Sai Baba the Master by E.Bharadwaja

[Guest guest]

Ganapathi

A housewife was suffering from severe and chronic headache. All medical

aid proved futile. At last she resorted to Baba. As soon as she bowed to

him and sat in his presence her ailment vanished quite mysteriously. When

she told Sai Baba about it, he said, “Mother, you have been feeding me

sumptuously. I have been watching you since you were a girl.” The lady was

surprised and said, “Baba I am blessed with your darshan just now, how

could I have fed you sumptuously?” Sai smiled most benignly and said,

“Whom do you worship at your home?” She said that she had been a devotee

of Lord Ganapathi and that she worships Him every day. “At your mother’s

place?” Baba asked. “There too I used to offer flowers, fruits and

sweetmeats to the same deity,” she replied. Sai said, “All those offerings

of your have reached me. That’s how I have known you since your younger

days.” Mythologically, Ganapathi is a deity who is fond of sumptuous food

and Baba had identified himself with him. This miracle demonstrated that

hearty offerings and worship rendered even to an ‘inanimate idol’ in a

true spirit of devotion and faith are sure to reach the Spirit which

prevails all Saints, animals, and even idols. It is the spirit behind the

worship that is of prime importance. Hence Baba did not condemn idol

worship. It is a valid form of spiritual practice for those who are by

nature made for it.

 

 

Source http://www.saibharadwaja.org)