—- As Narrated by Shree Digambardas Maharaj
The original Village of Shree Sadguru Raosaheb was well known by the name ëKotawadeí. Kotawade is 12 miles from Ratnagiri and is located in Ratnagiri Taluka and Ratnagiri district. Kotawade village is very big and has 12 large public buildings. The ruler of a princely state of Sangli, Shree Patwardhan, belonged to the same village. Initially as a family priest of Sahasrabuddhe family, he came to Kotawade village. This Kotwade village is very prosperous and wealthy, and it belonged to the ahasrabuddhe family. A large number of houses of Sahasrabuddhe family are still thriving, today.
In that village, the family of Sahasrabuddhe had received the approved honour and all the authority of that village also.That Dhamaneshwar God is very strict and vigilant and thrives even today, thereby satisfying the needs of the devotees.
Shree Jogeshwari deity also self-existed in this village and observed by the family of Shree Sadguru Baba Maharaj. In such a village, favoured by the mercy of their family deity, the ancesters of Shree Sadguru Baba Maharaj lived; They built their houses in the open space. Their houses built on raised platforms still exist, built very strong and very nicely. One would get easily convinced about the devotion of the family to Lord Shiva and Goddess Durga. In such a pious family of Shree Sadguru Baba Maharaj, after certain period of time, one could also notice the beginning of devotion to Lord Dattatreya. If one goes beyond six generations from Shree Sadguru Babamaharaj, it can be observed that there the spiritual meditation on Lord Dattatreya had already begun and that place, even now, could be seen under the barren fig tree on a black stone in the form of the impression of feet of Lord Dattatreya. But today it lies in an uncultivated condition.
Verse:-
|| In this fourth age, know that the three headed deity of the Hindus ||
|| Who quietly reaches the pious proper devotees ||
|| Who holds the water pot used by an ascetic in the hand ||
|| One whose body is seen daily adorned with ashes ||
|| One whose beautiful face is seen delighted with mass of matted hair on head ||
|| That healing sound of Lord Datta dlights everybody ||
|| The one holds conchshell and wheel in his own hand ||
|| He also holds lotus and mace ||
|| The Lord also wears Yellow Garment ||
|| One who easily gives knowledge to life ||
|| One who wears established wooden sandals in the feet ||
|| And by enwrapping the tigerís skin, the ears get decorated ||
|| By exploring in the heart, Lord Dattatreya displays ||
|| And brings unity in life and Shiva ||
|| In their family intense worship of Lord Shiva ||
|| Was going on from the olden times too ||
|| Lord Shiva is doing religious meditation ||
|| He is also the Lord of Parvati ||
|| He is holding the moon on a spear ||
|| The beautiful Ganga is dwelling on his matted hair ||
|| That Lord Shiva is fully adorned with Ashes ||
|| He instantaneously fulfills the desires of the devotees ||
|| The entire Body is covered with serpents ||
|| He is accepting the skin of tiger and elephant ||
|| On the left side of the body Parvati is glittering ||
|| In one hand Lord Shiva is holding the trident as a kind of tabor ||
|| Lord Shiva by taking everything ||
|| By collecting the groups of Veerbhadra group ||
|| By Rama Naam daily ||
|| Lord Shiva is setting on the Girija Mountain ||
|| Lord Shiva , the God of five faces and three eyed God ||
|| Who protects the pious devotees, Lord Ganesh tells us to salute always ||
Similarly it appears that the house was in kind favour (blessed) of Shree Ganesh, the self-existent God of Ganapati-Pule, it is also noticed that the ancestors of this house were also worshipping Lord Ganesh.
|| The ancestors were worshipping Siddhivinayak Ganesh ||
|| By making a big festival of Lord Ganesh they were pleasing him ||
|| The ancestors were knowing ||
|| Even today the signs are being seen ||
In such a wealthy Sahasrabuddhe family, one ancestor of Sadguru Shree Babamaharaj, left Kotawade Village, came to another place and with the mercy of God started staying there and earning a livelihood.
The grandfather of Shree Sadguru Babamaharaj,Vitthalpant, lived near Borgeon in Rajuri village and from there he carried out his business. He had 108 acres of cultivated land. His profession was to cultative the land and carry on all the business. He had received this land from Ichalkaranji State
By the mercy of the Government the agricultural land made available to Vitthalpant at Rajuri Village, Vitthalpant was doing the agriculture very nicely. Vitthalpant led his life in such a way that he could feed and support all the animals. After milking the cows he took great care of them through his heart. He showed hospitality to all the visitors. His religious nature gave happiness to all the people.
|| To avoid mental grief you protect the animal properly ||
|| Including cows, she buffeloes and healthy oxes by taking care ||
Verse:-
|| Leading family life with full awareness ||
|| By doing daily worship and acquiring more knowledge ||
|| Extending the real love towards Lord Vishnu ||
|| Getting absorbed in the songs towards Lord Vishnu ||
Though engaged in business, he was a devotee , since he was engaged in devotion of God. In his family, the devotion of Lord Shiva, Lord Dattatreya and Goddess Jagadamba was going on. He continued the same with great faith & loyalty. He gave due consideration to the needs of all who visited him. On his way home from the farms, he would bring containers filled with fresh milk.
Verse:
Shri Vitthalpant liked horse riding. The horse he rode was very virtuous and gallant and had a beautiful silver anklet in his leg. Vitthapant was very tall noble person and skilled in business. At the same time he was very religious minded.
Verse:-
|| The kite was being flown in the sky creating a sound ||
|| Taking friends with him, he would get absorbed in the play completely ||
A ball of string used to fly kites was still lying in his house at Kurundwadi. Earlier, there was a system of preserving old news papers and documents. Accordingly he had also preserved old papers in his cupboard, in his house. Finally Shree Vithalrao – grandfather of Shree Sadguru Babamaharaj, expired. His son Shree Narayanrao was the father of Shree Sadguru Babamaharaj.
Narayanrao was well-educated He conducted all his business as per his fathers advice. Personally he was the devotee of Lord Shiva and Lord Dattatreya and he would worship both of them regularly. This fact came to light through Shree Sadguru Babamaharaj.
Shri Narayanrao was a Government servant . He was an overseer in P.W.D. Engineering Department. He was a very smart overseer. For a few years he was at Tasgaon of Ichalkaranji State. Later on, after his retirement, he continued to stay here. During year 1900, when the condition of Tasgaon worsened, he went to stay at Kurundwadi village which was located a bit further away from Shree Deo Narasobawadi.
|| The intelligent Vitthalpant built a beautiful house at Kurundwadi ||
|| Near Lord Dattatreya whoever was there, he was a generous person ||
|| That person shows the way who emancipated from the existence ||
|| As Appaji came near him, he was considered as fortunate and great ||
Shree Sadguru Baba Maharajís father got married to Yamunatai, a girl of Chitpavan Brahmin Community, in Borgaon.
Verse:-
|| Shri Modak the Chitpavan Brahmin of Borgaon was a wealthy man ||
|| His daughter Yamunatai was good natured ||
|| Being aware of her good morals and good character ||
|| Shri Modak got her married to Narayanrao ||
|| There was loyalty in the married couple ||
|| Both were good and virtuous, pious, religious and superior ||
|| Never regarded the hardwork involved in the domestic life ||
|| Always thinking of the unity in the work ||
|| After coming to her father-in-law house,Yamuna was given the name as Laxmi ||
|| She adorned Narayan ||
|| She made the title of a house wife very meaningful with her chastity ||
In this way Narayanrao and Smt. Laxmibai were continuing their family life in a nice way. Later, they gave birth to a good number of off-springs. The eldest brother of Shree Sadguru Raosaheb was born 23 years before him. He was named as Krishnaji. He was very intelligent and smart. Just like the incarnation of Krishna, which took place after the incarnation of Rama, in a similar way, after the birth of Krishna, good fortune dawned in the family of Narayanrao. The penance performed by the ancestors started giving results now. Their devotion towards God started bearing fruit and the time became ripe to bless the womb of Smt. Laxmibai.
When the Supreme Soul incarnates and comes on the face of this earth, which place would he choose ? When the ascetic takes birth on this earth, he would take birth at the place desired by him and then he would gain complete emanicipation.
The incarnation of Lord Dattatreya, as per the convention, entered the womb of fortunate , good and virtuous Smt. Laxmibai. Day by day she started sensing good amen.
Verse:-
|| By seeing that beautiful Brahmin family, pious, clean and pure ||
|| The spiritual preceptor came down by taking incarnation for fulfilling the work of the Lord ||
|| Where all the dignified people behave with virtuousness ||
|| In that family, the worship of God is being done with all devoutness ||
|| The honour of family always maintained and that is happening because of vows and obversances ||
|| For the delght of the parents, the rituals in the death anniversary and offering in memory of dear departed, being carried out ||
|| Knowing the worship and devotion and by seeing the merit of the family, Lord Vishnu was trying to enter the womb of Smt. Laxmibai ||
That mother Laxmibai who was very alert in domestic work and family life during this conception appeared more lustrous, noble and intrepid and more solemn.
Verse:-
|| That wife was very virtuous. She got accrued with noble foetus ||
|| She had the longings of a pregnant woman whos signs were fine and special ||
|| Doing the devotion of God was known in the temple only ||
|| By listening to the play of God would she get the happiness or not? ||
Narayan was working in the well-known Hubli City and rented a place there to stay. He also might have been aware to the positive signs during that period and accordingly he was fulfilling all the desires of his wife.
Verse:-
|| Day by day the womb was developing ||
|| Laxmibai was feeling delighted with good dreams,perfume getting displayed ||
|| The longings of preganant woman well getting displayed ||
Verse:-
|| Whatever Laxmibai desired all that Narayanrao was giving her ||
|| He was fulfilling all her desires by keeping her mind ||
|| She was delighted with pleasure| By knowing all her desires ||
This way, it was said that as per his capacity, Narayanrao fulfilled all the desires of his pregnant wife. This information was also provided by Shree Sadguru Babamaharaj. Accordingly, as the womb was developing, the husband and wife became more prosperous and those signs started to become more and more visible.
During those days, in the city of Hubli, lived a great incarnated Saint by name , Shree Siddharudh Maharaj. Hubli and nearby cities were overflowing with the reverberation of of Lord Shivaís name, “Om Namah Shivay” . Saint Shree Siddharudh Maharaj was a great devotee of Lord Shiva. He made the entire city holy for the purpose of forthcoming incarnation.
Swami Siddharudh was a greatly established Saint. He belonged to the Lingayat caste and had accomplished a lot of social work. He gave guidance to both, the curious afflicted and pious people in Hubli and surrounding area. By carrying out a number of miracles he made pious people get attracted to the path of devotion as well as lifeís highest objective. Such a saint, being aware that Lord Dattatreya,the incarnation of Lord Shiva is coming on this earth, had announced the proclamation in advance and spread happiness & goodness in all direction.
As and when the great incarnations take birth on this earth, saints take birth and make the land holy & pure. They get rid of oppression and sin and spread happiness everwhere. They do this in order to fulfill their own objective of spreading awareness in the society as well as do pre work for the forthcoming incarnation. Here too,it is clearly seen that the same thing had taken place much earlier.
Verse:-
|| Shree Siddharudh Swami personally did the growth of the religion ||
|| By presenting the devotion towards Lord Shiva, he directed the people on the right path ||
Hymn:-
|| Nama Shivaya ||
|| Aum NamaShivaya ||
|| Aum NamaShivaya ||
(repeat for five minutes) loud acclamation of Lord Shiva.
This way, for the annihilation of the demonic power and for the increase in divine power, Saint Shree Siddharudh Swamiji had already made preparations to purify the city and make it holy. By personally living there he also made the city a sacred place. During this period Laxmibai safely completed nine months of pregnancy and the delivery time was around the corner. There were excellent signs because:-
Verse:-
The incarnation of Akkalkot Swami was certainly taking place here|
Knowing this, even nature had held the purity in a large form|
The whole land had become prosperous with wealth and food grains. After the end of mansoon there was prosperity allround and growth of abundant corns. Due to the allround prosperity, people appeared happy and enthusiastic. The whole land appeared lustruous and beautiful. In such an auspicious time and occasion, the incarnation of the Lord was to take place because Shree Swami Samarth had chosen such an excellent day and time. Previously, in this same time period, Lord Krishna had liberated Tripursur from this earth, the same period of Kartik Poornima had come close by.
|| After the rise of the fullmoon in the sky ||
|| The darkness of the pitchdark night was going to the side ||
|| The breeze of the cold wind was giving pleasure to the life ||
|| By following the happy time Smt. Laxmibai completed ||
|| Nine months and nine day ||
|| And her delivery pain starte ||
|| The incarnation time of Lord had come close by ||
Verse:-
|| That Kartik month the eighth month of the year is a happy mont ||
|| That lunar day is also the full-moonday ||
|| By meditation the time has become very Alert ||
|| By knowing that the Lord is coming on this earth,everybody got delighted ||
|| Even Gods came in the sky in the form of micro-organism ||
|| to see Lord coming on this earth ||
|| On midday there was sun ||
|| Lord Hari took birth on Bharani star on Wednesday ||
Verse:-
|| Laxmibai delivered and a son was born ||
|| During the auspicious time afternoon ||
Verse:-
|| Lord Hari was showered with countless flower ||
|| And the Lord was delighted ||
|| Lord Dattatreya incarnated on this earth in human form ||
That time Ravi the sun in nineth place and he was in the sign of Zodiac Tula. Shukra was belonging to the sign of Taurus and located in the fourth Zodiac sign. The Moon was belonging to the sign of Ariesand located in third of Zodiac sign. The planet Jupiter the preceptor of God was located in the sixth Zodiac sign of Kartika and other planets were also sacred only. Because Lord Dattatreya was taking birth on this earth, hence at that time the attendant planets of Lord Dattatreya working with his orders certainly would be sacred only
During such a sacred time, to the pious couple Shree Narayan and Smt. Laxmibai, the incarnation of Lord Dattatreya, Akkalkot Niwasi Shree Swami Samarth Maharaj, for the sake of his own disciple and to complete the unfinished objectives of his disciple, incarnated in the year 1805 in the city of Hubli. With his birth Hubli city became sacred. Blessed is the city of Hubli and the family of Shree Laxmi Narayan Sahasrabuddhe where Lord Guru Datta and Lord Shiva incarnated with form and attributes, to prove the adage “Bhaktajanpriya BhaktaKaaj Kalpadrum” [Translated: To remove all doubt and fulfill the desire of his dearest devotee]. Many women along with their husbands, attended the ceremony. In order to clean and bath the newborn the midwife was present and so were all the other women folk. As per the religious conventions, the sacred rites sacred bathing rites commenced for the newly born Lord.
Verse used during the first bath for the New Born Lord
|| Sacred Ganga is born at the lotus feet of the Lord. That water after the bath is fragrant ||
|| By taking the child in hand,she is seeing his lotus face frequently ||
|| The Lord, full of life, will be affected by evil eye. Hence she applied to him the dust from her feet. You see the truth of this manhood. Likewise she appreciates him ||
|| Quickly look at this auspicious child. It is said, he will grow in this place only ||
|| The whole body appears radiant. Please do not keep him in cold water for a long time ||
|| The child is excessively holy and pure and on account of him, the three worlds (Earth, heaven and nether region) became holy and pure and to such a child ||
|| How would you give bath? by keeping oneís head on the feet of such a child I, an humble servant is saluting ||
One can only imagin the happiness which the mother might have felt. Only a mother would understand it. It was rather surprising that the delivery took place without any problems at all, what typically is also known as an ordeal. One can only imagin how the bathing ceremony was held at the time.
This is how, as per existing convention, the divinely pure baby was given its bath and massaged; because how will common people, who were always under the influence of illusion, comprehend the real nature of the Lord? As long as ignorance existed, the real nature of the Lord no one can comprehend the true nature of the Lord.
For the first ten days, all types of rituals were carried out as per tradition. On the eleventh day of the fortnight, once the purification rituals were completed and on the twelth day the naming ceremony was held as per tradition.
For naming ceremony, married women adorned with jewels and beautiful traditional outfits, gathered in the house of Narayanrao a.k.a Appaji Sahasrabuddhe with great entusiasm. Joyful atmosphere permeated everywhere. Generally, most people love children and often have a sense of admiration towards them. A child is passionless and loyal. A child only finds happiness in his mother and no where else, because since they are passionless and content they exibit their godly nature. Obviously everyone is delighted to be present during such an joyful occasion.
Such a moment of happiness, to put that child in the cradle by first laying all the soft bedspreads. Then the childís garment would be introduced in the cradle. To avert an evil eye a mark of lampblack was put on the forehead of the child and all the preparations were made, to put that incarnated child of Lord Dattatreya in the cradle. Once the infinite and omnipresent supreme being takes finite form (human being) , he has to undergo all the formalities as per the traditions prevalent in the society and the all powerful Adimaya, the dynamic illusionary force, lays her complete influence over it.
Remaining part to be added shortly……………