This leprous sadhu knew who had come to bow to him. Baba later indicated that the sadhu was spiritually advanced. Before they left the river site, the sadhu began singing melodiously and beating a rhythm on his thighs, as if to convey his great joy at having had Baba's darshan.
Leaving Ujjain at 4:00 P.M., they arrived in Mortakka at 10:00 P.M. on 25 August. They slept on the station platform and the next morning rode in a bullock cart to Omkareshwar (Mandhata), a famous place of pilgrimage for Hindus, twelve miles away.1 Padri, too, was now suffering from dysentery and stayed behind in the town. Although Baba himself was still quite ill and feeling weak, he made the journey in the bullock cart, suffering its jolts.
In Omkareshwar, Baba met a Bengali pundit (a Brahmin scholar or priest) named Nirmal Ananda Swami . The local people called him Mahatma, taking him to be a holy man. While Baba talked with him (in English), Sadashiv was instructed to take a bath in the sacred Narmada River. With the swami's help, Baba found a number of other sadhus in the area to whom he could bow. They returned to Mortakka at 10:00 P.M. and immediately departed by train for Baroda.
On 27 August 1924, at a wayside station, an elderly Muslim wanted to board their compartment. It was sundown and Padri tried to stop him, since Baba had said he wished to be alone. But the man caught a glimpse of Baba and insisted on having a closer look. Pointing to Baba, he started shouting, "Why are you preventing me from meeting that gentleman? I only want to shake hands with him. Why do you stop me?"
He then got into the train and held out his hand to Baba, who extended his. After clutching hands, the Muslim was quite happy, and Baba spoke with him for a long time. During their conversation the man took out a chunk of opium, folded it in a chapati and swallowed it. When Baba casually asked about the Pavagarh Hills, the man praised the place vociferously and was humorous in his language and manner. The drug took effect, and in an expansive mood, he continued to sing the praises of Pavagarh: "It's heaven, I tell you! A paradise on Earth!" And to the surprise of the mandali, Baba appeared to take the man seriously and decided to go there instead of to Mount Abu.
Footnotes
- 1.Omkareshwar is where Upasni Maharaj had first developed breathing trouble from entering the initial stages of samadhi, which led him to seek help from Narayan Maharaj and Sai Baba.