He felt resigned, consoled that soon he would be united with his Beloved.
But someone was watching over this young man. It was the fakir of Shirdi, Sai Baba, who was only 100 miles away. Sai would not let Kashinath die in this way; the fakir had other plans — he intended to kill Kashinath in a different fashion, while keeping him alive. While Kashinath lay unconscious in the cave, Sai Baba sent his abdals — spiritual agents — who formed dark clouds and sent torrents of rain down on the hill. Water! Streams of life-giving water flowed into the cave where Kashinath lay dying and collected into a pool beside him. Awakened by the crashing thunder and flashes of lightning, Kashinath found water touching his lips and gently dripping to his tongue. He lay still, letting the water revive his skeletal body.
"O Kashinath!" Age called. "You wished to die and yet you drank the water! Why did you drink? Did you not remember your intention to end your life? You had to drink, you had to survive. Someone made you drink, and you scooped up handful after handful of water. At last your thirst was quenched. The fakir of Shirdi was watching over you. You were destined to inherit his treasure of love, but you did not know it then. Try as you might, you could not die of your own will."
Who was this determined youth named Kashinath? He was the Perfect Master Upasni Maharaj !
Although Kashinath's birth was normal, his life was not. He was born on Sunday, 15 May 1870 to a Brahmin family of priests in the village of Satana, in the district of Nasik. His father's name was Govind Shastri and his mother's Rukhmini. His paternal grandfather Gopal Rao Shastri was a learned, highly regarded pundit (scholar) with a saintly temperament. Kashinath lived with his grandparents, while his parents moved to Dhulia where his father had gotten a job. Before his death, Gopal Rao was to renounce his family and the world and become a sanyasi in search of God — not knowing that the divinity of God would later manifest in his grandson, Kashinath, living under his very own roof.
Kashinath was the second of five brothers, and from childhood, his nature was quite different from that of his siblings. He hated school and barely managed to reach the third grade. He was a problem to his parents, but his grandfather loved him dearly and taught him the Shastras, which he learned with keen interest.