It stopped subsequently as suddenly as it had erupted, though some of the boys could be seen sitting alone, quietly shedding tears. Love began silently singing in the boys' hearts, and its ecstasy was expressed through the silence of their tears.
On the 4th, Baba began giving darshan to the boys and remarked to the mandali, "I have selected some boys for their love, some for their heart, and some for their intellect. Twenty of them are sincere and faithful. Their love for me is increasing day by day, and I am satisfied with it."
On Friday, 6 January 1928, about a dozen Indian soldiers were marching past Meherabad on their way to Visapur. They requested Baba's darshan. Baba graciously permitted it and Jalbhai escorted them up the hill at 7:45 A.M. where they paid Baba a full military salute.
After the soldiers left, Baba called the boys and disclosed to them, "This is a sign of a great war taking place in the very near future."
Baba then sent orders with Jalbhai to close the school at eleven o'clock. A half hour later, at his request, a sacred bath was given to him, first by the boys and then by the mandali.
Baba had a declaration read out which he had dictated to his brother Beheram. In it, Baba revealed that at about 2:00 A.M. that night, a secret conference of Spiritual Masters had been held in his underground crypt, wherein it was decided that a great war would soon begin. The unexpected and abrupt arrival of the military personnel in the morning portended the same.
Baba concluded his declaration by repeating, "A great war will shortly take place, and when it is raging furiously, I will come forward and manifest as the Avatar!"
A typed extract of Baba's remarks was read out to the boys in Hall No. 2 (middle room of the Water Tank) by Vishnu, Raosaheb, and Dastur in Marathi, Persian, and Gujarati respectively.
Baba commented: "Today is the best day. It is the day on which the foundation of the future activities of my Universal work in this Avataric period has been laid. Hence I ordered the school closed, had a sacred bath, and dictated the declaration to Beheram."
About the secret meeting, Baba remarked to Rustom and the mandali, "Before the meeting, I inquired of Gustadji and then Ramjoo if anybody was in the vicinity and warned him to make sure that no one came near my crypt. Because if someone happened to pass by here, where Masters were assembled in subtle form, it could be harmful to the person concerned. Pirs [saints] sometimes keep tigers as watchmen for this reason, to guard their boundaries so that no one may venture inside."