Sai Baba the Master

[Guest guest]

On such days the night arti took place in the chavadi. Artis of saint

Tukaram and saint Jnaneswar were sung first and finally the arti was sung

to Sai Baba. When arti was sung to the glory of Tukaram and Jnaneswar, Baba

sat in attention and did obeisance (namaskar) to them. After that Baba

rested there for the night. As there were too many mosquitoes, the devotees

tried to fix up a mosquito-curtain for him. But Baba would not permit them.

He got wild and threw it out more than once, when they forcibly fixed it up

but finally he acquiesced. As his bedstead he used a gunny at first. Later

on he used the clothes offered to him by devotees, a number of them, as his

bed in the chavadi. If, in placing them the devotee overlooked a very

slight fold in any one of them, Baba insisted on all the clothes being

removed and the fold being set right. At about 9 p.m., Tatya Kote Patil

used to get naivedya of rotis to Baba. Baba took a little of it. It was at

this time that he gave Tatya his daily payment of Rs.35/-.

 

Early next morning, the same group of disciples brought him to the

Dwarakamai in a procession with music and bhajan and left him there.

 

Baba’s Estate

Everything is God’s creation, and God’s own. Yet He possesses nothing and

covets nothing. On the other hand He lavishes all that is His on his

creatures, though only a few can receive what He gives. Others have eyes

but do not see; they have ears but do not hear; they have understanding yet

do not consider. The greatness of a saint or prophet depends on how near he

is to this aspect of God. And such God-men arise amidst us only to tell us

to be perfect “even as the Father in heaven is perfect”.

 

We have seen how Baba distributed huge amounts of money everyday to

several people. How rich was he to do that ? What estate had he ? The

dilapidated mosque was his palace; beggars were his courtiers; the ash of

his dhuni was all his wealth; a tattered, long-sleeved shirt was his robe

of honour. A brick which he always had with him was his pillow. The

rough-hewn baton was his sceptre. The small piece of cloth around his head

was his crown. The food he begged at five houses a day and his clay tobacco

pipe were his only possessions. A few more of such articles he had. How and

when he got all these is interesting to see so that those who dare might

find the direction therein.

 

Source: http://www.saibharadwaja.org