SHRI SAI BABA AND THEORY OF REBIRTHS
(SHRI SAI LEELA MARCH APRIL 1994)
Although Sai Baba lived in a Masjid and dressed like a Muslim Fakir, He believed in the Hindu theory of re-births. During His talks to His Hindu devotees, He not only time and again referred to this theory, but by performing some miracles tried to convince them of this theory.
In Ch. 36, one day after lunch, when Shama, the pelted devotee of Sai Baba, was drying His wet hands with a towel, the latter pinched Shama's cheek. Shama, therefore, feigning anger, said,
"Deva! Is it proper for You to pinch me like this? We don't want such a mischievous God, Who pinches us thus. Are we Your dependents? Is this the fruit of our intimacy?"
Thereupon, note, what Baba said,
"Oh Shama, during the 72 generations that you were with Me, I never touched you till now and now you resent My pinching you, just once out of fun!" (P. 202-203)
Similarly, in Ch. 51, when Dhurandhar brothers from Bombay first came to Shirdi, Baba before their arrival had openly declared,
"Many of My Durbar people arc coming."
And when they arrived and prostrated before Him, He said to the devotees gathered there,
“These are My Durbar people, to whom I referred before."
And to Dhurandhar brothers He said,
"We are acquainted with each other for the last 60 generations." (P. 169)
Sai Baba's another devotee Shri Nanasaheb Chandorkar was then secretary to the collector at Ahmednagar. Sai Baba sent a message to him not once, but three times with Appa Kulkarni, the village accountant, to come to Him. At last, Chandorkar came to Shirdi and asked Baba as why He called him. Thereupon, see, what Baba said,
"In the whole world is there only one Nana? Then shouldn't there be some reason, when I called you only? Myself and you have been together during the last four births. You are not aware of this, but I know it."
In Geeta Ch. 4 also Lord Krishna has told the same thing to Arjun :
Bahttni me vyatifani, janmani tavacharjun \
tanyahom vedsarvani, no tvam vettha paranlap \\4\\
(Arjun! You and I have passed through many births. I know them well, while you do not, O chastiser of foes!)
In Ch. 31, some Derveshis (strolling mendicants among Mohammedans maintaining themselves by exhibiting bears, monkeys etc.) brought before Baba a tiger suffering from some pain or agony on approaching Baba the tiger breathed his last and the Darveshis were filled with dejection and sorrow at the loss of their only means of maintenance. Thereupon, while consoling them we find Baba referring to the theory of re-birth :
"The tiger was your debtor from previous birth. He paid off the debts by serving you in this life and when his debt was paid off, he was free and met the death and My feet."
In Ch. 27, one noon Dadasaheb Khaparde's wife brought a dish containing sanza (wheat pudding), purees, rice, soup and kheer (sweet rice) and other sundry articles to the Masjid. Baba, who usually waited for hours, got up at once, went up to His dining seat and removing the outer covering from the dish, began to partake of the things zealously. Shama then asked Him,
''Why this partiality? You throw away dishes of others and do not care to look at them, but this You draw to You earnestly and do justicc to it thoroughly. Is the dish of this woman so sweet?"
Baba then replied,
"This food is really extraordinary. In former birth, this lady was a merchant's fat cow yielding much milk. Then she disappeared and took birth in a gardener's family, then in a kshatriya family and married a merchant. Then she was born in a Brahmin's family. I saw her after a very long time, let Me take some sweet morsels of love from her dish." (P. 148)
Thus, Baba by narrating the lady's tale of many previous births, probably, explained to His devotees, how a soul can progressively rise from an animal form to a human form and then to a Brahmin birth on account of virtuous deeds.
Sai Baba was omniscient, i.e., before Him the past, present and future were open to view. Hence, once, by giving the details of previous births and foretelling the places of future births of a boy called 'Babu', He convinced everybody, that a soul is born again and again. This story is narrated in H. H. Narasimhaswamiji's 'Devotees' Experiences of Shri Sai Baba', P. 114, in the statement of Rao Bahadur H. V. Sathe :
"Baba was greatly attracted to Dada Kelkar's (i.e., my father-in-law's) nephew Babu. He was a measurer under my assistant Limayc (I was then Asst. Supdt. of Revenue Survey of Kopargaon and Yeola). But, instead of paying due attention to his official work, he would go and stay at Shirdi doing service to Baba. My assistant complained to me, that my brother-in-law (Babu) was always going away to Shirdi and neglecting his work. I communicated this to Kelkar and he said,
"What" is to be done? He is guided and ordered by Baba."
In fact, Baba, knowing evidently, what was to happen to Babu shortly, made light of his service and said,
"Blast the service! Let him serve Me!"
Babu was always attending on Baba and rendering as much service as he could and Baba would always see that Babu got the choicest delicacies, when they were available. So, Limaye also let him do as he liked. In a few days Babu passed away aged only 22 leaving an issueless widow."
In the same connection, sec, what Moreshwar W. Pradhan of Santacruz has to say in his statement (P. 96-98):
"On the day we reached Shirdi, Baba said to Madhavrao Deshpande, pointing to my wife,
"This is the mother of My Babu."
Mr. Chandorkar thought it must refer obviously to my sister-in-law, who was believed to be pregnant and asked Baba, pointing to my sister-in-law,
"This is the lady, is it not?"
Baba replied,
"No. It is this."
And He again pointed to my wife.
Exactly twelve months from that date, my wife was delivered of a male child and we have named that son 'Babu' (the name used by Baba).
When Babu was four months old we took him to Shirdi. Sai Baba took up Babu in His arms and endearingly addressed Babu thus :
"Babu! Where had you been? Were you vexed with or weary of Me?"
To mark the joyous arrival of Babu at Shirdi, Baba pulled out two rupees from His pocket, got burfi (sweets) for the amount and distributed it exactly as they do on the occasion of a son's birth. On this occasion Baba also said,
"Babu's bunglow is beautiful and ready."
Surely, Baba's words were soon fulfilled by my purchase of the bunglow, I was living in."
On reading the above two statements, I am sure that readers will not only be convinced regarding the theory of re-births, but also would realise, how Baba cared to look after His devotees from birth to birth.
While talking about re-births, Sai Baba always said that these births, whether happy or full of miseries, one gets according to ones previous deeds only. For instance, see, how in Chs. 46 to 47, after narrating the past and present lives of two goats and the frog and the snake, Sai Baba concludes :
"The moral of the story is that one has to reap, what one sows and there is no escape unless one suffers and squares up one's old debts and dealings with others." (P. 254).
That is why Sai Baba advised His devotees to act always honestly with integrity keeping one's conscience awake, what is right and what is wrong. He always used to say, ' 'Jaisi jiaki niyat, vaiyasi nsktt barkat'' (If you act in a good way, good really will follow.) (P. 75).
In Ch. 14 again Dabholkar quotes Brihadaranyaka Upanishad, which says that Lord Prajapati advised the Gods, men and demons by one letter 'Da'. The Gods understood by this letter, that they should practise (i) Dama, i.e., self-control; the men, that they should practise (2) Dana, i.e., charity; the demons understood, that they should practise (3) Daya, i.e., compassion. Thus, to men charity or giving was recommended. In order to teach the devotees the lesson of charity and to remove their attachments to money and thus, purify their minds, Baba extracted dakshina from them.
Again He used to stress that,
“We get human body as a result of merits in past births and it is worthwhile that with its aid we should attain devotion and liberation in this life. So, we should never be lazy, but always be on the alert to gain our end and aim of life.” (P. 78)
In Ch. 8 also Sai Baba had said the same thing,
“Four things are common to all the creatures, viz. food, sleep, fear and sexual union. In the case of man, he is endowed with a special faculty, viz. knowledge, with the help of which he can attain God-vision, which is impossible in other births.” (P. 45)
It is said that the last wish or thought a man has at the hour of death determines his future course. Lord Krishna has also said in Geeta (Ch. 8, Slokas 5 and 6) that,
“He, who remembers Me in his last moments comes verily to Me, and he that meditates otherwise at the time goes to, what he looks for.”
We cannot be certain that we can entertain particular good thought at our moment, for various reasons, viz. pain of diseases, worries about own families future etc. All saints, therefore, recommend us to practice remembering God and chanting His name constantly, so that we may not get puzzled, when the time for departure comes. Wise devotees practice a still simpler device to achieve this goal. They approach the saints in their last moments, surrender completely to them trusting, that all-knowing and all-capable saints would do the needful. In Shri Sai Satcharita, Ch. 31, five such examples are quoted, viz.
Vijayanarid Sannyasi, Balaram Mankar, Tatyasaheb Noolkar, Megha and the tiger of Darveshis. All of them breathed their last in the presence of Baba at Shirdi.
Thus, Sai Baba not only talked about the theory of re-births to His devotees, but also explained to them, how to ensure a good rebirth or complete escape from the re-births.
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