Shree Swami Samarth Maharaj

A Short Biography of Shree Swami Samarth 47
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Old Couple Blessed With Children
Sriguru Narasinha Saraswati was at Ganagapur. There a virtuous Brahmin couple
Somanath and Gangabai also lived. Both became old but they had no children.
Gangabai had crossed the age of sixty years. She was very religious and as daily
observance, she would go to the Muth 90 for the blessings of Sriguru. There she would
light an oil lamp and wave it around Sriguru. Many days passed and one day she came
under the merciful view of Sriguru. He asked Ganga “As an observance you come here
regularly and wave the lighted wick lamp around me. What do you want from me? ”.
Then Ganga spoke very humbly “Maharaj, I am a childless woman. A childless lady has
no prestige in the society. Everybody considers her a sign of ill omen. I have already
crossed the age of sixty years. Now in this life, where is the chance of giving birth to a
child? Hence please give me blessings that at least in my next life I will become a
woman and give birth to a son”.
Sriguru smilingly said, “Who has seen next life? In this life itself, you will give
birth to a daughter and later on to a son”. By this blessing Gangabai’s happiness knew
no bounds. Nevertheless, she had a doubt as to how would she conceive and give birth,
since her menses had already stopped? But after Sriguru’s blessing, she said “I had
been worshiping the Holy Peepal 91 tree regularly. But there was no benefit from that
worship. Hence I started worshipping you regularly after giving up the worship of the
Holy Peepal tree. But how would I get the offspring’s in this life? ”. Sriguru said, “Do
not slander the Holy Peepal tree. The worship and the circumambulation of the
Holy Peepal tree will not go waste. You can find the existence of Lord Brahma,
Lord Vishnu, and Lord Maheshwar in the root, the trunk and the top of the Holy
Peepal tree respectively. In addition, on the branches of the Holy Peepal tree,
all the Hindu Gods are present. There is one Holy Peepal tree at the confluence
of the rivers Bhima and Amarja. Go there and worship the Holy Peepal tree
daily”.
With full faith in Sriguru’s words Gangabai stayed at the ‘Sangam’ and started
worshipping the Holy Peepal tree. On the third day, a Brahmin came in her dream and
said, “Your wish will be fulfilled. Go to Ganagapur and take the blessings of Sriguru
Narasinha Saraswati, the incarnation of Lord Dattatreya. Then complete the
circumambulation of Sriguru and offer your obeisance to him. Whatever prasad 92 he
gives, take that as blessings”.
90 Muth: Temple-Shrine. Muth and Temple – Shrine have been used interchangeably in this book.
91 Peepal Tree: The Holy Fig Tree. Tree belongs to the Sacred Figs (Ficus religiosa).
92 Prasad: Prasad is both a mental condition of generosity, as well as a material substance that is first offered to a deity and
then consumed with the faith that the deity's blessing resides within it. In contemporary Hindu religious practice in India, the
desire to get prasad and have darshan are the two major motivations of pilgrimage & temple visits. In its material sense,
prasada is created by a process of giving and receiving between a human devotee and the divine god. For example, a
devotee makes an offering of a material substance such as flowers, fruits, or sweets -- which is called 'naivedya'. The deity
then 'enjoys' or tastes a bit of the offering. This now-divinely invested substance is called 'prasad", and is received by the
devotee to be ingested, worn, etc. It may be the same material that was originally offered, or material offered by others and
then re-distributed to other devotees. As a 'leftover substance', prasada is special because it is understood as being invested
with divine grace or blessing.
Copyright © 2006 Shree Vitthalrao Joshi Charities Trust