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A Brief Biography
Introduction
Swami Samarth came to Akkalkot in
1856 where he continued his physical existence for 22
years.
Soon, the name of Swami Samarth of
Akkalkot as a Spiritual Master spread and devotees came
for his blessings. Most people did not understand many
of his gestures and mystic statements, which he used
to make cryptically, although their meanings often became
apparent on later dates.
He bestowed his blessings on the poor, needy and the
people at the lowest rung of the society. Both Hindus
and Muslim festivals like Dusshehra and Moharram etc.
used to be celebrated by Him. As in Shirdi, Thursday
became a special day of celebration at Akkalkot. Like
Shirdi Sai Baba, Swami Samarth of Akkalkot was fond
of mass feeding. Once, on his visit to a place called
Rampur, a devotee named Rawaji, to celebrate his visit,
cooked food for 50 people. However, hearing the news
of Swami Samarth's arrival hundreds of people from the
neighbouring villages started rushing to the village.
Seeing such a large number of people at his doorstep
Rawaji became visibly panicky. Moved by his plight,
Swami Samarth asked Rawaji to get some empty baskets.
When the baskets were brought from the market, idols
of all the deities like Khandoba, Annapurna, etc were
put in them and food materials like chapatis (bread)
etc. were piled over them. Bawaji and his wife were
asked to carry these baskets and take three rounds around
the Tulsi plant. After that, they were asked to serve
food from these baskets to the guest without looking
into them. When food were being served, Rawaji and his
wife were amazed to see that the baskets never exhausted
even after a few hundred people had been served. After
all the people who had come finished their meal, Swami
Samarth took his meal. This is known as 'Annapurna Siddhi'.
Swami Samarth had the capacity to
read the minds of all the people coming to him and also
was able to know about their past and future. Baba Saheb
Jadhav, one of his great devotees one day came to meet
the Master. Seeing him suddenly Swami Samarth said "Oh
Potter! There is a summon coming in your name?. The
potter being in the close circle of Swami Samarth understood
the meaning of this sentence and begged of the Swami
to save him from the approaching death so that he could
continue to serve him (the Master). Moved by his devotion
Swami Samarth looked-up towards the sky and muttered
something as if he was addressing to someone who was
invisible. Suddenly, he pointed his hand towards a bull
passing nearby and said in a loud voice "go to
the bull". In the presence of a large number of
devotees, the bull instantly fell dead. Jadhav, with
a fresh lease of life, devoted himself totally to the
service of Swami Samarth thereafter. Similarly, A European
engineer from Solapur visited the Swami with the earnest
hope of having a son. As he approached Swami Samarth,
the latter just looked at him and told that he would
have a son within a year. That is what exactly happened.
Spiritual Masters are capable of giving
spiritual life to any person in a fraction of a second
by a touch, a look, a word or even by a mere thought.
A person like Ramanand Bidkar who had lived an immoral
life for a long period was converted to a Saint called
Bidkar Maharaj by the kind grace of Akkalkot Swami,
who by grace i.e. Diksha evolved him spiritually. Under
his guidance Sri Balappa Maharaj, Shri Gangadhar Maharaj,
Sri Gajanan Maharaj and many others rose to spiritual
eminence and contributed a lot to the society.
After serving the poor, curing the sick and helping
the spiritual seekers over a few decades, Swami Samarth
one day suddenly announced that the time had come for
him to go out of his physical existence. By Hindu calendar
It was Chaitra Sudha trayodasi, Shaka 1800 i.e. the
year 1878 AD Tuesday at 4 PM. At this time he seated
himself in Padmasana (Lotus Posture) and uttered his
last words - "no one should weep I shall always
be present at all places and I shall respond to every
call of the devotees"". Shri Sai Baba of Shirdi
had also said exactly the same thing before his Mahasamadhi.
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