Kusha Bhav

I was given a mere elementary Vernacular School Examination education to qualify myself for a school Master’s place on Rs.5 or 7 per mensem. I got trained also for the hereditary duties of the village priest. I did not care for either. We were poor. In these circumstances, I wanted to devote myself to a life of bhakti. I found a Guru in Datta Maharaj, a truly great and Satvic soul. He took me away from time to time and trained me in yoga. Under him I learnt Asanas, Pranayama and the rousing of the Kundalini Sakti. But, in my youthful waywardness, I was not contented with all that and asked my Guru to impart to me the mantras he knew which gave worldly power (e.g) creating spells and breaking spells, exercising devils and invoking them &c. The Guru very unwillingly imparted the mantras to me, on account of my importunity and I went through the necessary japa and sadhana. I wore an iron bangle, repeated the mantras as prescribed for the required number of times, I succeeded in getting possession of the coveted powers. I could simply utter a mantra and order the production of sweetmeats, pedhas and the like. And the articles I ordered would at once appear and be filling my hands. These I would show to others and distribute. The pedha etc., I could not use. I could not and should not eat or sell them but I gave them away to the admiring or wondering people about me. I could also destroy the evil spells of others. The production of pedha etc., was not by the use of evil spirits (e.g.) Yakshas, Jinns etc., This latter method is dangerous. It will extinguish one’s life. The spirits might even begin to cause physical harm to the man, who uses them. In my case, the articles required were produced purely by mantric power without the use of these evil spirits.

When I was aged about twenty two and fully armed with these magical powers, my Guru resolved to go away from our society into the Himalayas and live there alone right up the end of his life. He started north and took me with him up to Delhi. There he wished to part company with me finally. As to what I should do, after he went away, he told me that there was one Sai Baba of Shirdi, whom he referred to as his elder brother “maja badila Bhai” and that I should go to him and do whatever he directs. Saying this, the Guru went away and disappeared from me and this part of the country, and I have not seen or heard anything more of him since.

Then (i.e) in 1908, I went to Shirdi and found Sai Baba. He would not allow me to be with him till I should throw away my iron bangle and stop the production of pedhas etc., by mantric means. As his order was strict; I broke and threw away my iron wristlets and stopped my mantric production of articles like pedha etc. To sustain myself I begged food here and there at Shirdi. I had no abode. He ordered me to sit in a corner of the mosque and go on reading Dasbodha during the day, and I did so. At night, I would sleep in any place I could find space to lie on. He gave neither me nor anyone else any upadesh mantra etc. The town people from Bombay etc., were not coming to him then. Only the villagers would go to him now and then, and ask him to remedy their trifling complaints (e.g.) stomach ache, fever etc. He gave his udhi to all these from his ever burning fire (dhuni which he maintained at the mosque). He was not asking for dakshina from all but only a few pice (e.g) 4 or 5 he would ask for and getting these, he might buy fuel for his dhuni or some such article of necessity. As for big people I remember that Nanasaheb Nimonkar was obtain with him, and as for his talks, I never heard him say anything about maya or Brahma or Mahavakya tatwas or Viveka, and Sadhana Chathusthya. He imparted faith to those resorting to him faith in Ishwara, by exercising his wonderful powers; they would go on with their devotion to their Ishtadevata and finally, he would grant them Sakshatkar of that particular ishtadevata.

As for myself, I stayed three full years at a stretch with him and then went on visiting him during the nine years that followed. During that period of nine years, he told me to see a person with three heads. That of course, I took as a direction to go and see Datta at Gangapur. Every year I visited Gangapur twice once in Guru poornima and next in Magha poornima. Then, once he told me to do 108 parayanas of Guru Charitra, taking three days to finish each parayana. I did this at Gangapur and stayed there 10 or 11 months for this purpose. As my powers, he had interdicted their use. But, out of his kindness, he gave me some other power. It came about thus. One Ekadashi day, I sat by his side.

Baba: What do you eat today?
I: Nothing, today is Ekadashi?
Baba: What does Ekadashi mean?
I: It means a day for upavas
Baba: What does upavas means?
I : It is just like rojas
Baba: What is rojas?
I: We take nothing except kandamula.

Kandamula means root and usually ‘Sweet potatoes’ and is the food that
is eaten (onions should not be taken by the orthodox) on Ekadashi day. Then Baba picked up some onions, evidently having a phonetic equivocation, and told me to eat it. Seeing Baba was persistent and not wishing to run counter to his wishes, I yielded, but added ‘If you eat it, I will eat it’. Then Baba ate some onions and I ate some. Then as visitors began to arrive, Baba was enjoying some fun at my expense.

Baba: look at this Bramniya (a contemptuous corruption of the word Brahmin), he is eating onions on Ekadashi day.

I began to defend my conduct or justify it.

I: Baba ate it and I ate it.

Baba, at one stroke, was having humour at my expense and the manifestation of his powers and he declared that he had not eaten onions. At once, he vomited out something. That was not onion but sweet potatoes (Ratale)

Baba: See, it is not onion but sweet potato I had eaten.

Now here was my opportunity. By his miraculous powers, he had produced sweet potatoes from his mouth. I treated it as prasad, fell upon it, seized it with my mouth and ate it up. Baba abused me, kicked me and beat me. But I did not thiamind all in the least, as I was overjoyed at having got his uchchishta as prasad. I knew also that as with Akkalkote Maharaj, so with Baba his beating and abuse were auspicious and beneficial. If Baba kissed a man and sent him off, as he did sometimes, that was not auspicious, But in an instant, Baba’s mood was changed, His anger, real or pretended, gave way to warm appreciation of my unquestioning faith in him and he lovingly placed his hand on my head and blessed me. He said that I would thenceforth have the power by barely thinking of him and holding up my palms, to pour abundance of udhi from my palms.

(At this stage, Kushabhav at once put his two empty palms together and held them above and in front of his face, lifted his face up and closed his eyes, for (or as though he was in) prayer and in a minute he cried, ‘Here is udhi!’ Hold your hand under and receive the udhi’ and he began to drop a stream of fresh udhi from between his palms. We (i.e.) I, B.V.N.Swami and Mr.Avaste, stretched out a piece of paper and took some ounces of udhi, folded the same into packets and took the same.)

This miraculously produced udhi could be distributed by me to those who have faith and want prasad from me, and the udhi would remove troubles. This power was at once vested in me and did not require any japa on my part. I am since then using this power to grant udhi prasad to those who want it. This udhi will remove various evils and can be used. It might even cure lack of issue. But, in cases of menstrual disorder, it would be better to see the issueless lady, before deciding on the remedial measure necessary. As for the old power of producing pedhas etc., I am mostly obeying Baba’s interdictory order. But occasionally, I have yielded to the importunity of people, who ask me to produce pedhas etc.

This power of counteracting evil spells and black magic I have exercised without compunction. Within the last month Mr. Rajmachikar’s grandson was getting mysterious ‘biba marks’ (i.e. marks of the marking nut) on his body or on his clothes or bed clothes without any visible cause. That is a well known species of black magic and there are specific mantras (that I have practised) to counteract these and other similar evil practices. I was sent for and I came and went on with these counteracting mantras and my Datta Pooja, arati etc., at Rajmachikar’s. That checked the black magic. On 18-7-36, Saturday, when as usual, the magical biba marks should appear, none appeared and the evil spell is now counteracted.

After I stayed three years with Baba, my father came up and took me. At my departure, Baba said ‘Next time when you come, come two of you’. A little later, I and my father went to Shirdi and paid our respects to Baba. Then he said that by his phrase ‘come two’ he means that I should marry and come with a wife. Soon after my father took me from Shirdi, I had married a wife; yet still I liked to go and stay with Baba. So, I went to him alone, and stayed with him for a long time, though married. Then my wife came up and took me away with her. Now I have children and grand children.

On one of my visits, Baba told me "Why do you take the trouble to come up all this distance to see me. I am there’. He then have a specific description of a plot of land in my village as his residence. I went up later and after clearing the prickly part on it, I found there was a samãdhi. I bought up that land and at that samãdhi, I have my worship. There Baba gives me darshan. So I am not going to Shirdi after that except for the Ramnavami.

The power of producing udhi etc., which I have got is communicable by me. But the would-be recipient of the power would have to undergo a rigorous course of an austere discipline (e.g) six months of absolute brahmacharya (i.e.) continence).

30th August, 1936 ¶

The name of the saint that appears at Mirazgaon is Pakir Shah. He lived 200 years ago and held the land in which his tomb now exists, as an inam grant from the jagirdar. I now own that land. He has no disciples or descendants. He is different from Sai Baba. He occasionally talks of Sai Baba. He talks very little. It is mostly darshan of him we get. Now, during the Chaturmasya, even darshan is stopped. We can now hear his voice but not see him during these four months.

(Just as he entered today at 10p.m, into Narayan Rao Bhide’s room, Kusa Bhav said, ‘here hold’ and produced vibhuti or udhi and applied it to Mr. Bhide’s forehead and gave bits to others.) The production of this udhi is not the result of any mantra, but is the result merely remembering Sai Baba. The former power of producing pedha is different. The pedhas I produced are merely property fetched from elsehere. That power did not include the production at will of udhi. Now it is production (by thinking of Sai) of udhi. Formerly it was merely transferring pedha, etc., from one place to another. This Pakir Shah does not give one any help; by his speech etc., in one’s progress in jnan or bhakti. It is merely to inspire faith that he appears. He is to be seen and worshipped or bowed to. His statement about Sai Baba is that Sai Baba is alive. He gives no details as to what form or what condition Baba is in whether Sai baba remains only as a spirit or has taken fresh form in some human body, etc. He says that he and Sai Baba are interrelated as persons of the same order or set.