My son Gopal’s ‘Brahmopadesham’ was performed at Nagpur in 1910. I requested Sai Baba to visit us and bless the boy. Baba winked his eyes and said, Shama, Bapu (he meant Booty), and Appa (he meant Appa Kothe) will come and I will join them later. Since Nana Saheb’s son’s wedding was going to be celebrated at Gwalior around that time, I was confident that Baba will definitely bless us on that auspicious occasion and decided to closely look for Sai Baba among the guests.
As the function went midway, a virtuous Brahmin dressed like a Brahmin priest entered and blessed the boy with Vedic chants. I had an inkling that he could be Sai Baba. We presented him with a pair of silk 
‘vastras’ and also requested him to join us for lunch. He later had food and left.
I shared my feelings with Shama, Booty, and Appa Kothe and observed, “All the saints are unique according to his light and capacity, a living illustration of that Supreme Law of our being.” Our discussion went on – ‘Who is a saint? Does anyone who wears saffron, red, ochre, or white robe, or who wears no clothes, deserves to be called a saint?’ ‘ Certainly not’. A person does not become a saint only based on the design or color of the apparel that he wears.
One entrenched in the Divine, the Eternal, who is free from egoism, likes and dislikes, selfishness, vanity, the duality of ‘mine and thine’, ‘I and the other’, lust, greed and anger, who is endowed with equal vision, balanced mind, mercy, compassion, tolerance, righteousness, and cosmic love, and who has divine knowledge, is a saint. The Bhagwad Gita asserts that his “intellect remains unattached to everything”— 18:49. He rejoices in God alone.
A saint feels helpless and humble before Him and constantly seeks refuge in Him. Even while engaged in worldly activities, he keeps repeating God’s name.
Saints have an equanimous attitude towards everyone — whether men or women, animate or inanimate, birds or animals, plants or trees. Their attitude is the same in all circumstances, be they happy or sad. It is because their mindset is that of renunciation, an attitude of detachment from the world. According to the Gita, “A saint judges what is happiness and sorrow in all beings by the same standard as he would apply to himself”— 6:32.
All of us unanimously concluded that Sai Baba had visited us on that day in that priest’s form. Booty concluded that Sai Baba is an exemplary model and extraordinary teacher. His teachings and life are a constant source of inspiration and solace to the world.
One week later, when we met Sai Baba at Shirdi, his very sight confirmed his visit to Nagpur as that Brahmin. “Sages,” according to Praaskara Grihya Sutra, “are full of life through their observances.” Such is the magnanimity of Sai Baba, as Nana Saheb Chandorkar observes, “Their very existence inspires others to become like them and attain the same state of bliss achieved by them.”
It is the unfathomable wisdom, their absolute commitment to the welfare and spiritual upliftment of all human beings, and detachment with mundane worldly objects, which makes a person a saint. The color of his robes has nothing to do with it.
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