Sai Baba the Master

[Guest guest]

At the Threshold of Eternity

The Clock ticks on

 

For fifty six long years since 1858 devotees went on pouring in and out of

Shirdi for the darshan of Sai Baba, “the diamond on the dunghill.” Everyday

the devotees that flocked there numbered hundreds. What Baba said in the

early days of his arrival at Shirdi came literally true. Long before 1908,

when Shirdi was still a quiet, nameless village Baba said, “Mansions will

rise up in this village. Bigwigs will come. Guns will be fired. Chariots,

horses, elephants, all will come. Grand processions will be held.” People

then laughed at his naive imagination. But around the year 1914 all these

came to pass, and Sai Baba’s glory was steadily increasing like the glory

of the sun towards noon tide. Why wonder if the then famous saint, Sri

Madhavanath described Sai Baba as the Kohinoor among saints? The joy and

zeal of Sai’s devotees seemed an unending spring season.

 

In 1914,Sai Baba made a very casual remark to one of his devotees. He

pointed out a piece of waste land of the village to Mrs. Bapusaheb Jog and

said, “It is my site; a big mansion will rise up here and we shall live

there. Big people would look after me.” Mrs. Jog took it as one of the very

many inscrutable things he said and hoped that one day she might understand

what it meant. Two years passed by and she forgot all about it.

 

The day advances It was the Hindu festival of Vijayadasami in 1916.

Devotees flocked to Shirdi and the whole village looked like a big fair.

All the people of the village went in a procession to attend the ceremonial

seemollanghan, carrying worship-materials like incense, singing and playing

instruments. They would cross the border line of the village and then

return. (This ceremony was probably a relic of the custom of ancient kings

proceeding on wars of conquest across the borders of their kingdoms on that

auspicious day.) In the evening, when all the people were returning,Sai

Baba suddenly flew into a wild rage. It was one of Baba’s characteristic

ways to flare up on such auspicious occasions. He took off his head-dress,

kufni, and his langota (underwear) publicly, tore them up and flung them in

the sacred fire. Baba’s eyes burned like live coal and his whole body

seemed to glow with an uncanny aura. He stood stark naked in the center of

the mosque and shouted “You fellows, look at me and decide whether I am a

Moslem or a Hindu!” (i.e. whether he was circumsized in the Moslem fashion

or not.) None dared to pacify Baba. At last the leper devotee, Bhagoji made

bold to approach Baba and succeeded in tying a new langota round Baba’s

waist. Though Baba did not physically obstruct him, he shouted and cursed.

Bhagoji gently said, “Baba, today is the holy seemollanghan. Why are you

angry and why do you frighten people thus?” Striking the ground with his

satka or staff, he said, “This day is my seemollanghan.”

 

 

Source: http://www.saibharadwaja.org