Parents

The family of Shree Dhakdev, responsible for the maintenance of the temples, was naturally in continuous contact with religious activities and therefore increasing their faith in God. In this family, of deep devotion, was born the Great Saint of all, our beloved Shree Digambardas Maharaj alias Shree Vitthalrao Joshi Maharaj.

His father, Shree Ganesh Vishnu Joshi, had great faith in God and was extremely devoted to Lord Shiva and Shree Ram Prabhu. He was a kind hearted person with clean conduct and judgement. He never purposely harmed anyone with his actions, words or thoughts.

Shree Ganesh Vishnu Joshi (father of Shree Maharaj) had 4 children from his first wife. Later, after the death of his first wife, he married ‘Gangu’ the daughter of Narayan Dayi Sowani from Someshwar. ‘Gangu’ was called as ‘Smt. Janakibai’ after the wedding and she gave birth to 4 children. Shree Maharaj was the 2nd child and eldest son of Smt. Janaki and Shree Ganesh Joshi. Smt. Janakibai was virtuous and dutiful wife always devoted to God. She passed away in 1925 and Shree Maharaj performed her last rituals. When the last rites were over, her Gold Bangles, MangalSutra(the marraige String), small folds of her saree, the coconut etc were found intact proving her purity.

As a child, Chi. Vitthal suffered from a disease called ‘Dropsy’ and his survival was like a rebirth. Later, while playing, he was injured in the center of the eyebrows by a wooden piece. His condition was extremely delicate, but he recovered due to the love and care of his cousin grandmother who nursed him tenderly – day and night. (Shree Maharaj would become very emotional whenever he narrated this incident to his disciples)

Cousin Grandmother

This cousin Grandmother was a very affectionate and duty conscious lady, always ready to help anyone in difficulty. She had great experience as a mid-wife and always helped pregnant women in the village since there was no medical facility available. At times, she would run to help women even in the middle of the night. Once, when a pregnant women from the lower caste was in trouble, the villagers approached Shree Maharaj’s grandmother for help. She immediately went along to help deliver the baby and made sure the mother and the baby were safe. This was identified as a very bold act in the caste driven society those days. Such an act which was transparent, without expections and in-line with duty had expounded the beautiful doctrine of the humanity-oriented Hindu religion irrespective of caste and creed to the Society and the world.