Uddhavesh alias Shyamdas Baba

[Guest guest]

Uddhavesh

alias Shyamdas Baba

 

Date of Birth: 9th June, 1865 Date of

Samadhi: 8th August, 1951

 

It was from Konkan prantha, Ratnagiri Jilha, Devgad Gaon,

and his ancestors hailed from. Then they moved to Thane, where Uddhavesh grew up. From early childhood, he was an ascetic

by nature, and loved to go on pilgrimages and visit saints and sadhus. He first visited Shirdi

in 1904. This visit itself was very predictive of Baba’s grace on him. He

had undertaken an elaborate pilgrimage of Rameshwar;

from Wardha it was by foot. Upon takng

Gajanan Maharaj’s darshan, the saint told him to go south of Shegaon, where he would meet his Guru. Then, Harihar Baba at Shivlee who did

not speak, except for saying Harihar, indicated that Uddhavesh would find his moksha

Guru at a place that rhymed with Shivlee (Shiladi) in the westward direction. At Shivlee,

a party gave Uddhavesh a wild horse for his journey.

The horse was bad-natured for he bit if a person stood before him, and kicked

him, if he stood behind him. Nonetheless, taking him along, he came to Ahmednagar Jilha, ‘the land

of saints’. At Belapur, he did darshan of Keshav Govind’s Samadhi and reached Kopargaon.

Bathed in the Godavari,

he did Naamjap and thence came to Shirdi.

 

 

In those days, Shirdi was a

desolate place with abundant Babul trees. He tied his horse to a Babul tree,

taking care to muzzle his mouth and tying his hind legs to another tree, lest

he attack way-farers. It was then that he noticed a fakir in a torn-tattered kafni. A tin tumrel in his hand,

he walked about aimlessly. He went up to him and politely asked him, where the Sadhu of Shirdi stayed. The Fakir

blessed him with a shower of abuses. This episode hurt him to the core and he

made his way to the village. “He is an old cantecarous

man and instead of answering a simple question civilly, he abuses my mother and

me”, he thought. Upon reaching the village, he came to the Masjid. There was a hut next to it and an old lady was

making Bhakar and Pitla. He

enquired about the saint of Shirdi. She told him that

he had gone out, but there was no saying as to when he would return. So, she

was making Bhakar ready for him to eat whenever he

would return. He enquired about his appearance. She described in great detail

about Baba’s torn tattered Kafni and headgear.

The Masjid was littered with

garbage in front of it, but the inside was clean and neat. In a corner, there

were four lighted lamps, next to it a hand-mill and some old and faded marigold

garlands and some fresh garlands. A Dhuni was burning

in front of the pillar. He wondered about the lighted lamps and the entire

setup as he made his way back. The lady was a Hindu, the sadhu

described was a Muslim, and his mind was in a turmoil.

“Agni in the Masjid! Why?” Many questions arose in his mind

on his way back.

 

There he saw Baba patting his horse. He had one hand in

the horses mouth and with the other, He was patting

his head. Spontaneously, he said, “Be careful Maharaj!

This is a wild creature and he bites viciously.” He then went and laid

his head on Baba’s feet. He was filled with peace and he stood up and

asked the burning question. “Maharaj, where and

when will I find my Guru?” Still patting the horse, Baba answered, “Kallel pudhe, tu kothun

aalas? Mee tar vedaa fakir aahe (You will

realize in the future where you came from. I am but a mad Fakir).”

Then He added, “After five years, everything will be

clear, okay. Go. Leave today and do Upwas (Upwas here is indicated of Sadhna).”

Then Baba and Uddhavesh returned to

the Masjid. Some devotee had left a coconut offering.

Baba broke it and gave half to Uddhav. Then He said, “Arre, how can a whole bhakar

go down the stomach all at once. You will realize in five years. At that time,

we will see.” Then, Uddhav bowed

to Baba and left for Kopargaon and joined the rest of

the group and continued his pilgrimage.

 

Between 1906 and 1911, he was fortunate to meet Nana Chandorkar, Janardhan Gonddev Kandikar and Balasaheb Dev, who told him many leelas

of Sai Baba.

In 1906, he visited Shirdi and

Baba said, “ Come Shyamdas, it is good you

have come. Ghoda Baeel Chaavka. Aamhasee bhet to paavka (Rough

translation: Horses and bulls bite. But when they meet me, they become meek and

gentle).” These words reminded him of Baba’s divine

presence which was perceived even by the vile horse. Harihar

Bua, who had told him he would find his Moksha Guru at Shirdi. Everytime he visited Shirdi,

thence, he stayed for longer periods of time.

(to

be contd…..)

 

[REF :

Sai Leela 1926 (June-July)]