Sri Swami Samarth had liberated a number of devotees from demoniac possession by his simple sportive plays.

Tailor from Solapur

One day Sri Swami Samarth had gone to village called Basal, which is near Akkalkot. At that time, a tailor from Solapur, Maharashtra, had come there along with his family for Sri Swami Samarth’s Darshan’. By merely glancing at the tailor, Sri Swamiji said, “Would you not feed me? ”. The tailor made all the necessary arrangements. After the food was ready, the tailor gave bath to Sri Swamiji, worshipped him, performed Aarati ^[1] and then offered sumptuous food to Sri Swamiji. After Sri Swamiji accepted the food, the tailor came and sat in front of Sri Swamiji. All of a sudden the tailor got demoniacally possessed and started swinging. He started screaming. He started dancing and then said, “Where is the necessity for an ascetic to show such plays? ”. Sri Swamiji kept silent for some time and started watering the tailor. Then suddenly he spoke “Fasten the hands of this rascal at the back”. Simply by listening to these words of Sri Swamiji; the tailor became helpless and fell down. He started praying, “I am an orphan. Please shower your kind grace on me and show me the way”.

Listening to the tailor’s prayer Sri Swami Samarth got filled with compassion and he blessed the tailor with kind grace. The tailor got liberated from the demoniac possession and returned home happily. Then onwards on every full moon day he started going to Akkalkot on a pilgrimage to take Sri Swami Samarth’s ’Darshan’.

Govindrao

Govindrao, the son of Chintopant Toll, had severe stomach pain. One day unexpectedly Sri Swamiji came to his house and called Govindrao as ‘goldsmith’ and immediately there was a surge of psychic phenomena due to demoniac possession in Govindrao’s body and he started admonishing Sri Swamiji. He started swinging and went near Sri Swamiji and said, “Why should an ascetic remain in one place just like a buried wooden stump? ”. He went ahead to kick Sri Swamiji but the servants caught hold of him. Sri Swamiji silently went out and sat under the ‘Audumbar’ tree. The psychic went near Sri Swamiji and said, “Why should an ascetic stay in a village? ”.

Finally, Sri Swamiji shouted angrily at Govindrao “You black-smith, bind the hands of this fellow with an iron chain weighing fifty seers ^[2]”. Both the hands of Govindrao got entangled as though an iron chain weighing fifty seers bound them. Govindrao started shouting, “Maharaj, I am going to die. Kindly save me. I have offended you and committed great sins. Govindrao has taken my money. You tell him to return the money and then I will go away”.

By that time, a Muslim devotee arrived. Noticing Govindrao he said, “The tree is undergoing a lot of hardships. Kindly give relief to that tree”. Sri Swamiji said “A great man with a beard like you, has come here, why don’t you yourself relieve him from the bind of that heavy chain?”. However, the Muslim devotee lacked enough courage to do so. A woman devotee had come for Sri Swamiji’s ‘Darshan’ of. She went ahead. No sooner she touched Govindrao his hands got freed from the invisible binding chain. Within two-three days Govindrao got relief from his stomach pain to a great extent. Then Sri Swamiji said, “At the age of fifty-five you will be completely relieved from the stomach pain as well as the demoniac spirit of a deceased Brahmin”. Eventually Govindrao got the total relief after the completion of fifty-five years.

Shankarrao Daftardar

Shriman Shankarrao saheb was a record keeper in the regime of the then Nizam of Hyderabad. He was demoniacally possessed. He was also suffering from T. B. He had taken lots of medical treatment but there was no positive effect. He came to Ganagapur and performed number of religious ceremonials, gave money in charity and rendered devotional service. Finally, he had a visionary insight advising him to go to Akkalkot. At Akkalkot, with the help of Sundarabai who was a devotee of Sri Swamiji, Shankarrao saheb offered his prayers to Sri Swamiji. Hearing the prayers, Sri Swamiji got up and went to the graveyard of Muslims. One graveyard was kept ready there. He went and slept in that pit. When Sri Swamiji woke up from that grave pit, he told Shankarrao saheb “Offer food to the Fakirs ^[3] and a sheet of cotton cloth at Sheikh Noor Dargah ^[4]”. Shankarrao Saheb did accordingly. Within a few days he recovered his health.

Then as per the orders of Sri Swamiji, Shankarrao Saheb built a Muth ⁹⁰ at Akkalkot spending thirty thousand rupees, then celebrated a festival with great pomp and later returned to Hyderbad.

Shoe Thrown at the Brahmin Possessed by Ghost

A Brahmin was possessed demoniacally. He always behaved like a lunatic. His wife brought him to Akkalkot. She would collect alms and feed her husband but he would abuse and spit at people. The helpless lady somehow calmed down the victims. In the evening the Brahmin would become more mischievous and would run away without notice. With great difficulty he would get traced and caught.

One day, the possessed Brahmin started shouting, “There is no justice in the royal court of Lord Dattatreya. Sri Swamiji is beating me unnecessarily”. In addition, he also started screaming. When Sri Swamiji asked the reason for his screaming, replied, “This Brahmin has not repaid my two thousand rupees. I was a poor man, hence I had to commit suicide, and then I became a ghost. Had he not swallowed my money, would I be, in this state of a ghost? Maharaj, please do justice in my case. If this Brahmin returns my money and completes my funeral rites, then I will go away”. Sri Swamiji said, “Oh, he is a poor Brahmin”. Hearing this the ghost said “I made this Brahmin poor and childless. Now let him return my money. I will not leave his body till he returns my money”.

Hearing this Sri Swamiji started laughing. Sri Swamiji took a turban of a person and gave one tip of the turban in the hand of that person. An old wooden house, with a big hole was lying nearby. Sri Swamiji asked the person to put the tip of the turban in that hole and start pulling the turban. When that person started pulling the turban, the possessed Brahmin, began to writhe in severe pain. The entire body of the Brahmin started shrinking and stiffening. He started crying loudly and said “Maharaj, please forgive and release me. I will not demand for money. Whatever you say, I will agree for the same”.

When the turban was pulled out completely from that hole, the Brahmin became unconscious. The Brahmin’s wife started crying, and she prayed to Sri Swamiji, to save her husband. Then Sri Swamiji threw his shoe and hit the Brahmin. The Brahmin immediately got up and asked Sri Swamiji “What do you command me to do? ”. Sri Swamiji said, “Go and sit on that tamarind tree”. The ghost left the Brahmin’s body and went away. Then the Brahmin regained his consciousness.

Next day the Brahmin’s wife worshipped Sri Swamiji, performed Aarti ¹⁶¹, Sang devotional songs in the praise of Sri Swamiji and offered Naivedya¹⁴⁰. She prayed, “By your kind grace, we have got rid of a great calamity in this life. How can I describe your kindness? Now what should we do?” Then Sri Swamiji threw his shoes towards her. Taking the shoes as blessings, the couple returned home. The lady (Brahmin’s wife) started worshiping the shoes as blessings of Sri Swamiji with all devotion.

Appasaheb Subnis

In Pune, there was a rich and respectable lawyer by name Appasaheb Subnis. Both husband and wife were possessed by a ghost. When the ghost would become active, the couple would be unable to eat or drink. They carried out a thorough reading of Gurucharitra ¹²⁶ and performed various religious ceremonials but in vain. At last, both along with two to four people went to Ganagapur to render devotional service. On the way, they took a halt at Akkalkot for Sri Swami Samarth’s ‘Darshan’. By the ‘Divine Darshan’ of Sri Swamiji, Subnis couple were very much impressed. The couple wanted to go to Ganagapur to get rid of their pain. Therefore, they requested Sri Swamiji with prayers for the necessary permission to go to Ganagapur. Sri Swamiji said, “You need not go to Ganagapur. I will destroy the ghost”. Then the couple continued their stay at Akkalkot itself by rendering devotional service such as reading Gurucharitra, collecting alms, circumambulation of the Audumbar tree etc.

Initially the ghost was very much intoxicated. However, as the devotional service increased the ghost started becoming more and more weak. Then the ghost broke into tears and started uttering, “What should I do now? I cannot continue to bear this harsh beating”. After a period of five years, the ghost quit the couple’s bodies and fled.

The lawyer, Subnis, stayed at Akkalkot and continued his legal practice. After a while the ghost started troubling the Subnis couple again. Then Subnis brought this to the kind notice of Sri Swamiji. Then Sri Swamiji said, “Why do you require this mediation? ”. Subnis immediately gave up his legal practice and utilised the money earned by this legal practice to render devotional service at the lotus feet of Sri Swamiji. Subnis’s mother prayed to Sri Swamiji “Since my daughter-in-law is child-less, all this property will become useless”. Then Sri Swamiji blessed Saraswati, the wife of Subnis, by giving a coconut and within a year itself Saraswati gave birth to a son. The entire family became devoted to Sri Swamiji and started visiting Akkalkot regularly to render devotional service.