Reminiscences

While ShriMaharaj was on a tour in the Konkan re­gion, a gentleman named Madhavrao, then over seventy years of age, came to see him, and, much impressed by the teaching , requested that he be accepted as a disciple. .ShriMaharaj said," You do not need to be initiated by me, and I promise to look after your spiritual welfare."

After some years, Madhavrao's physical condition de­clined, and, finally, he came to be bedridden. His two sons, both in service in Bombay, were summoned to his bed­side, as he sank. His suffering became too painful to wit­ness. The two sons, watching his last moments, decided to sit on either side of his bed and helplessly chant nama .At about eleven at night, one of them, Vishnupant, fell into a trance. In that state, he approached ShriMaharaj, who asked, 'Vishnupant, what brings you here at this late hour ?' ' Sir ', Vishnupant replied, ' My father's agonies are painful to watch. When will he be relieved ?'' At about half past eight tomorrow morning .' On this, Vishnupant further asked,' And what about the promise that you will always be with him ? We see no sign of that.' ShriMaharaj said in reply,' Have you witnessed any deaths before this?' Vishnupant replied in the affirmative. ' Do you not see any difference between those and now ?' Vishnupant then realized that a feature of the present case was that namasmarana was going on by the side of the death-bed. At that moment the trance ended. Eventually, at half past eight, the old man's breathing ceased. One part of the interview in the trance had thus come out true.

Vishnupant's father-in-law was, like other relatives, duly apprised of Madhavrao's death, and he decided to attend the funeral rites, as is customary, from the tenth day. He also decided to see ShriMaharaj en route. In that interview, ShriMaharaj casually mentioned that Vishnupant had called upon him about a week back. The father-in-law, though he did not controvert the statement, was stunned to hear this, for Vishnupant could not have left his father's bedside around that time.

Later, the father-in-law, in a leisurely conversation, mentioned to him the gist of his talk with ShriMaharaj. Vishnupant then narrated his trance and was convinced that he had a corroboration of the other half of his trance, and that ShriMaharaj had kept his word and been present, though in the invisible form of namasmarana

Reminiscences

A Guru Is Required Even if For Saying ‘No Guru is Required.

A disciple of Shri Maharaj was the secretary of a well-qualified industrialist. Both used to go and listen to discourses of a well-known philosopher. In one discourse the speaker said, “One has to bring about one’s own uplift. A guru is not needed here, nor is he of any use.” This had an effect on the secretary’s mind. He asked Shri Maharaj what the true situation was in regard to a Guru. Shri Maharaj said, “What the speaker says is correct. One has to speak in a way that is appropriate for the attitude and aptitude of the listeners. If one were to tell them, the style of whose lives reflects that they possess complete faith in their own abilities, that they should rely on some one else, it will not be acceptable to them. It is therefore only appropriate to tell such listeners to seek their true selves with the help of their own experience, reading, and unbiased thinking. But for a person of the common run the support from a Guru is necessary. If the listeners obeyed the speaker’s exhortation, “Do not follow a Guru”, does not the speaker get assigned the position of a Guru?”. So is it not the proof that there is no attainment of God without a Guru?