Pukar kept quiet, and Baba asked, "When are you going to provide for your family?"
Pukar said, "I will do so soon, But I don't yet understand how I am to begin the work, and so I have come to you for guidance."
Baba smiled and replied, "Don't worry. Begin the work and you will know what you have to do. But do it wholeheartedly and sincerely. Go from place to place, and if necessary you can visit your home also. But don't sit idle there! As soon as you take care of your family affairs, start immediately for my work and thus go on doing it for a year."
Pukar's mother had come with the intention of complaining to Baba about Pukar, but Baba told her, "You are very fortunate to have a son like him. I have given you five children, can you not give me one of them?"
The mother said, "Yes, Parmeshwari [Pukar] can stay with you, but he should also look after us."
Baba teased, "You want him to play the tabla with one hand and the dholak with the other!" meaning to have it both ways. "Now your 'child' is passing out of your hand!"
Then his mother responded, "Let him go! Beyond your nazar, where can he go?"
When Pukar started this work for Baba, he would walk 30 to 40 miles every day, spreading Baba's name from village to village. When he reached a village, he would roam about from one street to another, announcing that the Ancient One has taken human form as Avatar Meher Baba. "He is the same Ram, Krishna, Christ, Muhammad and Zoroaster come again," Pukar would shout. "He is Love Incarnate! Those who want to hear more about him should come and see me." He would spend the night in the village and there arrange a Baba gathering with kirtans and bhajan singing, whereupon he would tell the poor villagers about Baba. If he found that the people were receptive, he would stay a day or two more in that village. The next day, he would be off to another village or town, where he could do such work of spreading Baba's name.
Arnavaz's sister, Roda Mistry, had come to Ashiana with her husband, Jim, and their son, Meherwan.
When Baba saw the boy, he remarked, "He is not a child but my old, old companion."
Baba told Arnavaz again that he would give her a son, too. She and Nariman were completely resigned to Baba's wish, and although Baba had repeatedly assured her that she would bear a child, the couple remained childless, thus freeing them to devote themselves totally to Baba's service.
