Devotee biography
Kakasaheb Dixit
Hari Sitaram Dixit — Bombay solicitor at Messrs Little and Co., founder of his own firm, member of the Bombay Legislative Council. Built the Dixit Wada at Shirdi. Died on a train mid-sentence about Sai Baba — the literal fulfilment of Baba's promise to take him "in air coach."
Birth & Education (Ch. 50)
Born 1864 at Khandwa (C.P.) in a Vadnagara Nagar Brahmin family. Primary at Khandwa and Hinganghat; secondary at Nagpur; higher at Wilson College and Elphinstone College, Bombay. Graduated 1883; passed LL.B. and Solicitor's exam the same year. Joined Messrs Little and Co., later founded his own firm.
How He Came to Baba (1909)
Before 1909, Baba's name was unfamiliar to Kakasaheb. He had injured his foot boarding a train in London — incurable by every remedy he tried. Meeting his old friend Nanasaheb Chandorkar at Lonavla, he was advised: "See Sai Baba." Kakasaheb's reply: "Cure not so much my lame leg, as my lame, fickle mind." (Ch. 4, Ch. 50)
Dixit Wada (Foundation 10 Dec 1910, occupied Rama-Navami 1911)
On the same day Dadasaheb Khaparde was permitted to return home, and the night Arti at the Chavadi was commenced, Kakasaheb's Wada foundation was laid. The Wada — the second of Shirdi's three named Wadas — became his nearly permanent home from 1911 onward. (Ch. 4, Ch. 37)
The Vitthal Vision (Ch. 27)
After Das Ganu's Namasaptaha, Kakasaheb saw Vitthal in morning meditation. Without prompting, Baba asked: "Did Vitthal Patil come? Did you not see Him? He is very elusive, hold Him fast, otherwise He will give you the slip and run away." At noon a hawker arrived with 20-25 Vitthal pictures; one matched the vision exactly. Kakasaheb bought it for his shrine.
Casting of Lots
Kakasaheb's standing practice in dubious questions was to cast lots: chits "To accept" and "To reject" placed at the feet of Baba's picture; an infant picked one. The method appears in Chapter 45 (whether Shama should accept Anandrao's silk-bordered dhotar; "To accept" was drawn) and is recorded by Hemadpant as the standard hard-question resolution in the post-Mahasamadhi period.
The Goat Ordeal (Ch. 23)
When Baba asked successive devotees to behead a dying goat in the masjid, Bade Baba flatly refused; Shama hesitated; Kakasaheb — pure Brahmin who had never killed — raised the knife at Baba's command. At the last second Baba said "Stop." Kakasaheb's response defined the highest discipleship for Hemadpant: "Implicit and prompt compliance with Guru's orders is our duty and dharma."
Death on a Train (5 July 1926)
Baba had comforted Kakasaheb during life that he would be taken "in air coach (Viman)" — a happy death. On 5 July 1926, on a train with Hemadpant, talking about Sai Baba and deeply engrossed, Kakasaheb suddenly threw his neck on Hemadpant's shoulder and breathed his last with no trace of pain or uneasiness. The promise was kept literally. (Ch. 50)