Narasimha Swamiji, an ardent devotee of Sai Baba, founded the All India Sai Samaj, in Chennai, and later built the temple in the heart of the city. It may be mired in controversies and litigation today, but that cannot in any way mar the sincerity and selfless service of many who have worked hard to spread the message of Baba. The aim is to serve humanity, the downtrodden in particular. "That's the best way to serve Baba," Narasimha Swamiji would say. Free dispensary, a school, library, poor feeding and other activities were taken up by the Sai Samaj and other Upasamaj units all over the country.
"The temple was only incidental," says Seshadri. "Narasimha Swami lived in a shed in the temple premises and with my own eyes I have seen mongoose and snakes playing with each other, dogs and cats in total amity and kittens being suckled by a dog inside the temple," the septuagenarian's eyes turn moist. "The temple is a result of one man's toil but you will not find Narasimha Swamiji's name anywhere in the temple." The temple later gained a pristine look through the efforts launched by the Sai Samaj, which then had Seshadri as its secretary and J. D. Pannalal as treasurer.
"Baba's miracles alone need not be given importance. But it is imperative to know, realise and follow His teachings," believes Seshadri.
The sentiment doesn't deter 90-year old M. S. Rajagopalan, a member who was part of the puja committee at the recent Kumbabhishekam, from recalling his experience. "It was the time of World War II. I was very ill and in hospital. Narasimha Swamiji happened to come there. My brother had told him about my condition and Swami gave some vibhuti. I was up and about in just three days." Sai Baba must have been in his teens when he came to Shirdi with a wedding group, is the surmise. Often referred to as "paagal fakir," Sai Baba lived and died a mendicant. At first Mahalsapathy, a priest at the Khandoba Temple in Shirdi, did not allow the young boy who looked like a Muslim fakir, inside the temple. (But he was also the one to first realise the godliness in the boy and address Him as "Baba Sai.") Baba then went and sat under a neem tree. Bhaiyyaji Bai, the wife of the village headman, saw Sai Baba and immediately understood the divinity in Him In 1918, when her son Tatya Kote Patel was seriously ill, Baba shed his mortal coil to save him, it is said. "Patel's grandson Gopinath Bayaji Kote Patel had come down for this Kumbabhishekam," informs Rajagopalan.
Sai Baba stayed in a dilapidated mosque in Shirdi. He called it Dwaraka Mayi. He would light a lamp at the mosque every evening. The shopkeepers nearby would give him oil. One day just in jest they told him that they had no oil. To them He looked more a lunatic. Baba moved away without a word. The shopkeepers followed Him stealthily to see what the fakir would now do. Sai Baba sat down and looked at the empty oilcan. He poured some water into it shook it slightly and drank the water with the remnants of oil in it. Then again he brought some more water in the can, soaked the wick in it, poured the water into the lamp and struck a matchstick. The lamp began to burn bright and yellow. The men realised their folly.
Baba would recite the Vedas, the Gita and the Upanishads. His belief in Vishnu Sahasranamam was tremendous. Then there is an interesting anecdote of how He made a devotee understand Isavasya Upanishad from a servant woman.
Just like the great rishis of yore, Baba would have a fire ("dhuni") burning beside him constantly all through the day and night, the ashes ("Udhi") of which cured many. He would also treat patients with herbs. The fire lit by Sai Baba is kept alive in Shirdi till today. And once the temple in Mylapore was built, V. S. Ramaswami Iyengar, a devotee of Baba, took special permission and brought a portion of it from Shirdi and placed it at the temple here. "It is that fire which is burning here till today," says Seshadri.
Nobody knows for sure whether He was Hindu or Muslim, where he was born, who his parents or even whether he had a name.
Till Narasimha Swamiji, a lawyer who led the life of a sanyasi, chanced to go to Shirdi and learn about Sai Baba, the saint was known only in Maharashtra. Initially when Narasimha Swami built the temple for Sai Baba, he wanted only a picture placed at the sanctum sanctorum. Over the years things changed and Muthu Venkatraman, a devotee, had the idol of Baba installed at the temple in 1987. S.R.V. Jayakar, a direct devotee who knew Baba, drew a portrait of the saint and placed it at the Dwaraka Mayi. N. K. Subba Rao wanted a similar picture for the Mylapore temple. And the person who drew it was none other than Jayakar's son himself. The picture was brought to Mylapore and placed in front of the "dhuni." People like Bhima Rao (who was nominated president by Narasimha Swami), M. K. Nambiar and Kesava Rao have worked for the glory of the temple. "The Samaj doesn't believe in asking devotees for money. His teachings that promised the devotee that a good turn would come back to the giver ten fold and the words `take one step towards me and I shall take 10,' worked like magic.
Universal Love was Baba's religion and those affected by the sentiment were many. Justice M. B. Rege, a favourite of Baba even when he was a child, came down to Chennai to inaugurate Sai Vidyalaya, now a matriculation school, that has grown with the funds secured from the temple.
Strangely, certain practices followed in temples of the South like giving holy water, vibhuti and kumkum, and satari are observed here. "That's because Narasimha Swami felt that once you introduce rituals people are used to, it would be easy to make an impact on the religious minds," smiles Seshadri
COURTESY The Hindu
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Topic: Shirdi Saibaba at Mylapore(chennai)India (Read 5165 times)