The Combined Diary
"In spite of Her very advanced age She is defying nature ... sitting for so many years under the shelter of a mere tree through the intense cold, scorching heat, and torrential rains of the different seasons of the year," folios #2v189-2v193, April 1-3, 1927.
A day of discussions with Baba on general topics ended dramatically when the watchman mistakenly sounded the alarm for robbers. The mandali with Baba in the lead rushed toward the supposed scene of the crime until the mistake was discovered and all returned to Meherabad and retired.
School closed for half a day in honor of Hindu New Year according to the old calendar. Hindu New Year according to the new calendar was celebrated the following day in the morning by all gathering near Baba's seat at the dhuni. Starting with schoolboys and then mandali, all were served various edibles including cooked dishes brought to Baba by disciples from surrounding villages and the city. Arti and special prayers followed immediately afterward.
Baba and a few mandali drove the Hudson touring car to Kaka's place for further celebrations while the remainder of the mandali came by truck. Upon arrival Baba immediately asked to be served; the meal however was not ready. He asked for tea to be served; tea was also not ready. "Baba suddenly worked himself into a very angry mood" and made preparations to return to Meherabad. Repeated apologies and entreaties by Kaka and his family persuaded him to remain. Within half an hour tea was "liberally" served as people, predominately women, arrived from neighboring houses and elsewhere to pay respects to the Master. Baba gestured a lecture on the "Duty of a Woman" until the meal was served about an hour later. Perhaps for the first time publicly, he told the story of Hazrat Babajan's early life.
"Hazrat Babajan is the daughter of one of the then responsible and chief Ministers of the Amir [ruler] of Afghanistan at Kabul! In her teens She was exceptionally beautiful. From Her very childood she had a natural inclination toward spirituality and the realization of Truth. With growing age this inclination turned into a deep rooted desire for things other than mere materialism. Consequently this brilliant, beautiful and promising young lady at the very threshold of Her glorious youth was a confirmed non-materialist.
"Things of the world, however attractive and bewitching could not create any impressions on Babajan. In short Maya=Doonya with all her powerful implements of lust, greed and anger was quite helpless against this future Power House of Spirituality even at that early age. When Babajan was hardly fifteen years of age Her guardians began to arrange for Her marriage on a grand scale.
"But being disinclined towards involving Herself in the family affairs, She at this juncture made bold to leave the family shelter, and so far as it concerned Her family She disappeared into the thin air!
"For fifty years thereafter She led a life of complete resignation and renunciation! Her only aim was to find the One who would reach Her to Her Ideal. After wandering from place to place for fifty long years She at last came across Her Master, and became God Realized at the age of about sixty-five!
"After being God-Realized Babajan lived for some time at ........ in the Punjab. During this stay many people began to respect her as a Saint and some even worshipped her. This worshipping and the occasional remarks of Babajan, declaring Herself to be God, naturally upset the Mohammedans of the place for whom it was nothing but blasphemy [two words in Arabic script] according to the common interpretations of the Islamic teachings. Some of the most fanatic amongst them, certain Baluchis of a local military regiment, were so infuriated that they could think nothing short of a 'living grave' as punishment for Babajan's such unconventional but true remarks. They did not stop with a mental resolve, but one dark night actually succeeded in burying up Babajan alive! It was through Her own super-natural powers i.e. a miracle, that Babajan safely emerged out of that grave but soon left the place and came towards Bombay....
"After the lapse of many years, during the last great war a Punjab regiment was transferred at Poona, and it so happened that the same Baluchis who thought they had done to death Babajan were amongst it. Their wonder and amazement could well be imagined when they came face to face with Babajan at Char-Bawdi at Poona! But this time their fanaticism was turned into great devotion, and so long as the regiment remained stationed at Poona, its members frequently came to pay their respects to Babajan. Their rush was so great that special facilities were granted by their superior officers in enabling them to come and see the Person whom they had once thought proper to murder in cold blood! (Afterwards this whole regiment was killed to the last man in war in the Dardanelles.)"
Baba emphasized how "in spite of Her very advanced age She is defying nature with a vengeance, that is sitting for so many years under the shelter of a mere tree through the intense cold, scorching heat, and torrential rains of the different seasons of the year."
"The moral," concluded Baba, "that you ladies have to draw out of this, is always to aspire for the Real, the Spiritual Advancement. Marriages and other festivities may appear nice and inducive, but these are all material and hence liable to be destroyed sooner or later, ending into nothing. Even after marriage aspire only for the Spiritual Advancement!"
Part 130: The Combined Diary
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