After all this effort, when they arrived in the village, they learned that the man they had come to see was not a mast at all but a giver of talismans. The shaman was not at home when Baba reached his place, but he was summoned and told that a rich man from Bombay had come for his consultation. Baba waited for him at his house. When he arrived, Baba bowed down to him and gave him five rupees as prasad. Baba immediately left and started walking the six miles back to the car.
On the way, Baba remarked, "Whether [that man] is good or bad, after all, he is mine."
After this contact, Baba was in a hurry to reach Gulbarga. No one had had lunch. At about 2:30 P.M. while driving to Gulbarga, Baba saved them from being involved in a serious auto accident. The mandali could only describe it as a miracle. There was no other explanation to show how the car, which had slipped from the incline of the road into a deep hole and gone over completely on its side to only a few inches from the ground, could right itself as it did without turning over in the ditch. "I still cannot grasp how it happened," Bhau later said to Mani. "One second, my face was almost touching the ground, and the next, we were on the road and on four wheels again. I saw Baba's hand firmly holding Eruch's arm." The car had tipped over on Baba's side, and Eruch was on top of him with no control over the steering wheel. Baba (from an almost impossible angle) pushed Eruch back into his seat, making it possible for him to yank the wheel and bring the car to safety. All within a matter of seconds.
When the mandali said it was a miracle, Baba looked innocent and gestured, "I know nothing about it."
They drove on and arrived in a village where there was a middle-aged, long-haired mast who was drinking toddy. Baba bowed to him, touched his feet and gave him five rupees. They next drove to Sangli, where Baba contacted a very good mast. Baba had worked with him before and was pleased to see him again.
After traveling day and night for his contacts, Baba returned to Satara on the evening of the 11th.
From the evening of Saturday, 15 September 1956, until the evening of the 16th, Baba fasted for 24 hours, not even having a drink of water. He broke his fast at 6:50 P.M. on the 16th and distributed chocolates to all.