Baba’s Handi – Disrespect of Shrine – Kala or Hodge-Podge – Cup of Butter-Milk.
In the last chapter we described Baba’s Chavadi procession. In this we take up Baba’s Handi (cooking pot) and some other subjects.
Preliminary
Oh, merciful Sadguru Sai, we bow to You, who has given happiness to the whole world, accomplished the welfare of the devotees and have removed the affliction of those who have resorted to Your Feet. Being very kind and being the protector and saviour of the debotees who surrender themselves to You, You have incarnated in this world to grace the people and do them good.
The essence of Pure Self was poured into the mould of Brahma and out of this has come out the crest-jewel of saint Sai. This Sai is Atmarama Himself. He is the abode of perfect divine bliss. Having Himself attained all objects of life, He made His devotees desirelss and free.
Baba’s Handi
Different sadhanas (means of accomplishments) are prescribed in our scriptures for different ages. Tapa (Penance) is recommended for Krita age, Jnana (Knowledge) for Treta age, Yajna (Sacrifice) for Dwapara age and Dana (Charity) for Kali (present) age. Of all the charities, giving food is the best one. We are much perturbed when we get no food at noon. Other beings feel similarly under similar circumstances.
He who gives food to the poor and hungry, is the best donor or charitable person. The TaittiriyaUpanishad says that “Food is Brahma; from food all the creatures are born and having been born, by food they live, and having departed, into food again they enter.” When an Atithi (uninvited guest) comes to our door at noon, it is our duty as a householder to welcome him by giving him food.
Other kinds of charities, viz., giving away wealth, property and clothes etc., require some discrimination, but in the matter of food, no such consideration is necessary. Let anybody come to our door at noon, he should be served forthwith; and if lame, crippled, blind and diseased paupers come, they should be fed first and the able-bodied persons and our relations afterwards. The merit of feeding the former is much greater than that of feeding the latter.
Other kinds of charities are imperfect without this Anna–dana (giving of food) as stars are without the moon, a necklace without its central medal, a crown without pinnacle, a pond without a lotus, bhajan without love, a married lady without the kumkum-mark, singing without a sweet voice or butter-milk without salt. Just as varan (Pulse-soup) excels all other dishes, Anna-dana is the best of all merits.
Now let us see how Baba prepared food and distributed it.
It has been stated before that Baba required very little food for Himself and what little He wanted, was obtained by begging from a few houses. But when He took it into His mind to distribute food to all, He made all preparations from beginning to end, Himself. He depended on nobody and troubled none in this matter. First He went to the bazar and bought all the things, corn, flour, spices etc., paying cash. He did also the grinding. In the open courtyard of the Masjid, He arranged a big hearth and after lighting a fire underneath kept a Handi (metal pot) over it with proper measure of water. There were two kinds of Handi, one small and the other big. The former provided food for 50 persons, the later for 100. Sometimes He cooked ‘Mitthe Chaval’ (sweet rice), and at other times ‘pulava’ with meat. At times in the boiling varan (soup), He let in small balls of thick or flat breads of wheat flour. He pounded the spices on a stone-slab, and put the thin pulverized spices into the cooking-pot. He took all the pains to make the dishes very palatable. He prepared ‘Ambil’ by boiling jawari-flour in water and mixing it with butter-milk. With the food He distributed this Ambil to all alike. To see whether the food was properly cooked or not, Baba rolled up the sleeve of His Kafni and put His bare arm in the boiling cauldron without the least fear, and churned (moved) the whole mass from side to side and up and down. There was no mark of burn on His arm, nor fear on His face. When the cooking was over, Baba got the pots in the Masjid, and had them duly consecrated by the moulvi (priest). First He sent part of the food as prasad to Mhalasapati and Tatya Patil and then He served the remaining with His own hand to all the poor and helpless people to their hearts’ content. Really blessed and fortunate must be those people who received food prepared by Baba and served by Him.
Somebody may ask – “Did Baba distribute vegetable and animal food as prasad alike to all His devotees?” The answer is plain and simple. Those who were accustomed to (take) animal food were given food from the Handi as prasad and those who were not so accustomed, were not allowed to touch it. He never created in them any wish or desire to indulge in non-vegetarian food.
There is a principle well established that when a Guru himself gives anything as prasad, the disciple who thinks and doubts whether it is acceptable or otherwise, goes to peridition.
In order to see how any disciple has imbibed this principle, Baba at times proposed tests. For instance, on an Ekadashi day He gave some rupees to Dada Kelkar and asked him to go in person to Koralha to get meat from there. Dada Kelkar was an orthodox Brahmin and kept all orthodox manners in his life. He knew that offering wealth, grain and clothes etc., to a Sadguru is not enough but that implicit obedience to and prompt compliance with His order is the real Dakshina that pleased Him most. So Dada Kelkar dressed himself and started for the place. Then Baba called him back and said, “Don’t go yourself, but send somebody.” Then Dada sent his servant Pandu for the purpose. Seeing him starting, Baba asked Dada to call him back and cancelled that programme. On another occation Baba asked Dada to taste and find out if the ‘Pulava’ (mutton dish) is cooked properly. Nana saheb said casually and formally that it was alright. Then Baba said to him – “Neither you have seen it with your eyes, nor tasted in with your tongue, then how could you say that it was good? Just take out the lid and see.” Saying this Baba caught his arm and thrust it into the pot and added, “Draw out your arm and taking a ladle, eat some quantity from the dish without caring for your orthodox beliefs”
When a wave of real love rises in a mother’s mind, she pinches her child with her hand and when it begins to cry and shout, she hugs it close to her bosom. Similarly Baba, in a true motherly way pinched Dada Kelkar in this fashion. Really no saint or guru will ever force his orthodox disciple to eat forbidden food and disgrace himself thereby.
The practice of setting up the ‘Handi’ went on for some time till 1910 and was stopped thereafter. As stated before, Das Ganu spread the fame of Baba by his kirtans far and wide in the Bombay Presidency and people from that part of the country began to flock to Shirdi, which became in a few days a place of pilgrimage. The devotees brought with them various presents and offered different dishes of food as naivedya. The quantity of naivedya offered by them was so much that the fakirs and paupers could feed themselves to their heart’s content, leaving some surplus behind. Before stating how naivedya was distributed, we shall refer to Nanasaheb Chandorkar’s story illustrating Baba’s regard and respect for local Shrines and deities.
Nanasaheb’s disrespect of a Shrine
By drawing inferences or guessing in their own way some people said that Sai was a Brahmin, and some said that He was a Muslim. Really He belonged to no caste. No one knew definitely when He was born and in what community and who were His parents. Then how could He be a Muslim or Brahmin? If He were a Muslim, why was he keeping Dhuni fire ever burning in the Masjid, why was a Tulsi Vrindavan there, why did he allow blowing of conches and ringing of bells and the playing the musical instruments, how did He allow all the different forms of Hindu worship, there? Had He been a Muslim, why did he pierce his ears and why did He spend money out of his pocket for repairing Hindu temples? On the contrary He never tolerated the slightest disrespect to Hindu Shrines and deities.
Once Nanasaheb Chandorkar came to Shirdi with his ‘Sadu‘ – husband of his sister-in-law, Mr.Biniwalle. When they went to the Masjid and sat before Baba, the latter suddenly got angry with Nanasaheb and said – “You are in my company for such a long time and yet how can you behave like this?” Nanasaheb at first did not understand anything and humbly requested Baba to explain. Baba asked him when did he reach Kopergaon and how he did he come to Shirdi from there. Nanasaheb then at once realized his mistake. He usually worshipped the Shrine of Datta, on the banks of the Godavari at Kopergaon on his way to Shirdi, but this time he dissuaded his relative who was a Datta devotee from going to that Shrine, to avoid delay and drove straight to Shirdi. He confessed all this to Baba and told Him that while taking a bath in the Godavari, a big thorn went into his foot and gave him much trouble. Baba replied that it was a light punishment for him to be more careful in future.
Kala (hodge-podge)
To revert to the distribution of the naivedya. After the Aarti was over and after Baba sent away all the people with Udi and blessings, He went inside and sat with his back to the Nimbar for meals, with two rows of the devotees, one on each side. The devotees who brought naivedya serve their dishes containing a variety of food such as Puris, Mande, Polis, Basundi, Sanza, fine rice etc., and kept waiting outside for prasad consecrated by Baba. All the foods were mixed in a hotch-potch and placed before Baba. He offered it all to God and consecrated it. Then portions of the same were given to the persons waiting outside and the rest was served to the devotees inside the Masjid sharing meal with Baba at the centre. The devotees sitting in two rows then dined to their heart’s content. Baba used to instruct Shama and Nanasaheb Nimonkar daily to serve the consecrated food to all the devotees present inside the Masjid and look to their individual needs and comforts. This they did very carefully and willingly. Every morsel of the food thus partaken gave them nutrition and satisfaction. Such sweet, lovely and consecrated food it was! Ever auspicious and every holy!
Cup of Butter-Milk
Once Hemadpant had finished his meal, when Baba offered him a cup of butter-milk. Its white appearance pleased him, but he was afraid that there was no space inside for it. He, however, took a sip which proved very tasty. Seeing his hesitance, Baba said – “Drink it all, you won’t get any such opportunity hereafter.” Then he drank the butter milk completely, and later realized that Baba’s words were prophetic, for He passed away soon.
Now, readers, we certainly need to offer our gratitude to Hemadpant. He drank the cup of butter-milk, but has provided us with a large quantity of nectar in the form of Baba’s Leelas. Let us drink cups and cups of this nectar and be satisfied and happy.
Bow to Shri Sai – Peace be to all