ChaptersChapter 24Page 3,401

Chapter 24: Dehra Dun, 1953

1953Page 3,401 of 5,444
Eruch, concerned about the strain to Baba's injured leg, again repeated his entreaty to Chinta Bhagat, and the mast stopped for a short while and then started again, weeping and chanting the entire time. Finally, on his own, the mast let go of Baba's hand and stopped walking. At the end of the contact, Chinta Bhagat was asked to bless Baba's work, which he did obligingly.
Late at night, Baba and party reached the Phillaur railway station. Baba again worked with Mastani Ma there. During his first meeting with her, she had asked for a rupee coin, so Baba offered her one this time, too. She refused it saying: "I will take it, but at dawn." After being gently persuaded to bless Baba's work and let him leave, she accepted the coin and said: "God will help you." Baba got into the car, and Mastani Ma followed him and asked for ten rupees. Baba offered her a ten-rupee note, but she wanted ten one-rupee coins. Luggage in the trunk of the car had to be untied to fulfill her wish. She then asked for a pencil and drew some lines and figures on Baba's back.
Baba and the group then left for Hardwar via Roorkee and visited different samadhis and dargahs along the way. They reached Hardwar on the evening of 14 September. Baba wished to work with a mast residing in a garden a few miles from Kankhal. But because of the recent rain, the dirt road leading to the garden contained large deep puddles and was in a muddy condition. Two or three times, Baba and the men had to get out of the car and wade through the water while the car detoured through the fields. Finally, the mast was found and the contact was to Baba's satisfaction.
Afterward, Baba was driven back to Hardwar, specifically to work again with the great mast-saint Nilkanthwala.
Baba then headed to Rishikesh, and after a few contacts with sadhus, the men were allowed to eat dinner.
Baba wished to offer prayers at midnight, and they drove to Kalyar, near Roorkee, where he could offer prayers at the shrine of the Perfect Master Sabir. Baba urged Hellan to drive faster and faster so that he would be sure to reach Kalyar on time. When they reached Sabir's tomb, Baidul went to the caretaker to request that he open it. The man flatly refused, and Baba had to make do with offering prayers near a marble trellis through which Sabir's grave was visible. Baba instructed all the men accompanying him to circumambulate Sabir's dargah 101 times.
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