||chapter forty-six||

|| sri sai satcharitra ||

|| chapter forty-six ||

|| the story of the goats ||

|| Sri Ganeshaya Namaha || Sri Saraswatye Namaha ||

|| Sri Venkateshaya Namaha || Sri Sai Nathaya Namaha ||

|| Sri Sadgurubhyo Namaha ||

In this chapter, Hemad Pant describes Baba’s Gaya trip, story of the goats and other matters.

SADGURU SAI:

Sadguru Sai! Blessed are Your divine feet! How comforting is the remembrance of those lotus feet! Blessed is the darshan of Your divine form, which destroys the fear of this mundane world. It is because of You that all our bondages due to Karma are cut to pieces! Although we are not able to see Your Saguna form, even then if the devotees focus their attention at Your divine feet, You grant them a living experience. By an invisible attractive force, You pull the devotees, whether they are near or far off, to Your presence and embrace them like a new mother. Hey Sai! Devotees do not know where You reside, but You inspire them with such dexterity that because of it they feel that Your protective hand is always on their head and it is only because of Your Kripa-Dhrishti that they are always getting help from unknown sources. Engulfed by egoism, even people of highest level of intelligence and cleverness get sucked into the whirlpool of this Bhavasagara. But hey Sai! You, with only Your power, can pull out the helpless and dedicated devotees from this whirlpool and protect them. Being behind the screen, You are doing justice to all. Even then, You act as though You are not connected at all. Nobody could understand Your life. So, it is beneficial to us that we should surrender totally at Your divine feet, and to rid us of our sins, keep chanting only Your Nama smarana. You fulfill all the desires of Your desireless devotees and give them bliss. Reciting Your name alone is the easiest path for the devotees. By this method, the Rajas and Tamas qualities in them will decline and Satva and Dharmik qualities will enhance. Simultaneously with this, Viveka, Vairagya and Jnana will come one after the other. Then, Self-realization will dawn and they will feel oneness with the Guru, which also implies surrendering to the Guru completely. A conclusive proof of this is that then our mind will become steady and calm. The importance of this surrender, devotion and Jnana is unparalleled because along with this the attainment of tranquillity, detachment, fame, liberation etc, will naturally follow.

When Baba blesses His devotees, then He will always be near them. Wherever the devotee may go, somehow or other, Baba will always reach that place earlier than the devotee. The following story makes it clear.

BABA’S GAYA TRIP:

Sometime after Kakasaheb Dixit came to know Baba, he decided to perform the Upanayana (thread ceremony) of his eldest son, Babu at Nagpur. At about the same time, Nanasaheb Chandorkar also decided to perform the marriage of his eldest son at Gwalior. Both Kakasaheb and Nanasaheb went to Shirdi and requested Baba to attend the functions. Baba asked them to take Shyama as His representative. Both Kakasaheb and Nanasaheb were unrelenting and insisted on Baba coming personally to the two functions. Baba said, “Take Shyama. After Kashi and Prayag, I will reach earlier than Shyama.” These words show Baba’s all pervasiveness, if a proof was ever required.

Shyama went to Baba and after prostrating at His feet, sought His permission to go to Nagpur and Gwalior for the functions and then visit Kashi, Prayag and Gaya. On 25 February 1912, Shyama engaged a Tonga and went to Kopergaon. There he met Appa Kote. Appa was going somewhere else, but when he heard about Shyama’s programme, he also decided to join Shyama. Their first halt was at Nagpur. They attended the Upanayana ceremony of Kakasaheb’s son. Kakasaheb was very happy that they were able to come and participate. He presented Rs.200/- to Shyama towards their travel expenses. From there they proceeded to Gwalior to attend Nanasaheb Chandorkar’s son’s marriage. The function was performed very well and was also largely attended. After the marriage was over, Nanasaheb gave Rs.100/- to Shyama. Nanasaheb’s relative Mr Jathar also gave him Rs.100/-.

After attending these two functions, both Shyama and Appa Kote went to Kashi. They were very well received at Jathar’s beautiful Laxmi Narayana temple at Kashi. They stayed in Kashi for two months. When they went to Ayodhya, Jathar’s manager received them and treated them very well at the Ram Mandir there. Shyama and Kote stayed for 21 days in Ayodhya. Then they left for Gaya. While they were travelling in the train, they heard that plague was wide spread in Gaya. They felt slightly uneasy because of this news, but felt comforted by the thought that Baba was always with them. On arriving at Gaya, they got down from the train and stayed in a Dharmashala for the night. Early in the morning, a poojari of Gaya (Panda) came and told them that as all the other passengers have left, they should also make haste. This man usually took care of the needs of the pilgrims who came to Gaya. Quite casually Shyama asked whether there was plague in Gaya. Then the Panda said, “No. Please come to my house without any hesitation and verify the conditions yourself.” Then they both went to his house. Was that a house!! It was indeed a spacious bungalow wherein many transit pilgrims could comfortably stay. Shyama was very happy with the accommodation provided. He was greatly surprised that in the prime place of the building, a big portrait of Baba was beaming at him. On seeing this portrait, he was overwhelmed with joy. He remembered Baba’s words that He would be ahead of Shyama and tears started rolling down his cheeks. His throat choked and he began to sob.

The Panda thought that Shyama was scared of the plague and hence was crying. Sobbing, Shyama surprised him by asking him from where he secured the portrait of Baba. The Panda told him that he had some 200 to 300 agents working in Manmad and Punatambe for taking care of the comforts of pilgrims coming from those places to Gaya. He had heard from them about the fame of the saint Sai Baba who was in Shirdi. He also told them that about 12 years back he had gone to Shirdi and was fortunate to have the darshan of Sai Baba. In addition, he had also met a devotee of Baba by name Shyama. In Shyama’s, house he was attracted by this portrait and with Baba’s permission, Shyama had given it to him. Shyama recollected the event and when the Panda realised that this is the same Shyama who had given him the portrait and who is standing in front of him as a guest, his joy knew no bounds. Mutual exchange of love and affection took place and subsequently, the Panda treated Shyama like an emperor. He was a very rich man. He sat in a palki and made Shyama ride an elephant and together they went round the place. The Panda attended to all the comforts and conveniences of both of them personally. After spending some time in Gaya, both Shyama and Appa Kote returned to Shirdi.

The above story clearly illustrates how much love Baba had for His devotees and how much care He took of them. As He said, He was ahead of Shyama, and even though there was news of plague in Gaya, He ensured that both His devotees were very comfortable and were even treated like royal guests. The next story tells us that not only humans, but other beings also shared Baba’s infinite love. Baba’s love was universal.

THE STORY OF THE TWO GOATS:

Once, when Baba was returning from the Lendi Baug, a flock of goats crossed His path. Two among the flock looked at Baba desolately. Baba saw them, went to them, caressed and fondled. He bought both of them for Rs.32/- and brought them with Him. The devotees who saw this were aghast at His behaviour. Both the goats could have been bought for Rs.4/- or at the most Rs.8/-. The devotees thought that Baba was definitely duped in this bargain. Each of the devotees took Him to task, but Baba remained calm and cool. When Shyama and Tatya asked Baba why He had bought the goats, Baba said, “I have no home or wife for whom I need to save money.” Then He bought four seers of dal and fed the goats. After the goats happily consumed the food and Baba’s affection, Baba returned the goats to their earlier owner. Then Baba told the story of the goats as follows:

“Shyama and Tatya, you think that I have been duped in this bargain. Listen to their story. Both of them were human beings in their previous birth, and fortunately, were very close to Me. Both were brothers and loved each other profoundly. Gradually, with the coming of age, the love changed to dislike and then hatred. They became bitter enemies. The elder brother was lazy and the younger one was hard working and earned lot of money. Because of this, the elder one was jealous and greedy. He decided to kill his younger brother and usurp all his property. They forgot their fraternal links and began to quarrel with each other. The elder one made several attempts to kill the younger one but was not successful. Thus they became deadly enemies. One day, the elder one gave a deadly blow on the head of the younger one. The younger one felled the elder one with an axe and both fell dead on the spot. Because of their actions, they took birth as goats. As they passed Me, I recognized them at once and remembered their history. Pitying them, I wanted to feed them, give them rest and comfort. For this reason, I spent the money which appeared to you as exorbitant. As you did not like the transaction, I sent them back to their shepherd.” Baba had abundant love for even animals like the goats.

With this, the forty sixth chapter, called as The Story of the Goats, is complete. In the next chapter, Hemad Pant describes story of Veerabhadrappa and Chennabassappa and other matters.

|| Sri Sadguru Sainathaarpanamasthu | Shubham Bhavatu ||

Om Shanti Shanti Shanti