai Baba

addressed Sagun in Kannada, “Whence do you come? What do you want?” Sagun

could not reply. For two to three days Sagun felt a strong urge to return

to Hyderabad. So he sought Baba’s permission. Baba kept quiet and Sagun

had to stay away. On the fifth day Baba told him that his mind was still

wavering. Then he recalled the event of his early days: “You don’t seem to

remember my coming to your place. You were young and brought cows to the

tank when I saw you. Your mother gave me sida and fire-wood. Do you

remember now?”

 

Sagun vividly remembered what had happened fourteen years earlier. He then

experienced an outburst of faith in and love for Baba and sat gazing

fixedly at him.

 

Baba smiled and said, “Why do you stare at me like a mad man? Our parents

are here and we must stay here. You look after me and I will look after

you”. Henceforth, Sagun stayed away at Shirdi running a hotel and he

wanted nothing. He then realized why Sri Tembe Swamiji Maharaj said that

he was the man of a great durbar and what the sadhu meant when he said,

fourteen years earlier, “When are you coming to me?”

(To be contd....)

 

Source http://www.saibharadwaja.org)