Twenty-two men stood up, and Baba warned them of the hardships involved:
"If you have thought over what I have said, you will realize it is not easy. Compared to repeating my name continuously for seven days and nights, remaining in a room only on water and keeping silence is nothing."
Baba selected the following five individuals: R. M. Chakrapani of Sholapur, Moti Jagan Patel of Saoner, Motidev Kirpal Rahate also of Saoner, Vishnu D. Chavan of Poona and Narhari V. Mulay Master of Ahmednagar. He motioned to the others to sit down, and added,
"I am pleased that you have stood up. That, in itself, is a great thing. Those whom I did not select should not question why they were not chosen. I am pleased with their courage."
Baba told the five selected to come to his cabin first at 1:00 P.M., when he would instruct them in detail about the fast. For individual interviews, Baba asked Pophali and Madhusudan to divide the gathering into two separate groups. Vishnu had already compiled a list, as he had overseen each group's arrival by train. Baba was pleased at his prompt efficiency. Pophali Pleader had brought 110 persons from Saoner, the largest group present from one town.
Baba then explained:
It is not one and the same thing when sometimes I worship others and sometimes I let others worship me. At times, when I am worshiped, I myself worship simultaneously and then both amount to the same thing.
Baba did not like the translated words prarthana (prayer) and aradhana (supplication) and chose the word bhakti (devotion) as the equivalent of worship.
The people of Arangaon are very poor, but they have great love for me. When I first came here in the beginning, most of them were small children and youngsters. Now they have grown up and have children. I have told Pendu to select 250 people from the village for every poor program. Tomorrow will be the fourth poor program. The day after the third program, I visited Arangaon where they worshiped me. This time, they wanted to carry me in the palanquin or on their shoulders from Meherabad to Arangaon. But I told them I had decided to visit Arangaon on foot and that it would be my second visit.