Leela:
A gentleman of Mumbai named Hari Kanoba heard, from his friends and relations, many of Baba’s Leelas and miracles. He was skeptical and did not believe them. He wanted to test Baba himself, so he came to Shirdi with some of his Mumbai friends. He wore a gold-fringed turban on his head and a new pair of sandals on his feet.
Seeing Baba from a distance,
he thought of going up to Him and prostrating before Him. He did not know what
to do with his new sandals, so he left them at a corner of the open courtyard,
and went into the Masjid to take Baba's darshan. He made a reverential bow to
Baba, took udi and prasad from Baba, and returned to the courtyard. When he
reached the corner, he found that his sandals had disappeared. He searched for
them in vain and returned to his lodging very much dejected.
As he bathed, offered worship and naivedya, and sat for a meal, he thought
about nothing but his sandals. After finishing his meal, he came out to wash
his hands, when he saw a Maratha boy coming towards him. The boy had in his
hand a stick, on the top of which was suspended a pair of new sandals. He said
to the men who had come out to wash their hands that Baba sent him with this
stick in hand and asked him to go on the streets crying, "Hari Ka Beta.
Jari Ka Pheta" (Hari, son of Ka, Gold fringe on Turban), and told him that
"if anybody claims these sandals, first assure yourself that his name is
Hari and that he is the son of Ka, i.e., Kanoba, and that he wears a gold-fringed
turban and then give them to him."
Hearing this, Hari Kanoba was pleasantly surprised. He went to the boy and claimed the sandals as his own. He said to the boy that his name was Hari and that he was the son of Ka (Kanoba) and showed him his gold-fringed turban. The boy was satisfied and returned the sandals to him.
Hari Kanoba thought to himself that his gold-fringed turban was visible to all and Baba might have seen it, but wondered how could Baba possibly know that his name was Hari and that he was the son of Kanoba, as this was his first trip to Shirdi.
Hari had come to Shirdi with the sole objective of testing Baba and with no other motive. He came to know by this incident that Baba was a great Satpurush (God-realized). He got what he wanted and returned home well-pleased.
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, 20th Edition 2002), p249
Based on Shri Sai Satcharita, The Life and Teachings of Shirdi Sai Baba, G. R. Dhalbokar, Translated by Indira Kher (Slovenia: Bird Publisher, 2009), p415
Teachings from Leela:
1) A true Sadguru never demands blind faith, and accepts the challenges of his devotees to increase their Shraddha in Him
Even though Hari Kanoba’s friends and relatives told him of Baba’s many leelas and miracles, he was skeptical and wanted to test Baba for himself. Baba obliged, and offered him the evidence he needed to accept Him as his Sadguru.
Baba wants us all to learn from this leela and not follow unproven gurus blindly. In these times we are exposed to a lot of information and it is often difficult to differentiate between what is true or false.
Throughout the Sai Satcharitra, there are several instances where potential devotees respectfully challenged Baba for proof of His ability to lead them, and He never took offense. He always responded to these challenges by providing proof of his state of self-realization, to help them increase their Shraddha in Him.
There are other instances where He did exhibit anger, but only if someone pre-judged Him, i.e., formed an opinion about Him without even meeting him or giving Him an opportunity to prove Himself.
Another example, where Baba accepted this sort of challenge, is described in the following leela in Chapter 35:
Out of curiosity and just to test Baba, Mr.Thakkar decided to go to Shirdi with Kaka Mahajani during Shimga holidays (a festival in the Konkan region of Maharashtra which is similar to the Holi festival of north India).
Kaka bought along two kilos of raisins (dried grapes with seed), prostrated himself before Baba and offered the raisins to Him. Baba ordered them to be distributed, and Mr. Thakkar got a few of them. He thought in his mind that, if Baba was a Saint, how could He be ignorant of his dislike for the seeded variety of raisins and force them upon him. When this thought arose in his mind, Baba gave him some more raisins. Mr. Thakkar could not eat them and held them in his hand. Then Baba asked him to eat them up and he obeyed, and found to his surprise that they were all seedless. He wanted to see miracles and here was one. He knew that Baba read his thought, and as per his wish, converted the seeded raisins into the seedless variety.
To test this further, he asked Mr. Tarkhad, who was sitting nearby and who also received some raisins, "what kind of raisins did you get?" Mr. Tarkhad replied, "the variety with seeds". Mr. Thakkar was still more surprised to hear this.
Then to confirm his growing faith, Mr. Thakkar thought in his mind that, if Baba was a real Saint, the raisins should be now given to Kaka first. Reading this thought too, Baba ordered that the next round of distribution be commenced from Kaka.
These proofs were sufficient for Mr. Thakkar.
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, 20th Edition 2002), p188
Based on Shri Sai Satcharita, The Life and Teachings of Shirdi Sai Baba, G. R. Dhalbokar, Translated by Indira Kher (Slovenia: Bird Publisher, 2009), p297
Baba performed these miracles to increase his devotee’s Shraddha in him. Faith is the closest word in English language to describe Shraddha, but it has a much more deeper meaning than just that. Shraddha is not just blind faith, but faith based upon knowledge and trust. It is a belief supported by a strong feeling of being certain about what you believe in.
A true Sadguru never demands blind faith. He will never intimidate His devotees. He will never demand love and respect from them either, as they must be earned and a true Sadguru will surely earn them. He also accepts the challenges of his devotees to increase their Shraddha in Him. Once such a guru has taken a devotee under His wing, He will work with them, even if it takes many life-times, to help them in their spiritual journey to moksha.
Putting into Practice
Here are some suggestions on how we could use this leela in our daily lives.
2) A true Sadguru never demands blind faith, and accepts the challenges of his devotees to increase their Shraddha in Him
For those of you who have accepted Baba as your Sadguru, you need not worry as He will Himself guide you towards your journey to Moksha.
For those of you who are on a lookout to find a guru, you must be already aware that there are a lot of false gurus who take advantage of people for their own benefit. Unfortunately, just as there are unscrupulous individuals in every occupation, there are also unscrupulous gurus.
Here are some warning signals for you to prevent yourself from becoming a victim.
1) Always trust your gut feeling when deciding to pick a guru. If your inner voice is saying otherwise, then listen to it. It is guiding you to make the right decision.
2) Is this guru interested in making money? The expectation of some dakshina is acceptable, if used to finance charitable works, but not for luxuries. A person on a spiritual path should be detached from worldly pleasures. If a guru is not treating the rich and poor equally, and is giving undue importance to a disciple who is rich but ignoring the poor, he is not a true guru.
3) Be wary of a guru who demands love and devotion from his disciples. Love and devotion are slow processes that grow over time. Just as when you plant a seed, it takes time to grow into a plant. Similarly, as you learn more and more about your guru, you will start to develop a liking and affection for him or her, based on admirable qualities you find in them.
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.
2 comments:
Wonderful and very true
Thanks Dipu, Jai Sai Ram!
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