On account of the very scrupulous care bestowed on it from the very start, by the late Kakasaheb Dikshit, the first Hon. Secretary, and the late Annasaheb Dabholkar, the first Hon. Treasurer, and continued by their successors in office the permanent fund is somehow able to meet the annual cost of the maintenance of the Sansthan and it is upto the devotees to see that this fund is adequate to keep the steadily expanding Sansthan satisfactorily cared for.
Shri Sai Leela, originally a monthly Magazine containing, inter alia, Sai Baba’s ‘Leelas’ as manifest from the countless experiences of the mass of devotees, was, at the start, so ably managed by the aforesaid two devotees Messrs. Dikshit and Dabholkar that for sometime, it proved to be a gaining concern, of the Sansthan. Later on, this publication, for manifold reasons, dwindled down to be a losing concern, so much so, that the Sansthan has to remain contented for the time being by making it a quarterly issue. It is at present managed by a sub-committee appointed for the same.
At the time of the Ramnavami fair i.e. on Ramnavami day itself, two huge flags were taken in gorgeous procession to the masjid where these were fastened at the two comer tops. One of them came from the late Shankarrao Raghunath Deshpande alias Nanasaheb Nimonkar and the other from Damushet Kasar of Nagar. Nimon is a village in Sangamner Taluka. Nanasaheb was an Hon. Magistrate and was considered as one of the leading men in the Taluka. He did Magistrate’s work for many years, which he gave up on account of old age. He sometimes visited his uncle at Shirdi, and took Sai Baba’s darshan at the desire of his uncle. Gradually Nanasaheb’s faith in Sai Baba increased, so much so, that, the last three years he spent in the service of Sai Baba incessantly day and night. He left Sai Baba only for his daily bath, worship and food; during the rest of the time he had dedicated himself to the service of Sai Baba. Although he was past 60 years, he never desired for any rest away from Sai Baba, who called him by the name Kaka. He did not live long after Sai Baba. By Sai Baba’s grace he had a calm end. He was so mindful of Baba-that he saw Sai Baba everywhere. Whenever anyone approached him, Nanasaheb said, “Come Sai Baba.” To his wife he said the same, “Come Sai Baba.” At this, his wife thought that he was delirious or getting unconscious, and therefore, replied to him that she was not Baba, but his wife. To this Nanasaheb replied, “Who is within you? Of course Baba, you are Sai Baba,” In this way Nanasaheb remembered Sai Baba right upto his end.
The second bunting flag of Ramnavami came from the late Damodar Savlaram alias Damushet Kasar as said before. Although he had three wives, he had no son, and therefore, he was very sad. Once Govindrao Sapkar, the father-in-law of Madhavrao Deshpande suggested to him, that he should go to Shirdi and get Shri Sai Baba’s benediction. He did accordingly and got a son. This confirmed his faith in Sai Baba, and since then, he commenced to bring a flag on he has kept doing this upto this day.
A few years before Ramnavami Utsav was started. Sai Baba had attracted to himself a devotee by name Narayan Govind alias Nanasaheb Chandorkar. He was a resident of Kalyan and at that time a Chitnis of the Collector of Ahmednagar. To him one day Keshav Anant alias Appa Kulkarni of Shirdi said, that Sai Baba had called him. At first Nanasaheb did not believe Appa, and told him, “Why do you take Sai Baba’s name? Tell me frankly what you want from me.” At this when Appa assured Nanasaheb that the latter was really called by Sai Baba, Nanasaheb came to take Sai Baba’s darshan and very soon became a staunch devotee of Sai Baba. He repeatedly visited Sai Baba and benefitted himself by Baba’s ambrosial advice during their sittings which at times were for hours together. At such sittings Nanasaheb was convinced about Shri Sai Baba’s mastery over the Sanskrit language. Nanasaheb’s devotion to Sai Baba was very great indeed. For two things, Nanasaheb will be ever remembered by the other devotees of Sai Baba. The first is, that he got rebuilt and extended the old dilapidated masjid. As Nanasaheb had no time, Nanasaheb Nimonkar at the former’s request undertook to supervise the work personally and he carried it out excellently. Permission for starting the work was obtained from Sai Baba, through Mhalsapati. Although permission had been given, when the work was going on, Sai Baba used to pull down the work and large heavy stones and other heavy building implements were hurled away by him from time to time. In this manner the work was pushed through. These acts of Sai Baba may appear strange to outsiders, but those who had been in closer touch with Sai Baba will feel convinced that Sai Baba never did anything without any good reason. At last the work of the masjid was completed and on the day it was so completed, as Sai Baba had gone to Nimgaon, he was brought from there in a procession with music, bands, etc. and ushered in state into the new masjid (Dwarkamai). In the construction of the new masjid, the three carpenter brothers Kondaji, Gabaji and Tukaram proved of the greatest use. And after the construction, the management of the masjid continued with these three brothers for many years. This Kondaji died afterwards and Gabaji and Tukaram are still living. Upto the end of Sai Baba’s life, the sweeping of the masjid, the cleaning of Shri’s utensils, the heating of water and serving the same for washing Shri’s mouth etc., was done by Tukaram. Sai Baba as a rule would not allow these things to be done by anybody else. Upto now, the flag procession of Ramnavami day starts from the house of these carpenters.
The second great thing which the fate Nanasaheb Chandorkar did was the news he spread broadcast about the benevolent and marvellous deeds of Sai Baba and thereby gave the benefit of Sai Baba’s benediction to people at large. After being a Chitnis, Nanasaheb was a Mamlatdar and then a District Deputy Collector and as such he had to tour through large areas. During such tours, wherever he went, he never failed to sing the songs, very devotionally, of Sai Baba and thus incited an urgent desire amongst his audience to take the benefit of Sai Baba’s darshan. Nanasaheb was the cause of the benefit of the darshan to the late Kakasaheb Dikshit (Hon. Hari Sitaram Dixit, LL.B., J.P., Solicitor, Mumbai) as also to thousands of persons from Mumbai and the District. For attracting the attention of the Mumbai people, besides Nanasaheb, two other persons also were instrumental. One of them is Hari Bhakta Parayan Ganesh Dattatraya Sahasrabuddhe alias Das Ganu Maharaj. He was at first in the Police Department and was very fond of Tamashas. Through Nanasaheb he came to take Sai Baba’s darshan, and gradually became so much attached to Sai Baba that he left service, and by publishing his devotional books (Pothis) and through his public Kirtans commenced to advertise far and wide, the name, fame and spiritual worth of Sai Baba. This is Das Ganu’s career upto the present day, a career which has now elevated him so far, that he is one of the leading Kirtankar Varkaris of Pandharpur, well-known for his entertaining histories of ancient saints and other works both in prose and poetry and is an avowed disciple of Sai Baba, who chants not only in Shirdi and Pandharpur, but also amongst the thousands of devotees of Shri Sai Baba. Modern Bhakta Lilamrut, Santa Leelamrut, Bhakti Saramrut, his commentaries in poetry of Ishavasyopanishad and Amrutanubhava of Shri Dnyaneshwar Maharaj, and Shri Shankaracharaya’s Charitra in 1942 are among his principal productions. Nanasaheb brought Das Ganu to Mumbai and gave the large public of Mumbai the benefit of Das Ganu’s inspiring and attractive Kirtans where the heart of the audience was captured wholesale by listening to the saintly and miraculous fame of Sai Baba. This brought about an incessant stream of visitors to Shirdi from Mumbai and the surrounding country far and wide, since the year 1910 A.D.
