Satsang DAS GANU By R. S. Gavankar

When soon thereafter, the actual message about Shri Baba's
Mahasamadi reached him, he went post haste to Shirdi with
a platoon of his disciples.
For full twenty-four hours, he and his disciples sang the glory
of God's names continuously and placed this figurative garland
of God's names on the Mahasamadhi as their humble tribute to
Shri Baba, who was the very image of God. Das Ganu passed
away at a ripe old age, full of honours, a King among Kirtankars
and a cynosure to the eyes of the devout.

The main purpose of this brief article is to bring out how on one
occasion Das Ganu was moved to tears by a miracle which Shri
Baba worked on him. On one of his several pilgrimages to Shirdi,
Das Ganu sought Baba's permission to go to Prayag for a holy dip
in the Ganga waters, at their confluence with Jamna and Saraswati
at Prayag. The time when he intended to go there was very
auspicious; but Shri Baba would not give the permission. Shri Baba
told him that such a long and costly journey was unnecessary, as
Prayag was where he stood if only he had firm faith in Shri Baba.
On this assurance from Shri Baba, Das Ganu instantly prostrated
himself on Shri Baba's feet and lo and behold, a trickle of water
began to drip from Shri Baba's toes !

Overwhelmed by this graceful miracle, Das Ganu, there and then,
spontaneously, composed a song to immortalise this experience.
This song shows the high degree of honour and devotion that
Shri Das Ganu had for Shri Baba.

An English rendering of this Marathi song is given below for the
benefit of those Sai devotees, who do not understand or speak
Marathi. The song occurs in Chapter 4 of Shri Sai Satcharita
written by Shri Annasaheb Dabnolkar, a sincere devotee of
Shri Sai Baba.
Song
1. "O King of Sadgurus, Your prowess and Leelas are inscrutable.
You are the mercy boat by which the Jada Jeevas would cross the
ocean of samsar.
2. You became for me Lord Krishna and took me to Prayag to
bathe me in the Ganga-Jamuna waters dripping from Your two toes.
3. You Yourself have become Brahma, Vishnu and Mahesh and
stride the wide earth.

(to be contd...)
By R. S. Gavankar
Bombay-400052
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