Chanji and Masaji admitted that they had, but Afseri hesitated and began speaking in an evasive manner. Baba caught him by the shirt and shook him fiercely.1 He turned to Masaji and Chanji and said, "My standing order was not to eat anything outside of Meherabad unless given permission. Why did you not comply with it?"
Masaji spoke in their defense stating they had broken the order in good faith since they were under the impression that the order was canceled once they left Meherabad. Baba was furious and caught hold of him, shoving him so violently that he ripped Masaji's clothing. He then lifted him up and threw him ten feet! The mandali standing nearby were astonished to see someone as lean and thin as Baba pick up and throw such a hefty man as Masaji.
Chanji was not spared Baba's wrath, and he received a few sound slaps. Baba then ordered them to leave at once. After a while he called them back and seemed in a surprisingly good mood. Smiling, he asked, "Have you gotten an idea of my strength today?" The three men burst out laughing. Then Baba lovingly inquired, "Are any of you hurt?" No one was hurt, but Chanji had been so frightened that his pants were damp.
Concerning the mandali's diet, during their ten-day stay in Lonavla, Baba removed the restriction about their meals and allowed them to prepare any kind of vegetarian food they wished.
After Baba completed writing his book, whenever he left Meherabad he took the manuscript with him, locked in a black metal case. Padri remembers having to carry the case around his neck. "Baba had warned us," he recalled: " 'Guard this with your life! And never, never see what is inside. You will go mad!' "
At one point, Afseri was deputed as "keeper of the book" and would have to carry the case wherever they went. It was kept near him at all times, even while he slept. Baba would keep the key to the lock on his person, tied on a string around his neck. No one at that time had read anything of what Baba had written.2
Baba commented on the contents of his book in Lonavla on 26 November 1926, when he saw Chanji typing his recent discourses:
You find these explanations of mine very interesting, but they are nothing compared to what I have written in my book at Meherabad. Its 300 pages cover only short points, and when they are fully amplified and rewritten, the points will comprise several large volumes. It is full of secrets which no previous saint or Prophet has ever divulged.
Footnotes
- 1.Afseri was 6'5" tall and athletic, which gives an indication of Baba's strength.
- 2.Later, Baba once showed a few pages to Adi Sr. who afterward could not recall what he had read though he remembered it was written in different languages.