Dwaraka Mai And Baba

[Guest guest]

Dwaraka Mai And Baba

“Hech Aapuli Dwaraka

Matha! Mashidiche ye aaki baisatha lekhru

dehi nirbhaysth”[This is our Dwaraka Matha | The children who come and sit in this Masjid should have no fear.[Roughly translated] Baba said

His Dwarakamai was “mota

kripalu” [Tremendously Compassionate] and the bhakta could easily cross the ocean [beda

paar] of life. It was Baba who perceived the desires

and longings of the devotees and granted their wishes. It was from this Dwaraka Matha that Baba performed

His leelas for sixty yrs and beyond. Baba often told

His devotees that He was here thousands of years ago!

The old Masjid was dilapidated, the floor

was uneven with pits and ditches. The Dwaraka mai [the

Sanctum Sanctorum was about 15 Ft by 17 Ft] This

sanctified place with its contents can teach us many valuable lessons. Baba’s

life itself is an example of the highest truth that all religions teachings are

the same. On the other hand Baba taught by example. He gave no sermons; nor

preached to His devotes, a word here or a sentence there was sufficient to push

the devotees to the next stage of his spiritual development.

Let me try to decipher

the meanings and symbols of ‘The Dwarakamai and

Baba’s sojourn in Shirdi’; The King of

this Universe; the maker of this cosmos lived in this dilapidated mosque. Where

even the lizards ran away and took refuge elsewhere. Thus

implying that only a roof is necessary to give protection from the elements.

And one does not need a huge palatial building to live in. As one enters the

Sanctum Sanctorum, one finds Baba sitting ‘facing the South’. He is

‘Dakshinamoorty’.The ever smiling

Guru’ this ‘South faced Guru symbolizes the ‘fact that a man

of realization has transcended time’. That the Guru’s grace as His

inner realization is being showered on the devotees who are caught in the net

of Yama, the lord of death .The Guru leads the

disciple to immortality. The south is the special domain of Yuma .Yuma means control. It can be self

control as well as a limitation over ones capacity.

Baba’s asana [seat] was a sack. In

the sack the weave is very evident there is a horizontal weave which symbolizes

mans life of hopes, aspirations, goals and greed for a thousand materialistic

things. The vertical weave is the Sadgurus or Gods

will. The intersections as it were are milestones in ones life. When the devotee

achieved or did not achieve his goal, this represents the essence of life that

we wish for thousands of things, but the result depends on His wish. And we

should happily receive what He gives us.

In the North

East corner Baba sat in the direction of Isaana. His left hand resting on the [Kathada]

Railing. His legs outstretched. Showering His

blessings on the devotees. There are eight directions or quarters in

this world. Each protected by a Deity [Dikpals] Baba

sat in the N E corner which is protected by Isaana on

Vrishaba [Ox] This

symbolizes that each individual goes a certain direction ‘or follows a

certain path that makes or mars his life. According to his vasanas,

it is lord Isaana who guides the world. He comes riding on the Vrishaba to

exhaust the accumulated vasanas of the jeevas. Thus Baba sitting in the N E guides the individual

in the right direction. Therefore any puja starts

with “Astha Dik Bandhan”[The 8 direction

Bondage] is done. Then the mind of the individual is arrested from taking any

direction. He discovers his own true nature.

The floor of the Dwarakamai was clean and nea,t it was washed daily and a

slurry of cow dung was applied. Baba had an akhand

deep [an ever burning lamp] which symbolizes an inner light. Baba got up very

early in the morning and was found sitting in front of Dhuni

Maa [Agni ] AGNI means

leading [Nirukti Ref] i.e. leading towards evolution.

Fire is death to everything and water is death to fire. If there are sins that

are not burnt ; then water will destroy it as it

destroys fire.

Baba went to Lendi Baugh twice a day; here Lendi Baugh represents a garden with a multitude of shrubs

of different varieties along with weeds.

Baba went in procession up to Lendi Baugh but

entered the Baugh alone. There like a gardner He tended to and nurtured the plants

[His devotees] The weeds symbolize the various destructive tendencies that take

hold of our lives and pull us in a different direction. When

Baba went to Lendi Baugh. He threw water in

four directions. Baba would sit facing west the domain of Varun

[Rain] Varun means ‘choicest things’ and

also veiling [Maya] ref Ni #10[3rd St] Varun is on Makara [Crocodile] which is the hand of time; So Dhuni Maa symbolizes one should

burn the internal Dhuni and offer greed and desires as

oblation In Bhadrinayka Upanishad #2 ch5 sloka 9-14 says ‘God offered Faith as an oblation to

fire [Heaven] thence came the moon.”

The Nimbar is on the Eastern wall it represents Mecca and Muslims do namaz

facing it. Baba however sat with His back to it during mealtime. Daily it was

garlanded by the devotes thus one learns that all religions lead to the same

goal or as Baba put it succinctly ‘ Sub Ka Malik Ek’

Next

to the Nimbar was the ‘Jaath’or

quern [Hand Mill] In the Sai Satcharitra # 1 The wonderful Leela of Baba grinding the wheat is given. Every

day;’ day in; and day out Baba undertook the chore of grinding the sins;

the mental; the physical afflictions and the miseries of His devotees. The

quern has 2 grinding stones the upper stone symbolizes Bhakti

[faith] and the lower stone is karma while the handle is Gyana

..One has grind all desires; sins; the traits of Raja; Tama; Ahamkar

to develop spritually. Through Bhakti

[faith] Nishwarth[selfless] karma and of course the grace of the Sadguru and Gyana the goal can be

achieved. Baba had but a few belongings that were kept in the Dwarakaai. These were [1] The Matka

or the Water Pot. It was an earthen vessel, used for storing water. The mud-pot

symbolizes the human body that can break [die] at any time. Thus

the transience or temporary nature of the human life.

Baba

had but a few belongings that were kept in the Dwarakamai.

These were [1]the Matka

[Water pot] it was an earthen vessel used for storing water. The mud-pot

symbolizes ‘body’

which can break[die] at any time thus the transient or

temporary nature of the human life. Water represents the ‘Atama’

[soul]. Which is the life-giving element to the body.

Water is oudorless, shapeless, and colorless, so also

is the soul. It is Nirlingi [genderless], Nirlaptha [not affected by anything] and Nirvikari [formless]. Being so it will take the identity of

any living being just as the water takes the shape of the containe.r

The lesson here is that all souls or Atamas are one and the same. That Baba is in all and was in

all. [sai Satcharitra #9]

Mrs. Tarkhad feeds a dog then a mud smeared pig and

Baba’s hunger is appeased.

 

(to

be contd…..)

Source Shri Sai Leela

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