I Am An Astrologer – Shirdi Sai Baba

Nanasaheb Chandorkar, one of the pet devotees of Sai Baba was imparted abstruse teachings of life in various simple and practical dealings in his life by his very own Guru – Sai Baba. But sometimes, even if Sadguru is with us to guide in each and every step, we, being too much possessed and surrounded by our own intellect, forget to traverse the ways shown by Him. Two such incidents are narrated in this post.

• Importance of charity has been depicted in almost all religions and Baba, Who did not belong to any particular sect or cult, reminded His devotees of this virtue as the foremost one. Nevertheless His devotees were constantly advised to give away charity without expectation of any reciprocation and it must be free from any feeling of showing gratefulness to the acceptor. But this is not put into practice by us as required. Baba, giving advice to Nanasaheb in this respect once said, “Nana, if anybody comes to you and asks anything, let alone alms, satisfy that person’s demand as per your capacity. Do not say ‘No’. If you are not inclined to give, answer him humbly describing your incapacity, but do not be angry with the person or laugh at him. If you have anything with you and do not wish to give, do not give but don’t lie that the thing is not with you. Deny him with due respects and bear this in mind forever”. Then time came when this advice was to be put into practice and Nanasaheb did not act as advised. Let’s see how.

  Nanasaheb had once promised to donate Rs. 300 to Datta Temple in Kopergaon. But he could not do so because of some reasons and thus decided to go straight to Shirdi instead of halting at the temple and having darshan there. He chose a weird and thorny way on his friend’s advice. As a result thorns pricked them all over their bodies and they had much difficulty to reach their destination. On reaching Baba welcomed with a distinct behaviour by not talking to Nanasaheb. This troubled Nanasaheb and he broke his silence and the following conversation took place:

  Nana : Baba, why are You not talking with me?
  Baba : Nana, when a person promises Me to follow My advices and instructions and thenafter forgets it, what’s the meaning of talking with such a person?
  Nana : Baba, I remember all Your teachings.
  Baba : Gentleman, why did you resort to another way to escape from “Sarkar” (Lord Datta)? Because Sadhu (priest) will ask you for Rs.300 as promised by you? Is this the way to remember and acting on My teachings? If you did not have money or could not arrange for it, you could have disclosed it to him. Sadhu was not inclined to eat you up for not giving money. But it not correct way to drop the idea of darshan of God in order to escape from your promise to a saint. Have not thorns pricked you and your intelligent friend? So how can I talk with such personalities?

  Baba told Nanasaheb to shed away ego and anger while giving away charity.
  Baba : Nana, when anybody comes for alms to you, give only that much which your pocket allows. If that person is not satisfied and asks for more, deny him humbly and but never get angry.

• Happy and sad days alternatively come in our lives. We are very much attached to our family members and are always worried about their welfare and well-being. Thus it is painful when any of our family member dies. Nanasaheb also had to face such a situation. Baba has always said to His devotees, “Everyone comes and take away what they desire and wish, but no one even asks for the treasure which I wish to give”. Baba saved life of Mainatai (Nanasaheb’s daughter) by sending Udi at her delivery time, but the baby died after few months. Even before birth of the baby, Mainatai’s husband died. So she became widow at a very tender age and that too childless. This was a reason of worry of Nanasaheb and his family. When he went to Shirdi, Nanasaheb sat quietly in Dwarkamai. At other times, Nanasaheb and Baba used to talk with no pause and persons present in Dwarkamai drink that nectar to their heart’s content, but that day it was otherwise with Them. When Baba could no longer tolerate the silence, He directly started talking with Nanasaheb not minding his silence. He added and said, if you have come for baby and son-in-law to Me, then your coming here is useless. Birth and death, all these depend on previous births deeds. Even Almighty God’s powers are limited in this case and they cannot bring about any change in this phenomenon. Is is possible to ask sun or moon to arise two yards away from their original position? This is not possible and if done, all balance of nature will get disturbed.

  Nana : Baba, If it is so, then why do You promise someone saying “A son will be born to you” and exactly a baby boy takes birth and to some you say, “You will get job” and person gets job as said by You. Is it not Your miracle?
  Baba : “Nana, no i do not do any miracles. Astrologers, with their calculations, predict about happenings of next two-three days and some predictions turn out to be true. I am capable of peeping in future more than them. This is the reason that whatever I say, happens. My art is similar to that of an astrologer. But you people do not understand this. You take them as miracles, because you do not know the future. So ultimately credit of all happenings goes to Me, you all bow to Me and consider them as miracles done by Me. I offer your pranams to Father God and see to it that you are benefited.

© Shirdi Sai Baba Life Teachings and Stories