Raosaheb spontaneously offered to go to Bombay to sell a restaurant he owned there to raise the money.
"Splendid! It is a very good idea," Baba gestured. "But will you be able to return in three days? You must return in three days."
Raosaheb assured Baba that he would definitely return in time.
Raosaheb promptly left for Bombay, but was unable to return to Meherabad on the third day. Baba was impatiently waiting for him and inquired frequently about him.
On the fourth day, Baba was with Chhagan, who was cooking over a wood fire, when Raosaheb returned. Baba was not at all pleased to see him.
Scowling, Baba asked, "Why did you fail to show up in time? Why did you disobey me?"
Raosaheb could not say anything, but silently placed a huge bundle of currency notes at Baba's feet, thinking this would please Baba.
But, on the contrary, Baba instructed Chhagan, "Pick up that money and throw it in the fire!"
Chhagan took it – almost Rs.5,000! – and did as he was instructed. Raosaheb was aghast – as were the other mandali.1
Baba explained, "You thought that I would be pleased at seeing the money. What value does money have for me? Even if you place the treasure of the whole world before me, it is nothing but shit to me! You broke my order! I would have been pleased had you not brought the money and returned the day I wished. How can you know what pain you have caused me by breaking my order? I don't want lucre; I want love!"
Raosaheb sought Baba's forgiveness.
Baba consoled him and then advised, "Always follow my orders. If you grant me this gift of obedience, no other gift, however valuable, will compare to it."
During April 1930, Feramroj Bejanji Workingboxwala, 29, of Bombay came to Meherabad for Baba's darshan with his friend, Khodabanda Beheram Irani. Khodabanda had met Baba before, but this was Feram's first visit. When Baba called them into the small room he was sitting in at the Mess Quarters, they noticed Baba leafing through the pages of the Illustrated Weekly of India . Feram thought, "How can a Sadguru, who knows everything in the universe, be interested in reading magazines?"
Although Baba was in seclusion and not giving darshan to anyone, surprisingly, he welcomed both men lovingly. He asked Feram about his family, his health, where he worked, how much was his salary, and so forth.
Footnotes
- 1.Five thousand rupees was a considerable amount of money in 1930.