Video/Photos: Sai Baba's Chimta, Satka, Bhiksha Patra with Abdul Baba

[rOhit beHaL]

~ SAI BABA'S CHIMTA, SATKA, BHIKSHA PATRA
WITH ABDUL BABA ~



Abdul was born in about 1871 and died in April 1954.
He was a native of Nanded on the banks of Tapti. When he was very young,
and under the care of Fakir Amiruddin of Nanded, Sai Baba appeared in the dream of that Fakir,
and gave him two mangoes telling him to give the fruits to Abdul and send Abdul to Shirdi.
Accordingly the Fakir told him of that dream, gave the fruits and directed him to go to Sai Baba of Shirdi.
So, in about 1889, at the age of 20, he came to Baba, much before Nana Saheb Chandorkar had.
Baba welcomed him at Shirdi with these words: ‘Mera Kavala Aala’, that is, ‘My crow has come.’
Baba directed him to devote himself entirely to his service.

Abdul’s services were washing Baba's clothes in the streamlet at the village boundary,
sweeping the Mosque, the chavadi & the village streets & removing the night soil from the way of Baba,
feed the 5 perpetually burning Oil Lamps, such as those at the Lendi, the Masjid and the Chavadi and to keep them lighted.
That was why Baba called him, Halalkoor and ‘My Mirambi’. He fetched water and also engaged himself in sundry services.

As for the food, at first Baba did not give him any food.
Baba himself was going out begging and Abdul for himself.
He lived at the stable near the Masjid.

He was always by Baba’s side rendering service. He read the Koran sitting near Baba at the Mosque.
Baba occasionally opened the Koran and made him read or rather recite passages at which he opened the book.
He occasionally quoted passages from the Koran. Abdul used to write the gracious utterances of Baba
in a note book. The Script is either Devanagari, Marathi or Modi. That was Abdul’s Koran.
Everything which fell from Baba’s lips is sacred and is enshrined in that book.
And Abdul Baba had got full faith that what Baba said was sufficient to guide everyone.
When anybody wanted to know about the future or about any problem and came to him,
he consulted this book and the answer came out of the page opened. This proved to be effective.
This is the gift of prophecy, which he got by Baba’s grace.

Baba used to give Abdul excellent advice fitting him for a yogi’s life.
Baba used to advice him to 'Eat little' & 'Sleep little'. Abdul followed this advice.
He kept awake all night, and in a kneeling posture kept repeating his Koran,
that is, Baba’s words. He was meditating on them.

Abdul’s first Guru later on came to Shirdi and wanted him to go back from Shirdi.
But Abdul pleaded that nothing could be done without Baba’s permission.
Baba not having given the permission, the former Guru went away from Shirdi.

Abdul Baba's cottage is in front of the Chavadi.
When the Shirdi Sai Baba Sansthan was formed they leased this land and cottage to him.
Abdul Baba was conferred the title of Sultan and was called Chotu Sultan of Nanded Village.
Abdul Baba’s wife was Umranrao Bi and they had a son named Abdul Pathan (1901 - 14th December`1984)
Abdul Baba had 5 grandsons and 2 grand daughters. They are Ibrahim, Aziz, Rehman, Rahim, Hamid, Shamshad Bi & Irshad Bi.





After the Mahasamadhi of Sai Baba, no proper arrangements to look after the Samadhi were made.
Ultimately, Shri Kakasaheb Dixit, seeing the sad state of affairs as conducted by the village,
 set up an office with a Managing Committee under the Public Trust Act,
with the approval of the District Court Ahmednagar.  
 
Upto 1922, Shri Abdul Baba performed the daily 'Abhishek' to the Samadhi.
His responsibility was to clean, decorate the shrine with flowers, ritual offerings etc.

So, the 'Mahanaivedya' (food offering) was handed over to him
and he was allowed to live in the room on the left side, adjacent to the Samadhi.
He was the only local leading devotee of Sai Baba.
He had collected about four to five thousand rupees of 'Dakshina' amount given by Baba's devotees.
Enjoying these privileges, he thought, he was the legal heir to Baba.
Some of his well wishers fueled the idea that the Trust formed was an injustice against him.
Thus he filed a suit against the Trust, in the District Court of Ahmednagar.
 
But, the District Court passed an order against Abdul Baba,
saying that there were no heirs or successors to Shri Sai Baba
and he had no right to the maintenance of the Samadhi or in the working of the newly formed Trust.
Thus, the Mahanaivedya given to him was stopped, and he was asked to vacate the room.
Some time later, these severe restrictions were relaxed and Abdul Baba continued
to play a role in the maintenance of the shrine till his death in April 1954,
after which he was buried in the precincts of Samadhi Mandir near Lendi Baug.





The devotees, who visit Abdul Baba's cottage have an opportunity to venerate Sai Baba's Chimta (Prongs),
which is said to be given to him by Sai Baba. Abdul treasured it and venerated it daily with Loban (Incense).
After Baba’s Mahasamadhi, Abdul used this for curing the pains and ailments of devotees.
Today Abdul Baba's grand children are carrying on the lineage of blessing the devotees with this blessed Chimta.

Baba is also said to have given Abdul a Satka (Stick) and a Bhiksha Patra (Tin Mug).
Also preserved in polythene encasing are more than 200 pages of hand-written manuscripts in which
the sayings, teachings and parables of Baba were noted by Abdul Baba, from the year 1895 to 1918.

"Abdul Baba used to write down the utterances of Sai Baba that dealt with the unity of the Hindu & Muslim faiths,"
says his grandson Hameed who manages the shrine.
The text of Abdul Baba's manuscripts draws parallels between the teachings of the Prophet Muhammad
and the Hindu legends associated with Vishnu, Shiva and Brahma.

Sai Baba's discourses, as chronicled by Abdul Baba, also dealt with the prevalent Sufi traditions of the time,
in parts of Deccan Maharashtra and northern India. According to Hameed, the script of the Book is a blend
of Deccan Urdu and the now-extinct Modi script that was widely used in Maharashtra until the mid-1950s.

Only a small fraction of Sai Baba's devotees who throng the Temple next door come to the cottage of Abdul Baba.
But Hameed dutifully allows everyone to see and feel the item's of Sai Baba and Abdul Baba,
 regardless of the resulting wear-and-tear.





- VIDEO -

[youtube=425,350]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h_WJSPkUx1w[/youtube]







































Video Courtesy: http://saimuskan.com












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It is Invisible,
but has the pOwer,
 tO cOnnect yOu tO gOd !"
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