When a soul takes shelter under God, then God also accepts the soul as his own. He is the Master of orphans. He gives shelter to the helpless. He gives strength to the weak. Then he takes complete responsibility of the welfare of the devotee. He always considers it, as a duty to save the honour of His devotee. It is always the vow of God that He belongs to the devotee and the devotee belongs to Him.
Your Honour Is My Responsibility
Attendance in Office
In Solapur Vishnupant, Chintopant Tol’s Son, was worked as a Government servant in the collector’s office. Once, Sri Swamiji came to Tol’s house. After finishing his bath and daily worship, Tol offered food to Sri Swamiji as naivedya. However, Sri Swamiji did not accept it. It was 10 A. M. Vishnupant had to attend his office. The collector and the officers were normally very punctual. So Chintopant told Vishnupant “You go inside, take food and then go to office”. However, Vishnupant was also a faithful devotee of Sri Swamiji. How could he take food before Sri Swamiji accepts food? So he decided, whatever happens, he will not take food unless Sri Swamiji accepts it.
Finally Sri Swamiji took his food at 11:00AM. Then Vishnupant finished his meals and reached his office. He then requested the Head Clerk to forgive him for coming late. The head clerk said, “Why forgive? Today you came to work even earlier to me. See here your signature is here in the attendance register”. When Vishnupant narrated the truth, all were surprised. By his miraculous work, Sri Swamiji had saved the honour of Vishnupant.
Four Thousand People Ate the Food Meant For Forty
Sri Swamiji took a halt in village Rampur near Akkalkot. Raoji Patil of Rampur had vowed that he would feed forty Brahmins in the honour of Sri Swamiji. Now when Sri Swamiji had come to Rampur, Raoji Patil decided to fulfil his vow. His relative Vithabai collected food items meant for forty people and prepared the food. Then Raoji worshipped Sri Swamiji and then offered naivedya food but Sri Swamiji did not accept it. After sometime he said, “Feed everybody”.
However, this created a difficult situation for Raoji. The food was meant for forty people only and thousands of people had come for Sri Swamiji’s ‘Darshan’. Meanwhile Sri Swamiji asked Vithabai to come there along with a basket.
Then Sri Swamiji placed food items like rice, bread etc. in that basket. On these food items, Sri Swamiji arranged to keep idols of God and Goddess of that house and then covered these idols again with bread. Then Sri Swamiji asked Vithabai to carry the basket on her head and walk around the Tulsi plan from left to right. Then Sri Swamiji took the Basket and kept it with him. Later, Sri Swamiji gave an order to feed all the people who had come for his ‘Darshan’.
People started enjoying the food. This continued till late night. Four thousand people enjoyed the food meant for only forty people. Still there was lots of leftover. This leftover food was distributed in the village. Even the next day, people accepted this food prasad. Thus Sri Swamiji saved the honour, of his devotee Raoji Patil, by his miraculous work.
Food for Thousand People
There is a similar narrative. A Brahmin from Mumbai lost heavily in the Stock Market. As a result of this shock, he died. His wife offered food naivedya to Sri Swamiji and fulfilled her vow of feeding a thousand people.
The Food Provided By Bhagwant Appa Sutar
Bhagwant Appa Sutar had dug a new well in his farm. He took Sri Swamiji to his farm to offer food. He had cooked food for three people. In the meantime, devotees and attendants of Sri Swamiji also arrived. In all there were fifty people and food cooked was for only three people. Seeing this situation Bhagwant Sutar got worried. Then Sri Swamiji spoke “Why do you become sorrowful? Feed everybody!”.
All the people present there ate to their satisfaction. Thus Sri Swamiji saved the honour of Bhagwant Sutar by his miraculous work.
Naivedya-Food of a Poor Woman
A poor woman had brought naivedya-food for Sri Swamiji with full devotion. But who care’s about the poor? She had a strong desire that Sri Swamiji should eat the naivedya-food. To fulfil her strong desire, Sri Swamiji called her near him and ate the naivedya-food. Then Sri Swamiji read her mental desire and blessed her with a son. Who else is there, other than Sri Swamiji, who can save the honour of the poor, as a saviour?
Rings Lost In Moharram
It was Moharram [1] day. The Hindu priest Sripad Bhat and attendant Bhujanga, both wanted to see the procession of Taboota [2]. They requested Sri Swamiji for his permission but it was refused. They asked again, but permission was refused again. Then both stealthily left to see the procession without informing Sri Swamiji. Sripad Bhat wore gold rings weighing three to four Tolas in his fingers. To prevent theft, Bhat gave the rings in the safe custody of Bhujanga. Bhujanga was so much overjoyed and excited to see the procession, that he started throwing sweetmeats and dried dates on the procession and in that excitement, without his knowledge, he even threw the rings.
They soon realized this fact and started looking for the rings. In that huge crowd of thousands of people how could the rings be located? They both got tired of searching and gave up. They were about to cry and in that sorrowful state they came to Sri Swamiji and started weeping. Sri Swamiji angrily rebuked them and said, “Though I had forbidden both of you from going to the procession, why did you commit this absurdity? ”. Bhujanga started crying. Whenever a devotee commits severe mistake the Sadguru always saves the honour of the devotee. Sri Swamiji said, “Do not cry. You will get back your rings automatically, simply keep quiet”. Shortly afterwards a policeman caught two people and brought them there. It seemed that after getting the gold rings, there was a fight between those two people and the policeman caught them. Thus Sri Swamiji saved the honour of Bhujanga.
Sripad Bhat
Sri Swamiji had sent Sripad Bhat to Banaras to attend a meeting of learned Brahmins. Sripad Bhat was a learned Brahmin but the learned Brahmins of Banaras considered him insignificant and so disrespected him. Sripad Bhat was totally disappointed and he wanted to return home. However, Sri Swamiji manifested himself there and ordered him to attend the meeting. Eventually, Sripad Bhat won the debate held by the learned Brahmins of Banaras. Those learned Brahmins accepted the Sripad Bhat authority and accordingly honoured him. Sri Swamiji thus protected the honour of Sripad Bhat.
Vamanbua Badodekar
Vamanbua after completing his pilgrimage went back to Akkalkot. He wanted to go to Ganagapur, but Sri Swamiji warned, “You will get trapped in water and mud”. Even so, Vamanbua obstinately disobeyed this warning and proceeded to Ganagapur. In those days there were heavy rains in that region. He got down at Udur station and started going towards Ganagapur. On the way there were small rivers. While crossing the river, he got trapped in the mud. While making movements to free himself, he got trapped deeper in the river-mud. He was trapped up to his neck. Now he started repenting for disobeying the warning of Sri Swamiji. He got mentally perturbed and started chanting the name of Sri Swamiji for help. Kind-hearted Sri Swamiji instantly came for his help. Vamanbua felt as if somebody pulled him out from that mud!
Then he went to Ganagapur. While taking bath at the Sangam he was saved from getting drowned in the river. When he returned to Akkalkot, Sri Swamiji said, “You are saved from getting drowned in the mud and water and safely you have returned, is it not? ”. Vamanbua prayed for forgiveness.
Kanphata Ekanath
Kanphata Eknath belonged to the Nath-Sect [3]. He was a devotee and attendant of Sri Swamiji. Because of his tall and muscular physique and hot-headed temperament, other attendants would remain subdued towards him. He would shower his anger on attendants like Sripad Bhat, Cholappa, Vishwanathbua, and Sundarabai. There was a fear amongst them that Eknath might take someone’s life someday and e was a fear amongst them that Eknath might take someone’s life someday and so a complaint was lodged against him and finally he was put behind bars.
Kanphata would never take his food without taking Sri Swamiji’s ‘Darshan’, so when he was arrested and put behind bars he remained without food for more than four days. One day Sri Swamiji was sitting in a farm near city gate. By some coincidence, prisoners were also brought near the city gate. Hearing the continuous shouts of victory in praise of Sri Swamiji made Kanphata very restless. He became very anxious to take Sri Swamiji’s ‘Darshan’. Finally he lost his control and got up from his seat with an intention of going towards Sri Swamiji. However, the policeman did not allow him to go and so Eknath knocked down the policeman.
He then seized the policeman’s sword and forced his way to take Sri Swamiji’s ‘Darshan’. An old Brahmin was sitting near Sri Swamiji. From a distance he resembled Cholappa. At the mere sight of the old Brahmin, who appeared like Cholappa, Eknath got infuriated and struck him 7-8 times with his sharp sword. Sri Swamiji witnessed this particular act of Ekanath. The old Brahmin became unconscious due of those sword-strokes. Nevertheless, the compassionate Sri Swamiji saved him from death since under normal circumstances no one would have survived even one stroke of Eknath’s powerful sword stroke. Thus Sri Swamiji also saved Eknath from the serious offence of murder.
The Veeda of Goddess
Vamanbua Badodekar, while on a pilgrimage, went up the Saptshringi hill in Nashik District to take ‘Darshan’ of Goddess Saptshringi. There, Vamanbua requested for the veeda from Goddess Parvati’s mouth as a form of favour or blessings. However, the priests of the temple started making fun of him and said “In case Sri Swami Maharaj of Akkalkot is the incarnation of the Divine Lord and your devotion towards Sri Swamiji is true, then Goddess Jagadamba [4] would bless you with the veeda from her mouth”. Vamanbua prayed to the Goddess and lo! The veeda from her mouth fell on his body. Vamanbua returned to Akkalkot and prostrated before Sri Swamiji. Sri Swamiji said, “You went to Saptshringee and started calling my name for help. I only had to bless that veeda to you”. Thus Sri Swamiji protected the honour of Vamanbua by blessing him with the veeda from the mouth of Goddess Parvati.
Waikar Brahmin
A Brahmin from a holy place called Wai came to Akkalkot. After taking Sri Swamiji’s ‘Darshan’ he spoke saying, “a few days back a saintly man came to Wai. After performing religious ceremonies for feeding the Brahmins in the cause of lord Dattatrey, he borrowed rupees twenty-five from me and then he disappeared. Thus he cheated a poor man like me. Maharaj I had lent the money in your honour. Should I suffer like this for my good act? ”. Sri Swamiji did not say anything.
There was a big rush to take ‘Darshan’ of Sri Swamiji. In the meanwhile, Sri Swamiji raised his finger and it pointed at the same Brahmin who had runaway with the money. Waikar caught hold of the Brahmin. A quarrel started between the two. Then finally the Brahmin agreed to having cheated Waikar. Nevertheless, he didn’t have the money to repay Waikar. Then Waikar seized few of the Brahmin’s belongings and returned home. Sri Swamiji did not oppose Waikar’s actions for maintaining the honour of his name. This way God protects the honour of his devotee.
[1] Moharram: The day of Imam Hussain’s martyrdam, which is held sacred by Mohammedans and celebrated as a day of mourning
[2] Taboota: The bier carried by Mohammedans in Moharram
[3] Nath Sect: A member of the medieval religious sect called the Nathpanth.
The Nath Sampradaya, a development of the earlier Siddha or Avadhut Sampradaya is an ancient lineage of spiritual masters. Its founding is traditionally ascribed to Shri Bhagavan Dattatreya, considered by some to have been an incarnation of Lord Shiva. However, the establishment of the Naths as a distinct historical sect began around the 8th or 9th century with a simple fisherman, Matsyendranath (sometimes called Minanath, who may be identified with or called the father of Matsyendranath in some sources).
One story of the origin of the Nath teachings is that Matsyendranath was swallowed by a fish and while inside the fish overheard the teachings given by Lord Shiva to his wife Parvati, who had taken her to the bottom of the ocean in order to avoid being overheard. After being rescued from the fish by another fisherman, Matsyendranath took initiation as a sannyasin from Siddha Carpati. It was Matsyendranath who became known as the founder of the Nath Sampradaya.
Matysendranath’s two most important disciples were Caurangi and Gorakshanath. The latter came to eclipse his Master in importance in many of the branches and sub-sects of the Nath Sampradaya. Even today, Gorakshanath is considered by many to have been the most influential of the ancient Naths. He is reputed to have written the first books dealing with Laya yoga and the raising of the kundalini-shakti. He is also reputed to have been the original inventor of Hatha yoga.
The Nath Sampradaya does not recognize caste barriers, and their teachings were adopted by outcasts and kings alike. The heterodox Nath tradition has many sub-sects, but all honor Matsyendranath and Gorakshanath as the founders of the tradition.
[4] Goddess Jagadamba: Goddess Parvati. Lord Shiva’s divine consort.