Shirdi Diary by Shri G.S.Khaparde - Part 20

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1912 16 January Tuesday
Shirdi

In the morning I got up as usual, prayed and commenced the daily routine with Puranamrit. It is a very celebrated Marathi work on Vedanta. Upasani reads I, Bapusaheb Jog, Bhishma & Rama Maruti listen. It is exceedingly nice and I give explanations whenever necessary. I was able to see Sayin Maharaj go out but was late in going to see him after he returned to Masjid. He not only showed no displeasure but treated me with positive kindness & I sat serving. The Midday Arti was late as Megha is ill & was not ordered to come soon. He did so at last, and by the time we returned and had our meals, it was nearly 4 P.M. Dixit read a little of Ramayana, & then we went to see Sayin Saheb at the Masjid. He did not permit us to sit long & came out himself, and finished his usual stroll in a hurry and ordered us to return to the Wada. We could not understand it but on returning to the Wada learnt that Hari, a servant of Dixit, who felt indisposed the other day, died.

We sent for Upasani who understands medicine but he could not be found. That the man was dead, there could be no doubt about. We did the usual arti in the Wada, & attended the Sheja-Arti. Sayin Maharaj was particularly gracious at the latter and sent out wonderful currents of joy & instruction.

He favoured Rama Maruti similarly. We returned very much pleased and then a little before mid-night, could perform the obsequies of the servant Hari. It was difficult to procure fuel. Bapaji managed it some how & then the body was cremated. The thing would not have been so difficult had Madhavarao Deshpande been here, but he went to Nagar in the afternoon to fetch his wife & children. The funeral took a long time. We could neither have the usual Bhajan of Bhishma ,not the Puran of Dixit.

1912 17 January Wednesday
Shirdi

I got up very early saw Bapusaheb Jog go out to bathe. I finished my prayers in the meantime. Then we went to the Chavadhi for Kakad Arti. Megha was too ill to attend. So Bapusaheb Jog did the arti. Sayin Baba showed his face & smiled most benignly. It is worth while spending years here to see it even once. I was overjoyed & stood gazing like mad. After we returned Narayan Rao’s son Govinda & brother Bhau went by a cart to Kopargaon en route to Hoshanjabad, and I commenced my daily routine. I wrote a few lines & then read Paramamrit with Upasani & Bapusaheb Jog. We saw Sayin Maharaj go out & again after he returned to Masjid. He gave me silent instructions but like a fool I did not understand them. On returning to the Wada, I felt disconsolate & melancholy without cause. Balvant also felt sad & said that he wished to leave Shiradi. I asked him to ask Sayin Baba & then decide. I lay down for a while after meals & then wished to listen to Dixit ’s Ramayan but Sayin Baba sent for him &he had to go. Somehow then we made no progress.

Tahasildarsaheb Prlhad Ambadas of Khandwa today asked for & obtained permission to return. There is Mr Paté of Jalgaon & LIngayat with him. They may go away tomorrow. We saw Sayin Baba during his evening stroll. He was in very good mood. At night there was the usual Bhajan of Bhishma & Dixit ’s Ramayana. During the arti in the wada, I understood the instructions given in the morning & then felt happy.

1912 18 January Thursday
Shirdi

There is much to record today. I got up very early, prayed & finding it yet wanting about an hour to the dawn, I lay down and got up in time to see the sunrise. I, Upasani, Bapusaheb Jog & Bhishma read Paramamrita. Tahasildarsaheb Pralhad Ambadas, Mr Paté & his companion (Lingayat) returned to their places. The latter two got permission just in time to start. We saw Sayin Baba go out & again after he returned to Masjid. He treated me very kindly & while I was serving, he told me two or three tales. He said many people came to take his money. He never resisted but let them take it way. He only noted their names & followed them. When they, got down for their meals, he killed them & brought his money back. The other story was that there was a blind man. He used to live near the Takia here. A man enticed away his wife, & eventually murded the blind man. Four hundred men assembled at the Chavadhi & condemned him. They ordered him to be decapitated. This order was carried out, by the village hangman who did the work out of some motive & not merely as a piece of duty. So the murder in the reincarnation was born as the son of the hangman.

He then commenced another tale. In the meantime a stranger Fakir came & touched Sayin Baba ’s feet. Sayin Baba felt very angry or rather showed that he was so and shook off the Fakir who showed great tenacity & persistence without losing his own equanimity. At last he went out & stood near the compound wall on the outside. Sayin Baba was angry & threw away the arti utensils and the dishes full of food brought by his worshippers. He lifted up Ram Maruti Bwa who declared afterwards that he felt very happy & as if sent off to higher regions. One Bhagya & a villager were also roughly handled by Sain Maharaj. Sitaram brought the arti and we finished the arti in the usual though a somewhat hurried way. Martand son of Mahalapat showed great presence of mind & prevented confusion by directing that the arti should be finished where it was begun. He did so when Sayin Baba moved out of his usual place. Before finishing Sayin Baba resumed his seat & all went much as usual, except that “Udi ” was distributed wholesale & not individually. He was not really angry of course and did the whole thing as a “Lila ”. The whole affair made us late & there was the feast given by Tatya Patil for the death of his father as a part of the obsequies So we did not finish our meals till about 6.30 P.M. It must have been a bit later for after it there was no time to do anything and we went to see the Sayin Maharaj come out for his stroll. He did so as usual & we saluted him as usual. There was the usual Arti in the wada. Megha was too ill to stand up & Sayin Baba foretold his end during the night. We then attended the Chavadhi procession it being the evening for it. I held the morchal as usual, and everything went on smooth. Sitaram did the arti. At night there was the Bhajan of Bhishma & Ramayan of Dixit.

P.S. I forgot to mention above that during the torrent of hard words that Sayin Maharaj poured out today he repeatedly said that he had saved my son Balvant, and then often repeated the phrase “Fakir wished to kill Dadasaheb (meaning me) but I would not permit it.” He mentioned one more name but I can not recall it now.


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