- 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 & 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.
The Nicest place 2 be is in GoD's THoUGHTS!
The Bestest place 2 be is in GoD's PRAYERS!
The Safest place 2 be is in GoD's HANDS!
But with Sai Baba, yOu are in All 3 !!
.......anOnymOus

rOhit beHaL