The five are always alive. Babajan left her body; the one in her place need not necessarily be in Poona, but there must be five in the world. So Poona might give place [way] to Madras.
When we tour India you will see many saints and also the five Sadgurus. Many saints will come when we tour. In each place mostly a different type of saint. We shall go to Benares and stop there for four days. The saints will come to me. This will be a public reception before I speak, and it will take place while the war is in full swing.
Baba ended enigmatically, "Now be ready for a big surprise on October 7!"
The next day he added, "My surprise has nothing to do directly with war or peace. This would be no surprise. War there will be," he declared. "This is as certain as anything."
On 29 September 1938, the British Prime Minister, Neville Chamberlain, signed what was known as the Munich Agreement with Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini in an attempt to make peace with Germany and Italy to avoid war, in effect turning over Czechoslovakia to Germany.
Baba commented on Chamberlain's action, "It won't work. There will definitely be war."
During the First World War the British Army had come to Arangaon and turned it into a military camp — which later became Meherabad. In the course of conversation on the morning of the 30th, Pendu informed Baba, "Rumors of impending war are rampant. If war breaks out, we will have to vacate Meherabad at 24-hours' notice and hand over all these new structures."
Baba smiled and replied calmly, "We will see. No one is going to occupy it just now."
"You mean there won't be a war?" Pendu asked.
"How can you grasp what I mean? What connection does war have with the structures here?"
"There is a connection, since in the eventuality of war we will have to hand over everything to the army at 24-hours' notice. And then where will you keep the women who have been in strict seclusion all the time according to your order?"
Baba again smiled and commented, "You seem to be very clever. Let's drop the subject for now; attend to the work I've given you."
However, later the same day, to the women Baba stated:
There will be war, whether it starts in February or in November or December. It is no concern of ours.