GS Khaparde
An account of G. S. Khaparde, a prominent devotee whose experiences form part of the recorded history of Sai Baba’s devotees.
Sai BabaDevotionVolume 2
The chapter
Ganesh Sri Krishna Khaparde was an advocate, political leader and close associate of Bal Gangadhar Tilak. His public work placed him among the nationalist leaders watched by the British Government, and by 1910–11 he feared that a prosecution for sedition could bring imprisonment, loss of practice and financial hardship to his family.
Khaparde had already heard of Sai Baba’s influence over people from every level of society. On 5 December 1910 he came to Shirdi and found officials, lawyers, social leaders and ordinary villagers gathered at Baba’s feet. Baba’s assurance was simple and decisive: “This is your house. Why should anybody fear when I am here?”
Protection during a political crisis
Khaparde returned to Shirdi in December 1911, when the danger to extremist leaders had become more serious. He had a lucrative legal practice in Amraoti, but accepting cases meant leaving the sanctuary in which he felt safe. His family and clients urged him to return. Shama repeatedly asked Baba for permission on his behalf; Baba sometimes appeared to agree and then told Khaparde to go “tomorrow,” making it clear that the time had not yet come.
Baba told Mrs. Khaparde that the Governor had come with a lance, that Sai had wrestled with him and driven him away, and that the Governor had finally been conciliated. Khaparde recorded the words as figurative. The author reads the episode as Baba’s assurance that the danger was being neutralised. Khaparde remained at Shirdi for about three and a half months, while the feared prosecution gradually disappeared from the Government’s immediate plans.
Baba’s protection also touched Khaparde’s family. During a plague outbreak at Shirdi, Khaparde’s son Balwant developed fever and a bubo. When Mrs. Khaparde approached Baba in tears, He spoke reassuringly. Later He showed her similar swellings on His own body and said that He had taken the burden upon Himself. Balwant recovered, and Baba recovered as well.
The diary of a Shirdi visitor
Khaparde’s diary, kept in English during his stays at Shirdi, is one of the valuable sources for the history of Sai Baba. It records the people who arrived, Baba’s conversations, parables, instructions, meals, ceremonies and the ordinary rhythm of life around the mosque. It preserves not only extraordinary events but the atmosphere in which Baba guided devotees.
The diary also records moments when Baba cast what Khaparde called a yogic glance. On those occasions Khaparde experienced a deep bliss lasting for hours. He was convinced that Baba knew events and persons at a distance and that staying at Shirdi kept him safe from political danger. Yet the diary shows that his spiritual surrender remained incomplete.
Scholarship, prayer and attachment
Khaparde was a learned man, well versed in Sanskrit and Marathi religious literature. During his enforced stay he studied the Paramamrita, Panchadasi, the Yoga Vasishta, Eknath’s Gathas and Das Bodha, and he discussed these works with Upasani Maharaj, Dada Kelkar, Bapu Saheb Jog and other visitors. He also led small classes on spiritual texts.
His learning did not automatically produce the calm detachment that Baba sought. Khaparde was drawn to Baba’s presence mainly because he needed protection from the Government, and he continued to feel the pull of law, politics, income, reputation and family responsibility. The author compares him with Kaka Saheb Dixit, whose contact with Baba gradually led to retirement from public ambition and a life of surrender. Khaparde perceived Baba’s greatness, prayed daily and received spiritual benefit, but did not give himself to Baba with the same completeness.
When conditions finally became favourable, Baba allowed Khaparde to return to Amraoti. He went back to law, politics and public life, later achieving honour and influence. His diary nevertheless remained a lasting service: it brought later generations close to the living details of Baba’s Shirdi and helped spread Baba’s name among educated and politically influential circles.
A bond across generations
Baba spoke of a prior relationship connecting Khaparde, his wife and the Shirdi devotees. When Mrs. Khaparde offered naivedya, Baba accepted it immediately while ignoring other offerings, and He explained that she had loved and served Him in earlier births. The chapter uses such incidents to show that Baba saw devotion as a continuity extending beyond one visible lifetime.
What this account invites us to reflect on
Khaparde’s story is not a simple account of a perfect disciple. Baba protected him, gave him courage, opened moments of spiritual experience and preserved him from political danger, while also exposing the worldly attachments that limited his surrender. His greatest public gift to the Sai movement was the diary: an honest record of Baba’s words, parables, visitors and daily guidance. It allows readers to see how a saint worked through ordinary days and how protection can become the first step toward a deeper, though unfinished, transformation.
Editorial note: This page is a concise paraphrase for web presentation and does not reproduce the complete chapter. Please consult the original PDF for the full account and wording.