Gadekar had also come to Nasik and invited Baba to Sangamner, where he was now working. He introduced his fiancée, Gunatai, (either on this visit or another) and Baba agreed to come to Ahmednagar to attend their wedding. Gunatai and Gadekar had met when they were students in Poona. They were later married in Ahmednagar, and Baba attended their wedding along with the mandali.1
Baba ordered Pleader to stay in Nasik and continue fasting on milk.
He also sent him this message, "I am arranging a good place of seclusion for myself and the mandali. When all is settled, I will send for you."
A notice was issued by Baba, which he instructed to be circulated among the mandali. It read:
Three months after I go into seclusion, I will make Pleader enter the Path. Otherwise, he will be free to go anywhere and to do anything he pleases, but he will have no further connection with me.
On 2 April, some of the mandali were feeling depressed and complained to Baba, "Staying with you is nothing but harassment. Life is so full of hardships now. There is no other thought in our minds and hearts except death. We look happy to others; we eat and spend time with everyone who comes, but who sees the dagger piercing our hearts?"
In reply, Baba explained, consoling them:
It is my grace! This is my real mercy which descends on a very, very select few. These are my friends. They are my lovers to whom I give the gift of sorrow and distress. It is a gift much greater than gold — of incalculable value — and not given to all. This gift is only for my beloved children. We Masters can grant a world of gold, of happiness and prosperity to others by our blessings, but this rare and great gift of privations, troubles and suffering is destined for only a few.
So, don't be anxious. Remember that I love most those whose hearts I pierce and who, though their hearts are wounded, stay with me and stick to me through thick and thin. Were I to use my dagger on outsiders, they would not dare approach me! I keep them happy with praise and encouragement so that they may be in my contact and gradually be fit to bow down to me in the real sense of the word.
Footnotes
- 1.Gunatai was Gadekar's third wife. Gadekar's first wife had died at Meherabad when he was serving as a teacher in Baba's school, and a second wife had left him soon after their marriage.