Life of Sai Baba — Volume 2, Chapter 4: HS Dixit

The chapter

Hari Sitaram Dixit was born in 1864 at Khandwa and became a prominent Bombay solicitor, public speaker, municipal councillor and member of the Bombay Legislative Council. His legal practice, political work and public service brought him influence, income and the prospect of still higher honours. A leg injury suffered during a visit to England, however, left him with a painful limp that resisted treatment and gradually weakened his interest in the worldly life he had been leading.

In 1909, Nana Saheb Chandorkar advised Dixit to visit Sai Baba. Around the same time, Dixit saw a large picture of Baba in the house of Sardar Kaka Saheb Mirikar at Ahmednagar, and his reverence was strengthened. Mirikar sent for Madhavrao Deshpande, known as Shama, who took Dixit to Shirdi. The first meeting awakened the old attraction he had felt toward saints and sadhus. He returned repeatedly and soon understood that the deeper healing he needed was not merely a cure for the leg, but a cure for the soul.

In 1910 Dixit built the wada that became known as Kakawada or Dixit Wada. He wanted only a small upstairs room for solitude and meditation; the rest of the building was made available to pilgrims. Baba called him “Kaka” and assured him that he would take him in a vimana, meaning that his final passage would be peaceful and blessed. Dixit gradually placed his body, mind and possessions under Baba’s direction.

Leaving a worldly career

Dixit’s visits to Shirdi became more frequent, while his attention to legal practice diminished. His partners withdrew and his income fell, yet the loss did not turn him away from Baba. Although Baba sometimes sent him to Bombay to practise, Dixit’s heart remained in Shirdi. Baba told him, “Why should you have any care? All care is mine,” and undertook responsibility for Dixit and his family.

That responsibility took a disciplined form. For nine months Baba directed Dixit to remain upstairs in his wada, away from distraction, and permitted him to attend only selected worship after he appealed through Shama. During this period he studied the Bhavartha Ramayana and Eknath’s Bhagavata, not as an intellectual exercise alone, but through mananam—meditation—and acharanam—putting the teaching into conduct. When Dixit asked whether he should study the Bhagavad Gita with commentaries, Baba directed him to continue with these two works, suited to his path of devotion.

Faith tested in daily life

Dixit’s detachment grew through repeated tests. On one occasion he brought a trunk filled with money and told Baba that it was his. Baba immediately distributed the money among the people around him, and Dixit remained unmoved. Baba used a cow’s changing ownership to teach him that property constantly changes hands and that no one should be attached to it. When Dixit developed a severe fever, Baba told him to go to Ville Parle, remain out of bed, eat sira and wait without fear. The fever worsened, doctors expected danger, and yet it broke suddenly on the ninth day. Dixit received the episode as a confirmation of faith, patience and Baba’s protection.

Baba’s watchfulness appeared in smaller matters as well. He asked for the twenty-five rupees Dixit had intended to offer with a garland, requested the betel nut omitted from Dixit’s private worship, and rebuked him after he had joined in speaking improperly about Christ. When Dixit’s brother fell ill at Nagpur, Baba said, “I am of service”; at that same moment a sadhu arrived there and helped the sick man. Dixit came to regard Baba as present in every thought, action and circumstance.

Obedience, surrender and life after Baba

Baba tested Dixit’s obedience when an old, starving goat entered the mosque and Baba successively asked Bade Baba, Shama and Dixit to kill it. The others hesitated or withdrew. Dixit fetched a knife and raised it, but Baba stopped him before the blow fell and then allowed the animal to die elsewhere. For Dixit, the incident showed that obedience to the Guru required readiness to act without relying on personal preference, while wisdom still belonged to the Guru.

After Baba’s Mahasamadhi, Dixit continued to seek his guidance through chits drawn after prayer. One such consultation concerned his brother Sadashiv, who could find neither legal practice nor an appointment in Nagpur or Bombay. Dixit followed the direction received, and during the delay around the Diwali festival Sadashiv was recommended for a senior post and became Dewan of the Cutch State. Dixit saw such events as evidence that Baba’s care did not end with the body.

Care for family and service to Sai

Baba’s protection extended to Dixit’s children and relatives. The chapter records episodes involving his son’s illness, the death of his daughter Vatsali, and Baba’s use of the Bhavartha Ramayana to help him bear grief. Financial difficulties also arose after Baba’s departure, but help appeared when required. Dixit’s faith rested not on the absence of suffering, but on the conviction that Baba would provide the strength, guidance and means needed at the proper time.

Dixit also served Sai Baba and the Sansthan through practical wisdom. When an injured cartman threatened to complain after Baba threw a brick during a disturbed rest, Dixit turned a dangerous situation into a livelihood: he gave the man money to buy a cart and bullocks and transport pilgrims between Shirdi and the railway station. He helped attract devotees, settle disputes and organise the arrangements that would preserve Baba’s Samadhi and serve future pilgrims. His service combined devotion with legal knowledge, worldly judgment and generosity.

His devotion expressed itself in simple habits: worship, regular reading, bhajan and songs of Baba, together with humility and care for animals and other living beings. He resisted unnecessary pride, metaphysical argument and religious display. Baba guided him toward the personal God through the Bhagavata and Ramayana, while leaving the deeper question of the Personal and Impersonal to the unfolding grace of the Guru.

What this account invites us to reflect on

Dixit’s life shows a gradual transformation rather than a single dramatic renunciation. A successful public man became a servant of pilgrims, a student of scripture and a disciple willing to surrender his judgment to Baba’s guidance. His faith was tested through illness, financial uncertainty, family grief, obedience and service, and each experience deepened his conviction that the Guru’s care could continue before and after physical departure.

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.