First-person testimony · Part II

Bayyaji Appaji Patel

Context

"Bayaji" was the devotee whose lap held Baba at the moment of Mahasamadhi (15 October 1918, 2:30 p.m.). The Satcharitra records: "Baba did not fall down on the ground nor did He lie on His bed, but sitting quietly on His seat and doing charity with His own hand, rested finally on Bayaji's lap" (Chapter 42).

About the 1936 statement

Bayyaji Appaji Patel's 1936 statement (page 169 of Part II) — if this is the same Bayaji — is the witness account of one of the Satcharitra's most quietly important figures.

Verbatim excerpt from Narasimha Swami (1940s)

irtans. I got food thereby. I went on a pilgrimage to Puri and on the way, one Tembe Swami (Vasudevanand Saraswathi) whom I had known already met me and asked me if I was going to Shirdi. I said “Yes, not immedi ately but a few months later”. Then he gave me a coconut saying. “Present this as mine to Sai Baba”. I took it and kept it in my bag. During my further travels, my companions, took it out and then ate it up. When I went to Shirdi, as soon as I approached Sai Baba he said “Here is the thief. Where is the coconut given by my brother?” A friend gave me plots of cultivable land for a very nominal price. They yield me enough to live upon. These are now maintaining me. Bere’s tonga escaping highway robbery which is described in B.S. Is person ally known to me. I went in that tonga with Bere. I receive no money for my Kirtans. I never did. The hat was not and is not sent round either before or after my Kirtan for contri butions. My bhaktas write and invite me to their abodes in various parts of the country. I go and stay with them and perform Kirtans and write books etc. I am a single individual without any family and my needs are few.

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: Bayyaji Patel. This is the canonical English excerpt; please consult the original PDF for context.