A special altar was erected where Maharaj's wooden sandals were reverently placed.
On various Hindu holy days, the cremation grounds became festive. A large number of Hindus would assemble in Sakori, and Upasni would allow them to worship him according to their religious customs. Devotees would sit continuously through the day and night performing japa — the repetition of God's name. Occasionally Upasni would discourse to them on various aspects of Vedanta and these discourses were recorded and published in Marathi.1
Even as a Sadguru, Upasni Maharaj seemingly performed austere penance. On the evening of 25 December 1922, when Maharaj's devotees came to him for their usual darshan in his hut, they were shocked to find that he had locked himself inside a small cage of bamboo poles. Upasni had secretly had the cage constructed and installed when no one was around and had entered it that day. The cage was so small and Upasni was so cramped inside that he could not stand. The devotees began to weep and pressed him for an explanation.
To appease them Upasni replied: "It is the will of God that for your sake I have to confine myself. In ordinary legal transactions, a criminal can only be released if another stands surety for him. In a like manner, I stand surety for the 'release' of all my devotees in the Divine Court. This cage is the place for casting off all your sins!
"This is not an ordinary cage. It is the very ocean of bliss and whosoever dies thinking of it will, without doubt, attain the state of mukti-ananda [eternal bliss; liberation]."
Upasni Maharaj confined himself in the bamboo cage for over thirteen months. During that period, Maharaj almost never left it. He ate (mainly bhakri and bitter neem-leaf chutney), urinated, defecated and took baths all within the narrow confines of the cage. The devotees kept the cage as clean as possible under the circumstances and attended to his needs from outside the cage. Arti was performed daily to him and was followed by devotional songs by the women who had become his kanyas (nuns). During this period, Upasni gave numerous discourses about spiritual matters from within the cage.2
At last, on the evening of 31 January 1924, he called a carpenter and ordered him to cut a hole through the bars. Upasni stepped out of the cage momentarily, welcomed by the elation of his followers.
Footnotes
- 1.The discourses were later translated into English and circulated by his followers.
- 2.Upasni Maharaj referred to these kanyas as his "wives," though of course, he had transcended bodily identification and had none other than innocent physical contact with them.