He was given to hilarious laughter at the slightest provocation. He loved rhythm of sound and body, and was seldom seen without a kerosene tin can around his neck which he would play like a percussion instrument. Tapping out a sequence of sounds to whomsoever's accompaniment, he would fling himself into fanciful dances. Punjia was so fond of his improvised tin drum that any lapse of his behavior could be corrected by threatening to confiscate it. At times mischievous, Punjia once clipped the hair of a mast named Jamasaheb.
From four o'clock each morning, Baba gave himself to tending these derelicts. He would wash their faces, shave them, cut their hair, clean their latrines, serve them breakfast and often feed them by hand, and frequently take them in his embrace and kiss them. He even arranged musical entertainment for them, hiring Babu Gavai of Poona to reside in Rahuri and sing before them each day (at a salary of Rs.30 per month). When Babu would sing, Punjia would beat the rhythm on his kerosene tin as another inmate would dance.
"Rahuri was a strange and wonderful ashram," Age related, "where the worldly mad were kept with the intoxicated lovers of God, demonstrating to mankind how the Lord of the Universe becomes a companion to his lovers and serves them. The splendor of Baba's work with the mad and masts in this age will provide a source of inspiration to humanity for all time to come."
Age watched as the drunken masts of the ashram whirled in their intoxication and were playful with the Beloved, and it saw the Master satisfy their every whim. What a unique play of the Wine! What leela! The intoxicated were unaware of the game. They were absorbed in their intoxication and the Tavern Keeper was serving them more and more wine to make them totally unconscious of the world, so that one day they would be prepared to become completely conscious of Reality.
"What delirium the masts possess!" thought Age. "No consciousness of the body or the world — but still conscious of the pain which longs to be one with the Beloved. The Wine creates the fire of longing and burns those who drink it! This is the real reason why the Lord of Compassion was the companion and servant of his true lovers, and why he served them with such total dedication and love."1
Footnotes
- 1.Meher Baba's mast work continued for the next 22 years, until 1958. For a full account of his mast work, see William Donkin's book, The Wayfarers.