He would lie in filthy hovels and beg for food with an earthen pot. He would defecate in the same pot and, after washing it, eat the begged food from it. However, people from all walks of life were attracted to his divine beauty, because despite all outward appearances, this naked sadhu was a God-conscious Master who possessed the divine Wine to quench anyone's inner spiritual thirst.
After staying at Chinna Swamy's home, during February 1915, Upasni moved to the simple residence of a poor, lower-caste man named Namdeo Mahar and his wife, Bhagu. There Upasni stayed in the cow stable adjoining their humble one-room dwelling. The couple had profound love for Upasni, and though they belonged to the lowest caste of Harijans (Untouchables), orthodox high-caste Brahmins would visit their house for Maharaj's darshan. This incident shows the power of Upasni's divine personality, which had compelled the indoctrinated, prejudiced Brahmins to ignore the rigid tenets of their religious training. For a Brahmin to enter an Untouchable's house was unheard of then.
In this poor Harijan locality, when the wealthy of the town would come before Upasni, he would place in front of them something from Namdeo's meager furnishings and tell them, "Worship this because God is in everything!"
One time Upasni was helping a blacksmith in his work when some rich visitors came to pay homage to him. Upasni placed a hammer before them and told them, "Bow down to this because God is in everything!" They did and he was pleased.
Another time, Upasni placed a worn shoe on a table and asked a woman, "Perform arti to this shoe because God is in everything!" She not only did so, but also took the shoe back with her as the Sadguru's prasad to worship at home.
Although Upasni was a Sadguru at this time in Kharagpur, outwardly he was similar to a Brahmi-bhoot . He appeared dazed and showed no bodily signs of gross consciousness. Once Anglo-Indian boys in the town found him in a dazed state and hung a garland of old shoes around his neck. Thinking him to be no more than a madman, they even tried to humiliate him by putting dog feces in his mouth. For days, Upasni wandered about the town with the garland of old shoes and resisted all attempts to remove it. Finally some of the elders took it off and replaced the shoes with a flower garland.