Kumar, thereupon, asked others to remove the shoes, which were picked up and flung in a heap to one side. When Pendu saw this, he confronted Kumar. "What are you doing? How will people be able to sort out their footwear?"
Kumar replied, "That's their problem! Why did they block the door?" This led to a heated exchange of words, and Baba sent for both of them.
Harjiwan Lal was present, and Baba called upon him.
He asked Harjiwan Lal, "Pendu is the controller, and Kumar is the commander-in-chief. You are a lawyer. Now tell us, who is superior, the controller or the commander-in-chief?"
Harjiwan Lal said, "It is difficult to say with any certainty in your darbar [court] whose authority supersedes whose. You alone know it!"
With a dismissive gesture, Baba said, "Forget all that! Give us your legal opinion."
Harjiwan Lal explained, "A lawyer's viewpoint depends upon which party gives him the most money; he then represents their side. Truth turns into falsehood, and lies into truth! Every lawyer is like that!"
This made Baba laugh, and he inquired, "Who threw the shoes?"
Only Pankhraj raised his hand, although others had also taken part. Baba rebuked him severely, and Pankhraj thought with dismay that this is the result of his telling the truth. Although it was a scolding, this was Baba's "gift" to Pankhraj, and others went without it.
Baba then observed, "Harjiwan Lal does not wish to play the counselor here; for that he wants a fee. But since there is no money either with Pendu or Kumar, the best course is that both embrace each other lovingly and forget all about it."
Laughing, Pendu and Kumar embraced, and this incident provided a lesson to the Hamirpur workers.
At 20 minutes to midnight, Baba asked everyone to wash his face and hands and be present in ten minutes for the prayers. Baba also washed his hands. Exactly at midnight, the Repentance Prayer was read by Eruch in English, then by Ramjoo in Urdu and Dhake in Marathi.
Aziz Qawaal continued his performance, which Baba would interrupt periodically to explain certain lines.
At one point, Baba asked Kumar, "How can you call me Paramatma?"
He replied, "I only know my Baba, and also know that no one is higher than him. Even if he be higher than Paramatma, then that Paramatma is Baba!"
Baba remarked, "I am touched by this."