P. R. Avaste
A sceptic’s return to devotion through saints, scripture and the search that eventually led toward Baba.
Sai BabaDevotee experienceVolume 3
The chapter
Purushotham R. Avaste grew up under the influence of Dev Mamlatdar, whose charity and piety he witnessed as a child. At college he became materialistic and argumentative, but he continued to read the Bhagavad Gita. Plague in Poona and several encounters with the Bhagavata, devotional singing and the testimony of his uncle gradually reopened his interest in God and living saints.
His uncle named Dondi Bua of Palus, Hari Maharaj of Phaltan and Kumbharaswami of Kolhapur, and required Avaste to visit them. At Palus, Avaste’s caste pride was challenged when Dondi Bua sent him to salute a temple and he discovered that the picture worshipped inside was of the same man he had hesitated to bow to outside. Dondi Bua then gave him the simple instruction to repeat “Ram, Ram, Rajaram Seetharam.”
Avaste also tested a Paramahamsa by asking about Brahma-jnana and was frightened when the man gripped his throat, being told that fear made him unready. These encounters, together with his study of saints and sacred books, formed the spiritual preparation described before his eventual connection with Sai Baba.
The account also explains Avaste’s later importance to the author: his contact helped B. V. Narasimha Swami learn enough about Baba to undertake the work of spreading Sai faith. Avaste ultimately served the Sansthan as a trustee and continued helping enquiries about Baba.
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.