On Baba's instructions, Eruch asked him the reason why he was following them. The old man replied, "I am in search of a guru, because Kabir has said that without the help of a guru, God is not experienced! I am now old and afraid I may pass away without realizing Paramatma." Looking at Baba, he continued, "In you I see the man fit to guide me on the Path."
Baba smiled and, speaking through Eruch, advised the man, "Try to love God more and more — so much so that you feel like a fish out of the ocean whose only desire is to return to the ocean."
Baba then walked away. During the course of the afternoon's rambling along the roads of Hardwar in search of masts, Baba expressed to the mandali his appreciation of the old man's love for God. Strangely enough, they saw the man again across the street. Baba beckoned to him, and seeing that he was about to receive prasad from the one "fit to guide," the old man washed his hands and feet before coming.
Baba handed him three oranges, spelling out, "Seek Paramatma within you with an ever-increasing love. If you do that, you will soon realize God."
Age appreciated the man's insight. "The man did not know who Baba was, but he did know Baba was the right man to lead him to the Goal!"
From Hardwar, on the morning of Sunday, 4 April 1948, Baba and the mandali boarded a bus bound for Rishikesh. Upon arriving there, nine Nepalese coolies were hired for the transport of their luggage through the mountainous trek to Uttar Kashi. While in Rishikesh, in a place called Brahm Ashram, Baba had a good contact with the widely respected Tapovan Swami .
On the 5th, Baba and his men started for the town of Tehri Garhwal by bus. The Nepalese coolies carrying their luggage left on foot via a shortcut through the mountain passes. Baba and the mandali reached Tehri in the evening.
The next day in Tehri, Baba worked with a very good mast known as Ahmed Sufi Saheb , who oddly enough sold soap on the street. This mast was much respected throughout the town. Baba also contacted an advanced soul called Mast Yogi in Tehri, whose abode was in a mule stable. This yogi, who had become a mast, was completely oblivious to any of his physical needs.