Vinny Chitlury: Babas Rinanubandh

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Leela 41 : Lakshmi Bai Tuse 56 Leela 42 : Shakaram Krishna Pangarkar 57 Leela 43 : Ramachandra Keshev Naik 58 Leela 44 : Nangin Das Motilal 60 Leela 45 : Householder and His Younger Brother 60 Leela 46 : Tumache Me Bhar Vahine Sarvatha (I will carry your burden) 62 Leela 47 : "What a Great Mother You Are? Here Take Your Baby" 62 Leela 48 : Kashinath Shankar Dubey and Raghunath Dubey 63 Leela 49 : Eka Sai Bhakta Kadun [From A Sai Bhakta] 64 Leela 50 : Mrs Jog and the Buffalo 65 Leela 51 : Jog and Ganga Snaan 66 Leela 52 : Vitthal Darshan 67 Leela 53 : Shankar Rao Gavankar and Lala Lakhmichand 68 Leela 54 : Yoga and Siddhis 70 Leela 55 : Goddess Annapurna in Shirdi 71 Leela 56 : Baba Goes Three Times a Day to Tarkhad's Home 72 Leela 57 : Babancha Hemard Offers Paan Vida to Baba 73 Leela 58 : Ram Krishna Nana Vagal and Harish Chandra Pithale 74 Leela 59 : Harish Chandra and his Epileptic Son 76 Leela 60 : Purushotham R. Avasthi and Radha Krishna Mayi's Leelas 76 Leela 61 : Avasthi's Prasad 77 Leela 62 : Madhav
Rao Deshpande [Shama] 77 Leela 63 : Shama's Quest to Know the Ramayana 78 Leela 64 : Shama Had an Eye Infection 78 Leela 65 : Baba Shows Shama the Trilok (Three Worlds) 79 Leela 66 : Shama and the Vishnu Shashranaam 80 Leela 67 : Shama and Money 80 Leela 68 : Shama Visits Nagpur 82 Leela 69 : Shama and Ekadashi Fast 82 Leela 70 : Ramachandra M Adkar 84 Leela 71 : Gopal Rao Somnath Nimonkar 84 Leela 72 : Sarojini Muley (Kaka Sahib Mahajini's Daughter) 85 Leela 73 : Baba's Pocket 85 Leela 74 : Savitri Bai Raghunath Tendulkar 86 Leela 75 : Mahadev N. Chandorkar alias Bapu 88 Leela 76 : Babu Chandorkar alias Vasudev Narayan Chandorkar 89 Leela 77 : Raghuvir B. Purandhare 89 Leela 78 : Samadhi of K. J. Bhishma 90 Leela 79 : Lakshmi Bai Chinchnikar 91 Leela 80 : Abdul Jan Pathan 92 Leela 81 : Ram Baba 92 Leela 82 : Bala Sahib Rudra 93 Conclusion 94

Vinny Chitluri:Baba`s Rinanubandh

Preface

My father in 1950, on one of his visits to Shirdi brought N.V. Gunaji's Shri Sai Satcharita. We took
turns to read it. At that time I read it more like a storybook. I learned about Baba's leelas and His divinity. Through the years I read and reread it. But I could not understand many things. For instance, Mrs Tarkhad's son was sitting in the Dwarkamai right in front of Baba, yet he wanted to return home to offer naivedya to the photograph? Who was this child? Why couldn't he just offer naivedya to the Shaktar Ishwar sitting in front of him? Was there another story in this story? (Shri Sai Satcharita, Chapter 9). It bothered me a lot that Baba who had control of the elements [Shri Sai Satcharita, Chapter 11] who was "Deva di Dev" [God of God's] lost a wrestling bout with Mohiddin? [Chapter 5]. The Parabhrama, who made this shrishti [cosmos], and guided it! He who was omnipresent and omnipotent, after losing this match wore a torn kafni. Why a Kafni? What did it symbolise? Baba, though God Almighty on a personal level was close to the common man, the rustic villager; the well educated, and famous devotee. The
rich and the poor, the famous and not so famous flocked to His feet. Was it because of His `chamatkars'? Or was it His equality of vision? Was there something deeper, a rinanubandh [karmic ties or debt] that brought them to Shirdi? They came not knowing what to expect! And they stayed devoted to Baba for the rest of their lives. His divinity, His love, and compassion, His equality of vision endeared Him to every devotee. Almost in each and every chapter of the Shri Sai Satcharita there are portions, words and parables that I could not understand. So I set out trying to find some answers. Along the way I met the descendants of these "Ankita Bhaktas". I pestered them with questions about their grandparents. I read various books, old Sai Leela magazines, and other books and found some answers there. At other times I drove my friend Manjula nuts. I coerced her to read the Upanishads and Nirukti and find answers for me. "Do anything, read anything but give me answers with references," I said. And she did. That's
what Gurus are supposed to do! Not all the material is in this book. I for one found many answers. As I am sure many of you did. Some I have included, and you may have found other answers. But at least it is a start. This book is a kaleidoscope, of leelas, photographs, and lives of some devotees which illustrate the karmic and rinanubandhic ties with Baba. I strongly believe that the visuals stay with us for a long time. I hope, that this book will make reading of Shri Sai Satcharita easier and fruitful. Vinny Chitluri

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Vinny Chitluri:Baba`s Rinanubandh

Acknowledgements

I owe a debt of gratitude to Sada S Ghode for searching for the descendants of these devotees. Gladly he set
out armed with "No names except those mentioned in the Shri Sai Satcharita. No addresses. No telephone numbers. Except a great deal of faith in Baba". Often he would ask strangers if they knew this devotee, and the stranger would say, "These days its hard to find someone with a complete address and phone number. And you are asking for a name, which is at least eighty-years-old. Good luck". But Sada felt deeply that with Baba's work nothing is impossible. And he did find them. "How?" I would ask. "Through Baba", he would say calmly. I am also grateful to my friend and mentor Manjula S from Bangalore, who searched for the answers. She would patiently explain again and again the meaning of the Sanskrit words. Frantically I would call her day and night asking if she had done the homework, I had given her, especially on Siddique Phalke. "Baba uses the number twelve a lot. What could it mean?" I would say. Manjula would send me books on numerology and various other materials. That was not available to me. Then she
would explain it till I was satisfied. Thank you my dear friend. I am thankful to V.V Leeladhar from Hyderabad, who made innumerable trips to Shirdi to scan the photographs and do all that was involved with the computer, as I am quite computer illiterate. He happily helped me in so many ways that it's impossible to mention. I would also like to thank Mr Surinder Ghai and his staff who spent a great deal of time with me, helping me in innumerable ways and publishing this book. Last but not the least, I thank each and every Baba bhakta who opened their homes and their hearts to Sada. Allowing him to take photographs and telling him everything that they knew about their ancestors. They answered his questions with infinite patience and grace. Vinny Chitluri

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