Salutations to Ganesh !
Glory be to Parashudhar,
The son of Jamadagni.
Oh Parashuram,
You protected the Brahmins
By penalizing Sahasrarjun,
You could not tolerate
The insult hurled at Brahims.
Why then are you blind
To the welfare of the Brahmins?
Why are you sleeping
When the Brahmins need your help?
The days are difficult
Without your succour,
The Aryan culture may not survive.
The Maya of Gajanan,
Is indescribable indeed.
Who can know it?
There was a devotee in Mundgaon,
By name Pundalik.
He used to visit Shegaon
Every year.
In the same village
There was one Bhagabai,
She was from the line of Thakares.
She was a hypocrite of the first order
And she had faith in none.
Once she said to Pundalik,
"You visit Shegaon every year,
And treat Gajanan as your guru.
Tell me, did he initiate you
With a holy mantra?
There cannot be any initiation
Without the proper ritual.
You say he warded off your fever,
But that was a coindicence.
Gajanan behaves like a mad man
He sings "Gin Gin Ganata",
He has no sense of purity,
He will swallow food, half-eaten by anyone.
So, leave him and come along with me,
We shall go to Anjangaon
And take initiation
From a disciple of Kejaji.
Tomorrow, there will be a kirtan at Anjangaon.
Let us proceed tomorrow to Anjangaon.
A guru should have knowledge supreme,
He should be well-versed in the Shastras,
He should have all the qualities of a great man,
He should guide us on the path of devotion.
Gajanan is not endowed with any of these qualities,
So let us go to Anjangaon."
Pundalik Bhokre was a simple soul.
He was much impressed
By Bhagi’s eloquent speech.
He decided to go to Anjangaon
Along with her to listen to the kirtan.
"I shall decide later
Whether to accept him as guru",
He told Bhagabai,
"Yes I shall accompany you
To Anjangaon tommrrow."
So saying, he went to bed that day
And lo! As the night was receding,
He saw right before his eyes
A huge figure of a man
Resembling Maharaj.
Said Maharaj to him,
"Do you go to Anjangaon
To seek a guru
On the advice of Bhagi?
Go. You will be disillusioned
If a person whispers in your ear.
Can he be your guru?
There are so many
Who may whisper in each other’s ears.
Can they be guru to each other?
You better do not fall a victim
To the hypocrities.
Come, lend me your ear,
I shall give you a mantra."
So saying Maharaj uttered"
The syllables "Gana Gana"
"I shall fulfil your cherished desires",
Said he. Pundalik was happy.
In the depth of the dream
He looked intently
And recognized Maharaj.
He said unto him,
"I do not desire anything.
Give me the paduka
For my daily worship."
Maharaj smiled benignly
And said,
"Come on, take these,
I have given them unto you.
Worship them tomorrow
When the sun crosses the zenith."
Pundalik stretched his arms
To receive the wooden padukas,
And the dream broke,
And he opened eyes
And looked searchingly
Here and there, but
There was no one anywhere,
Nor were there padukas.
He could not decide
Whether it was a live experience
Or an illusory dream.
In the heart of his heart
He knew that what Maharaj said
Could not be untrue.
He thought to himself
That Maharaj gave him darshan
In the dream and told him
How Bhagi Thakarin was.
How should he worship the padukas
The next day when it would be past midday.
Did Maharaj mean
That he should get a new pair
Of padukas for the next day’s worship?
He had asked for the padukas
Which he wore,
And he gave him the same ones,
Why should he get a new set?
While Pundalik was cogitating
In this way, came
Bhagi Takarin at his home and said,
"Come the sun will rise after some time.
The day will dawn,
We shall proceed to Anjangaon."
Pundalik said unto her,
"Oh Bhagabai, leave me alone!
You may go to Anjangaon,
But I would prefer to stay
Right here. Gajanan Maharaj
Is my guru, let him not forsake me.
Nor I, him."
So, Bhagabai went alone
To Anjangaon.
Now Zyamsing Rajput of Mundgaon
Had been to Shegaon for darshan
Maharaj told Balabhau
To hand over the padukas
To Zyamsing, with the message
that the padukas be given
to Pundalik Bhokre.
Zyamsing did as bade,
And as he entered the precincts
Of Mundgaon, he met Pundalik
Who asked him the well-being of Maharaj
And enquired whether Maharaj
Had sent any Prasad for him.
Zyamsing was wonderstruck
At his question and they
Came to Pundalik’s home.
Zyamsing asked pundalik
Why he was so inquisitive.
Pundalik narrated to him the dream
And now Zyamsing had no doubts.
He took out the padukas
Which he kept covered in a piece of cloth
And handed over them to Pundalik.
They are in Mundgaon
Even upto this day
And are being worshipped daily.
Pundalik worshipped them at noon
With deep devotion.
So the real saints
Protect their devotees
And do not let them go astray
Listen again to this story
There was one saraf in Akola
By name Rajaram Kavar
He was a Madhyandin Brahmin,
He was not very rich
Nor very poor,
And Maharaj regarded him as a devotee,
And so Rajaram’s children
Revered Maharaj.
These were two brothers,
One was Gopal, the other was Tryambak.
Tryambak was often called as Bhau.
He went to Hydrabad
To learn medicine.
From his childhood,
Bhau was god-centred
And he use to remember
Maharaj at all the times
And when in difficulty.
During the holidays
He came home
And wanted to go to Shegaon
And feed Maharaj, the food Maharaj loved.
He prayed to Maharaj.
"Oh Maharaj, what shall I do?
My mother expired when I was child,
Whom shall I ask now to
Prepare the choicest dish for you?
I have no mother,
And the wahini who is called Nani
Is of a pungent tongue,
I want to take to you
Bhakari of jawar
And curry of ambadi
With onion and green chillies
Along with pithale.
How can I ask wahini
To prepare all these ?
One can have one’s way with mother,
But one cannot force anyone else."
While he was thinking thus,
Nani came there.
Seeing his worried face,
She asked him what the matter was.
After great persuasion
The brother told Nani
What he had intended.
He told her that
He wanted to take to Maharaj
Onion and curry of ambadi
And bhakari and pithale.
"If you will prepare these things," said he,
"Surely you will earn merit
And I shall succeed in my endeavour."
Nani smiled and said,
"So that is why you were so anxious.
Do not worry." She then set herself
To cooking and in no time
She prepared bhakaris and besan.
She brought a few onions
And a handful of green chillies
She covered bhakaris with
The besan as if it was butter.
She then said to her brother in law,
"Hurry up now or else you will
Miss the train.
If you miss you won’t reach
Shegaon before the meal time
And all the cooking will be in vain."
Bhau took leave of his father
And hurried to the station
But alas! The train already
Steamed off from the station.
Bhau was disappointed.
He lamented and said,
"Oh Maharaj, why don’t you
Accept my offerings?
May be, I am not meritorious!
May be, I lack devotion!
What mistake did I commit?
Why should I miss the train?
There is no train now till three o’clock.
By that time you would have taken
Your food. How is it
That you will not allow me
To serve you today?
I know you can reach Kedarnath
In a moment, why don’t you
Come here and accept the food,
So lovingly prepared for you?
Please do not say
That I am ordering you to come here
And thereby am insulting you.
I am entreating you with love and devotion.
If you won’t come, I won’t take food myself."
At three o’clock
There was another train,
So Bhau went by that train
And hurriedly went to Maharaj.
Maharaj was sitting there
Without any food that day.
There were plenty of sweet dishes
Prepared and served as
The holy offering. Some had brought
Jilebi, some had brought gheevar,
Some had brought motichur,
And others had brought shrikhand,
Puri and kheer.
But Maharaj did not touch
Any of these dishes.
Balabhau brought all the dishes
To him one after another,
And requested Maharaj to partake of the food,
As it was 1o’clock,
And unless he ate
The devotees won’t get Prasad
"The devotees do not dare to ask you,
So I am requesting you on their behalf." Said Balabhau.
Maharaj said to Balabhau,
"Please do not press me,
I shall take my food today
Late in the afternoon.
Let them wait till then,
Or let them take the Prasad
To their homes."
When Bhau arrived,
Maharaj’s face beamed with joy.
And he cast a loving glance
At Bhau, even as a mother would do.
Bhau fell prostrate before Maharaj
And stood aside,
Waiting for his command
Maharaj looked at Bhau
And said unto him smilingly,
"Why, you invite me for food
And bring it at so late an hour.
Is this the time to take food?
I accepted your invitation
And so I have not taken food so far.
Come on, bring your shidori."
Bhau’s joy knew no bounds.
He told Maharaj
That he missed the train,
And that was the reason
Why he could not come in time.
Balabhau stopped him and said,
"Now please do not waste time
And lament over the missed train.
Maharaj is without food,
Open your shidori. What have you brought?
Bhau Kavar took out the shidori
And placed the bhakaris
And besan and onions and chillies
Before Maharaj.
Maharaj partook of two bhakaris
And the third one was
Given to others as Prasad.
All the devotees now knew
How Maharaj loved his devotees.
They remembered that
Long long ago, in Hastinapur.
Bhagavan Krishna went to Vidura.
Leaving the sumptuous feast
Thrown in his honour by Duryodhan
And there partook of hulges
Prepared by Vidura.
That scene did take place
Again here in Shegaon.
Maharaj did not touch
The sweet dishes,
Offered by the rich devotees.
Bhau also took a little Prasad.
So Maharaj told him,
"You may return now to Akola,
You will pass the examination
Next year and will be a doctor."
Bhau prayed to Maharaj
To bless him so that
He may never forget
The holy feet of Maharaj.
There was one farmer
By name Tukaram Shegaokar
A resident of Shegaon
He was poor and hard working.
Every evening he used to come
To math and used to fill chilim
For Maharaj and then
After some time used to leave
To do his daily work in the farm.
One day he was in his farm.
A man with a rifle on his shoulder
Came in search of a rabbit.
Tukaram was warming himself
Near fire, kindled
In the courtyard.
Behind his back
There was a compound of thorny bushes.
A rabbit was hiding there.
The hunter did not see Tukaram,
He fired. The rabbit was killed by a lead ball.
But one lead ball
Hit Tukaram and it went
Right upto his head,
Doctors and surgeons
Could not take it out.
It gave him constant pain.
The pain persisted
And there was no end to it.
Even in that painful condition
he used to come to the math.
One day, one devotee said to him,
"Enough of visiting the surgeons and physicians!
The service of a saint
Is the best medicine in this world,
It is a panacea.
You come here daily
And sweep the premises.
If Maharaj so please, you will be cured
Of your painful headache.
But do not do this job
With a sense of pride,
As your father used to do.
Be humble and pure in mind
And do everything with devotion."
Tukaram commenced sweeping the premises,
All the premises, thereafter,
Were spick and span.
He continued to do so for full fourteen years.
And one day
While he was sweeping the courtyard
The lead ball fell from his ear
As would the seed fall out
Off a ripe berry.
When the ball fell out of the ear
The pain stopped.
Tukaram continued to sweep
The courtyard of the math till the last day of his life.
Experience surely
Cleanses one’s doubts
And confirms one’s devotion.
A firm devotion emancipates a man. There is no nobler path
Than the service of the saints.
May this Gajanan Vijay of Dasaganu
Show the right path to the devotees !
END OF CHAPTER SIXTEEN