Do not try to get mantra or upadesha from anybody

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……“That Anna Saheb Dabolkar's thoughts were changed

thoroughly, may be more amply set out in what follows.

First when he went to Baba, he had just a bit of

devotion to Baba, and his main nature was still

egoistic, combative and was largely concerned with

worldly ambitions. From 1910-16, his progress was

hardly noticeable. But in 1917, a change came and he

himself sets it out in chapter XVIII and XIX of his

book, and therefore, we shall now proceed to refer to

them.

 

When he was shampooing Baba's legs, one Mr. Sathe had

a problem and that was mentioned to Baba. Sathe was

directed by Baba to read Guru Charitra and he did so

for seven days. At the close of it Baba appeared in a

dream vision to him with the Guru Charitra in his

hand. Kaka Dixit came and asked Baba whether he would

explain to Sathe what the appearance meant. He asked

‘Is he to go on with a second saptaha or study of the

Guru Charitra?’ Baba said, ‘Yes’. Baba also said, ‘If

the work be studied carefully, the devotee will become

pure and will be benefitted. The Lord will be pleased

and will rescue him from samsara’.

 

Hearing these words, Anna Dabolkar, Hemad Pant

thought, ‘For the last seven years since 1910 to 1917

I have been serving Baba and have never got a vision,

and this man, Mr. Sathe after a week’s stay at Shirdi

gets his vision. Like a chataka bird, 1 am waiting for

Baba to pour his nectar on to me and bless me with his

instructions, this was his thought. Baba read his

thought at once and told him, ‘Go to Shama. Get from

him Rs.15 dakshina, stay and chat with him for a while

and then come back’.

 

Accordingly, he went to Shama and asked for Rs. 15

dakshina. Shama, was a very poor man and said, ‘I send

my 15 namaskars’. Then Hemad Pant said, ‘I' am asked

to chat with you and listen to you’. Shama then began

to tell him the stories of Baba’ s lilas, and the

foremost amongst them that he mentioned was about Mrs.

Radhabai Deshmukin. Shama said, ‘There was a lady, an

old woman who came to Baba and who had resolved to get

Mantropadesha from Baba. Baba did not give it.

 

She wanted to try satyagraha. She actually began to

fast saying that she would fast unto death at Shirdi

unless Baba gave her upadesha. After three days of the

fast, 1 interceded on her behalf and requested Baba to

take pity upon her and give her something. So, Baba

sent for her, and told her this, ‘Mother, why are you

subjecting yourself to unnecessary tortures and

meeting death. You are my mother and I am your child.

Pity me. I will tell you my story. If you listen to

it, it will do you good.

 

I had a Guru. He was a very great saint and most

merciful. I served him very long indeed. Still he did

not whisper any mantra into my ear. 1 was anxious

never to leave him but to stay with him and serve him

and receive some instruction from him. But he had his

own method. He just got my head shaved and asked me

for two pice as dakshina. I gave the same at once. If

you ask ‘how a perfect Guru should ask for dakshina,

and yet be called desireless’, I will explain to you

that what he asked for was not coins.

 

The first pice that he asked for was Nishta or firm

faith and the second pice he wanted was Saburi or

patience or perseverance. These two I gave him and he

was pleased. I served my Guru for 12 years. He brought

me up: There was no lack of food or clothing. He was

full of love. He was Love Incarnate. His love was

in¬describable. He loved me keenly. Rare is such a

Guru. When I looked at him, I was filled with bliss

and he was in bliss. Night and day I gazed at him

without thinking of hunger and thirst. Without him, I

felt restless. I had no other subject to meditate on.

 

I had nothing but the Guru to attend to. He was my

sole refuge. My mind was always fixed on him. That

fixture is the first pice nishta. The second pice,

Saburi, is my waiting patiently and very long on my

Guru and serving him. This Saburi will take you across

samsara. Saburi is manliness in man. It removes all

sins and afflictions, gets rid of calamities in

various ways, removes all fear and ultimately gives

you success. Saburi is a mine of virtues and is the

consort of good thought. Nishta and Saburi go

together. My Guru never expected anything else from

me. But he never neglected me and always protected me.

I lived with him and sometimes away from him. Still I

never felt the want or absence of his love. He always

protected me by his glance as a tortoise feeds its

young ones. Oh, mother, my Guru never taught me any

mantra. How can I give you any?

 

Do not try to get mantra or upadesha from anybody.

Make me the sole object of your thought and actions,

and you will undoubtedly attain Paramartha, the

spiritual goal of life. Look at me wholeheartedly, and

I shall also do the same, that is, look at you

wholeheartedly. Sitting in this Masjid, I speak the

truth and nothing but the truth. No sadhanas and no

proficiency in sastras is necessary. Have faith and

confidence in your Guru. Believe fully that the Guru

is the sole Actor or Doer. Blessed is he who knows the

greatness of his Guru and thinks him to be Hari, Hara

and Brahma Trimurti Incarnate. Shama said, 'The lady

then accepted the advice’.

 

After hearing Shama, Anna Saheb went to the Masjid,

and there he sat next to Baba, and when the Arti was

going on, Baba asked him whether he went to Shama and

asked for dakshina and had a chat. Dabolkar said,

‘Shama sent his 15 namaskars. In the chat, he gave an

account of Mrs. Radhabai Deshmukin's incident’. Baba

asked, ‘What is it?’ Dabolkar narrated the whole

story. Then Baba said, ‘Wonderful is the story. Did

the story strike you, and did you catch its

significance?' Anna Saheb said, ‘Yes. The restlessness

of my mind has vanished. I have got true peace and

come to know the truth path’.

 

Then Baba said, ‘My method is quite unique. Remember

well this one story, and it will be very useful. To

get knowledge or reali¬sation of the self, Dhyana is

necessary. If you practise it continuously, the

Vrittis, thoughts, will be pacified. Being quite

desireless, you should meditate on the Lord who is in

all the creatures, and when the mind is concentrated,

the goal will be achieved. Meditate always on my

formless nature, which is knowledge Incarnate,

Consciousness and Bliss.

 

If you cannot do this, meditate on my form from top to

toe as you see here night and day. As you go on doing

this, your vrittis will be one-pointed and the

distinction between the Dhyata the meditator, Dhyana

the act of meditation, Dhyeya the thing meditated upon

will be lost, and the meditator will be one with the

consciousness and be merged in Brahman.

 

' The mother tortoise is on one bank of the river and

her young ones are on the other side. She gives

neither milk nor warmth to them. The mere glance gives

them nutrition. The young ones do nothing but remember

and meditate upon their mother. The tortoise glance

is, to the young ones, a downpour of nectar, the only

source of sustenance and happiness. Similar is the

relation between the Guru and His disciples. Baba gave

him sugar candy and said, ‘If you take this story to

heart, remember it well, your state will be equally

sweet. Your desires will be fulfilled and you will be

happy. Meditate ¬on the story, assimilate its spirit,

then you will always remember and meditate on the Lord

who will manifest himself to you.”……