Rustom Kaka sang a rendering of " Govardhan Girdhari ," a favorite of Baba's, and after one more song from him, the bhajans began.
At 1:00 P.M., Baba went to his cabin to meet Jagannath Maharaj of Poona, who had come to see him with two other persons.1 When he returned to the hall five minutes later, Baba stated:
Now, all keep your eyes wide open and don't doze! Even if you feel drowsy, let your ears at least be open. What I am about to say is important, and there will be no such opportunity in the future. After I drop my body, lakhs [hundreds of thousands] will come here just to gather, just to kiss the dust of this place. But now, when I am physically among you, you should make the best use of this opportunity and try to listen to what I say. Age after age, I repeat the same things. No sooner do I drop my body than people come forward to lay down their lives for me. When I give up this body, lakhs [of people] come; when I am physically among you, very few love me. In every age, it happens.
When I go out for mass darshan, as I did two years ago, thousands come for my darshan. But of what use is it to me? I do not want large crowds of people. If I am great, greatness does not lie in collecting crowds! What I want is even a little of your love! That would please me.
What I want you to know is that whatever I am is due to the five Perfect Ones — Sai Baba, Upasni Maharaj, Babajan, Tajuddin Baba and Narayan Maharaj. In Experience, although all five were One, they differed from one another in their ways and habits, behavior and style of dress.
Now I will relate something which has just come to my mind. When I went to England for the first time many years ago, Gandhiji was on the same boat with me. He was a good soul, and there was none like him. No one's heart was as beautiful as his. The mayor of Karachi, Jamshed Mehta, wired Gandhi that he should meet me. One day Gandhi knocked on my cabin. With him was his secretary, Mahadev Desai. With me were Rustom and Chanji.
Footnotes
- 1.Jagannath Maharaj had a following in Poona, who considered him to be a saint, but he was not an advanced soul.