Vamanbua Badodekar had a number of incurable ailments like kidney stone, cough, dysentery, rheumatism in the joints, burning sensation in the body, eye-disease and piles. Day and night he was restless due to pain. He was not able to eat. Every five minutes he had to go to discharge his bowels. Ayurvedic physicians as well as allopathic doctors had given up for his life. He had no strength even to sit on the bed. He was a great devotee of Sri Swami Samarth. With great difficulty he pulled on his life doing Naamsmaran⁸¹, in that poor state of health. Then he wrote a letter to Sri Swami Samarth praying for his blessings.

One day he was very restless. He decided to commit suicide by holding his breath within, as done in Pranayam ^[1], by drowning himself, in the Soorsagar lake of Baroda^[2]. Therefore he silently left his home and got himself drowned in the Lake. At that moment Sri Swami Samarth himself appeared right in front of Vamanbua. Sri Swami pulled him out of the water and slapped twice on his face and said, “You foolish donkey, why do you want to die when you still have a long life? Does anybody escape from this world till one undergoes all the sufferings as predicted by one’s fate? Why do you get angry with me? Instead of going for complete absorption in God consciousness, why do you go for drowning in water? ”. Sri Swami brought Vamanbua to his house and said “Sit here quietly, otherwise you will get more insulted”. So saying Sri Swami disappeared from there.

That day after a long period Vamanbua went in deep sleep. When he woke up in the morning he felt that a major part of his pain had come down. After few days he got an order from Sri Swami to come to Akkalkot. Therefore, he went to Akkalkot. He learnt that Sri Swami had gone to the nearby village Maidargi. Vamanbua went limping and reached Maidargi. Seeing Vamanbua, Sri Swami spoke “Are you not the same person who had gone to get drowned in the lake? Has Soorsagar dried up? ”. Vamanbua prostrated at the lotus feet of Sri Swami. By the kind grace of Sri Swami, Vamanbua became perfectly normal.

Vamanbua Badodekar was a great devotee and a great Sadhak ^[3]. On account of his accomplishment, he came to be known as ‘Brahmnishtha’. Sri Swami Samarth himself had blessed Vamanbua by giving him the idol of Lord Dattatreya, who personally installed this idol at Baroda. Vamanbua has given the praise-worthy and detailed description of all the miracles of Sri Swami Samarth in his Granth ^[4], Guruleelamrut. Devotees read this blessed Granth composed in metrical form of verses with great devotion.