That ought to be an eye-opener for the mandali that those going with me will have to face great sufferings."
As in the beginning, it was Nilu who would interrupt Baba at the end of the meetings, saying, "Everything will be easy."
Usually Baba would not reply, but that day he responded, "There is no difficulty at all. There will be difficulty if by 2:00 P.M. tomorrow Ramjoo does not complete the work entrusted to him!"
Baba continued to express his doubts as to the ultimate number of those who would stick to him until the end, remarking, "It is all the more surprising that those of you who should know and understand best, keep on asking questions that betray a very poor appreciation of the full implications and nature of the New Life and its conditions. The other day Chhagan asked if he should accompany me or adopt the alternative. Ghani also could not help saying that I will help him to stick to me.
"The fact is that I will not at all be responsible for anything or anyone. I will bear no responsibility even for Gustadji, although he will be the only one whom I shall try to keep with me, because Upasni Maharaj sent him to me. But that, too, will depend upon whether Gustadji will continue listening to me; otherwise, there will be goodbye even for him!"
In the course of the discussion, Baba pointed to his injured fingers in the sling and remarked, "This, plus my complete silence and the things I have to do and will have to do, can best be left to your imagination. If, later on, the other arm is paralyzed, it would mean that I would be almost helpless physically. In that case, those who remain with me may have to live and subsist on only water, because according to one of the conditions, when food is received or obtained by anyone through begging, it is to be brought to me and cannot be eaten unless I distribute it myself."
At first the conditions were to be given to all mandali members in and outside of Ahmednagar, as well as to others connected in one way or another with Baba and his work. Later, Baba clarified that no one under the age of 25 or above 60 would have any place in the new program. As the five days of meetings went on, the field of prospective companions to enter the New Life gradually narrowed to a small number.