Excerpt from letter by Shri Nilkanth Ramchandra Sahasrabhuddhe 2

[Guest guest]

Om Sai Ram!!!

 

Late one night in the beginning of December 1910, while reading the

'Panchadashi' at a fellow devotee's place, Shri Bhausaheb Dixit and Shri

Nanasaheb Chandorkar arrived unexpectedly around 11 p.m. After some

preliminary conversation, Nanasaheb asked me, " When are you going to

Shirdi? " " Someday " , I answered. They had asked me many times before and

I had been putting it off. This time they insisited that I leave the

very next day, a Sunday. I told them that I would collect my pension and

go on Monday; but they were so insitent that Nanasaheb gave me Rs. 10/-

for expenses and said, " Annasaheb Dabholkar will arrange to collect your

pension. " I was hesitant; but reluctantly agreed, wondering if I had to

stay for more days in Shirdi, would Rs. 10/- suffice. But, Bhausaheb

arranged for an unlimited amunt to be paid to me by giving me a letter

to a treasurer in Shirdi.

 

Reluctantly I left for Shirdi the very next morning. My co-passenger in

the Manmad Mail was a young man, who was MA and stuying for LLB.

Conversing with him I asked him if he knew anything about Shri Sai Baba

of Shirdi. " I know that mad Fakir " , was all he replied. My belief that

Shirdi was a place of ifiots was confirmed.

 

I reached Shirdi around 10 a.m. and went to Rao Bahadur Sathe's Wada,

where I was supposed to look for Shri Madhavrao Deshpande, the

treasurer, mentioned by Bhausaheb. The first time I met Baba, He asked

me for Rs. 12/- as Dakshina. After some days, He asked for Rs. 8/-. Some

days later, a friend Shri Ramchandra Vaman alias Bhausaheb Modak sent

Rs. 5/- by money order to Tayasaheb, which he asked me to deliver to

Baba. When I presented the amount to Baba. He sai, " Keep it with you;

you will need it for your expenses. " But, since I had enough money, I

requested Baba to keep it, when again He said, " You will need this for

your expenses, I am telling you; so keep it with you ! " Reluctantly I

kept the amou;nt. Later, when I got His permission to leave, I intended

to go to Pune or Mumbai; but due to unforseen circumstances I had to

leave for Jalgaon. There was a shortfall of Rs.5/- fo rthe amount

required to go there. I kept the note given by Baba in a sealed packet

with a friend and borrowed Rs. 5/- from him. Later, I collected my

sealed packet by returning the amount.

 

In later years, whenever I went to Shirdi, Baba asked me for exactly Rs.

15/- as Dakshina. Once, when I did not have the requisite amount, He

sai, " Get them from Kaka (Bhausaheb Dixit)! " i could not meet Kaka then;

but when I went once again, he said, " I do not know our money, I will

take out the Holy Book and you can seek for yourself.' " But I just

returned to Baba without bothering to look in the Holy Book and telling

Him. what had happended and asked Hm to reveal the meaning of Rs. 15/-.

But, He said, " Let it remain for the time being. We will see later; ther

is no hurryr. " So, I just kept quiet and mulled over the subject. Then I

remembered some lines from Shri Nath Bhagvat, whic I had noted in my

notebook earlier. I found great satisfaction in them. The meaning of the

two lines was that the five ways of Yoga and control of ten sense organs

were the ways to self-relization. It struck me that the fifiteen rupees,

that Baba asked for every time must be these. As it is said in the

Bhagvad Gita, those who believe, will find knowledge; and my belief was

not blind.