Baba,
who used to be visited by the kings and commoners both, used to beg from
door to door in Shirdi. He would attend four or five houses in Shirdi for
alms and call out “O give me a piece of bread”. He was
like no ordinary beggar. One day he astounded a lady who refused him charity
by gently rebuking her thus, “Mother you have (such and such number
of) chapattis (bread), so much of cooked rice (naming the exact quantity),
why do you refuse a crust to the poor fakir?
In
one hand he carried a tin-pot for liquid or semi-liquid food items such
as soup, vegetables, milk or buttermilk and in other hand a cloth bag to
receive bread, cooked rice and solid food items. Baba’s tongue knew no
taste as He had acquired full control over it. Irrespective of the taste
all the food collected was mixed together of which He would distribute
to some devotees, dogs and birds around and partake a small quantity from
the rest over.
He
would never taste the food He had begged without letting others have a
share in it. Dogs and crows always had their share as also beggars and
fakirs. Imagine God begging for His
children !
In
the advanced years of his stay at Shirdi devotees turned up in large numbers
and offered the finest delicacies out of devotion and love but Baba was
contended with the little He received in alms. He continued begging His
food till the last days of His human embodiment. He reigned supreme in
His Royal poverty, Fakiri.
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