During his stay in Mussoorie, Baba remembered his lovers around the world in a wonderful way. A list of all Baba's men and women mandali, disciples and devotees was drawn up, and Eruch would daily read out their names to Baba. This reading went on for hours. Sometimes Baba would motion Eruch to stop, and he would sit for a few minutes moving his fingers rapidly — doing his invisible work. Eruch would not read the names hurriedly, but in a slow, steady manner. As each name was pronounced, Baba would lightly pat his leg. In addition, the list of departed ones, those who had served Baba and passed away, was updated and those names too were read out daily before him.1 The world remembers God, but it does not know that when God descends in human form, he remembers his lovers and worshipers. In fact, he remembers everyone every moment, and his inner work for each is continuous.
Baba would also ask Kaikobad to recite prayers and Aloba to perform namaz. Baba participated in both prayers daily, as would the other men mandali.
Another activity of Baba's daily routine in Mussoorie concerned Vishnu. From the early 1920s, Vishnu did the marketing and kept accounts of every paisa and rupee given and spent. He wrote down the expenses in a notebook and was careful in keeping a record of every transaction. In Mussoorie, Baba began scrutinizing the accounts each day. Vishnu would read out the item of every purchase made and its cost. At times Baba would ask him to go over the same thing again and again, such as "Vegetables five rupees ... Vegetables five rupees ..." and so forth. Once while repeating something, Vishnu burst out laughing.
Baba asked him, "What is so funny?"
"This is so boring," Vishnu said, exasperated. "What a way to pass the time."
"What?" Baba exclaimed. "Do you think that this is just a pastime? What do you know about the work I do by making you repeat the same thing over and over again? Through this means I take account of the whole world. Your repetition is merely symbolic. I am not doing it as a pastime. All my time is spent in work and not a single moment passes when I am not occupied with my work. Day and night my work goes on. If there were a gap even for a moment, the world would disappear!"
Footnotes
- 1.See Appendix D for the complete list.