Third: Maharaj is to execute a gift deed and, when the full amount is handed over, he should deliver the deed to Baba.
Accordingly, Adi Sr. went to Sakori and gave Upasni Maharaj the message. Adi then returned and related Maharaj's reply to Baba. The next day, Baba again sent Adi to Sakori with this message:
1) Rs.50,000 will be paid in cash to you on 1 August [1940], and if the activities at Upasni Nagar are conducted satisfactorily [as judged] by Baba, the balance will be paid after four months.
2) If Baba fails to pay Rs.450,000 after four months, then Baba forfeits the Rs.50,000 already given to Maharaj.
3) If affairs at Upasni Nagar are not to Baba's satisfaction, Upasni Maharaj should return the Rs.50,000.
4) Baba has agreed to take over [the running of] Upasni Nagar for three reasons: To free Maharaj of the responsibility of conducting the ashram. To bring about unity in all religions by abolishing the Hindu rituals, ceremonies and customs there. To remove the notoriety associated with Maharaj's name because of his deva-dasi marriages, linked with and bringing Baba unfavorably into the picture as Maharaj's disciple.1
Adi went to Sakori and delivered this message and on his return conveyed Maharaj's reply to Baba.2 Baba sent Adi back to Bangalore, and then had this note sent to Gulmai, who was staying with Maharaj in Sakori during these proceedings:
Baba is happy to know that Maharaj has agreed to all his conditions, for example, to break up the Hindu religious customs, and to put a stop to his marrying with young unwed girls.
Baba is prepared to pay Rs.500,000, but he has many running expenses of his different ashrams and also the expenses of maintaining his devotees and their families. He cannot afford to pay so much in one lump sum just now. He will pay it within six months. Baba will assume the responsibility of Upasni Nagar at the time when he pays the amount in full and he says that he will definitely pay it!
Thus, the exchange of such peculiar messages and transactions between the two Masters would occasionally transpire. It was their divine humor to engage in such play. During the Rahuri Mad Ashram in 1936, Maharaj had sent message after message to Baba to take over his ashram in Sakori. Baba had replied that Maharaj should come and stay in the Rahuri ashram and end the Hindu religious atmosphere at Sakori once and for all.
Footnotes
- 1.This Hindu custom of maidens (dasi) marrying God (deva) is called devadasi.
- 2.Gulmai had stayed at Sakori the previous October, also, while Baba was in Bangalore.