But if anyone approached him with material desires, Sai would say, " Allah malik hai [God is the owner, meaning God is the only giver]. What God gives is never finished; what man gives never lasts. Nobody who has firm faith in God wants for anything."
Sai Baba kept a pile of small stones near his own large stone seat, and he would pick up a stone and throw it at whoever came for his darshan. Those who were hit by the stones were considered by him to be fortunate and to have received his blessing.
In 1886, Sai Baba suffered from a severe asthma attack and told his disciple Mhalsapati, "Protect my body for three days. If I return it will be all right ... If my body does not return to life, bury it [rather than cremate it according to Hindu tradition] and plant two flags over the grave." Sai then closed his eyes and entered a state of samadhi, appearing to be dead.1 His breathing and pulse stopped completely and his body remained lifeless for three days and nights.
Some of the Master's devotees were grief-stricken, believing their Master had died. They wanted to perform the last rites immediately (fearing cholera), but the faithful Mhalsapati prevented them by cradling Sai Baba's body in his lap and locking the door. Exactly as Sai had foretold, after 72 hours his eyes slowly reopened as he reentered his body. He did not speak of the work he had done while in that state or why he had entered this samadhi.
A close disciple, a Muslim fakir, who was always seated in Sai Baba's court was nicknamed Bade (Big) Baba . He was a large, rotund man. Sai Baba would give Bade Baba Rs.100 per day for his food and the man would eat a lot, dining for several hours. Sai Baba would eat only the bhakris and raw onion that he had begged for, while Bade Baba would eat plateful after plateful of the finest food available. Why was Sai Baba so particular that this disciple be given a huge sum of money for an enormous amount of food while he himself lived like a pauper? Bade Baba was a storehouse for the sanskaras of all those who had handed over their money to Sai Baba when they came for darshan. These sanskaras (of others) were wiped out by Sai when Bade Baba died.
Footnotes
- 1.Samadhi is a state of spiritual entrancement or temporary stopping of the mental and the physical vital forces.