Shri Sai Satcharitra · Chapter 24

TL;DRChapter 24 is the Satcharitra's "humour" chapter and, in Hemadpant's hands, its most economical statement of a serious teaching: nothing should be enjoyed without first being offered to the Guru.

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Editor’s note

Chapter 24 is the Satcharitra's "humour" chapter and, in Hemadpant's hands, its most economical statement of a serious teaching: nothing should be enjoyed without first being offered to the Guru. The opening episode is autobiographical — gram-seeds rolling out of Hemadpant's own coat-sleeve at the masjid on a Sunday bazar day, and Baba's gentle accusation: "Do you remember Me before eating?" Hemadpant follows this with the canonical parallel from the Bhagavata: the boy Sudama eating grams alone in the forest while pretending to Krishna that he was shivering with cold — and the long poverty Sudama bore as consequence. The chapter closes with the Anna Chinchanikar / Mavsibai dispute, in which Baba lovingly disarms an outraged rebuke ("what harm is there, when the mother is kissed?"), and a darker postscript: the same Mavsibai's vigorous abdominal kneading provoked Baba into pressing a Satka into his own belly until the devotees feared rupture — the teaching that bhaktas must never interfere with how another serves the Guru. For modern readers Chapter 24 is the canonical Satcharitra source for the practice of inner offering before any sense-enjoyment, and for the principle that the Guru himself, not the watchers, determines the worth of devotional service.

Chapter XXIV — Baba's Wit and Humour: the Chana Leela, Sudama, Anna vs. Mavsibai

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/sai24.html

Sections

Preliminary

Hemadpant warns against egoism: even saying "we shall state such-and-such in the next chapter" can be a form of ego. Only by surrendering ego at the Sadguru's feet does the undertaking succeed. By worshipping Baba, devotees attain both worldly and spiritual ends and are fixed in their true Nature.

The Chana Leela — Grams in Hemadpant's Sleeve

A Sunday at Shirdi: market day. The masjid was crowded to suffocation. Hemadpant sat in front of Baba shampooing his legs and muttering God's name. Shama (on Baba's left), Vamanrao (right), Shriman Booty, Kakasaheb Dixit and others were present.

Shama laughed: "See that some grains seem to have stuck to the sleeve of your coat." When Hemadpant straightened his left fore-arm, some grains of gram came rolling down — to everyone's surprise. None could explain how they had got there.

Baba said:

"This fellow (Annasaheb) has got the bad habit of eating alone. Today is a bazar-day and he was here chewing grams. I know his habit and these grams are a proof of it. What wonder is there in this matter?"

Hemadpant protested: he had not gone to the bazar; he never ate alone. Baba's reply was the chapter's teaching:

"It is true that you give to the persons present; but if none be near-by, what could you or I do? But do you remember Me before eating? Am I not always with you? Then do you offer Me anything before you eat?"

Moral

Hemadpant's gloss: before the senses, mind, and intellect enjoy their objects, they should remember the Guru — this remembrance is itself a form of offering. All vrittis (thoughts) of desire, anger, and avarice should first be directed to the Guru. The question "is this object fit to be enjoyed?" will arise naturally; what is unfit will be shunned; vicious habits will disappear; pure knowledge will sprout. There is no difference between Guru and God; one who sees a difference sees God nowhere. When Baba's form is fixed before the mental vision, hunger, thirst, and the consciousness of worldly pleasures disappear.

Sudama's Story

The same teaching as a Bhagavata parallel. Sri Krishna, Balarama, and a co-student Sudama lived in the ashram of their Guru Sandipani. Once the three were sent to the forest for fuel; Sandipani's wife gave Sudama some grams to share with the brothers.

In the forest Krishna said: "Dada, I want water; I am thirsty." Sudama replied: "No water on an empty stomach; let us rest a while." He did not mention the grams. As Krishna lay on Sudama's lap and pretended to snore, Sudama took out the grams and began to eat.

Krishna suddenly asked: "Dada, what are you eating? Where is the sound coming from?" Sudama lied: "What is there to eat? I am shivering with cold and my teeth are chattering. I can't even repeat distinctly Vishnu-Sahastra-Nama."

Krishna, omniscient, said: "I just dreamt a dream, in which I saw a man eating things of another, and when asked about this, he said: 'What earth should he eat?' The other man said: 'Let it be so.' Dada, this is only a dream. I know that you won't eat anything without Me; under the influence of the dream I asked you what you were eating."

The consequence: had Sudama known Krishna's omniscience, he would not have acted so. He passed his later life in utter poverty. When at last he offered Krishna a handful of parched rice, earned by his wife's own labour, Krishna was pleased and gave him a golden city.

The Shruti's lesson is the same: offer first to God; enjoy only what God has renounced. Baba's grams-in-the-sleeve was the same lesson, told humorously.

Anna Chinchanikar vs. Mavsibai

Damodar Ghanashyama Babare alias Anna Chinchanikar was simple, rough, straightforward, cash-only in all dealings; outwardly harsh but good-natured and guileless. Baba loved him.

One noon he was standing prone, shampooing Baba's left arm (which rested on the kathada railing). On the right side an elderly widow Venubai Koujalgi — whom Baba called mother and the others called Mavsibai — was kneading Baba's abdomen with both hands so forcibly that Baba moved side to side. Mavsibai's face moved up and down with her strokes; once it came close to Anna's.

Witty by disposition, she remarked: "Oh, this Anna is a lewd fellow, he wants to kiss me. Even being so old with grey hair he feels no shame in kissing me."

Anna pulled up his sleeves: "You say that I am an old bad fellow, am I quite a fool? It is you that have picked up a quarrel."

Baba — loving both equally — said softly:

"Oh Anna, why are you unnecessarily raising this hue and cry? I do not understand what harm or impropriety is there, when the mother is kissed?"

Both were satisfied; all the bystanders laughed.

Baba's Dependency on Bhaktas — the Satka Episode

Baba allowed each devotee to serve him in their own way and did not tolerate interference. On another occasion when Mavsibai was kneading Baba's abdomen with her usual force, other devotees grew nervous and said: "Oh mother, be more considerate; you will break Baba's arteries and nerves."

Baba sprang from his seat and dashed his Satka on the ground; his eyes became red like live charcoal. None dared face him. He took the two-or-three-foot Satka, pressed one end into the hollow of his abdomen, fixed the other to a post, and began pressing his abdomen against it — the Satka appearing to disappear into him. The devotees stood dumb with fear that a rupture was imminent. Baba endured this for the sake of his bhakta. Fortunately his rage soon cooled; he set down the Satka and resumed his seat.

From this time, the devotees learned never to meddle with how another served Baba. Baba alone was the judge of the merit and worth of the service offered to him.

Verbatim Sai Baba quotes documented in this chapter

(To the company about Hemadpant) "This fellow (Annasaheb) has got the bad habit of eating alone. Today is a bazar-day and he was here chewing grams. I know his habit and these grams are a proof of it."
(To Hemadpant, the chapter's teaching) "It is true that you give to the persons present; but if none be near-by, what could you or I do? But do you remember Me before eating? Am I not always with you? Then do you offer Me anything before you eat?"
(Disarming the Anna / Mavsibai quarrel) "Oh Anna, why are you unnecessarily raising this hue and cry? I do not understand what harm or impropriety is there, when the mother is kissed?"

Frequently asked about this chapter

What did Baba teach by the "grams in the sleeve" episode?

Grams that Hemadpant had not consciously eaten — and could not explain — rolled out of his coat sleeve in front of the whole masjid. Baba's teaching: "Do you remember Me before eating? Am I not always with you? Then do you offer Me anything before you eat?" The chapter's central practice: nothing should be enjoyed without first being inwardly offered to the Guru.

What is the Sudama story and how does it parallel Baba's teaching?

Sudama, a fellow-student of Krishna and Balarama in Sandipani's ashram, was sent to the forest with grams for all three. He ate them alone in secret and lied when Krishna heard the chewing. The omniscient Krishna gave him the mildest possible rebuke — "this is only a dream" — but the consequence was a lifetime of poverty until Sudama eventually offered Krishna a handful of parched rice earned by his wife. The Bhagavata's lesson and Baba's are the same.

Who was Mavsibai?

Venubai Koujalgi, an elderly widow whom Baba called mother and the other devotees called "Mavsibai" (maternal aunt). She served Baba by vigorously kneading his abdomen, and figures in two episodes in Chapter 24 — the witty altercation with Anna Chinchanikar, and the Satka episode in which Baba pressed a stick into his own belly when other devotees criticised her force.

What is the "Satka into the belly" episode about?

When devotees suggested Mavsibai moderate her abdominal kneading, Baba sprang up enraged, took his Satka (short stick), pressed one end into his own belly and the other against a post, and pushed until the devotees feared rupture. The teaching, Hemadpant notes, was that bhaktas must never meddle with how another bhakta serves the Guru. Baba alone is judge of the worth of the service offered.

What is the doctrine of "remembering the Guru before enjoyment"?

Hemadpant's gloss on the chapter: before any sense-object is enjoyed, the Guru should be remembered; this remembrance is itself an offering. The vrittis of desire, anger, avarice, when first directed to the Guru, weaken; the question "is this fit?" arises naturally; vicious habits disappear; pure knowledge sprouts. The practice is the chapter's compact path to detachment.

Who was Anna Chinchanikar?

Damodar Ghanashyama Babare, called Anna Chinchanikar — simple, rough, plain-spoken, cash-only in his dealings. Outwardly harsh but guileless and good-natured. Baba loved him for his directness. His humorous altercation with Mavsibai is the chapter's lightest scene; Baba's disarming reply ("what harm is there, when the mother is kissed?") restored peace in a single sentence.

Source: Shri Sai Satcharitra by Govind Raghunath Dabholkar (Hemadpant), 1929. English adaptation by N. V. Gunaji. Original chapter text: saibaba.org/satcharitra/sai24.html. This page is a factual summary with verbatim quotations from the source. We add no commentary attributed to Baba.

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Ch. 23 — Yoga and Onion; Shama's Snake-bite; Cholera Ordinances; Goat Ordeal

Ch. 25 — Damu Anna Kasar: Speculations and the Mango Miracle