You have stuck to me and my spiritual cause through storm and stress and thick and thin. Now the time has come for you to offer all your services in my mission of helping humanity to tread the spiritual path for realizing God.
The eternal truth that God alone is real has to be clearly understood and unreservedly accepted, and it has to be unequivocally expressed through words and deeds. In the full realization of the Truth, man shall attain spiritual freedom. No sacrifice is too big for setting man free from spiritual bondage and helping him to inherit the Truth, which alone shall bring abiding peace to all, and which alone will unfailingly sustain an unassailable sense of universal fellowship, cemented by the ungrudging love of all, for all, as expressions of the same reality.
In this God-willed, divinely-planned and predestined task of bringing spiritual freedom to humanity, you, my intimate followers, have to help me, even at the cost of life. In your duty of helping others to find God, you have to welcome every type of suffering and sacrifice.
In the individual groups, each one of you will receive from me detailed spiritual instructions with regard to your own specific duty. I have full confidence that you will have no hesitation in carrying out my spiritual instructions at any cost and under any circumstances and, in respect of your willingness to carry out my instructions, I want each one of you to say "Yes" or "No" now, before I talk to you in separate individual groups.
Baba then divided the 99 men into two groups, "A" and "B." He had the 72 names of the "A" group read out and told them to remain seated.1 The others in the "B" group were asked to leave the tent for the time being.
"But before you all disperse," Baba stated, "I want you to remember three important things: First, I do not want any monetary help from any of you.
"Secondly, you need not worry, be anxious or lose your peace of mind over what I might ask you to do. I know what each one of you can do and so will instruct accordingly.
"But, and this is the third point, I will use to the utmost the capabilities of each of you."
To Group A, Baba had the following instructions read:
I am very happy you all have willingly agreed and promised to implicitly obey my instructions to help in my work of establishing spiritual freedom in the world.
Footnotes
- 1.Group A consisted of the following men: —Abdulla Jaffer, Adi Sr., Adi Jr., Ali Akbar (Aloba), Annasaheb Kale, Babadas, Babu Kamble (arrived on 31 December), Baidul, Beheram Gandhi, Beheram S. Irani, Burjor Mehta, Cawasji Vagaiwala, Chanji, Chhagan, Coover A. Jaiwalla, Daulat Singh, Deshmukh, Dhake, Don, Edke (arrived on 31 December), Eruch Jessawala, Eruch Patel, Feram Workingboxwala, Gadekar, Ghani, Gustadji, Homi Bhatena, Jal Kerawalla, Jalbhai, Jamshed A. Irani (arrived on 28 December), Jamshed Desai, Kaikobad, Kaka Baria, Kalemama, Khak Saheb, Krishna, Kuppuswami, Manekar, Manek Mehta, Maneck Ranji, Maneksha B. Cooper, Masaji, Meherjee Mehta, Minoo Bharucha, Minoo Kharas, Nusserwan Kharas (Minoo's father), Nadar A. Bohariwala, Naoroji Dadachanji, Nariman, Nilu, Noshir Kapadia, Padri, Pandoba, Papa Jessawala, Pendu, Piloo Mama Satha, Pophali Pleader, Pritam Singh, Raosaheb, Ramjoo, Rusi Jehangir (Rusi Pop), Sadashiv Patil, Sailor, Sarosh, Savak, Sayyed Saheb, Sidhu, Slamson Hansotia, G. S. Srivastava, Venkoba Rao, Vibhuti and Vishnu. Four others, who were included in Group A but who did not attend, were: Savak Damania, Homi Hansotia, Sampath Aiyangar and Mudaliar Vadivelu.