Salutations to Ganesh !
Oh, lord of Rukmini,
Resident on the bank of Chandrabhaga,
Oh Vishnu, bestower of blessings
On the virtuous.
Oh the sanctifier of the unholy,
Listen.
The greatness of the great
Depends upon the relative smallness of the small.
If there were no unholy men,
Whom would the Lord sanctify?
The miracle-stone converts iron into gold.
That is why it is precious.
Godavari would accept even a rivulet
As her tributary.
And so she is regarded as a holy river.
So I beseech Thee, oh Lord,
Succour this humble Dasaganu
Once Govindbuwa Taklikar
Arrived is Shegaon.
He was a kirtankar
Motey, the money lender,
Had reconstructed
An old Shiva temple.
So Govindbuwa came there
To perform the kirtan.
It is seldom that the rich
Care to repair or build temples.
They are generally attached
To their goods and possessions.
So, Govindbuwa came for kirtana.
In those days, kirtankar
Had to travel
From place to place, on a horse back.
Govindbuwa had a naughty horse.
It used to kick
Anyone with its hind legs.
It used to bite severely
with its sharp teeth.
Govindbuwa came there
And tied the horse
In the temple courtyard
With an ordinary rope,
As the iron chains were left
Inadvertently at home in Takli.
The horse could have broken the rope
As it was so accustomed.
So that day the horse remained
Tied with worn away rope.
After the kirtan
Buwa went to bed.
When the night advanced
And darkness increased,
An owl began to hoot
And other birds also wailed bitterly.
After a while, it was all calm.
Maharaj came there
Possibly to set the naughty horse right.
He came and slept
Below the belly of the horse.
Maharaj was singing his usual song
"Gani Gana Ganat Botey"
Now what can this song mean?
Can this mean that
"Consider, O Mind,
That thou art
To be counted as one
With that Divine self
Which encompasseth
The whole of this universe?"
Some say Maharaj used to recite
"Gina Gina Ginata Botey"
Whatever might be the meaning,
Let us go ahead with the incident
In connection with the naughty horse.
Maharaj came at the dead of the night
And slept in the space
Between the fore and hind limbs of the horse.
All the time he was singing,
"Gani Gana Ganat Botey"
Maharaj was as if roping the horse
With this mantram
To make the horse docile.
Govindbuwa had a light sleep.
Often he used to get up
And see whether the horse
Had run away.
The motionlessness of the horse
Baffled Govindbuwa.
The beast was never so clam.
Govindbuwa came and saw
Someone sleeping under the horse.
He recognized Maharaj
And the mystery was clear.
How could the horse be turbulent
In the presence of the peace giving Majaraj?
Govindbuwa praised Maharaj
For having cured such a
bad horse of his noxious habits.
Govindbuwa said,
"The horse or pony of Kirtankara
Should be docile
Should a shepherd rear a tiger?
This horse was causing great anxiety to me
All the time. None would even
Buy it from me.
None would even accept it
As a free gift."
Maharaj said to the horse,
"Are you aware that you are
Before Shiva? Give up all your
Bad habits and be a good horse.
Be as calm and quiet as an ox."
Maharaj left the place.
Next day Govindbuwa
Rode to the orchard.
All the men and women of Shegaon
Knew the naughty horse.
They said to Govindbuwa,
"Why have you brought
This naughty horse here in the orchard?
The horse will hurt
Children and women,
Who are working in the orchard."
Govindhbuwa smiled and said,
"My horse is changed.
Maharaj has blessed it.
Look, I need not tie it.
It will stand motionless
Under this tamarind tree."
It did. There were green vegetables
In the orchard. There was green grass.
The horse stood where it was.
So Govindbuwa came to the shed
And recited a shloka
"By your grace, even an evil person is
changed. Even the wish-yielding stone is of no use
when you are there. Oh Lord, place your hands on
my head and bless me."
Govindbuwa went away
With his horse
Which was now thoroughly docile.
Everyday many people used to come
To Shegaon. Each used to come
with a certain motive.
Once two persons from Balapur came.
Earlier they had decided to bring ganja for Maharaj
But while coming they had forgotten
This inspite of tying knots on their garment
Next time also they forget.
So when they prostrated before Maharaj,
Maharaj said, "See the way of the worldly people.
They tie a knot to remember things
And yet forget.
Even high caste Brahmins
Also are forgetful. They do not
Keep their word and
Fulfil their promise.
Of all the persons,
Brahmins should never be forgetful.
They decide to offer something,
And fail to do so.
There should be unity in words
And deeds.
Men should be pure in heart
Then only, oh Bhaskar,
The Blue one will favour them."
The two persons heard this.
They felt ashamed
And were surprised to know
That Maharaj knew their intention.
They thought of leaving the place
And getting some ganja from somewhere.
Maharaj said, "Please now
Don’t leave the place just now.
I do not hanker after ganja
What I wanted was that
You should be true to yourselves.
God only blesses those
Who are sincere and true
In their words and deeds.
Now go. Your problem will be solved.
Next week you should
Visit this place, five times.
Here stays Shankar,
The consort of Mrudani.
It is his favour that made
Kuber the lord of wealth.
Go and bow before Him
and do not forget to bring ganja."
So those two men bowed before Shankar
And returned to Balapur.
Next week their problem was solved,
And they returned with the
Offering of ganja.
Here is another story
Of Balkrishna, a devotee of Ramdas.
His wife Putalabai was also
A great devotee.
They used to visit Sajjangarh
Every year and that, too, on foot.
They used to hire one pony
For carrying their baggage.
And what was the baggage?
A patched up rug, a walking stick
And the "Dasabodha,
The book of advice by Ramadas
Balkrishna was a simple soul.
He was not puffed up with pride.
On the way he used to ask for alms
And cook the food
And offer it to Ram.
He used to sing bhajans
Accompanied by the rhythm
Of cymbals and Putalabai
Used to beat the musical brass plates in unison.
On the way,
They used to visit Sajjangarh
Khamgaon, Mehekar, Deolgaon Raja.
They used to pay their respects
Tt the shrine of Anandiswami at Jalna,
And used to stay for three days
At Jamb
The birth place of Samartha
Thence, they used to proceed to Divra.
And after worshipping the river
Godavari used to proceed to Bhir and
To Ambejogai. On the way
They used to visit the shrines
Of Baleshwara at Mohori
And of Kalyan at Domgaon.
They used to visit Narsingpur
And Pandharpur and Shinganapur.
As also Wai and Satara.
They used to reach Sajjangrah
On the 9 th day of the dark fortnight of magha.
They used to feed the Brahmins
To the extent possible.
Balkrishna was a real Ramadasi.
Now a days such Ramadasis are rare.
Balkrishna used to return
At the end of three days.
In this way he used to visit every year.
Now he was sixty.
On the 12th day of the dark fortnight
Of magha Balkrishna
Sat near the samadhi of Samartha,
With tearful eyes.
He besought Samartha,
"I shall not be able to
Come over here, hereafter on foot
Or even by taking resort to a vehicle.
Oh Mother, you know. This body
Is failing me now."
Having prayed thus he went to bed.
In the early morning Balkrishna
Had a pleasant dream.
He saw Samartha before him.
Samartha assured him,
And told him that he need not
Visit Sajjangarh thereafter.
That Samartha would come on
The next occasion
On the said ninth day
At Balapur.
He asked Balkrishna
To celebrate the festival there.
Balkrishna was overjoyed.
He returned home with his wife.
Next year Balkrishna commenced
The celebrations at his residence
On the first day of Magh.
Dasagodha was being read,
Kirtans were being sung during night
Brahmins were being fed at noon.
Aratrikam were being said in the evening.
The residents of Balapur
Contributed liberally for the festival.
On the ninth day,
While the image of Ram was being anointed,
Gajanan Maharaj appeared
In the door of Balkrishna.
All the men were surprised.
Balkrishna was very happy
When he heard that Maharaj had come.
Balkrishna said to himself,
"I am expecting
Samartha. He had promised me to come.
On the ninth day."
As he was musing thus,
Maharaj sang
Lord Ram retransformed
Ahilya into human form
Who was lying as a stone,
With the divine touch of
His holy feet, and made her
A heavenly soul.
Ahilya shila Raghave mukta keli
Padi lagata divya hovoni geli
Hearing the resonant words
Balkrishna ran towards the doors
And saw Maharaj in his glory.
As he bowed down, he saw
That he was standing before
Samartha Ramdas with his usual stick in one hand,
With his long matted hair
Rolling on his sturdy back.
There was a triple ash mark
On the forehead,
The lion cloth had the usual
Hirmuji colour.
Seeing him on his door steps,
Balkrishna’s joy knew no bounds.
Tears of joy rolled down his eyes.
In a moment the form of Ramadas
Would disappear,
And Gajanan Maharaj
Would appear instead.
The forms of these two great saints
Appeared and disappeared
Intermittently, as if on the screen
Of a cinema house.
Balkrishna was dumbfounded.
Then spake Gajanan Maharaj,
"Oh Balkrishna, do not be astonished.
I am Samartha, your cherished diety
Of Sajjangarh.
I had promised you that I shall come here
On the ninth day of Magh.
So I have come.
Now a days I stay in Shegaon.
How is it that you forget the soul
And remember the outer body?
Have you not read in the Gita,
That just as people
Throw away the worn-out garments
And take on the new ones,
Similarly the soul casts away
The worn out body and
Assumes a fresh one.
"Come on, give me a seat."
So saying, Maharaj
Followed Balkrishna in the house
And sat on a large wooden seat.
When people from Balapur
Heard that Gajanan Maharaj
Was in Balapur,
They ran towards Balkrishna’s house.
Balkrishna, however, could not decide
Whether he was honouring Gajanan Maharaj
Or Samartha
The sun set on the horizon
And night advanced and
Everyone was asleep.
Balkrishna again witnessed a dream.
Samartha was telling him.
That Gajanan was his recent form
Residiing in Shegaon of Vidarbha.
Samartha advised him to
Worship Gajanan in the usual way.
Balkrishna woke up in the dead of the night
And fell at the feet of Maharaj.
Said he to Maharaj,
"The Maharaj is fulfilled
The ninth day celebrations
Are accomplished in the
Same way I desired.
Now bless this humble soul
And stay here for a few days."
Maharaj said that he
Would return to Balapur
After a few days.
And saying this Maharaj had his food
And went to Shegaon,
And reached Shegaon in a moment.
Nobody saw him on the way.
Let this book written by Dasaganu
Bless the devotees.