Accordingly, each of the ten men mandali contacted 50 sadhus and laid his head on their feet. Afterward they all returned to the house with Baba.
Babadas had grown a beard and, dressed in a white kafni, was leading guileless people astray by posing as a saint. Baba sent him with Sadashiv Patil to the nearby confluence of Triveni Sangam to have his head, beard and all the hair on his body shaved.1
Baba also had a coat and trousers made for him and, handing them to him, admonished, "I have named you Baba-das [servant of Baba], so by becoming a true servant of mine, prove worthy of the name!"
Baba then amended his plans. He was to have remained in Allahabad for ten days, but since he finished his work there on 10 January, he thought of going to other places to contact masts before resuming giving mass darshans. Calcutta and Hyderabad were discussed, but in the end, Madras was selected. The mandali began making arrangements to depart.
In the evening Baba revealed to the mandali, "Allahabad is such a large place of pilgrimage that millions of pilgrims come here; but among these millions here, there are only four genuine advanced souls on the Path."
At 4:00 A.M. on Sunday, 11 January 1953, about a dozen tongas arrived near the entrance of the house where Baba and the mandali had been staying. After the baggage was loaded into the tongas, they left for the train station. The mandali quickly searched for and found an empty compartment and all entered it. Other passengers and their luggage soon followed.
Prior to departure, a vendor happened to come into their compartment, and it was quite amusing to watch Baba haggling with him, and finally making some purchases. He and the man bargained back and forth over one anna (about five paisa), and Baba, in the end, did not pay the man what he wanted. Despite his silence, Baba was so natural in his expressions that those observing did not notice that he was silent. Of course, Eruch and others would read Baba's alphabet board and gestures, but the exchange appeared completely natural.
Occasionally, Baba would also haggle with rickshaw and tonga drivers over the difference of a rupee or so in the fare. He would always win, bringing down their price. On the other hand, while on foot journeys, Baba would disburse thousands of rupees with both hands to the poor he met on the way. Such was the Avatar's contradictory nature.
Footnotes
- 1.Triveni Sangam is the triple confluence of the Ganges, Jumna and Saraswati Rivers.