- THE DIVINE KAFNI OF SAI BABA OF SHIRDI - - EL DESPERTAR SAI

- THE DIVINE KAFNI OF SAI BABA @ SHIRDI -

Shirdi Sai Baba is known for his Simplicity, not only in his Life but also in his Dressing.
One can easily identify a Kafni, Langot and Head-cloth with Sai Baba.
But did you know that in his young days when Baba had arrived in Shirdi, he was dressed like an athlete,
sported long hair flowing down to his buttocks and that he never had his head Shaved ?

Q) So, When and How did Sai Baba adorn a Kafni, Langot and a Head-cloth ?

There was a Wrestler in Shirdi, by name Mohdin Tamboli.
Mohdin Tamboli who used to sell betel leaves and 'Taweez'.
The villagers used to respect him believing that he possessed some divine powers.
As the fame of Sai Baba grew, Mohidden could not relish it and thought of sending Sai Baba out of Shirdi.

Hence, provoking a fight Mohdin demanded a wrestling contest with Baba, but eventually was defeated by Sai Baba.
The wrestler then demanded a return bout and should Sai Baba lose,

he would have to change his clothing and don a Kafni (a long robe).
Sai Baba was in no mood to enter the arena again and so lost the fight and thenceforth,

he changed his dress and mode of living.

Baba adorned a knee-length one-piece robe (Kafni), a Langot (waist band)

and covered his head with a piece of Cloth, which was blood-stained.
By one account, it was the same cloth with which his Guru Venkusa had saved him after being hit on the head

with a brick by those who were jealous of Baba getting favoured treatment from Guru Venkusa.
Baba always kept the Brick & the blood-stained Cloth as his constant companions.

Baba started staying on the outskirts of Shirdi.

He took a piece of sack-cloth for his Seat, sack-cloth for his Bed and was content with wearing torn and worn out rags.
He always said that "Poverty is better than Kingship, far better than Lordship.

The Lord is always brother (befriender) of the poor."

One day there was a realization in Mohdin and his ego was removed.
In remorse, he then pleaded with Baba to resume his former style of dress & return back.
But the young Sai Baba stuck to his word. Mohdin stopped wrestling bouts, slowly working towards Self-realization.
Thus, the physical strength and hatred of Mohdin was defeated by Baba's self esteem and Love.
Later, Baba returned to the Masjid in Shirdi.

Baba’s paraphernalia at this time consisted of a Chillum, Tobacco, a "Tumrel" (Tin Pot), long flowing Kafni,
a piece of cloth round His head, and a Satka (short stick), which He always kept with Him.
The piece of white cloth on the head was twisted like matted hair, and flowed down from the left ear on the back.
This was not washed for weeks. He wore no Shoes, no Sandals. A piece of sack-cloth was his Seat for most of the day.

Whenever Sai Baba's Kafni or Langot were worn out or were torn,
he never gave it to anybody, rather he used to burn them to ashes in Dhuni.
and it was not compulsory that the clothes of Sai Baba had to be old in order to burn them.
Sometimes he even used to burn clothes which were used for a short time and

sometimes he would repair the worn out clothes and use them.
When Sai Babas clothes were torn, Tatya Patil used to tear them more by his fingers.

If Sai Baba wanted to take any devotee high up in the matter of spiritually,

then that lucky person got Sai Baba’s old clothes as Prasad.
The clothes of Sai Baba had immense powers in it. Once Sai Baba gifted His Kafni to Mhalasapati.
The result was that till his death Mhalasapati lived like a Sanyasi,

while also taking care of his family and social attachments.

In another instance, Sai Baba gave his Kafni to a devotee named Muktaram.
As the Kafni was dirty, Muktaram washed it and placed it in Wada (Dharamshala) to dry.

After this, Muktaram went for Baba's Darshan.
Vamanrao was present where the Kafni was kept for drying in Kaka Saheb Dixits Wada.
A voice came from the Kafni - "See, Muktaram has brought Me here and hanged upside down."

Vamanrao immediately took the Kafni and wore it himself. After wearing Kafni, Vamanrao went to Dwarkamai.
Sai Baba got angry when He saw the Kafni worn by Vamanrao.

But Vamanrao was determined to take Sanyas when time came
and after this incident Vamanrao went high up in the matter of spirituality.

On Tuesday 15th October`1918, the day Baba took Samadhi,
an old Cloth Bag that Baba never allowed anyone to touch was opened and in it a Green Kafni and a Green Cap were found,
which were given to him by Kasi Ram, the tailor. Baba had worn them also but later preferred white robes only.
And, along with other items, this bag was also placed with Baba inside his Samadhi.

Today, Baba's other regular worn Kafni is kept at the "Sai Baba Museum" in Dixit Wada @ Shirdi.

But, there are discrepancies in stories of the alleged wrestling match of Sai Baba in Shirdi with Mohdin Tamboli.
According to Gunaji, Sai Baba lost this contest, and thereafter changed his apparel to the Kafni of fakirs.
This is in contradiction to Gunaji’s own statement that Sai Baba had been wearing Fakir garb from the outset of his arrival at Shirdi.
Furthermore, the Hindu informant Ramgiri Bua emphasised that Sai Baba did not Wrestle,
but instead had a disagreement with the son-in-law of Tamboli, as a consequence of which he retreated to the nearby jungle.
This obscure episode has been tentatively dated to the 1880s.

Saipatham team conducted interview with Sri Sakhdev Tatyabawag on December 15th 1991 who had seen Sri Sai Baba.
He was then around 105-110 years old. He was a wrestler. He visited Shirdi so many times to participate in wrestling.
According to him Sri Saibaba never participated in wrestling. Below is an extract from interview:
"Shri Sai Baba used to watch wrestling but, never participated in it.
There is a person by name Mohdin Tamboli in Shirdi. He is from Khandesh district.
He never participated in wrestling. Mostly he acted in ‘Tamashas’."

Q. Even though Baba had all eight powers, "Ashta Siddhis" at His command,

then why did he lose to Tamboli in Wrestling ?

In this case Shri Sai Baba showed by actual conduct how one should get rid of Egoism.
After the fight, thenceforth Shri Sai Baba changed his dress and mode of living.
Baba though a Siddha, but He acted like a Sadhaka. He was meek, humble and ego less and pleased all.
And he also knew that these Karmic events had to occur for him to eventually land up as a Fakir.

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