Ambrosia in Shirdi Part-1-Baba's Leelas before 1918

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Leela 19

In the Sai Satcharitra, Ch.29, the Leela of the ava­ricious Bhajan Mandali from

Madras is given. Some of the details like their names, address, and other

par­ticulars are missing. The Leela given below elaborates upon it.

He was called Bhau Swamy because his Guru was Ram Bhau of south Kanara. This

Govinda Swamy worked in Madras Electric Tramways. He and his fam­ily went on an

all India pilgrimage in 1915. They vis­ited Shirdi on 23.8.1915. They sang

beautifully and did bhajans daily. Baba gave them Rs.2/- and two ru­pees worth

of burfi. The burfi he sold for one rupee and twelve annas. All these details

he wrote in his di­ary daily.

One day, he had a dream vision of Baba (which is elaborated beautifully in the

Sai Satcharitra). After this revealing vision, the greedy skeptic became an

ardent devotee. Dr. Pillai asked him to write his dream, which he did, and

handed it over to him. Knowing of Radhakrishna Mai's love for bhajans, he

performed bhajans in her home too. She gave him a Marathi book containing the

life of Baba, which he treasured.

His wife Adilakshmiamal was given sakshatkar (vi­sion) of Sri Ram at noon Arati

while the rest of the Mandali saw Baba sitting in his usual place. Filled with

joy, she decided to make prasad of Bhaaji and Payasam for Baba. On

30/08/1915, while preparing it, she fer­vently prayed to Baba to accept it, as

she had prepared it with all her love and devotion. Eagerly she took it to

Dwarakamai and handed it over. To her utter conster­nation, the lady (Durga

Bai) placed it last in the rows of Prasad offerings. Baba however, slowly

moved to the back, and opening her dish, devoured the whole of it with great

relish. This touched the lady to the bot­tom of her heart further

strengthening her devotion in Baba.

Source-Ambrosia in Shirdi - Part I (Baba's Leelas Before 1918) by Dr.Vinni

Chittluri @ www.saileelas.org"Gurur Brahma Gurur VishnuGurur Devoh

Maheshwar;Gurur Shakshat ParambramhaTashmai Shri Gurur Veh Namah"May the

Merciful Sri Sai Baba always shower His grace on us and our families and remove

our problems and anxieties by giving us all - strength , goodluck, success and

happiness with peace of mind.Sai bhakt,Deepa Hdebu7366