G. G. Narke
A learned professor who tested Baba’s knowledge and found his predictions fulfilled.
Sai BabaDevotee experienceVolume 3
The chapter
G. G. Narke was a highly educated professor of geology and chemistry who later served the Sai Sansthan. His wife, mother and father-in-law, Gopal Rao Buty, urged him to visit Shirdi. Narke replied that he would go if Baba wanted him. When he arrived in 1913, Baba told Shama that he had known Narke for thirty generations.
At an early arati Baba became furious for reasons no one could understand. Narke wondered whether Baba was mad. In the afternoon, while Narke massaged Baba’s feet, Baba stroked his head and said, “Arre Narke, I am not mad.” Baba had heard the thought that Narke had kept to himself. From then on Narke tested him repeatedly and concluded that Baba knew the thoughts, wishes and circumstances of those around him.
Baba predicted that Buty would build a stone wada at Shirdi and that Narke would later be connected with it. He also told Narke’s mother, “I will settle him at Poona.” For years Narke asked whether he should pursue jobs in Calcutta, Burma or elsewhere, and Baba kept adding Poona. In 1917 Baba told him to apply for the geology professorship at the Engineering College. Despite strong competition and no influential sponsor, Narke secured the appointment in 1918. Baba’s blessing that his children would survive was also fulfilled.
Narke records Baba’s cryptic language, his references to other worlds and his ability to work beyond the visible body. During a plague at Shirdi, Narke fetched halwa from the shop of a man who had died of plague. Though frightened, he brought it to Baba, who told him that no one escapes destiny by merely moving away and then distributed the food as prasad without infection spreading. Narke also analyses Baba’s emphasis on Guru-bhakti, love and service over intellectual study alone.
What this account invites us to reflect on
Narke’s account is a record of inquiry meeting repeated evidence: a private thought answered aloud, a career predicted years in advance, children blessed to live and danger controlled at Shirdi. His intellect does not disappear, but the incidents force it to reckon with Baba’s divinity.
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.