Lessons from Sai Satcharitra – Crimson Sari and the teachings of Isavasya Upanishad
- In Religion
- 09:38 AM, Apr 17, 2016
- Saiswaroopa Iyer
There is a story in Mahabharata which tells about a butcher Dharmavyadha who teaches about what is true Dharma to the Brahmana Kaushika. The teachings, compiled as Vyadha Gita are lauded for multiple reasons from status birth not determining the qualification of a guru to the practical explanation of Dharma.
We come across a very similar incident in the Shiridi Sai Satcharitra, in the story of Crimson Sari. The followers of Shirdi Sai Baba must be aware of his devotee Das Ganu. For those unaware, Das Ganu whose original name was Ganpatrao Dattatreya Sahasrabuddhe gave up his job as a havildar and became a Kirtankar (a Marathi word for what was traditionally known as Bhagavatar). Das Ganu was a scholar and an enthusiastic seeker of Hindu scriptures, especially the Upanishads. He sought to write a commentary for Isavasya Upanishad in Marathi language.
About Isa Upanishad
Isa Upanishad is a part of Shukla Yajurveda, containing 18 Shlokas that expound about the all pervasiveness of the Supreme and urge the seeker to give up attachment as well as animosity. For those wanting to study the Upanishad in detail, I would suggest the commentary by Swami Gambhirananda, (this includes the commentary by Adi Shankaracharya) published by Advaita Ashrama.
In Swami Gambhirananda’s words, the verses of this Upanishad remove one’s natural ignorance about the Self through the revelation of the true nature of the Self and thereby, produce the knowledge of oneness, etc of the Self which is the means for uprooting of sorrow, delusion, etc., incidental to mundane existence. (While Adi Sankaracharya’s commentary is understandably weighed towards Advaita, there are commentaries by the gurus of Dvaita and Vishishtadvaita schools of thought providing their own commentaries that are worth due study and contemplation)
Das Ganu approached Baba to resolve the challenge of absorbing the essence of the all-pervading Supreme Being or Brahman before he even attempted to capture the content into Marathi language. To his surprise Baba advised him to visit the home of Kaka Mahajani where Kaka’s servant girl would teach him the essence of Isa Upanishad.
A perplexed Das Ganu decided to keep his faith and travelled to Vile Parle to the house of Kaka (Lakshman Ganesh) Mahajani where he was hosted readily by the latter. There, Dasganu encountered the servant girl that Baba spoke of. The young girl though, was unaware of Baba’s direction to Das Ganu and was immersed in her routine chores, happily singing a melodious song that described the beauty of a certain crimson sari. Das Ganu could not help observing how the lyrics described the bright color, the Pallu and the embroidery of the sari. When he saw the girl wearing just an old torn sari, he was moved and arranged for a new sari to be given to the girl whose joy knew no bounds. She immediately wore the new sari and bounded about the house cheerfully singing, whistling and bantering with the other girls making Das Ganu feel proud of his kind act.
The scholar’s pride was short lived and he was in for a surprise the next day, when he saw the same girl again dressed in her rag, but her ebullient demeanour totally unaffected like wearing or not wearing the new sari made no difference to her! She was her own happy self when she was originally wearing the rag. She was happy when the new sari was given to her and her joy refused to whither even after she kept away the new sari and came back to wearing the old rag. It was a spiritually humbling experience to Das Ganu, whose pity turned into admiration at the simple girl’s unaffected behaviour. The lesson he sought from Baba dawned about understanding of Isavasya Upanishad dawned on him.
The first shloka of the Upanishad after the invocation goes thus,
Om Isavasyamidam sarvam yatkiñca jagatyam jagat |
tena tyaktena bhuñjitha ma grdhah kasyasvid dhanam
All this whatever moves on earth-should be covered by the Lord. Protect (your Self) through that detachment. Do not covet anybody’s wealth (Or – Do not covet, for whose is wealth?) – As translated by Swami Gambhirananda
In her innocent un-attachment and unaffected by what she wore, the girl unwittingly lived the teaching of the Upanishad. Das Ganu could not have asked for a better lesson.
Stories like this fill me with awe about how simple minded people or even other creatures in mundane walks of life unconsciously live the teachings of Upanishads. It is often said and largely agreed upon that the wisdom of the Vedas is timeless and that it is revealed than pronounced. Once the seeker’s eyes are ears are open and without delusion, why would the universe not impart these lessons? Upanishads are said to be a result of years of contemplation by the Rishis. One can only imagine the level of observation of this universe and civilization that determined the thought behind the resulting wisdom.
The greatest boon a guru can bestow on his or her disciples is an open mind that could absorb the lesson that universe imparts us through various other ‘teachers’. The episode also reminds me of the Upanishadic conversation between Dattatreya and Yadu, the son of Yayati and the founder of Yadava lineage. Dattatreya enunciates about the twenty four gurus who taught him about the universe.
Sadly, this story of crimson sari did not find its place among the popular adaptations of Shirdi Sai Baba’s life which have focussed excessively on his miraculous side but far lesser on his exploits as a Sadguru/true teacher.
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