Satsang Dwaraka Mai And Baba

Satsang Dwaraka Mai And Baba

Dwaraka Mai And Baba
“Hech Aapuli Dwaraka Matha! Mashidiche ye aaki baisatha lekhru dehi nirbhaysth”[This is our Dwaraka Matha | The children who come and sit in this Masjid should have no fear.[Roughly translated] Baba said His Dwarakamai was “mota kripalu” [Tremendously Compassionate] and the bhakta could easily cross the ocean [Beda paar] of life. It was Baba who perceived the desires and longings of the devotees and granted their wishes. It was from this Dwaraka Matha that Baba performed His leelas for sixty yrs and beyond. Baba often told His devotees that He was here thousands of years ago!

The old Masjid was dilapidated, the floor was uneven with pits and ditches. The Dwaraka mai [the Sanctum Sanctorum was about 15 Ft by 17 Ft] This sanctified place with its contents can teach us many valuable lessons. Baba’s life itself is an example of the highest truth that all religions teachings are the same. On the other hand Baba taught by example. He gave no sermons; nor preached to His devotes, a word here or a sentence there was sufficient to push the devotees to the next stage of his spiritual development.

Let me try to decipher the meanings and symbols of ‘The Dwarakamai and Baba’s sojourn in Shirdi’; The King of this Universe; the maker of this cosmos lived in this dilapidated mosque. Where even the lizards ran away and took refuge elsewhere. Thus implying that only a roof is necessary to give protection from the elements. And one does not need a huge palatial building to live in. As one enters the Sanctum Sanctorum, one finds Baba sitting ‘facing the South’. He is ‘Dakshinamoorty’.The ever smiling Guru’ this ‘South faced Guru symbolizes the ‘fact that a man of realization has transcended time’. That the Guru’s grace as His inner realization is being showered on the devotees who are caught in the net of Yama, the lord of death .The Guru leads the disciple to immortality. The south is the special domain of Yuma .Yuma means control. It can be self control as well as a limitation over ones capacity.

Baba’s asana [seat] was a sack. In the sack the weave is very evident there is a horizontal weave which symbolizes mans life of hopes, aspirations, goals and greed for a thousand materialistic things. The vertical weave is the Sadgurus or Gods will. The intersections as it were are milestones in ones life. When the devotee achieved or did not achieve his goal, this represents the essence of life that we wish for thousands of things, but the result depends on His wish. And we should happily receive what He gives us.

In the North East corner Baba sat in the direction of Isaana. His left hand resting on the [Kathada] Railing. His legs outstretched. Showering His blessings on the devotees. There are eight directions or quarters in this world. Each protected by a Deity [Dikpals] Baba sat in the N E corner which is protected by Isaana on Vrishaba [Ox] This symbolizes that each individual goes a certain direction ‘or follows a certain path that makes or mars his life. According to his vasanas, it is lord Isaana who guides the world. He comes riding on the Vrishaba to exhaust the accumulated vasanas of the jeevas. Thus Baba sitting in the N E guides the individual in the right direction. Therefore any puja starts with “Astha Dik Bandhan”[The 8 direction Bondage] is done. Then the mind of the individual is arrested from taking any direction. He discovers his own true nature.

The floor of the Dwarakamai was clean and nea,t it was washed daily and a slurry of cow dung was applied. Baba had an akhand deep [an ever burning lamp] which symbolizes an inner light. Baba got up very early in the morning and was found sitting in front of Dhuni Maa [Agni ] AGNI means leading [Nirukti Ref] i.e. leading towards evolution. Fire is death to everything and water is death to fire. If there are sins that are not burnt ; then water will destroy it as it destroys fire.

Baba went to Lendi Baugh twice a day; here Lendi Baugh represents a garden with a multitude of shrubs of different varieties along with weeds. Baba went in procession up to Lendi Baugh but entered the Baugh alone. There like a gardner He tended to and nurtured the plants [His devotees] The weeds symbolize the various destructive tendencies that take hold of our lives and pull us in a different direction. When Baba went to Lendi Baugh. He threw water in four directions. Baba would sit facing west the domain of Varun [Rain] Varun means ‘choicest things’ and also veiling [Maya] ref Ni #10[3rd St] Varun is on Makara [Crocodile] which is the hand of time; So Dhuni Maa symbolizes one should burn the internal Dhuni and offer greed and desires as oblation In Bhadrinayka Upanishad #2 ch5 sloka 9-14 says ‘God offered Faith as an oblation to fire [Heaven] thence came the moon.”

The Nimbar is on the Eastern wall it represents Mecca and Muslims do namaz facing it. Baba however sat with His back to it during mealtime. Daily it was garlanded by the devotes thus one learns that all religions lead to the same goal or as Baba put it succinctly ‘ Sub Ka Malik Ek’

Next to the Nimbar was the ‘Jaath’or quern [Hand Mill] In the Sai Satcharitra # 1 The wonderful Leela of Baba grinding the wheat is given. Every day;’ day in; and day out Baba undertook the chore of grinding the sins; the mental; the physical afflictions and the miseries of His devotees. The quern has 2 grinding stones the upper stone symbolizes Bhakti [faith] and the lower stone is karma while the handle is Gyana .One has grind all desires; sins; the traits of Raja; Tama; Ahamkar to develop spritually. Through Bhakti [faith] Nishwarth[selfless] karma and of course the grace of the Sadguru and Gyana the goal can be achieved. Baba had but a few belongings that were kept in the Dwarakaai. These were [1] The Matka or the Water Pot. It was an earthen vessel, used for storing water. The mud-pot symbolizes the human body that can break [die] at any time. Thus the transience or temporary nature of the human life.

Baba had but a few belongings that were kept in the Dwarakamai. These were [1]the Matka [Water pot] it was an earthen vessel used for storing water. The mud-pot symbolizes ‘body’ which can break[die] at any time thus the transient or temporary nature of the human life. Water represents the ‘Atama’ [soul]. Which is the life-giving element to the body. Water is oudorless, shapeless, and colorless, so also is the soul. It is Nirlingi [genderless] , Nirlaptha [not affected by anything] and Nirvikari [formless]. Being so it will take the identity of any living being just as the water takes the shape of the containe.r The lesson here is that all souls or Atamas are one and the same. That Baba is in all and was in all. [Sai Satcharitra #9] Mrs. Tarkhad feeds a dog then a mud smeared pig and Baba’s hunger is appeased.

(to be contd…..)

Source Shri Sai Leela Magazine