Mrs. M. W. Pradhan

All my children took ill of measles. The doctor despaired of young Babu. All were hopeless. I prayed to Sri Sai Baba. He appeared and said “Why weep? The child is alright. Give him at 6 or 6.30 a.m. a good feed.” The child began to play in the morning. The doctor came and saw it with surprise and said “Give him no food” But the child ate everything and digested it.

One night at 11 p., Baba appeared to me as I slept and said: ‘Are you sleeping? Get up. Your boy will have convulsions’. I got up. I looked at the boy. He had no fever or convulsions. But ‘Forewarned is forearmed!’ So, I got ready hot water, fire, eaude cologne etc. About 2 a.m. the boy woke up and had convulsions - all our children have convulsions occasionally. I got everything ready. In half an hour, the fit passed off. Baba saved us from sorrow and danger by his forewarning. He did so often.

Baba appeared in my dream and told me to place turmeric and saffron on his foot. I worshipped them in the dream. I told N.G.C. of the dream and he said, take silver padukas to Shirdi, place them before Baba and get them for worship. So I did, Baba himself stretched out both legs and asked me to place each paduka on each foot and worship. I did so. He handed them over to me, telling N.G.C: “Nanahine maje pay paha kapun nele”

I feared once Baba would shout and get angry at the Masjid. That day Baba did no such thing and said “See, I did not shout against anyone, is it not so?” Once, at pooja at the mosque, Baba knew of my baby crying in our wada, and in the middle of the pooja sent me away saying “Go home”, I went and pacified the child and returned. “Now”, said Baba “do your pooja”.

Once the doctor said that typhoid convalescent baby should not be taken to Shirdi. But we did take him. He was ill in the train. I feared that people would laugh at me for my madness. The child had to lie down and could not even sit up. As soon as we went to Baba, the child stood up before Baba; and Baba said: People will not laugh now’ He knew of course our thoughts in the train.

On 16-10-98, i.e. the night after Baba’s departure, I saw his body in a dying condition in my dream and said ‘Baba is dying’. Baba replied ‘People do not talk of saints as dying, but as taking Samadhi’. His body was still. People were mourning. Such was the dream I felt sad. I woke at 12.30 midnight. In the morning we got from Anna Chinchinikar, a card that Baba passed away at 3 p.m. on Dusserah 15-10-1918.

On the 19th night I dreamed that Baba came and gave me 3 rupees, and that I felt distressed, as dream receipts of rupees are not auspicious. Baba said ‘Receive, Receive it and give me all the money you have stored up in your box’. I woke up and sent up all that money for the ceremonies. The same night, Baba appeared in my sister-in-law’s dream and asked her to send up a yellow ‘pitambar’ to be placed on the samadhi. That also was done.

S.L.M.III (4) 353: I was in an advanced stage of pregnancy at Santacruz. A midwife and nurse attended on me. Four days of difficult labour made the nurse despair of my case and she went and told my sister that Mr. Pradhan must send for a doctor at once. But my sister began at once to pray before Baba portrait with the nurse by her side. As she prayed, the child was delivered at once without anyone’s help. I wondered and the nurse wondered how great were Baba’s power and mercy.

III (5) 381-384 Pradhan’s account of experiences about the change in Telungi Sastri: We had a Telungi Sastri, Madhav Bhatji of advanced age, a Karmata, worshipping Sankara night and day with ‘Rudrabisheka’ etc., In 1912 or so, our child Babu was one year old and go ill. Bhatji thought it might be due to worshipping a Mussalman at home and thus rousing the ire of Shiva. One night Baba was very ill and we wanted to rouse up the Bhatji. But just then he himself came up and sat before Babas’ picture and he prayed “If the dream or vision I got be true, let the child’s temperature go down in 5 minutes and let him play from tomorrow and let the doctor declare that he is alright; then I will agree that you are a siddha, I will bow down and in 15 days go to Shirdi and pay Rs.108 Dakshina.” His dream, he said was this " A Moslem clad as in Baba’s picture, with sota (i.e., a small club) in hand, came near my cot and roused me and then went up the steps of the storey saying ‘What do you know? This house is mine. This child I have given. You think you make the child improve. The boy mine and so at once, i will show it to you.’ He went up, I woke up, and so at once came up and prayed. If he cures Babu at once, I will take Baba for a Shiddha Purusha and worship him" In one hour Babus’ fever stopped and he became active. His coughing etc. also ceased. So the Brahmin fell prostrated before Baba and later went to Shirdi. Then Baba looking at him said, "This man calls me dog, cat and Moslem. At once Bhatji recognised his Antarsakshitwa and bowed at his feet. Baba said to Shama, 'How often does this Bhat worship me every day! Then Bhat prayed (1) that he should be blessed with a son and that he would pay Rs.108 (2) that if his master should attain his ambition he would pay ten times more. When he went in the afternoon Baba asked him dakshina. Shama said he had paid it in the morning. Baba said “He gave me very little in the morning. Hi is to give ample dakshina.” Bhatji said that Baba knew his inmost thoughts. In one year Bhat got a son and he paid Rs.108 to Baba. Then he put up Baba’s picture for worship in Datta temple, which his brother constructed in his own village.