Upasni Maharaj then directed, "Throw the remaining food into the river!" This shocked the Hindu priests who saw bucket after bucket of food being flung into the river. They approached Upasni and begged his pardon, saying, "Great One, we are now ready to partake of the feast. Do not waste the food — forgive us."
Upasni angrily retorted, "You call yourselves the pundits of Kashi! What can I say about you priests? There is nothing in Kashi for you, and there is no food left either! I forgive you, but you will not partake of the feast. He, Sai Baba, whom you call a Muslim, is the real pundit!"1 Upasni then angrily sent the priests away and bid his followers farewell. He instructed Merwan Seth and Sadashiv to go south to Jagannath Puri while he returned to Sakori.
Puri is a major place of pilgrimage, located along the seacoast of eastern India. It is famous for the great Jagannath temple there, one of the most visited temples in India, entry to which is barred to non-Hindus.2 Arriving in Jagannath Puri, Merwan and Sadashiv went to the temple's dharamshala. Observing that Merwan was wearing pants (instead of a white dhoti) and had a kerchief tied around his head, the temple priest asked Sadashiv curiously, "Who is your friend? He does not appear to be a Hindu."
Sadashiv replied earnestly, "His name is Jagat Narayan and he is a pucca [pure] Hindu. He has accompanied me from Benares and we are going on pilgrimage to other holy places."
The priest made no further inquiry and registered them in his record book as Jagat Narayan and Sadashiv Patil; residence: Poona. ( Jagat Narayan literally means the Lord of the Universe!) Little did the priest know who his guest really was — he was, in fact, Jagat Narayan — the Lord Himself! Because of Merwan's appearance, it was inconceivable that anyone would mistake him for a Hindu, but this innocent priest did not object. The Lord stayed at his temple — meant only for Hindu pilgrims — to the good fortune of the priest. The priest served them food, and afterwards Sadashiv and Merwan Seth went to the seashore to bathe. They then took darshan at the temple, gave a generous dakshina to the priest, and took a train to Kharagpur the following day.
In Kharagpur, Merwan Seth and Sadashiv met several of Upasni Maharaj's devotees and visited the Harijan neighborhood where the Untouchables lived.
Footnotes
- 1.A pundit is a learned Hindu priest or scholar. The ancient city of Benares was called Kashi when Buddha resided there, over 2,500 years ago.
- 2.The temple is dedicated to Jagannath, considered a reincarnation of Vishnu. Jagannath is also another name for Krishna and Dattatrey. The town of Jagannath Puri dates back to ancient times and is considered by Hindus to be one of the four holiest places in India. It is believed that the sacred relic of Buddha's tooth was preserved there until it was finally transferred to Ceylon. It is also claimed that Jesus, as a young man, stayed there during his travels in India.