This peculiar order was humiliating to a respectable businessman like Ramjoo; and as a consequence he stopped going out of his house. However, he had to repeat this statement to whomever came to see him at his home; therefore, he was unable to avoid complying with Baba's order.
During this period, a relative of Ramjoo's died. Due to his public embarrassment, he decided not to attend the funeral. Since he had to go out that same day on an urgent errand, he took the precaution of leaving late, and chose a circuitous route, confident that the funeral procession would have passed by then. On his way, however, he was shocked to see the group of mourners marching straight toward him, and he could not escape encountering them. He stood on one side as the casket passed, humbly saluting every person with the statement: "My shop is not yet sold." He felt utterly foolish at the ridiculousness of his words. Those in the procession glanced at one another, signifying that they were more convinced than ever that Ramjoo had gone completely mad.
Out of desperation, Ramjoo asked Baba's permission to arrange a lottery for the sale of his cloth shop, to which Baba agreed. This canceled the first order, but Ramjoo had to face another difficulty: half of the tickets he was allowed to sell to the Master's disciples, but the other half he was ordered to sell to his relatives and acquaintances. Ramjoo felt quite reluctant to approach the people in his hometown of Lonavla. For many days he had been avoiding everyone he knew since the embarrassing incident at the funeral procession. However, he swallowed his pride and solicited the tickets. By this method, and by the Master's nazar, he was able to sell his shop and accompany Baba to Bombay.
During this period, Baba had Gustadji's photograph displayed on the wall of his hut, and began to urge his close men disciples to pay deference to Gustadji.
At one time Baba even garlanded Gustadji's photo himself and remarked, "To garland Gustadji is to garland me."
On another occasion, Baba compared the journey along the spiritual path to a train ride: Different types of people were the passengers in different carriages; different stages of the path were the different railway stations. He also referred to himself as running the train, and to the functions of certain mandali: