The Horse Shyam Karan

October 7, 2007

The

Horse Shyam Karan

I have often wondered why

‘The Fakir would need a horse? ’The Brhadarnyaka

Upanisad #1:v5 describes the zymology of the Horse as

follows :

The head of the

sacrificial horse is the dawn; its eyes, the sun; its the vital force the ai,r its open mouth, the fire

called Vaisvanara, and the body is the year. Its back

is heaven, its belly the sky; its hoof the earth; its sides the 4 quarters; its

ribs the intermediate quarter, its members the seasons; its joints the months

and the fortnight. Its feet, the days and night; its bones

the stars; and the flesh the clouds. Its half digested food the sands;

its blood vessels the rivers. The liver and spleen the

mountains; the hairs the herbs and trees.

Its foreparts the

ascending sun. Its yawning, the lightening. The

shaking of its body is thunder. It’s making water (passing urine) the

rain and its neighing is voice(spoken word).

The word ‘Shyam’

literally means black. A flawless black that is pleasing to the eye. But the

word in Hindu mythology could mean pure, pleasing, flawless and beautiful It has been prefixed to other words to convey different

meanings. For example Shyam Sunder is used to refer

to Shri Krishna.; Shyam

Kant or [shri Shankar]. But

Shyam Karan was the name

horse or Ashwa of the Ashwamedha.

The Rinanubandh between Baba and Shyam

Karan was deep and unfathomable. At every Aarati, He danced with joy. And after the Aarati he was the first to bow to Baba. Baba then applied Udi to his forehead, and then gave the rest of the bhaktas Udi. Here the horse that

symbolizes the whole cosmos bows before Baba and dances with joy when Baba is

worshiped. Little wonder that his Samadhi is in Lendi

Baugh.

Baba’s Kafni was made of a coarse [Manjarpat]

cloth. In the early days Baba used to wear either an Orange or white Kafni.

Then Bala Shimpi stitched a green Kafni

for Him. Baba asked him to make only white Kafnis for

Him. In the Dwarakamai there would be bundles of Kafnis lying; Baba would often give His Kafni

to some of His devotees, they were Balaram Mankar, Udavesa Bua, Kaka Dixit and Tatya Saheb Nulkar

just to mention a few.

On one of Nulkars visit to Shirdi he writes

“In the afternoon Appa Kote

came and stood near the pillar of the Chavadi. He was

twisting a rag around his fingers I asked him if his finger was hurt? He said “No” and told me that the rag was

a piece from Baba’s Kafni. I asked him why he

tore it? He says Baba tears the Kafni

for wicks, and this bit was hanging out.

I prayed to be given the piece and He gladly gave it. Little did Tatya Shaeb know that Baba would Himself give him His Kafni?

One afternoon Baba summoned Tatya Shaeb

to the Dwarakamai. Tatya Shaeb ofcourse went immediately.

Baba took off His Kafni; and gave it to him saying,

“take this, it will keep you warm on cold winter

nights”

Here a leela of Baba’s Kafni is

appropriate. Jyotindra Tarkad

[sai Sat Charitra #9] was

devoted to Baba from a very young age. Their relationship was more than a

father and son. On one of his visits to Shirdi this

wonderful incident took place. Jyotindra Tarkad was ever willing to do Baba’s seva; without expecting any returns. One day Baba told Jyotindra that He was going to Lendi

Baugh, to bathe. He asked him whether he would do a chore for Him. Baba said

“Its not a difficult task, I will bathe. Before

doing so, I’ll hand you My Kafni. Take it to

the well and wash it. As you know I take an extremely long time to bathe, and

it will dry in the meantime. But do not allow it to trail on the ground. So

hold it up. Okay!” Jyotinder readily agreed.

But he institintctively felt that there was a lesson

in this chore. Then Baba entered the room to have His bath. Jyotindra

waited outside for Baba to hand over His Kafni. After

quite a long time he got impatient, as the Kafni was

not forthcoming. He decided to peep through the slat in the door. What he saw

left him speech less and spellbound. There was Baba, and from each and every

pore He was emanating light. The light was so powerful that he feared loosing

his sight. He at the same time was repentant for trying to see Baba in the

nude. At that very moment Baba called out to him to take the Kafni.

Hastily Jyotindra took the Kafni. He went

to the well and carefully washed it, rinsed it and wrung it. Then he stepped in

mid day sun and held the Kafni with both hands above

his head. As time passed by, the Kafni instead of

getting lighter from drying started getting heavier and heavier. His arms ached

as time went by and he knew he would fail. As a last resort he started praying

to Lord Hanuman. To give him strength to complete the chore,

“O! Hanuman, destroyer of Lanka. Give

some of your strength so I can fulfill this Seva. O!

Hanuman, Bhakta of Rama,

help me to perform this service as a Bhakta and sevak of Baba”. His lips moved silently in prayer.

Just then Baba yelled “Arre Bhau,

why are you praying to Hanuman for help.” At that very moment the Kafni started getting lighter. Needless to say Jyotindra confessed to Baba and begged for forgiveness.

(Source Sri Saileela Magazine)