One of the above trio in Shirdi, Mhalsapati lived till the year 1922.
Mhalsapati was admirably attached to Sai Baba and therefore was very intimate with him. Sai Baba used to sleep one day in the masjid (called at Sai Baba’s own desire Dwarkamai) and the next day in the Chavdi9 When Sai Baba slept in this Dwarkamai, Mhalsapati was with Sai Baba throughout the night and they both had a tete a tete off and on, and what was ‘Pendya to Shri Krishna’, this Mhalsapati was to Sai Baba. Till the end of his life, Mhalsapati sat up throughout the night in the Dwarkamai even after Sai Baba’s Samadhi, on every alternate day. In fact this Mhalsapati was an emblem of poverty, viveka, vairagya and contentment.
Since the time Sai Baba came to Shirdi, he used to stay in the masjid, which, at that time had been in a very dilapidated condition. At day time, he moved about, but always returned to the masjid at night. If anybody invited him for dinner, he went, and treated and gave medicine to the people, but never accepted any money for the same; not only that, but personally nursed the patients, and there are still living, some, who had the good luck of being nursed by Sai Baba. Later on Baba stopped giving medicine and only continued to give his ‘Udi’ (ashed out of the fire which was constantly kept burning in the Dwarkamai, and this ‘Dhuni’ has been similarly maintained by the Shirdi Sansthan Committee upto this date).
That Sai Baba gave medicine to the people was told by Sai Baba himself to the late Hari Sitaram Dikshit. He addressed Dikshit by the name Kaka. Sai Baba said, “Kaka, I used to give medicines to people before. Later on I gave up that, and began to remember Hari, Hari, and while remembering Hari, Hari, Hari met me.”
When Sai Baba first came to Shirdi, there lived a Sadhu by the name of Devdas. At this Devdas’s place several Sadhus came at various times. And as this was the trunk road for going on foot to the southern plates of pilgrimage, like Rameshwar, Pandharpur, Shirdi got sanctified by the footprints of many a holy man, off and on. One such, by name Jankidas, was staying in Shirdi for many days. He, was a Sadhu of a high order, and very often he and Sai Baba gathered for a tete-a-tete. So also the well-known Gangagir Baba used to come here. After Sai Baba’s advent in Shirdi, when this Gangagir Baba first came, he saw Sai Baba carrying two earthen pots full of water from the well. Gangagir at once asked the villagers nearby as to when this entity (meaning Sai Baba) had come to Shirdi. Gangagir said, “This is a precious jewel. His worth is very high. It is the greatest good luck of this village that you should have such a gem here.” Saying this, Gangagir Baba went to take Sai Baba’s darshan and both had a very loving tete-a-tete. Similar expressions had been uttered by Anandnath Maharaj, a disciple of the well-known Swami of Akkalkot. When this Anandnath Maharaj had come to Nevargao near Yevala, Madhavrao Balvant Deshpande, Dagadu Bhawoo Gaike, Nandaram Shivram Marwadi and Bhagchand Marwadi, all of Shirdi, went there for his darshan. After darshan, when these four were leaving for Shirdi, this Anandnath Maharaj suddenly came running towards their cart and sat in it saying he would go with them (to Shirdi). People from Nevargao and Yevala, made great efforts to dissuade Anandnath Maharaj from leaving them thus, but without avail. Anandnath Maharaj when he came in the presence of Sai Baba said thus – “He is a diamond. You do not know his real worth. Although he may be on dung-hill, still remember that he is a real diamond.” At that time, the real worth of Sai Baba had not been realised by the people, generality of whom took him for a mad Fakir.
The state of Sai Baba at that time as quoted by Mr. H. S. alias Kakasaheb Dikshit, was thus: “Rags to wear, he would sit where he chose, and though appeared to be a madman, had realised the entire Universe within him.” At times, Sai Baba sat on the rivulet side, at other time underneath the neem tree on the outskirts of the village, sometimes in the field of someone, his clothes in tatters, at times he appeared to be in great anger; a line of conduct, which to the worldly folks appeared to be that of a madman. But these Shirdi folks happened to be very soon disillusioned when Sai Baba’s superhumanity steadily asserted itself. Sai Baba had taken to lighting many lamps all over the Dwarkamai and none could fathom his intention for doing so. For this lighting, he begged for oil from the oilmen and banias. For some days these people supplied him with it. One day, all of them declined to give it. But did this come in the way of Sai Baba’s daily routine? No! There was a drop of oil in the tin pot with which he had gone to ask for oil. After refusing the oil, those Shirdi folks followed Sai Baba, to see how he was going to light his lamps (‘panatis’) that day. Sai Baba returned to Dwarkamai, drank the drop of oil that was in the pot, filled the pot with aqua pure, and poured it in the ‘panatis’. When doing this the people naturally jeered at him as at a madcap. But when Sai Baba struck a match and lighted the lamps one by one, and when these lamps remained lighted throughout the night, then these worldly folks came to their senses, and approached Sai Baba in suppliant postures to be forgiven and condoned condemned. Some of them, who had actually persecuted him, became terribly afraid; because they had thoroughly mistaken Sai Baba who was kind and loving to friend and foe alike. He loved every one of the village equally and whenever any danger or calamity threatened the village or any individual, Sai Baba gave timely warning and those who listened to his advice invariably realised the enormity of the danger and thus had miraculous escapes from them.
