RamChandra Dada Patil

[Guest guest]

RamChandra Dada Patil

How great was the Rinanubandh of these two? Their love was deep and

unfathomable! Ramchandra was born in Shirdi. He was the only son of Radhabai

and Dada Kote Patil. Ramchandra had 3 sisters. He was born to affluence, his

ancestral property spread far and wide in Shirdi and

neighboring villages which yielded many all types of grain and sugar cane.

Hence he had only to supervise the laborers.

Ram Chandra was very

bright and he studied up to 7th std [Marathi Medium] but most of all

he was interested in legal system He was responsible for incorporating the

village of Beragaon into Shirdi

[Maruti Mandir has 2 Vighras one for Shirdi and one

for Beragaon] It’s said that in those days the

boundary of Shirdi was up to the Chavadi

beyond which was Beragaon.

He was the Secratary of Dakshina Bhiksha Sanstha. Baba’s seva he started doing at the tender age of 11years, he had

immense faith in Baba and took Babas word as law. In

1916 he was extremely sick and dying of Influenza [Ref Sai-Sat-Charitra

# 42] Baba gave him shatshatkar and said “Tu gabro nakos ,tula

pushkal aayuse ahaya”[Don’t be afraid you have a long life

ahead of you] Ramchandra was greatly relieved to hear

this and he immediately asked about his friend Tatya,

Baba however said “Two years from today Tatyas

death will occur, but don’t tell this to anyone!.” Ramchandra did recover, but he could not bear what Baba

said so he told Bala Shimpi who was a dear friend of

his. Tatya was a dear friend since childhood and they

grew up together. Baba strengthened this bond between them ‘by making

them eat out of the same plate daily in the Dwaraka mai.’

Ram Chandra was married to Sitabai

but as she did not bore him any children, he remarried and had 2 sons. After

Baba’s Maha Samadhi the devotees were working

the whole night to get the Samadhi ready. Mir Shakar

a Phelwan [body builder] of Kohrale

saw the developments and went to Appaji Kote Patil Ramchandra’s

grand father and managed to convince him, that it was bad for the village to

keep a dead body in it. Besides they were going to build the Samadhi in Butti Wada. So they would get a Brahmin priest whom so ever

they wanted. Then they could lock the building and Muslims would not be able to

enter. This appealed to Appaji and he called a

meeting and told the villagers his views. Then the villagers agreed to take the

body out of Shirdi.

Ramchandra heard this and disagreed saying that

Baba’s last wish should be followed and honored. This enraged Appaji and he told him not to step into his house again. Ramchandra agreed, as he was determined to honor

Baba’s wish at any cost. He did not enter his grand fathers

residence for 12 years. Although his first wife Sitabai resided there. Tatya

was well revered in the village and he sided with Ramchandra.

The villagers met again but there was a split a few people agreed with Appaji but most of the younger villagers were adamant to

honor Baba’s wish. Single handedly he set out to convince the devotees

that had gathered in Shirdi for Baba’s Maha Samadhi about the importance of honoring Baba’s

last wish, and he succeeded.

For 36 hours the body lay

in Dwarakamai. At 4pm on Thursday the body was placed in the

Samadhi after a grand merunik [procession] through

the village. On the 13th day he arranged for a feast. The devotees

distributed laddus to 1000’s and 1000’s

of devotees and wonder of wonders the same number of laddus

remained after every distribution. Thus for 2 months laddus

were distributed to all the devotees who attended and those who could not

attend. I for one have a special place in my heart for a great devotee. And I am eternally grateful to him and Gopal Rao Butti for gifting us

the Samadhi and Samadhi Mandir.

Butti was extremely fond of

this young man and he often invited him to Nagpur. Butti asked

him to stay with him and help him with his business but Ramchandra

could not bear the thought of leaving Shirdi.

Ramchandra was Sarpang [head official]

of the Shirdi gram panchyat

for 20 yrs. The Nagar Palika

has a photograph of his hanging in their office. Along with these duties, he

actively participated in the Shirdi Sai Baba Sansthan and was the

Joint secretary for a long time. Ramchandra would get

up early in the morning and have a cup of tea after that he would eat nothing

till the noon Aarati. He attended the Aarati daily and was never sick for a single day. He died

at the age of 70. That day he had invited some guests for lunch and they were

late in coming, so his family suggested that he have his lunch. He replied that

he would wait for the noon Aarati. He sat

down, as he was feeling giddy. Before they could seek medical help; he quietly

and peacefully breathed his last. His descendents still live in Shirdi.

(Source

Sai Leela Magazine)