DEVOTEES' EXPERIENCES OF SRI SAI BABA BY H.H. NARASIMHA SWAMIJI - PART - III

May 24, 2006

Sairam,

Devotees Experiences - Bayyaji Apaji Patel

Baba gave me His last instruction or moral lesson on the day He breathed His last. After sending away Kaka Dikshit He gave me a moral lesson and enjoined silence on me with these words. "If you reveal it to any one, you will die" He added "I am going. Carry Me to Wada. All brahmins will be living near Me." With these words, He breathed His last. After these words were spoken Nana Nimonkar poured water into His mouth but the water came out. I held my hand below His chin to catch the water. Baba leaned upon me and expired. When Baba expired there were troubles of all sorts. Government took charge of all the properties. There was wrangling between two parties. Moslems said that Baba should be buried in a separate building to be constructed at the expense of people who (like me) had been benefiting by his daily bounty. We stood out for burial in the Dagdi Wada in accordance with Baba's wishes. The Kopergaon Mamlatdar Mr. Kulkarni was on the spot and the Rahata

Foujdar Chakra Narayana also. The Mamlatdar decided that the public including both Moslems and Hindus should express their views and he would agree that the wishes of the majority should be carried out. Moslems prepared Mahajar with 100 or less of signatures. We prepared Mahajars and got numerous (over 200) signatures including prominent names, e.g., H. S. Dixit, Bapu Saheb Jog, Bala Saheb Bhate etc. Therefore our view, being that of the majority, prevailed and Baba's body was interred in the Dagdi Wada. In 1910, Shirdi had its second visitation of plague.