Children's stories (Chapter 2 & 3)

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Chapter - 2
Topic:
1) Chand Patil's Mare
Chand Patil's Mare Second Darshan (Appeal
Mr. Chand Patil - one of the residents of the village Dhoop Gaon, on his way to Aurangabad lost his mare. He searched for his mare for a long time but all his efforts were futile. During the search, after walking for about 4 miles, he saw a Fakir sitting under the mango tree, wearing a long robe, a cap and carrying a small stick under his arm. That Fakir was going to kindle the Chillum.
When the Fakir saw Chand Patil passing through, he called him and said, "Smoke Chillum and rest for a while/' Chand Patil replied that he had lost his favourite mare. Then the Fakir ordered him to search the mare near the drain and miraculously he found the mare there. He understood that the Fakir is not an ordinary man, but a saint. He took the mare to the saint. At that time the Fakir was preparing to smoke the Chillum. Only two things were left for the preparation of Chillum. One was the fire for the Chillum and the second was the water for the cloth to be tied around the
Chillum while smoking. The Fakir took his prong and thrust it into the ground and when he pulled it outside, there was a burning coal that came outside along with it which was put on the Chillum. The Fakir again struck the ground with force by his Satka (prong), and the next moment water started oozing from the ground with which he wet the cloth and wrapped it around the Chillum. After preparing the Chillum, Baba smoked it and offered to Chand Patil also. On witnessing all this, Chand Patil was surprised. He invited Baba to his house. Next day, the Fakir went to his house and stayed there for some time. Shri Chand Patil was an officer in the village Dhoop Gaon. His wife's nephew's marriage was fixed with a girl of the village Shirdi and the marriage party was to leave from Dhoop Gaon to Shirdi. Chand Patil gave the invitation to the Fakir also, which he accepted. Bullock carts decorated with paper buntings and flowers were set for Shirdi. The marriage party consisted of the village children, relatives of Chand Patil, many other people and the Fakir. The bells tied around the neck of the bullocks made jingling sounds. The Fakir, who was sitting in the bullock cart, was approaching the native place of his Guru. When the marriage party reached Shirdi, it halted near the Khandoba (Shri Shiva) temple in Mhalsapati's farm. In front of the Khandoba temple all the bullock carts were untied. Members of the marriage party descended one by one. Pandit Mhalsapati also saw the Fakir who wanted
to enter the Khandoba temple, but he was not allowed to do that by the Pandit who told him that a Muslim cannot enter a Hindu temple. He asked Him to go to Takiya or The Chavadi. The saint looked at him and answered calmly "Being a Baniya, how could you marry a lady of a herdsman community?" Hearing this Mhalsapati was scared, because very few people knew about this secret. He understood that this Fakir is certainly not an ordinary person. He then requested Baba to enter the temple by addressing Him as "Sai". After the marriage ceremony, Shri Chand Patil returned to Dhoop Gaon, but Baba stayed back in Shirdi forever.
Bow to sri sai-peace be to all

Chapter 3
Topic:
1) Baba’s Guru
Baba's Guru
Sri Sai Baba's staunch devotees Shri Ganpat Rao Dattatray Sahasrabude (Dasganu) and Shri B.V. Narsimha Swami went to the village of Selu and collected important information in this context. In 1901, Dasganu Maharaj went to Selu and gave the following information:-
'The distance between Selu and Pathardi is about 15 miles. Shri Gopal Rao Deshmukh alias Venkunsha - a resident of Selu was a great saint. He was a staunch devotee of God Venkatesh. He was the governor in the military of the Peshwas of Jantoor and used to look after their work. On behalf of the Peshwas, he used to fight against Islami Nizam as he was against his policies. In Marathwada, after Shri Shivaji (from 1627 to 1680) Peshwas used to look after the administrative work. On 14th January 1761, in the war of Panipat, Marathvada's army was defeated by the Afgan army. Ahmad Shah Durrani was the leader of the Afgan army at that time.
Gopal Rao had all the qualities of a good army leader that is why the Peshwa's had accorded him the title of 'Deshmukh'. Gopal Rao Deshmukh used to guard Jantoor. Whereas, on one hand, it was a common experience that the commanders of other armies ill-treated people, Gopal Rao, on the other hand, always had the people around him who showered their love on Gopal Rao. He was famous for his kindness everywhere. Once, Gopal Rao went to North India for pilgrimage and on the way he stopped at Ahmedabad to pay his respects at the Fakir Suvag Shah's Dargah. The moment he entered the Dargah, he started crying with happiness and he started chanting the name of God. At that very moment Heaven is believed to have roared, "Gopal Rao! You were the same saint of Kashi - Saint Ramanand in your previous birth. Now you are in Grahastha Ashram (family life). Your disciple Kabir is about to come to you. He has already taken birth in a Fakir's house' After returning home, Gopal Rao found that his son Lakshman had died. Being a saint, he was not filled with remorse. After a few days, a lady wearing green bangles came to Gopal Rao from the village of Pathardi Gaon. She was carrying her five-year old son on her shoulder. His clothes were torn and he had a piece of bread stuffed in his mouth. Her husband had died a few days ago. Due to her husband's last wish, she had come to meet Gopal Rao. At first, Gopal Rao refused to give her shelter, but then, he thought of the incident at Suvag Shah's Dargah. He decided to give shelter to this
lady in his house. He was sure that the child is none other than Kabir. In a short period, they became very close to each other. Gopal Rao was very happy seeing the child's devotion towards God and started motivating him day and night to follow the path of spirituality. After a few days, the child's mother died. At that time the child was about 12 years of age.
Seeing the intense relationship between the Guru and the disciple, the other students started feeling jealous. They hatched a conspiracy to kill the Muslim child but Gopal Rao got to know about this conspiracy well in advance. He took the boy with him and went to the nearby forest. They stayed there for about 4 months. During these four months (August to November) other students found them resting under a tree. They picked up a brick and threw it towards the boy, but the brick could not even reach near him. They again threw the brick towards the boy but it hurt Gopal Rao Deshmukh on his head and he started bleeding. The child tied a piece of cloth around his Guru's head and started crying. He said, "Please leave me, because all this has happened because of me." But Gopal Rao did not listen to him and said, "My end is approaching. Tomorrow evening at 4 p.m., I will depart my soul with my own wish. I want to give all my powers to you." At that very moment, he took out 3 bowls of milk from a black cow and told the boy to drink that milk. Like this he gave all his powers to this boy. The boy who had thrown the brick died on the spot. All other students, feeling sorry, gathered around the Guru and asked him to spare their friend's life. But the Guru replied that, "I have given all my powers to this boy, now you pray to this boy/' The boy took a pinch of dust from his Guru's feet and applied it on the dead boy's forehead. The dead boy arose again and asked his Guru to forgive him. The next day the boy came to Selu with Gopal Rao, where Naamsmaran and Pooja Archana took place. Gopal Rao gave the cloth tied on his head to him and asked him to walk towards the southern banks of the Godavari river. On reaching there, he gave up his body like King Parikshit had done.
After the guru gave up his body, the boy went to the western banks of the Godavari river as instructed by his Guru and thereafter he reached Shirdi on foot.
Bow to Sri Sai –Peace be to all