OM SRI SAI RAM
Bayajabai served Baba thus with great love and unswerving devotion for a long time. We are unfortunate that no written record is available to us of what Baba taught Bayajabai or what divine experiences he gave her. One incident is, however, available to us about Bayajabai from the reminiscences of Tatya Patil.
Tatya's words :
"Once Radhakrishna Ayi decided to go on a pilgrimage to Pandaripur from Shirdi by foot. Bala Shimpi and Madhav Fasle also started along with her. They wanted to take part in the festival which would be held at Pandaripur on the eleventh (ekadasi) day of the month of Ashaad. My mother (Bayajabai), a few others, and I too decided to go to Pandaripur to take part in the festival. As Radhakrishna Ayi and her group had already left, we decided to go by cart as far as Ahmednagar and catch up with them, after which we could all proceed further by foot. My mother, my brother-in-law, Lakshmibai Shinde and a few other ladies all got ready for the trip.
Before starting, we all went to the mosque to have the darshan of Baba and take his blessings for the trip. Baba blessed us and gave udi to each of us. Three carts packed with our stuff were standing ready under the tree at the village well. I went and broke a coconut at the Maruti temple so that our trip would go well without any problems, and later went to the temple of Saturn. About fifty villagers were standing at the village well to bid us farewell. While I was on my way to the temple of Saturn, I was surprised to see Baba standing where the Samadhi Mandir is at present. I broke a coconut at the temple of Saturn and came out. As I was coming out of the temple, Kondya, a Muslim devotee of Baba, came and told me that Baba was calling me. I went to Baba. He took me to the mosque. Some of the villagers who had come to bid us goodbye came with me to the mosque while the others stayed on at the well. I sat beside the railing at the mosque while Madhavrao Deshpande (Shama) sat opposite me. Madhavrao lit the pipe and gave it to Baba. Baba sat smoking. All were quiet. After a while Madhavrao said, "Deva (Oh, God) your Bayajabai and the others are all waiting for him to come so that they can go to Pandaripur. "Call Bayajabai," replied Baba.
My mother hurried in and said, " Baba, have you sent for me? The sun has set and the dusk is deepening. We are all ready to start."
Baba placidly said, "Mother, go home. Do not start today. Do not even start tomorrow. Start the day after tomorrow. Do not ask why. Do not consult anyone in this matter. Here, take this udi and go."
My mother did not hesitate a second or even take time to think. She said, "Alright Baba, we will go the day after as you say." We unloaded the carts and sent them off. Later, Madhavrao saw the astrological calendar and charts and said that the day was not an auspicious one for travel.
On the morning of the third day, we again got ready to travel. Baba cheerfully gave udi to each of us and came as far as the highway to see us off. We met Radhakrishna Ayi's group by nine a.m. We reached Pandaripur by the evening of the next day. Cholera struck Pandaripur by the eleventh day of the waxing moon and by the next day was raging throughout the town. Some of us wanted to leave immediately for Shirdi but I was adamant that we should stay till the day of the full moon. My mother was also scared. She met the mamalatdar, Sri Nana Saheb Chandorkar, who was an ardent devotee of Baba, and asked him to convince me to return to Shirdi. Nana Saheb sent for Bala Shimpi and me and advised us to return immediately to Shirdi. Baba knew that cholera would ravage Pandaripur, but seeing our enthusiasm for the trip could not forbid us to go to Pandaripur."
JAI SRI SAI RAM
posted by Kavitaaparna
Sai baba let your holy lotus feet be our sole refuge.OMSAIRAM
Topic: DWARKAMAI's LEELAS(She is our Mother) (Read 405440 times)