Saints do the noble mission of transforming and modifying our vices into virtues, they show the right path to us for leading a meaningful life. On 23rd Feb. 1878 an omnipotent holy figure first appeared in Shegaon, Maharashtra, he was our Shri Gajanan Maharaj.
Two wise gentleman in Shegaon Shri Bankatlal Agarwal and Shri Damodarpant Kulkarni saw a youth, who was almost all bare with radiant face, picking up the particles from the leftover food from the leaf-platters, at the door of Devidas Paturkar. Later he preferred to drink the ordinary water kept for cattle, without any hesitation and left the place. Looking at his queer actions, radiant glow and great philosophical wise speech, Bankatlal felt that he was not an ordinary man but had the noble qualities of Saints. Rest is the history Shegaon witnessed the omnipotent capacity and blessings of Shri Gajanan Maharaj.
In his 32 years of stay at Shegaon, Maharaj performed many Leelas (miracles) like curing leprosy, bringing a dead dog to life, sitting calmly on a bed caught on fire, pacifying a turbulent horse and helped hundreds of devotees with their problems and guided them to the spiritual path of Moksha. He always used to discourage pretension and encourage being truthful. He taught his devotees that ego is their biggest enemy and they should always be humble. Importance of good deeds, speaking truth, real meaning of devotion, and being righteous were some of the principles that he taught us.
Maharaj used to chant “Gani Gan Ganat Bote” and hence people started calling him Gajanan Maharaj. The meaning of this line is that ‘No being is separated from God; God exists in all and all exist in God.’ The message conveyed through that is God is present in each and every person and in all things around us. Hence treat every individual equally and with respect. When the noble work of his avtaar on Earth came to an end he took Samadhi on 8 September 1910, on the day of Rishi Panchami.
Shri Dasaganu Maharaj
Saint Shri Dasaganu Maharaj, an exceptionally talented poet has portrayed Shri Gajanan Maharaj and his devotional work in Shri Gajanan Vijay Grantha (book), which has 21 chapters depicting how Shri Gajanan Maharaj came to Shegaon till his Samadhi. Without Shri Dasaganu Maharaj’s contribution and creation, it would not have been possible to know about Shri Gajanan Maharaj. Dasaganu Maharaj also happened to be a disciple of Saint Shri Sai Baba from Shirdi, Maharashtra.
