LIVE EXPRIENCES OF THE TARKHAD FAMILY WITH SHRI SAI BABA OF SHIRDI

[Guest guest]

9TH Chapter from Sai Satcharitra

"Om Shri Sainathaya Namaha."

I have opened up in front of you the treasure trove of the experiences of

Tarkhad family and I am sure after reading through the same your faith in Baba

must have doubled up. Now we will move towards the experiences as given in Sai

Satcharitra.

I would like to draw your attention to chapter No. 9 from Sai Satcharitra. Of

course here I presume that our readers are knowledgeable about this holy book

and they have read the same at least once. If one has not done so then my

humble request is please do so, which describes in great detail the life of

Shirdi Sai Baba and an account of various Leela's he depicted to his devotees

during his life span in Shirdi. The 9th chapter of this holy book is dedicated

mostly to Tarkhad family i.e. my grandmother my grandfather Ramchandra Atmaram

Tarkhad alias Babasaheb Tarkhad and my father Jyotindra Ramchandra Tarkhad. As

described earlier the Tarkhad family was staunch Prarthanasamajist and they did

not believe in Murti Pooja. For that matter they did not believe in God.

However their destiny led them to come in contact with Shirdi SaiBaba and then

it was a great transformation. As such Sai Baba's famous Aarati states that he

is capable of converting an atheist into firm believer in God (NASTIKANAHI TU

LAVISHI NIJABHAJANI). in case of Tarkhad Family this happened practically:

The writer of Sai Satcharitra, Late Shri Annasaheb Dabholkar states in this 9th

chapter that Babasaheb Tarkhad was very lucky to have a son like my father who

was a good worshipper. My father used to get up at 4 a m in the morning and

after taking bath he would perform Baba's Aarati by applying sandalwood paste

to Baba's Photo In their Mandir at home. He use to light a silver lamp

(NIRANJAN) in which the one paisa coin given by Baba was placed. Also there was

a regular offering of sugar candy as prasad, which they all would eat during

their lunch. After the Pooja father and son would leave for their textile Mill

at Byculla. With Baba's grace in those days my grandfather was earning

Rs.5000/- and my father Rs.2000/- as salaries per month. Once my grandfather

developed an urge to send cotton bails to Baba so that he

can make Kaffanis out of it for his personal use. He suggested to Jyotindra to

go to Shirdi along with his mother and deliver the offerings to Baba. But

Jyotindra was rather reluctant because who will perform the pooja at home? Then

my grandfather took upon himself and gave him the assurance that he will carry

out the ritual as practiced by Jyotindra and there will be no let up on that

count. With that assurance my father along with his mother left for Shirdi.

Next two days passed properly but on the third day my grandfather forgot to

keep sugar candy during the pooja time. He realized this only in the afternoon

when there was no prasad in his plate. He immediately got up and wrote a letter

to Jyotindra in Shirdi requesting him to seek pardon from Baba for his grave

mistake.

There in Shirdi at the same time one interesting thing happened. After the

afternoon Aarati in Dwarkamai when my grandmother and my father went to Baba to

seek his blessings Baba told my grandmother " Oh mother! I am very hungry today.

As usual I went to Bandra, and I found the door was locked but no one can stop

me as I entered from the narrow gap in the door but was totally disappointed as

I could not find anything for lunch & I had to return on an empty Stomach." My

grand mother could not understand what Baba was saying but my father instantly

realized that his father must have forgotten to offer prasad to Baba during

Morning Pooja time. He requested Baba to pardon his father for the grave

mistake and asked for his permission to leave for Mumbai instantly. Baba

did not permit and said to stay for some more days. My father was any way

restless and he wrote a letter to his father stating the details of what Baba

had uttered. The two letters crossed each other and on receiving them and going

through them both father and son were in tears. They realized the depth of

Baba's love for them .On the other hand Baba reminded them that he is very much

present in that Photo frame and he accepts their daily offerings unfailingly.

Once while they were in Shirdi when my grandmother was about to take her lunch,

a dog came there and started wagging its tail. My grandmother offered him a

piece of Chapati, which the dog ate with relish and moved away from there.

Little later a pig laden with muck all over the body came there. Normally

looking at that ugly creature one would not be able to gulp the food down once

throat but my grandmother was a very kind hearted and God fearing person. She

offered the piece of Chapati to that ugly pig also. The pig ate that piece and

went away. Then later that day when they visited Dwarkamai and they went closer

to Baba he said to her "Oh mother, today you have fed me with your own hands and

the feeding was so sumptuous that I am still continuing to belch. " My

grandmother was surprised hearing that. She told Baba that "Baba you are

mistaken I have never given you food in Shirdi, as such I do not cook any food

over here. Infact I myself eat the food in one of the restaurants over here run

by Mr. Saguna and pay for it." Then Baba told her "Oh mother this afternoon when

you were taking your lunch did you not offer food to a dog followed by an ugly

looking pig? That food has reached me." Then my grandmother told him "Baba this

means you take the tests of your devotees by entering in the form of creatures."

Baba then told her "Oh mother, please continue to be kind to these creatures and

God will continue to bless you. God will see to it that there is never dearth of

food in your house."

By now Tarkhad family had developed lot of acquaintances with other Sai Devotees

and some of them like Mr. Dabholkar, Mr. Purandare and Mr. Tendulkar who were

staying at a closer distance from their place of residence at Bandra. They use

to meet each other and then share their sweet experiences with Baba. Whenever

they would plan to visit Shirdi they use to inform each other and if anyone

wanted to send something to Baba then they would act as a courier for the

devotee. Of course the intention behind was expressing pure devotion and love

towards Baba. Once Mr. Purandare along with family were proceeding to Shirdi

and my grandmother offered two Big Black Brinjals to Mrs. Purandare and

requested her to make 'Bhareet' out of one Brinjal and 'Kacharya' (Fried

Brinjal Slices) out of the other Brinjal and offer the same for His lunch. Mrs.

Purandare on the first day prepared the 'Bhareet' and along with her other

preparation offered the same in

the plate for Baba's lunch. Baba ate the 'Bhareet' and expressed his desire to

have 'Fried Brinjal slices'. Ms. Radhakrishnamai (devotee native) of Shirdi who

use to look after the lunch arrangements of Baba was in a fix. She enquired with

the ladies and learnt that Mrs. Purandare brought the Brinjal preparation. That

was anyway not the season of Brinjals and hence the difficulty to obtain one in

Shirdi. So Ms. Radhakrishnamai ran to Mrs. Purandare and enquired about the

availability of Brinjals. She said that she had one and had planned to offer

the "Fried Brinjal Slices" the next day. Then Ms Radhakrishnamai took away the

Brinjal and hurriedly fried the slices for Baba as he was bent upon completing

his lunch only after having them. Now this was purely an act of expressing the

intense love towards His devotee and also confirming to the devotee in return

the receipt of devotion from him/her. When Mrs. Purandare on returning to

Bandra informed my grandmother about this incident she

was completely overwhelmed and thanked Baba from the bottom of her heart.

In the same way one evening Mr. Govindji (son of Mr. Balakram) visited Tarkhad's

residence as he was proceeding to Shirdi that night. He was to perform the rites

of the immersion of ashes of his late father at Nashik and then proceed to

Shirdi. As he was in a dire hurry and my grandmother could not provide anything

sizeable to send to Baba she managed to locate one 'Pedha' which was kept in the

Prasad Pot in front of Baba's portrait in the 'Sandalwood Mandir'. She told him

to offer the same although she was not internally happy because the 'Pedha' had

already been offered as Prasad earlier. Besides Mr. Govindji was combining his

visit for the immersion of ashes followed by the pilgrimage to Shirdi. Of

course my grandmother kept aside all these illogical thoughts for

her intentions bore divine love as was expressed by Shabari to Lord Rama when

she had offered Him the tasted fruit of 'Bora'

When Govindaji reached Dwarkamai after completing all his other rituals he had

completely forgotten about the Pedha. Baba asked him whether he had brought

anything for him. Govindji replied in negative. Then Baba reminded him stating

that someone had given him something to offer to him. Govindji was stone faced

and was negative once again. Baba was now angry and literally shouted at him

saying" Hay while leaving Mumbai my mother had given you something for me and

where is it?" Now Govindji realized, he ran to his place of stay and brought

the Pedha and gave it to Baba. The Pedha was instantly consumed by Baba and he

told Govindji to inform the mother that it tested very sweet.

Dear Sai devotee readers such instances of divine love have been very

effectively depicted by Late Shri Annasaheb Dabholkar in the 9th chapter of Sai

Satcharitra. My father when used to narrate this to us tears used to flow out

through his eyes. I think which devotee not feel that way when he would get a

return receipt from the Lord in such fashion. I for one feel "KAHAN GAVE WOH

LOG?".(HATS TO THOSE PEOPLE) AND WHERE ARE THOSE DEVOTEES AND WHERE IS THAT

KIND OF DEVOTION TO-DAY? BUT SAI BABA'S LOVE FOR HIS DEVOTEES IS

OMNIPRESENT

 

 

BY

VIRENDRA JYOTINDRA TARDHAD

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With Baba Nothing is Impossible

Baba guide us all

Sairam

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