Gajanan Maharaj
(The following is a translation from the book Siddha, Sant aur Yogi by Sri Shambhu Ratna Tripathi)
In Shegaon in Buldhana district of Maharashtra is a huge temple which attracts thousands of visitors from all parts of the country. This temple houses the samadhi of the great yogi and saint Sri Gajanan Maharaj. The samadhi is exceptionally powerful. Wishes of anyone sincerely praying here are fulfilled. Lakhs of people reach this holy and awakened samadhi to remedy their material and spiritual problems.
Rise of the saint from Shegaon
Nothing about Sri Gajanan Maharaj’s birthplace, family etc is known. He just appeared in Shegaon on 23 February, 1878. The people here recognized His true personality and accorded Him due respect. So He stayed here till the end.
The amazing story of His first appearance at Shegaon
In Shegaon, a person named Devidas had organized a huge feast, for which he had invited thousands of poor, monks, and hermits. The used pattal (leaf plates) along with the leftover food were being discarded. A beautiful, luminous but naked boy was eating the leftovers stoically. Most people thought Him mad; but Bankatlal Agrawal and Damodar Kulkarni realized that He was an extraordinary person. So Bankatlal properly served food in a plate and kept it in front of the boy. He mixed them all in one and began eating hastily. Bankatlal went in the house to get water. As he came back, he saw the boy drinking from animal’s water tank. Bankatlal said- “That water is not fit to drink. Here, drink this clean water.” The boy said, “He pervades the entire world. There is no differentiating the pure-impure. The water is God, as is the drinker.” Saying this, the boy quickly went away somewhere.
The tumba will sink in the canal
Bankatlal was in a strange situation after this incident. He was seeing the boy everywhere. He felt a strange unease to meet the boy again. He lost his appetite. He set forth in search of the Paramhansa boy. One day he reached a Shiv temple where devotional singing-chanting was underway. Large crowd was gathered, and here the boy was sitting at the back. Bankatlal saw Him and fell at His feet. Then he asked, “Maharaj should I get something to eat?” The boy said, “Bring it if you want.” Bankatlal brought some bread from a house nearby. Eating it with pleasure the boy said, “Bring me tumba-full water (Tumba is a bowl made from hollowed pumpkin). Get it from the small canal up ahead.” He had asked a person named Pitambar to get the water. Pitambar said, “Maharaj the canal water is dirty and sparse. The tumba cannot sink in it.’’ The boy saint said, “Do as I say.” Pitambar was sure the tumba won’t sink, but he went anyway. As soon as he dipped the tumba in the canal, it sank. Moreover, the canal water was dirty but the water in the vessel was absolutely clean. After drinking the water, they started listening to the Bhagwat-katha being narrated in the temple. The Pandit ji i.e., the scholar enunciating the lord’s story was explaining the former half of the eleventh partof the Bhagwat. Suddenly the boy saint began reciting the latter half of the same part. His voice had divine lustre. Pandit ji and all the listeners were much impressed. Pandit ji said to the people, “Shegaon is no longer Shegaon, it has become Pandharpur. People of Shegaon, treasure this precious jewel.” All were attracted to this boy and expressed their faith. Perceiving their love, the boy saint chose Shegaon to be the main centre of His divine play. This boy saint went on to be world- renowned as the great accomplished Yogi Gajanan Maharaj.
Change in the stallion’s nature by Swami’s grace
The aforementioned Pandit ji had a fidgety and fractious stallion. Pandit ji had to check on it several times at night. One night, he found it uncharacteristically calm. Somewhat surprised, he went near and saw a man sleeping between the contumacious horse’s four legs. The man was Gajanan Maharaj. Pandit ji immediately understood that by Gajanan Maharaj’s grace the horse’s nature had changed. He bowed at His feet and said, “Swami ji You are great! This horse was ferocious as a lion, and is now as simple as a cow.”
Pandit ji used to visit far off places to narrate lord’s stories. In his oration he started mentioning Gajanan Maharaj’s divinity. This started attracting huge crowds at Shegaon.
Gajanan Maharaj’s unique nature
Gajanan Swami’s behaviour was very unique. Even those closest to Him could not understand His enigma. Sometimes He’d laugh by Himself, sometimes murmur, and sometimes stare at the people angrily. Sometimes with His arm wrapped around somebody’s shoulder, He’d roam around for hours, and sometimes He’d run so fast that no one could catch Him. He’d vanish for days. There was no regularity in eating, sleeping etc. He’d sleep anywhere- on the floor, in the sludge. He’d eat anything anybody offered Him. A Gosain from Kashi had come to Shegaon to visit Swami ji. Due to the crowd, he wasn’t able to speak to Him. He wanted to offer Swami ji marijuana from a chillam (a kind of smoking pipe). One day Swami ji said that a man has been here for eight days now but he doesn’t come to me. Why has he come if he has no nerve? Hearing this, Gosain ran and fell at His feet. He was much astonished when Swami ji began smoking chillam. Gosain wanted to offer Him marijuana, so he prayed. Swami ji agreed for the sake of the devotee’s wish. Thence, the custom to offer Him marijuana gained currency. The distinctive thing about His smoking was that even ash wasn’t left. He’d often fall ill Himself to cure His devotees. Sometimes He also hit at some devotee, without hurting him. Those who tolerated, their sins eroded and upcoming sufferings fell off.
Creating fire with Yogic capacity
Swami ji was chatting with children in Shegaon when He felt like smoking a chillam. A goldsmith’s house was nearby. Swami ji asked to fetch fire from his house. The goldsmith irritably replied to the boy who had gone to ask for fire, “Roaming idly, smoking tobacco, and you call Him a saint! If He’s such a great saint why doesn’t He create His own fire?” The boy came back and retold the smith’s reply to Swami ji. Swami ji asked a person to hold a small piece of wood over the chillam. As soon as that wood was kept over the chillam it caught fire and the tobacco burnt. It was the day of Akshay Tritiya. The goldsmith was hosting a feast. He had arranged for special dishes to be cooked. Worms crawled in them. None of it remained fit to be consumed. The goldsmith panicked. He ran to Swami ji and fell at His feet, begging for forgiveness. Swami ji said to him, “Go back, all is well”. As he returned, he found all eatables were alright.
Water overflow in dry well
Swami ji was going to a village in the summer. He got thirsty. A farmer named Bhaskar Patil was working in the fields. He had a clay pot of water. Swami ji said to him, “providing water to drink is virtuous deed, give me some, I’m parched.” Patil retorted angrily, “You roam around in the villages naked, eating for free, doing nothing. Where is the virtue in giving You water? You go, there is no water for You. I have to make this last the entire day.” There was a dry well nearby. Swami ji went towards it. Patil shouted, “O fool, why are you going there? That well has been dry for years.” Swami ji paid him no heed and began singing devotional songs sitting at the edge of the well. Soon, a noise came from the well, and a fountain broke. Swami ji drank its water. Patil was astounded. He recognized that this naked man is a great accomplished Yogi. He profusely apologized for his impolite behaviour. News of this incident reached the nearby villages. Hundreds of people began gathering. With Swami ji’s grace, the area’s problem of water scarcity was cured.
Swami ji’s extraordinary test
A Patil family was quite dominant in the Shegaon village. The Patil’s were six brothers- Khand, Ganpati, Narayan, Maruti, Hari and Krishnaji. They were very arrogant on account of their wealth and strength. They considered others less than themselves. They did not respect even the saints and sages. Because the villagers respected Swami ji, they were chafed at Him. They often foul-mouthed Him. Hari Patil was a wrestler. One day he walked up to Swami ji, took His hand and said, “C’mon get up! Wrestle with me. If You win, I’ll give You prize.”Swami ji agreed. He went and sat in the arena and said to Hari, “You are a big wrestler! First make me stand up, then we’ll wrestle.” Hari immediately got to it but couldn’t move Swami ji by a thread. Thus defeated and shamed by Swami ji, Hari became His ardent devotee from that day. His brothers didn’t like this. They went to Swami ji with thick sugarcanes and said, “Why, You lunatic! Do You want to have some sugarcane? Well then You will have to agree to our one condition. We will hit You with these canes. If Your body doesn’t develop any bruise we will accept that You are a Yogi.” Swami ji didn’t say anything, so they interpreted His silence as His approval and started hitting Him hard. Swami ji sat absolutely still. When despite hitting Him several times nothing happened to Him they were hugely surprised and stopped. Now Swami ji laughed and said, “You must be tired of beating me. I will serve you sugarcane juice.” He asked for a pot and twisted all the juice out of those sugarcanes with only His hands. The Patil brothers were astonished by His large-heartedness and Yoga-shakti. The wicked Patil brothers turned into new leaves from that day. All of them became His devotees. Hari Patil established the Sri Gajanan Swami Foundation in Shegaon. It is working for public welfare today.
Ocular evidence of soul’s indestructibility
Some hermits came to Shegaon along with their teacher. They recited lord’s stories and considered themselves better saints. They said to the villagers that what’s the use of serving this naked lunatic? Serving real saints accrues punya. One of the Patils arranged for their food and lodging. The teacher began reciting in the evening. Swami ji sat on His cot near him. He began explaining the ‘Nainam Chhindanti Shastrani…’ shloka that even fire cannot destroy the soul, attachment to the body is futile. At that very moment, a spark flew from Swami ji’s chillam onto the cot and it caught fire. Swami ji neither moved from the cot, nor let anyone else douse the fire. When the cot was considerably lit He invited the teacher to sit on it with Him, but he didn’t agree. When the whole cot had burned Swami ji got up from it. The burnt cot collapsed into a pile. The teacher and his disciple hermits fell at His feet. They accepted that they had become hermits for livelihood, with no spiritual or Yogic experience.
Unfathomable knowledge and extraordinary memory
Swami ji was sleeping at Khandu Patil’s home. Some Tailangi brahmins came there hoping to obtain some money. They started reciting the Vedas loudly. They made some error. Swami ji sat up and said to them, “Do not degrade Veda knowledge like this. What kind of Veda-reciter are you, using Veda to fill your bellies? This knowledge is salvation-granting.” Saying this He commenced reciting the Vedic mantras. The people present there were unaware of His scholarly wisdom. His clear pronunciation of Veda mantras and retention power amazed them.
Tilak’s ‘Geeta-Rahasya’ and dry bread
Shivaji Jayanti was being celebrated in Akola city. Among other scholars, Bal Gangadhar Tilak was also due to deliver a speech there. It was decided that since Shivaji’s guru was Samarth Ramdas ji, the assembly should be presided over by a saint. Some of the organizers immediately proposed Gajanan Maharaj’s name. Some people opposed this saying that Swami ji has a propensity to create trouble at any moment, so He wouldn’t be appropriate for this. Since most people were in favour of inviting Him, the then famous lawyer Dada Sahab Khande was sent to invite Him. As soon as Swami ji saw him He said, “I will come to your assembly, won’t behave like a lunatic, won’t beat anybody, and won’t insult anyone. Another great man like Gangadhar Tilak will not appear for nation’s salvation.” Mr Khande and those with him were astonished as to how He knew about the discussions held in Akola.
Swami ji reached the Akola assembly on time. Tilak delivered an unprecedented vigorous speech. He said some things against the British colonizers. Swami ji said to Tilak, “You will be handcuffed for a speech like this.” The assembly concluded on a high note; but Tilak was arrested and tried later. Mr Kolhatkar, an adorer of Tilak went to Swami ji to pray for Tilak’s release. Swami ji was sleeping then. He didn’t wake for three days and three nights. Kolhatkar kept waiting. When swami ji woke up, he placed his request in front of Him. Swami ji replied gravely. “It was meant to be. Whatever happened, it is alright. Don’t try for his release, a great task has to happen through him. Go, give him this bread.” Saying this Swami ji handed him a stale bread. With great faith Kolhatkar took it to Tilak. Tilak ji believed in Him greatly, so he chewed the stale dry bread. He was sentenced to six years in prison. He was kept in Burma’s Mandalay jail. He had a lot of uninterrupted time there to meditate, study, write and hence he authored his world-renowned commentary Geeta-Rahasya which added immensely to his fame.
Manifesting in physical form even after discarding His body
Swami ji had hinted towards His last much earlier. Thousands of devotees were gathered in Shegaon ashram on the occasion of Ganesh Chaturthi on 8 September, 1910. He held His dear student Balbhau’s hand and made him sit on His seat saying, “Today is the day when you people will immerse this body. Don’t be sorrowful at all. Never think that I’m gone, never let your devotion change, I’m constantly here.” Then, with His yogic capacity, He discarded His body. Divine play occurred- Swami ji had informed devotees far and wide about His samadhi in dream. They had His samadhi built with great reverence. It is the epicentre of faith for millions of people today.
Swami ji is physically present for His devotees even today. He often appears to them in His body. Prayers made at the Samadhi are answered miraculously. Millions of people relate their memoirs in this respect.
Author Sri Shambhu Ratna Tripathi is an initiate disciple of the Himalayan tradition.
