Jal left later that day, but before his departure he directed that a small shed be attached to Baba's hut for one of the mandali to spend the night in. He was concerned because wild animals had been heard throughout the night, while Baba was alone at the top.
Wednesday, 7 November 1945:
After a bath in the morning, Baba resumed his seclusion in his hut. He remained closeted inside all day, with the usual watch outside. He drank only two cups of tea, prepared with milk at 9:00 A.M., two cups more at 5:00 P.M. and nothing further.
In the evening he informed the mandali, "My work is progressing excellently. The spiritual work I was doing required an empty stomach. The tea helped, as the milk caused gurgling in my stomach. Tomorrow, I will take only tea without milk in the morning and vegetable soup in the evening."
Baba then directed that a telegram be sent to Jal Kerawalla, telling him that if he, Baba, finished his work on the hill ahead of time, he wished to rest for a few days at the Ghatula dak bungalow. Jal and Eruch were ordered to be at the dak bungalow on the 20th. From the night of the 7th, in addition to campfires, Petromax lanterns were kept burning to ward off any predators.
Thursday, 8 November 1945:
Baba sat in seclusion in his hut from 9:00 A.M. to 3:30 P.M. This proved to be the most severe and most strenuous day of his seclusion so far. When he emerged from the hut, his face was more drawn and weary than Adi had ever seen it. Baba's hair was standing on end, as if he had been electrified.
Baba spelled on the board: "A gigantic disaster will overwhelm the world which will wipe out three-fourths of mankind!"
Seeing his solemn expression, Adi dared not ask anything.1
In the evening Baba further observed to the mandali:
For the last month and a half, I have been under the continuous strain of traveling and doing mast work. As a result, my health has been taxed beyond limit, and I have become very weak. Today's spiritual work was tremendously strenuous and tiring. The work I did in seclusion at Mount Abu, Panchgani and Kathgodam was not as exhausting as the work I did today — so much so, that the strain of this working almost made me throw myself out of the hut!
Footnotes
- 1.Regarding the three-fourths of the world or mankind being destroyed, it does not necessarily mean only physical destruction. Meher Baba later explained that he was "speaking in his own language." The destruction may be material or physical, but also may mean sanskaric — the destruction of mayavic forces defiling human consciousness, such as lust, greed, anger, hatred, violence, etc. Refer to the Final Declaration given by Meher Baba in September 1954, and to the author's book Avatar of the Age Meher Baba Manifesting for a full explanation of the causes of unnaturalness and its sanskaric destruction.