Chapter 26 - Historical Commentary - a podcast by Sai Babas Devotee Speaks

The first Leela in Chapter 26 is about Bhakta Pant, who, in order to avoid committing Guru Droha, takes permission from his guru before visiting Shirdi for Baba’s Darshan. The next story is about the epileptic son of a devotee named Harish Chandra Pithale, and how Baba cures the boy of his disease. Lastly, there is the story of Ambadekar, who decides to end his wretched life, but is given a copy of the Shri Swami Samartha's Charita, which helps change his mind, and prevents him from taking his own life.

In this chapter, a devotee named Bhakta Pant, who had received initiation from another guru, wishes to have Baba's Darshan. But, he is worried that he may be doing Guru Droha. So, when he was invited by his friends to accompany them to Shirdi, he first took consent from his guru before proceeding to Shirdi. When they reached Shirdi, everyone entered the Dwarka Mai and had Darshan, but Pant fell down unconscious. After he was revived, Baba reassured him saying, "Whatever the situation, never leave the place of your own guru." What a wonderful lesson for him and for all of us, as these days, there are many gurus and we tend to constantly change our gurus.

The second Leela is about Shama’s visit to Nagpur, where he meets Tajuddin Baba (whom Baba used to call 'the Golden tree'). Upon his return to Shirdi, when Baba asked him about the places he had visited in Nagpur, Shama eagerly tells Baba about his Darshan of Shri Narayan Maharaj in a tiny village of Bhet in Kedgaon. He tells Baba that Narayan Maharaj had a big Darbar and thousands of people went for his Darshan. He repeated this again and again. After being silent for some time, Baba said, "Aple baap to aple baap (Only our father is our father). No matter how much he may beat you, shout at you, disagree with you or punish you, he will always have sympathy and empathy for you and no one else will. I am your father. So what do you have to do with others?" In his characteristic way, Baba taught Shama a valuable lesson, which was: Do not look down or talk ill of others, especially a Satpurush, for the ill effects of it will be experienced by future generations. Your guru and father should be treated with love and respect. Do whatever Seva you can for both of them and have total faith in them. (Reference: Shri Sai Leela, ank 5, year 17, 1940.)

The next story is about Harish Chandra Pithale, who worked as a salesman in the Ghram Company. After a short illness in April 1910, his eldest son died, leaving behind his wife and a little son. The family was grief-stricken and did not know how to find solace. At that time, they attended a Kirtan at the house of a co-employee named Raghunath Tendulkar. The Sai Baba Kirtan was performed by none other than Das Ganu Maharaj. By the end of the Kirtan, Pithale’s entire family became totally devoted to Baba. They were so eager to have Baba's Darshan that they kept singing "Darshan de Sai Baba" from morning till night. That was one of Das Ganu's Bhajans. Then, after a long wait, they were able to visit Shirdi. At Shirdi, Harish Chandra and his family sat near the Dhuni Mai. As they got up to go to the Wada, his third son, Dwarkanath, who had been suffering from a convulsive disorder, got an attack right there and nearly fell into the Dhuni Mai. With great presence of mind, the child’s mother held her child in time. The mother was frightened and distraught, and she wept inconsolably. Baba said, "Aai, don't be frightened. Allah Malik will make him alright." And taking Udi from the Dhuni, He applied it on the child’s forehead. Dwarkanath recovered, and thenceforth, never had a convulsion again. Before leaving Shirdi, Baba gave three rupees to Harish Chandra, saying that He had already given him two rupees in the past, and now He is giving him three rupees, and asked him to worship the coins. Here, Baba identifies Himself with Swami Samarth, who had given his father the two rupees. (Reference: Sai Leela magazine, ank 7, year 4, 1926.)

Baba absolutely disapproved of any devotee contemplating suicide. In chapter 26 of the Shri Sai Satcharita, there is a story of a man named Ambadekar, who was so fed up with his wretched and destitute life that he decided to end his life. However, at that juncture, Shagun Meru Naik came to him, and gave him Swami Samarth’s Charita. Ambadekar read the Charita, which changed his mind and he did not follow through with his plan. Baba firmly says, "Never ever contemplate suicide, no matter how hard life is, as you will have to come back again to complete that part of your wretched life. Also, you will keep your ancestors hungry and unhappy, as you will not be there to perform Shradh." Suicide is a selfish act committed to evade suffering, or escape from duty and obligations to others and to God. It has far-reaching consequences for the individual's soul. It is a violation of the covenant with God and neglect of your duty. Hindus believe that human life is very precious as it is obtained after hundreds of births. Life provides each human being with a unique opportunity to pursue liberation and escape from the cycle of births and deaths to attain immortality, and make a quantum jump into the higher planes of existence. It is for this reason that Baba frowned upon suicide.

I shall conclude this chapter with the Leela of Professor Vishkanta, who also attempted suicide to escape from life's difficulties. As a child, when Prof. Vishkanta’s father passed away, life became extremely difficult for the family. His mother was unable to make both ends meet. Prof. Vishkanta recalls, “The following years were riddled with hardship. Poverty was killing us. My mother, who fed so many poor Brahmin boys, was unable to provide a square meal for her children. More often than not, we had to go to bed hungry. I had two elder brothers, an elder sister and a younger sister. My elder sister once explained to us our plight. She said, ‘We are in deep trouble because of father’s death. Promise me that come what may, even if you have to go hungry for long periods of time, you will never ever beg.’ At that time, I was only eight years old. I decided to take up a job, and I started working in a printing press that belonged to my father’s friend. The owner, knowing our plight, gave me this job as I would not accept alms. My job was to sort out ten thousand lined sheets every week, and to discard the sheets that didn’t have straight lines. For this, I was paid one rupee per week. Whenever I came home and handed the rupee to my mother, she would cry. My mother, who used to once live like a queen, with maids to serve her, was now cooking food in different homes as and when opportunities arose.

Despite the hardships, I continued my education, and graduated from school and joined college. When I was in the 2nd year of college, my health was in shambles. The food deprivation and the state of near starvation had taken their toll on my health. Due to hyperacidity, my intestines were riddled with multiple ulcers which were confirmed by x-rays. I was admitted to the Government Victoria Hospital, where they treated me for a few days. In the hospital, I was fortunate to receive two square meals. However, the doctor in charge asked the superintendent to discharge me, saying, ‘Why kill the poor boy in this hell? Let him go home and die peacefully.’ When I overheard this, my spirit was completely shattered. When I was discharged, the doctor prescribed some antacids and sedatives. My family was not of much help to me, and I felt that I was more of a liability to them. In utter desperation, I decided to end my wretched life.

Over the week, I collected a handful of sedatives from various pharmacies. Then I wrote a letter stating: ‘To whom it may concern, I am ending my life and no one is responsible for my action.’ Then I swallowed the entire lot of sedatives late one night. My mother, who used to wake up very early every morning, came to my room to check on me and tried to awaken me. Then she saw the letter that I had written and it dawned on her what had happened. She started shaking me vigorously and began sobbing. As all this was taking place, I was ‘out of my body’ and looking down at my mother. In vain, I was trying to tell her that I was fine and happy now. But she couldn’t see or hear me. But what surprised me the most was that an old man, who resembled Sai Baba, was standing there. I could clearly see that He was not at all pleased. In fact, He was quite vexed and angry at what I had done. An ambulance was called and my body was taken to the hospital. Since the link between my body and soul was not severed, I could perceive the pain of my body. In the operating theatre of the hospital, my body was laid on a table, while I sat on top of a steel cupboard and gazed down at everyone. But most importantly, Baba had come along and was standing next to the cupboard, very close to me, or my soul. The doctor and his assistants first cleaned out my stomach. Then they used a defibrillator and gave electric shocks on my chest. At that moment, Baba, who was standing next to me, thumped me on my back and commanded, ‘Get in at once.’ I was sucked into my body and slowly woke up. I was kept in the hospital for observation, and in the afternoon, the doctor discharged me. After this terrible experience, things started improving in my life. I and my siblings became well-educated and well-settled in life. But most importantly, we have all become ardent devotees of Baba.”
We are given this body and are responsible for all the happenings, good or bad. We have to undergo the cycle in this life and clear the debt. This should be done in this life only. Otherwise, it will be carried forward to our next life. We cannot escape the cycle of Karma.
(This Leela was narrated by Professor R. Vishkanta in November 2014.)

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