RamChandra Dada Patil

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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)