Chapter VI — Rama-Navami Festival and Masjid Repairs
Source: Shri Sai Satcharitra, trans. Gunaji
Marathi original: Sai Satcharita (archive.org scan) · Devotee testimonies: Narasimha Swami 1936 (Internet Archive) · Full bibliography: /sources.html
URL: https://www.saibaba.org/satcharitra/sai6.html
Sections
On the Touch of the Guru's Hand
Hemadpant opens the chapter with a meditation on the Sadguru. He cites Baba's recurring assurance to devotees:
"There will never be any dearth or scarcity, regarding food and clothes, in any devotees' homes. It is My special characteristic, that I always look to, and provide, for the welfare of those devotees, who worship Me whole-heartedly with their minds ever fixed on Me. Lord Krishna has also said the same in the Gita. Therefore, strive not much for food and clothes. If you want anything, beg of the Lord, leave worldly honours, try to get Lord's grace and blessings, and be honored in His Court."
Origin of the Rama-Navami Festival (1897)
Mr. Gopalrao Gund, a Circle Inspector at Kopergaon and a devotee of Baba, had three wives but no issue. After a son was born to him by Baba's blessing, he proposed celebrating an Urus (fair) in 1897. He consulted Tatya Patil, Dada Kote Patil, and Madhavrao Deshpande (Shama). They obtained Baba's permission. The Collector's sanction was at first refused (the village Kulkarni reported against), but finally granted. Baba chose Rama-Navami day for the fair — Hemadpant suggests with the deliberate end of unifying the Hindu and Muslim communities through a single shared festival.
Water and Flags
Shirdi had a scarcity of water. One well dried up; the second was brackish. Baba turned the brackish water of the second well sweet by throwing flowers into it. Tatya Patil arranged Moats (leather sacks) at a distant well for additional supply.
Damu Anna Kasar of Ahmednagar — also blessed by Baba with sons after long childlessness — was prevailed upon by Gund to make a simple flag for the procession. Nanasaheb Nimonkar supplied a second, embroidered flag. Both flags were carried in procession and fixed at the two corners of the Masjid (Dwarkamai). The practice continues.
The Sandal Procession
The idea of a `Sandal` procession in honour of Muslim saints was begun by Mr. Amir Shakkar Dalal, a Muslim devotee from Korhla. Sandal paste and scrapings were carried in thalis with burning incense through the village to the accompaniment of band and music, then thrown on the `Nimbar` (niche) and walls of the Masjid. For the first three years Amir Shakkar managed it; after that, his wife. The flag procession (Hindu) and the sandal procession (Muslim) went side by side.
Internal Management — Radha-Krishna Mai
The outward management of the fair was handled by Tatya Kote Patil; the internal — accommodation, cooking, cleaning — by a female devotee, Radha-Krishna Mai. She washed, cleaned and whitewashed the entire Masjid each year during the alternate nights when Baba slept at the Chavadi, removing everything including the Dhuni, scrubbing, then replacing each item. Feeding of the poor on a grand scale was prepared in her lodging.
Transformation into the Rama-Navami Festival (1912)
In 1912 the devotee Krishnarao Jageshwar Bhisma (author of the pamphlet Sai Sagunopasana) came for the fair with Dadasaheb Khaparde of Amraoti. While in the Dixit Wada he suggested to Laxmanrao (Kaka Mahajani) that since the Urus already fell on Rama-Navami day, the actual Rama-Navami festival (birth of Shri Rama) could be celebrated there too. The difficulty of finding a Haridas was solved by Bhisma himself, whose `Rama Akhyan` (composition on Rama's birth) was ready; he would perform the kirtan and Mahajani would play the harmonium. Radha-Krishna Mai prepared `Sunthavada` (ginger-powder and sugar) as Prasad.
Baba's permission was obtained. The Masjid was decorated, a cradle from Radha-Krishna Mai placed before Baba's seat, the kirtan begun. As the kirtan closed and shouts of "Victory to Rama" went up with red Gulal powder thrown, some of the powder entered Baba's eyes. He grew angry and began to abuse and scold loudly. People fled. The intimate devotees took this as a sign of blessing — Baba enacting Rama's anger at the demons of egoism. When Mahajani went to take the cradle down, Baba stopped him: "The festival is not yet finished." A second day's kirtan and Gopal-Kala ceremony (breaking an earthen pot of parched rice and curds) were performed before Baba allowed the cradle to be removed.
From 1913 onwards the items expanded: Radha-Krishna Mai started a `Nama-Saptah` (continuous singing of God's name for seven days from the 1st of Chaitra). From 1914 Baba permanently entrusted the kirtan duty to Das Ganu Maharaj.
By later years the festival drew up to 75,000 people from the original 5,000–7,000. Hindus and Muslims worked together in both processions without quarrel.
Repairs to the Masjid
Gopal Gund had also collected stones for repairs but the work was eventually assigned by Baba to Nanasaheb Chandorkar, and the pavement to Kakasaheb Dixit. The pavement was completed in one night; Baba then accepted a small Gadi for his seat instead of the sack-cloth he had used until then.
In 1911 the Sabha-Mandap (courtyard) was completed. Kakasaheb Dixit arranged iron posts and trusses for a roof over the open space in front of the Masjid. Devotees fixed the posts at night; in the morning Baba uprooted them all and threw them out.
At one moment Baba became greatly excited: with one hand he caught hold of a pole and began to shake and uproot it; with the other hand he seized Tatya Patil by the neck. He took Tatya's pheta, set fire to it with a match, and threw it burning into a pit. His eyes flashed like burning embers. He pulled out a rupee from his pocket and threw it down as if making an offering. Bhagoji Shinde and Madhavrao tried to intervene and were pushed off (Madhavrao pelted with brick pieces). Then, suddenly calm, Baba sent for a shopkeeper, got an embroidered pheta, and tied it on Tatya's head as if conferring a special honour.
Hemadpant notes: Baba was sometimes very calm, sometimes (with or without pretext) suddenly enraged, and the meaning of his outbursts was not always clear.
Verbatim Sai Baba quotes documented in this chapter
- "There will never be any dearth or scarcity, regarding food and clothes, in any devotees' homes. It is My special characteristic, that I always look to, and provide, for the welfare of those devotees, who worship Me whole-heartedly with their minds ever fixed on Me."
- "If you want anything, beg of the Lord, leave worldly honours, try to get Lord's grace and blessings, and be honored in His Court."
- (To Mahajani during the festival) "The festival is not yet finished."