Bapa must have drawn my inner soul towards him and since then I yearned for something which seemed to be missing from my life; a longing to achieve something and a very powerful aspiration developed. I have always been introspective and would only put into action that which I considered to be beneficial to me. I never took part in anything simply because I liked to do it or had a yearning for it. Before putting any thought into action, I would consider whether it was necessary, whether it was my duty and only then put it into action if it was justified.
When I was five years old, I had heard that it was important to be educated and so I had asked Dada to enrol me. I found studying so interesting that I never had any difficulty with it. I always did well in my exams. My education began in Gujarati, I then progressed to study in English and finally attended a Government High School, which was considered to be a reputable school. 200 students had applied for a place at this school and had to sit an entrance examination. Only 30 were selected of which I was one. From the fourth grade my teacher Shankarbhai played a major role in moulding my character. He once said ‘To mould one’s character is in one’s own hand. Everything else, i.e., money, wealth, fame etc., are dependent on your fate but your character is something that you can develop yourself’ . This principle became my motto and from then on I began to read all the best literature, from which I extracted noteworthy points, adopted them and applied them in my life. For example, when I was younger, I would adapt to Dada’s ways and do as he asked, disregarding my own feelings so that I would be perceived to be an obedient child. I would not even go out to play. After I had finished studying my first priority was to fill Dada’s pipe.
When I was 12, my uncle died. I lived with my grandparents and my grandfather was devastated because this meant the end of a dynasty for him. I was solemn and supported my grandfather as best as I could. People from everywhere came to the funeral and, according to tradition, they walked in a procession from the outskirts of the town right up to the house, howling and crying loudly. I would watch these dramatic scenes from the balcony window with interest.
At this time I was in the second grade and studying at the government school. My uncle passed away the year after my marriage. Hence when I went to school, I was considered to be Dada’s heir and all the women would insist that I wear a scarf on top of my hat when I ventured out. I detested this and felt extremely embarrassed but what wouldn’t I do to appear obedient? When I arrived at the school, I would remove the scarf, fold it and put it in my bag until it was time to go home when I would put it on again. What a well-behaved child I was! People would say that Natha Kaka’s grandson is so well behaved that no one else is comparable.
The year in which I became engaged, my brother-in-law, Ramanbhai, came to Nadiyad to meet me. When he saw that I was writing the accounts, he was so impressed that he said “Our Babulal is so intelligent that he is writing the accounts at such a tender age. My head swelled with pride. To be perceived as obedient and virtuous was my goal. This was also my uncle s goal and he died whilst trying to keep up this appearance. From my association with Shankarbhai and the literature I had read it occurred to me that my internal and external behaviour should not be contradictory. One whose thoughts, speech and deeds are in unison is a satpurush. Whereas if thoughts differ from speech which in turn differs from the actual deeds that is a characteristic of a cunning person. This I learnt in my sanskrit class in the fourth grade and I felt that it was wrong to act in a way where I was perceived to be something that I may not be. I decided from then on to adopt only what I felt to be ideal. I would not do anything secretly simply because I was afraid of Dada and would not suppress any desires. Hence in college I had started to smoke the pipe and when I returned home I continued to do so in front of Dada albeit with due respect. This was a lesson I had learnt from my uncle.
After that, regarding my belief in God, when my mother and father changed their faith, I decided that I would not place my convictions on the basis of someone else’s experience. I would neither condemn their actions nor adopt their views. I would remain neutral, observe quietly and experience it for myself and only accept and act accordingly, after having been convinced.
Similarly my elder brother selfishly requested me to sit my sixth grade and metric exams together so that I could graduate early to help earn money required to pay off the family debts. This resulted in ruining my prospects for a first class career. Hence I did not go to Africa but had to repeat my exams thereby wasted two or three years.
Mind you, God had been behind all of this. I prided myself in being able to succeed in whatever I started. My indriyas and antahkaran were totally in my control and would do just as I commanded. Thus, I would always excel at whichever subject I studied. I could do anything if I put my mind to it. However, I failed in my exams and ruined my career, as there were obstacles everywhere.
I was mature for my age and my thinking and understanding was comparable with someone ten or fifteen years older than myself. Thus I understood the responsibilities of the household and family very well. With a deep sense of responsibility and understanding I began to evaluate the situation, which was as follows: the debts of my mother and father (in Karamsad); my father’s blindness, poverty, my elder brother and sister-in-law were not supportive; Diwaliba was tormented, Dada (of Nadiyad) had made bad investments in cotton so that his debts equalled his assets and he could barely afford anything.
At that time in 1935-1936, Ashabhai Prabhudas owed my father Rs. 16000 but his financial status was so weak that he was unable to repay this debt. We too needed the money to pay for our education and my father asked me to go and request Shastriji Maharaj to write to Ashabhai asking him to repay the debt. I went to see Shastriji Maharaj who was in the town called Gana. When I arrived Shastriji Maharaj remarked: ‘Dr Nathabhai’s son Babubhai is here. In the future, he will do a great deal of our work’ . Saying this Shastriji Maharaj blessed me with a dhabo and wrote a letter asking Ashabhai to repay the debt to my father.
At that time I had thought to myself ‘I am not going to get involved in the satsang, I am only here purely for my own selfish motives’. I had not gone for Shastriji Maharaj’s darshan with mahatmya, as I did not have a firm conviction towards anyone. However, Shastriji Maharaj was so great that He had the divine vision of the past, present and future and was only concerned with the divine bond (sambandh) which I must have had with Maharaj in my previous life.
I was still studying, and had to ensure that the family name and reputation remained intact in the eyes of the world and no matter how I felt, I had to keep a brave and cheerful exterior. In these circumstances my marriage was arranged. When I got home to Dadima, I cried and just could not stop crying. An eleven-year-old boy was crying because he understood the responsibilities of his marriage only too well. By the time I had reached the metric stage, I had learnt the harsh truths of the world. Everyone is very selfish; no one cares for anyone else. Hence, one should look out for oneself. I was not successful in my education and finally got fed-up and decided to go to Africa.
In 1937 I went to Africa and found a job immediately. My first priority was to alleviate the poverty experienced by my family, repay all our debts and thus acted accordingly.
In 1942, the debts were fully repaid and we regained possession of our mortgaged land. We were not considered rich but neither were we poor. Then Dadubhai wanted to study further. There is nothing worse than being under anyone’s obligation. That is precisely why I did not want to get further into debt. Therefore after the vacation I returned to Africa alone, leaving Mummyji in Nadiyad. There I gave extra tuition and sent money to Ceylon where Dadubhai was studying and also sent money back to India. By 1945 Dadubhai had completed his education and that ended my responsibilities towards the family.
Since 1945, Bapa had been drawing me closer to him, although he had been pursuing me long before then. He did not allow my ambitions to become a doctor to be fulfilled. If I had become a doctor, I would have developed certain characteristics that would have been a hindrance in my service to God.
In 1945, a craving, a yearning, a soul searching spell began and I began wandering aimlessly. I was determined never to believe in anything founded on someone else’s experiences. I had made a firm resolution that I would only believe that which had been accepted by my intellect. Hence I began my own search, my quest, to find God wherever he may be. I began to meditate hoping that God would enlighten me. I wanted to know what God had planned for me – what was the purpose of my life? Gradually Bapa, through various experiences, such as the improvement of the school grades, the birth of Praful, convinced me that He was the supreme divine entity. This was accepted by my intellectual mind. I had always bargained through my intellect with Bapa by means of mahapuja. Bapa acknowledged this and played along.
Finally in December 1948 when Diwaliba became ill and I came to visit her, Bapa used this opportunity to make my faith stronger and to convince me without a shadow of a doubt that He was God incarnate. On this memorable occasion I received blessings (dhabo) and gadi rotlee as prasadi from Bapa.
During the incident of Maganbapa’s daughter’s marriage Bapa inspired me to do a satkarma (good deed) and this in turn gave me control over my intellect and strength to remain neutral and calm.
In 1952, Bapa summoned me to India. Bapa had already convinced me that He was a pratyaksh brahmswaroop, He was divine and whatever He did was also divine. Wherever I did not accept this fact, Bapa made me realise that it was my mayik intellect and through His grace He gave me seva and strength to live sincerely according to His principles.
Then the final obstacle was that regarding my anga which Bapa obliterated through the understanding that all those associated with Shreeji Maharaj are divine. Each and everyone is a soul on the path of spiritual progress. Bapa instilled this belief firmly within me and then brought me to Vidyanagar. By now my understanding was such that whatever happened was ordained and instigated by Bapa, i.e. that Bapa was karta, harta, niyanta, prérak né pravartak. Whatever He did or inspired others to do was definitely for the welfare of all concerned. This belief had become entrenched through my various experiences.
In August 1954, Dadubhai, Chaganbhai and I were visiting Yogi Bapa at Kapodvadi. Dadubhai was conversing with Bapa whilst I was massaging the lotus feet of my Lord with a feeling of great joy in my heart. I thought to myself How lucky I am to have found such a great satpurush . Suddenly I asked Bapa have these hands which have touched your divine feet become purified (nirgun)? With a gesture of his hand Bapa indicated the whole of my body and said, Every part of your body has been purified – Badhuj Nirgun. I was overjoyed to hear this and from that day, my mind, heart and soul accepted what Bapa had said. I believed that my whole body had been purified by the grace of Bapa.
When Bapa returned from His pilgrimage in Africa in 1956-57, He initiated eleven youths as parshads. P. Mahantswami was already with Bapa at this time. The very next day Bapa went to Gujarat leaving the newly initiated parshads at the ashram of Vedantacharya, which was in Ghatkopar, to study sanskrit. Bapa requested Dadubhai, Harshadbhai and myself to look after these yuvakos and He told them to confide in us and seek guidance from us in case of any problems. We took it in turns to do katha to them. I had read the literature of Shri Arvind extensively and had undertaken to explain the book ‘Essays on Geeta’ written in English by Shri Arvind to these parshads. P. Ba often accompanied me to Ghatkopar where she would sit outside the room whilst I carried out spiritual discourses to the youths. We would also take snacks (nastas such as chevdo and sakar-para) for the parshads whenever we visited.
In 1960, it was decided that a property should be purchased for the Akshar Purushottam Sanstha and a fund was started for this purpose. Everyone began to make enquiries to search for a hall in the various areas of Bombay such as Dadar, Chopati, Matunga etc according to their own standards. Eventually the committee decided upon buying a property that was situated in the Chopati area. To my mind this was not at all an appropriate place for the siting of a place of worship and the price of such a property also seemed to be unacceptable to me. However, the committee members were unanimous in their decision, Bapa had given His consent, and a deposit for the house had been paid. I was present when everything was being discussed and without saying anything I prayed to Bapa saying Bapa… even though you have given your consent, buying this property seems most inappropriate to me. Please tell me what I should do. Instantly Bapa spoke: Follow your instinct…. Listen to your inner voice, and do as it says for God will inspire you. Sakshi kah¾ t¾m karvu. Although Bapa said this in front of everyone, no one except myself understood the true significance of this statement. Bapa had answered my prayers and given me guidance. Then I began to pray to Bapa (as dictated by my inner voice) to do whatever He needed to do in order to stop this purchase. Eventually my prayers were answered. There was some disagreement on a very small issue and the owner of the house refused to sell his property and returned the deposit. Bapa had in fact instigated this whole event. After this, the property where the current temple stands in Dadar was purchased and the santos began to live there.
During 1960 when Yogiji Maharaj was in Bombay and He was staying in various suburbs of Bombay we had the seva of fetching the water from a well at the High Court for Bapa. At that time Bapa insisted that He could only drink water from that well, any other water did not suit his health. It is only now that we realise that it was to give us His seva that He insisted especially on drinking water from that particular well at the High Court. Manoj Soni s father Ratilalbhai and Induben Darbar s father Ambubhai would go to the High Court daily and fetch two large cans of water. They would bring this water to Tardev where it was boiled to remove any impurities, cooled and then refilled into two large water cans. I was honoured with the seva of delivering these water cans to the place where Bapa was staying at the time in Bombay. At the time Bapa was at Goregoan or Vikroli and Ba, Mummyji and I took a train to Vikroli station then took a bus in order to take the water for Bapa. How lucky I was to have had the chance of doing such seva for Bapa!
During 1961-62 when the santos were living at Maneklal s bungalow, we provided all the household utensils and the santos would cook all the meals themselves. The ghee was stored in a large tin container with a small lid. One day a rat somehow managed to push the lid aside, fall into the ghee and promptly drowned! The santos who were not aware of this began to heat up the ghee in order to transfer it into a glass container. The rat began to fry and the santos began to panic! What could they do? If they admitted what had happened then they were sure to be reprimanded by the committee! They decided to keep the matter quiet and disposed of the ghee by pouring it down the toilet. However, this scheme backfired and the toilet became blocked! Faced with this problem they approached me and I arranged for the toilet to be cleaned and the ghee to be replaced without the knowledge of the committee. In this way I helped the santos in various ways as I considered their seva to be the highest accolade.
When Bapa began the process of purification of santos dehabhav, they experienced tremendous confusion and unhappiness. Dadubhai and I would endeavour to do katha and give spiritual guidance. We comforted them by telling them of the greatness and glory of Bapa. We would ask them to be patient and tolerate the process of purification which would ultimately mean the redemption of the soul and freedom from all vices, resulting in complete peace, bliss and eternal happiness for the soul.
One sant in particular was very unhappy, convinced that his soul would never be redeemed he said to me ‘I cannot tolerate this process, I do not know what to do…. I just want to die.’ He felt so suicidal; he told me that he would be dead before the day of Diwali. I tried to comfort him by telling him that Bapa was the almighty divine satpurush who controlled all the forces of kal, karma and maya. Bapa would ensure that nothing would happen to him and Bapa would not concede until the sant had been freed from his dehabhav. I told him to be patient and have faith in Bapa but the sant kept on insisting that he would not be present on the day of Diwali. I asked him to put this in writing as I was convinced that Bapa would not allow any harm to come to him. He wrote on a piece of paper that he would die before Diwali (on the day of dhan-teras). Underneath this, I wrote the following: I will come to wish you Happy Diwali and a Happy New Year as I was certain that nothing would happen to him. I kept this slip of paper and on the day of Diwali I went to visit the sant who was alive and well, I wished him a Happy Diwali and said ‘Isn’t Bapa Great?’ Again the same sant tried to commit suicide by plunging in the sea but Bapa saved him. When Aksharvihari Swami realised the sant was missing he telephoned me at Tardev to inform me. I advised that we should all pray and do Japyagna, Bapa would inspire us and we would know where to begin to search for him. All the santos began to search and eventually found him sitting at the Dadar Chopati Beach, completely drenched and shivering. He had attempted to commit suicide and had even plunged into the sea but just as we had all begun to pray intensely for him, he was unable to continue with his determination to die. Bapa had intervened, taken control of his actions and had forced him to return to the shore. He was taken back to the temple at Dadar. When I went to visit him, I said ‘Bapa is such a great divine entity and you have experienced His great power.’
Before the segregation of the sanstha took place in 1966, Dadukaka had already told Jashbhai Saheb of the mahatmya of the benos who were living in Vidyanagar and the importance of doing their seva. Hence when the benos moved to Vidyanagar, Saheb and the bhaios already knew of Pappaji and the benos and were always at hand to help whenever any need arose. When the segregation (vimukh prakran) was made official, Dadukaka and Saheb came to Prabhu Krupa to tell me about the news. At that time, Dadukaka advised Saheb to approach Bapa and ask what he (Saheb) and the bhaios should do. Saheb went to Gondal to ask Bapa. Bapa said: ‘Remain with Dadubhai and Babubhai in Vidyanagar and give them your support’. Then Saheb and the bhaios were asked by the sanstha to vacate the Chatralay. Again, Saheb went to Bapa to ask what the bhaios should do. Bapa said: ‘Do as the sanstha requests and leave the Chatralay’. Saheb and the bhaios vacated the Chatralay and went to live in a rented property. They first lived in ‘Sidharth’, then at ‘Guru-krupa’ and finally at ‘Shriji-Colony’.
In 1967, on the day of Poshi Poonam I met with Kakaji and told him that it had crossed my mind that as the bhaios were living their lives for the service of God, they should be ordained. They had remained single and were living their lives sincerely as devotees of Yogiji Maharaj. Kakaji agreed with me and on that auspicious day of Poshi Poonam in 1967, Kakaji and I went to Shreeji Colony where the bhaios were ordained. They took the vows to devote their lives to the service of God, with Jashbhai Saheb as their leader, they began to tread the spiritual path.
When Yogiji Maharaj left his mortal body and returned to his eternal abode Akshardham, P. Kaka, P. Hariprasad Swamiji, P. Aksharvihari Swamiji, P. Saheb and I met at Shreeji Colony to decide who should now be looked upon as the Pratyaksh Guruhari. At that time, all the above mentioned swaroopos had their own devotees, and mandals at Sokhda, Sankarda, Bombay, Manavadar and Viydanagar were already in existence. The devotees at each mandal truly believed their own swaroop to be divine and an incarnate swaroop of Yogiji Maharaj. Thus a unanimous decision was reached that every devotee should be allowed the choice of believing in whichever swaroop they felt in unison with. All other swaroopos should be looked upon with great respect whilst maintaining a 100% sincerity towards one s own Guruhari. It was, however, imperative that harmony, unity and friendship be maintained with all members of the Gunatit Samaj and satsang should be carried out according to the principles quoted in Swami-ni- Vato Prakran 4 – 140. (Chapter 4, Verse 140).
It was also decided by everyone that we would never make any satsangis outcasts from the sanstha. Yogiji Maharaj used to say, ‘No one except Shreeji Maharaj has the right to make anyone an outcast. We are only obligated to do the seva of all satsangis’. Thus in this way we all began the work of the satsang, working in harmony, unity and in spiritual friendship.
The bhaios, P.Jashbhai, P. Ashwinbhai, P. Ratibhai, P. Sanandbhai, P. Shantibhai, P. Harshadbhai, P. Poonambhai, P. Barister, P.Rameshbhai, who had devoted their lives to the service of God, were living in Shreeji Colony. I had been thinking about setting up a spiritual vocation for them that would aid them in their sadhna. Around this time Bhatt Saheb of Amdavad suggested that if we wanted to set up an adhesive factory, he would be more than willing to help as he had the expertise in this field. Such a factory was set up under the supervision of P. Sanandbhai and P. Poonambhai and all the bhaios began their sadhnas as karma yogis. A place of residence, Anoopam Mission, was also built for the bhaios and registered as a religious charity. However, at the beginning, the factory was making losses and a meeting was held at Sankarda to decide whether or not to close it down. At that time I insisted that it remained open and that I would personally bear the losses incurred. Gradually, the factory began to break even and finally prospered making profits.
Originally Gunatit Jyot was built upon four plots of land in Vidyanagar. Fifty-one benos who were initiated lived in a one-storey building and began their sadhna.
Since I believed Bapa to be the all-inspiring divine entity:-
1. The benos were encouraged to constantly pray and meditate, whilst engaging themselves in seva, attending spiritual discourses etc. which helped them to lead a life full of mahatmya.
2. I ensured that the malicious rumours, gossip and corruption from the outside world did not infiltrate Gunatit Jyot so that the benos remained safe and secure and were able to continue their sadhna without any disturbances. Whatever happened came to my attention first and I endeavoured to prevent it from reaching the benos.
3. Bapa himself had given me this seva of guiding the benos. I was not ready to accept this responsibility but I had made a pledge at the time of the court case that I would be Bapa’s slave forever. At that time Bapa gave me Rs. 40,000 so that I could repay the money owed to Fatnani. I had not been happy about this but was helpless and I had no choice. I firmly resolved then that I owed a lot to Bapa and would live as His slave for the rest of my life. It was as if Bapa had bought a slave for Rs. 40,000. From that moment on I began to live as His slave – Slave of Him and Him alone. All the seva that I had done in Kapodvadi and as Bapa’s confidante was done with this in mind.
Even the moral support I had given Taraben when she most needed it was driven by my conviction that I was Bapa’s slave. Even though in the eyes of the world I appeared to be doing wrong, I continued regardless because of my loyalty to Bapa. In 1963, after I had passed through the various tests Bapa told me to set up a separate affiliation for benos to conduct their sadhnas, and to build a place of residence on my plot in Vidyanagar. We set up a trust and I acted as Bapa’s slave. Kaka was the president of the trust but this was not acceptable to everyone so I took over this position. It was decided that ten elder members would administer the work of the trust, I would set it up and return to Bombay in July once everything was in operation. I had left all my belongings in Bombay, as I was going to return. Jayantibhai and Jasuben were to live in Prabhu Krupa and they were to be overall guardians of the benos. Prabhu Krupa was rented in the name of Jayantibhai. It must have been Bapa’s intention to keep me as guardian for the benos thus He instigated the segregation of the sanstha (Vimukh Prakran) and I had to stay in Vidyanagar. I guided the benos, through spiritual discourses, advising them that “God will take care of those who remain sincere to Him and look to Him in their hour of need. According to the Gunatit law, we should not take part in malicious gossip or criticise anyone’s actions as per Vachnamrut G II 28, G II 46. Instead if we prayed, and constantly remembered Bapa then, in the end, justice will prevail. Bapa would only listen to the prayers of those who were sincere. Hence, be brave and patient and continue to serve Bapa”. This was the gist of all the discourses and it gave the benos the strength needed to endure such circumstances. P. Saheb and the bhaios arrived later.
In this way Bapa handed me the responsibility of guiding the benos in their spiritual path. I was not keen to take on this responsibility but as I had pledged myself to be Bapa s slave I accepted. Ever since I undertook this assignment, I have done it as a slave of Yogiji Maharaj and with great humility. I have always remained humble in the knowledge that Bapa has given me this seva and He is aware of my humble intentions. Whatever I have ever done, I have always been conscious of the fact that I am only a slave, Bapa is the master and that Bapa was also aware of this fact. As it has always been my desire to do nothing else but to serve Bapa as a slave, without any ulterior motives, Bapa has repaid me in various ways:
When I was in Bombay, I would have to pray and do japyagna to rid myself of any disturbances caused by certain incidents; Bapa would give me the strength to endure such disturbances. However, as soon as we came to Vidyanagar and I undertook the task given to me by Bapa – if an incident took place, causing confusion or disturbances, I immediately looked to Bapa and quietly asked “Bapa, what is happening?” and immediately Bapa would enlighten me. He would show me exactly what he was doing and why he was allowing the incident to happen. Once I was aware of Bapa’s purpose, I would become calm and tranquil in the knowledge that Bapa is in control.
This is what I call ‘knowing and understanding the leela of Maharaj’ as per Vachnamrut G III 2. I managed to accomplish this through Bapa’s grace, and it became impossible for me to remain disturbed for even a short time. I began to experience Bapa’s presence constantly. As Bapa was pleased with me, He granted me the inner peace and bliss where one’s mind cannot be disturbed by anyone or anything. One would just experience the peace, bliss and joy of Bapa’s presence.
Before the segregation, I would consult Bapa in private about everything. I had done so at the time when Taraben was unsure of what she wanted to do with her life. Whenever there were complications I would go and consult Bapa and He would give me a straightforward answer.
In Atladra in 1952, I had been confused by the elders of the satsang regarding certain matters. They quoted the Vachnamrut to me giving me varying and contradictory interpretations, which led me into further confusion. This caused me great difficulty in remaining sincere to Bapa. If I tried to keep suridh-bhav, they would quote the scriptures and expect me to take offence, and if I followed the scriptures literally then it led me to act in a manner in which I would be acting against Bapa’s wishes.
To resolve this confusion I prayed deeply to Bapa at Atladra. At that time Bapa was sitting in the prayer hall chopping vegetables. I went and sat beside Him and He must have heard my prayers because quite spontaneously He said, ‘The discourses found in the scriptures such as the Vachnamrut are relevant to all types of mumukshas – you must read only those discourses which apply to the muktos and in particular you must read only those vachnamruts which emphasise that God is Pratyaksh.’
On another occasion Bapa said to me ‘Once one has been convinced that God is Pratyaksh then one should get together with another mukta who has the same belief and congregate to sing the praises of God. A congregation of only two such muktos is equivalent to a congregation of a lakh muktos.’
In this way, Bapa often said things which revealed to me his true opinions and expectations of me. Another incident which illustrates this point is the incident regarding the parayan which was to be held in the honour of Maganbapa. Bapa had told me that anonymous donations are the most virtuous when He had requested that I donate Rs. 4,500. The directors of the Agri Orient had decided when they were in Africa that the company would donate Rs. 700. When Pramukh Swami asked Kaka for the remaining Rs. 2,000 for the festival at Sarangpur, Dadubhai immediately questioned this further donation as he was aware of the Rs. 4,500 which I had donated. Immediately, Bapa had looked sternly at me, as if to say That was supposed to have been an anonymous donation, why did you reveal our secret?”. Hence confidential matters should not be made public, they should remain strictly between those involved, and they should remain confidential. I had a similar experience at the time when a property for the temple at Dadar was purchased.
If one remains extremely humble and maintains a firm resolution of dasatva-bhakti, then Maharaj will be compelled to bless one so that one begins to see, recognise and understand his ‘leela’, as per Vachnamrut G III 2.
Hence once the sadhak believes the brahmswaroop to be pratyaksh and he begins to live accordingly, he will begin to experience and recognise the brahmswaroop as karta, harta, niyanta, prérak and pravartak, as one who controls kal, karma and maya. The sadhak experiences the full glory of God whilst progressing in his sadhna. The various stages of sadhna have been illustrated in great detail in the Vachnamritum, and the sadhak can use these as a means of measuring his progress.
Thus it is important to read, ponder and meditate upon the great scriptures such as the Vanchnamrut, Swami-ni-Vato etc. etc. One finds that continual and repeated study of these scriptures brings about a new understanding every time.