Chapter 4

Highlights of this chapter

• Reason behind Sai Baba's incarnation
• Sai Baba and Vitthal (deity from Pandharpur)
• Sai Baba's arrival in Shirdi
• Importance of Shirdi

This chapter starts with a discussion of why Shri Sai Baba (and generally other saints) incarnate. There are times in human civilization where people in general start living predominantly in an un-ethical manner.   People do not believe in the scriptures, they think they have all the necessary knowledge, they are always eager to argue and dominate others, they act in selfish manner and not think before carrying out any act, they eat any kind of food without thinking whether its fit or unfit. Making religion or caste as the reason, people are divided which eventually results in brutal atrocity and aggression against each other. The poor and weak suffer tremendously. This are the times when a saint incarnates and brings order to the prevailing chaos. They re-instate belief in God, remind people the teachings of their religion, also make everyone realize that God is one and is not divided by a country or state's boundaries. Throughout their life the saints endure lots of hardship and sets an example for others to live a un-selfish, healthy, successful and a peaceful life. This is not an ordinary task by any means, however the saints are free from the affect of Maya, they are an epitome of selfless action. God through them shower grace and blessings and brings order to this world. Once their work is done the saints sheds their human body and return to God and continue their service even when they are in spirit form. 

सकलजगदानंद करू

प्रत्यगात्माची परमेश्वरू

जो परमेश्वरू तोचि गुरु 

तोचि शंकरु सुखकरू 

Shirdi where Shri Sai decided to stay and show his leela's became one of the sacred places similar to Gangapur, Narsobachi wadi, Audumbar and Bhilawadi. Shirdi is located on the banks of Godavari river. Godavari is one of the holy rivers and many saints have incarnated in its surrounding region and there are several pilgrimages around it. Godavari is located in Ahmednagar district and in Kopargaon taluka (now its Rahata taluka) it gives way to Shridi. After crossing this river, at a distance of around 3 miles is the village of Shirdi.

There are few short stories in this chapter which shows the similarities between Shri Sai & God Vitthal (Lord Krisna) from Pandharpur.

1. There was a staunch Vitthal devotee named Gollibuva. He used to spent the 4 holy months (chaturmaas) on the banks of holy river Ganga and the remaining months in Pandharpur. He used to continuously chant the name of God, "RamKrishna Hari". He used to stop at Shirdi which was on his way and take Shri Sai's darshan. Looking at Baba he used to get mesmerized, he used to see Vitthal in Shri Sai Baba. He used to tell other devotees that its an extremely difficult task to be a saint, one has to work hard and do several sacrifice and he Shri Sai is true saint and no different than Vitthal. He told other devotees to not get distracted by the worldly things and realize that Shri Sai and God are the same.
2. Sai Baba was utterly fond of chanting and used to always utter "Allah Malik". He used to encourage his devotees to do the same and used to get naam saptah (discourse carried for a week) done regularly.  Once he asked his devotee Dasganu (he used to write songs, literature on saints etc) to organize such a saptah. Dasganu got excited to receive this command directly from Baba, he agreed and joyfully asked Baba that Vitthal should come out in open when the devotees are taking his name. Baba gave him guaranteed assurance, "Yes why not, Vitthal will come out provided all the devotees will chant sincerely and passionately. This Shirdi is no different than other sacred places and there is no need to visit this distant places. Vitthal always respond to devotees love and shows up no matter where the devotee is." People say that Dasganu indeed see Vitthal after the saptah.
3. Once Kakasaheb Dixit after his morning bath was meditating and he clearly saw Vitthal's face. He was extremely happy and when he went to take Sai's darshan, Sai Baba who knew everything, in his own humorous way asked him did Vitthal patil came and met him. He told Kakasaheb to keep an eye on Vitthal continuously since he has to tendency to hide as soon you look away from him. Kakasaheb was  ecstatic since he got confirmation from Baba. Later that afternoon, a man from some other village came to Shirdi and brought with him few photos of Vitthal to sell. Kakasaheb found the same photo which he saw during his meditation. Remembering Baba's word, he immediately bought that photo and kept it for his daily prayer.
4. Another short but sweet story is about Bhagwantrao Kshirsagar, whose dad was a great Vitthal devotee. After his dad's death the family completely forgot about it and they stopped offering prayer and food (naivedya) to Vitthal. Once this gentlemen came to Shirdi for the first time, Shri Sai said, "His father was my friend. That's why I brought him to meet me. He is not offering naivedya and keeps me hungry. He also keep Vitthal hungry. Thats why i got him here. Now he will remember this and correct his behavior".

Once Dasganu thought of going on a pilgrimage to Prayag and as a tradition there he wanted to bathe in Holy Ganga river. So he came to take Baba's permission. Shri Sai told him whats the use of going so far, all the pilgrimage are right here in Shirdi, just have full trust in mind. And what a surprise, as soon as Dasganu bowed on Baba's feet, lo and behold! water started flowing from both the toe's of Baba. Seeing this miracle Dasganu was left speechless, tears started flowing from his eyes, he couldn't comprehend the love and mercy of Shri Sai. In this state he started singing praise to Shri Sai.

Line 107:

अगाध शक्ति अघटित लीला तव सद्गुरुराया 

जडजीवातें भवीं ताराया तूं नौका सदया ||

वेणीमाधव आपण होउनि प्रयाग पद केलें 

गंगा यमुना द्वय अंगुषठी प्रवाह दाखविले ||

There are total 14 stanza in this poem and its beautiful !

Shri Sai first appeared in Shirdi at an young age of 16. He was all alone and used to sit and meditate below one Neem tree. All the villagers were utterly surprise to see such a young kid on its own and they realized that though young he is an evolved soul. They tried to get more information regarding his parents, village etc. but with no luck. Nobody knew from where and how Baba came to Shirdi. But the villagers were attracted to the brightness and majesty of young Sai Baba and they grew fond of him. People from neighboring village started visiting Shirdi just to get a glimpse of Shri Sai. Once couple of villagers got possessed by Khandoba, who is village deity. Other villagers sought this opportunity to enquire about Shri Sai and who he was. Khandoba, told the villagers to dig a hole at a spot under the Neem tree. The villagers did as said and they were astonished to see a small chamber under and there were 4 burning lamps in it. Khandoba further told that at this place this kid has done penance for 12 years. Villager knew that this kid was not a normal one, so they started asking again to Shri Sai from where he came and what place is that. Shri Sai replied that this place belongs to his Guru and they should take proper care of it. Later the villagers covered the hole and restored it back to its previous form and they started revering that place of Shri Sai's guru.

Later one of Shri Sai devotee, Mr. Sathe bought all the place surrounding the Neem tree and made a lodging place for all the devotees who used to visit Shirdi. He made a platform surrounding the Neem tree and this location became a place of worship for the devotees. Later on Kakasaheb Dixit also constructed a big house around that area which was used by the visiting devotees as a lodging area.

Kakasaheb Dixit was a spiritual person and his interest in spiritual matter was developed when he was in England. Kakasaheb came from a rich family, highly educated and had travelled all over India. Once in England he got involved in an accident and one of his leg got handicapped. Kakasaheb was a good friend of Mr. Chandorkar, another great and close devotee of Shri Sai. Chandorkar urged Kakasaheb to visit Shirdi and meet Shri Sai and was confident that Shri Sai can cure Kakasaheb completely. However Kakasaheb being more spiritual minded was more interested in getting rid of handicap nature of mind rather than his leg. Because he knew that this body is a temporary thing and it changes every moment, he was much interested in the spiritual matters.

On 2nd Nov 1909 Kakasaheb first came to Shirdi and met Shri Sai. In the next month Kakasaheb thought of constructing a building for the devotees and he got Baba's permission on 9th Dec. Another great devotee of Baba, Mr. Khaparde was in Shirdi at the same time and he was not getting permission from Baba to return home. However Khaparde got the permission on 10th Dec and on the same day Kakasaheb also started construction for the building. Another significance of 9th Dec is, aarati in Chavadi was started on this day.

Shri Sai didn't stayed in Shirdi for long, he disappeared for a long time but re-appeared along with a marriage party, more stories in the coming chapter.

Jai Shri Sai !