Take a step forward and see what happens - Sai Experiences of Pense's wife
One another occasion Baba gave a taste of his power and divine play to Sri Narayana Krishna Pense. Pense's wife was a very pious woman and a devotee. She was very kind hearted. She was eager to have the darshan of Baba ever since she had heard of him. One day she approached her husband and said, "Heed my plea, I have heard that the incomparable, divine Sai Baba is at Shirdi, let us go to that purest of pure places bathed in his effulgence and have the darshan of that great soul. Let us immerse ourselves in the bliss of being near his holy feet." Pense replied, "There is no holy man at Shirdi as you claim. There is only the mad Mohammedan there. He is totally insane. He has settled there with the sole aim of cheating the whole world and relieving poor innocent people of their hard earned wealth. Some innocent people believe that he is God. My love, heed my words, believe what I say. Do not be stubborn in your own belief. What you will get there is not ambrosia but the barren, bitter brine of the salt pan. Can one get gold from base tin? Do not fall into the trap of that mad fakir. He is a mere beggar who begs alms from the houses of Shirdi to fill his stomach."
Pense's wife was deeply troubled hearing these blasphemous words of her husband. She was eagerly awaiting her turn to have the darshan of that great mahatma. "When, oh when can I have the great good fortune of seeing the lotus like feet of that gem amongst saints" wondered Pense's wife.
Once Pense was to go on an official tour and had taken his wife along. They came to Shirdi on the tour. As Pense was engaged in government work, his wife was free to do as she pleased in Shirdi. She eagerly went to the Masjid and prostrated in front of Baba, that most compassionate saint. She placed her head on his feet, the feet that are the succour and refuge to all devotees. She at once gained great mental peace by the darshan of that most excellent mahatma who mitigates the suffering and the weariness of worldly life.
Later she ecstatically recounted the details to her husband. "I have had the darshan of that ocean of kindness - Sri Sai Baba. He is verily the depository of all merit. I want you to stop criticizing and talking ill of that gem amongst the saints and have his darshan immediately," she said. Pense could not refuse his wife's importuning and went to the Masjid for the darshan of Sri Sai Baba. As Baba saw him he shouted, "Do not come close." He took a stone in his hand and threatened. "Take a step forward and see what happens to you. I will hit you with this stone. I am charlatan and cheat. Why do you need to see me? I am a low caste, and mad man and a Mohammedan to boot. You are a great Brahmin of the highest class. You will suffer from my stone even if you enter this Masjid." Pense was struck dumb. He was petrified by the enormity of his impertinence. "This Sai Maharaj is omniscient. He knows the past, present and the future as well as he knows the palm of his own hand. He is a mountain of wisdom. He has recounted all that I have said against him in the privacy of my own home without a single mistake. Verily he is a great saint who can read what is written on the mind also." He repentantly went to Appa Kulkarni, and through his good offices could finally have the darshan of that perfect Brahman, the greatest of the yogi's - Sai Baba.
(SRI SAI GURUCHARITRA - by devotee Ganpatrao Dattatreya Sahasra-buddhe better known as Das Ganu Maharaj)
