Maharaj himself changed the decision of settling my family in mumbai instead of Pune. He got an apartment ready for us in the new building project of Walawalkar-saheb, which was in progress at Samarth Nagar, Andheri; thus, on 6th June 1981 my residence was shifted from Satara and my entire family came to stay in the new building ‘Hrushikesh’ at Andheri. Everything was taking place very smoothly as if planned in advance. In reality there was neither a fixed plan nor even a rough outline in our minds regarding our future. But that might have been in the mind of Maharaj because everything was getting done in time without any difficulties. In Mumbai, school admissions were very systematic. My wife went to Vidyavikas School of Andheri and our daughter easily got admissions with the help of Walawalkar-saheb. Our son Kamlesh also got admission in the fourth standard. Looking at the graph of his educational progress, it can be generalized that Maharaj had opened a large avenue of progress for him by moving our residence to Mumbai. In due course, our daughter passed her tenth standard in a good manner. Even though certain people in Mumbai avoided helping her to get admissions in a good college, she easily got admitted in Bhavan’s College based on her own merits.
Kamlesh secured 90% marks in tenth standard; hence there was no difficulty in his case. He got admitted to the Vileparle Tilak High School for eleventh standard. Further he also got the Electronic subject as he desired. In twelfth standard, he secured 94% marks. I had gone alone for my Engineering college admission so accordingly, we sent Kamlesh alone for his admission. Based on his merits, he had got admission in V.J.T.I. College (Victoria Jubilee Technical Institute) .When he went alone, the college officials told him to bring his parents along with him! So my wife went with him for the admissions. The officials told her, “Your son has scored excellent marks. He can easily get admitted to any good branch of either Electronics or Mechanical Engineering. But he desires to be admitted in the Textile Engineering side only. Does he know what he is doing?” My wife told them that this decision had been taken after proper thinking. Then they processed his application and Kamlesh became an Engineer by paying only Rs.250/- per annum. The annual fee during my time was also Rs.250/-. Kamlesh always came first for all the four years of his engineering college. After that he wanted to complete M.Tech from V.J.T.I. only but I suggested him to get some experience in the industry instead of becoming a lecturer after completing his M.Tech. One can achieve quite a bit by working in the industry. There was a two-year course in Manchester University that he applied for and even got selected. But the total expense was about 15 to 15 thousand pounds along with the two-year fees, which worked to nearly eight lakh rupees based on the exchange rate at that time. I did not even have 8000/- rupees with me back then. So he informed Manchester University that he was not able to take the admission due to shortage of funds. The ‘Head of the Department’ for that University informed him that the total amount would be reduced by 1500 pounds and urged him to join the course. Even after this huge reduction, the expense was way beyond our capacity. Hence, he appeared for the entrance examination of the N.I.T.I.E. (NITIE) ‘Operation Management’ course, and came out with flying colours; and later he was selected for the course with NITIE.
Getting admission in ‘NITIE’ meant staying in the hostel was imminent. Then Kamlesh and I together prepared a list of all the necessary items required for his stay at the hostel and purchased them as well. Along with other items required, like bucket, jug, cup-saucer we bought shaving items, mirror, alarm clock etc. Then we packed all his new belongings, loaded them in the vehicle of Amol Kondkar and went to the ‘NITIE’ hostel. After getting the room cleaned from a peon, we took possession of the room and bid farewell to Kamlesh. Kamlesh had never stayed away from his mother, and he got really homesick. When Amol and I returned home that night at 11.00 p.m., Kamlesh returned a few moments later too. We were rather astonished to see him. When we asked, he said, “This is a very selfish world. All the people are also selfish. Hence it will be impossible for me to stay at the hostel.”
Next morning we took him back to the hostel. There was a Malvani peon that worked there. I spoke to him in Malvani language, handed a 100/- Rs note in his hands and told him, “Just take care of my son initially for two-three days.” Everyone remembers of home – even I was homesick. I knew that once he gets used to it, there would be no problems and my belief turned out to be right. He spent the next two years at the hostel in a proper manner. Soon after completing the Management course, he was placed in the Bombay Dyeing company. After that, he also served in companies such as, ‘Clarient and Grasim’. But he was not mentally thorough with the so-called high society people. He was neither interested in drinking, nor fit to be part of the drink and eat kind of people. An honest person like Kamalesh started facing difficulties and was also getting choked up just because of this.
Now he is working with ‘Rhodeo Chemicals’ as a ‘Marketing Manager’ for their South Asian division. Because of his managerial skills, the new company has given him a very honourable post. Today he travels for work frequently, but even during the fifteen days tour he observes restraint on his eating habits very carefully; his principals and his behaviour has gained him respect and admiration in the new company. The success of Kamlesh is surely a reward of his sharp intelligence and hard work. He has been blessed permanently by Maharaj.
Once he had come to Pune for the birth anniversary of Shree BabaMaharaj. my wife had to look after my parents in Mumbai and therefore, she could not always attend the festivities in Pune. Therefore someone had to always accompany Kamlesh and bring him to Pune. In fact, my wife could not even go visit her own parents due to this responsibility on her shoulders. Even if she had to go to Dharwar, she had to make arrangements for my parents stay with her sister and then return immediately within 7-8 days. Hence Kamlesh always came alone from Mumbai. At the temple, the Keertan (a musical narration of spiritual topics) had just been over. Kamlesh was playing on the upper side near the statue of Hanuman. He was about nine or ten years old. Maharaj saw him and took the garland of flowers from his neck and put it around Kamlesh. While doing so, he said, “I have given him all the blessings for his life. There is nothing else left to give him now. This blessing will be useful for him throughout his life.” Maharaj had not just blessed him with a flower garland but provided him with complete armour. He had taken full responsibility of protecting Kamlesh on his shoulders. I did not really understand this action of Maharaj, but as time passed I realized the true meaning behind this natural action of Maharaj.
Once, Kamlesh and Deepti came to Pune with their mother for Diwali holidays. When they started preparing for their return journey, Maharaj said, “It is okay for you to return but let Kamlesh stay here! He will return after the Birth Anniversary Festival of Baba. That particular year, the festival was being celebrated just five-six days after the Diwali holidays. When she expressed that he will miss his school, Maharaj said that nothing was going to go wrong if he missed school for 5-6 days! So, Kamlesh stayed in Pune until the festival was over. Maharaj brought a bat & ball for Kamlesh to play. Kamlesh did not carry his sweater when he came to Pune, so Maharaj bought him a good quality sweater worth Rs.95/- back then; this incident that took place 25 years ago when the value of rupee was pretty high.
Once, Madhavrao, Padhye and I were talking to Maharaj about something. Shree Maharaj said, “What should we do in the future with these widely scattered activities of our institution?” I recommended handing over the Institution and its belongings to Vamanrao Joshi! But Maharaj said, “This suggestion would be next to impossible! Do you know what we should do? I would rather transfer all these things in the name of Kamlesh!” Even though Maharaj had clearly stated this, I felt it was not proper; neither did I take any steps from that point nor did I agree about this decision.
Later sometime in that same year, I had a dream early one morning. In the dream, a man came and told me that he would take away my son. I told him that I would not be able to stop him as it was not in my hands, but I told him to ask Maharaj and take my son away if Maharaj agreed. I was a bit worried after this dream, but even then I did not ask Maharaj anything. That day, V.B.Harshe came to the Temple early in the morning at about 5.30 to 6.oo O’clock. He used to take care of the writing work at the Temple. His wife was suffering from ‘Hemiplegy’ sickness. He would complete her routine treatment everyday, make arrangements before coming to the temple everyday at 8.00 O’clock in the morning and he would normally stay there up to 6.00 to 6.30 p.m. in the evening. When he came to the Temple early that day, Maharaj and I were having our tea. Harshe was also offered tea. Suddenly, he started talking in a tone of anxiety about his night dream. In his dream Harshe told us that he was going somewhere on a bullock-cart. On the way, he saw Maharaj pouring water on his body near a well. Harshe got off the cart and went straight to Maharaj and asked “Maharaj why are you pouring cold water, that too at an unusual time in this place?” Then Maharaj started crying out loudly with tears flowing in streams and said” Oh! Did you not know – Ashok’s son has just passed away!”
The previous day a watchman at the Temple, suddenly became unconscious. The other watchman panicked and called everybody. Then Maharaj told Tatya Joshi to take the watchman to Doctor Kamat. Tatya took him in a rickshaw. Dr. Kamat suggested moving the watchman to The Sassoon Hospital immediately. Accordingly Tatya admitted him at the Sassoon Hospital. Next morning around 7.00 O’clock we received a call stating that the neck-vein of the watchman had been broken and his condition was very serious. Later, around 8 O’clock Tatya came and told us that the watchman had passed away.
While Maharaj and I were talking with Harshe, we received this phone message. We chatted about a few other things when Maharaj spoke to Harshe, “Harshe, what were you saying? Did you get a dream that Ashok’s son passed away? Oh, Ashok, call home and check if everything is okay!” When I called home, my wife told me that Kamlesh had left for school already. Then Maharaj turned to Harshe and said, “See! Has anything happened? You had a wrong dream, that’s all!” And then the subject was closed for that day.
Later, Maharaj told me that there were a number of deaths due to breakage of neck-vein in my family. At that moment, I remembered the above incident about the watchman and how he had died of a damaged neck-vein. It was then that I realized that Maharaj had erected impenetrable armour around my family and I was filled with emotions that moment.
Some of my relatives did not approve of my stay at the temple. They decided to discontinue their relationship with me. One morning when I went to take the blessings of Maharaj, he was sitting by the bed wearing a milk-man cap. When I bent to pay him my obeisance he grabbed hold of my shoulders and said, “What happens if everyone went against you? Am I not with you?” Around the same time, some of my relatives went to my house and tried to advice my wife, “You must call back your husband.” She said, “I will call you when he comes to visit and you can present your thoughts to him yourself.”
When I went to Mumbai after this, they came together to my house. But they had tea and went back without saying anything. I asked my wife, “Why did all these people come here?” Then she gave me all the details. When I said, “Why did they go back without saying anything at all?” she replied that none of them had enough courage to say anything. Mostly I do not go to meet my relatives. Even they mostly do not come to see me. God only had reduced my troubles. I did not regret anything at all. Whenever I go to Mumbai, I visit the home of Walawalkar Saheb atleast once. I did that according to instructions from Maharaj. But the troubles from all other relatived had been reduced. When devotion grows, the troubles automatically lessen.
Before Maharaj gave up his mortal body, he was talking about final disposal of things for a few days. He referred to many of his loyal devotees and talked about certain matters such as, “Is it Madhav? He has one son and one daughter. He will never have any deficiency in life. Ashok has one son but I will have to work for protecting his life!” Maharaj had said this frequently and when the time came, he surely gave our family the first-hand experience about how they were being protected.
Around 1993, my daughter Deepti was getting very anxious and calling me constantly to ‘pay full attention towards Kamlesh’. During that period she was dreaming about Kamlesh having accidents; this was upsetting her and building her anxiety while there was nothing I could do other than quietly listening to her fears.
My wife and daughter have the gift to sense future incidents – good or bad. One day, about 4 O’clock in the evening, my wife was preparing tea at home. Suddenly she had a vision almost as if in front of her eyes that our nephew, Prasad Bhadbhade was getting hit by a fast truck. She obviously became unusually restless. At night, Prasad came to our house in Andheri very restless. He was completely shaken and had really been caught under a truck that evening. It was a miracle that he was saved. He stayed with us for eight days and then slowly he recovered from the shock. Therefore, it was in our favour if we did not neglect the future visions sensed by Deepti and my wife. Hence when Deepti kept calling regarding Kamlesh’s safety, I felt that only Maharaj was capable of taking care of Kamlesh. He had already blessed him and I could not forget all the experiences we had in this regard.
A few days later, Kamlesh was exiting our society on his Kinetic Scooter when it violently dashed against a Maruti car and as a result, the front wheel of the scooter was damaged. But Kamlesh was safe; he did not even get a simple scratch from this huge impact! This was only due to the blessings of Maharaj! Maharaj had not blessed our entire family and protected us against mis-happenings, but he had also blessed the four of us with divine knowledge, which was the greatest glance of his favour on us. All members of one family getting blessed with divine knowledge is definitely a rare event in the present times – and I doubt such an example ever existed. The truth is, I am taking a risk of being charged for boasting, but I feel it is important to echo the greatness of my Sadguru for the world. My son Kamlesh was blessed with the vision of Beedkar Maharaj in his dreams. He dreamt that Beedkar Maharaj was seated in the ascetics’ abode of the Himalaya Mountain absorbed in deep meditation and Kamlesh was also seated in front of him for meditation; when Beedkar Maharaj opened his eyes, a stream of tears flowed from his eyes! Kamlesh had such dreams frequently.
When it was time to search for a bridegroom for my daughter at the right age, we had very few expectations about her would-be-life-partner. We just expected we find a simple life-partner, non-alcoholic and of a good character. In fact, his financial position was of secondary importance to us. But just this small expectation was turning out to be difficult. Once Mr. Paranjape recommended a possible match for my daughter with the family of Sharad Rajaguru. Balasaheb Kajrekar obtained all the information about the boy. The boy did not even have the habit of taking tea and he was a gentleman. At that time, he earned a salary of approximately 3000/- only. From my point of view he possessed very good character and that was his greatest fortune of all. Above all this, the unprecedented coincidence was that the parents of Sharadrao had served Baba Maharaj in person to a great extent. They had the greatest fortune of offering maternal services to Nirmalatai, the daughter of Shree Baba Maharaj. This means that the family possessed great accumulated merit due to the service of virtuous people. Hence I believe it was the kind grace of our Sadguru that our daughter was to be settled with a family who had so full-heartedly served Shree Baba Maharaj.
After her marriage, our daughter did not conceive for some time. They visited a well-known doctor and their medical tests came back positive. The doctor assured them that neither one of them had any defects in them. At this point, our daughter started reading the holy book on the birth of Lord Dattatrey by her own spontaneous accord. And in a short time her devotional service showed fruits and she gave birth to a beautiful baby girl. Today when we watch her progress, we believe that her daughter is really a gift from God. She has definitely come in this world with blessings from an excessively sharp intelligence since birth. She is only 8 years old now, but even at this young age she has already managed to read many books on different topics. She has very deep devotion towards God. The only reason to state all these domestic details is to make it clear to everybody how my Sadguru once accepted me as ‘His own’, had taken full responsibility of myself and my entire family under his powerful protection and gave a new direction to my existence.
I had a dream in Dec-1987 and even today I can remember every moment in detail. The whole ocean was spread around me up to the horizon; there was blue water spread in all directions with ripples of gentle waves rising up! And amongst all these scattered state of things, I was sleeping on a small raft made from planks. My wife was right near me along with our children, Kamlesh and Deepti who were asleep. In my dream, my wife was waking me up saying “Why are you sleeping on the edge? Water is being splashed all over you! Just move yourself to this side a little!” Awakened by her voice, I got up and sat. Looking around myself, I saw we were in the middle of the widespread water on a small raft. There was not even a single bird to be seen anywhere in the sky. There was no sight of any land possibly for 800-900 miles. There was neither moon nor sun in the sky. The whole sky was overshadowed with blackish iron-grey light and from a distance somebody was calling my name loudly, “Ashok! Ashok!”
When I mentioned about these voices to my wife, she confirmed that she heard someone calling me little while ago too. But the surprising thing was that every time my name was called, our raft move ahead a few yards towards that voice. We were experiencing this journey towards the direction of that call with a very cool mind! There was absolutely no fear! Nor was there any doubt with respect to the direction we were moving towards! We were all experiencing the entire journey with aloofness as though watching a movie.
That morning I woke up from the dream around 4 a.m. and I found myself sleeping under a baniyan tree near the Temple. I finished my morning chores by 5 a.m. and went to get the blessings of Maharaj. I did not say anything but the dream was still revolving in my mind. And before I could say anything, Maharaj uttered four words, “It was me calling you!”
This dream turned out to be an indication of my life and still persists in my memory. Through this dream, my Sadguru had made me aware that he would certainly take my entire family across this worldly ocean to the other side. Thus, he developed full confidence in me. I still remember another strange dream where Vazekaka, my wife and I were going towards a somewhat unknown city by road. There was a residential area with very small roads. There were tiny but good houses by the side of the road. As we were walking by, Vazekaka said, “Let us take tea somewhere! Why don’t we go to this house in front for tea?” I hesitantly said, “I am familiar with this area. There is a restaurant at the next intersection where we can get good tea. Let us go there instead!” But Vazekaka insisted we have tea in the house near us. I will still hesitant since we were not acquainted with the owner of that house nor were we familiar to anybody else. I felt that someone might beat us up if we rush into their house without notice. In response Vazekaka said, “Let us at least enter the house!” So, we entered the house; first the verandah where the cane furniture was laid out in order; the hall in front and the kitchen on the side were very well maintained; there was a Gas-cylinder and the fridge was towards the side. All excited, Vazekaka said, `Vahini, (sister-in-law) please make tea! Everything is kept ready here!’
We sat outside for some time, smoked cigarette. Then we took tea and washed the cups and saucers. We cleaned the verandah thinking that the owner might notice that someone had come to their house and gone! And as we came out of the house we saw Shree Sadguru BabaMaharaj in person walking gently towards us. He had worn a dhotee, coat and cap. He had a smiling face, holding a long cloth bag and an umbrella in his hand and appeared as though he was coming towards this house. I said, “Oh! This house belongs to our Baba! So instead of tea, even if we had taken an entire meal, Baba would definitely not mind!” Vazekaka also said, “Yes! This is Baba’s house only!” Later, when I asked Maharaj regarding the real significance of this dream, he curtly responded saying, “Do not ask me regarding its significance! Is it not enough that you were blessed by Maharaj in person! Then just feel content with that!”
I started regularly visiting the temple from 1976 onwards. But I was still working with the government then. I spent most of my after-work hours at the temple. Our residence was initially in Pune, then in Satara and finally shifted to Mumbai in June 1981; and as promised by Maharaj to my wife, our domestic life was going well in an orderly manner. Sometime in August or September of 1980, he said to me, “Oh! Your service to the government is more than enough! From now, you must render devotional service to God!”
My salary at that time was 1500/- rupees per month. My domestic life was not in a miserable condition but we still had to stretch a bit. Maharaj offered me a monthly salary of 2250/- rupees. I humbly accepted. We had this chat just before supper one day. After the meal, he spoke to me, “Do not resign immediately from your current job. Initially, take leave for two months and examine if you like the work in the Temple.” Accordingly, I took leave from October 1980. After working at the temple for 2-3 months, I told him that the working life at the temple was acceptable to me! He then permitted me to resign from my government job. Accordingly, I cashed the balance vacation days worth Rs.1200-1300 and in February of 1981, I finally got liberated from my service to the people and came to render my service to God. Thus I became a full-time servant at the Temple.
I had not realized back then the rationale behind leaving the public service and joining the service of God. During that time, the true significance of Maharaj was a very deep mystery for me in reality! This was an incident in the year 1976 – Once when I came to the Temple Maharaj told me, “Go, and sit down for meditation!” He had asked this only once in my life-time. Accordingly, I sat down for meditation. When I returned after meditating for about half-an-hour, he asked me, “What did you see when in meditation?” I told him, “During meditation, I saw a gentleman sitting in a chair; he was wearing a double-folded dhoti, a shirt and a black cap” Maharaj’s face brightened up at once and he said, “You saw ‘him’ in person, is it not so? Then take for granted that your work is done!” Then he said, “Until I exist, I will definitely help you. But afterwards, if you come across any difficulties, you should go to him! He will certainly help you.”
On 21st May, 1989, Maharaj left this worldly life. Around 22-23 June, Walawalkarsaheb, Banavalisaheb, Bajirao Tikekarsaheb, Balasaheb Kajrekar, myself and about 10-15 other people together, we went to Sangli. There we all took the blessings of Dasaram Maharaj Kelkar, also known as ‘DadaMaharaj’. When I saw him, I immediately remembered that he was the same person who blessed me during my meditation in the year 1976. And I suddenly remembered everything Maharaj had told me back then.
Dada Maharaj did not let the words of Maharaj go false. Just like Maharaj, he too showered his affection on me almost like his own son. Whenever I told him about my difficulties, he helped out by using his spiritual powers. I am blessed to have met so many saints in my life. All of them and even Dada Maharaj did not refrain from showering abundant affection on me and further, just like Shree Digambardas Maharaj, they also showered affection on me as a son.
Shree Digambardas Maharaj told me once that he had prevented all the calamities, which were to be faced by me. “Though you had to face some of the calamities, I have tried to avoid many others for you. There is still one calamity pending and your leg would be broken.” This topic had stopped there. After Maharaj left this mortal body, I started going to Shree Sadguru Dada Maharaj. On 25th June 1992, I got a phone call from Shree Ragodkar stating that Dada Maharaj was injured and had broken his leg in the washroom. Later when I went to visit him, he said, “You have to take care of a number of responsibilities. This injured leg would have created a number of problems for you. Hence I decided to take it upon myself and finish your sufferings.” This was just one small experience of the extent of generosity shown by a saintly person.
Dada Maharaj always said that this temple of Shree Baba Maharaj is the main centre of spirituality. All the traditions would eventually merge here. A new incarnation would become the spiritual leader of the whole world and then the ‘Satya Yug’ the Golden age of perfection would begin. Digambardas Maharaj told us that even if he gives up his mortal body, he will re-incarnate latest by 2002 and take up all his affairs back in his hands again.
One more incident from the year 1976 is still in memory. It was ‘Guru Poornima’ (the day of full moon when the preceptor’s are worshipped). It was my first time watching the ‘Guru Poornima’ festival. There were about 60-70 men and 60-70 women visiting. Maharaj used to sit for the ‘Guru Poornima’ worship in the room with the picture of Baba Maharaj. There was a custom of offering sweets or other gifts along with a garland to the Guru on the occasion of Guru Poornima. I did not know anything about this until that point. Hence, I just placed Rs1.25 in the hands of Maharaj, garlanded him and then took his blessings. That time Maharaj said, “The mango tree is blooming! Take for granted, your work will be done!”
As a matter of fact, the essence of these sentences from Maharaj stating, “You saw him in person. Is it not? Then take for granted that your work will be done!” or “Your mango tree is blooming! Take for granted that your work will be fully done!” had not come to my attention at all back then. But Maharaj must have taken the helm of my boat in his hands back then, which I now realize as I remember the sequence of these events over time. And maybe this formation had started right from the year 1976 since I started coming to the temple. A well-known craftsman once told us how he shapes the stone slab – he said that the structure already exists in the stone but he just has to remove the non-essential portion of the stone with the chisel to materialize the structure into reality. Maharaj too did something similar in my case. From the day I started staying at the temple until he left this world, I had the advantage of his continuous companionship and every moment out of that turned out like a stroke of the chisel that is used to transform a simple stone into a beautiful piece of art. It was sometime hard, sometime soft – but it is true that each and every stroke was giving a shape to my life.
There were many small occasions – like one day, he gave me 1000/- rupees to bring a few items from the market. I noticed that it was 1100/- rupees and not just 1000/- rupees. After coming back, I spoke to Maharaj, “Money started growing!” Maharaj just laughed “paise jane lage.” This sentence pertained to the biography of Shree Swami Samarth and Maharaj had tested me in a most casual way. Such test occasions were coming up frequently but the examiner was the Sadguru (great preceptor) himself and the person who was preparing me for these tests was he himself! I only had to meditate on the Sadguru with concentration! That was my only devotion. Once, Maharaj had asked me “Do I trouble you?” And I immediately said, “No not at all!” The wisdom to say ‘No’ had also been given to me by my Sadguru himself. Even if there was a moment’s delay in responding to this question, I would never have reached the stage I am in today.
The firm faith in the Sadguru only saves a man from slipping. Whenever a man forgets that the Sadguru has done whatever for his own good as a kind of divine gift, which in turn was the key of his upliftment, then he himself is responsible for his own downfall. There was a disciple of Sadguru Shree Baba Maharaj. He had gained the faith of Baba Maharaj as a good student. He was an Executive Engineer with the Government. We had met at one point. In fact he was the one who had shown me where Baba Majaraj stayed etc. At the center on his forehead between his eyebrows, he felt the awakening of a Sudarshan Chakra (a rotating wheel in the finger of Lord Krishna). This feeling would stop when he left for work, but return back in the evening when he was coming back from work. Unable to bear this spiritual experience, he prayed to Baba Maharaj to stop that feeling. When I asked him why did he get that rotating wheel stopped? He said, “My daily spiritual reading etc. including all other remaining activities had come to a standstill.” But I said, “Oh! What is the importance of the reading pleasure in comparison to the happiness you felt due to the spiritual experience of the ‘Sudarshan Chakra’” Then he said, “I had not realized what I had at that time and I have not yet gained it back even after praying to my Sadguru for the same spiritual experience!” It is unfortunate since in which life will he now meet Baba Maharaj and when will he again get the benefit of such kind favour from his guru? So, when I said that I had the wisdom to say ‘No’ to the question -‘Do I trouble you?’ was also bestowed to me by my Sadguru only, it was not simply a modest statement! In fact, Maharaj had the calibre of jotting down the most minute mental thought waves of the person in front of him and I had experienced this innumerable times. Once at the beginning of ‘Holi’, when I came to the Temple, Maharaj was about to leave for his daily worship. Seeing me, he said, “Ashok, why don’t you come to worship at the temple with me?” So, I went along with him. At the temple, I saw a donation/gift box and for a moment a childish thought crossed my mind. I thought that if I get lots of money, instead of using it for my personal use, I would put the amount in this box. Suddenly Maharaj looked at Vaze and said, “Vaze, do you feel that our Temple is maintained on the money that we receive in that donation box only?” Realizing my mistake, and getting caught, I was a bit embarrassed that the thought had even crossed my mind.
My inexperience led to a number of unintentional mistakes on my part. I was tasked with writing addresses on envelopes sent on a monthly basis for a number of years. These envelopes contained ‘Angara’ (sacred remains from the burned incense) and ‘Sunthavada’ (powder from dried ginger and sugar). Similarly, I was also writing addresses on invitation cards for festivals. Unfortunately, in those lists of invitees, there were a number of people who were now in opposition to Maharaj and they were not supposed to be receiving any invitations from the temple. But I was not aware of this fact at all. So indiscriminately, I sent invitation cards to everyone on the list. This happened back in year 1977. The opposing parties immediately returned those invitations without accepting and all of these returns came into the hands of Maharaj. Maharaj, following his nature, exclaimed and enquired who had been tasked to this job. When he came to know it was me, he came over and put those returned enveloped in front of me. He asked me if I had written those invitations and when I said yes, he asked me why I sent invitations to people who are now in opposition. I replied, “Their names were in the list and there was no remark against those names to not send any invitations. Therefore, I send the cards to them. I did not know that there were people in opposition to you. And that is the reason why I committed this mistake unknowingly.”
Knowing Maharaj, most people at the temple had guessed that he would just send me back home after making such a huge mistake. But Maharaj expressed that I did not know anything about this subject and hence the topic was closed right there! Maharaj positively ended the subject that day; otherwise no one would have seen me in the Temple today. But I had to undergo innumerable such occasions of pleasure and displeasure as desired by Maharaj.
Another incident worth noting pertains to the year 1977-78. It was the day of ‘Sankashti'(The fourth lunar day of every fortnight). It was about 7 pm and the evening prayers (‘Aavartane’) were being recited in the Temple. Devotees like Sapre Guruji(Preceptor), Ravi Sapre, Jitendra Sapre, Arun Mirashi and Tembe etc. were all gathered there. Back then, there were only two buildings at the ‘Samadhi Mandir’ Temple in Pune – the Temple of Sadguru Shree Baba Maharaj and the other building where Shree Maharaj stayed. We stayed in the upper storey of the second building where Shree Maharaj was staying. I had some leisure time that evening, so I went to the 2nd floor to smoke a cigarette. I was working continuously since that morning from 10 am and the tasks just followed one after another; I did not get even a moment’s break. So I lighted the cigarette thinking I will go downstairs in 5-10 minutes after smoking and it was that very moment, the electricity went off!
During those days, unlike today, there was no generator for providing electricity. Wax-candles and matchboxes were placed at different spots for such emergency power-outs. 10-12 petromax lanterns were also provided. Maharaj did not like the power-outage, hence as soon as the lights went off arrangements had to be made for lighting the lanternrs and the wax-candles. This task normally fell on me since depending on the quality of the wicker if the lamps or candles did not light up immediately, Maharaj would start roaring, “If you are unable to carry out such a simple task, what else do you think you can achieve?” Hence, instead of carrying out the task of lighting the lamps or candles, everyone would disappear taking advantage of the darkness. Then hearing the loud metallic sound call “Ashok!” the only work left for me was to start lighting the lamps and candles!
As soon as I heard the ‘call’ from Maharaj, I kept the cigarette by the side and hurried downstairs. I immediately started lighting the lamps and the candles. Maharaj got up from his chair, took a flash-light kept in the back and went upstairs. There were candles, match-boxes and flash-lights always kept at the back-side of Maharaj’s seat. Nobody was allowed to move these things from their predetermined place. He would notice immediately if someone moved these things from their normal place. Every day morning he checked if everything is in the usual place and because of these strict rules he would find the things he required even in the dark. Just like the old saying that was normally written on the beam of the house,
‘Jethalya Tethe Ani Jevhachya Tevha’
(Right There and Right Now)
But Maharaj desired to engrave this on the ‘conscience’ of all his disciples! When Maharaj went upstairs with the flash-light, he saw the cigarette that I had kept on the side. He extinguished it and then came downstairs. After lighting the lamps and candles as I got up, Maharaj said to me, “Now you go away from here!”
I practically froze that moment with fear and shock. I did not understand what offence I had committed all of a sudden! I asked Maharaj to at least tell me what mistake I had made that I had to leave this place. Then he said, “You left that burning cigarette upstairs! You came here to burn my house?”
To be true, I had totally forgotten about that cigarette. It was definitely wrong on my part to keep a burning cigarette this way. But it had become such a habit to respond immediately to Maharaj’s call that I did not realize spending a moment or two to extinguish that cigarette was important. Hence because of the mental urgency to present myself as and when called by Maharaj had made me do this grave mistake. And then as I was fully absorbed in lighting the lamps, I totally forgot about the cigarette left upstairs. I It was highly possible that I might have thought of going back to enjoy the smoke once I finished lighting the candles. But how and in what way could I explain all this to Maharaj? I started justifying in a way possible to me and prayed for his forgiveness. I prayed again and again telling him that it was not at all my intention. But Maharaj was just not ready to listen to me.
The chanting of the Mantras had just started in the temple. Even then, Maharaj kept striking me with harsh words, “You came here to burn my house! You better leave this place and go away” His furious assault continued. The evening prayers were over and everyone came to have their meals. Then Maharaj calmed down and I felt as though that episode was over and took a breath of relief. But that calmness turned out to be temporary only. By the time I washed my hands after the meal, that very instant the furious assault restarted, “You came here to burn my house! Why did you come here to ruin me?” etc. This continued until 2 am at night. Then Maharaj went to sleep and we also went to sleep. But I could not sleep at all. In the morning when I went to take his blessings, he said “Come, sit!” Then I was offered tea and biscuits. Later as usual once I finished my daily chores, I was about to take the breakfast at 9 am before leaving for work when Maharaj called me again and started the bashing once again. “Until you tell me why you want to burn my house, I will not talk to you at all!” this went on until 10 am. Ultimately at ten am I got the approval to eat and leave for work; this was the end of the entire episode and the final curtain was drawn! But I never again in my entire life made such a negligent mistake. However urgent it is, the tasks should be carried out with a great presence of mind; there should be no confusion at all. And this was a lesson that Maharaj taught me in a way that I will never forget all my life.
Dissecting the situation above – the anger was not because I smoked a cigarette, since he already had an idea that I smoked. Meaning, some people had eagerly provided this information to him. But Maharaj had a distinguishing temperament that he never believed anything someone told him and held someone guilty. Only after complete assurance and detailed test reports along with definite proof he would trust the judgement.
One afternoon while he was sleeping, Vazekaka and I started massaging his feet. After an hour, when we felt that he had fallen asleep, Vazekaka gave me a hint and we came out. Then we sat near the door of the veranda going out of the kitchen. I took out my cigarette and Vazekaka his ‘bidi'(a coarse cigarette) Then we were chatting about cricket and other topics when suddenly out of no where Maharaj came and stood before us! Due to this unexpected appearance, the smoke remained in my mouth and the cigarette in my hand! Maharaj stood there for a few moments and then went back to sleep without saying a word. In the evening after getting up from the afternoon nap, he took tea and then asked me, “Were you smoking a cigarette?” There was no alternative but to say yes! But he did not say anything on this subject after that. On the contrary, when we returned any change after purchasing the vegetables at the market, he would give it back and say, “Keep this change for you! You can smoke cigarettes!” Maharaj used to also smoke cigarettes when young, but later gave up this passion and he had the full guarantee that I would also give up this habit sometime just like he did. Hence cigarette smoking was never a subject of his anger at all.
If one observed the reasons for his anger outwardly, then the reason would appear to be unimportant. But there was a great truth behind that than the anger itself. The main thought behind all this was to properly shape us with adequate hitting and striking. Just as saint Goroba(Saint Gora Kumbhar), the potter, tested the baked and unbaked pitchers by knocking on them with his hand. Similarly Maharaj also was testing and shaping us with his good talk. He worked in this mode and accordingly he persisted for the affairs of the institution. Truly speaking him himself was the strength of the institution. There was no word of compromise; there was no sentiment of ‘Let it go’; there was no tendency of ‘Why should I care!’ Everything was going on as per order in a disciplined manner and as planned by him with his foresight only. His working style was the outcome of his own personal thoughts. Hence if there was any interference in the working system planned by him, however close the person to him, it was not acceptable nor was any compassion shown in such cases.
Nana Bhave, the nephew of Maharaj had to work in a hotel due to the poverty in his childhood. Maharaj secured a job for him in Hind Cycles Company with the acquaintance of Mr. Phatak, who was a chief engineer in that company. Afterwards Phatak quit that job and opened his own factory ‘Vanaj’. Nana Bhave continued to make progress in Hind Cycles and became the chief engineer. He was very clever with extraordinary discipline. Maharaj also liked his discipline. When Hind Cycles opened a cycle-chain factory at Ludhiana, Punjab State, Nana Bhave personally installed the entire machinery and started the production even before the arrival of the production engineer from Germany! Even the German engineers were highly surprised watching his accuracy in the production work. But later as Punjab State became unstable, Nana Bhave returned to Mumbai as directed by Maharaj. Then he came and stayed in the Temple of Sadguru Shree BabaMaharaj Sahasrabuddhe at Pune for some time.
A boy named Ravindra Mule was servicing in the Temple. He was without parents and had only three brothers, who were not at all taking his responsibility; so Maharaj arranged for his stay in the Temple. Maharaj desired that the people of his family in the Temple should not fall short anywhere in general behaviour and practical life; he was always trying to tune them with proper guidance and giving them challenging work and even getting it completed trying to increase their self-confidence. But RAvindra Mule was not prepared to go through this. He was not determined and lacked self-confidence; did not make much progress at all. Besides he was also suffering from demoniac possession. But with the kind grace of Maharaj, his sufferings had lessened. Maharaj had told him to go to Narsobawadi and stay there for one year living on the food received in alms; Maharaj said it would give him permanent relief from the demoniac possession. But he had no confidence on the Sadguru and failed to carry out any religious service at the Narsobawadi. Hence he continued to suffer occasionally from that demoniac possession and that would impact his behaviour making him go helter-skelter (haphazard and careless).
In the Temple, there were three- four such people that were suffering from demoniac possession; one of them had a direct grip from the ghost of a Brahmin. These people sometimes gave blunt looks to Maharaj; stamped their feet and showed him big eyes to scare him with aggressive actions. Maharaj used to sarcastically say, “What kind of people has ‘Baba’ allowed to come and stay here.”
Ravindra Mule, one day decided to leave the temple with anger in the mind. It was 11.00 to 11.30 a.m. and since it was time for taking meals, Nana Bhave told Mule “You must eat and go; leaving this way without taking food is not proper at all .” So, Mule changed his clothes, wore a short dhotee, and sat down for lunch. After eating, he again changed back into his clothes and went to Maharaj informing him that he was leaving the job. Maharaj was furious, “You just ate the food in my house and now you are leaving the job?” He replied, “I had started to leave at 11.00 a.m. only, but stayed back since Nana Bhave told me to go after eating!” Maharaj immediately called Nana Bhave and started scolding him. He was striking Nana Bhave with harsh words until 7 pm that evening. Finally he went back to his daily routine like worshipping and taking meals etc. I felt that this chapter was over here once for all. But after the meals were over, he again said “Call Nana Bhave!” The thundering about the leaving of Mule and why he was stopped by Nana Bhave went on for 7-8 days. Nana Bhave was the most beloved nephew of Maharaj! But there was no forgiveness for crossing one’s limit. In the working system of Maharaj, this type of disrespect was never allowed. By seeing all this, not only myself but all others had learned a good lesson.
Even then sometimes as they say, ‘Familiarity breeds contempt’, I ended up showing disrespect and received a blow in return. Once Maharaj told me, “Since Kamlesh is on vacation for the month of May, bring him here to stay for eight days.” That time Kamlesh was probably in fifth or sixth standard. I brought him to Pune when I visited mumbai later. I kept his things in a room at the Gurukripa building. That time Gurukripa building was always locked and the key used to be with Maharaj. In the morning, the key was requested for worshipping and also sweeping the building; then once all was done, the key had to be returned to Maharaj. In the afternoon the key was again requested to make offerings to God; the priest and Sarpotdar would normally take the key. After the work was over, the key was promptly returned to Maharaj. In the evening, the key was taken only for the purpose of ‘Aarti’ (waving of a lamp), and again at night before going to sleep, the key was requested from Maharaj and the same had to be returned in the morning after waking up. This was the rule everyone had to follow.
That night as I was taking Kamlesh to sleep, I went to Maharaj and asked for the key. He said, “I will not give the key to you! Did you take permission from the one who owns this building before you kept your things there? Did you make any application for allowing you to use the ‘Gurukripa’ building? Have you taken that building on rental basis? It is totally not correct to enter somebody’s building, then keep your things there and utilise that place to sleep. I am not bound to give the key to you!”
I was totally dejected. Finally I found a door-mat on the steps of the Gurukripa building and made my son sleep on that door-mat. And I also lied down by his side. Sometime at night, Tatya Joshi brought a bed-sheet and put it on Kamlesh who was now fast asleep with his legs folded near his stomach. After waking up in the morning, I went to Maharaj. He said, “What do you want?” I said, “I have to brush my teeth!” “Okay! Then you probably want the key!” Then he gave me the key. After opening the lock, I took the toothpaste, toothbrush and gave to Kamlesh. After completing everything, when Kamlesh went upstairs, Maharaj said, “Now you give him milk!” Then Kamlesh drank milk and I had tea. Kamlesh went to play here and there and I started doing my daily routine work.
It was my feeling that Maharaj not only wanted to point me at my fault for not taking permission as per rules, but also on that pretext he took a very sharp test regarding my loyalty towards a Guru. By this sudden strike, he tested if my judgement gets blinded due to the affection towards my son; if my pride gets awakened; and also to what extent I get involved in the illusion of the domestic life. Everyone feels affection towards their children especially if they are young. It was but natural for a father to get angry and disgraced, making his son sleep on a door-mat. But my Sadguru was not only testing me but also developing my patience with special abilities by constant practice. Hence that night while sleeping on the steps also as per the wishes of my Sadguru, I considered it as my reverence and I slept with that sentiment only. Most probably he fully ensured that my personal relationships would never come in the way of my loyalty to the Guru. He had ensured that even prior to this specific incident.
Once my wife came from Mumbai to take the blessings of Maharaj and also had some work with him. But by the time she reached the Temple, it was beyond 11.00 am in the morning; the main entrance gates of the Temple were already closed by then. Our nephew Prasad Bhadbhade was also with her. She was standing in front of the closed gate for some time. Maharaj must have seen them from inside and specifically asked me “Ashok! Go find out who is standing outside the gate!” When I went outside, I saw my own people were standing there! But I told them, “The morning hours are over and the temple is now closed. Come back at 3 pm. in the afternoon.” She did not know where to go, so she stood there mentally confused especially since she did not know anybody in Pune that time. I just turned my back and came inside. Then, she went to a cinema theatre with our nephew, watched a movie and spent time until 3.30 p.m. (She only remembers that the movie was ‘Laurel-Hardy’ since she fell asleep in the theatre due to the exertion from travel) Recently when remembering this day, she said that Maharaj or myself did not utter a single word when she came to the temple that evening about the incident that morning when she had to return from the entrance itself.
The circus was once in town at Sarasbaug. Maharaj said, “Let us all go to see the circus! For a long time you have not seen any monkeys. Now go and see them!” I did not go since I was not interested in seeing the circus. But they had advance tickets for three to four people. So Vazekaka, Promod Karkare and others went to the circus around 9 pm after dinner. That night Maharaj finished bath, worship etc at 10.00 pm. and around 11.00 pm, he came for dinner. We were the only two and cook Sarpotdar was there for serving food. After offering the ioblation, he loudly called Sarpotdar for some reason. But Sarpotdar did not respond to the loud call at all. He bluntly neglected and Maharaj was stunned with the food in his hand. With a very loud tone he called Sarpotdar and asked for an explanation for such behaviour. But Sarpotdar professed utter ignorance by saying “I did not hear the call at all.” When I told him, “You were knowingly showing carelessness toward Maharaj.” he turned his back to me and said, “Probably you might have said something in the middle and hence I could not hear the call of Maharaj.” Maharaj said, “He did not speak anything at all .When I called you loudly, there was nobody talking at all.” Finally I told Sarpotdar, “Just say you did make a mistake and ask for forgiveness. Then you would be free” But Sarpotdar behaved as though something had penetrated his body and took a stubborn role; he said, ” I did not hear the call. I will not ask for forgiveness at all.” Hence Maharaj just stopped eating! Maharaj was asking me why I had stopped eating. But when my Sadguru was in front of me, with an empty stomach, how could I eat food? This confusion, which started at 11.00 O’clock that night went on up to 1.00 to 1.30 a.m.; and kept going on until Vazekaka and others came back from the circus. When they saw Maharaj and me still sitting in the dining room with our plates in front of us, Vazekaka asked what had happened. After listening to all the details, Vazekaka in his own special style said a few lines that ‘straightened’ Sarpotdar. Vazekaka simply said, “Should I bring out your old records?” Hearing these words, Sarpotdar became very nervous and immediately begged Maharaj for forgiveness. As soon as he asked for pardon, Maharaj calmed down and told him “If you had asked for forgiveness earlier, we would have taken food in time, is it not?” Then Maharaj became silent and said, “Let us go and eat! Is it very late?” I said, “No! Its only 1.30 am at night!”
Even when the afternoon meals were served at 5.00 pm in the evening, he would ask me, “It’s not been served very late today, is it not?” Then I would normally respond, “Today it has been served much earlier than usual!” Otherwise, if I say it was delayed by 4 hours, the next batch will not be served any food at all. And the reality is even when you have food served in front on you, nothing can be foretold until you actually eat it!
Sarpotdar was a strange person. He especially cooked three vegetables – Okra, gourds and tondalis! In that too, there was always a high chance that it will be Okra. He occasionally cooked vegetables like brinjal and snake-gourds. But the way he cooked Okra, it ended up into sticky- juicy fibres and was usually tasteless. We did not like the way he cooked that at all. I normally sat besides Maharaj while eating – that was because nobody else was ready to take that seat. Since I did not like Okra, I simply swallowed the whole thing holding my breach and then eat the ‘chapati’ with curry. When Sarpotdar came to serve Okra again, I used to repeatedly tell him, “No.” But then Maharaj used to ask me, “Ashok, you did not like that vegetable, did you?” Of course, I had no courage to say that exactly and so, Sarpotdar as though taking revenge against me, used to serve more Okra into my plate and innocently say, “Brother did you not like this? This preparation of Okra tastes very good!” And so, I had to helplessly eat the second serving again.
In Maharaj’s opinion, there should not be any attachment with food. In fact there was no question of any taste at all! Also he suggested that one should not spoil their taste-buds by over-fondling with food. So sometimes he would test us. He would continuously for 8 to 10 days serve the same vegetable preparation such as brinjals and tondali. In the afternoon, there would be a preparation of split pulses mixed in Tondali, while at night there would be Tondali mixed with split pulses! Sometimes there would be preparation of Okra only! So if I say Maharaj was in a good mood, I would sarcastically say, “Today I went to the market and people were saying that I was stinking out the odour of brinjals!” Then Maharaj used to say, “Here – You take this money and bring whatever vegetables you would like to eat.”
Maharaj did not like vegetables like cauliflower,.cabbage and potato. But with great liking he always ate the vegetables from the ‘Konkan’ area. He generally liked vegetables like beans and also the beet salad. After eating such vegetables, he would say, “Excellent! I ate very good food. This was pure food! All other food is lustful!” He had great knowledge of making variety of ‘Chutneys’ and salads. Once he personally prepared pickles from ‘ambehaladi’ (raw turmeric) and gave it to us for taste. In that pickle, he had also added almonds-pistachios. This was the first time I had tasted such a ‘pickle’.
Sarpotdar always had the habit of back-biting. Once he told Maharaj, “I give Ashok Joshi ‘Shira’ (sweet dish made from cream of wheat), sometime ‘Pohe’ (flattened rice flakes) and sometime ‘Uppit’ (spicy dish from cream of wheat) for his breakfast. But he likes to have rich, spiced and seasoned food. Hence he is not taking breakfast at all.” But because of good fortune, Apte was present there. He told Maharaj, “Sarpotdar was usually giving him only chapati with red chilli powder. That is unbearable to him, so he only takes a cup of milk with 2 biscuits before leaving for work.” Maharaj also asked me to get confirmation and thus Sarpotdar’s lie was exposed.
Sarpotdar committed frequent mistakes and that time Maharaj used to become the angry master. Reminded me of school when the teacher would punish a student to stand up during class – similarly, Sarpotdar would be standing in front of Maharaj guiltily. Maharaj would get angry at him and ask him to move to another spot. A few minutes later, when Maharaj saw him again, he would ask Sarpotdar to move to another spot and speak angrily with him. This would take place for 4-5 times until Maharaj finally forgave him.
Sarpotdar was suffering from asthma. His would get an asthma attack early in the morning around 5 am. I would then, start a small camp-fire with coal to keep him warm. Then I would clean up the kitchen, light the stove, clean up the vessels, and make things ready to enable him to start his cooking. Besides this, he also had the trouble of T.B. and therefore, he was quite often sick. Since he was a poor Brahmin, I was trying to keep him away from the anger of Maharaj. But his understanding was always crooked, no matter how nice we were with him! Finally once and for all, he got a really good lesson!
Once Maharaj asked me to clean up the whole building; I was getting it done with the help of the servants. In the process, I found half a bag of sugar on the upper floor. I sent that bag to the ground floor. Maharaj was present on the ground floor and he asked “What is that?” I said, “This is a bag of sugar but it has become wet. I was just getting it dried up.” “He asked, “How did this sugar become wet?” And I said, “Sarpotdar had kept it near the window. The window was open, and so it got wet!” Then Maharaj angrily reprimanded Sarpotdar and after this incident his habit of slandering people reduced a bit.
Once a similar amusing incident took place with Madhav Kajrekar. At that time Madhav used to prepare meals. Once Maharaj took his food around 3.00 to 3.30 pm in the afternoon and then went to take a nap. As usual we prepared the tea at 4.00 pm.. Normally, tea was served to Maharaj as soon as he woke up from his nap. But that day, Maharaj got up at 8.00 pm in the night. When he woke up, he called Madhav and asked “What time is it? Nine?” Madhav said, “Now eight O`clock!” “What time did you prepare tea?” Madhav told “Four O”clock” “Then why did you not serve me tea at four O’clock?” Madhav told him, “You were taking a nap!” “Then why did you not wake me up?” I was trying to tell Madhav from the backside to remain silent, and just prostrate before Maharaj! But Madhav was totally confused. He was trying to justify and that was increasing the temper of Maharaj more and more! Finally I went ahead and holding Madhav forcibly put him down in front of Maharaj. Then Maharaj said, “I was observing you were making visible signs from the backside, but that did not get the attention of that fool!”
If someone made a mistake it was impossible to put a word on their behalf because Maharaj would immediately ask, ‘Are you giving his reference?” When I said not at all, he would say, “You are a wise person! You should not stand reference for anybody! The mental condition of a person is very strange. Nobody can predict the future action of any person! So, how can one give a guarantee for any person?”
One more aspect of human nature is the craving for all the pleasures of life. Maharaj always said that the intimate and selfish desires of a human would never get satisfied even if he tried to sell his whole household. The thirst grows more by enjoyment. Hence by abandoning the pleasures of life, one should deeply enter into the mind detaching from the worldly things and then only, one would get initiation in the spiritual field.
Another incident worth noting happened in the year 1983. That time I was looking after all the financial accounts of Maharaj. Whenever he became whimsical he would tell me to show him the accounts. After examining the same he would sign underneath. Once while showing the accounts, he said, “This signature is not mine. You must have made this false signature.” I replied, “In my entire life, I have not behaved in such a false way. I have never cheated in the accounts nor have I signed with your false signature. All the accounts existing now were totally true in all respects” This conversation went on right from the morning at 7.00 am until that afternoon to 12.00 O’clock. Finally I said, “Kindly take your money back and make me free from this! I will go away from here!”
By that time Balasaheb Kajrekar came there. Then Maharaj said, “Let us think about this afterwards. First let us take tea.” Then I sat on the bench besides Maharaj and Balasaheb was sitting by my side. Suddenly Maharaj said, “What would happen if I place my leg on your thighs?” I said, “Please go ahead! Nothing will happen!” That time he placed his right leg on my thigh and said, “Hold my toe!” I held his toe with my right hand. Maharaj concentrated on me with a firm stare for 5-7 minutes. Then he withdrew his leg and called for tea. We took the tea and I slowly asked him, “What did you just do?” He said, “I have transferred my powers in your body. Today you will not sense anything, but these powers will slowly get mingled up in you when your body becomes competent, pure, clean and all the impurity cleaned.” Later, I quietly asked him about that signature. He laughed loudly and said, “Oh! I was just joking! I was watching your mental set up. Now do you want me to write on a stamp paper to prove your innocence?”