H S Dixit alias Kaka

H. S. Dixit was born in 1864 of parents enjoying a high position and affluence at Khandwa.

His scholastic career was bright as he secured a first class in Matric and good marks in F.A., B.A, and LL.B. He very soon settled himself as a leading solicitor at Bombay, and his name frequently appeared in the Law Reports and in the press as distinguishing himself as an able advocate in sensational cases, e.g. Lok B.C. Tilak and Times of India, etc. He attained great fame and wide popularity and commanded high esteem both with the people and the Government.

Baba’s kindness towards Dixit was manifested from the very beginning, and Baba expressed this to others also. He told Anna Saheb Dabolkar ‘Kaka Saheb is a good man. Be guided by what he says’. He told R.B. Purandhare to be with  Kaka Saheb and assist him. The greatest interest in a saint for any serious minded person is, and ought to be, spiritual interest.

Though originally Dixit’s  idea was to go to Baba for the cure of his lameness, he soon gave up that idea  and said ‘Lameness of the body does not matter much’ , and wanted Sai to cure  the lameness of his soul.

Sai made distinct promises to Dixit, whom he always called ‘Kaka’, meaning uncle. As many persons called him ‘Kaka’, Sai Baba also called him ‘Kaka’. One of the early notable statements of Baba was “I will take my  ‘Kaka’ in a vimana” (B.C.S.,100) meaning thereby that he would give Kaka a  happy end.

Accordingly, On 5-7-1926. i.e. on Ekadasi, Dixit was starting from Ville Parle to go to Dr. Deshmukh’s Dispensary at Bombay to see his ailing son Ramakrishna.

Anna  Sabeb Dabolkar had spent with him some time in excellent bhajan and pothi and  was starting to go to his own station. When these (with Tendulkar) came up after  the scheduled time to the platform, they found the train also was late and came just in time for them to catch it.

Both of them and Anna Saheb Dabolkar got in, and the words which came from Kaka Saheb were, ‘Anna Saheb, Just see! How merciful Baba is! He has given us this train this minute. He has not made us wait even a minute.’ He then looked into his pocket time table and said, “Baba has made the train come late and enabled us to catch it. Or else we would have to  be stranded at Colaba and be frustrated. So, this is Sai’s grace“.

Thus, sitting facing Anna Saheb, Kaka Saheb remembered Baba’s loving grace and appeared  to fall asleep. Dabolkar first thought be was sleeping. When he went near him to  hold his head and asked him, ‘Are you sleeping?’ there was no reply. Then Dabolkar feared that Kaka Saheb had fainted. Making Kaka lie down, Dabolkar  noted the apparently hopeless condition of Kaka Saheb.

The train was speeding  from station to station. Anna Saheb told his friend Tendulkar in the carriage that  he should tell the Guard so that they may carry down Kaka’s body from the carriage. But as there was a big crowd and heavy rain, he could not do this at Bandra, and so only at Mahim he got down and told the Guard.

The Guard arranged to phone to Parel for a stretcher and doctor, and at Parel, the body was taken out. The doctor examined the body and said that life was extinct. On account of the suddenness of death,there would have been difficulties of Inquest. But luckily they got the doctor’s certificate, and the body was committed  to the care of Anna Saheb.

The main point for us to see is how Baba carried out  his undertaking to carry Kaka in a vimana.

Some readers may think that H. S, Dixit had the advantage of constantly meeting and hearing Sai Baba and getting strengthened thereby which they, the readers, do not have. But, if one is earnest in his desire to concentrate on Sai, one can hear and move with Sai now, not through any extraordinary chamatkars (though these do take place even now), but through very ordinary means available to all, such as getting the vast literature on Sai Baba in various languages, and having sravana, manana, nidhidyasana, etc. of the same. One can get the same pooja, bhajan, harikatha, meditation or concentration on Sai as H. S. Dixit had.
No doubt, Kaka Dixit had the opportunity and power to serve Sai Baba and his Sansthan for 14 years at great self-sacrifice, but similar service is open now to many of us, each according to his own opportunities and abilities. Sai Seva and Sai dhyana, the two main factors that built him up under Sai are still available to all of us. Dixit had the sadhana prescribed by Baba of nine months of solitude and seclusion (Vanaprastha Asrama) to concentrate effectively and exclusively on Baba, Who prevents any of us from trying to get similar seclusion andconcentration? Some may think that Sai Baba when he was in the flesh,undertaking all responsibilities, could afford Dixit better protection in all affairs than Sai could afford to give us now; but this view is wrong. Dixit from 1918 to 1926, when Baba was not in the flesh, was enjoying Baba’s protection, see, for example, the provision of Rs. 30,000/- to meet his debts. It is only the fainthearted and ill-informed people that will doubt whether Baba will afford them protection now, and that from hour to hour. But if the readers were to take pains and read and zealously absorb the experiences of devotees after 1918, they will feel assured that Baba’s protection is as sure today as it was before 1918. To doubt it will only mean lack of faith in Baba and in his utterances, (see B.C.& S.51} where Baba says ‘Even after Mahasamadhi, the moment you think of me, I will be with you at any place’, and also lack of belief in such great personalities, like D.D.Rasane, S.B.Dhumal, M.B.Rege, and so many others. There are many amongst us now who experience the benefits of the kind and constant attention of this guardian angel Sai in daily affairs, assuring us that we are His men (Saduchya Ankita), and that he bears our burdens as promised, of Yoga kshemam Vahaamyaham. It is only a question of faith. If faith is strong, the response is quick, and the feeling of enjoying His superhuman protection gets established and makes the mind peaceful and happy.