Blessed Devotee who Experienced Baba's Miracle before 1918
He will be a great Satpurush
Prangondji and his wife, Manigori had gone on a pilgrimage to Shirdi. Baba blessed them and Sai Sharanand was born on 05.04.1889. The village was Mota, Bardoli Taluka in Surat. He was named Vamanrao Prana Govind Patel. At the age of three, he was seriously ill and his parents were worried about his survival. Baba appeared as a Fakir and gave his mother Udi. He asked her to give it to her son as Tirth. He mentioned that there was a scar on his back towards the right side. "He will be a great Satpurush," said the Fakir. The mother followed the instructions and the child recovered.
Vamanrao did his primary schooling at Surat and Ahmadabad. He completed his B.A. in 1910 from Elphinstone College, Bombay and subsequently passed LL.B. in 1912. Vaman had a questioning mind and he kept asking his professors and other saints whether God was real or a nebulous phenomenon. No one could give him a satisfactory answer. His father took him to Shri Balakrishna Maharaj, a disciple of Swami Samarth. When he asked the question, the Maharaj flew into a rage, but gave him two books, the Life of Akkalkot Maharaj and Eknath Bhagavat. Still unsatisfied, he went to Shirdi on his father's advice in 1911. Baba seeing him said, "Why do you worry about God; there is God."
After joining a solicitor's firm in 1913, he came to Shirdi during his vacation and stayed there for one year, as Baba refused permission for his return. The parents were worried about his whereabouts and welfare. They consulted an astrologer who said, "He is safe in God's paradise (Shirdi)". Permission was finally granted to him so he returned home. In 1916, he came to the station to see his friend who was bound for Shirdi, when he too suddenly decided to join him. He stayed at Shirdi for 21 days.
One day, he sustained a severe head injury when a huge bolder stone accidentally fell on his head, as he walked past Butti Wada. He started bleeding profusely and was semi conscious. By Baba's grace he recovered without even a scar or internal damage. When Vaman Rao was questioned about his injury, he said he experienced divine bliss. From that day, he became a staunch devotee of Baba. He wrote Guru Smriti in Gujarati in 1932. In 1946, he wrote Baba's life called 'Sai Baba'. Baba gave him Sanyas in Dakor, appearing as a Fakir and named him Sai Sharan Anand. In 1961, he wrote 'Sai Baba the Superman'.
A devotee gave him Baba's Padukas. At first he refused. Later he accepted them and installed them at Ahmadabad where Baba's temple, called 'Vishnu Dharmalaya', houses them. Thousands of devotees flock there, to have darshan, and many healings and miracles are witnessed. He states that from 1952, after his sanyas, Baba was with him all the time getting His service done through him. On 25.08.1982, he took Samadhi.
Leela- 42 in Ambrosia in Shirdi - Part-I
(Baba's Leelas before 1918)
