After a little while, consternation seized the guilty Vanis and ganamdar, and understood Baba as a man of mystic power. They were afraid of him .The reason is simple. Only the doubt that Baba may curse them just likes the saints of olden days. They fell at his feet and prayed that he should not curse them. Baba was the exact opposite of what they thought. He was not a magician resenting contempt and anxious to seize an advantage. On the other hand, Baba was more like the Bhikshu Monk in Bhikshugita. With a true motherly heart, Baba noted that these men now repenting were in the proper mood to receive instruction to alter their conduct, and he gave them wholesome advice. Then Baba told them not to utter falsehood.
Falsehood displeases the God of truth. Baba is of the opinion that there was no necessity to curse them. Next he pointed out to them how unsocial and wicked their conduct was. The lights were needed for the use of all who visited the mosque and the public would be inconvenienced if there were no lights. He told them that they have come to the Mosque to enjoy the scene of Baba remaining in darkness. They admitted the fact. He then pointed out that God would punish persons who took delight in others’ miseries instead of sympathizing with them. God is mother to all and loves all equally. If you hurt a child and tell the mother that you have hurt the child, will the mother be pleased? Thus they had displeased God by coming to rejoice in his miserable plight or supposed miserable plight in the absence of lamp oil. He asked them not to take pleasure in other’s distress.
They promised.
After giving them excellent pieces of advice, which was so badly needed by them and by many people now. The effect of this incident was marvelous.
The contemptible Pagal fakir, as they called him, was turned overnight into the hero or the weird magician or the holy Sadhu of the place.
Before this, Mahlsapathy and his two friends Tukaram Darji and Appa Bhil had been perhaps the only persons to worship him as a Divine Saint of God. Much against Baba’s will, they did Arty with waving of lamps, did puja by throwing of flowers and colored rice over him and offers of fruit and sandal. Baba tried strenuously to prevent his being worshipped as God or a man sent by GOD in the Mosque. He could not stem the tide of popular frenzy. They declared that Baba was their God or prophet sent to bless them. Thus the mad fakir became the God or saint of Shirdi sent by GOD.
Such a change could not continue for long without obstruction. The Koran forbids worship of anything except the Impersonal God in a Mosque. The Muslims, though few and poor at Shirdi, raised their protest against such worship. He himself might have felt at first the inappropriateness of his being worshipped; and next the worship being carried on in a Mosque by the mass of Hindus according to Hindu custom like the din, the bustle, the noise, music, and the sacred rituals all of which would be totally unwarranted in a Mosque. Even his being smeared with sandal paste would strike any Muslim as extremely unorthodox and reprehensible. Abdul Rangari of Thana when visiting Baba noted that sandal paste was being applied by Hindus to his forehead, and he told Baba, ‘what is this? The Hindus are applying sandal paste to your forehead. This is not the custom among the Muslims’. Baba had to pacify him by pointing out that he had to bend to circumstances. Baba’s words were “Jaisa Desh Aiysa Vesh.” This means, ‘While in Rome, be a Roman’. Baba also told Rangari that he himself was a devotee of Allah. But if the Hindus wished to please themselves by worshiping him, why not allow them to do so? To other similar objectors Baba pointed out that if Hindus worshipped a Muslim in a Mosque then there was no loss to Islam but only loss to Hinduism. That seemed a very reasonable argument and contented many. But some were still dissatisfied with the pooja that was being done to him. Some of the more vigorous opponents of his puja went to consult the Sangamnare Kazi for finding a remedy. That Kazi found that the only chance of obstructing this unorthodox haram pooja was by threat of force.
The Hindus were no doubt the majority in the village, but the actual worshipers were only a handful. A few muscular Muslims, standing at the entrance to the Mosque, planned to threaten and stop this haram. Accordingly, one morning, a very stout, muscular, powerful and well-built Muslim by name Tambuli and four or five others went up to the entrance to the Mosque and stood there with clubs. The chief worshiper Mahlsapathy was a very slim, meek, and apparently cowardly sort of person, and they hoped to stop his pooja by their threats. Tambuli went and explained to Mahlsapathy the exact position, namely, that he ran the risk of being clubbed by the Muslims if he entered the Mosque and do pooja. Mahlsapathy in his great shock and grief prayed to Khandoba and hit upon an alternative. He went up to the compound wall of the mosque. By Avahana he invoked Baba on the compound wall. Without entering into the Mosque, he placed all the pooja articles that he had brought on a plate on the ground. After such invocation or Avahana, he went on applying water, flowers and scents to the wall. Baba noted this and asked him what he was doing. Mahlsapathy explained that the Muslims threatened to beat any one who would enter into the Mosque and worship Baba with sandal paste. Then Baba judged the situation very correctly and said, ‘Come in and proceed with your pooja. Apply your sandal paste here, there and anywhere. Let me see who will beat you’. So saying he dashed his satka, a short club, which he had in his hand on the ground. It made a thunderous sound. On hearing it the few Muslims at the entrance trembled. They found that they would have to reckon with Baba himself if they wished to pursue their plan. Baba, individually and physically, would be more than a match for them. Besides, Baba was a weird personality who could turn water in oil, and they had therefore still greater fear in trying to oppose Baba. So they retreated quietly. Mahlsapathy entered and carried on the worship. Mahlsapathy feared that they might attack him on his way back home, and he told Baba about his fears. Baba then gave him the assurance that no one can attack him not merely in this janma, but in future janmas also, and do him harm and Baba would see to his safety. Thus assured Mahlsapathy who finished his pooja and was not molested. Thus all joined in Baba’s worship.
Thus the first obstruction was removed.
The second impediment is more interesting. Baba had both Hindu and Muslim features in his body and in his actions and practice. His mission in life was to unify Hindus and Muslims into one compact mass with common religious, spiritual and worldly interests. As he had a Hindu Guru, namely, Gopal Rao Deshmukh alias Venkatesa or Venkusa, he was considered fitted to guide his Hindu followers. According to public opinion, to guide his Muslim followers, initiation into Islamic scripture by a Maulana was essential. So, his destiny had to be fulfilled by his getting a second Guru, a Muslim. Jawar Ali Maulana was a distinguished Maulana of the last century, residing some time at Rahata. He had extraordinary ability and learning, but had disagreed with his followers at Rahata. He came to Shirdi and noted that Baba had large Hindu followers who worshipped him, and that too in a mosque. He called upon Baba to come out of the Mosque and asked him whether he knew the Koran and the Shariat. Baba had learnt neither. So Jawar Ali Maulana ordered him to accompany him to Rahata and Baba was living there with his Guru for about two months. The Guru initiated him into the mysteries of Islamic spiritual literature. Baba did humble seva to his Guru, carrying water pots, fetching firewood, lighting up fire, and doing hard physical labor, which others would complain of. But in the case of Baba, he accepted his position as the disciple of Jawar Ali with perfect sincerity and underwent with sweet complacency the entire ordeal and the course of training given to him. The villagers of Shirdi headed by Mahlsapathy who were very anxious to have Baba back again permanently settled at Shirdi requested the Maulana to allow them to take Sai Baba with them. The Maulana agreed this to on the condition that along with Baba he should also be taken to Shirdi, and that both he and Baba should be fed and supported by the villagers of Shirdi. So both came and lived at the Shirdi Mosque. Some time later, Jawar Ali was drawn deliberately into a dispute with Devadas, a noted Hindu saint, living in a chavadi at Shirdi. During debate, Devads’s questions cornered Jawar Ali. The latter had to make so many admissions that the surrounding spectators were bursted to laughter. Jawar Ali, offended by this humiliation, left Shirdi and did not return there forever.
Baba’s worship at the Shirdi Mosque went on and gathered strength day by day. What appeared as the second impediment tended only to increase the devotee’s attachment through Viraha and admiration and helped Baba’s mission. It must be noted here that the worship mentioned here is individual worship; each one going to Baba and placing flowers on his feet and treating him as God, Avatar or Guru. Baba followed the rule applicable for Gnanis; “Avoid honors as poison; ever welcome indignity, as nectar”.
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