SHIRDI SAI

                                                         In the former Nizam's [Maharaj] dominion, there was a remote village called Pathri. In that village there were a couple named Gangabhavadya and Devagiriamma.When Gangabhavadya and Devagiriamma were living in Pathri village, they were worshipers of Iswara and Parvathi. They had no offspring for a long time. They intensified their prayers. Gangabhavadya used to ply boats near the village for a living. One night, when it was raining heavily, Gangabhavadya left his house to take care of the boats, telling his wife that he would not be returning in the night. After the husband had an early meal and left, Devagiriamma ate and went to bed.

At 9 p.m. there was a knock at the door. Devagiriamma opened the door, wondering if her husband had returned. A very old man entered the house. He pleaded, "It is very cold outside. Please permit me, mother, to stay inside." As a pious woman, she allowed him to stay in the inside verandah and went in after bolting the inner door. She opened the door. The old man said, "I am feeling hungry; give me some food." Finding that there was no food, the woman mixed some flour with curd and gave it to him. Another knock sounded after some time. When she opened the door, the old man said, "My legs are aching, Mother, will you massage them?"

Devagiriamma went inside, sat in the prayer room and prayed, "O Mother! Why are you testing me like this? What should I do? Should I serve him or refuse?"

Going out of the house by the backdoor, she went in search of someone who could be engaged to render this service. No one was available. Again there was a knock by the old man. At the same time, a woman knocked at the backdoor. She said, "It appears you came to my house and sought some help? I was away at the time. Please let me know what service I should render you?"

Feeling happy that Goddess Parvathi herself had [come to her rescue and] sent the woman in response to her prayers, Devagiriamma sent the newcomer to the verandah to serve the old man and closed the door. The old man and the new woman were none other than Parameswara (Shiva) and Parvathi, the Divine couple.

Parameswara told Parvathi, "Fulfill the cherished desires of this lady." Parwathi Iswara replied, "You are Supreme. Please shower your Grace on her Yourself." Iswara [another name for Shiva] said, "I came to test her. You came in answer to her prayers. Hence You must bless her."

There was a knock at the door again. This time Devagiriamma promptly opened the door because of the presence of another woman. Parvathi and Parameswara appeared before her in their divine form. Unable to contain her joy, Devagiriamma fell at their feet. Parvathi then blessed her, "I grant you a son to maintain the lineage and a daughter for kanyadan (a girl to be offered in marraige)." Devagiriamma fell at the feet of Iswara (Shiva). Iswara said, "I am immensely pleased with your devotion. I shall take birth as your third child." When Devagiriamma got up, the Divine couple had vanished. Feeling ecstatic by this experience, Devagiriamma eagerly awaited the return of her husband in the morning to relate to him the whole story.

When the husband came home in the morning she related to him all that had happened during the previous night. The husband said, "Devagiri! What is this fanciful tale! It is all a dream. Parvathi and Parameswara appearing before you and giving darshan! It is pure fantasy!" Gangabhavadya dismissed the whole episode as incredible and fanciful.

As the years passed, Devagiriamma became pregnant and a son was born. A year later a daughter was born. Gangabhavadya was now convinced that the birth of the two children was the result of the blessings conferred by Parvathi and Parameswara. He told his wife, "You had the good fortune (to be blessed by the Divine couple). I did not have that luck."

When Devagiriamma conceived again, Gangabhavadya began to feel an urge to give up hearth and home and go in search of the Divine couple. He announced to his wife that he was leaving for the forest to do penance. The devoted wife that she was, Devagiriamma decided to follow him, though she was in the ninth month of her pregnancy. After proceeding some distance, she developed labor pains. She delivered a boy. Wrapping the babe in a piece of cloth, she left the child by the roadside and followed her husband.

They were grieving over the lack of children. In asnwer to their prayers, a son was born on September 28, 1835. This child was Sai Baba. As Gangabhavadya had developed a feeling of total detachment and renunciation, he decided to retire to a forest regardless of the child. Devagiriamma, who looked upon her husband as God, decided to follow the husband leaving the child.

There was in the same village a Sufi fakir. As he was also childless, he took charge of this child and brought him up in his home. The boy stayed in the fakir's home for four years (1835 to 1839). The fakir passed away in the tide of time. The fakir's wife, who had lavished great affection on the child, was grief-stricken. To add to her worries, the boy was behaving in a troublesome manner. In those days, Hindu-Muslim differences in that area was growing alarmingly. There was considerable bitterness between members of the two communities.

What the boy use to do was to visit a Hindu temple and sing songs in praise of Allah; 'I am God' (Mein Allah ho), 'Allah is the Supreme Lord' (Allah Malik hai). He used to declaim in this manner in the temple. The Hindus used to chastise the boy in various ways for his misbehaviour. Nor was that all. He would enter a mosque and declare, 'Rama is God', 'Shiva is Allah'. His behaviour in singing about Allah in a Hindu temple and about Rama and Shiva in a mosque was a puzzle to the public. Members belonging to both the communities went to the fakir's wife and complained about the boy's behaviour. Unable to deal with this situation the fakir's wife handed over the boy to a high-souled, pious scholar named Gopal Rao Deshmukh, who was also called Venkusa, who was living near her house.

The boy stayed in Venkusa's ashram for 12 years from 1839 to 1851. Venkusa was extremely fond of the boy. In every matter, he used to give priority to the young Baba's views. Seeing this, in course of time, members of the ashram developed envy towards the boy. One night in 1851, the boy left the ashram. He reached Shirdi, a very small village at the time. He stayed there for barely two months and then went about wandering from place to place. After strolling for many years, he reached a place called Dhoopkheda. When he was residing there, the marriage of Chandu Patel's brother's son was celebrated there. Baba joined the marriage party and reached Shirdi again. That was in the year 1858. From that day, till 1918, he did not move out of Shirdi. He remained there for 60 years.

At Shirdi, Baba used to do two notable things. One was to receive money from whomever came to him. He used to ask for dakshina (cash offering). He did not ask for large sums. It was two rupees or five rupees. He would receive the money and give it away immediately in their presence. He kept nothing with himself.

One day a man by name Pradhan came to Baba. He had intended to offer twenty rupees to Baba. In those days, there were no currency notes. Everything was in silver coins; not like the alloy coins of today. In those days, every rupee contained one full tola of silver. Pradhan thought instead of offering so many silver coins, it would be better to offer one gold sovereign to Baba. Baba turned the sovereign this way and that and remarked, "How is it that I have not seen such a coin before?" A person near Baba said, "It is a gold coin." Baba then observed, "I don't want this. Give me the money in rupees." He asked how much the sovereign was worth. At that time it was worth fifteen rupees. Getting back the sovereign, Pradhan gave fifteen rupees to Baba. Immediately Baba remarked, "Pradhan! You have to give me five more rupees!" Pradhan was a judge at the time. Pradhan as well as persons around him wondered why Baba was demanding five more rupees when a sovereign was worth only fifteen rupees.

Noticing Pradhan's hesitation, Baba told him, "First hand over the five rupees and then think about it." Pradhan gave the five rupees. Then Baba observed, "When you set out from your home, how much did you want to offer to Baba? You intended to give twenty rupees. You gave only fifteen. So I was entitled to ask for five more." When Pradhan heard these words he was stupefied. He admitted that Sai Baba was a good judge.

In this manner, Baba was in the habit of collecting money from those who came to him and to give it away to the needy

On September 28, 1918, Baba developed a high temperature. Two days earlier he had collected food by seeking alms in some houses. He took that food and at noon, he expressed his wish to his devotees that he should be taken from the choultry to Bootywada. He hoped to have a quiet time there. In that ward, a Muralidhar temple had been built by a devotee by name Booty. He wanted Baba to install the idol of Krishna in the temple. But Baba was putting off the installation of the idol. He directed Booty and Kakaji to go and take their lunch. Feeling that Baba was better, they went out. Baba had nine rupee coins under his pillow. He took them out and gave them to Lakshmibhai. Then Baba summoned Shyam to come near him. Shyam sat close to Baba. Baba reclined on Shyam's shoulder and passed away.

On September 28, 1918, Baba developed fever. For 17 days thereafter he was quite well. On October 15, Baba was not to be found anywhere. Nana, Kaka, Das, and Lakshmana Rao made a search for him all over the place. There was a small well nearby and they went to see whether he had fallen there. When they returned to Baba's abode, they found him standing near the door. Baba told them, "Where are you searching for me? I am in one place and you search for me elsewhere. I am in all pure hearts. You are searching for me in all polluted places. How can you find me?" He then sat down.

Baba left his body only on October 15. He developed high fever on September 28. He was keeping well for the next 17 days.

After Baba left his body, several controversies arose. Mohammedans came there and claimed that the body belonged to them. The Hindu's claimed that the body belonged to them. Baba used to declare from time to time, "Allah malik! Allah malik!" On account of this, Mohammedans claimed that Baba was a Muslim. At other times, Baba used to say, "Rama malik! Krishna malik!" For this reason the Hindu's claimed he was a Hindu. Because of these rival claims, the body was kept for 36 hours as no decision could be arrived at regarding the manner of disposal of the body.

To prevent clashes between the Hindu's and the Muslims, the Collector, the Police Superintendent and other officials arrived there. They asked all the residents of Shirdi to assemble there. They decided to take the vote of the people to find out how the majority of the local population wanted the last rites to be done for Baba. Everybody favored the Hindu way of disposal of the body. When this decision was arrived at, a pit was being dug in the Booty Mandir. Some persons opposed the digging. The dispute went on and ultimately the Collector and the Police arranged for the samadhi to be consecrated in the Muralidhar temple. The temple is the present samadhi shrine of Baba.