"Will the world be rejuvenated?" Brunton inquired.
Ramana Maharshi replied, "There is One who governs the world, and it is his lookout to look after the world. He who has given life to the world, knows how to guide it also."1
Maharshi also told Brunton, "The Realized Ones send out waves of spiritual influence which draw many people towards them, even though they may be sitting silently in a cave."2
On Wednesday, 11 February 1931, Baba took a few of the mandali to Poona, where they stayed at the home of Sadashiv Patil. Baba attended Sadashiv's daughter's wedding, and the nuptial ceremony turned into a large darshan program as several hundred people came to pay their respects to the Master. Among the leading guests was the Maharaja of Bhor, and the wedding seemed to be a pretext for Baba to give darshan to his followers in Poona, rich and poor alike.
Afterward, Baba visited Baba House and met with Bobo, Memo and Mani. When Baba arrived, he found Bobo standing before his photograph in worship. Baba embraced his father most graciously and lovingly. "Bobo was undoubtedly a true dervish," Age noted. "In answer to his heart's intense longing, Infinite Consciousness had taken human form as his son — rewarding Sheriarji for his years of wandering in search of Truth."
Baba kissed Mani affectionately and discussed certain matters with her. Although she was only twelve years old, it would soon be time for Mani to join the women mandali.
It was on this occasion that Baba first hinted at keeping Mani as one of his women mandali, informing his mother, "Mani belongs to me."
But Memo wished to keep Mani at home, and Baba's comments worried her since none of her children would be with her and Sheriarji in Poona if Mani too joined the ashram. Adi Jr., Beheram and Jalbhai were all living in Nasik at the time.
On the 13th, Baba left Poona for Nasik, where preparations had begun to celebrate his birthday. Bobo, Memo and Mani also came to Nasik for the birthday.
The Master's 37th birthday was celebrated on Tuesday, 17 February 1931, in Nasik. That year, Ramjoo's sister Amina Jaffer had seen to all the arrangements and she and her husband Abdulla had paid for all the expenses.
Footnotes
- 1.The Meher Message, Vol. III, No. 10, October 1931, p. 43; Meher Baba never met Ramana Maharshi, nor had any communication with him, though Baba once commented that he was a genuine sixth-plane saint.
- 2.Paul Brunton and Munagala Venkataramiah, Conscious Immortality (Tiruvannamalai: Sri Ramansramam 1984, revised in 1996), p. 134.