Narayan laughed, as it seemed the tiger had come to lay his head on his feet and left after receiving his blessings.
After staying in Shiva's temple for some time, Narayan resumed his wanderings. During this period he would often go without food, at times for as long as two weeks. But he kept walking — in the heat, rain, or cold — not knowing where his search would lead and driven only by the singing in his heart. In that blissful state, he was forgetting everything. He would proceed where the Song led him; however severe the privations, they were nothing compared to what he was experiencing inwardly.
After traveling for days in a barren, desert-like region, at one point Narayan's throat became so parched that he felt as if he were breathing his last. There was no water to be found and, completely exhausted and unable to walk further, he collapsed beneath a tree to await death. Suddenly a horseman appeared. "A brook is nearby," he told the startled boy. "Over there." He pointed in a certain direction. Then the horseman vanished, and when Narayan walked in the direction indicated, to his amazement he found a small stream. When Narayan had first searched the area, the stream had not been there. From this divine help, Narayan felt confident that God's sight was truly on him.
Narayan journeyed on to Kundgol village, where he stayed for four months at the house of a rich man named Nargode, a jagirdar who owned vast estates. The childless landowner and his wife were greatly drawn toward the young sadhu with shining eyes and a keen intellect and looked after him with much love. After a few months, they offered to adopt him and make him their heir, but Narayan refused and soon after left Kundgol for Belgaum. He could not delay his search any longer.
Traveling to Poona from Belgaum in 1901 or 1902, Narayan stayed in the temple of Hanuman near Raviwar Peth. He was then fifteen or sixteen years old. In Poona he encountered serious trouble when a Marwari shopkeeper accused him of stealing money.1 Narayan escaped from Poona and went to Kopargaon, where he stayed in another temple dedicated to the Hindu god Bahiroba .2 People began to be drawn to him, and he would lead the bhajan singing. Time passed pleasantly and the echo of the Song in his heart had its effect upon anyone who came into his contact.
Footnotes
- 1.The Marwaris (originally hailing from Marwar in Rajasthan) are a community engaged primarily in commerce and business.
- 2.Bahiroba, like Renuka and Mudhraleshwar, is a god of the Hindu pantheon.