i.e., Ganpatrao Dattatreya Sahasra-buddhe, Brahmin, Kirtankar, aged about 78, residing generally at Nanded. (Nizam's State)
Poona, June 1936.
Br : (to me) What? You want to make an exhibition of me, as though I were a monkey!
I : No. But this person is full of unbelief.
Br : (to Beake) Shall I tell you some fact then about yourself?
Beake : Yes.
Br : Had you not immoral relations with Z?
Beake : No.
Br : Was it not Z that was maintaining you and supporting you for a long time?
Beake : No.
Then the Brahmachari clinched the whole matter of his truthfulness and his power by immediate proof.
Br : Shall I tell you what is in your pocket?
Beake : Yes.
Br : You have a letter from the Raja of Kolhapur about the affairs of 'Satya samaj", which you are supporting. Take the letter out and give it to Maharaj (i.e. me D.G.) (That was done).
Then the Brahmachari gave full details of the contents of the letter. My friend was flabbergasted. He had placed the letter in my hand. Every word spoken of it by the Saint was true, and it proved that consequently what was said about Z also must be true. As my friend felt humiliated and would make some progress if I left him alone with the Saint, I left him there and went away. My friend did improve in giving up his bad associations and his other bad habits. The Saint's name and fame spread so quickly that the Tahsildar insisted on my producing him one evening for delivering a Pravachan. The Tahsildar, the Autocrat or Cham of the Taluk, of course, believed that the Saint could not decline to go to the meeting nor decline to speak. But before the day fixed for the meeting, it was discovered that the Saint left that place. He left it for good and was never again seen or heard of.
The books I wrote about Sal Baba are:-
I. Santakathamrita - first. This was written bit by bit when I was in service i.e., before 1903, both the portions about Baba and about others. But it was printed in 1903. Baba blessed the effort. None of my books was read to Baba. Nor was Baba asked before-hand to give the information for writing the books. What he spoke of his own accord was picked up. Baba had talked of his "Selu" antecedents and I made inquiries at Selu about Baba's antecedents. Baba said about each book when placed in his hand, That is alright". I do not know whether Baba knew how to write, read or even to sign his name.
II. Next came Bhakti Lilamrita. This was published in Baba's life time - 1906.
III. Lastly came the Bhakti Saramrita. The two chapters viz: 52-53 therein relating to Baba were placed in his hands and he said, "alright". But other chapters were composed later from time to time mostly after 1918; in 1925 this book was printed as a whole.
The account given in it (in chapter 28) about Baba's antecedents at Selu is based partly on Baba's statements and partly on what the villagers of Selu told me. The only thing Baba said of Selu and the Selu period was that he came from Selu. So I started while I was in service and went to Selu to make enquiries. I cannot specify any villager as having told me anything in particular. My inquiry was 35 years back. The villagers said that there was an old Saint, that a young boy was being trained by him, that some got vexed with the Saint and threw stones at him and killed him and that the boy escaped and that all this took place 100 years previously. Sal Baba told me, in the presence of Chandorkar, that the brick he used as a pillow at Shirdi and which is still retained as a relic of Baba at Shirdi was given by his Guru to him, that his Guru was "Venkusa". The version about Baba's telling Chandorkar is my own, as I wished to avoid dragging my own name into my own work and figuring in it too prominently. Chandorkar did not know if he maintained a diary or note of his experiences.