The Trembling Hand of Attachment: When Dust Becomes Udi
The Leela
In the sacred pages of the Sai Satcharitra, specifically Chapter 33, we encounter two contrasting moments in the life of Nanasaheb Chandorkar that reveal a profound spiritual paradox.
In the first instance, Nanasaheb was journeying with his wife when a desperate message reached him: a friend’s daughter was suffering intensely from fever caused by erupting tumors. The friend pleaded for Baba’s Udi. Nanasaheb, searching his pockets, realized he had none. Yet, in that moment of selflessness, his faith was absolute. He bent down, picked up ordinary dust from the road, and with a heart full of prayer, applied it to his wife's forehead as a proxy for the sick child. Let this dust be Udi, he prayed. Miraculously, miles away in another village, the girl’s fever broke, and she was cured.
Contrast this with the second scene: Nanasaheb's own daughter was in the throes of labor, facing unbearable pain and a life-threatening delivery. Here, the same Nanasaheb, a stalwart devotee, found himself paralyzed. He organized elaborate rituals—the 'Navchandi Havan' and 'Saptashati Path'—yet relief did not come. He was helpless, his mind clouded by anxiety. In the end, it was Baba who had to intervene directly, sending genuine Udi through Ramgir Buva to save the mother and child.
Why did the man who could turn dust into medicine for a stranger find himself powerless to help his own daughter?
? The Conflict / Doubt
If faith can transmute road dust into miraculous Udi, why did that same faith falter when it came to Nanasaheb's own daughter? What is the subtle impurity that renders powerful faith ineffective in times of personal crisis?
The Revelation
The answer lies in the blinding fog of Moha (Attachment) and the weight of Ahamkara (Ego).
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The Surgeon's Tremor: Consider a skilled surgeon who performs intricate operations on strangers with steady hands. Yet, ask him to operate on his own child, and his hands will tremble. The skill is the same, but attachment introduces fear. Similarly, for the friend's daughter, Nanasaheb was detached; his faith was pure, unburdened by the fear of loss. For his own daughter, the 'mine-ness' created anxiety, blocking the flow of grace.
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Dust vs. Rituals: When we shed our ego, even common dust becomes the divine Udi. But when the mind is entrapped by attachment, even elaborate rituals become vain attempts to control the outcome rather than surrender to it.
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The Test of Storms: As referenced in Chapter 29, the spiritual path often begins with sweetness, but eventually, it is "overspread with thorny shrubs." Baba teaches that faith is not merely a lamp lit in a safe, closed room; True Shraddha is the lamp that continues to radiate light in the midst of a violent storm.
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The Nature of Grace: Often, initial faith is a gift—a credit given by the Guru. However, to make that faith truly ours, we must cross the "river of molten magma," as the poet Jigar Muradabadi suggests. It is only when we remain steadfast while the mind screams in anguish that we attain the patience (Saburi) Baba spoke of.
Scriptural References
đź“– Sai Satcharitra Chapter 33 (Scorpion/Tumor and Jamner Miracle); Sai Satcharitra Chapter 29 (The Thorny Path).
Watch the Discourse
In the sacred pages of the Sai Satcharitra, specifically Chapter 33, we encounter two contrasting moments in the life of Nanasaheb Chandorkar that reveal a profound spiritual paradox. In the first in...
Leela Narration
In the sacred pages of the Sai Satcharitra, specifically Chapter 33, we encounter two contrasting moments in the life of Nanasaheb Chandorkar that reveal a profound spiritual paradox. In the first in...