Dattatreya Vithal Vidya was the son of Sai Mahabhakta Late Shri.Vithal N Vaidya. He belonged to Kayastha Prabhu Caste and worked as a Treasury Clerk at Thana Collectorate in Thane, Maharashtra.

His father Vithal N Vaidya was a retired Railway Empolyee who lived in Karachi and had been a long standing devotee of Sai Baba. But, he had a dislike for expressing his own experiences with Baba to others. His father visited Shirdi for the first time when Dattatreya was too young and hence Dattatreya hardly remembers anything of his father's first visit. Dattatreya's sister Chabu had fallen sick with high fever on the day Vithal Vaidya had started along with his children to Shirdi. Hence, the relatives vehemently opposed his idea of starting to Shirdi. But his strong faith in Baba made him to stick to his initial idea and he accordingly proceeded towards Shirdi taking the sick child and his son Dattareya along with him. By the time they reached Kalyan the Children became alright. The fever had totally disappeared. Thus, Vithal N Vaidya's strong faith in Baba was justified and further strengthened. The moment they reached Shirdi, Vithal went and had darshan of Baba. He was anxious to return back home in time and hence sought the permission of Baba to leave. Even though Vithal informed Baba that he was supposed to report for duty the next day and hence he wanted to leave at once, Baba detained him for several hours (approximately 4 hours) beyond the proper time. Later, Baba gave him permission to leave. But, Vithal thought that it was useless to start at that odd hour towards Kopergaon Station as no trains would be available at that time. Since, Baba had given permission to leave, Vithal thought that it was not appropriate for him to stay back in Shirdi and hence he started towards Kopergaon and reached the Station. To his utter surprise, the Train which he was supposed to take to go to Mumbai that day got delayed by 5 hours for some unknown reason. In fact, the train arrived after Vithal reached Kopergaon Station. Thus, Vithal boarded the train and came back on time to Mumbai.

Once, Vithal fell sick in the year 1933-1934 when the family was taying at Thane. He was laid up with severe type of Pneumonia. Dr.Chipkar who treated him was not sure of his recovery. Vithal had fever for 21 days and the temperature was very high. However, even during his illness, he continued his prayers to Sai Baba. on the 21st day at about 9 p.m. Dattatreya's father had actual vision of Baba. But none of the family members who were by his bedside could see Sai Baba except Vithal. Vithal cried "Baba has come and wants bread and onions". As none of the family members could see Sai Baba, everyone thought that he must be suffering from delusion and there was no need for bringing bread and onions. Vithal became very angry and asked all the family members to leave the room at once. Accordingly, all the family members left the room and stood outside. But, the family members could hear what transpired in the room. They could hear Baba talking with Vithal N Vaidya. They also heard Baba addressing two other persons present there and asked them to go away. The duo however protested and wanted to take away Dattatreya's father. But Baba objected and asked them to clear away and forcibly struck the ground with His Satka. It was obvious that the duo then went away. After that, the family did not hear their voices. Later, Baba left the room asking Vithal to drink plenty of cold water. Then Vithal called out to Dattatreya and asked him to bring drinking water. As the doctor who was treating Vithal forbade him from drinking Cold drink, the family members hesitated but at the insistance of Vithal, his wife gave him 2-3 cups full of cold water. Vithal Drank it and started perspiring and within a few minutes his temperature came down. The family members ran at once to report the matter to the doctor. The doctor came at once, examined Vithal and was surprised at the sudden fall of temperature and that too it had been brought down by the drinking of cold water. Then, the doctor gave him some injection and the next morning declared that Dattatreya's father was out of danger. In this way, Baba made Dattatreya's father Vithal tide over the life threat by Himself personally appearing and helping him. Even during earlier occasions, Vithal's family members had heard many times vithal shouting "Baba has come and He wants bread and onion".

This incident happened in the year 1935. Dattatreya's sister Chabu had to be married. His father Vithal was anxious about it and was inquiring everywhere for a suitable match. One alliance had almost materialized but suddenly fell through due to some unknown reason. This made Vithal become more anxious. But, as usual, Vithal was fervently praying to Sai Baba. One night Vithal had a dream vision. In the dream, Baba told him that he would receive a letter from Phandarpur and the marriage would get settled and that he need not be anxious over the matter. As prophecied by Baba, exactly within 15 days of the dream vision, one Mr.Dingre of Pandharpur wrote a letter to him proposing a marriage with one Mr.Dixit of Pandharpur. Very soon the marriage was fixed and celebrated.

(Source: Devotees' Experiences of Shri Sai Baba, Part I, II and III by Late Shri.B.V.Narasimha Swamiji)