Spiritual India-Baba Farid
>> Sunday, November 7, 2010
There was this Sufi saint, Baba Farid. He was a Muslim saint, almost in the time of Kabir, who became staunch follower of Ramkrishna late in his life. Though a Muslim, Baba Farid was a great devotee of Sri Ram.
There is a touching story of the Baba’s humanity which is little known. There was a woman who was a widow, very poor, with a son five years old. The woman worked as house maid washing peoples’ clothes, utensils etc. and somehow managed to feed her child. She herself had to go half hungry almost everyday. Now this was her son’s birthday and she could not afford anything like good food or clothes for her son for the occasion. All she had was two Rupees in balance. So she washed his clothes on stone, dried them and asked him to put them on. She decided that the least she could do for her son on his birthday was to take him to Baba Farid and get his blessings. She knew that the Baba was very fond of Jalebis (typical Indian sweet), so she bought Jalebis with half the money she had for the Baba. She paid her obeisance to the Baba and made her son to do the same. The Baba blessed them both.
The woman told the Baba that she had brought Jalebis for him as a token of her faith and that the Baba accept and eat them. Baba Farid had tears in his eyes for he knew how poor the woman was and she must have sacrificed a lot to please him with the gift of Jalebis. He tearfully folded his hands and told the woman he was having Roza (fast) these days and as such he could not eat these Jalebis, but he just touched the sweets as a token of acceptance, returned them to the woman and blessed them. The wise woman accepted the inevitable but the child could not be consoled. His little mind could not grasp and understand why the Baba could not eat their offered food. He was crying his heart out. The Baba’s heart melted, he accepted the sweets from the child’s hands and ate them. The woman understood the significance of it, that the Baba had broken his fast because of them. But the Baba told her not to take the matter to heart. For him Roza had no meaning if it became the cause of a child’s displeasure, for there is his Khuda in every child. He cannot displease his Khuda and make him cry, Roza or no Roza.
There is a touching story of the Baba’s humanity which is little known. There was a woman who was a widow, very poor, with a son five years old. The woman worked as house maid washing peoples’ clothes, utensils etc. and somehow managed to feed her child. She herself had to go half hungry almost everyday. Now this was her son’s birthday and she could not afford anything like good food or clothes for her son for the occasion. All she had was two Rupees in balance. So she washed his clothes on stone, dried them and asked him to put them on. She decided that the least she could do for her son on his birthday was to take him to Baba Farid and get his blessings. She knew that the Baba was very fond of Jalebis (typical Indian sweet), so she bought Jalebis with half the money she had for the Baba. She paid her obeisance to the Baba and made her son to do the same. The Baba blessed them both.
The woman told the Baba that she had brought Jalebis for him as a token of her faith and that the Baba accept and eat them. Baba Farid had tears in his eyes for he knew how poor the woman was and she must have sacrificed a lot to please him with the gift of Jalebis. He tearfully folded his hands and told the woman he was having Roza (fast) these days and as such he could not eat these Jalebis, but he just touched the sweets as a token of acceptance, returned them to the woman and blessed them. The wise woman accepted the inevitable but the child could not be consoled. His little mind could not grasp and understand why the Baba could not eat their offered food. He was crying his heart out. The Baba’s heart melted, he accepted the sweets from the child’s hands and ate them. The woman understood the significance of it, that the Baba had broken his fast because of them. But the Baba told her not to take the matter to heart. For him Roza had no meaning if it became the cause of a child’s displeasure, for there is his Khuda in every child. He cannot displease his Khuda and make him cry, Roza or no Roza.
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