Shri Sai
Satcharitra
Chapter I
Salutations -- The Story of Grinding Wheat and Its Philosophical
Significance.
According to the ancient and revered custom, Hemadpant begins the
work, Sai Satcharitra, with various salutations.
First, he makes obeisance to the God Ganesha to remove all
obstacles and make the work a success and says that Shri Sai is the God
Ganesha.
Then, to the Goddess Saraswati to inspire him to write out the
work and says that Shri Sai is one with this Goddess and that He is Himself
singing His own life.
Then, to the Gods; Brahma, Vishnu and Shankar - the Creating,
Preserving and Destroying Deities respectively; and says that Sainath is one
with them and He as the great Teacher, will carry us across the River of Wordly
Existence.
Then, to his tutelary Deity Narayan Adinath who manifested himself
in Konkan - the land reclaimed by Parashurama, (Rama in the Hindi version) from
the sea; and to the Adi (Original) Purusha of the family.
Then, to the Bharadwaja Muni, into whose gotra (clan) he was born
and also to various Rishis, Yagyavalakya, Bhrigu, Parashara, Narad, Vedavyasa,
Sanak, Sanandan, Sanatkumar, Shuka. Shounak, Vishwamitra, Vasistha, Valmiki,
Vamadeva, Jaimini, Vaishampayan, Nava Yogindra etc,
and also modern Saints such as Nivritti, Jnanadev, Sopan, Muktabai, Janardan,
Ekanath, Namdev, Tukaram, Kanha, and Narahari etc.
Then, to his grandfather Sadashiv, father Raghunath, his mother,
who left him in his infancy, to his paternal aunt, who brought him up, and to
his loving elder brother.
Then, to the readers and prays them to give their whole and
undivided attention to his work.
And lastly, to his Guru Shri Sainath - an Incarnation of Shri
Dattatreya, Who is his sole Refuge and Who will make him realize that Brahman
is the Reality and the world an illusion; and incidentally, to all the Beings
in whom the Lord God dwells.
After describing in
brief the various modes of devotion according to Parashara, Vyasa and
Shandilya etc., the author goes on to relate the following story:
"It was sometime after 1910 A.D.
that I went, one fine morning, to the Masjid in Shirdi for getting a darshan of
Sai Baba. I was wonder-struck to see the following phenomenon. After washing
His mouth and face, Sai Baba began to make preparations for grinding wheat. He
spread a sack on the floor;
and thereon set a hand-mill. He took some quantity of wheat in a
winnowing fan, and then drawing up the sleeves of His Kafni (robe);
and taking hold of the peg of the hand-mill, started grinding the wheat
by putting a few handfuls of wheat in the upper opening of the mill and rotoated it.
I thought ‘What business Baba had with the grinding of wheat, when
He possessed nothing and stored nothing, and as He lived on alms!’ Some people
who had come there thought likewise, but none had the courage to ask baba what
He was doing. Immediately, this news of Baba's grinding wheat spread into the
village, and at once men
and women ran to the Masjid and flocked there to see Baba's act. Four bold
women, fro
m the crowd, forced their way up and pushing Baba aside, took forcibly
the peg or handle into their hands, and, singing Baba's Leelas, started
grinding. At first Baba
was enraged, but on seeing the women's love and devotion, He was much pleased
and began to smile. While they were grinding, they began to think that Baba had
no house, no property, no children, none to look after, and He lived on alms,
He did not require any wheat-flour for making bread or roti, what will He do
with this big quantity of flour? Perhaps as Baba is very kind, He will
distribute the flour amongst us. Thinking in this way while singing, they
finished the grinding and after putting the hand-mill aside, they divided the
flour into four portions and began to remove them one per head. Baba, Who was
calm and quiet up till now, got wild and started abusing them saying,
"Ladies, are you gone mad? Whose father's property are you looting away?
Have I borrowed any wheat from you, so that you can safely take the flour? Now
please do this. Take the flour and throw it on the village border limits."
On hearing this, the women felt abashed and whispering amongst themselves, went
away to the outskirts of the village and spread the flour as directed by Baba.
I asked the Shirdi people - "What was this that Baba did?"
They replied that as the Cholera Epidemic was spreading in the village and this
was Baba's remedy against the same; it was not wheat that was ground but the
Cholera itself was ground to pieces and pushed out of the village. From this
time onward, the Cholera Epidemic subsided and the people of the village were
happy. I was much pleased to know all this; but
at the same time my
curiosity was also aroused. I began to ask myself - What earthly connection was
there between wheat flour and Cholera? What was the casual relation
between the two? and how to reconcile them? The incident seems to be
inexplicable. I should write something on this and sing to my heart's content
Baba's sweet Leelas. Thinking in this way about this Leela, my heart was filled
with joy and I was thus inspired to write Baba's Life - The Satcharita.
And as we know, with Baba's grace and blessing this work was
successfully accomplished.
Philosophical Significance of Grinding
Apart from the meaning which the people of Shirdi put on this incident
of grinding wheat, there is, we think, a philosophical significance too. Sai
Baba lived in Shirdi for about sixty years and during this long period, He did
the business of grinding almost every day - not, however, the wheat alone; but
the sins, the mental and physical afflications and
the miseries of His innumerable devotees. The two stones of His mill consisted
of Karma and Bhakti, the former being the lower and the latter the upper one.
The handle with which Baba worked the mill consisted of Jnana. It was the firm
conviction of Baba that Knowledge or Self-realization is not possible, unless
there is the prior act of grinding of all our impulses, desires, sins; and of
the three gunas,
viz. Sattva, Raja and Tama; and the Ahamkara, which is so subtle and therefore
so difficult to be got rid of.
This reminds us of a similar story of Kabir who seeing a woman
grinding corn said to his Guru, Nipathiranjana, "I am weeping because I
feel the agony of being crushed in this wheel of wordly existence
like the corn in the hand-mill." Nipathiranjana replied, "Do not be
afraid; hold fast to the handle of knowledge of this mill, as I do, and do not
wander far away from the same but turn inward to the Centre, and you are sure
to be saved."
Bow to Shri Sai -- Peace be to all