Sri Sathya Sai Baba, Dr. Gadhia And Swami Krishnadas Baba

Great Experiences With Swami Krishnadas Baba
By Dr. D.J. Gadhia
Sai Smaran (Chapter 18, pages 141 – 145)

Swami Krishnadas Baba had been meditating upon Lord Vishnu in the Himalayas for a very long time and when his devotion was full, he clearly heard a voice say: “Yes, Vishnu has come in human form and is living in Puttaparthi, Andhra Pradesh. Come as quickly as possible!”

Swami Krishnadas Baba was ecstatic, his joy knew no bounds! As he did not wear any clothes, he covered himself round the waist and started on the journey to Puttaparthi. As soon as he reached Prashanti Nilayam, Beloved Swami came out and said: “So you have come!” He replied, “Yes, my Lord, did you call me to give moksha (liberation)?” Beloved Swami replied:

“Before moksha, you have to serve humanity in the following way: You must go to a cetain temple in Bombay and stay there and do your meditation as usual. After a few days a wealthy person will come to ask whether you would like to take up the post of pujari (priest) of a temple. You have to ask him two questions: Who is the presiding deity of the temple? And where is the temple situated? You will get the following answers: It is a Guru Dattatreya temple and it is situated in Chaul, Revdanda District in Maharashtra State. The temple is on top of a hill and there are approximately 500 steps to climb.

Once you accept the post of pujari and reach the temple, you need not come down the hill. Swami will provide you with food and vibuthi. Give this Divine vibuthi to all who visit the temple. It will give them many blessings. In this way, you have to serve the people in many villages surrounding Chaul for a few years before you get moksha.

You have been chosen by Swami to carry out this work. If you have any question, ask in your meditation and it will be answered satisfactorily. Whenever any message is to conveyed to you by Swami, that too will be received during your meditation.”

One day while Mr Laxmandas Bhatia and ‘this Das’ were giving Sathya Sai Baba’s Divine Message in various suburbs of Bombay, a devotee asked us, “Do you know anything about Swami Krishnadas Baba?” We replied, “We have never heard of him.” A few devotees then told us some incredible stories about him and when we showed interest, they agreed to take us to him.

Whenever we come in contact with a great saint, we must consider it as the Divine Grace of God. Shirdi Sai and Sathya Sai have both said:

“Saints are our prana (life principle), and they do great humanitarian services to transform people.”

Thus, by the Divine sankalpa (resolve) and grace of Beloved Swami, ‘this Das’ came in contact with Swami Krishnadas Baba who was also blessed by Beloved Swami.

It took us five hours to reach Chaul, a village in Revdanda District of Maharastra State. Swami Krishnadas Baba had not come down the mountain for two years, but to our amazement, we had hardly climbed a few steps when we saw him hurriedly coming down towards us and asked, “Who is Gadhia?” One of the devotees, pointing to me, said “Here he is.”

Swami Krishnadas then told us he had received a message from Beloved Swami in his meditation. He said, “Baba asked me to go down, receive Gadhia and have a programme at the bottom of the hill.” Everyone was surprised and ‘this Das’ prayed, “Oh Beloved Baba, thank you for everything. You are so kind and compassionate to bless all of us and to give us the opportunity of coming in contact with such an enlightened soul as Swami Krishnadas Baba.”

News spread rapidly about the programme which we were to hold. Within half and hour, 500 people flocked to hear the divine message of Beloved Baba. The programme started with ‘this Das’ saying, “Lord Sathya Sai Baba has made you all extremely fortunate by sending Swami Krishnadas Baba to Chaul. Try to follow his instructions and you will benefit immensely.” Swami Krishnadas did not wish to speak, so Laxmandas Bhatia showed a film about Sathya Sai Baba with his 16mm projector on a large screen, which we had brought with us. Everyone was extremely happy and it was a memorable day for all.

Swami Krishnadas Baba then made ‘this Das’ promise to go up the hill and stay with him for three days. Behind the temple there was a room where Swami Krishnadas had put up two photographs of Shirdi Baba an Sathya Baba on the wall, while the container with vibuthi rested on the floor below Sathya Sai Baba’s photo. Nobody was allowed to go beyond this room, behind which we are told there was a corridor and a staircase to go down ot the basement where Swami Krishnadas Baba used to meditate and where food used to appear automatically four times a day: breakfast at 7 in the morning, lunch at 1 o’clock, tea and light refreshments at 5 o’clock and dinner at 7pm. The food was served in stainless steel utensils.

Devotees from 40 villages around Chaul used to visit Swami Krishnadas to get the darshan of Guru Dattatreya in the temple and to receive the Divine Blessings of Lord Sathya Sai Baba by receiving the divine vibuthi from the Akshayapatra container, which never emptied. On Thursdays, the only day allowed for visits to the temple, there used to a line of 500 devotees climbing up the steps of the hill, and another 500 devotees coming down. The divine vibuthi from the Akshayapatra container was given to all the devotees. On the other days, Swami Krishnadas did his sadhana (spiritual exercise) and mediated, as instructed by Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba.

Beloved Swami kept ‘this Das’ very busy in the United Kingdom and in Jamnagar in Gujarat, so that his next vist to Chaul was after three years. Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba perfomed my marriage with Nanda on 14 January 1967 at Prashanti Nilayam, after which we were in Bombaby when some devotees approached us with a message from Swami Krishnadas Baba who had been inquiring about us. So Nanda, ‘this Das’ and three devotees from Bombay decided to go to Chaul. The devotees stayed at the bottom of the hill while Nanda and I slowly climbed the steps with great difficulty.

Swami Krishnadas Baba welcomed us and said, “I have been waiting a very long time. When devotees from Bombay visited this temple, I asked them to remind you to come, as you promised you would.”

‘This Das’ answered, “Yes Swami, ‘this Das’ did promise but come not come earlier. Perhaps the Lord thought that now was the right time to visit with my wife Nanda, and we are both extremely happy to be here today, by the Divine Grace of Beloved Baba and yourself.”

He went to his meditation room to see whether the ‘divine’ dinner had arrived. We were amazed to see three South Indian dishes! They were very tasty – as they came from Vaikuntha (Abode of the Lord)!

The next day, after breakfast which was also of South Indian dishes, we walked around admiring the breathtaking scenery. Swami Krishnadas Baba then gave us this message from Lord Sathya Sai Baba, which he had received in his meditation: “Inform Gadhia that he will spread Swami’s message round the world.” We thanked Swami Krishnadas for this very auspicious message, and wondered how this could be possible. However, we felt the message must be right because it was Beloved Swami’s sankalpa (will) to shower His Divine Blessing on us. The Lord had giving ‘this Das’ the power of speech and a melodious voice to sing His glories (bhajans). In the years that followed, according to Beloved Swami’s sankalpa, devotees started sending invitations with return tickets for Nanda and ‘this Das’ to perform programs in various countries throughout the world and all of our needs were taken care of.

We returned to Bombay with wonderful memories of our stay with Swami Krishnadas Baba in the temple of Guru Dattatreya, high up on the hill. Thus, we came to know more about the supernatural powers of Beloved Swami. May Lord Sai shower His Divine Blessings upon one and all!