Baba lovingly bathed, shaved and clothed each one, assisted by Eruch and Gustadji, then fed them and sent them away by two in the afternoon. Only after their departure did Baba have his lunch.
Though exhausted after hours of strenuous activity, he commented, "Today's celebration of my birthday was excellent. I wish I could celebrate like this every day! In nothing else do I derive as much pleasure as in serving these masts."
Baba also began visiting Chacha at his seat every night for the rest of his stay in Ajmer. He would go with Adi Sr. and Kaka at 3:30 A.M. to avoid the crowds and contact Chacha in privacy for half an hour.
Baba did something unusual in Ajmer which he had never done before. He kept two masts with him in his own room in the bungalow — Lakhan Shah , who was on the sixth plane, and Qabristanwala (nicknamed Socrates ) who was on the fifth plane.1 Usually Baba would work with masts in a separate room, but Lakhan Shah and Socrates were actually staying with Baba in his room. Baba would massage their legs, kiss them and often embrace them. He would also clean their potties and make every effort to keep them happy and content. (Later, they were shifted to the mandali's quarters, where Baba continued to work with them.)
When Socrates was asked who was Lakhan Shah, Socrates replied, "Jagannath [Lord Vishnu]!" When asked the same about Baba, he replied, "Shivanath [Lord Shiva]!" and he began pressing Baba's feet.
When Lakhan Shah was asked to whom he had come, he at once replied, "I have come to the Lord!" And when Baba tried to massage his legs very tenderly, the mast gently murmured, "Master, pray do not do this."
Mohammed Mast was staying in a separate room in the same house. When Mohammed was brought to see the new masts he would say, "Do this! ... Dada [Baba] wants you to do it."
Regarding his work with masts Baba once observed:
In my own way, I make love to these lovers of God! They have no consciousness of the world. They are blissful. They are indifferent to physical wants because they have no worldly consciousness. They have in them only love of God!
Look at the world. It loves maya, cries for maya, begs for more maya! The world is merged in lust, anger, greed. But these are brave heroes who, by kicking off maya, live only for Beloved God.
One day when Baba was in a jovial mood, someone asked him, "What do you do with the masts?"
Baba laughed and replied, "I love them and they love me — that's all."
Footnotes
- 1.Qabristanwala was nicknamed Socrates as he reminded Baba of the ancient Greek philosopher because of his comic face and short stature.