First-person testimony · Part II

Mr. Clerk

Context

"Mr. Clerk" — likely the formal name of a British or Anglo-Indian devotee — appears at page 184 of Part II.

About the 1936 statement

A relatively brief statement.

Verbatim excerpt from Narasimha Swami (1940s)

operty. I then went and saw Baba. He told me to live with R.Ayi and be busy serving. About the end of 1916 i.e., 1 or 2 months after R.Ayi died, I had gone to Nagar to draw my pension as the widow of a man that died in the war at rupees 6 per month (which I still draw). On my way back, at Kopergaon, near the banks of the Godavari, I was reminded of the fate of R.Ayi, who was burnt there. My mind was all in a turmoil. I had brought over my garland to Shirdi for Baba. When I went to place it on Baba, he said “I don’t want this garland of mental uneasiness”. He did not receive it. H.S.Dixit requested him to take it as I had brought it from Ahmednagar for him with such great trouble. I then went near Baba lifting up the garland with both hands. Then I neared Baba, the garland somehow snapped into 3 parts; one was left in each hand and one fell on the floor. How it got severed like that I could not discover. Baba was simply saying “I don’t want it.” I had brought with me along with the garland a water melon and some milk sweets and I placed the pedas and the cut fruit before Baba. Baba took them up and distributed them.

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: Mr.Clerk. This is the canonical English excerpt; please consult the original PDF for context.