But in the morning, while changing his shirt, a scorpion stung him on the back.
The Master surprised all by announcing, "Now that we have reached Panvel, where the sea meets the land, our pilgrimage on foot is over. We have reached the limit of our journey by foot. We will now proceed to Bombay in a truck."
After lunch, a large truck was hired which they rode in toward Bombay. In a restaurant at Mumbra, Baba ordered tea and sweets for the men. He was in a good mood and even allowed some to have soft drinks, and also gave cigarettes to Ahmed Abbas and Asar Saheb, who were heavy smokers.1 The truck reached Bombay at four in the afternoon. The Master had it stop by the tomb of the Mohammedan Perfect Master Baba Abdur Rehman. He stood by the truck and instructed each man to go inside the tomb and pay his respects. When they returned, they found Baba lying prone on the roadside in sashtang pranam (bowing full length on the ground) in the direction of the tomb.
The group drove from the saint's tomb to Munshiji's house on Charni Road where they were to stay until a suitable bungalow was found. As soon as they arrived, Baba took a bath and changed his clothes. Despite the hardships along the journey, and with the difficulties of leading a diverse contingent of men of various religions and castes, the Master proclaimed the pilgrimage a success.
The disciples had now to break through the walls of duality to penetrate into the hall of Unity. The Song of God can only be sung when one is merged in the infinite. To learn this melody, every worldly thought must be consigned to the sacred flames of divine love. With the echo of the Song on their lips, the beginning had been made.
The Muslim festival of Id — the birthday of Prophet Muhammad — fell on Monday, 29 May 1922, and Munshiji had erected a large canopy opposite his house to hold a celebration. Munshiji arranged for an Imam (an Islamic priest) to offer the prayers. The atmosphere was surcharged with joy.
Baba awakened all the men at four in the morning. Gramophone records of verses from the Koran were played. After a bath and a change of clothes, Baba's Muslim followers gathered under the canopy for the namaz ceremony while Baba and the other mandali sat with them.
Footnotes
- 1.Both men were poets: Ahmed Abbas (Khak Saheb) had met Baba in Poona in 1914 and began following him a few years later. Asar Saheb was a well-known Urdu scholar, writer and poet from Lucknow, who had known of Baba for several years. (Their names, as they appear in the Urdu biography of Upasni Maharaj, are given as: Munshi Shaikh Ahmed Khakpunvi and Mumtaz Ali Asar Dehlvi.)