Shree Swami Samarth Maharaj

A Short Biography of Shree Swami Samarth 71
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man. When the king and the rich man arrived there, Sri Swami spoke to them “Look
there! Is that a girl or a boy? ”. Everyone looked and to their great surprise saw a boy
standing in place of the girl. Then Sri Swami spoke “Now arrange for his marriage”. So
saying Sri Swami suddenly vanished from sight.
Everyone present were highly astonished to see this miracle. They started
acclaiming Sri Swami Samarth with continuous shouts of victory and returned home.
A Devil at Rameshwar
Sri Swami, while being on a constant travel, reached Rameshwar 139 and sat
under a tree there. A Brahmin who lived nearby strongly felt that the person sitting
under the tree possibly might be a man of incarnation. Therefore he brought some
Naivedya 140 for Sri Swami, who ate part of the offerings. The Brahmin repeated these
offerings daily. One day when the Brahmin prayed to Sri Swami to bless him with a son,
Sri Swami said, “A son will be born and that son will depart. Now go away”. Then Sri
Swami left the place. However, the Brahmin continued to bring and place food offerings
for Sri Swami under the tree, daily without exception. His wife gave birth to a son,
within a short time.
Whatever food offerings, the Brahmin would keep under the tree, a devil would
eat it. The Brahmin was surprised to see that in the absence of Sri Swami, someone
else eats the offering. One day when the Brahmin had been to the temple of Lord
Rameshwar for ‘Darshan’, there he was surprised to see Sri Swami Samarth seated and
glaring with splendour in place of Lord and instead of Rameshwar. Experiencing this
miracle, the Brahmin started asking his son to come inside the temple and take Sri
Swami Samarth’s ‘Darshan’. Nevertheless, his son became very much afraid of taking
‘Darshan’. When the Brahmin caught hold of his son and forcibly brought him to the
temple, his son started screaming loudly and died right there in front of Sri Swami.
In place of his son, the Brahmin saw a dreadful body lying there. The Brahmin
and his wife started crying and prayed to Sri Swami “Maharaj, this son was born by
your blessings, then how did he die now? ”. Sri Swami spoke “I had told you in
advance, that a son will be born and depart from you. Whatever food offerings you
were placing under the tree, this devil would eat. The same devil was born to you as a
son. I have liberated him from this devil’s life. Now cremate this devil’s body. Apply this
Bhasm88 to the devil’s body. His body will diminish in size”. After the cremation of the
devil’s body, the Brahmin came to Sri Swami and started praying, “Maharaj, I have
become old now. I am childless. Please bless me with a son”.
Then Sri Swami Samarth blessed him and said, “Now go home. You will get a
son”. After this blessing, the wife of the Brahmin gave birth to a son. The couple
became very happy and they started devotional service to Sri Swami till the end.
139 Rameshwar: A holy place in Tamil Nadu, South India
140 Naivedya: Food offered to the Deity. An important element in puja. Also see Footnote 87.
Copyright © 2006 Shree Vitthalrao Joshi Charities Trust