The old mast Munga Sai was taken up the hill in a litter and Baba, who remained fasting only on water, worked with him in seclusion for two days. Munga Sai was majzoob-like, unconscious of his body, and Baba would feed the mast himself.
On top of this hill, a small group of aspirants were living and leading simple, ascetic lives devoted to God. They were like monks.
Baba praised them, commenting: "I have visited temples, shrines, ashrams and convents all over India and in many foreign countries as well, but I have never seen aspirants living a life of such exemplary simplicity consisting solely of spiritual aspiration, selfless work and the mortification of material desires."
The austere diet of these hardy ascetics was only porridge of coarsely ground wheat boiled in water.
The next day, the 5th, Baba washed and laid his head on the feet of eighteen of these aspirants, giving each seven rupees as his prasad.
Baba descended the mountain on 6 November, after two days of seclusion and fasting. He entered the dargah in Junagadh, where the mast Munga Sai had been brought back in a litter. Also that day, Baba contacted another good mast — Ghulam Nabi Nanga .
On Sunday, 7 November, Baba went to the top of one of the mountains in Girnar. There Baba sat for two hours in seclusion in a cave named after King Bharthari — a saintly king of olden times. The ancient hills of Girnar contain some of India's oldest caves dating back to the time of King Ashok.
Coming out of the cave, Baba revealed to the mandali, "Every Avatar born in India has at least once visited Girnar during his lifetime."1
Finishing his work in Junagadh, Baba proceeded to Delhi, arriving by train on Wednesday, 10 November 1948, at 7:50 A.M. Keki Desai had been informed in advance of Baba's visit and had made all the preparations for it. Baba stayed at his home in the Hassan Building at 4 Nicholson Road. Because of the tremendous strain involved in Baba's seclusion work, and to relax, Baba wished to watch the first cricket test match between the West Indies and India to be played in Delhi from the 10th to the 14th.
Footnotes
- 1.Mehera, too, had once visited this hill in Girnar when she was a child.