Chapter 7 - Historical Commentary - a podcast by Sai Babas Devotee Speaks

Vinny Ma's Commentary

Bhagoji Shinde's seva

In chapter seven, Baba puts His hand in the raging Dhunimai and pulls out the blacksmith's child who inadvertently fell into the furnace. The child was held at the mother's waist while she was working the bellows. Upon hearing her husband call, she hurriedly turned around and the child slipped and fell in. Baba to cut the karmic effects of the child on Himself and burnt His hand. However, when He cooked for the devotees and used His bare hand to stir the boiling Meetha chawal around, there was not a trace of scalding on His arms. Bhagoji Shinde was given the honor of massaging it with Ghee and placing Naglee, a type of betel leaf on it and bandaging it daily. Right from biblical times, people with leprosy have been treated like the scourge of society. Although it is a disease like tuberculosis, often they are spat upon and even lynched and stoned to death. Even today, people are afraid to touch a person with leprosy. But worst of all, they are called lepers, and usually confined to small carts and have to beg for a livelihood.

Bhagoji Shinde has fascinated me since I was young and I kept wondering, why did Baba have him as a constant companion when he suffered from a permanent disease like leprosy called Black leprosy? Unfortunately, very little is known about him and his family. The elder brother, Raguji says once Bhagoji was suffering from high fever and was at death's door. Baba came to our home. He branded Bhagoji with a hot iron rod on his back and temples and he recovered soon thereafter. It is said that once Baba asked Bhagoji to ask for a boon of being cured of his leprosy. However, Bhagoji said "I'm not concerned about my physical appearance or my disease, but I would like You to grant me this wish which is that I be allowed to be with You at all times and I be allowed to come to the Dwarkamai whenever I want to. And Baba granted him this wish.

Thus, Bhagoji was the first person to enter the Dwarkamai early in the morning, when Baba sat in front of Dhunimai and massage His burnt hand. After doing His Seva, he would prepare Baba's Chillum for Him, and they would smoke it together. And only after Bhagoji left were the other devotees be allowed to come up. This Seva he did without fail until 1918.

Babuji had the good fortune of holding the ornamental umbrella of Baba when He went to Lendibaug. Thus Baba immortalized him because he is seen in the photograph standing behind Baba holding the umbrella. And when the devotee sees that photo years later, they will remember him. There are many lessons that can be learned from the life of this remarkable devotee. Bhagoji had transcended body consciousness. He was the least concerned about how he looked. He had lost most of the fingers of his hands and also a part of the nose, and the nose is a prominent feature in the face. Although his body oozed pus and blood that was foul smelling, he was not concerned about the snears or the disgusted looks that the others gave him. Nor did the unkind words of people have an effect on them. This is the state of complete Sitpragnaya, equanimity. He was determined to do Seva for the Sadhguru come what may and he persevered. Never once did he fail to come to massage Baba's burnt hand regardless of the bitter cold or the torrential rains. This is the Drira Buddhi.

In The Navidya Bhakti, Bhagoji is an apt example of Dasya or doing all kinds of Seva for the Sadguru. Bhagoji had surrendered totally to his Sadguru's feet and thus he was able to soak up Baba's divine energy by being in His presence and also being able to touch Him and Baba transferred His divine energy to Bhagoji Shinde's very soul.

Khandana Mandana yoga

This is an ancient practice usually performed by Aghoris where the practitioner cuts his limbs with a cleaver and throws them in a roaring fire for about 12 hours, and these limbs are regenerated and good as new. This practice is not advocated for any devotee to do physically. However, a devotee can do it mentally. That is, same concepts are applied to the mind, one is able to create and recreate a completely new personality of himself. Thus, the false personality, which comes from assumptions, judgments, desires, lust, and greed begins to deconstruct themselves. Once we begin the process of mental Khandana or cutting off the unwanted parts and throwing them into Dhunimai then the false personality is deconstructed. Then begins the process of Mandana or reconstruction of a whole new personality of ourselves. So if you really want to understand who you are, and you want to dream, desire and live your life to the fullest, you need to do the process of mental Khandana Mandana Yoga. The question is, how do we do it? Find a spot facing east or sit in front of Baba's picture or idle. Sit down, close your eyes. Let your memories, dreams or thoughts fade away. Breathe in and out steadily. Then ask Baba for guidance. Slowly your life will begin the process of deconstructing your false personality and creating a whole new one.

Dhauti or the process self cleansing

Baba regurgitated His intestines, washed it and swallowed it. From this we can learn to regurgitate our vicious tendencies, jealousy, backbiting and malice and do the internal cleansing process of ourselves so we can become better devotees of Baba. The Charita is a guide for us in this process. Even if we take one pearl at a time, like not to slander and inculcate it in our lives, it would be great and we would become better devotees.

Leelas- Baba takes the illness of His devotees on Himself

In 1958, Baba initiated Kadam to chant His mantra. The mantra was Om Hreem Shreem Sai Om. This is a Beej and Brahma mantra, and he chanted it a million of times. Kadam states at Poona, I started chanting my mantra continuously day and night. This was followed by a lot of physical problems like palpitation and constriction of the chest. I got myself examined by a cardiologist who did the full cardiology workup and numerous tests but every single test came back normal. Finally, the doctor said, your problem is possibly psychological. Then I told him everything. He rung his hands and said, this is inexplicable. Then all the symptoms suddenly subsided and I felt calm. And again, I started my rigorous chanting. My wife Mai got severe cramps in both her legs and the pain was unbearable. So I got her examined by Dr. Chaudary, an orthopedic surgeon. He informed us that surgery would be required, and her right foot would be an inch shorter than her left foot. That night, Baba appeared in my dream and stood at the foot of the bed. He lifted His Kafni up to His knees, and I could clearly see that both His feet were swollen. When Mai got up the next morning, her pain had disappeared completely. This Leela was taken from Sai Prasad magazine of 1998 Deepavali issue.

The compassionate Baba

The sky is overcast, the clouds will burst and pour forth rain and the skies will clear. fear? Said Baba to Lakshmibari Khaparde when her son Balwant suffered from bubonic plague. Then Baba lifted His Kafni and showed the buboes that He had taken upon himself.

This is a similar Leela. Deena Ben Elbia, a Parsi lady and her family were devoted to Baba. Some years ago her small children contracted an extremely virulent form of measles. The two younger children were infected. Now, all three of her children were extremely ill. The fever was dangerously high and she was at her wit's end. One afternoon, Dina Ben was seated at the bedside praying fervently to Baba and begging Him for their recovery. Suddenly, she was dazzled by a brilliant light and in the light, she saw Baba. In a soothing compassionate voice, he said,"Do not worry. Your children will be alright soon."

It was then that she could see Him clearly and was stunned by what she saw. Baba revealed His body and his whole body was covered with a malignant rash of measles. That evening, the fever subsided and soon the children recovered fully. After this miracle, Dina Ben's faith increased by leaps and bounds. This Leela is taken from the spiritual symphony of Shri Samartha of Shirdi.

The foot of Baba's idol breaks and Megha is cured

One bleak winter evening, Megha Kharkhare developed a high fever with chills and rivals. She covered herself and tried to sleep but sleep had forsaken her. It was her habit to apply Udi every night to her forehead and her body and then sleep. She got up and did this routine and chanting Baba's Name went to sleep. The next morning she still had fever and it failed to come down the entire day. Her family was persistently asking her to be checked by a doctor. She had more faith in Baba's Udi than any doctor on Earth. Finally, she gave in to their wishes, and she got her checkup done and she agreed to take the medicines. She took the Udi first followed by the medicines. However, the fever raged on relentlessly. At about 9pm she had excruciating pain in her left leg. She wanted a drink of some water as she was extremely thirsty, but she could not get out of bed and didn't want to wake anybody. So she just went back to sleep. After some time, the pain became unbearable. So she tried to get up and have a drink of water. As soon as she placed her foot on the floor, she couldn't bear any weight on it. Then finally, she slept soundly.

The next morning she woke up feeling better. She wasn't feverish, nor was her foot hurting. her granddaughter came running to her screaming, "Granny, look at what happened to Baba's foot. Slowly she got out of bed and went to the room where Baba's idol was kept. The left foot of the idol had broken at the knee. Megha had recovered from her illness, and Baba in His compassion had taken her illness on Himself. Silently she prayed to the idol for the last time, thanking Him for His kindness. Then she placed the broken idol in a bag and immersed it in a well in her yard. Baba, the omnipresent and Omniscient, takes the Prarabha of His devotees on Himself. This Leela is taken from Sai Prasad magazine 1993 Deepavali issue.

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