Leela:
Mr. Nanasaheb Nimonkar, Watandar of Nomon and Honorary Magistrate, was staying at Shirdi with his wife. Mr. and Mrs. Nimonkar were spending most of their time in the Masjid with Baba and serving Him. It so happened, that their son fell ill at Belapur and the mother decided, with Baba's consent, to go to Belapur, and see her son and other relatives; and stay there for a few days, but Mr. Nanasaheb asked her to return the next day. The lady was in a fix and did not know what to do; but her God Sai came to her help. While leaving Shirdi she went to Baba, who was standing in front of Sathe's wada with Mr. Nanasaheb and others, and prostrated at His Feet and asked His permission to go. Baba said to her, ""Go, go quickly, be calm and unperturbed. Stay comfortably at Belapur for four days. See all your relatives and then return to Shirdi."" How opportune were Baba's words! Mr. Nanasaheb's proposal was overruled by Baba's decree.
Shri Sai Satcharita, The wonderful life and teachings of Shri Sai Baba, Translated by Nagesh Vasudev Gunaji (Mumbai: Shri Sai Baba Sansthan, Shirdi, 20th Edition 2002), p68
Teachings from Leela:
1) Baba cares for all his devotees equally, regardless of gender
Baba treats all souls equally. Everyone has the right to live happily, and to have their own wishes and dreams. It was Mrs. Nimonkar’s wish to spend a few days with her son and other relatives, for which she, due to the social conventions of the time, had to get approval from her husband. In fact, she could not even communicate her wishes freely to her husband. Baba intervened, by fulfilling her wishes in a manner that her husband had to fully accept. Despite the unequal rights under which Mrs. Nimonkar lived due to her gender, Baba made sure that his devotee’s wish was fulfilled.
We all have the right to freedom and to do things as per our wishes, as long as we do not hurt anyone, regardless of our age, gender or other differences. In Hindu tradition, even God does not intervene when it comes to one’s actions and its consequences. He grants us this free will. We too, as human beings, must not interfere in each other’s lives and force our will over others.
2) Baba shows his love by fulfilling his devotees’ unspoken wishes
Both husband and wife were deeply faithful devotees of Baba. Mrs. Nimonkar wished to stay in Belapur for a few days, but her husband had asked her to return the next day. She was in a dilemma; she had agreed to return as she did not want to hurt her husband's feelings. Baba intervened in such a manner that the wife’s wishes were fulfilled without upsetting the husband.
Putting into Practice
Here are some suggestions on how we could use this leela in our daily lives.
1. Baba cares for all his devotees equally, regardless of gender
Each of us is fundamentally an atman temporarily residing in a physical body. The atman has no characteristics upon which we hang our own biases. It has no gender, race, skin colour, age, religion or creed. When you look at others, try to focus your attention on their atman, not their body. This will help you to get over any gender or other biases you have.
2. Baba shows his love by fulfilling his devotees’ unspoken wishes
My dad used to say that there are three kinds of people in this world.
· Devata: those who do things for others without being asked.
· Manushya: those who do things for others when asked to do so.
· Shaitan: those who do not do anything for others even when asked to do so.
Try to be the person who reaches out to help others even before they ask for it.
Mantra:
Om, Sarve bhavantu sukhinaḥ
Sarve santu nirāmayāḥ
Sarve bhadrāṇi paśyantu
Mā kashchit duḥkha bhāgbhavet
Oṁ Shāntiḥ, Shāntiḥ, Shāntiḥ
Meaning:
May all be prosperous and happy
May all be free from illness
May all see what is spiritually uplifting
May no one suffer
Om peace, peace, peace
This above mantra is from the Brihadaaranyaka Upanishad
http://www.patheos.com/blogs/seekingshanti/2015/09/hinduprayerforeveryone_globalgoals/
I would encourage all of you to please share your interpretations, learnings and experiences on how you have put this leela into practice.
Om Sai Ram.
4 comments:
There could be one more side to it. God created all souls equal and for him they all are same. Everyone have a right to live happily and with their own wish. But with changing times some people became more powerful either by their physical strength or strength/rights given by society created by certain ideology. In this storey a women/wife right of living freely was suppressed by male/husband, but as Baba never differentiated between all creatures created by him, he granted her wish. By reading it may look normal in Satcharita but there is more to it. We all have a right of freedom and do things as per our wishes as long as we don't hurt anyone regardless of age/gender or all other differences. This is sort of law that even God doesn't interfere in someone karma then why we human beings interfere in each other life. Just do your duties, live freely & let others live freely & watch your own karma.
Jai Sai Ram Pardeep,
Thanks for your comments. These are some new points I had not thought of, and I appreciate you sharing them. I have incorporated them in the above leela. Thank you again.
Jai Shri Sai!
Thank you for sharing your wonderful thoughts about this Leela of Baba. I would like to take Baba's permission to share my understanding thru this Leela. I ask Baba to forgive me if I lack the intelligence to understand and pray to keep me in His Lotus Feet and continue to guide me.
As we all know that Baba's Leelas were inscrutable. When he wanted to teach, he created the situation, thru this leela Baba wanted to give us a message of Respect - Love - Care - Communication and the Presence of a true Guru in our life, who holds your hand to walk you the non-ritualistic path of SAI.
Thru this leela Baba showed that Mrs. Nimonkar could not express her wishes out of Respect for her husband and due to social customs of the time. Baba intervened because he always loved the simplicity and said, that he loves and is close to those who endure because of love and Respect to others. Granting the permission to Mrs. Nimonkar, Baba taught us that the channel of communication must always remain open and no one has the authority to impose any sort of power they possess or are blessed with, in any relation, be it couples, Parents and children, friends or relatives, employee/employer etc etc.
The husband just told his wife to go, but come back when he wanted, never care to ask what she wanted or how she wanted to plan her trip. This is called lack of care and communication.
For a minute I am getting away from this leela and share my experience in the field of my past and present career. That is why how I understood what I understood. I have been to many career seminars since last 25 years and all the success coaches talk about the power of right communication. I learnt very early in my career that to give the right service to a client I need to ask what they need and how they want me to help, instead of telling them what I know. To learn this I paid quite a sum. And it did help me a lot.
When I read Shri Sai Satcharita the 1st time in 2002...O' my God, reading this leela I felt that to learn the theory of Asking vs Telling I had to pay so much money whereas Baba is distributing the same or better knowledge FREE. Now, this is a real personal development that can help you to be successful in all types of roles in your life.
Sorry, for such a long post.
Bow to Shri Sai, Peace Be to all!!
Jai Sai Ram!
Thanks for sharing your wonderful insight regarding this leela. First of all sorry for the delay in responding. I do appreciate comments from readers as that helps to understand Baba's teaching more comprehensively. I would encourage you to please review and comment on the rest of Baba's leela's. I agree with the points you have mentioned in your comments and I have noted them. I will update the leela with your comments.
Really appreciate that you shared your experience and pointed out the importance of right communication which is asking instead of telling.
May Baba's blessings be with you always. Thanks again. Jai Sai Ram!
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