Salutations to Ganesh !
The lord of the ganas,
Who is of spotless glory.
Oh Ganesh reside in my heart
And crown my efforts with success.
You are the bestower
Of knowledge and of intellect.
You fulfil all the desires of a devotee.
You alone can destroy obstacles
You alone are the wish yielding gem.
All the puranas sing your glory.
Oh you son of Parvati,
An elephant faced lord with a single tusk,
You alone will remove all my worries.
There was one Bachchulal Agarwal,
A resident of Akola.
He was a rich generous man.
He once heard about the episode of Laxman of Karanja
And wanted to verify the story. So while Bachchulal
Was thinking so, Maharaj came
To him and sat in the verandah.
Bachchulal was happy.
He expressed his desire
To worship Maharaj ceremoniously.
Maharaj agreed.
Bachchulal bathed Maharaj
After anointing him.
Then he gave him a golden laced
Pitambar to wear,
He offered a rich shawl
Made of the wool from Kashmir,
He gave Maharaj a turban,
Laced with gold.
He garlanded Maharaj with a
Gold chain and put gold
Barcelets on both his hands
He made Maharaj put on gold rings
Studded with diamonds
On all the fingers.
He made Maharaj put on Pouchi
On his left hand
And a gem-studded neck lace.
Bachchulal offered sweets
Viz. jilebi, raghaodas and pedhas a
And pan (betel leaf) which
Had all the thirteen ingredients.
He anointed Maharaj with costly cosmetics
And sprinkled rose water over him.
He offered a heap of gold coins in a gold plate
Amounting to Rupees ten thousand.
He approached Maharaj
With a coconut in his hand,
"Maharaj, I have a desire to erect
A temple of Ram.
Every year at the time of
Ram Navami celebrations,
A lot of inconvenience is there
For want of enough accommodation.
The verandah of my house is
A small one, and a pandal also
Cannot accommodate the crowd.
Maharaj, you are my guru
Fulfil my desire."
Maharaj smiled at him benevolently
And said "Janaki Jeevan Ram
Will fulfil your desire,
But what have you made of me?
Am I a bullock to be
Bedecked with all these ornaments
On the day of pola?
Why do you give all this to me?
You want to drag me
In the mire of maya.
Or do you want to show off
Your riches, Oh Bachchulal,
Tell me why and for whom all this?
I am a sanyasi
I move about naked.
What shall I do with
All these things. Please take them back.
You have to live in the world.
You need money.
My lord is standing there
Over the banks of Bheema.
Can he not give me all this?
So saying, Maharaj
Scattered and threw all the ornaments
And tore off the pitambar,
And after taking a pair of pedhas,
Left the place.
The people in Akola,
lamented at Maharaj’s leaving the place.
There were a few from Karanja.
They said that our Laxman
Was really unfortunate.
He worshipped Maharaj
With the same grandeur as that of Bachchulal
But unlike Bachchulal
He had an attachment for money.
And he spoke of renunciation only outwardly.
Maharaj is wise enough to know this.
The hypocrites worship deities with words
They will offer a
Rotten peanut and will say
That they are offering
Sugar candy and other sweets.
They hypocrites will get their dues
As did Laxman get his.
Bachchulal is really great.
He is true in his words and deeds.
Now he has been blessed by Maharaj.
He will enjoy eternal happiness.
And he won’t lose his material wealth either.
Bachchulal did not know
Where Maharaj went so suddenly.
He searched for him in the entire city of Akola
But he could not trace him.
There was one Pitambar,
a devotee belonging to a Shimpi caste
These are tailors by professions.
He had served Maharaj with devotion
Pitambar was poor
And had not even enough clothing.
Seeing him in rags
Maharaj said to him once
"Are, you are Pitambar,
And you do not have
Enough cloth to cover your buttocks !
They laugh at you.
It is a good irony.
A woman may be named as Sonubai
And she would not have any ornaments even
Made of lead.
A women may be named as Gangabai
And she would have no water
Even to quench her own thirst.
Come on, take her own thirst. Come on, take this dupatta
And cover yourself.
Do not abondan it
Even if they tease you."
Pitambar wore the dupatta.
Other person did not like this.
Many a time, one devotee envies other.
Maharaj had a number of devotees
But very few had a real devotion.
Some such so-called devotees
Teased Pitambar.
They said
"Why are you wearing the dupatta
Worthy of Maharaj? Don’t you feel
Anything for Maharaj? By wearing
The dupatta you have behaved
In an unbecoming way.
Leave this place, as you have
Insulted Maharaj by wearing
His clothes."
Pitamber humbly said that
he obeyed Maharaj, and
Only wore the dupatta as a bade.
The devotees began to quarrel over this issue.
Maharaj was pained. He called
Pitambar and lovingly said to him,
"Oh Pitambar, you are now
Well settled in devotion.
Leave this place of they want you to.
When the child matures
Mother would leave it to maintain itself.
My blessings are with you.
Go and wander on the earth."
Tears gathered in Pitambar’s eyes.
However, he fell prostrate
Before Maharaj and left the place
He came to Kondoli,
And passed a day and a night.
In a mango grove the meditating
All the time over his guru.
There were ants where he
Was sitting. So he climbed up a tree,
But the red and big
Ants chased him there.
He went up and down on
Several trees to avoid the ants,
But could not find a safe place
To sit for meditation.
The cowherd boys were amused
To see a grown up a person
Climb up and down the trees like a monkey.
He went up to the top of the tree
Catching small twigs
And would not fall.
The boys were surprised.
One of them said, "A disciple of
Gajanan Maharaj alone can
Do such a feat. Come on, let us go home
And tell our parents.
So the residents of Kondoli
Came to the mango grove.
Some said, "This man is behaving
Foolishly, only to catch our attention.
A disciple of Gajanan Maharaj
Will not behave in this fashion.
Bhaskar Patil, who died in Adgaon,
Was a disciple of Gajanan Maharaj
He was great and he did not
Behave in this way.
Why a disciple of Maharaj
Would come to such a wayside place?
Who Would give up sweetmeats
Which one gets there?
Let us ask him who he is."
One man came forward
And began to question Pitambar
As to who he was and from where
He came to Kondoli.
Pitambar said,
"I am shimpi by caste
And I hail from Shegaon,
My guru, Gajanan Maharaj
Bade me move from place to place
Like a free breeze.
I came here and there were
Red ants here below,
so I climbed up here."
The men get annoyed.
Said they, "Don’t misuse the name
Of Gajanan Maharaj. He is great.
His disciples do not behave
Foolishly like you.
Will anyone believe a woman,
Who would say that she is a queen,
But is searching for a job on daily wages?"
One Shamrao Deshmukh,
From that village, came forward
And said to him angrily.
"You are a cheat !
Gajanan Maharaj is the great God !
Do not belittle him
By saying that he is your guru.
Oh you fool of a person,
Gajanan Maharaj once caused
A mango tree to blossom
And made the tree bear fruit,
Even when it was no spring time.
The tree belongs to
Baliram Patil and it has gone dry !
Have you any power
That will make this tree
Green with folliage?
If you can, then only we
Shall treat you as a disciple
Of the great saint,
Else be ready to get
A good thrashing from us.
We know that a disciple
Can rise to the same heights
As of his guru.
So do not delay now,
Make this dry tree green."
Pitambar was terribly afraid now.
He solicited them
To listen to him. Said he,
"I did not tell a lie,
I am a disciple of Gajanan Maharaj !
But don’t you know that
A pebble and a gem
would be found in the same quarry.
I am a trifle a pebble
Among the worthy disciples of Maharaj
My unworthiness
Won’t mar the glory of my guru.
Why should I hide the fact
That I am Gajanan Maharaj’s disciple?"
Shamrao said unto him,
"Do not babble now! A guru
Always saves a disciple.
A disciple when in difficulty
Supplicates to his guru, and even
if the disciple has no powers,
Guru comes forward and
Saves the disciple miraculously."
When Pitambar heard this,
He did not know what to do.
He at last closed his eyes,
And with great devotion prayed.
"Oh Maharaj, save me now.
I Know I am powerless,
But these men will belittle you!
I do not want that your name
Should be spoiled on my account.
Keep your word and
Let this tree be covered with folliage.
If you won’t show evidence of your greatness,
These men will kill me.
Did not Narahari
Revealed Himself in a pillar
To save Prahlad
Jani was to be killed on a spike,
But God melted the spike
To save Jani.
God did these miracles.
Saints also can do the same
As both are identical.
I know, I am insignificant
But a flower is held on the bosom
By dint of the thread.
The thread is exalted because of the flower.
You are the flower,
I am the thread.
You are musk
I am a clod of earth,
Contact with you made me fragrant.
I am in troubles now on your account,
Come and save me. Let this dry tree
Be green with leaves."
Pitambar said to the men,
"Let us sing the glory of guru."
Men chanted the name of Gajanan Maharaj,
The bhajan lasted for a few moments,
And lo!
There were sprouts on the dry tree
Within a wink of an eye.
Leaves covered the dead wood.
People won’t believe! They thought
That they were in a dream.
Some of them pinched themselves
To shake off the dream.
Some said that it is a najarbandi
As when a magician
Makes a rope trick,
Or makes a snake rustle
Out of a leather cord,
Or makes pieces of earthen tiles
Look like silver rupees.
But this was not so.
They plucked the leaves
And out came the sticky juice.
All of them again shouted,
"Gajanan Maharaj ji ki jay."
Now none dared doubt
The discipleship of Pitambar.
They bodily lifted him
And carried him to the village
With due fanfare.
They thought that one day
Gajanan Maharaj may visit
Them only if to see his ardent disciple.
Samartha Ramadas had sent
His disciple Kalyan
To Domgaon to do good to the world,
In the same way Gajanan Maharaj
Has sent Pitambar to Kondoli.
The mango tree is still there in Kondoli,
It bears more fruit
Every year than any other tree.
The residents of Kondoli
Honored Pitamabar.
Was he not a separated piece
Of a diamond ?
They built a math for Pitambar.
Pitambar left his mortal body in Kondoli.
Maharaj was in Shegaon,
He was as if in a lost mood.
The disciple asked Maharaj
Why he was not cheerful.
Maharaj said, "Now that
Krishna Patil is no more,
Who will give me the soft
Areca nut treated with kath? He used to give me
That type of nut daily!
Ram, the son of Krishna Patil, is a kid,
Ram has time to grow up and serve me.
I think I should quit this place now."
When the disciples heard this,
They were afraid lest Maharaj
Should leave them.
So all of them came together,
Shripat Rao, Bankatlal
Tarachand Maruti and all.
They entreated and all.
They entreated Maharaj
Not to leave them.
They wanted Maharaj to choose
Any other spot in Shegaon.
Maharaj said that
There were feuds in the town
And that he did not want
To be a partisan.
He wanted a place
Not owned by anyone in the town,
Else he would prefer to quit the town.
All the devotees were worried
How could they find a place
Not owned by anyone of them?
The devotees adored their guru.
How would the Government do so
And grant a piece of land
To a religious saint?
Bankatlal said to Maharaj,
"This is not our own Government
How would the British
Grant a piece of land for Maharaj"
Maharaj should accept
Any of the devotee’s land."
Maharaj said, "How do you talk?
The land belongs to God.
There had been kings and emperors
In this world. It is true
That they say that land belongs to the King. But in fact
It belongs to Pandurang.
Go, and try. Do not waste your time
In idle talks here,
Hari Patil will be successful."
So all of them came to Hari Patil,
They drafted an application
And sent it to Mr. Curry,
the Collector of the district Buldhana.
The Collected granted
An acre of land and said,
"You have applied
For two acres, but I
Give you one acre for the present.
If you would utilize it properly,
I shall add an acre to it next year."
This order can be verified even this day
In the Record Office.
So, see the power
In the words of saints.
So, then, Haribhau and Bankatlal
Set on collecting subscriptions.
In no time a large sum was collected.
God often fulfils the wishes of sages.
Vithu Patil of Dongargaon,
Laxman Patil of Wadegaon,
Jagu Aba of Shegaon,
Did not spare pains
In collecting the funds.
Here ends the 12th chapter
Of Gajanan Vijay.
May the reading benefit the devotees !
END OF CHAPTER TWELVE