A respected man had come to meet Baba at the exhorting of his friend, who was a devotee of Baba's. A day before, the man drew up a long list of questions, starting with: "Why do you call yourself the Avatar?"
Knowing what was in his mind, Baba asked, "What do you wish to ask me?"
The man replied sarcastically, "Since you are the Avatar, you should know without the question being expressed."
Baba smiled and said:
Why bargain with the Master? Expecting intellectual answers to various questions from the Master is to belittle him.
From the very beginning, the question that confronts every individual is "Who am I?" This is the Original Question which gets expressed in infinite ways. It is the driving force behind this question that brought about the entire evolution of consciousness, and after innumerable reincarnations and through the involution process, the real answer to the original question is arrived at as "I Am God."
By studying Vedanta, you may become intellectually convinced about the logical deductions such as, "I am God" and "Everyone is God." But of what avail is such dry knowledge? Love is the way, and it is only the experience of the "I-Am-God" state that solves all questions once and for all.
To gain such an experience is not child's play. Cycles and cycles have to roll on before one becomes worthy to experience the Real Answer.
On the 4th, 148 men, women and children from Hamirpur (who had arrived in Poona the day before) came for darshan. Chanda Subba Rao of Andhra also came that day and read out a poem to Baba. This was the first time he had come, and at one point troublesome thoughts came into his mind: He doubted whether Eruch was interpreting Baba's gestures correctly, and wondered whether Eruch and Baba were simply colluding with each other and cheating the public.