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"Hansraj beats the cat and welts appear on Baba's back" is the 40th Leela in the series. In this clip, Vinny Ma narrates the story of Hansraj, a patient of severe asthma, who was advised to approach Baba for relief from his condition. Baba cautioned him not to eat yoghurt, acidic and pungent foods, but Hansraj loved yoghurt and could not live without eating it daily with his lunch. A cat started coming each day to his house in his absence and it would eat up the yoghurt. This angered Hansraj so much that one day he caught the cat and thrashed it.
That evening, when Hansraj went to the Dwarkamai, Baba told other devotees that here was a man who did the opposite of what he was told to do, that he continued to consume yoghurt which was not good for him; so to prevent him from doing so, Baba would go to his house in the form of a cat and finish the yogurt. And then Baba showed them the welts on His back, caused by Hansraj's thrashing of the cat.
This Leela shows that Baba can appear before us in the form of any living creature, and also, what may appear to be inconvenient may, in fact, be for our higher good.
Transcript
Hansraj Vaani had asthma; it was very severe and tormented him day and night. He was advised by Narsinga Baba Maharaj of Nasik to seek refuge at Baba’s feet. Hence he and his wife came to Shirdi and made it their home. Baba cautioned Hansraj, and told him not to eat yoghurt or acidic and pungent food items. But Hansraj loved yoghurt, and felt that his meal was incomplete without it. In fact, he felt that he could give up his life, rather than give up eating yoghurt. He forced his wife to prepare yoghurt daily, so he could have it with lunch. They had lunch after the noon Aarti, and while they attended it, a cat would sneak in and eat the yoghurt. This bothered Hansraj a lot as he had to have his meal without yoghurt.
So, Hansraj devised a plan. He asked his wife to keep the vessel in a sling and hang it from the rafters. Nonetheless, the cat somehow managed to eat it. One day, he decided to catch the cat in the act and give it a good thrashing. He waited with a stick in his hand for the cat to commit the act. Indeed the cat came into the house, and somehow managed to climb up and eat the yoghurt. As soon as the cat had finished eating, she descended and Hansraj gave her a good flogging.
In the evening, Hansraj went to the Dwarka Mai, where Baba was sitting with his devotees. Baba looked at Hansraj and said, “There is an Utpatiya who does the opposite of what he is asked to do, and who wants to die by eating sour and pungent things. But I will not allow him to do so. I went to his home in the form of a cat to eat the yogurt, and he gave me a good thrashing.” Then Baba exposed His back and there were red welts from the beating. Many a time, Baba appeared before His devotees to assure them or satisfy them, but He did so in a unique manner and appeared in different forms. “Sometimes. I’m a dog. Sometimes, I’m a pig or a cow, a cat or a fly or an aquatic creature. In various forms do I move about in the Universe,” said Baba in the Sai Satcharitra Chapter 19, ovi 129.
This Leela of Hansraj is taken from Devotee’s Experiences of Shri Sai Baba, by Narasimha Swamiji.
A special podcast series by Dr. Vinny Chitluri which is on Baba's leelas and life history.