First-person testimony · Part III

Balakrishna Waman Vaidya

Context

Balakrishna Waman Vaidya's statement appears at page 275 of Part III.

About the 1936 statement

A Part III witness.

Verbatim excerpt from Narasimha Swami (1940s)

r the operation a sadhu had appeared there and approaching the patient passed his hands over the operated part of the body, and said all would go on well. The operation proved quite safe and my brother recovered. The same year, my father attended Das Ganu’s Kirtan. Wherein Sai Baba was described as a veritable Avatar of Datta, as a remarkable person with wonderful powers and wonderful kindness. We got a picture of Sai Baba and worshipped it with Udbatti (light ing scented sticks) at home. In 1912 was my first visit to Shirdi. I had appeared for my Revenue Subordinates Examination and before the results were announced, I went to Shirdi along with two friends, Sankar Balakrishna Vaidya and Achyta Date. On the way, we alighted at Kopergaon station. There the Station Master rather freely and said that undue honour was being lavished upon and people were being gulled by one who was a mere hypnotist, like so many of these wan dering jugglers and thaumaturgists all over the country. This rude fusillade at Sai Baba unsettled my mind about him and I was begin ning to trouble to visit. We reached Shirdi anyhow and saw Sai Baba returning from the Lendi.

Source: B. V. Narasimha Swami, Devotees' Experiences of Sri Sai Baba (All India Sai Samaj, Madras, 1940s; reprint Akhanda Sainama Sapthaha Samithi, Hyderabad). PDF on Internet Archive · OCR full text. Excerpt matched on the term: Balakrishna Vaidya. This is the canonical English excerpt; please consult the original PDF for context.