Shri Sai Satcharitra - Chapter 10 - Part I (Continued)

Add as a preferred source on Google

In the last chapter, Baba's mendicancy, and devotees' experiences and other subjects are dealt with. Let the readers now hear, where and how Baba lived, how He slept, and how He taught etc.

Sai Ram. All these leelas of Baba are given here with only one aim and that is to increase our interest in matters spiritual and thus slowly but steadily wean us away from mundane materialistic desires and thus lead us back to our true origin. That is the journey that Hemadpant is talking above. And Sai is helping us by being the helmsman. Even when apparently another human being takes on the role of the Guru, it is Sai who is seated in the heart of each of us, who is using that body as a mere instrument to help us on the journey. Like He is using me as an instrument to bring these spiritual gems up to the surface from the depths of the ocean floor of Satcharitra. Sai Ram.

Baba's Wonderful Bedstead
Let us first see where and how Baba slept, Mr. Nanasaheb Dengale brought, for Sai Baba, a wooden plank, amount 4 cubits in length and only a span in breath, for sleeping upon. Instead of keeping the plank on the floor and then sleeping on it, Baba tied it like a swing to the rafters of the Masjid with old shreds or rags and commenced to sleep upon it. The rags were so thin and worn out that it was a problem how they could bear or support even weight of the plank itself, let alone the weight of Baba. But somehow or other-it was Baba's sheer Leela that the worn out rags did sustain the plank, with the weight of Baba on it. On the four corners of this plank, Baba lighted panatis (earthen lamps), one at each corner, and kept them burning the whole night. It was a sight for the Gods to see Baba sitting or sleeping on this plank! It was a wonder to all, how Baba got up and down the plank. Out of curiosity, many careful observers kept watching the process of mounting and dismounting, but none succeeded. As crowds began to swell so to detect this wonderful feat, Baba one day broke the plank into pieces and threw it away. Baba had all the eight Siddhis (powers) at His command. He never practiced nor craved for them. They came to Him naturally, as a result of His perfection.

Sai Ram. Before we take up the Spiritual Gems from Chapter 11 of Sai Satcharitra, let us discuss some more aspects of a point in Chapter 10. Baba's Wonderful Bed-Stead

Sai Ram. We have seen how Baba suspended the wooden plank using worn out and fragile clothes. It was indeed a wonder how the clothes supported the weight of the plank, let alone that of Baba when He got on to it. We see similar incongruities in our Puranas where Ganesha is seen riding a mouse, Skanda a peacock and Vishnu an Eagle. Actually there is a lot of esoteric significance in these symbols. The mouse, the Peacock and the Eagle are actually empowered by the Gods who ride them. Without the Divine Grace, they can't support even themselves let alone the Gods. Sai also conveyed a similar meaning when he suspended the heavy wooden plank- using flimsy, worn out clothes. The clothes bore the weight of the plank by Sai's grace. Similarly when He lay upon the plank too, it was His will and Grace that supported the plank. Sai Ram.

Sai Ram. Why did Baba allow even this hint of His miraculous powers to be seen? Just to generate curiosity in the onlookers so that they get attracted like bees to the honey in the flowers. So that when they come to Him in search of His powers, He can use that same great mystic power to refine their egos. Sai Ram.

This chapter will be continued in coming weeks. Sai Ram.