“I shall appear whenever YOU call out to me in Desperation
An incident narrated by Shri. Ganapatarao Karandikar; “In 1904, Shri Maharaj went on a pilgrimage to Kashi, starting from Gondavale. At that time, my father had received a letter from him, asking him, if possible, to join the pilgrimage to Kashi. Because of some domestic difficulties, my father could not go. After about a year and a half all of us went to Gondavale. My father expressed his regret to Shri Maharaj, that he had not been able to jo8n the pilgrimage to Kashi. Shri Maharaj said to him, ‘whenever you do go on such a pilgrimage take it that I shall be with you,. If you call out to me, remember that I shall certainly appear.’
“In 1913, Shri Maharaj cast off the mortal body. Later my parents, I and my younger brother, went on a pilgrimage to Kashi. From there we went to Haridwar. There, my parents and I stepped into the Ganga for ablutions. Being too young, my younger brother stayed on the bank. While we were performing ablutions we unwittingly went into deep waters. A big wave swept us into still deeper waters, and we started to drift with the swift current. My father’s dhoti was firmly tied to his waist, and my mother caught hold of it, and I held on to her waist. Drifting with the swift current, we felt almost sure that we were going to drown. At the very moment, my father called out loudly to Shri Maharaj. Immediately, a Bairagi (an individual of a class of mendicants who renounce the world and practice austerities) from Maharashtra was seen jumping into the water. By one hand, he caught my father by his neck: by the other, he caught my mother; and he brought the three of us to the shore. While this was happening, there was an uproar among the persons gathered on the bank, and there was talk all round that a Bairagi had saved three persons. The very moment he reached the shore, the Bairagi entered the crowd and disappeared. My father made a good deal of attempt to find him, but he could not be traced.”
