Shirdi Sai Baba's devotee - Bhikkubai

Sai Mahabhakte Bhikkubai belonged to Marathi community and resided in Shirdi. On 2nd December 1936, she narrated in her own words the experiences she had with Shri Sai Baba to Late Shri.B.V.Narasimha Swamji as below:

My ancestral home is Ahmednagar. I knew Radhakrishna Mai as a friend at Ahmednagar. It was Radhakrishna Mai who had a photo of Sai Baba told me about Him. She was worshipping Sai Baba with Aarti and other rituals. She told me she wanted to go to Him. Radhakrishna Mai's grandfather was a lawyer there and his name was Baba Saheb Ganesh. She stayed with him in Shirdi. I was married to a person from Sangamner and he died at an early age. I came from there when I was 14 years old along with Radhakrishna Mai. She was serving Sai Baba since 1908 in Shirdi.

Gangagiri Baba of Vanjargaon was performing a massive Nama-Sapthaha under the Tamarid Tree near Dixit Wada in Shirdi. There used to be a huge gathering every day and among many pilgrim groups that came, one was from Sangamner and when that group returned to Sangamner, it brought from my friend Radhakrishna Mai a photograph of Sai Baba, a lot of Burfi Prasad and an invitation to me to go over to Shirdi and settle there. I accept the invitation of Radhakrishna Mai and came to Shirdi without any jewels and property. I then went and had darshan of Sai Baba. He told me to live with Radhakrishna Mai and be busy serving the devotees. During the end of 1916 i.e., 1 or 2 months after Radhakrishna Mai died, I had gone to Nagar to draw my pension as the widow of a man that died in the war at rupees 6 per month. On my way back, at Kopergaon, near the banks of River Godavari, I was reminded of the tragic passing away of Radhakrishna Mai, whose body was cremated there. My mind was in a turmoil. I had brought over my garland to Shirdi for offering that to Baba. When I went to place it near Baba, He said, "I don't want this garland of mental uneasiness" (Talha Haar Mala Nako). Baba did not receive the Garland. Hari Sitaram Dixit requested Him to take the Garland as I had brought it all the way from Ahmednagar for Him with such great trouble. I then went near Baba lifting up the garland with both hands. Then as I neared Baba, the garland somehow snapped into 3 parts; one was left in each hand and one fell on the floor. I was at a loss to understand as to how that garland got severed like that into 3 pieces. When this was happening, Baba kept on telling "I don't want it".

I had also brought with me along with the garland a watermelon and some milk sweets and I placed the pedas and the cut fruit before Baba. Baba took them and distributed amongst the devotees who were present at that time inside Dwarakamai. Then I took a slice and cut off the outer skin and presented part of it to Baba and asked Him to eat it. Dixit also requested Him to eat it. Baba then said, "This woman was weeping and shedding tears at Godavari and she has brought it with such a troubled heart and so I will not accept it". The fact was that at the River Bank I was weeping and blaming Baba mentally for not having saved Radhakrishna Mayi and for allowing her to die such a wretched death. Baba knew everything that was in my heart and hence His refusal to accept my offerings.

Baba at His noonday meal daily used to give me a vessel full of food which I used to take home.

On the day of Baba's Maha Samadhi, I was greatly agitated at his leaving me desolate and I was weeping at about 10:00 p.m., in my house saying "Baba, I cannot see you again". I came out and outside my front-door I saw a serpent and felt that It was Baba and said, "I cannot recognize you in this serpent body. I know only your Sai Baba form". On hearing this, Immediately the serpent disappeared.

(Source: Devotees' Experiences of Sri Sai Baba Part I, II and III by Sri.B.V.Narasimha Swamiji)

Shirdi Sai Baba's devotee - Bhagoji Shinde

Bhagoji was a sort of attendant (personal companion) to Baba, engaged in regular service to him. He was the first to enter the mosque in the early morning, and every day he used to massage first Baba's right arm and then his body. Then he would light a chillim and the two of them would share it. Bhagoji also had the privilege of carrying the umbrella for Baba when he went to Lendi.

When Bhagoji came in contact with Baba he had black leprosy so outwardly he looked, miserable and unfortunate. He was indeed very fortunate to do seva and be with Baba constantly.

Once when Baba thrust his hand into the dhuni (the sacred fire) and was badly burnt (thus saving the life of a devotees' baby), Bhagoji was allowed to clean and dress the wound with a bandage. Even though Baba lived for a further eight years after the incident, Bhagoji would daily continue the ritual of bandaging Baba's arm long after it had healed.

His elder brother Raguji says, “Once Bhagoji was suffering from high fever and he was at deaths door and Baba came to our home. He branded Bhagoji with a hot iron rod on his back and temples and he recovered soon after”  It is said that once Baba asked Bhagoji to ask for a boon, of being cured of his Leprosy, however Bhagoji said, “Baba I am not concerned about my physical appearance, or my disease. But I would like you to me this wish, which is that I be allowed to be with you at all times and that I be allowed to come to the Dwarka Mai whenever I wish” and Baba granted him the wish.

Thus Bhagoji was the first person to enter the Dwarka Mai early in the morning when Baba sat in front of the Dhuni, and massage Baba’s burnt hand. After doing his seva he would prepare Baba’s chillum for Him and they would smoke it together. And only after Bhagoji left would the other devotees be allowed to come up. This seva he did without fail every day till 1918. 

Bhagoji had the good fortune of holding the ornamental umbrella for Baba when Baba went to Lendi Baugh. Thus Baba immortalized him because he is seen in the photograph behind Baba holding the umbrella. And when the devotee sees that photo years later they will remember him. 

Bhagoji's house, known as Shinde Wada, is just behind Laxmibai's house. This house is on the right hand side of the "Palkhi Road". It is close to the corner where the palanquin turns while going towards Tajim Khan's darga. The compound of Shinde Wada lies on the righ hand side behind a solid old wooden door.

There are many lesson to be learnt from the life of this remarkable devotee. Bhagoji had transcended body consciousness. He was the least concerned about how he looked he had lost most of the fingers of his hand, and also a part of his nose, and the nose is a prominent feature of the face. Although his body oozed pus and blood, that was fowl smelling he was not unconcerned about the sneers and disgusted looks that the others gave him, nor did the unkind words of people have an effect on him. This is the state of complete "Stitha Pragjna" (equanimity). He was determined to do seva for his Sadguru come what may and he persevered. Never once did he fail to come to massage Baba’s burnt hand regardless of the bitter cold or torrential rain. This is “Druda Buddhi”. In the Nava Vidha Bhakti, Bhagoji is an apt example of “Daasya”  or all kinds of seva to the Sadguru. Bhagoji had surrendered totally at his Sadguru’s feet and thus he was able to soak up Baba’s divine energy by being in His Divine presence, and also being able to touch Him and Baba transferred His divine energy to Bhagoji Shinde’s very soul.

(Source: Holy Shri Sai Satcharitra Chapter 7, Baba's Anurag by Vinny Chitluri)

Shirdi Sai Baba's devotee - Amidas Bhavani Mehta

. Sai Mahabhakta Amidas Bhavani Mehta hailed from Bhavnagar (Kathewad, Saurashtra) Gujarat. Amidas belonged to the community of Narasingh Mehta. He was an intellectual poet and a devotee of Lord Krishna. He worshipped Lord Krishna everyday with great devotion. And every time he looked at Lord Krishna’s photograph he saw a Fakir superimposing the Lord in the Glass. Seeing this he was perplexed and his curiosity increased day by day. Thus, he started his journey and finally found that it was indeed Sai Baba of Shirdi. Amidas was a very learned man. He was trained in Indian Classical and Vocal Music. He was very rich and was attached to a small king Dayashankar Revashankar Pandya in Kathewad. During those days, this region was ruled by Gujarati Nawabs. He visited Shirdi very frequently and also rented a room there. He used to stay for longer period in Shirdi. He spent most of his time with Sai Baba. He wrote many articles and Books about Sai Baba in Gujarati and was responsible for spreading Baba’s name in Gujarat State. Amidas was poet and wrote many poems describing the likes, dislikes, characteristics of Sai Baba. He also wrote a Biography on Sai Baba titled PURNA PARABRAHMA SRI SADGURU SAINATH MAHARAJNI – JANAVAJOG VIGATO TEMAJ CHAMATKARO. Baba liked the gentle nature of Amidas. Whenever somebody fell sick, Baba used to send them to Amidas Bhavani Mehta. He gladly attended to the patient, took utmost care of that person and nursed him back to normalcy. He wished to die in Shirdi in front of his Sadguru. Baba who knew his Mahabhakta’s desire told him that he may die anywhere but he will ever be with Him. During the later part of his life, Amidas was running a Photo Studio  as proprietor of erstwhile M/s.British Photo Enlarging Company at Kalabadevi, Mumbai. He was also appointed as Member of Shri Sai Baba Sansthan in the year 1923 during the Chairmanship of another Sai Mahabhakta Shri. Ganesh Dattatreya Sahasrabuddhe alias Das Ganu. Shri Sai Baba Sansthan has honored this Great Sai Mahabhakta by doing his Samadhi in front of Parayan Hall in Lendi Baugh next to the Samadhi of Muktaram. (Source: Baba’s Rinanubandh by Vinny Chitluri and  Shri Sai Leela Magazine Chaitra Shake 1923)

Shirdi Sai Baba's devotee - Abdullah Jaan

Abdulla Jan, originally of Tarbella, Mazra district near Peshawar, was a Pathan, living at Korhale, near Sakori, was a devotee of Baba who had some spiritual and some material touch with Baba. He had left Tarbella as a young boy, as he had none to support him. He simply roamed around and wanted some one to help him to go to Mecca for that is one of the cardinal duties of all Muslims. He walked on and travelled up to Manmad. At Manmad, instead of going to Mumbai, as he originally intended, he heard that Sai Baba was at Shirdi, 30 miles further south and so, as he heard that Baba was showering money on fakirs, he hoped that Baba would send him to Mecca. He went to Shirdi in 1913. When he entered the gate of the Masjid, Baba was in the main building. Their eyes met. At once, he had the feeling that Baba was his Guru. So, he stayed on at Shirdi instead of going to Mecca, as Baba was feeding every fakir abundantly.

Abdulla Jan wanted to live an easy life at Shirdi. He was aged only 17. He had no serious views about life. But as he stayed at Shirdi, there were noticeable changes in his mentality, which illustrate Baba’s way of promoting Hindu-Muslim Unity. When he first came to Shirdi, he like other Pathans regarded Hindus as enemies. After staying 3 years with Baba, this hatred passed away, and he began to view Hindus as his brethren. He gradually absorbed the national feeling and regretted very much that at Mumbai, Hindus and Muslims were fighting with each other destroying Mosques and temples, and he thought that if they wiped each other out the foreigners only would have the whole country to themselves.

When Baba passed away in 1918, he was 22. Even then he was not sufficiently serious to have any development on the religious side. He felt however grieved at Baba’s disappearance and started off on his travels again. In 1926, he was going back North. Then in the Swat valley (Malekand Agency) he found the tomb of a great saint, Akun Baba, who was a Sayyad, a direct descendant of Mohamed. His miraculous powers were the subject of popular legends. That Akun Baba is said to have locked up Lord Roberts on a hill for three months and 11 days. During Abdulla Jan's stay there, one night he had a dream in which a saint appeared. ‘Who was it?’ It was not Akun Baba that he had prayed to, but Sai Baba who was seated on a chair near his head. When he woke, he remembered the dream. So, he found he was still under Baba’s care, though it was eight years since Baba passed away. As Sai was kind enough of his own accord to give him Sakshatkar, 1500 miles away from Shirdi, his reverence for Sai increased and his former idea that Sai Baba had deceived him by giving him no help during the five years of his stay was found to be wrong. At This discovery he returned to India with full faith in Sai Baba.

In 1924 he married and started living at Korhale, four miles from Shirdi. He is lucky enough to have Baba’s appearance before him once in two or four years and he moralises on the past and sees the vanity of human wishes. Baba was surrounded by crowds in his lifetime, and it was hard to find room in the Mosque on account of these crowds of men swarming around him, and a large number of dogs intermingled
in the crowd. Abdulla Jan describes that the Mosque in 1936 looked deserted.

When Baba was in the flesh, Abdulla Jan once expressed his fear that Baba would expire and all his work and influence would pass away with him. Baba said that from within the tomb he would beat with sticks meaning that the death of his body would not terminate his influence or activity.

The five tenets of Islam are  1) uttering the Kalami or declaration of faith, namely, There is no god but God and Mohamed is the Prophet; 2) Panch Namaz, saying the Namaz five times a day, at dawn, at 10 a.m., at 12 noon, at 5 p.m. and at night, kneeling and bending the body at each utterance. 3) Fasting, especially all the forty days of Ramzan and on other occasions about 8 or 10 times in the year; 4) Alms-giving. 5) Haj Yatra that is, going to Mecca. These are the five tenets of Islam. Of these, Baba observed only alms-giving. His alms-giving was a princely scale and he supported over two hundred homeless beggars at Shirdi and distributed not merely vegetarian food, but also meat for non-vegetarians specially prepared as samaradhana from his Hundi, by himself. He also distributed clothes to the poor periodically. In addition to regular donations to certain persons, he also gave liberally to dancers, athletes, acrobats and Ramadasis and all sorts of people that came to him for alms. His reputation as a liberal Maharaj was known very far from Shirdi and attracted people like Madras Ramadasis and this man Tarbella Abdulla Jan.

(Source: Devotees' Experiences of Shri Sai Baba by Late Shri.B.V.Narasimha Swamiji)

Sai's Kafni - robe worn by Sai

Sri Shirdi Sai Baba's Kafni Cloth Leelas – www.shirdisaitrust.org

"Whenever Sai Baba's Kafni or Langot were worn out or 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 Baba's 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 spirituality, 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 Mhalsapati. The result was that till his death Mhalsapati 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 Dixit’s Wada.

A voice came from the Kafni said - "See, Muktaram has brought me here and hanged upside down."

Vamanrao immediately took the Kafni and wore it himself. After wearing the 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 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 (headgear) 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.

Nowdays, Baba's other regular worn Kafni’s are kept at the "Sai Baba Museum" in Dixit Wada at Shirdi. – (Source: www.shirdisaitrust.org)