Some time later, when Kashinath was massaging one of Sai Baba's feet and Deshpande the other, Deshpande again broached the topic of Kashinath's departure. Sai ignored him. At a later time, however, Sai told Deshpande: "Listen carefully to what I tell you about Kashinath. He does not have to stay here for one year, or one and a half years, but for four years. In four years, God's grace will descend upon him and all his accounts will be settled."
Sai continued, "Kashinath has to pass his days alone in Vithoba's temple. Take him there. He should not be disturbed ... His future is spectacular. There is no one else like him. I alone know his value. His merit is such that if the whole world were put on one side and he on the other, he would be greater! Such is his worth!
"Let him stay in Vithoba's [Khandoba's] Temple in seclusion. Whatever I have to do for Kashinath, I will do."
Deshpande passed on what Sai said to Kashinath, who thought: "How could this be true of me? How could this happen to me? How could I be so fortunate?" Then he went directly to Sai Baba and pleaded for his consent to leave Shirdi. But Sai Baba refused to let him go. The Master was preparing Kashinath internally to stay secluded in the temple consecrated to Krishna, known as the Khandoba Temple.
Sai Baba consoled Kashinath, "Now you no longer have to be concerned about anything. I know what you are. You are pure gold! I have been after you for many years. Whatever good or bad deeds you have done up until now were in reality done by me. You do not know me, but I know you quite well. For years I have had thoughts about you in my heart. There is no need now for you to go back and forth. Stay here with me."
Sai told Kashinath, "If you are unable to accomplish what I am telling you to do, it will not matter. I myself will buy you a ticket and see that you are seated in the train. I will not allow the train to stop anywhere; the train will carry you directly to your ultimate destination."1
Kashinath became calm as he listened. A devotee from Bombay who was present asked, "Have you given him everything?"
"Yes," Sai Baba answered, "I have given everything to him."
Footnotes
- 1.When Sai Baba said that he would "not allow the train to stop anywhere," he was referring to guiding Kashinath directly through the inner planes.