Baba then walked toward the cave with Chanji. They first stopped at Vishnu's hut, and Buasaheb, Baidul, Chhagan, and Ali Akbar brought Baba's personal things along. Baba then assigned Vishnu the hut on the extreme left; on the right side below the cave, nearer to Baba, he gave the hut to Buasaheb, Chhagan, and Chanji; Baidul, Raosaheb, and Ali Akbar were assigned the upper hut, above the cave.1 Kaka Shahane and the boys remained in the huts below, and all were prohibited from going near the cave.
Before entering the cave, Baba asked, "Will the seclusion group in Meherabad last? I have grave doubts about Shroff and Marquis."
He retired inside the cave at exactly 9:45 P.M. The next morning, a telegram from Pendu arrived saying that Shroff and Marquis had left Meherabad. Baba expressed no surprise.
As soon as the seclusion became stricter, people suddenly began coming for Baba's darshan, but were prevented from going to the cave. A rumor had recently started in Panchgani that Meher Baba had confined himself inside a cave, the entrance had been sealed, and afterward to demonstrate his divine powers, he would emerge from the cave! This rumor made people flock for his darshan. When the mandali prevented them from approaching the area, they protested that they at least should be able to have a look at the cave from a distance. Acting on Baba's instructions, no one was allowed to go to that side, but some people climbed the steep hill from the other side to see the cave. People would come daily, and coping with all these visitors became a constant bother for the mandali. It was mid-summer, the peak tourist and honeymoon season in Panchgani; consequently, many curiosity seekers wished to see the cave "where Meher Baba had buried himself alive!"2
Meanwhile, to make matters worse, it began raining heavily every night. Taking all these factors into consideration, on the 25th Baba suggested leaving for Meherabad. After six days in strict seclusion, Baba came out of the cave at 12:30 A.M. on Monday, 26 May 1930. No conveyance was available, so they decided to proceed on foot to Wai. At such an hour in the dark jungle and with such a steep gradient, it was nearly impossible to procure a bullock cart to carry their luggage, but Chhagan resourcefully managed to hire one.
Footnotes
- 1.Raosaheb was in Bombay, but returned to Panchgani on 22 May 1930. He was sent back to Bombay on the 23rd for two days. Buasaheb was sent to Poona and Meherabad on the 24th.
- 2.It is not unheard of in India that Masters take samadhi (die) of their own accord; in Hinduism, such a death is called jivan-samadhi. Sadguru Dnyaneshwar of Alandi was buried alive, as was Buaji Bua in Arangaon. Jal Samadhi refers to death by drowning, typically by dropping into a well.