Chapter VIII — Importance of Human Birth; Baba Begging Food; Bayajabai; Dormitory of Trio; Khushalchand
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/sai8.html
Sections
Importance of Human Birth
Hemadpant's preliminary teaching: of the 84 lakhs of species named in Hindu calculation, the human birth is alone equipped with the faculty of knowledge by which God-vision is possible. He summarises: do not despise the body for its impermanence, nor fondle it for its uses — care for it as a traveller cares for a horse on the way home.
Baba Begging His Food
Baba begged food daily in Shirdi from door to door. He carried a Tumrel (tin pot) in one hand and a Zoli (rectangular cloth, in the manner of a fakir) in the other. Liquid alms (soup, vegetables, milk, butter-milk) went into the tin pot; cooked rice, bread and solids into the zoli. His tongue knew no taste — all things were mixed together and eaten without comment.
His begging was irregular: some days a few rounds, on others as late as noon. The collected food was thrown into a `kundi` (earthen pot). Dogs, cats and crows ate freely; he never drove them away. The woman who swept the masjid took ten or twelve pieces of bread to her house, and no one prevented her.
Bayajabai's Service
Tatya Kote Patil's mother, Bayajabai, used to go every noon into the jungle with a basket of bread and vegetables on her head, walking koss after koss in search of Baba. She would find him sitting in meditation, place a leaf before him, spread the food, and feed him forcibly. This went on for years. Baba never forgot her service. When in later years Baba began to live in the village and take his food in the masjid, her wandering ended.
Baba would often say to her and her son:
"Fakir (Mendicancy) was the real Lordship, as it was everlasting; and the so-called Lordship (riches) was transient."
The Dormitory of the Three
For fourteen years, Baba, Tatya Kote Patil, and Bhagat Mhalsapati slept side by side in the Masjid, heads toward east, west, and north respectively, with feet touching at the centre. They lay chatting until late in the night; if any one began to snore, the others woke him. If Tatya snored, Baba shook him and pressed his head; if Mhalsapati, Baba hugged him, stroked his legs, and kneaded his back. Tatya left his parents at home to sleep beside Baba in the Masjid; after his father's death he returned to sleep in his own home.
Khushalchand of Rahata
Baba loved Ganpat Kote Patil of Shirdi. He equally loved Chandrabhanshet Marwadi of Rahata; after the Shet's passing, his nephew Khushalchand inherited the affection. Baba went to Rahata in a bullock cart or tanga with intimate friends; the village received him at the gate with band and music, and Khushalchand seated him for a meal at home.
Shirdi lies midway between Rahata (south) and Nimgaon (north), and Baba never went beyond these places during his lifetime. He never saw a railway train nor travelled by one, but knew exactly the arrival and departure times of all trains. Devotees who followed his instructions on when to depart fared well; those who disregarded them suffered mishaps.
Verbatim Sai Baba quotes documented in this chapter
- (Beg-greeting at the door of a house) "Oh Lassie, give Me a piece of bread."
- (To Bayajabai and Tatya) "Fakir (Mendicancy) was the real Lordship, as it was everlasting; and the so-called Lordship (riches) was transient."