Hazrat Babajan
Merwan, who later became Meher Baba, regularly used to pass by the neem tree under which he always saw Babajan sitting. One day in the month of May, the year 1913, the old lady called Merwan to come closer, and Merwan stopped the bicycle and went near to her. Merwan was just 19 years old.
Babajan looked into the eyes of her beloved son, and Merwan stood speechless, absorbed in the divine ocean of love flowing from the eyes of the Divine Person Babajan. Merwan instantly knew that Babajan was no ordinary soul but was the Ocean of Love and Grace. Tears started rolling out of the eyes of Babajan, who embraced Merwan calling him “My Beloved Son”. Babajan knew the destiny of Merwan, the Avatar of the Age. Speechlessly, Merwan had come to understand that a transformation had taken place in his normal consciousness.
Hazrat Babajan’s Tomb / Dargah is in the Camp Area of Pune, Hazrat Babajan Square [Chowk], Near ST Vincent High School, Near Shivaji Market, Meher Dastur Road, Camp – Pune Pin Code – 414001.
Merwan became a regular visitor to the neem tree, and both Babajan and Merwan often sat together in silence for hours. There was no need for words. The inner joy of the Self makes one speechless. Merwan’s consciousness was on the brim of the Ocean, preparing to be merged with the infinite Treasure of Sat, Chit, and Anand. In January 1914, that which was destined to happen did happen. One evening, when Merwan was sitting near Babajan in silence, and as he was about to depart to return home, Babajan held his face in her hand and kissed him on the forehead.
Instantaneously, Merwan lost all consciousness of “Duality” and became One with God. His “self” merged into the real infinite and indivisible “Self” of consciousness. The purpose of Merwan’s life on earth was revealed. Merwan was awakened to the Reality of the Oneness of God. Babajan often said, referring to Meher Baba, that one day “my beloved son (“Mera Pyara Bachha”) will shake the world”. The veil of ignorance on his Divine Person was removed.
Merwan was in a God-absorbed state for a very long time. His mother tried many Doctors and Hakims, but Merwan was not their candidate. Finally, a little consciousness returned apparently spontaneously, and Merwan had the whim to visit the Perfect Masters of the age, including Sadguru Sai Baba and Sadguru Upasni Maharaj. Upasni Maharaj on seeing Merwan threw a stone that hit Merwan exactly at the spot where Babajan had kissed Him. Merwan started bleeding. The effect of this stone was to gradually bring Merwan’s consciousness to encompass the normal human level, while retaining His superconsciousness.
Merwan was now Meher Baba. He switched his residence frequently, until finally establishing residence on a quiet hill now called Meherabad, nearly 5 kms from Ahmednagar Town to establish His Ashram. Meher Baba explained the entire theory of creation in His most famous book “God Speaks”. In this book, He revealed the secrets of the evolution of creation and the evolution and involution of Consciousness. He explained the journey from energy, to matter and from matter to the development of the various forms. He further explained that after attaining the Human form, with the grace of the Guru, consciousness starts journeying inwardly and gains spiritual heights, and ultimately attains the Realization of Self.
The spiritual journey according to Him is divided into seven stages of involution (inner evolution) perceived by the aspirant as planes of consciousness. The lower planes are full of sights and the radiance of God, while the seventh or the highest plane is of God Realization, where one becomes one with God. Such realized Souls provide immense spiritual benefit to those associated with them, as they are Perfect.
Meher Baba explained the philosophy of creation and provided a method for translating between the terminology adopted by the three principal sources for information on consciousness and spirituality. These three schools are the Sufic, Vedantic, and Mystic schools.
Meher Baba de-emphasized the importance of miracles and miracle workers. He warned His disciples that these were merely illusions within the grand illusion that is apparent existence. He clearly emphasized that the real miracle is the realization of the Self, and all other worldly miracles were just so much eyewash.
After leaving Pune, Meher Baba met Hazrat Babajan in the flesh again only once. For years the two of them played out a complex game of non-meeting in which each would visit the other’s seat while the other was absent. As the apparent culmination of this game, one day Hazrat Babajan came by car to Meherabad, while Baba was in residence there. The two did not touch; Baba stood on the uphill side of the Ahmednagar-Dhond railway track, while Hazrat Babajan stood on the downhill side. Then she left and soon after dropped her body on Wednesday, the 21st of September 1931, at Pune.
Meher Baba’s reverence for Hazrat Babajan was continuous – he hailed her as the Emperor. Out of respect, He named His first school the “Hazrat Babajan School” upon its founding at Ahmednagar in 1925.
Meher Baba later toured the entire world, went to many countries, and traveled across India but always remembered Hazrat Babajan and referred to the State of Infinite Bliss that He had received with the one kiss on the forehead from the Graceful Sadguru.
Hazrat Babajan’s “Samadhi” is still in Pune under the same old neem tree, where Merwan and Hazrat Babajan sat in Silence with tears flowing from the eyes of Hazrat Babajan and Merwan. Hazrat Babajan is still remembered by the people of Pune and worshipped. Meher Baba’s “Samadhi” is in Ahmednagar district on the Pune-Dhond Highway and is open for Darshan from 6 A.M. to 8 P.M. every day.
Gul Rukh became Hazrat Babajan, and Merwan became Meher Baba. The beloved son of Hazrat Babajan observed Silence for a long 44 years. His work encompasses service to lepers and God-intoxicated (but apparently mad) souls called “masts”. He summoned humanity to awaken to the Real Truth that all religions teach, leaving aside rites and ceremonies, which, he explained, never free a soul from bondage.
A translated version of Rumi’s poem into English which we remember tells the secret of the divine kiss:
“I would love to kiss you,
The price of kissing is your Life.
Now my loving is running toward my life shouting.
What a bargain, let’s buy it.
– Rumi –
Further Readings:
TAGS: HAZARAT BABAJAN DARGAH BABA JAN – SADGURU HAZRAT BABAJAAN DARGAH TOMB SHRINE PUNE
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THE EMPEROR – HAZRAT BABAJAN
By Dr. Abdul Ghani
When Babajan first came to Poona people surmised her age to be not less than 90 years, and thereafter even 30 years added to her life in the city wrought no material changes in her personality. Short in stature, firm and agile in gait, back slightly bent with rounded shoulders, skin fair and sunburnt, face broad and heavily wrinkled, high cheek bones, liquid blue eyes possessing great depths, head covered with a silvery crown of thick white hair hanging loose up to the shoulders, deep sonorous voice, all conspired to make her personality very unique and unwordly. Her attire was simple, consisting of a long apron extending below the knees, a pyjamas narrowed round the legs and a linen scarf thrown carelessly round the shoulders. She always went about bare-headed; the luxuriant crop of white hair — never oiled or groomed — was for all practical purposes a head dress in itself.
Numerous miracles are attributed to Hazrat Babajan, and they are recounted separately in this book. However, some of her characteristic habits (khirqeadat) need a mention here. Babajan slept very little, and the apparent bodily relaxation of Perfect saints is nothing like what human beings enjoy as sleep. Irregular scanty meals and frequent potions of Indian tea would surely have shattered any robust constitution but Babajan, in spite of her age, felt no adverse effects therefrom. One day she would feel out of sorts, at times even high fever, and the next day she would be her usual self without recourse to any medication. Young and old, male or female, she used to address everyone as Bacha or Baba (child or baby). And if anybody accosted her as Mai (mother), she would flare up and say, “I am a man and not a woman,” thereby confirming one of the sayings of Prophet Mohammad, meaning, “Lovers of God are males; lovers of paradise are eunuchs; and lovers of the world are females.
Her method of healing was quite unique and entertaining. When anyone approached her for a cure, she would say, “The child is being tormented by goliyan (small round pellets), meaning thereby the effect of Amal — sanskaras — here wrong actions. To the amusement of those around, she would hold between her fingers, the painful or diseased part of the person concerned, and calling upon some imaginary being, she would give two or three sharp jerks to the affected part, simultaneously ordering the troublesome entity to quit. Surprisingly enough, this funny operation would impart instantaneous relief, and the party concerned would depart smiling and happy.
Babajan’s love and charity towards humanity was supremely Divine in expression; it could not but reclaim a most confirmed sinner and subdue the cruelest of minds. Articles of clothing and other presentations to Babajan, people would remove without her permission, and her seat being open to the road some would even dare to steal, feeling convinced she would not protest. Once a man tried to steal a costly shawl covering her body while asleep, but he found its removal rather risky, as some portion of it was held underneath her body. Babajan instinctively raised herself bodily a little, thereby helping the thief to achieve the purpose.
On another occasion, a person from Bombay, in token of his fulfilled desire, placed two bangles of solid gold round Babajan’s wrists. At the earliest opportunity, an unknown person snatched away the bangles so very roughly that it gave her wrist a nasty cut which bled profusely. The cry of ‘catch the thief’ was raised by people around, and a policeman on duty approached the scene. To the discomfiture of every one around, Babajan ignored the real culprit, and asked the policeman to arrest those around calling for thief.
An idea can be had of her superphysical state when the act of eating was described by her as Jodna (patchwork to the body); and the attendants (Mujawar) also, when reminding her of food, would address her in that sense.
A regular visitor to Hazrat Babajan could never miss hearing her constant muttering to herself, worded somewhat like this: “Vermins are troubling me incessantly; I sweep them away, but still they keep on gathering.” Simultaneous with these mutterings, unintelligible to listeners, she would keep on moving the palms of the hand all over her body, as if removing dust or cobwebs.
Hazrat Meher Baba, when questioned as to the meaning and significance of the above meaningless utterance and the almost constant movement of the hands, gave the following illuminating explanation: “Annihilation Of all Amal (actions) good and bad, means Najat (salvation) and Babajan being God-realized was much above the state of salvation. She not only had no Amal (actions) to account for, but was in a position to destroy the Amals of others. The physical body of a saint like Babajan, when working on earthly plane after realization, becomes the focal point to which myriads and myriads of Amal of the universe get attracted, and getting purified in the furnace of Divinity i. e., the body of the saint, they go out again into the universe as spiritual Amal. Take for instance the white ants which, you know, have a tremendous power of multiplying. The queen of the white ants, a far round bulky creature about three to four inches in length, feeds upon its own kind, the smaller ants. But the queen procreates much more than what she consumes. Likewise perfect saints like Babajan give out more spiritual Amal to the world than what they destroy. Hence it is that living saints are a blessing and mercy to the world whether one knows it or not.” This condition: (halat) in saints is the aspect of Divine love and beauty (Shane-jamal).
Hazrat Babajan often times, when the aspect of Divine glory (Shane-Jalal) possessed her, used to rave and grumble in the following strain: “Why do you torment my children; nay, you even kill them. They have done no wrong to you. Do I not feed you, and clothe you? What is it you lack? And still you perpetrate all these atrocities on them. What have I done to merit all this?” Words conveying this sense have been frequently heard from Babajan and naturally they gave rise to some guess-work on the part of the hearers, who interpreted the words to mean that Babajan was remembering and bemoaning the loss of her children who perhaps were cruelly dealt with by her people.
Hazrat Meher Baba, when questioned on the point, explained: “There can be nothing further from truth; Babajan was never married and had no children. By children, she evidently meant the saints of the time (AwIiyae-waqt), who are misunderstood, vilified and persecuted by the churches of all denominations, upmindful of the circumstances of which they are the outcome. Babajan was equally concerned with the enlightened and the ignorant, and hence her reference to feeding and clothing of the latter. She was as much for the material well-being of the world at large, as for the spirituality of the godly few whom she called her children.
Hazrat Babajan’s spiritual status in the hierarchy of saints is that of Qutub. Literally the word Qutub means a peg or a pin, and a Qutub functioning on the physical plane is the hub round which the universe revolves. Babajan’s subjective experience (halat) of Gnosis (Irfan), would be described by Sufis as that of Salik-Majzoob. After God-realization, one returning to normal consciousness is possessed both of Divinity and Gnosis (Haqiqat and Marefat). When Divinity is uppermost in him he is called Majzoob, and when Gnosis predominates he is a Salik. Babajan had both these aspects in her equally balanced, and hence she was Salik-Majzoob of the time, possessing all the characteristics of a Qalandar.
Hazrat Babajan, like all Qutubs (Perfect Masters), had a circle of twelve disciples and the spiritual chargeman thereof is Hazrat Meher Baba of “Meherabad” (District Ahmednagar). She stood in the unique position of a mother (a storehouse of spirituality) to all the saints of the time.
Once a Fakir complained that Tajuddin’s durbar was more lavish and free in providing worldly amenities than hers; Babajan retorted by saying, “What can Tajuddin give? He gives what I give Him.” This incident is significantly eloquent of Babajan’s relationship with saint referred to above.
After a spiritual sojourn of about 35 years in Poona, Hazrat Babajan left her mortal coil on 21st September 1931 at the ripe old age of 125 Years. Her funeral procession was a tremendous affair, never accorded to any dignitary or royalty in the annals of Poona. Her remains were laid at rest at the very spot* underneath the neem tree where she sat and dispensed Divine Grace for such a long number of years, thus confirming the Sufi belief, that:
“Cycles change,
the worlds rotate,
But Qutubs ne’er their
seat vacate.”
*The beautiful shrine in marble stone is built out of a fund of Rs. 4000/- provided by Hazrat Meher Baba and held in Trust on his behalf by a Muslim Society — “The Anjuman-e-Khuddam-e-Ahle-Sunnatul Jamat, Poona.”
Location MAP Hazrat Babajaan Dargah Pune
HAZRAT BABAJAN
The Emperor of The Spiritual Realm of Her Time, p. 29-36
1981 © Avatar Meher Baba Perpetual Public Charitable Trust
[Hazrat Babajan’s Tomb is in Camp Area of Pune, Near Shivagi Market, Meher Dastur Road.]