In Sai’s Proximity

–        Mrs. Mugdha Diwadkar

MHALSAPATI

From the time Baba arrived in Shirdi till His Mahanirvan, Mhalsapati was an ardent devotee of Sai Baba. It is very difficult to evaluate his services. He had turned his back on his family life and had devoted his entire life at the Feet of Sai Baba.

His full name was Mhalsapati Chimnaji Nagare. Though particulars about his birth are not known, it is estimated that at the time of his death he was about 85 years old. He was a goldsmith by caste and his several generations had resided at Shirdi. He had a house consisting of about 14-15 rooms and land admeasuring nearly 7-7.5 acres at Shirdi.

His family Deity was Khanderai. Because of this, he was a dedicated follower of Khanderai of village Jejuri in Pune district. At least once every year, he went on a pilgrimage visit to Jejuri temple. Basically, he was disinterested in worldly things. He managed his household expenses by carrying on the business as a goldsmith. However, later on when his business was not doing well, he started supporting his family by collecting alms as advised in a vision by the God. After he placed his entire faith in Sai Baba, he totally gave up all the worldly pleasures.

Mhalsapati had four daughters. Their names were – Janakibai, Seetabai, Rakhumabai and Vithabai. Their grooms were respectively from Asnagaon. Dochale, Dorhale and Sei. Mhalsapati also had two sons. The first son died at an early age. Because of this, Mhalsapati further lost his interest in worldly things.

Later on, due to the blessings of Baba, second son was born to Mhalsapati – though against his own wishes. As suggested by Baba, he was named ‘Martand’. He raised his own family of sons and daughters and died recently in 1986. Mhalsapati has narrated his experiences to his son Martandrao, who has written them down.

Three residents of Shirdi - Kashiram Shimpi, Appa Jagale and Mhalsapati were very thick friends. All the three were loving, hospitable and had similar natures. This was the reason for their close friendship. These three collectively took the responsibility of providing food, shelter and other requirements of any saintly or pious persons, who visited Shirdi. They greeted Gosavi with “Namo Narayan”. Bairagi was welcomed as “Jai Ram” and if the visitor was Fakir, he was received with “Jai Sai”. The guests were always received with utmost respect and affection. Kashiram Shimpi provided the foodstuff. Appa Jagale gave firewood, utensils etc. Mhalsapati used to massage the tired feet of the visitors.

As is well-known, at the age of sixteen, Baba had suddenly appeared in Shirdi and equally unexpectedly He disappeared. After a lapse of three years, Baba once again came to Shirdi. This time He came as a member of the marriage procession of the household of Chandbhai from the village Dhoopkhed. The marriage party had halted in Mhalsapati’s farm opposite  Lord Khandoba temple. Seeing the radiant young Fakir has come back, Mhalsapati, as per his usual practice, welcomed Him with “Aao Sai” and bowed down in front of Him.

After completing his Pooja, Mhalsapati partook chillum with Sai and then he took Baba to the Masjid in Shirdi. He made Him comfortable there and also introduced Baba to his friends - Kashiram Shimpi and Appa Jagale.

Thereafter, Baba and these friends used to sing songs, play games and smoke chillum. Very soon, Kashiram Shimpi and Appa Jagale became ardent devotees of Baba.

As narrated by Mhalsapati, when Sai Baba first came to Shirdi, His attire was saffron Kafani, saffron topi and saffron dhoti. Later on, Kashiram Shimpi stitched a green Kafani and topi for Baba, which He used to wear. After a few days, Baba started wearing white Kafani and tying dhoti around His head. He continued to do so till the end.

The Masjid, where Baba was staying, had become very old and dilapidated. Nana Saheb Chandorkar decided to reconstruct it. One day, after Mhalsapati arrived at the Masjid, Baba called him and asked him, “O Bhagat, who is that person standing outside ?” Mhalsapati replied that “He is Nana Saheb”. Baba said, “Are Bhagat, I wanted to ask you one thing. This Nana, who is standing outside, says that he will reconstruct a new Masjid. What do you think ? Should we get a new Masjid constructed ? Or is our old building good enough ? Why construct a new one ?”

Mhalsapati very affectionately and humorously said to Baba, “Let him construct a new one ! It will be convenient to both of us – to sit, as well as sleep”.

This conversation took place between the two while smoking chillum. Baba gave permission to repair the Masjid only after first asking Mhalsapati. As directed by Baba, Mhalsapati called Nana Saheb, performed the muhurta by breaking a coconut and the work began.

As is well-known, Baba used to sleep on alternate days in Masjid and Chavadi. Since the time Baba went to stay in Masjid, Mhalsapati and Tatya Patil started sleeping with Him there on alternate days, when it was not the day of Chavadi. Only these two had the good fortune to sleep with Baba in the Masjid. In fact, Baba always kept Mhalsapati and Tatya awake ! In the secluded atmosphere, Mhalsapati spent several nights in sitting with Baba and chitchatting till it was daybreak time. After the Mahanirvan of Baba, Mhalsapati continued his custom of sitting in the Masjid and sleeping there on alternate days. This continued till he breathed his last.

The relation between Baba and Mhalsapati was really strange, as well as intriguing ! It seems that, because of this, their extraordinary conversations took place in isolated surroundings. The discussions used to become more and more interesting while enjoying chillum. Baba was fond of smoking chillum. He was not used to finishing entire chillum. Mhalsapati, Tatyaba and Madhavrao Deshpande alias Shyama used to take 2-4 drags and pass it on turn by turn amongst the other people present at that time.

Late Kashibai Kanitkar has narrated her 1906’s experience in the regard, which is worth reproducing here. She says.....

“On alternate days, Baba used to come to Chavadi for sleeping. On that particular day, as per His custom, Baba and Mhalsapati came to Chavadi. They sat in the darkened area at the entrance of the Chavadi. My husband Late Govindrao Kanitkar also went and sat there. They were having a pleasant chat. While carrying on the conversation, Baba lit His chillum and shared it with Mhalsapati. It was also passed on to my husband.

It was difficult to know what they were talking about. But, from time to time, Baba was asking, “Ka Mhalsapati ?” (Isn’t it Mhalsapati ?) And Mhalsapati was repeatedly saying “Beshak, Beshak” (without doubt, without doubt) – repeating the words twice. However, a third person was not able to grasp, what they were talking.

Then, it was time to light the chillum once again and it was noticed that the piece of stone, required for the purpose had been lost somewhere. This was reason enough for Baba to become livid with anger and as if, He took the Avatar of Narasimha and started showering abuses…..”

Because of the continuous association with Baba, Mhalsapati was able to understand the meaning of outwardly weird actions. On several occasions Baba’s other devotees were puzzled by His strange and intriguing utterings. Many of them, therefore, approached Bhagat (as Baba used to call Mhalsapati lovingly), and sought clarifications in the matter. He was able to explain Baba’s symbolic signs or mysterious words.

While talking about this once Kaka Saheb Dixit said to Baba, “Maharaj, shall I bring a wooden plank for You to sleep – like the one You had earlier ?” Baba replied, “No. How can I sleep higher and leave Mhalsapati on the ground ?” Dixit offered, “If You wish, I can arrange for another wooden plank for him also.” Baba smiled and answered, “Will he be able to sleep on a plank ? It is not easy to sleep like that. I tell Mhalsapati, keep your hand on My heart and observe how Nam-smaran is going on in My heart, and if you find that I am falling asleep, please wake Me up ! But, he is unable to do even that. He starts dozing wherever he is sitting. Then, I wake him up by calling his name ‘Bhagat’. He is startled and rises from his slumber.’’ So, Sai Baba replied, “I am better off on the ground !”

In the evening, once the lights were lit up, Baba’s devotees were forbidden from coming into the Masjid - the only exceptions being Dada Kelkar, Mhalsapati, Tatyaba, Mahadu, Abdulbaba and Laxmibai. Barring these, no one else was allowed to enter the Masjid at night.

Mhalsapati had a liking for passionless life not having any interest in the worldly things. Baba allowed him to do so. Financially, he was very poor.  However, rather than spending his time on earning a livelihood, he spent his entire time in the Masjid serving Baba. By nature, he was extremely devoted to Baba and took pleasure in serving Him. Because of this, Baba was very much fond of him. Mhalsapati’s influence on Baba was also very strong. Because of this, the spiritual experiences felt by him were equally worthy.

Whenever Baba’s favourite devotees suffered from some ailments, Baba used to take the illness upon Him-self and gave relief to His devotees. Shri Martand (son of Mhalsapati) has narrated a beautiful experience in this connection. He says.....

“A forty year old story. My mother had gone to her brother’s place at village Nandur Shingote. As per his usual practice, my father was sitting near Baba. All of a sudden, Baba said to him, ‘Are, My devotee is suffering a lot from a boil. See, there is a boil on My hip also. But, now it will be cured.’ My father actually saw that Baba had a boil on His hip and He was suffering from the pains. He was, therefore, worried. But, Baba Himself said, ‘Don’t worry. It will be alright in two-three days.’ All this was ambiguous talk. My father did not realize that it was in fact related to him-self. After two-three days, the boil on Baba’s hip burst open. Two-three days later, my father received a letter from village Nandur Shingote. It was written that my mother had a boil at exactly the same place and had suffered a lot from it. But, as soon as Baba prayed in Shirdi, she was relieved of the pain and now, even the boil had burst open.

It dawned upon us that when Baba said that He has a boil on His hip, from exactly that time my mother’s sufferings had gone down. And, the day on which her boil burst open, same thing happened at Shirdi also. Once my father realized the connection, he became very sad for the sufferings taken upon Himself by Baba. My father said to me, ‘Are Martand, did you see ? To give relief to your mother, Baba took the agony of her boil upon Himself. Because of us, He had to suffer a lot.’ ”

Baba knew events of past, present, as well as future and accordingly, He used to guide His devotees. Once, He said to Mhalsapati, “Bhagat, at village Asnagaon (Taluka Kopargaon) don’t go to Rambhau Londhe and Dorhale’s daughter. You will be insulted there.” However, due to some unavoidable reasons, Mhalsapati was required to go to both the homes. And, as predicted by Baba, he was insulted there.

Once, on the occasion of the death anniversary of Mhalsapati’s father, several people had sat down to have meals. Suddenly, a dog suffering from scabbies came at the place and stood in front of them. As per his usual practice, Mhalsapati asked his wife to throw a piece of bread in front of the dog. However, as the bread was not given, the dog remained at its place. Finally, Mhalsapati smacked the dog and it ran away. In the evening, while he was preparing Baba’s bed, Baba said to him, “Ka re Bhagat, in the town, there is a dog suffering from diseases like Me. But, people hit it.”

Similarly, on one more occasion, a dog went to Mhalsapati. It was looking very ugly. Saliva was dripping from its mouth. Mhalsapati gave struck it and shrieking, it ran away. Later on, when Mhalsapati went to take Baba’s Darshan, Baba said, “With a great hope we went to Bhagat. But, we received blows only.”

The above incident took place in the morning. After two hours, in Dixit wada, people were busy with the meals. Suddenly, a dog appeared and stood on the steps. After it was driven away, it went to the neighbours staying opposite. It got beaten there and ran away yelping loudly. After hearing the noise, everyone remembered, what Baba had said on the very morning. They felt that a piece of bread would have served the purpose and the dog also would not have received a beating.

There is a story of, how Shri Vithoba took the appearance of a dog and went to Namdeo with a piece of bread in its mouth. Namdeo came with a pot of ghee and said, “Don’t eat the bread dry, have some ghee along with it.” 

Coincidentally, exactly this story narrated was by Das Ganu Maharaj in his kirtan on the same day evening. Further coincidence is, on the same day evening, Madhavrao Adkar was reading ‘Bhakti Leelamrut’ in the Maruti Mandir. There also the same story appeared.

Everyone was amazed by this method adopted by Baba.

Baba always kept Mhalsapati away from any greed for money. In spite of his poor financial condition, Mhalsapati on his own never accepted any money given to him by any one.

Hansraj was a well-known businessman from Dadar. In 1917, he was suffering from asthama and stayed in Shirdi with his wife for two-three months. Knowing the poor financial condition of Mhalsapati, he offered him Rs. 10. Mhalsapati declined to accept it. Hansraj, thereafter, handed over the sum to Kaka Saheb Dixit and suggested that Dixit should hand it over to Mhalsapati in the presence of Baba. Accordingly, while Mhalsapati was carrying on the Pooja of Baba, Dixit started offering the amount to him. But, Mhalsapati did not accept it. Then, Dixit told Baba, “Baba, please ask Mhalsapati to accept the amount or You take and hand it over to him.” To this Baba said, “For the time being, let it remain with you only.”

After some time, Mhalsapati completed the Pooja and went away. Then, Baba asked Kaka Saheb, “How many rupees are there ?” He answered, “Ten”. Baba asked him to keep them on His mattress and asked Nana Saheb Nimonkar to distribute the amount amongst other people. Thus, out of that amount, nothing went to Mhalsapati. Hemadpant has written about Mhalsapati that he was not a devotee of money; but he had great hunger for Paramartha (divine truth). He had placed his body and soul at the Feet of Sai Baba. He was affectionate and self-less.

Baba always protected His devotees from any hindrances in their progress towards Paramartha. While doing so, He also took their acid-test. Around 32 years, prior to His Mahasamadhi, Baba took a very strange and tough test of Mhalsapati.

On the full moon night of Margashirsh (a month as per Hindu calendar), Baba suffered from a sudden attack of asthama. To over come it, He went into a Samadhi and took His Jeev (life’s essence) to Bramhand. He told everyone around, “For three days from now, do not wake Me up. And at the end of the third day, if I do not rise, then [pointing to a corner of the Sabha Mandap (meeting hall)], dig a Samadhi there and place Me in it !” Then, turning to Mhalsapati, He said, “Bhagat, do not neglect Me for three days.” Thereafter, His body became lifeless and He rested on Mhalsapati’s lap. His breathing and pulse stopped. After some time, everyone gave up hope about Baba. Patil – Kulkarni carried out a panchnama (legal procedure) and started making preparations for the last rites. However, Mhalsapati had not given up hope and did not move Baba’s body even an inch from his lap. He sat day and night for three days. After three days, at three o’clock in the morning, Baba’s body started showing signs of life. The breathing began, eyes opened slowly, the stomach started moving. And, after stretching His body in different directions, Baba awoke and sat up.

This showed the real love, devotion and faith of Mhalsapati ! He was really blessed by his Guru.

Because of the love and affection, only Mhalsapati dared to physically touch Baba and applied Gandh / Tilak to His throat. No one else had the courage to do so.

Later on, Baba appeared in Mhalsapati’s dream - with Gandh and Utane applied to His forehead and both hands. Immediately, from the very next day, after completing the Pooja of all Deities, Mhalsapati started applying Gandh and Utane to Baba’s forehead and both hands.

This practice was resented by the Muslims. They complained about it to Baba. But, Baba did not heed to their request. The community then brought the Kazi (Muslim priest) from Sangamner. After seeing this, Mhalsapati got scared. That day, as usual, he completed the Pooja of Shani, Khandoba, Maruti and Ganapati and proceeded without doing the Pooja of Baba. As he passed the Masjid, Baba objected and said, “Are, why are you passing from the going outside, without doing Sa-gandha ?” Mhalsapati said, “I was avoiding it; because it would make Kazi Saheb angry.” Baba replied, “Apply the sandal-wood paste – here and here.” And pointed to His forehead, throat, head and hands.

Baba’s these words gave courage to Mhalsapati and with pleasure, he performed the usual Pooja. After seeing all this, Kazi Saheb went away. From then onwards, Baba’s Sa-gandha Pooja was performed every-day. The honour of doing it went to Sitaram Dengale, then to Megha and onwards to Bapu Saheb Jog. (In the early days, Baba once asked Nana Saheb Chandorkar’s four-year-old son Bapu to apply Gandh to Him.)

Mhalsapati’s Pooja carried on incessantly till Baba’s Mahasamadhi. Every-day Naivedya (food offering) was sent from his house for Baba. Similarly, as directed by Baba, Mhalsapati used to also carry the Naivedya of Sathe Saheb and Bala Saheb Bhate from their houses to the Masjid.

Baba used to foretell a lot of events that were to take place in Mhalsapati’s life. He also sent His several learned devotees to Mhalsapati. It seems that in doing so, Baba wanted His these devotees to see the life being led by Mhalsapati and emulate it. Because of this, in times of difficulties, many devotees relied on Mhalsapati.

Kaka Saheb Dixit has written about Mhalsapati that “He is an authority on Adhyatma. He is without any desires for the worldly things. Through him, Maharaj’s devotees gain knowledge and pleasure. After the Mahasamadhi of Maharaj, Mhalsapati was a place of solace for many devotees.”

Due to the blessings of Baba, Mhalsapati regularly encountered divine experiences. Once, as per his annual practice, he was on the way to visit Lord Khandoba’s Fair.  On the way, he stopped for a few moments at a well and realized that there is an acute shortage of water in the area. With sincerity and devotion, he remembered Baba. Immediately, a stream of water sprang near the well and the water was sufficient for the needs of Mhalsapati and his co-travellers.

Similarly, once, Mhalsapati was carrying the Palkhi of Lord Khandoba to the Fair at village Jejuri. He came to know that the epidemic of plague was currently prevalent in Jejuri. All the co-devotees panicked upon hearing the news. Mhalsapati was also uncomfortable and disappointed. He sat resting on the Palkhi. He sensed that someone has come at his back. He turned around and looked in that direction. He saw Baba there, Who immediately disappeared. Baba’s Darshan gave him lot of courage and he told everyone about the incident. All went to Jejuri, hailing Lord Khandoba and Baba.

In their stay of four days, they did not face even the smallest difficulty. Their pilgrimage tour was completed without any untoward event.

After their return to Shirdi, Baba inquired, “Are Bhagat, the Fair was good isn’t it ? I had also come there. Were you not resting your back on the Palkhi ? That was the time, I came there.”

Mhalsapati knew in advance, the day of his own demise. He also informed his family members about it. He sent a telegram to Kaka Saheb Dixit calling him to Shirdi from Mumbai. It is said that to facilitate Kaka Saheb’s arrival, Mhalsapati postponed his demise by a day. As the date of his death was known in advance, people from Shirdi and surrounding areas came and met him.

Such a pious man, left for his place at the Feet of Sai Baba on Tuesday, 12th September, 1921. His body was consigned to fire near Lendi Baug.

– Translated from original Marathi

–        into English by Sudhir

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