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'Manohar’s Pilgrimage Experiences' is the 45th story in this series.
'Sai Baba's Divine Leelas' is a new audio series compiled and recited by Dr Vinny Chitluri. Repeated hearing of these Leelas will deepen one's faith and love in Baba.
Transcipt
The next two Leelas describe the experiences that Manohar had while making pilgrimages on foot to various holy shrines.
Once, Manohar (his last name is not mentioned) was making a pilgrimage from Junagadh to Shirdi on foot. He had walked from Junagadh and had almost reached Porbandar. Just before reaching the city, he halted at a Ram Mandir, which was a short distance away from the main road.
There, he found a Ramanandi (followers of the medieval saint Ramanand) priest who was performing the worship, rituals and looking after the temple. The priest questioned him about the holy destination he was bound for. Manohar told him that he was walking to Shirdi. As soon as he mentioned Shirdi, the priest’s eyes twinkled with joy. He requested Manohar to stay overnight in the temple, and leave the next morning. Manohar gladly accepted his request as that was what he had intended to do. Then the priest served him a simple meal and they sat and chatted. The priest had a lot of questions about Shirdi, and asked, “Where in Maharashtra is Shirdi? How do I reach Shirdi from here? Is there a Dharamshala for me to stay in?” Manohar gave him all the necessary information.
Then the priest recounted his experience: “A few days ago, a Fakir came here. I welcomed him, and inquired if he would like to have a meal. He refused the meal, but he accepted the glass of milk that I offered him. We chatted for a while, but unfortunately his Hindi was very difficult for me to understand. The only sentence that I could understand was that he knew my Guru and then he had to leave. I requested him to stay but he refused. Just prior to that, he handed me a book and asked me to read it. The book was a religious text as it was wrapped in an ochre-coloured cloth. I accepted the book and put it away without opening it. The Fakir then left and I stood at the entrance as I watched him stride away. He must have taken three steps when he disappeared. I was surprised to see this.
I immediately turned around and opened the book he had given me. It was Sai Baba’s Charita. I opened it and looked at the photograph in it. I was stunned to see that the Fakir who sat here a short while ago was Sai Baba Himself. The Pothi was in Marathi so I was unable to understand it. Nevertheless, I asked a number of people about the photograph and one of them told me about Baba. He told me that Baba was a great saint who lived in Maharashtra, and that He had taken Samadhi in 1918.
Hearing this, I was very astonished. So many years after His Samadhi, Baba had appeared here. He had been seated here, and talked to me. I am from Uttar Pradesh and Baba from Maharashtra, and yet He knew my Guru. I had seen him disappear before my very own eyes. All this left me spellbound and I wished to visit Shirdi at least once.”
On another occasion, while on a pilgrimage to Rishikesh by foot, Manohar halted at Shankaracharya Nagar at the Ashram of Mahesh Yogi called Swarg Ashram. This Ashram was situated on the banks of the Ganges River, and Manohar intended to stay there for a few days. The caretaker of the Ashram was Ramnesh, who was a Brahmachari from the Gadhwal region. Ramnesh welcomed Manohar and gave him a room to stay in. What surprised Manohar the most was a picture of Baba hanging on the wall. He enquired about it from Ramnesh, who told him that a few years ago, a Brahmachari from Maharashtra had stayed in the Ashram for a few days, and prior to his departure he had given the picture to Ramnesh. Ramnesh hadn’t known anything about Baba at that time, but had accepted the picture happily. He had hung it in that room as he had thought that it would enhance the appearance of the room.
On one occasion, Ramnesh had fallen quite sick, and all the treatment that he took proved futile. Soon he was confined to bed. As he lay on bed in despair, his attention was drawn to the picture and he thought, “If I recover from this illness quickly, I will start worshipping you.” To his utter surprise, he started feeling better from that very evening and soon regained his health.
Thenceforth, he started worshipping the picture in his own way. Ramnesh recalled, “I was doing Yoga for a long time, and once I tried to do a very difficult Asana but was unsuccessful. Time and again I tried without success, so I decided to forget it. A long while later I tried the Asana again, but to no avail. Then I turned to Baba for help and said, “If you are a really great saint, I will first take your name and try the Asana, and if I succeed, then I will know for sure that you are a Sadguru.” Then he once again tried the Asana and achieved it effortlessly, almost as if he had perfected it under the guidance of a Guru. Thus, his faith and devotion in Baba grew even deeper. Ramnesh told many other celibates at the Ashram about it and they started ritualistic worship of Baba. Then he learned Baba’s Aartis and performed them daily. Although he does not know Marathi, he reads a chapter of the Shri Sai Satcharitra daily, and in 1979 he went on a pilgrimage to Shirdi.
This Leela was taken from Sri Sai Prasad magazine, vol. 33, no. 9, August 1979
A special podcast series by Dr. Vinny Chitluri which is on Baba's leelas and life history.