I was transferred to Pune in the year 1976. And today when I look back, I think it will be very appropriate to state that this was the beginning of a new era in my life.

I clearly remember the night of June 3rd, 1976 when I arrived in Pune. The very next morning on 4th June, I visited the ‘Samadhi Mandir'(Temple Shrine) to take the blessings (Darshan) of Shree Digambardas Maharaj. Maharaj asked me, “You are Raghunath’s son, aren’t you?” When I said ‘Yes’, he asked me to take a seat and then told Vaze to give me tea and snacks.

It was the customary of Maharaj to offer some snacks to the devotees visiting the temple. Snacks were of varied kinds such as ‘Laddu’- a sweet ball made from cream-of-wheat, Chakli – a spiral-shaped spicy snack made from mixed rice-lentil flour. For people that are fasting, they would be served with Potato Chivada – a snack made from seasoned fried potatoes. After snack, devotees were offered tea, coffee, milk or in summer days they would be served with ‘Kokam Sherbet. If for some reason a devotee visited after hours, he would be offered with a meal or at least served with coffee if he had already eaten his meal for the night. That means, from the view-point of Maharaj, this was an important and very essential custom. This tradition is being followed earnestly even today at the temple. Maharaj never claimed the words “Temple of Shree Baba Maharaj”, instead he always expressed it as the ‘Home of Shree Baba’ with a feeling of great fondness and devotion. It was not simply the use of the word, but the very feeling behind this word ‘home’ – the deep ‘devotion’ that portrays from his emotions linked with this home of ‘Shree Baba’. It appears as a beautiful temple since the Shrine of Shree Baba is very special, but it is also the home of Shree Baba, which means that every visitor will be welcomed and treated similar to any other good household.

Devotees with diabetes would be offered tea or coffee without sugar and the snacks served to such devotees would be based on their dietary requirements. When devotees realise that this warm hospitality in Baba’s home is not just a dry formality, but portrays great inner love, the feeling of love also awakens in their own hearts.

During those days, my officer Kamat was also in Pune and I was staying in his house. I spend two months like this when one day Maharaj had told me to come to the Samadhi Mandir every Wednesday night for dinner and Sunday for lunch. Accordingly, I started coming to the temple twice a week. Once our office-staff organized the yearly picnic to Khandala-Lonavala. They planned to roam about in the rain and enjoy the day. I joined them because they were very insisting. But before I left, I informed Maharaj that I will not be able to join them for the Sunday lunch since I was going for the picnic. Next Wednesday when I went for dinner, Maharaj appreciated the fact that I had given them advance notice of going to the picnic and said, ‘You really a much disciplined person. It was a good thing that you gave advance information of not being able to make it for the lunch!’ Maharaj was a strict disciplinarian. Once I forgot my pyjamas and rosary in the temple so Maharaj sent Mulekaka immediately on Monday to deliver them back to me. If I could not go to the temple sometimes, he would send Mulekaka to enquire about my well-being. There was uniformity in his behaviour and he expected the same from others too. One’s behaviour should not be whimsical and self-willed. He did not like anyone coming or leaving at any time or at their will. He carried out successfully very important projects on time just by this very characteristic of being well-planned.

I did commit a big mistake once though due to my oversight. My brother-in-laws marriage was to take place in Dharwar, Karnatak state. I was not particularly interested to attend this wedding and therefore did not mention anything to Maharaj. But my wife expressed disappointment and strongly argued with me that it will not look good if I did not attend the wedding of her only brother. Her feelings were naturally correct and so we all went to Dharwar by train that night. But in this confusion, I totally forgot to inform Maharaj about my decision. After the wedding and the rituals were over, we returned to Pune (since that was where we lived during this period).

Shortly after my return, Mule kaka gave me a surprise visit at work! Maharaj had asked Mule kaka to go see me and find out if I was attending work; but he was specifically asked to tell me that Maharaj was remembering me and also warned not to ask me why I did not go to the temple that week! I immediately admitted my mistake and further told him that I had to leave for Dharwar for eight days to attend the wedding of my brother-in-law. I also mentioned that my trip was unexpectedly decided upon at the end moment and I did not feel appropriate to call and disturb Maharaj at 9:00pm that night. I also told Mule kaka that I was planning to visit the temple the very next day. Next day I personally went to Maharaj and admitted my mistake.

After moving to Pune from Kolhapur, it was essential for me to search for a residence. I did not have any personal savings or any ancestral wealth. Hence there was no point in purchasing a house at that point and renting was the only option I had. Once while talking with Maharaj, I mentioned about this personal problem. He immediately said, “Just don’t worry about this problem! Someone in your office will certainly summon you and offer their house for rent.” An Officer from my workplace called me one day and said, “Joshi, you are staying alone here! Would you like to bring your family here too? My son-in-law’s house is nearby ‘Balgandharva’ Theatre and I would like to offer that house on rental basis. Would you be interested?” When I gave my consent, he immediately took me to show the house during office hours on his scooter. Now, he himself was an Officer – who would ask him where you are going during office hours! I liked that house and the rent was fixed at Rs.200/- per month. Finally my family shifted from Kolhapur to the new residence in Pune. It was the month of September in the year 1976.

Everyone at work was talking about this event. People were enquiring how that officer got so enchanted by me. Usually, this officer never allowed anybody near him. I plainly told everyone that there was no previous acquaintance between us and that only the officer could tell exactly what he thought of me! When I was studying in Engineering College, many boys approached me with their disputes. They always said, “You are our referee. You must give the decision”. This happened even when I was in school. My fellow students felt I will never lie or do any wrong and never harm anybody! My college friends always said that I belonged to the era of Lord Rama! They sometimes even asked me how I took birth in this present era and what I was doing here since there was no use of my life in this present world. It is highly possible that because the officer sensed these qualities, he thought I was a right candidate for renting his place. He may also have given the house on rent with full faith that I will never turn against my words and vacate the house when asked. His faith was not wrong!

Within a month after moving to Pune, we vacated the house of Kelavkar in Kolhapur. A lot of people advised me not to let go of that rental house without any benefits – in fact, some even suggested I demand five to fifty thousand rupees for vacating the place since I was already renting for 6 years. They also advised that Kelavkar cannot force me to vacate that place. But I personally did not feel it was right to do that. In fact, I did not have the money to buy a good house in Pune that time. But the practical skill of manipulating with someone for some money did not fit in the values I learned from my family. When I went to return the keys, Kelavkar, the owner of that house was highly surprised that I was vacating the house without any expectations from them.

Kelavkar and our family have maintained good relations even after so many years. When their son Dhruv was getting married, Kelavkar personally came to Mumbai with the invitation. Unfortunately, Prabhakar Kelavkar passed away some time back but his wife Sanjeevani Kelavkar came to visit my mother in Dervan when she was sick in 2003-04. She stayed with us for about eight days and spend time chatting with my mother. We remembered our good old day from Kolhapur during her visit since I did not go back to Kolhapur too often after that.

I did go to Kolhapur for our son Kamlesh’s wedding recently. Mr.Sadhale, his father-in-law lived in Kolhapur during that time. Also, I had been to Kolhapur when my paternal uncle, Ramchandra Keshav Joshi expired. And one more visit was for a night when we were on our way back to Dervan from ‘Sankeshwar’ when we went to buy some ‘Red Stone’ for the Shri Ram Temple in Dervan.

When my family moved to Pune, I took my wife to take the blessings of Maharaj. She had some information about Maharaj when we talked but she had not met him in person yet. When she met Maharaj, he started talking to her in clear Kannada language and took her by surprise. She said, “What’s happening here! How can Maharaj unexpectedly start talking with me in Kannada? How did he come to know that Kannada is my mother-tongue?” She was confused with this but at the same time she felt very relaxed. She felt a very different type of closeness to Maharaj with this and it is true that anyone feels closer to the person that speaks with them in their mother-tongue. So Maharaj gave a practical example by speaking to her in her mother-tongue Kannada and from then onwards she started speaking to Maharaj without any fear.

At that time, our son Kamlesh was 3-4 years old. Hence he respected Maharaj as his own grand-father. He would insist that he wanted to sit besides Maharaj when taking his meals. I felt shy since Kamlesh was being very insistent. I would tell Kamlesh that the food in that plate if offered to God and it will be disrespectful if he did not finish it all. But Maharaj would reprimand me and say, “Why are you unhappy if he sits here? Why are you not allowing him to sit besides me?” And Maharaj would sit besides him for an hour until he finished his entire meal. As they say, people are always more fond of their grand-children than their own kids.

When in Pune, I would reach the temple at 8 o’clock every morning. Sometimes Maharaj would smile and say, “Oh, Ashok is here – It must be 8 O’clock!” After meditating for about half hour, I normally went to pay my obeisance to Maharaj. Once I paid my respects and only if I got his permission would I leave the temple for work, otherwise not! Even then, surprisingly this did not affect my office work. I also took part in all programmes held at the temple.

Once, Maharaj went to Gwalior in Madhya Pradesh along with Walawalkar saheb, Aaba, Manya saheb for some work. During this timeframe, I had a strange experience in Pune. During those days, I was a Government employee and once work hours were over, I would come home around 5.45 p.m., play with my children, take tea, read the newspaper briefly and then sit for meditation between 6.30 to 8.00p.m. One day when I was absorbed in meditation, I felt separation from my physical body like a flea and I had become very light slowly floating into space. My entire surroundings were filled with extreme bright light. I felt as though the earth was rotating below me with my whole body becoming very luminous. It was as though the earth had become weightless. I almost felt as if I was watching my own body absorbed in deep meditation from a distance. This very strange experience made me panic and I shouted loudly, “I’m dying, I’m dying”. Hearing my screams, my wife and mother came running into the room and brought me back into consciousness. If I had not shouted at that moment, I would have never seen the temple ever after that.

Even though I came to the temple around 8:00 a.m. and visited Maharaj around 8:45 a.m, I did not go to work until Maharaj gave me the permission to! Sometimes he would give permission around 10:00 a.m., sometimes around 1:00 p.m or 2:00 p.m. Infact, because of being late, sometimes I could not go to work at all. Once I was supposed to accompany my officer for some work to Kolhapur. The tickets were purchased and the plans were all ready. When I came to the temple the previous evening and mentioned about this trip to Maharaj, he said, “Why are you going to Kolhapur? There is no need – just stay here!” I stayed in the temple that night and went to work after two days. Surprisingly, my officer did not even talk to me about that subject. When I discussed about this with our head clerk, he said “The officer went to Kolhapur and since you did not accompany him, he returned the same night!”.

Once, I decided to write out all of Maharaj’s literature. So I bought some good quality paper from the market and every morning and evening, I started to write down all of his printed literature in a good hand-writing. Once I completed writing all the literature, I stacked them and put a good cover. I also pasted a picture of Lord Ganesha and Baba Maharaj on the cover. Then I put the book in a bag and took it with me to offer it to Maharaj. There were many people sitting in front of Maharaj. I wanted to offer the book only when Maharaj was alone. I guess, I had decided not to offer the book to Maharaj infront of the others since they might have possibly teased me about my good feelings for Maharaj. Hence I sat there restlessly, holding the bag. But this came to the kind attention of Maharaj. So he permitted all other devotees to leave. Once they left, he asked, “Oh! Ashok, what are you carrying in your bag? Have you brought something for me?” I got up and placed the book on his table, then bowed down at his feet and took his blessings. Then Maharaj said, “What’s all this writing, so much?” I said, “I have not written anything at all. This was your literature, which I have just re-written and brought here. What else can I offer you?” Maharaj sat silent for a moment and two tear drops trickled from his eyes. He opened and saw the book, kept it on the table and then went inside. He brought 101/- rupees from inside, gave them to me and said “I have received this book. Now keep it with you!”

That book is still with me and it is a priceless treasure; but the most valuable treasure I have are the two precious tear drops Maharaj spilled for me after sensing my innocence. That special moment has been permanently engraved in my heart. Then Maharaj asked the cook, Jayant Tupe to give me some snacks and tea. When I was having my tea, a thought crossed my mind. I thought I can get a good quality shirt stitched with the money Maharaj had just presented to me. I was sitting in the kitchen where we now see the earthen water pots. Suddenly, Maharaj came and told me, “You should keep this money in an envelope and give it to your wife. I will give you a shirt piece.” And so, he gave me a beige coloured shirt piece and a chocolate coloured pant piece. I used these clothes for 10-15 years. As for the envelope with the money Maharaj gave me – we still have it preserved in our house today.

Maharaj had a Philips radio in his room. Some mornings, he listened to devotional sons on this radio. When Maharaj was out of town visiting Mumbai or Dervan, Vazekaka would tune in to listen to the running commentary of the cricket matches whenever he had some time at his hands. Once when Vazekaka was listening to the radio, a Professor who was a regular visitor to the temple joined to listen to the commentary. He even smoked ‘tobacco bidi’ from the bundle. But when Maharaj came back, the professor complained to him, “During your absence, Vaze was sitting here and listening to the running commentary of the cricket match”. Maharaj did not pay any attention to his complaints, but later, Vazekaka took that professor to task.

In the year 1977, when the central Loksabha elections took place, there was a great anxiety in the air. There was a high tide and confused discussions and opinions about the Congress Party and especially the personality of Indira Gandhi. The polls were mostly against the Congress Party. Hence I was looking forward to the result on the day of the elections. So, I took permission from Maharaj and started the radio. The unexpected news about the defeat of Smt. Indira Gandhi was received very late that night. I immediately passed the news to Maharaj and prematurely expressed my doubts whether she would at least get elected again in the village Municipality. To my surprise, Maharaj quietly told me that there will be elections within the next 2 to 2 ½ years and that she would get elected as Prime Minister; he even further exclaimed that I will be one that will pass on the same news to me then!

Formerly, the morning newspapers like Sakal, Kesari and Saptahik Swaraj were purchased. After lunch, Maharaj would read these newspapers if he wished. They were always kept under the bench in front of Maharaj. No one was permitted to take these newspapers outside the place to read. And who would dare sit in front of Maharaj and read? But I did not feel good without reading the news. Therefore, after lunch, I normally gathered all courage and sat in front of Maharaj to read. Once when reading the newspapers, Maharaj told Aptekaka, “Please go buy seven tickets for the night show at ‘Mangala’ theatre. Today Walawalkarsaheb, Bajeerao, Shyamrao and Banavali will be coming from Mumbai. Along with them, Ashok, you and I can go to the cinema!”

Aptekaka went to the theatre and came back empty handed since a new movie ‘Lawaris’ starring Amitabh Bachhan was released in the theatre and it was all sold out for the next seven weeks. So Maharaj asked me to go and get the tickets. I went to the theatre and asked the gate-keeper if he knew someone who sold tickets in black. He pointed towards a lady on the entrance selling roasted peanuts. I bought seven tickets each worth seven rupees, for thirty-five rupees per ticket and returned to the temple. When I gave those tickets to Maharaj, he said, “When Ashok is sent for any work, he always returns with all success! That is why I like him so much.” Interestingly, he never asked me where I produced those tickets from and how much I paid for them. Purchasing movie tickets was a petty job from that point of view! But once, when I was transferred to Pune, Maharaj told me to do some work for him since I was in Government service! He told me to get a particular girl admitted into the D.Ed. course!

The admission for D.Ed. education was handled by the District council office! I was a Government servant but in class III cadre! This event happened somewhere in 1976 when I was pretty new to Pune. At that time, I had no power or connections of any sort. Maharaj reminded me three-four times regarding this work, but I was just not sure what to do in order to get this work done. Finally, as a last attempt, I met our Deputy Director Shri G.D. Karkare who knew me personally to some extent. Karkare was a very capable person and always helpful. He had good knowledge and contacts in various fields. I requested him to help me with this admission and to my great surprise he called me just within two days. He then took me to the office of Shri Bapusaheb Thite, president of the District council. There, Shri Karkare placed the case of admission for the D.Ed. courses for that girl and further requested him to grant the admission. Then after 2-3 days, Karkare Saheb personally came into my office, sat in front of my table and with all earnestness told me that my work had been done. A very senior officer personally talking to me with all friendliness had become a topic of discussion in our Central building back then.

Next day Maharaj became extremely happy when I informed him about the girl’s admission and suggested that she could now proceed with the formalities. As a result of this, Maharaj started telling all the guests who came to the Temple about my unusual achievement. He also gifted me with his blessings and gave me a pant and shirt material. In reality, this event was accomplished by Maharaj himself, but he gave all the credit to me. I had read that a Sadguru always enhances the greatness of a disciple and I got a confirmed testimony through this event.

A few days later Maharaj told me to get a ‘No objection letter’ from the Urban Land Sealing Office, for the plot(939 D) owned by Shree Baba Maharaj and for the plot (937 C) purchased by Maharaj himself, for which the explanatory letter had already been submitted. One of my friends, Bandopant Nirokhekar knew someone named Ralkar that worked in the office of the ‘Urban Land Sealing’. So, I tried to put a lot of pressure and often took Nirokhekar with me when I went to meet Ralkar for getting the job done. Ralkar always responded that such a ‘No Objection Letter’ was never issued to anybody until then. Further he also said that the article of the law in that regard was not very clear and the Government was issuing new circulars daily. Hence he told me not to be persistent regarding this case. But I continued to regularly visit that office and at last after 5-6 months, with great difficulty I finally got the ‘No Objection letter’.

That time, my friend Bandopant Nirokhekar wanted to go to Dehradun for higher education and Maharaj provided him with all the financial help. Not only this, Maharaj had personally taken upon himself a severe leg pain of Nirokhekar, undergone all the sufferings and cured his leg. When I completed the D.Ed. admission for the girl, Maharaj gave me a shirt and pant material as favour and this was only a beginning. After that, he often gave me shirt or pant material, towels etc. He had given me a white silk dhoti and a chocolate-coloured shawl, which I still use! Once, he got me twelve Safari suits stitched along with twenty trousers and twenty long robes!

When Maharaj decided to go to America for his treatment, he told Walawalkar sahib, “I will come with you to America only if you can get a suit stitched for Ashok!” Walawalkarsaheb then brought a tailor named ‘Kutireer’ from Mumbai to Pune with him and got him to stitch not one but three suits for me. In short, I became very prosperous when it came to clothes. But Maharaj himself only owned two dhotis, two shirts and an old coat, which was being used for atleast twenty years. If a new coat was stitched, he would immediately give it to somebody else. If his dhoti got wet when working, he would wear a Rajapuri short dhoti. I used to always say, “There are about 40-50 pairs of dhotis in our warehouse. I shall bring one of them for you.” He would respond saying, “I am a poor man. This type of floppishness would not suit me at all.” Maharaj is our role model for living a most happy & prosperous life with minimum needs!

Maharaj always said that he was living in this world under adverse circumstances, where there is no purity of place, conduct, thought, time or association. There insisted that men wear dhoti and ladies wear nine yards saris. During festive occasions in the temple, he insisted that men wear dhotis or at least the short dhotis. He also insisted that the cooks, the servers and the Brahmin attendants who are responsible for the internal cleanliness of the temple, compulsorily wear dhotis or short dhotis.

Wearing a dhoti was convenient and less expensive. A dhoti dried quickly, and one could bathe in half the dhoti and use the other half to dry them. In the absence of a mattress or carpet, half of the dhoti can be used for making the bed and other half can be used as a sheet. Besides, no other finishing is required on a dhoti or the sari; it does not need to be stitched from a tailor thus reducing your dependence on someone.

Maharaj always said that ‘Book Knowledge and an dependent living are totally worthless’. Basically, with a western dress style, there are additional expenses for internal clothing as well. Hence it is more beneficial financially to use a dhoti. For a person following the path to devotion, the dhoti is always suitable! Also, instead of playing expensive games like Cricket and Tennis, Indian games are always better – that is because, these games provide exercise to the whole body and there are not additional expenses required for costly sporting gear. Hence Maharaj always tried to promote Indian Games like Hututu, Khokho and Atyapatya.

A neat dress-up was also a special part of Maharaj’s personality. He dressed very simple, with a coat and hat. Initially, he used a black hat made of cardboard. Later when he started using a Gandhi-style hat, he ensured it was neatly ironed. After wearing the hat, he ensured it perfectly fit by slowly moving his palms on both sides of the hat. During this, he would sometimes ask, ‘Who had ironed this hat today? Was my usual guy not there?’ And in fact, for some reason those were days when it was ironed by someone else!

To the left side of his shirt-collar, there used to be a small collar underneath. When it was closed with the button below the right collar, the portion near the throat was totally covered. He used to ask me to close the button below the collar and as I tried to that, he would uproar with false anger and say, “Oh! What are you doing? Why are you chrushing my throat?” His watch had a steel belt, which closed only if we put enough pressure. And when we did that, I would complain falsely, “Oh! That was painful! Use less pressure while closing!”

His coat also had a secret pocket underneath his left collar. He kept important things in there. Whenever there were meetings with Shree Sadguru Vasudevanant Saraswati Seva Mandal(Service Assembly), Maharaj would tell us that the glory of Shree Sadguru Baba Maharaj would grow this way until the next 90 years. Pune city would continue to exist until the next 105 years. Mumbai would remain in existence for the next 100 years only. He predicted that a big destructive war would take place and about 50 countries will get totally destroyed in the war. Everything so far has been according to his prediction! Maharaj said, “Just like Prime Minister’s and Chief Minister’s, there is a time-limit for the existence of Gods too. After a particular period, we will see a change in these Gods too! Observe that there is the idol of Lord Shiva on the head of Lord Vitthoba of Pandharpur, as well as Goddess Ambabai of Kolhapur. The Gods at the origin of this universe are known as Mahasadashiv and Mahavishnu. The God Vyankoba (God Venkatesh also known as God Tirupati or Balaji) is also a God Shankar (Shiva). But he is worshipped as God Vishnu. From the beginning of this age, Shree Kapil, the great sage is sitting in the mid-space of time on a seat of sacred grass and also with an arrangement of grass shed in there for prevention of heat and rain! I have taken his Darshan!”

My hair greyed at an early age of 18-19 years, but I never used hairdyes. Once, Bhau Chavan of the temple started dyeing my hair after a haircut, so I said, “Oh! What are you doing! If Maharaj sees my hair-dye he will beat me up!” In response Bhau said, “Why should he beat you? He was the one that ordered this Japanese hairdye for you!” As long as Bhau Chavan was applying hair-dye, I used to get it done, but then after a year or so he lost his enthusiasm and it stopped from thereon.

In the year 1976, I had a dream one night where I was blessed with the ‘Darshan’ of Shree Baba. In my dream, Shree Baba said, “Oh! My Vithoba is feeling cold. Can you arrange for a blanket and give it to him?” I said, “I will surely bring one and give him.” A couple of days later, I bought a blanket and kept it with me. I thought that there was no use of informing Maharaj about this in advance otherwise he may get angry. I decided to give it to him at an appropriate time. So, after two-four days, when Maharaj was in a happy mood, I slowly gave that blanket to him. He said “Oh! Who did you bring this for?” I said, “For you! Shree Baba came in my dream and told me, so I brought this!” “Baba told you?” I said yes. Then he draped the blanket around himself and sat in the chair for about two hours. Afterwards he told me to fold that blanket and said, “Keep this blanket with you! ‘You’ meaning only for you! Do not share it even with your wife!” Then he asked me how much I paid for that blanket and brought the money from inside to give it to me. I still cherish, preserve and use that blanket. Using that blanket helps me experience the warmth of the Divine love of my Sadguru.

During the year 1977, on the death anniversary of Shree Beedkar Maharaj, I went to take the blessings of Maharaj early in the morning at 5.00 a.m. He was in a great delighted mood. He said to me, “What do you want? Ask for whatever you want”. I replied, “I want purity of my mind.” He just smiled and did not say anything in response. He asked me to sit and then we had tea. Later, we went to the temple to offer an after-meal mouth-freshener in the form of betal leaf. Sapre Guruji (religious Instructor) started reciting the ‘Shantisookta’ and other sacred hymns. Maharaj, while offering the betal leaf roll, prayed to Baba Maharaj and at the same time exclaimed, “Please bless the one who desires with the purity of his mind.” The few moments I experienced after this sentence are not only difficult to express in exact words but next to impossible. It was almost as a layer of any bad thoughts that covered my mind were melting away. Any tensions affecting the mind throughout my life and any feelings worrying me were quickly destroyed and my mind was now occupied with a strange calmness and I felt happier than I was ever before. With the kind grace of my Sadguru I underwent a strange experience in front of my very own eyes as though a certain formless matter was dissolving into the air. From that onwards, not even a single minute shadow of any bad or wrong thought has crossed my mind.

That time during meditation, I contemplated the working of the mind and some short devotion. The only prayer I had for Baba Maharaj was, “Please kindly grace me with the disembodied condition similar to you!” Digambardas Maharaj sensed this prayer through intuition. So once when we I went to take his blessings, he told me, “Your request is quite alright. But your words, “similar to you” is inappropriate. We should never compare ourselves or equal with anyone else.” From that time on, I always avoid these words and in my life, I try to avoid comparing myself or competing with anybody.

Once I requested Maharaj that I strongly desired to see the real living sight of my family deity, ‘Lord Rama’. Maharaj smiled slightly and after a few seconds of thinking, said, “You may be frightened with the real sight of Lord Ramchandra. It may be too grand and luminous similar to the ‘Universal form of the Lord’ experienced by the great warrier ‘Arjun’ in the ‘Epic Mahabharata’. You will not be able to bear that sight. Seeing such grand and luminous dimension with our bear eyes, can certainly make our body shiver. If the living idol of Lord Rama about 40-50 ft. tall stands before you, you would definitely be frightened!” So, my desire was that point.

One afternoon I was sitting on a large wooden box in the temple of Shree Baba. I normally sat there when I had a few minutes by myself. That day, I had finished all my work and there were a few minutes before meal-time so I was casually sitting on the large box with no particular thoughts in my mind. Suddenly, I saw an extremely brilliant, beautiful infant playing, laughing and amusing himself with great pleasure in the temple of Shree Baba. The colour of the infant was extraordinary. It was neither blue nor purple or fair. The entire body of that child was pervaded by a ray of dazzling brightness not describable in words. This was not a crawling baby of any mother who might be visiting the temple! Then I realized who this infant might be!! My Sadguru had fulfilled my earnest desire to get a divine vision of Lord Rama in an easy digestible manner for me. I got up immediately and bowed with humble salutation to Lord Rama who was in the form of this brilliant beautiful infant.

In the year 1977, I dreamt of Maruti or Hanuman continuously for 3 days. The dream I had on the third day is still clear in my mind – Anjanimata (Maruti’s mother) was sitting on a large stone with her leg folded near the body, the other leg was free in front and Maruti was feeding against her breast. But Maruti appeared to be 15-20 years of age and not as a baby. Milk was dripping out of his mouth. I said to him “You are so fully grown up and still you are sucking mother’s milk.” At that point, Maruti told me to recite a sacred hymn, “Shri Ram, Jaya Rama Jaya Jaya Ram”. I told him that I would certainly recite this mantra if my Guru instructs me to do so, otherwise not. Then Maruti said that my Guru would certainly tell me to do that….When I woke up in the morning, the dream was still in my thoughts and I was confused about the real meaning of this dream. That morning when I went to the temple, Maharaj said, “Oh, that Maruti is creating confusion. Is it not? I will confine him now!” When I asked what happened, Maharaj replied, “As per the wish of Maruti, if you go to Himalayas for penance today who would look after your parents in their old age? You have a wife and two children. They would become helpless and be exposed to poverty. Hence we should postpone these things. Serve your Guru from wherever you are! You will certainly become a Maruti after thirty-six years.” I did not understand the meaning of this prophecy, but I had my firm belief that everything would happen as per the words of my Sadguru only!

The fact is that Maharaj was aware of my confusion since I had the dream even before I told him about it. And he rightly dismissed it. I experienced this ‘conversation without words’ a number of times. If any doubts, any confusion, any waves of thought arose in my mind, Maharaj personally guided me and put me on track without even asking for it. It did not appear praiseworthy to my restrained mind to read out my questions or problems as well. Similarly, if I had domestic problems, I would mentally sustain them but Maharaj would come to know and he would guide me whether the matter was important or trivial.

It was an event in the year 1978. My wife wanted to talk about some domestic matters with Maharaj and seek his advice. During that time, she did not want anybody else to be present. In the evening the temple opened at four o’clock and she went to the temple exactly at opening time. She continuously hoped that nobody else be present there and that she should meet Maharaj alone. She was perspiring when went before Maharaj and he understood her uneasiness. He said, “First drink water, relax and then tell me your problem.” There was a cook in the kitchen, but Maharaj called him and sent him away for some unimportant work. By recognising her mental condition, he thus gave her a full opportunity to speak frankly about her problems.

Similarly, I received a telegram from my uncle Ram (Ram kaka) stating that he was seriously sick and told me to come immediately. Earlier too, there was a reference on a similar subject so I had him admitted in Narsobawadi. Ram kaka was a little mischievous and it was highly possible that he sent this telegram as a prank but he could be really sick! If it was a prank, my trip would be useless and it will be a break in my service at the temple. But if was really sick and required my help then it was a necessity. I had taken this responsibility seriously, and therefore I was confused whether I should ask the question or not – just like ‘Hamlet’. As usual, when I came to the temple in the morning, Maharaj was walking to and fro with no purpose and because of my unawareness I was sitting on the bench in front of him without saying much. He was probably waiting for me to ask, but I was simply quiet. Finally, he caught hold of my shoulders and said, “Ask me whatever you want to ask!” So, I asked him the question that was crowding my mind and immediately he said, “He is not sick at all! You can comfortably continue doing your work!” And then he went away for his work.

In Pune we stayed in a rented house for nearly three years. In the first year the rent was Rs.200/-. When it came to the attention of our house owner that I did not have the capacity to buy a house, he increased the rent to Rs.300/- in the second year. Then, when he realized that I was honest and would vacate the house whenever asked to, he increased the rent to Rs.400/-. Later, he asked me for Rs.5000/- as deposit amount plus Rs.600/- as rent. This was a test of my patience. I told him that I would vacate the house right then and immediately hired a truck and shifted my articles. I decided to go in whatever direction the truck takes us first and left that place. The truck left towards Satara and so I unloaded all our belongings in the house of my brother-in-law Dr. Madhavrao Pendharkar at Satara. I stayed with him for a few days and looked for a house with his help. All my three sisters and their husbands have helped me during my difficult times. I shifted to a new house in Satara, made all the arrangements for my family and then came back to the temple in Pune.

I told Maharaj everything that had happened. Maharaj said, “Do not stay anywhere outside from now on. You can stay in the Temple itself.” So, from June 1979, I started staying in the temple. In the morning, Sarpotdar prepared a meal of ‘chapati’ and gravy made from a grain called ‘Kuleeth’. After eating that, I would leave for work. Around 4O’clock, I would eat some snacks in the office canteen along with tea and then at night, I took my dinner along with Maharaj. My life now started with a new twist with my family in Satara and myself in Pune. Maharaj would send me to Satara once in a while. I would normally go there during holidays or the weekends. But very often because of the festivals in the temple, I was not able to go and so my wife would complain. Sometimes, I could not visit for 2-3 months. When my wife complained, “You never come anymore, you want to stay there only…!” I would respond back saying that they do not charge me for my stay at the temple or for the food they provide. In such circumstances it would be totally inappropriate of me to leave the temple during festivals when there is a real need for help. If I behave inappropriately, would Maharaj not get angry at me instead of placing his kind grace he had favoured on me!

Once, Shankaracharya Chandrashekharendoo Saraswati of Kanchi-Kamkotee had come to visit Satara. Maharaj had gone with Bajirao Tikekar to take the blessings of Shankaracharya. That time, I earnestly requested Maharaj to visit my home in Satara and take some food. Maharaj said, “I have eaten in your house before and I would certainly come for taking food even now!” I was thrilled and called our owner’s house at Satara to give this happy news to my wife. I even told her about whatever delicacies to prepare. I told her to prepare rice, special spicy rice, vegetable, curry, and chutney, salad with raw fruit or vegetables and mixed with curds, Bhajee or dumplings (a tasty preparation of gram flour), a good dessert and chapati’s etc. When Maharaj arrived at our home, he told my wife, “There was no need to prepare so many items. Only curry and rice had to be cooked. Take a note of this my child! So many items were not required at all. Next time you keep this in mind! It appears that some foolish person might have told you to cook all this!”

After visiting our house at Satara, Maharaj once told me, “Now you should take a flat in Pune itself.” To buy an apartment, one had to make the provision for one lakh to one lakh twenty five thousand or at least a minimum of 70-80 thousand rupees. That time in Kothrud area, the apartments were being sold for Rs.100/- per sq.ft. Even then there was this problem as to how to raise the amount of 70-80 thousand rupees. My entire pay was being spent on the two cjildren, wife and my aged parents. We were not living in any pleasures, but our daily needs were being satisfied in a proper manner. There was also our family discipline to provide respectful treatment for guests. Besides my pay, there was no other income at all. And then, there were sicknesses, various functions at relatives that needed to be handled for, which did not leave any savings in my account at the end of the month. Hence I told Maharaj about my difficulties in buying a flat in Pune. Maharaj said, “Oh! All your relatives are well-to-do. If each one of them gives 10 thousand rupees, you can easily collect the required for the apartment. I immediately denied and said, “I will not ask my relatives for the money. That will not be possible for me. I do not have any great desire to buy a house. My family is already living happily in the rented house at Satara.”

Though I had spoken all these words, Maharaj might have already decided something in his mind. He urgently called Walawalkarsaheb and said, “You should come by aeroplane! We have to buy a flat and give it to Ashok.” Accordingly, Saheb came there on Saturday, which was Dassera day (Dassera is a festival, symbolic of the will to make fresh conquests and which falls on the tenth of Ashwin month as per Hindu Calendar and October month as per English Calendar). By coincidence, my wife had also come from Satara. Walawalkar saheb had called a broker from Pune named Sharma. Maharaj, Saheb, the broker Sharma and I were sitting there. My wife was sitting on the next bench. Maharaj discussed with Saheb regarding the place and the amount for the flat and then told him to buy a flat for 2 to 2.5 lakhs. Then, when we were about to leave to see the flat, Maharaj told Walawalkarsaheb, “You sit down Walawalkar! You buy a flat for him in Samarthnagar in mumbai! You cancel buying the flat in Pune! Sharma, have you taken tea? Then you better leave!” And then he turned towards my wife and said, “Would you like to stay in Mumbai?”

My wife said “How can I stay in Mumbai? I don’t know anything about Mumbai. Nor do I know anyone there! I feel it would be very difficult for me to stay with two children and in-laws.” But Maharaj firmly told her, ” There will be no difficulties! You must go and stay in Andheri. There will be no reason for you to go anywhere outside of Andheri. You will get everything nearby your house itself. Everything will be systematic for you without any problems.” These words are still proving true and occasionally my wife gets reminded of these words. There was an incident that took place two years back – Our grandson Sumedh, Kamlesh’s son was used to sleeping in a cradle. So Kamlesh had bought a small bassinet from Bandra. It was not a stroller but of similar kind. Sumedh would easily go to sleep in that bassinet and Kamlesh could easily rock it with his feet while leisurely sitting in a chair and reading. After using this bassinet for two months, one of the wheels broke. Kamlesh took back the bassinet worth Rs.1400/- to see if it can be repaired to the same shop where he had bought it from. But the shop-keeper said that it cannot be repaired.

Then he enquired in a few places in Vileparle, Santacruz etc. But all of them came back with a negative answer and suggested buying a new one. My wife said, “Now Sumedh with only sleep in that bassinet for a couple of months, so why spend 1400Rs again for such a short time. Why don’t you go check with the bicycle repair shop near us and ask him if he can fix it?” When Kamlesh took the bassinet to the bicycle repair shop he said he can fix it in 10 minutes and he did. When Kamlesh returned home with the fixed bassinet wheel, my wife literally wept in front of Maharaj’s photograph with many emotions, “You had told me to stay in Andheri and that I would certainly get everything I desire nearby. Every word you said has been true and we experience it frequently with every new incidence.”

As per Maharaj’s suggestion, she became ready to stay in ‘Hrishikesh’ at Andheri without making any fuss and therefore, became worthy of getting fully blessed with the kind grace of Maharaj. I was permanently staying in Pune and she was now in Mumbai. She had to look after all the household responsibilities as a family chief. But based on her faith that she had full support of Maharaj, she dynamically managed raising our family until today. She is staying there without any fear. Whenever she sleeps, she has a vision of Lord Hanuman standing outside the door holding a mace in his hand. When she works at home, Hanuman is normally sitting right there. She feels the presence of Hanuman with her open eyes and then with the memories of Maharaj she has tears in her eyes. When she starts reading books like great Bhagwadgeeta and Dnyaneshwari, she sees Krishna telling Geeta to Arjun in reality. Blessed with the boundless grace of Maharaj, she had the good fortune of hearing the Bhagwadgeeta directly Geeta from the mouth of dark-blue Lord Krishna, wearing a diadem on the head, holding a conch-shell, a wheel, a mace and lotus in his four hands respectively. Whenever she reads the ‘Sankshipta Sadguru charitra of Sadguru Baba Maharaj Sahasrabuddhe’ written by Shree Sadguru Digambardas Maharaj in a stanza form, Maharaj would say to her, “Wait, don’t read! I will narrate the content for you.” Then she heard the nectar-like voice of Maharaj and she only had to move her eyes on each row while listening to the words of Maharaj describing the glory of a Sadguru (preceptor) in her ears.

She spent a good part of her life in her parent’s home at Kelkar compound Dharwar (Karnatak State). One day in her dream, she actually saw Janaki mother (The wife of Shree Sadguru Beedkar Maharaj). In her dream, my wife was sitting in the Kelkar compound and Janaki mother was asking her if she could come into the house. Next day my wife informed me on phone and asked me the meaning of this. I said, “Let it mean anything. You were fortunate that you actually had a visionary sight of Janaki mother. What else do you want?”

In April or May of 1982, one night she started perspiring heavily with pain in her chest. Our children and my old parents were with her, but more as companions. I was in Pune! There was nobody nearby to inform about this, so she started remembering Maharaj. She changed her clothes, which were soaking wet due to all the perspiration, and then she started the fan at full speed and went to sleep. Next day she went to the doctor. He examined her and took a electrocardiogram. After examining her, the doctor told her that she had suffered from a heart-attack. When I came to Mumbai, she told me about this problem and I mentioned about this to Maharaj. I convinced myself thinking she was under the care of Maharaj and he would definitely take care of her well-being. And this confidence we both had in our guru did not go futile. She had not taken any medication for this pain. Now she does not feel any pain of this kind at all. If she does have some pain, she sits down to meditate and chants the sacred name of Maharaj; she turns on the fan at full speed for an hour or two and she returns to normal condition.

My wife had created a different place for herself in the mind of Maharaj due to her sensible nature. She acquired that respect on her own merits. She had herself become eligible for this special favour of Maharaj, and not as the wife of his beloved disciple. Maharaj took care of her happiness and sufferings in person. In reality there were no sufferings at all, but Maharaj gave full attention towards the smallest of issues or requirements faced in this worldly life. Once when she had come to the Temple to take his blessings, Maharaj gave her seven sarees, all wrapped in paper. Then he told her to first keep those sarees at home and then come back to take tea.

When I came to know about this, I asked Maharaj why she required so many sarees and that too in one lot. Maharaj said that he was very well aware of my deep knowledge in worldly matters and asked me if I knew how many sarees women actually require? Obviously, I had no knowledge about this so he told me not to pay any attention in this matter! Maharaj blessed my wife, time and again not only with sarees but also with different gold ornaments such as bracelets, earrings and necklaces. In fact she is a person that is always easily satisfied. She had no real passion for anything. She always thinks of living neatly, does her work personally, keeps to minimum all daily requirements and does not accept anything from anybody free of cost. But she accepted all the things blessed by Maharaj as a favour. On the same note, she did not have the courage to refuse any items gifted by Walawalkar-saheb just because of his virtuous nature.

Maharaj loved her as a daughter. He used to say “She is my Urmila” He was never angry with her; never shouted at her. When Maharaj left this world, she became restless and felt that the guardian of her family was no more in this world. She had a feeling of anxiety and concerns of how her family would survive? In such a situation, she had to face an incident of extreme distress. Three women from a family very close to Maharaj deliberately went to our house in Andheri and told my wife, “Now your Maharaj has left this world (They uttered these words in an extremely indecent language), how would you manage now? What would you do?” This experience was provocative for anger, but restraining herself she told them, “Maharaj has already taken care of our maintenance and welfare. He is quite capable. Whatever happens, we will never come to you to ask for bread! Hence you need not worry about our well-being.” It is really distressful when someone close speaks like this. She told me this entire episode on phone and I just told her to ignore it – What else could be done anyways?

These type of situations make me mentally worried and tense to a great extent. Already, there was the pain of Maharaj’s departure from this world, seizing her mind with doubts about the future and over and above this incident also created extreme agony in her mind. But around that time she had a beautiful dream. In that dream, she saw Maharaj was digging a pit and planting a Champak flower tree. It was amusing to see that the flower tree was not a small sapling, but a 10-12 feet high grown-up tree with glowing yellow flowers; 20-25 women who regularly visited the temple were standing nearby watching the tree. In that crowd, Jadhav aunty (wife of Bandushet Jadhav) was standing besides her and the fragrance of the Champaka flowers had spread through in all the directions! In the dream, she enquired with those women why Maharaj was planting such a big tree. The spot chosen was also not the best! It was dirty and sloping everywhere! Instead of this, a clean place was available on the other side. Even if a small sapling was planted there, it would quickly grow into a big tree! Jadhav aunty replied that Shree Maharaj was quite capable and he could manage and do anything. You would watch this tree planted here by him growing into a big tree! Later, my wife was awakened from her dream with that fragrance. The fragrance was spread everywhere in the entire house. She was totally awakened and when she looked at the watch it was 4:00 a.m. in the early morning. She thought that Nana (my father) might have started meditating and it was possible that he had burned an incense stick; but when she went inside to check she found that Nana had not woken up yet. There was no Champak flower in the house. The fragrance dwelled in the house even after 8:00 a.m. But this dream convinced her of Maharaj’s existence. And her depression vanished making her confident about her and her family’s future.

She used to normally nap in the afternoon from 3.00 to 3.30 p.m. In the year 1991, one day in her sleep she felt that some demonic power was choking her completely. Obviously she was not able to shout, and when she tried to speak she felt as though her tongue got stuck in the mouth; she felt she had no stamina to do anything. In fact, she felt that her last moment had arrived. At that very instant Shree Maharaj came there and he sprinkled holy water on her body from his kamandalu (A water-pot used by an ascetic). As soon as the holy water touched her she slowly gained awareness. And the pressure on her eased out as the demonic power started backing out. Nevertheless, she was still feeling restless for 3-4 days. Normally she would read at least one chapter of the biography of Sadguru Shree Baba Maharaj and also meditated. But in these 4-5 days she did not feel like doing any meditation or daily reading. After 4-5 days, she slowly started returning to normal. She narrated this incident to me afterwards.

Sometimes Maharaj sent me to my house at Mumbai for 3-4 days. After going home, I used to spend me time relaxing and doing nothing much. But my wife would say, “You are wasting your time by simply sitting here. You are not doing any work at all. Please help me a little then you will realize how much work I have to do.” Then I would reply, “Okay, tell me what I should do?” Once she asked me to pay the electricity bill. I dressed up and go ready to leave with the money when the door bell rang. Pitale, the building site supervisor had come to visit and asked, “Uncle, where are you going?” When I told him I was going to pay the electricity bill, he said, “Why do you have to do this? What am I here for? Give me that bill and I will go pay it immediately!”

After Pitale left to pay the bill, I was free again to relax and spend my time doing nothing. When you become the kinsman of a Sadguru, it was true that he would always bear all the responsibilities! But, my wife was probably determined to teach me all the worldly duties and obligations. Once she asked, “Let us go to bring vegetables from the market!” I said, “Certainly! Where should we go?” She said, “In Vileparle near Deenanath Playhouse where we get our usual vegetables like snake-gourds, brinjal and lady’s-fingers etc. Here, all the residents are mostly non-Marathi and except for cabbage and cauliflower we don’t find any other good vegetables. So let us go to Dinanath!” I said, “That is alright. But why are you earnestly requesting me today?” She immediately replied, “Just so you also know what type of sufferings I have to undergo here! There is no direct bus from here to Deenanath playhouse. And the auto-riksha drivers normally don’t agree to come! Moreover, it is difficult to go by train since I have a hard time handling the bags as well as myself.”

Finally I decided to join her to go to the vegetable market. At the entrance of our building, a person was just getting out of an auto-rikshaw. I asked the driver if will take us to Parle east and he immediately said yes putting the meter down for the ride! While returning from the vegetable market we immediately found another auto-rikshaw that dropped us back home. So my wife said, “Your luck is good! When I start, no riksha driver is willing and sometimes I have to wait for more than half hour to get a ride. And I have to argue quite a bit! When you are present, the riksha-drivers are willing to come at once!” I said, “When we are the kinsman of a Sadguru, why should there be any problems!”

A similar incident took place once again. That day when we got down from our building ‘Hrushikesh’ and came up to Swami Samarth Temple, a Bengali friend of Walawalkar-saheb named Mitra was passing by. He stopped his vehicle when he saw us and asked “Where are you going?” I waved my vegetable cloth bag and told him that we were going up to Deenanath playhouse to buy the vegetables. He said, “Good! I am going towards that side too. You can come with me!” He dropped us at Dinanath and after finishing his work he again came there to pick us up and dropped us back home in his vehicle!

In Mumbai my wife was coping alone somehow with the family responsibilities. Such petty difficulties always exist in a normal life. Keeping content with whatever was available and having full faith on the prophecy of Maharaj, she successfully managed to carry on the responsibilities of her family life. Walawalkar-saheb had full affection for me already, so he was always alert in solving my family difficulties especially in my absence. Once he heard that I lend a V.C.R. (Video Cassette Recorder) when I came to visit in mumbai from Amol Kondkar to show a movie to my family. Basically, it was otherwise not practically possible for us to go to a cinema theatre and watch a movie. The children also take pleasure in watching movies occasionally.

Once when I was in Pune, on the persistence of Kamlesh I had watched the moview ‘Janjeer’ at the time of ‘Ganesh Festival’ programme near the house for one hour. Next day Kamlesh was fully enjoying imitating the fighting scene of ‘Amitabh’ in front of his grandfather. One has to experience these moments of innocent happiness in their childhood only! So, when it came to the attention of Walawalkar-saheb, he immediately went to a shop dealing in imported articles, purchased a V.C.R. (Video Cassette Recorder) and sent it to our home. The personality of Walawalkar-saheb was very generous. The extent of his generosity could even humiliate the benevolence of the great warrior ‘Karna’ from Mahabharata. He kept an eye on every minute difficulty in my life. Once Walawalkar-saheb told me that he would arrange for a car for my families use in Andheri since they had a lot of difficulty moving around in the city. Though I was aware of the problem, I did not feel appropriate to accept the car; and I knew very well that my wife would not like that at all. When I told him all this he said, “Here unworthy people are using two-two cars! And you do not want even one car?” But I managed to reject that proposal.

Finally, 2-3- years back his son Vikasrao sent a car along with a driver. Malvankar informed me about this. So I told him that I did not require the car driver. I told my wife that the car had been sent by Walawalkar and with due respect to him, we will have to accept that; just let the driver go back. Further I explained her that we should not displease anyone for our selflessness. Finally the driver was sent back.