In his inexpressible ecstasy, he had no thought of food for he had lost connection with his own body; he had become God-realized. His wish had come true; Kashinath, the man, was finally dead.
Then began four years of the most severe penance for Kashinath to endure. At the beginning, according to one visitor, the Khandoba Temple was "a nice little place." Kashinath would leave only to attend Sai Baba's twice-daily arti. But after some time, Sai Baba forbade Kashinath's attendance even there. Sai Baba visited the temple and said, "Stay here. I pervade all existence. There is no one except me. You will find me everywhere."
As time passed, the Khandoba Temple became dilapidated and dirty, a nesting place for snakes and scorpions. Upasni sat naked in its filth while the reptiles and scorpions crawled over and bit his body. He was immune to their stings and bites. Truly he had to be unconscious of his body to survive such conditions! Yet Maharaj underwent such terrible sufferings in the Khandoba Temple that several times he contemplated suicide; but Sai Baba's invisible protection saved him each time. Because of Sai's order, Upasni stayed in this temple while he was coming down from the God-state to creation-consciousness, oblivious of everything except the Singer.
During this period of reconnecting with the gross world, Upasni began to behave strangely. Occasionally, he would fling a sack cloth over his naked body, leave the temple and wander in the rural area. At times he entered the mahboobi (androgynous) state; Upasni felt that his body had turned into a woman's. For a short while, he acted as if he were a woman. At times people would come for his darshan and bring him food. But Maharaj would drive them away with abuses and throw away the food. Still people kept coming, bringing food and leaving it for him to accept or not.
Sometimes, in order to aid his "descent," he would lend a hand to the lowly sweepers cleaning the streets and sewers. He also dragged a plow like a bullock in a farmer's fields. One time he bathed a destitute leper on the street, washed the man's diseased clothing and later drank the dirty bathwater. Once he lay down beside a dead horse and kissed and petted it while crows devoured the carcass.
While in the Khandoba Temple, Upasni had various occult experiences and visions. During his phase of Realization, he suddenly found two giants in the temple with him.