Devotee biography

Bhagat Mhalsapati

The first to recognise the young Sai. Greeted him "Ya Sai" at the banyan tree. Slept beside Baba and Tatya in the masjid for 14 years. The single guardian of Baba's body during the 1886 three-day samadhi.

First Meeting

About 1858 — when the wedding party of Chand Patil alighted at the banyan tree in Mhalsapati's own field near the Khandoba temple. As the young fakir descended from the cart, Mhalsapati greeted him: "Ya Sai" — "Welcome, Sai." Others followed, and the name remained for sixty years. (Ch. 5)

Role

By profession Mhalsapati was a goldsmith (sonar) and a Bhagat (priest-attendant) of the Khandoba temple — the village shrine. He maintained the alternate-night vigil with Baba in the Chavadi, and his sons continued the service after him.

The Dormitory of Three

For fourteen years, Baba, Tatya Kote Patil, and Mhalsapati slept side by side in the masjid — heads pointing east, west, and north respectively, feet touching at the centre. They talked late into the night; whoever began snoring was gently woken by the others. (Ch. 8)

The 1886 Three-Day Samadhi

On a Margashirsha Pournima, when Baba's asthma was severe and he decided to leave the body for three days, he instructed Mhalsapati alone: "Protect My body for three days. If I return, it will be alright; if I do not, bury My body in that open land and fix two flags there as a mark." Mhalsapati, with Baba's body on his lap, resisted village demands for inquest and burial for 72 hours. At 3 a.m. on the third day, Baba's breathing resumed. (Ch. 43-44)

Witness on Baba's Origin

Per Sai Leela 1924 p. 179, Mhalsapati testified that Baba once told him he was a Brahmin of Pathari handed over to a fakir in his infancy — one of the few first-person statements by Baba on his own origin. (Ch. 7)

Receiving the Chillim

In the Chavadi procession Mhalsapati received the chillim second (after Tatyaba's first puff for Baba). At the noon meal, he was paid first from the day's distributions. Baba's deepest poverty-protection was reserved for him: when the kind merchant Hansaraj offered Mhalsapati a large sum, Baba did not allow him to accept it. (Ch. 37, Ch. 36)

Sometimes Dancing

Mhalsapati was sometimes seen dancing in trance — "possessed or obsessed by some deity" — during the corner-pause of the Chavadi procession. Baba's concentration was not disturbed. (Ch. 37)