The community of Arvi soon recognized that Narayan had attained the highest spiritual state of God-consciousness with creation-consciousness — sahaj samadhi — and began worshiping the boy, who was openly acknowledged as a Sadguru.
Narayan's physical stature was small, approximately four feet, six inches tall. He spoke with a high-pitched voice. Children adored him and, laughing and jumping about, he would frolic with them happily. Thus for some time Narayan soaked the soil of Arvi with the wine of his divinity, and the residents were grateful for the rare fortune of his sahavas (company).
After a while Narayan was not satisfied with Arvi as his headquarters. Thirty-four miles from Poona, the young Master selected a small farming village named Kedgaon as his main center of activity. In 1903, he began staying nearby in Old Kedgaon Bet. Nine years passed. The Master wished to purchase land there, but since the farmers refused to sell any, in 1912 he bought land a few miles away in New Bet and moved his headquarters there for his permanent ashram.
At his ashram in Kedgaon, Narayan had built a beautiful temple consecrated to Dattatrey in which, early every morning, he would perform the Hindu rites of puja (worship ceremony) and impress upon his disciples to do the same. He would take darshan of the marble statue of Dattatrey, and then he would give darshan to his followers. Every Thursday (the Hindu traditional day of worshiping the guru), Narayan himself would lead a procession in honor of Dattatrey and sing melodious bhajans to the gathering.
He would also sometimes worship Shiva and often wore the mark of Shiva on his forehead. Worship seemed to play a great part in this Perfect Master's work. It is said that he once congregated 6,000 Hindu priests and led them in a tremendous ceremony. Occasionally, Narayan would become like a child and play games with his devotees, later explaining to them the spiritual mysteries underlying these games.
A Perfect Master's ways are unique and it is beyond our intellectual understanding to grasp their significance. In his Universal work a Perfect Master has no regular occupation or daily routine. A Perfect Master's work is to emancipate others from their worldly bondage, and the various mediums he employs and manner in which he works can be called his occupation. A Perfect Master is God in human form; his every activity is outside the scope of our limited human vision.
A description of Narayan's activities at Kedgaon follows:
Maharaj rose at four o'clock in the morning. After a period of [seclusion] and puja, he sat in darshan before his devotees. At these times, Maharaj sat in silence, filling the room with his spiritual presence and love and bestowing his blessings on all who sat with him. Afterwards, he visited those who were too ill to come to the meditation hall. He allowed them to place their heads at his feet and he put sacred ash in their mouths or on their foreheads.
After lunch, everyone slept during the heat of the day. Then, after sunset, as the Earth began to cool, he gathered again with devotees. This would be the most energetic time of the day. Maharaj, surrounded by thousands of devotees, literally held court while devotional songs were sung, religious stories were told, and discourses were given by scholars. At times plays were performed, or he was entertained by great singers, magicians or dancers ... The entertainments always ended with a brief puja performed in front of Maharaj, followed by a period of darshan ... His devotees cared for him in a royal manner, lavishing expensive gifts upon him and attending to him with great ceremony. For instance when Maharaj wished to be entertained at the movies, his devotees would rent out an entire theater for him and a regal caravan would descend up on the cinema. Maharaj then ate his evening meal and a bed was prepared for him in the meditation hall. Devotees occasionally massaged his body and chatted with him. At times he asked a scholar in attendance a question about the Hindu scriptures. He then listened to the reply and commented on its correctness. At 11:30 P.M. the last teatime was announced and everyone left. After tea, Maharaj came out again. Now only the circle of his closest 25 or 30 disciples was allowed back. This was the most intimate time spent with devotees. Throughout the day, Maharaj maintained a very formal relationship with those he saw. Now, in the company of his intimate disciples, he grew more playful and wilder. At times, he was incredibly sweet and loving, while at other times, he grew quite angry and dealt with his devotees forcefully. Often he told jokes and played tricks on people, laughing with devotees for hours. Sometimes Maharaj gave simple talks on meditation, morality, or spiritual life. More often, though, he sang to his devotees. His songs contained ecstatic praise for God, as well as his own confessions of oneness with the Divine ... He exhorted his followers: "Continuous loving remembrance of the Lord is the Way. You have to become [like] Radha S
She mingled with worldly life, but at all times, 24 hours a day, even while in sleep, her only objective, with all of the mind, heart — with her whole being — was Lord Krishna alone. You must try to take the name of God in the same way."
After spending this intimate time with devotees, Maharaj retired between one and three o'clock in the morning. If he went to bed early, he often went to the balcony of the meditation hall and wandered about singing the glory of God in a beautiful voice.
Thus, in the late hours of the night, Sri Narayan instructed his closest devotees in the path of guru worship.1 To him, as with many other great Adepts, devotion to the Master was the true and sufficient practice. "The safe[st] Way is devotion to ... the Master. Because of his great compassion for you, the Lord has ... taken the form of your Master. He will do anything for you. He will make you like himself."
In April 1915, while Narayan was giving darshan, suddenly a stream of light shone through the crowd.
Footnotes
- 1."The Servant King" by David Todd and Ty Koontz, online at beezone.com