Satsang "SHIRDI DIARY' DADASAHEB KHAPARDE

Dadasaheb Khaparde visited Shirdi in all five times during Sai Baba's lifetime. The chronological dates of his visit to Shirdi and the period of hisstay there are as given below:First Visit - From 5th December, 1910 to 12th December 1910.Second Visit - From 6th December, 1911 to 15th March, 1912.Third Visit - From 29th December, 1915 to 31st December, 1915.Fourth Visit - On 19th May, 1917 in the company of Lokamanya Tilak.Fifth Visit - A short visit of unspecified number of days in March, 1918.
Let us now consider each visit separately and see what information isavailable in the biography of Dadasaheb Khaparde in addition to what isalready published so far in earlier volumes of Shri SaiLeelain 1924-25.First visit in December, 1910Dadasaheb Khaparde arrived in Bombay from Pune and with his eldest sonBalakrishna went to Shirdi on 5th December. He stayed there for seven daysand on getting permission from Sai Baba to depart on 12th December, arrivedin Akola on 13th December. Normally, he travelled by the first class in dayswhen there were three to four classes of railway travel. However, on thisoccasion as he did not have sufficient money on his person, he travelled bythe second class and reached Amraoti on 19th December via Akola. It isrecorded that he walked down from Amraoti railway station to his residence!That a person of Dadasaheb's standing should even have no money to hire avehicle to go to his residence may cause great surprise, Dadasaheb's annualincome by way of legal practice at one time was of the order of rupees90,000 to 95,000 when there was no income-tax legislation and living wascheap. Yet the state of affairs described above was inevitable in thecircumstances as Dadasaheb lived beyond his means.
At one time, he had seven horses including two Australian-bred; twocarriages, one state and the other ordinary, with staff to look after them.He was generous to a fault and gave shelter to a number of families. He keptan open house and his house was always full of guests on whom he spentlavishly for their comfort and entertainment including nautch parties! Nowthe reader can appreciate why he had to foot the distance from the railwaystation to his residence. The account of this visit as reported in Shri SaiLeela appears to be complete on comparison with the narration in thebiography.
Second visit in December, 1911
The second visit of Dadasaheb Khaparde to Shirdi was the longest, his stayextending to hundred days. This is significant and needs examination in somedetail for inspite of the desire of Dadasaheb and his wife to return toAmraoti time and again, Sai Baba detained them in Shirdi and would not letthem go. And since Dadasaheb had implicit faith in his Sadguru, Dadasahebdutifully obeyed the orders of Sai Baba believing and knowing full well thatBaba's decision was in his interest.Now what could have been the reason for Sai Baba keeping Dadasaheb for sucha long time in
Shirdi? The readers are aware that Dadasaheb Khaparde was a prominent aideand supporter of Lokamanya Tilak. Tilak had been arrested on 24th June, 1908and tried on the charge of sedition. His trial began on 13th July, 1908, andhe was convicted and sentenced to six years' imprisonment on 22nd July,1908. Within a few days thereafter, i.e. on 15th August 1908, Dadasahebsailed for England to prefer an appeal to the Privy Council against thejudgment of the Bombay High Court convicting Lokamanya. He reached Dover on31st August, 1908 and immediately proceeded to London. As planned he filed apetition in the Privy Council but the Privy Council refused leave to appealagainst the Bombay High Court's judgment. The next move of Khaparde toappeal to the House of Lords failed for lack of support. A memorial sent toLord Morley, the Secretary of State for India also proved to be of no avail.All attempts having proved futile, Khaparde sailed for India via Rangoon on15th September 1910 after a stay of over two years in England. He 'had leftno stone unturned to get the judgment against Tilak reversed. He had gone athis own expense to England to campaign for his leader's release. HisHerculean labour in England brings out not only his qualities of loyalty anddevotion to his leader but also selflessness and the price he was preparedto pay in terms of energy, time and expense for a cause he believed to bejust. Dadasaheb's mother passed away on 27th September, 1910 while he was onthe high seas. Khaparde reached Rangoon on 16.10.1910 and met Tilak inMandalay Jail on 22.10.1910. Having reached Calcutta on 27.10.1910, hereturned home on 5.11.1910 after an absence of two years, two months andtwenty-two days.
(Source Shirdi Diary)http://www.saileelas.org/books/dairy.htm