The third message read:
For the rich, I am the richest. For the poor, I am the poorest. For the literate, I am the most literate. For the illiterate, I am the most illiterate. Thus I am one of you, one with you and one in you. We are all one.
To realize this Oneness, love God wholeheartedly and honestly, sacrificing everything at the altar of this supreme love, and you will realize the Beloved within you.
E. N. Murty complained to Baba that K.D.R.M. had not fixed any darshan program in his hometown of Penugonda, and the people there were extremely eager for his darshan. A heated argument ensued among the workers. Baba in the end agreed to go to Penugonda for five minutes on the 24th.
Baba and the group left for Guntur, 20 miles from Vijayawada. K.D.R.M. and other workers went along. After driving parallel to the pleasant scenery of the Krishna River and its canal, they reached Guntur at 9:15 A.M.1 Maddi Sudarshanam had made elaborate arrangements, and Baba was heartily welcomed with the firing of guns! Baba met Sudarshanam's family and then began giving darshan to women. The heaps of flowers, fruits and sweetmeats seen in Andhra defy description. Mounds and mounds of them collected wherever Baba went. Those coming for darshan had been told not to touch Baba's feet nor bow to him, so they quickly passed in front of him with folded hands.
After darshan to the women of Guntur, Baba went to Sudarshanam's house and sat in their puja room, where a life-size painting of him was kept. The women of the family sang his arti with tear-filled eyes.
At 9:35 A.M. Baba proceeded to the place where a Sai Baba temple was under construction under the auspices of the Sai Samaj. A fully adorned throne was kept as Meher Baba's seat, but he sat on the floor instead. He touched Sai Baba's photograph and also the foundation stone of the temple, and said:
"I feel very happy on this occasion. This grand old man [Sai Baba] was and is a unique personality in the spiritual world, and he knows — and only a few like him who are the personification of Perfection know — that I am the Ancient One."
Baba and the mandali then set out for the mass darshan pandal (tent) in Guntur at a municipal park, where a welcome address was given and his arti sung.
Footnotes
- 1.The Krishna River is also known as the Kistna River.