At the feet of Baba: Chapter 23, Leela 3: Cholera Epidemic

Leela:

Once, Cholera was raging virulently in Shirdi. Its residents were much frightened and they stopped all communication with the outside world. The panchayat (village council) decided upon two ordinances as a remedy to check the Epidemic. They were (1) No fire wood should be allowed to come into the village, and (2) No goat should be killed. Anybody disobeying these ordinances would be heavily fined.

Baba knew that all this was mere superstition. While the ordinances were in force, a fire wood vendor came with his cart. The villager’s stopped the cart at the village boundary and would not allow it in. Baba came to know of this. He came to the spot and asked the vendor to take the cart to the Masjid. None dared to raise their voice against this action. Baba kept His Dhuni (sacred fire) ever burning all day and night, and for this, He always stocked fire wood. Baba's home, i.e. the Masjid, was free and open to all. It had no lock and key. Some of the poorer villagers took some fire wood for their cooking. Other, more deceitful, villagers also did the same.

Baba did not grumble about this. He saw that the whole universe was pervaded by the Almighty, and so He never bore enmity or ill-will to anybody. Though perfectly detached. He behaved like an ordinary house-holder to set an example to the people.

Based on Shri Sai Satcharita, The wonderful life and teachings of Shri Sai Baba, Translated by Nagesh Vasudev Gunaji (Mumbai: Shri Sai Baba Sansthan, Shirdi, 20^th Edition 2002), p122

Also see: Shri Sai Satcharita, The Life and Teachings of Shirdi Sai Baba, Translated by Indira Kher (Bird Publisher, 2009), p195, verses 72-88

Teachings from Leela:

1. Protect and hold on to your dharma, even if it means you have to stand up and challenge authority

The village gram panchayat (village council) put these ordinances in place out of fear and ignorance. Baba defied the ordinance by allowing the fire wood to be brought into the village and to be unloaded at Dwarkamai.

Before we proceed to understand the teachings of this leela, let us understand a few concepts of Dharma and Dharan.

Dharma is about being true to your conscience. Inside everyone the Lord resides in the form of conscience. When people wholeheartedly follow this, they are being Dharmic. Living from your heart is righteousness and lying to yourself is Adharma. The saints, who have conquered their lust, anger, greed, delusion, pride and envy are being true to their conscience and they are Dharmic (note 1). Tulsidas, author of Ramcharitmanas, has defined the root of dharma as compassion (note 2).

The sanskrit word Dharan (Sanskrit धारण) literally means bearing or holding. Dharan also refers to protecting, maintaining or preserving (note 3).

Thus dharma, is the noble path of righteousness, and dharan is to hold on to that path.

If in doubt, how could one be sure that they have followed dharma and made the right choice?

When you use your selfish motives, and declare it to be your dharma, you will experience doubts, fear and negativity, but if you truly follow dharma, without swartha (selfless motives), then your heart will tell you that you have made the right choice. You will not face any moral dilemma and you will be able to stand behind your conviction of truth without any doubts or fear.

Via this leela, Baba is trying to teach us to stand up to those who try to rationalize their wrong actions based on Ignorance or authority. Follow your dharma, even if it means you have to challenge authorities.

The ordinance was not going to be of any use to anyone. It would only cause great pain and hardship to the poor due to lack of fire wood for cooking, Baba followed his dharma and defied the ordinance.

Putting into Practice

Here are some suggestions on how we could use this leela in our daily lives.

1. Protect and hold on to your dharma, even if it means you have to stand up and challenge authority

Life is a battlefield in which a fierce battle rages inside each individual between the good and the evil. When such battle is going on, we have to stay vigilant and challenge any of our tendencies to do wrong based on either ignorance or selfishness. Be prepared to identify and fight this battle for dharma.

As described in The Hindu website (note 4)

Your Dharma is not an instruction which is imposed upon you by an institution or religious authority. It is what you are born with. It arises because you are an aspect of Brahman and in some respects Brahman Himself. It is a part of your previous Samskaras. You cannot just wish it away. You practice it because you want to be in harmony with yourself and the world in which you live, not because society or an institution has imposed the code upon you. You are one of the musical notes in the symphony of life, and you cannot sound discordant and disrupt the melody. If you are born with a particular sense of duty and your family or society tries to manipulate you with their own sense of values you have the right and freedom to choose your own, as long as your actions or decisions do not disrupt the social and moral order. This is where Hinduism gives freedom to each individual to live according to their discretion (buddhi). It is where it helps you to break free from conformity, conditioning and the authority of institutions and traditions.

For example, your dharma, is to follow the instructions of your employer, but if he asks you to do something illegal or unethical, then you must either politely refuse or walk away from the job.

In our culture, we are taught to respect our elders and not contradict them in any way. When our elders do something clearly wrong and hurtful to a younger member of the family, it is your dharma to challenge them, but you should do so politely and respectfully.

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.

Notes:

1. https://hinduism.stackexchange.com/questions/9907/what-is-dharma

2. https://www.thoughtco.com/what-is-dharma-1770048

3. https://www.pitarau.com/meaning-of-dharan