Sadashiv Trimbuk Vidhavkar

When we went to Baba at the Mosque, we had left behind a couple of mangoes in the tonga for our own consumption and took the rest of the fruits which along with some tobacco and a quantity fo copper coins I presented to Baba. Baba said, “Where are those two mangoes? Why do you keep them there? Bring them here.” Baba knew the facts evidently by his own wonderful power. These were then brought and presented. Baba ordered all the fruits to be cut up and distributed as prasad to all the people that were present. He then smoked away. It was about 11 a.m I felt very hungry as my usual meal time was 9 a.m, and I had no meal that morning. But, out of delicacy, I said nothing of my hunger and merely continued to sit at the Mosque. Then some one came with a packet of pedhas and placed it before Baba as a present. Baba usually touches nothing, but on this occasion, as soon as the packet came, he opened it, and took up one pedha. It was a good sized pedha and he threw it on to my lap. I was some yards off from him. I thought that it was prasad and a precious gift to be taken home and not anything that I should eat then and there. But, Baba seeing that I held it in my hand without eating said, ‘It was given to you not for keeping it.’ Then I was obliged to eat it up. I felt that my hunger was half appeased. Then again, Baba picked up another pedha from the packet and flung it at me. This pedha at least is to be carried home, I fancied and retained it in my hand. But Baba gain repeated his remark ‘it was not given to you for retention’. So I ate it up and felt my hunger wholly appeased. Baba did not throw any more pedha at me nor did he give any pedha to any of the others present. Baba evidently knew of hungry state, half appeased state and fully appeased hunger without a word from me.

Then after arati was over, the question of food for me and my friend had to be considered. It was very late, too late to start cooking. But Baba had evidently anticipatd things. We learnt that he had told the retired mamlatdar (probably Balasaheb Bhate) in the morning that he would go and dine with him. So extra meals were ready at the gentleman’s house. When the arati was over, Baba told him to take us two and a third Brahmin stranger to his house and feed us. We were the persons to represent Baba and we had a satisfactory meal.

At the time when Baba was sending that official to us at his place to feed us, he said to him "This youngman (Referring to me) has needless anxiety. His business is already accomplished."That gentleman came to us and reported Baba’s words and asked what for we had gone to Shirdi. The fact was that I was anxious to get upadesh and hoped that Baba would given me some upadesh.

In the afternoon, the tonga man was hurrying us up to go back to Kopergaon. Some people told us that Baba did not usually permit people to get back the same day they visited him, but we had to go for two reasons. First, the cartman had to be paid his return fare even if we did not start that day. Secondly, I had got away from my office by reporting myself sick and had to present myself before the Railway Medical Officer at Dadar on the following morning. Anyhow, we told the tongawalla to wait and sat before Baba. Even there the tongawalla came. Baba looked at his face and asked him to go away saying “Where is the hurry?” Then, anyway he knew my other difficulty and so gave us leave. He told me to take udhi. I took it and we came away. His parting words to me were 'Have no anxieties. Your business is already accomplished." It was not clear to me what business of mine he was referring to or he could refer to as already accomplished. The only business I had with him if it could be described as business was taking upadesh and it was not accomplished for he gave me none. I returned to Dadar and in 7 or 8 days, I had a dream. In that dream, my family priest who was at Indore at that time came to me to give me upadesh. When I woke in the morning, I had no intimation by letter or otherwise of the priest’s visit, but, in a few days, he suddenly turned up at my office and said he would stay with me. I told him of the dream. He said he knew that and had gone to me then specially for giving me upadesh. But, he did not tell me how he happened already to be aware of my dream. Next morning, after due and proper performance of the requisite ceremonies he gave me formal upadesh a regular initiation to Sive Mantra. I am a Saivite. Thus, my business was accomplished. And as evidently the priest intended to give it to me sometime earlier, Baba’s words were real statements of fact, or powerful words that forced the intended business into the mind of my priest (who lived at Indore far away from Shirdi and who had not gone to Shirdi).

[This gentleman is a devotee of Hubli Siddharud Swami and went to Shirdi only once after the above visit and that was in 1935 in grateful memory of Baba.]