\ BIOGRAPHY

Swamiji's father Narayanrao Deglurkar (Patki) and mother Mrs. Kamalabai Deglurkar were from Deglur, a taluka place in Maharashtra. They had 3 children, Trimbak, Godavari and Renuka. Govind died at an early age. The Deglurkar family was cursed by one Bramhan in the disguise of a cobra who was protecting them and was killed by one of their forefathers. While dying he said that your family will not survive for long. Narayanrao's parents had also died at an early age because of which Narayanrao had to face many difficulties during his lifetime. With this curse in mind and the death of Govind Mrs. Kamalabai got worried and sought the advice of one of the senior Bramhans who said that the Bramhan who had cursed the family also had given a solution that a great man will be born in the family who will remain a Sanyasi and because of whom your whole clan will be washed out of all their sins and the whole world will also be benefited by his preaching, but for this to happen you will have to go to Gangapur and get the blessings of Shree Dattguru. So they went to Gangapur and started reading the Gurucharitra repeatedlyfor days together. One fine morning Shree Dattguru himself appeared before them and gave them a sacred coconut to be eaten by both of them and blessed that your wishes will be fulfilled. The prayers had been answered and Mrs. Kamalabai got pregnant. Her mother took her to Chincholi, which is near Gangapur to her other daughter's place for delivery. After 9 months she gave birth to a son on the very day that Shree Dattguru was born in the year 1908. This was a clear indication that the son was a reincarnation of Shree Dattguru himself. Mrs. Kamalabai knowing all this was overjoyed. He was baptised as 'Shreedhar' on the 12th day of birth but because of her tremendous love for him she used to call him 'Raja' (The King).     When Shreedhar was 3 years old he lost his father and to add to his mother's woes he suffered an attack of small pox. But because of his mother's immeasurable love and caring and his own divine power even at that young age, he came out of it. Then started his schooling at Hyderabad's 'Vivekvardhini' school. He again fell seriously ill with some strange illnesss but again recovered from that, but because he had lost a lot of days at school he feared that he may fail in the examinations. Then his mother told him to constantly chant the name of Bhagwan Ram and with that he will secure first rank in the school. He solemnly started doing that so much so, that he finally did not do any studies at all and all the time chanted the name of Ram. On the day of examination he went without reading anything and to the surprise of everybody he answered every question so nicely that he did secure first rank! Right from that moment onwards he knew that anything in this world can be achieved by simply chanting the name of Bhagwan Ram.     There was an ashram of Shree Narayan Maharaj who was a great disciple of Shree Samarth Ramdas Swami, near his home. Shreedhar used to go there daily with his mother. There was a large portrait of Shree Samarth in the ashram. Shreedhar used to sand in front of it glued to it and constantly chanting the name of Ram (Hereinafter referred to as Ramnam Jap). He even demanded a 108 beaded sacred thread for Ramnam Jap. He became obsessed with Ram and fully believed even at that tender age that Ram will pull one out of any situation if one had total faith in him; so much so, that once an elderly man sarcastically told him to jump in to a lake, knowing that he could not swim saying, I will see how your Ram saves you!. Without thinking for a moment he ran to jump but his brother and colleagues caught up with him and held him firmly to prevent him from jumping. Mind you this he did at the age of 6 years! He then started praying at all the temples in Hyderabad. Then his Threading ceremony was done. Around his house were the temples of Shree Shankar, Dattguru with the sacred tree of Dattguru and Hanuman. He started the ceremonial worship daily in these temples. He had a photogenic memory and could remember and recite even the most difficult Sanskrit prayers. All this was a God gift and was the culmination of the spiritual environment at his home. Just after Shreedhar entered the second decade of his life he lost his elder brother Trimbak. He was dumbfounded but his mother was inconsolable. Trimbak was not only the lone earning member of the family but a very loving and kind person. Shreedhar waited for some period but then could not afford to see his mother's incessant cry. He suddenly went to her and belying his age started talking to her, Why are you weeping? The soul which we loved and have now lost was in effect neither born nor has died. This body is made of elements. Birth is combination of these elements by the Ultimate Soul. Death means separation of these elements and merging of them in the Ultimate Soul. The Ultimate Soul never dies. When the soul inside the body leaves it we declare the body as dead. But the soul inside migrates to another body. So what is lost at the time of death is just the elements and not the soul which we love. Therefore this crying is not justifiable. One who knows that the Ultimate Soul is indestructible gets freed from this cycle of birth and death. One who does not know this keeps gyrating in this cycle. The Ultimate Soul is the only truth; rest is all but an illusion. With this knowledge I am sure you will stop weeping and will be happy again.     His mother and others, who were listening, just could not believe that a 10 year old boy was saying all this. From that moment onwards not only his mother but Shreedhar also were sort of metamorphosed. Then within a year his beloved sister Godavari also died, but it did not affect either Shreedhar or his mother much as now they were endowed with the real spiritual knowledge. His mother nevertheless was fed up with all this and wanted to leave this world, her only worry being Shreedhar who was just about 11 years old, but she knew from the day Shreedhar delivered that discourse that he was no common entity and needed nobody's support. While on death bed and death approaching, she called Shreedhar by her side and asked him to treat all women in the world as his mother to uplift the state of womanhood she said this had to be done by some one to set an example in front of the world. She said that if you follow my wish our clan would end; but I am purposefully asking for it as I know; only you can do it. This is my last wish and I am sure you will not let me down. Soon she died with Shreedhar's hand in hers. Can by any stretch of imagination one find a mother and a son like these! That too about 100 years ago? No answer is needed. Such people are not born every day.     After the death of his mother Shreedhar was called by his aunt in whose home at Chincholi he was born and who had now shifted to Gulbarga, for his further education. Before that he first time read Shrimadbagwadgeeta, the cornerstone of Hindu philosophy. After reaching Gulbarga being spiritual minded he thought of leaving Gulbarga as the love and affection of his aunt, he thought could have proven a hindrance in his spiritual progress. For spiritual progress he knew that he should also have the best education and hence he proposed to his aunt that he may be permitted to go to Pune to pursue his further education. His aunt agreed as Pune that time was known all over India as one of the best places for education. Through contacts he was admitted to an orphanage. Over there he used to do all the work allotted to him and even more than that, like serving the weak and taking care of the sick children. In that orphanage itself he was affectionately called as Swami. Who knew that time that he really would become one! Because of his relentless work finally he himself fell sick. Then he decided to move out to another place where he started a new life. Most of his time was devoted to Ramnam Jap and prayers, but he was equally good in studies in Bhave School. In the tradition which all Bramhans follow and by the Shree Samarth tradition Shreedhar started to beg for his meals at 5 homes each day. He was many times humiliated but because of his nature of never disrespecting anyone his humiliators also fell in love with him. On the other hand there were others who were constantly forcing him to eat at their place but he refused politely. In Hindu tradition a Bramhan even if he is rich is supposed to beg for his food at 5 homes daily and eat whatever he gets or nothing if he doesn't get any. Because of his loving and caring nature his new residence was now open to all poor and downtrodden students, for whom also he begged and as he had some money with him left by his parents he helped them by paying for their fees and books. This way he lost all his money and then served in a cloth store for some period for his poor colleagues, but by now he strongly started feeling that the time to leave all this and further pursue his spiritual path had come.     By this time he was respected by one and all and everyone started calling him 'Swami'. He now started his endeavour in pursuit of the God by getting rid of all organic pleasures. He started to dispose all his money to the poor and the remaining he just threw. He liked a particular sweet dish, so he bought it, kept it in front of the God and then took it away mixed the cow dung in it and ate it. The dish he so much liked now he could not even think about it. He met a person who was very religious and helpful Mr. Palnitkar during this period. Swami told him about his wish to pursue spirituality and asked for a place suitable for it. Swami had in mind Sajjangad the place where Shree Ramdas Swami (Shree Samarth) had resided 300 years ago. Mr. Palnitkar also suggested Sajjangad. Swami decided to embark on the journey to Sajjangad on Vijayadashami (An auspicious day when Hindus prefer to start any new venture and the day on which Bhagwan Ram killed the devil Ravan). Whatever was left with him along with money he simply burnt it. On the day of departure to Sajjangad which was wedenesday he suddenly felt that he was going there to find out the creator of the universe who had control over the living, nonliving things and also time and space. He meditated for a while and then wrote on a paper- I will remain a bachelor to the core till death. will not touch money, even if given forcefully to poor or for a good cause will not become the head priest anywhere will keep my needs to bare minimum will not differentiate between men and women will consider every woman as my mother will spend my life for the benefit of society by all means will try my best to revive the religion to make the world happy For this I am hereby submitting my body to the God, now he is responsible to pull me out of the wrong track and put me on the right one, if it so happens. I am submitting this document to the sacred fire to reproduce it if the need be. -SHREEDHAR     He then put it in the sacred fire in front of the God. Then he had lunch with Mr. Palnitkar who vowed that as Swami was embarking on his endeavour to find the Ultimate truth he for 12 years will not eat any sweets. Somebody said that without Guru's blessings everything would be worthless. Mr. Palnitkar said that you can keep the photograph of Shree Samarth on a sacred place and write the 13 letter mantra on it and place it in front of the photo, put your ears close to the photo and fullest concentration utter the mantra 3 times. Shree Samarth will bless you.     Swami then touched Palnitkar Guruji's feet, politely refused to accept the money he was giving and suddenly started his walk to Sajjangad. Everyone was so moved that all of them cried with mixed feelings of joy and sorrow that they may not be able to see him for many years. But Swamiji did not look back. His sight was firmly on Sajjangad and mind was pregnant with expectation of real knowledge.     On the road to Sajjangad via Baneshwar, he encountered a torrential thunderstorm, terrible darkness, serpents and what not. But he kept on walking. He reached Baneshwar where there is a temple of Mahadev and where Palnitkar Guruji had asked him to pray for the blessings of Shree Samarth. At dawn he kept the photo of Shree Samarth on the right side of Mahadev and worshipped him according to the Hindu rituals (Hereinafter referred to as Pooja), prostrated himself before him (Hereinafter referred to as offered sashtaang namaskar) and got blessed by Shree Samarth. There he did Ramnam Jap till afternoon, begged for his food at 3 homes, washed it in the lake and ate it. Then he started walking towards Sajjangad. It took him 2 days to have the first sight of Sajjangad. He again offered sashtaang namaskar and intuitively hailed Shree Samarth || Jai Jai Raghuveer Samarth || then he took bath in the Urmodi river nearby and put all his clothes in its waters except for langoti (A bare minimun undergarment just enough to cover the perineal region). He again offered sashtaang namaskar and said, This Shreedhar has already given up his body, now he is totally surrendering himself at your feet! He then almost ran towards Sajjangad. At the main gate he again loudly roared, || Jai Jai Raghuveer Samarth || and entered inside. As is found in every temple first he saw Lord Ganesha, whom he prayed and then Hanuman, the first disciple of Bhagwan Ram whose reincarnation was Shree Samarth. He first entered the cave in which there is the Samadhi (The sacred place where Shree Samarth left his mortal body). He stood in front of the Samadhi in a trance for a long time unaware of anything. Finally when came out of it, even he was found wanting in words to say except, You are mine and I am yours, crying incessantly. He suddenly felt that there were Sanyasi's clothes on his body. It wasn't so, but that was an indication of things to come. He said, I will become one but only on your orders. He again offered sashtaang namaskar and went upside where there is Rampanchaytan (The replicas of Bhagwan Ram, Laxman, Seetamai and Hanuman, which were religiously installed there by Shree Samarth). The same things happened again there also. Constantly doing Ramnam Jap he came out and entered the Math (Where Shree Samarth resided). Although everybody's lunch was over he was given Prasad (Meals or sweets or snacks at sacred places).     At Sajjangad anyone is allowed to live there for not more than 3 days, during which every thing is provided without cost, but no one whosoever is allowed to stay beyond that period. Swami didn't know that so he stayed there for 3 days during which he did Ramnam Jap continuously except for the time for daily chores. After 3 days he was asked to leave. That was like end of universe for Swamiji. But he politely said that he was prepared to do anything to stay near the samadhi. Being called by Shree Samarth himself, the Math In charge also agreed and said that he could stay, but he will have to do any work, which would not be told by anybody, but which should be pleasing to Shree Samarth himself. He was overjoyed. Probably with hindsight we can say that Shree Samarth wanted to show all other workers in the math what type of work pleases him most and therefore he brought Swamiji there. But Shree Samarth was a hard task master and although he himself awarded the ultimate title 'Bhagwan' to Swamiji, he put him through very hard rigors and tested him to the hilt. How Swamiji could finally please the probably only Saint (Shree Samarth) who never hesitated to call a spade a spade and even advised to tackle aggression by more severe aggression is history which is unparalelled in spiritualism, spanning a period of about 3 and a quarter years from the full moon day of Ashwin (Hindu month) 1927 to 9th day of 2nd half of Magh, during which period Swamiji stayed at Sajjangad.     Swamiji used to get up before dawn and after the morning rituals, started to work. He used to sweep the floor, serve the food, and wash the clothes on Shree Samarth's samadhi and utensils which were used by Shree Samarth. For pooja he had to search the whole mountain daily before dawn. He was so deeply engrossed in the work of the Math that many a times he just forgot to have his meals also. He was offered milk by the chief of the Math but he refused saying that it was too costly and instead ate groundnuts which were available in plenty but then he switched on to simple gram and then to jawar (Staple food of the poor) simply to reduce the burden on the Math. He was now doing practically everything which all the other workers were doing individually. In a sense he was doing the work of 100 workers at a time. This was possible only on account of his unflinching faith in Shree Samarth and Shree Samarth's blessings. He was now handed over the most pious duty of reciting Dasbodh (The sacred book written by Shree Samarth) after the daily pooja. Once, a worker who was cooking for all others had to leave for his home for a long period. Without thinking for a moment Swamiji offered to cook and immediately started cooking and serving the food also. For all the daily washing of Shree Samarth's clothes, utensils and now for cooking he did not want to use the water drunk by everybody so he started bringing about 50 bucketful of the water of the sacred lake, Sontale which was about a one furlong away. He was doing now practically every work in the Math. He had to cook the food for about 30 people daily and for 100 on every Thursday in addition to people coming routinely without any intimation. He had no prior experience of cooking but everyone used to relish the food prepared by him, simply because his mind was in it and he was doing continuous Ramnam Jap even while cooking. After everyone finished the meals he did the sweeping of floor also. And was he proud of doing all this Never! How could he be? This was Shree Samarth's work. He even massaged the visiting elderly people's legs as he knew that they would be tired. He saw Shree Samarth everywhere and therefore even listened to the kids and their orders let alone those who purposefully tried to trouble him! He was so utterly devoted and dedicated to Shree Samarth. Seeing all this one elderly lady once remarked that he may force the God to eat! But there were some who could not understand the feelings of Swamiji or simply hated him and tried to humiliate him. Swamiji took all this in his own inimitable stride telling all and sundry that he was serving Shree Samarth fully realizing that he was not dead but alive! Apart from this at festive times the workload would go up by 100 times but so did Swamiji's enthusiasm. During the rainy season because of the incessant rains and wind in the morning some of the Bramhans performing pooja, used to bring the water required for it the prior evening, but Swamiji didn't want Shree Samarth's pooja to be done by stale water, so in falling rain and chilly winds he started bringing the water for pooja in the morning itself, starting to do this, believe it or not at 3 am! Gangutai an elderly disciple was the only person who used to help Swamiji. This was by any flight of imagination very hard work indeed but was made possible by Swamiji's devotion to Shree Samarth and Shree Samarth's blessings.     His unending enthusiasm increased many a fold to the point of spilling over when the festivities of the 9th day of Magh (Hereinafter referred to as Shree Samarth's punyatithi or Dasnavmi). The rituals were performed by the elderly disciples but Swamiji used to help them in everything. He already by others' standards had more than his handful of work but this disciple of Shree Samarth was always gladly ready for more. Thousands used to eat daily at the Math during that period. After cooking and serving the food he never failed to ask for water to those who were eating as he knew that some time back once during eating an elderly disciple was very thirsty and in discomfort because of that and nobody bothered to ask why? Finally Shree Samarth gave his own water to him and asked him to return the container near his samadhi. He especially had a soft corner for the elderly as they were the ones most needy and most neglected. His work (Hereinafter referred to as seva), his mastery over the language and his whole demenour was such that whosoever came in contact with Swamiji during that period wondered whether it was Swamiji or Shree Samarth or Bhagwan Ram himself. And did he expect anything in return for all this? Nothing at all except the blessings. He was neither elated by flattery nor downcast by humiliation. As said in Bhagwadgeeta he treated both in the same manner. Only such people are liked by God. To really test his faith and devotion he had to face a torrid experience soon.     As there are obstacles in a common man's family life, they are there in that of one who chooses the path of spiritualism too. Probably more in quantity and severity. Consequently one is found in a dubious state of mind wherein the only power which can steady his violently swaying ship is the blessing of the Guru. He is always there and helps all but only sees who shows the real willingness. When Swamiji first entered Sajjangad in 1927, the first year was very difficult for him. Some people started complaining that this man washes Shree Samarth's clothes and utensils daily which can lead to permanent damage to them as they were 300 years old and ridiculous things like this. Swamiji never slept much. At night he used to sit infront of Shree Samarth's samadhi and get engrossed in Ramnam Jap. Jealous people who could not tolerate the rapid rise of Swamiji in the Math clan started claiming that this way he is breaching the tradition of closing the samadhi doors at night and Shree Samarth himself is getting disturbed. Due to all this Swamiji was ordered not to sit there. Then he started sitting in the nearby room. That too was prevented. Finally he was forced out to the cave. But he wasn't bothered at all. His simple philosophy being, if Shree Samarth is inside me, how does it matter where I sit and do the Jap? Precisely at this time 2 new people were appointed as Incharge of Math. One of them was a retired police officer. They were joined by one lady and another man from the Math all of whom were jealous of Swamiji. Whenever this quartet saw Swamiji they never wasted the opportunity to humiliate him. He was ordered to stop all types of seva. Swamiji still didn't mind.     One day Swamiji was collecting flowers and this police officer came there and profusely abused him. Swamiji kept quiet. The officer took his quietness for cowardice and said that Swamiji's behaviour was exactly opposite and insulting to the preaching of Shree Samarth. Swamiji was now highly enraged as he was accused of the ultimate sin he could imagine, yet he still politely said that he wasn't in any way disobeying Shree Samarth. The officer then sarcastically said, Oh! You think you are yourself Shree Samarth! and left. Now started continuous humiliation of Swamiji by one and all. Everyone abused him time and again. He wasn't allowed to even have a glimpse of the samadhi let alone perform any seva. Swamiji just prayed Shree Samarth and Bhagwan Ram and taking this as a blessing in disguise did Ramnam Jap continuously for about 22-23 hours a day as he used to sleep only for 1 or 2 hours a day. His Jap used to continue even during eating. Whatever food he was getting, he used to wash it in Sontale and let it dry. Then he made 3 equal parts of it, one for the cow, one for fishes in the lake and the rest for himself. This he followed throughout his life. But the quartet spread the message that this fellow is throwing the food into the lake, therefor he was given very little food afterwards of which he still made the usual 3 parts. Ultimately he would get just a fistful to eat, but he wasn't bothered! Now this bothered the quartet itself! So they decided to play their trump card. The last man in the quartet was supposed to have tamed the evil spirits and had mastered them. The quartet decided to use this power on Swamiji.     It was about midnight. Swamiji was as always engrossed in Jap and he saw an evil spirit trying to attack him. From his trance he came out saying, Ram, Ram. Nothing happened and he continued with his Jap.at dawn this so called master of evil spirits was found by everybody in the Math on the floor, writhing in terrible agony and asking for forgivance from Shree Samarth. Everyone was watching but was unable to do anything. From nowhere Swamiji came there and at once this fellow touched his feet and pleaded guilty. The onlookers just couldn't understand what was going on and why this fellow was touching the feet of a man whom everybody had abused and who was by now an outcast in the Math. They asked, What is wrong with you? Why are you touching his feet? The fellow said, Last night I had sent an evil spirit to finally destroy Shreedhar, but nothing has been wrong with Shreedhar and on the contrary fight from that moment someone invisible is continuously and forcefully hitting me with a kubdi (A Y shaped wooden sacred object used by Shree Samarth for resting his arm while doing Jap!). I can't bear this severe pain any longer. I will die. Shreedhar Swami please forgive me. Swamiji being the epitome of forgivance just said, Never trouble anyone as you have troubled me. Shree Samarth himself has handed over this punishment to you and left. But Shree Samarth didn't stop at that only. He created a situation by which the rest of three of the quartet were also shown the door. The quartet had intended to throw Swamiji out of Sajjangad, but it was they who had to leave Sajjangad in utter humiliation! Now everyone on Sajjangad knew that Swamiji was no common disciple but a very near and dear one of Shree Samarth and surely must have been blessed by him! The news spread like wild fire and now everyone started to revere Swamiji!     Once, a renowned disciple of Shree Samarth, Mr. Deo came to know about Swamiji during his visit to Sajjangad. He asked Swamiji about what he was doing. Swamiji answered, 'Ramnam Jap and seva'. Deo advised him to read Dasbodh. Swamiji's thoughts were crystal clear, he said, What is the use of simply reading it, may it be thousands of times, without Shree Samarth himself telling the meaning of it, Without this I won't get any knowledge and it can be attained only through the blessings of my Guru Shree Samarth. By Ramnam Jap, my mind has been cleared of all doubts and is now ready to accept the seeds of knowledge, now it is waiting for my Guru's blessings. Mr. Deo at once knew that this was no ordinary disciple, but still asked him to read Dasbodh, as a seva. Swamiji always listened to the elders and therefore agreed to recite it 13 times (13 is an auspicious number in Hindu mythology) and he did it within no time. But at no time did he discontinue his routine of Jap and seva.     As mentioned earlier his intake was now so less that it was almost nothing. On top of that he used to take bath in Sontale, the water of which is very cold indeed at least thrice a day if not more. This continued even in winter when the cold and winds on Sajjangad would be unbearable even with warm clothes on and Swamiji was wearing only a langoti all the time. The consequence of all this was that Swamiji's skin gave way at many places and bled. Yet he never cared for it. His philosophy was, This body is an illusion, so why waste time tending to it? If I can sustain it with almost nothing, I would find the real me inside sooner!     The omnipresent Shree Samarth was seeing this all the while and finally decided after one and a half years of Swamiji's arrival on Sajjangad that the time had come to bless him. One day Swamiji was meditating in the cave outside the samadhi. He suddenly saw that the whole cave was lit up with an unforeseen light. Swamiji went into a trans.the light converged into a human shape. He had long hair, a protruding and wide forehead and was smiling. This was Shree Samarth himself. Swamiji offered sashtaang namaskar and stood politely before him with folded hands (Hereinafter referred to as namaskaar). Shree Samarth put his hand on Swamiji's head(Hereinafter referred to as aashirwaad). He and Swamiji stood there for almost times immeasurable. They were communicating with each other without a word being said. After that also Swamiji stood there with waves of utmost pleasure sweeping across his body. When he finally came out of it he cried incessantly. He had finally got what he had aspired for all these years and more importantly, for which he was born. This was the first time in 300 years that Shree Samarth had himself blessed anyone!     Swamiji now used to spend most of his time in meditation only. He preferred total solitude. He had described Shree Samarth as the, Coolest source of the most powerful light! He himself now looked like one! Shree Samarth had himself given him the title of Bhagwan Shreemat Paramhans Parivrajakacharya Shreedhar Swami Maharaj, but even after that throughout his life he never stopped pursuing spiritualism and spreading the message of the true religion by putting his body through the hardest possible stress and strain and keeping his mind glued to the Ultimate Soul.     This year also during the festivities of Shree Dasnawami he did his regular seva with the same enthusiasm. At night when all the when all the programmes were over Swamiji sat in the cave doing Ramnam Jap. Again he experienced the same thing as Shree Samarth appeared before him and told him to go to southern part of India (Karnataka) where, Shree Samarth said, the people needed him. Shree Samarth's words being ultimate for Swamiji, the very next morning he told and elderly disciple Krishnabua about his leaving. Krishnabua was very much moved and he gave Swamiji his copy of Dasbodh, Swamiji took it and he took one of the cloths as Shree Samarth's prasad and embarked on his journey to south climbing down the most difficult southern slope of Sajjangad. He was overjoyed, but at total peace with himself. He had achieved far more than he had ever imagined. Now he was ready to follow his Guru's orders to the full for the betterment of the mankind.     During his journey he used to take bath and perform pooja at some temple before dawn. If due to some reason he could not do that he used to keep fast on that day. Once till evening he could not find any Bramhan's house and therefore did not have any food. He neither knew the destination nor the road. He was just going southwards. He saw a railway track in the evening and then briskly walked so that he could find some station to rest till dawn. He did find one and there was a house nearby where a man was sitting at the entrance. The man himself asked Swamiji about his whereabouts and instantly started to cry. Swamiji just caressed him and after a while the man who himself was a disciple of Shree Samarth told Swamiji that it was the day when his father had passed away. He had decided since then that on this day he would eat only after serving any other disciple of Shree Samarth. By the time Swamiji reached his house he had given up hope as till then the person who usually ate at his home on this day had not come. He felt very sad that his decision would be now void, but right at that moment Swamiji came. The man felt Swamiji was sent by Shree Samarth himself, which in fact was the case. He was overjoyed and therefore was crying. He then offered sashtaang namaskaar to Swamiji. Both took bath and he cooked the meal and with great respect served Swamiji. He offered Swamiji a ticket for the train but Swamiji refused saying he never sits in any vehicle and only walks.      Then he reached Kolhapur, where there is the famous temple of Goddess Mahalaxmi. Swamiji took bath in the nearby lake and then stood before the Goddess. For a long period they talked with each other without any spoken word. Swamiji then entered the inner side of the temple, which was forbidden, but no one objected. He then offered sashtaang namaskaar and touched the feet of the Goddess. It was like the meeting of the mother and son after a long period. Nobody wanted to leave each other but the Goddess and Swamiji also knew that they had to part, as Shree Samarth had asked him to go further south.     On the way he stopped at Sankeshwar's Shree Shankaracharya Math. As the lunch was over he went to the town and begged at 3 Bramhan's houses and then ate. Then he sat there in meditation. When he opened his eyes a Mohamedanperson was begging of him, You just seem to be Allah. I have brought some milk of my own cow. I know you are a Bramhan and do not eat anything given by NonBramhans, but please accept this from me as my seva to Allah! Swamiji immediately drank the milk scented by that mohamedan's faith and affection. That person was so pleased, he said now he was blessed by Allah and offered sashtaang namaskaar to Swamiji.     Then he reached a place after crossing Belgaon where he met the chief of that village. He asked him that we worship Bramha, Vishnu and Mahesh who lived with their families, then how is it said that remaining a bachelor, becoming a sanyasi to pursue spiritualism is the best way to achieve the real knowledge. Swamiji answered his query,     We forget that the creator of these Gods and the whole of the universe is The Ultimate Soul. Our endeavour should be to attain the Ultimate Soul. Of these Gods Bramha has been given the power of creation. Vishnu is supposed to look after the sustenance of the living and non living and Mahesh is endowed with the power of destruction. These powers are feminine in gender. As the powers of the Gods are named so, so are the expressions of these powers in humans that is, the man and woman and therefore these also are undifferentiated. Only one God has expressed himself in three forms and hence their families are also just the expressions of their power and thence are non existent. That one God is also nothing but The Ultimate Soul. Therefore by becoming a sanyasi and remaining a full fledged bachelor reduces the time lag in pursuing spiritualism and finally attaining Moksha, the other name of which is The Ultimate Soul. The urge to do this stems from within and no force can stop it. Although all the things in the universe have originated from the Ultimate Soul, the illusion could not corrupt it and it is the only thing in the universe which is uncorrupted. Some one by lack of knowledge or in darkness can mistakenly call a tortuous thread as a snake, but the thread doesn't change its identity in the same way even if the universe has originated through the illusion surrounding the Ultimate Soul even though momentarily, the Ultimate Soul is unaffected by it. To attain it there are two ways. One is what I told you just now, which is difficult as it requires total and complete devotion, disenchantment from the so called pleasures, and has to come from within, whereas the other is to give in to all the things which are forbidden in the first way, follow the routine course of life, make a family, earn by honest means, marry, have children, lead a peaceful life according to the preaching of the religion and after that follow the route of persuading the Ultimate Soul, this is easier than the first or it seems so as man by nature likes the material pleasures but at the same time overlooks the grief that it will ultimately yield. Now you must have understood that although the 3 Gods did have families, those were illusions just as is yours! By walking on the first path one has a chance of reaching the milestone earlier as one starts his journey even before puberty or almost around that time, while in the second method he starts his walk so late that he may or may not get that chance also. Therefore the first path is called as the best one. The first living men, the Sanakas followed the first path. The others who were created later on, the Prajapatis followed the second path. The Patil was satisfied with the answer and so very much liked Swamiji's way of preaching that he repeatedly prayed him to stay at his place for ever. Swamiji again refused and started on his further journey. This was through dense forests infested with serpents and wild animals, but he continuously kept on walking till he reached the famous Shree Gokarn Mahabaleshwar. This is the place where there is the own Ling (A key shaped form symbolizing the presence of Lord Mahadev). This temple is one of the most sacred ones in India, and is known as the Kailas (The original abode of Mahadev) on Earth. He found real peace there and stayed for some days doing his daily routine of the 3 time bath, pooja, Madhukari and above all the continuous Ramnam Jap (Hereinafter referred to as sadhana). There he met one of the Saints, while doing seva at the temple, Shree Shivbhatta who immediately recognized the authority of Swamiji and wrote a poem on him in Sanskrit which is very popular in Karnataka. Because of his untiring seva he was liked by everyone there and they decided to have a photograph taken with him, when Swamiji came to know of this, without informing anybody he left the place. He always followed the dictum of the religion that one should not stay at a place where one gains in popularity; otherwise that becomes a hindrance in the sadhana and the further progress in spiritualism.     He had met one of the disciples of Shree Shivanand of Shigehalli, at Gokarn who had told him that if he meets him both will be very happy. Swamiji had then said that if it was destined, he would. During his journey he stayed at one of the disciples of Shree Shivanand for lunch on his prayers. He also asked Swamiji to meet Shree Shivanand to which he replied in the same manner. Suddenly they saw another disciple of Shree Shivanand Mr. Manjunath Hegde coming to them and realizing the destinies wish Swamiji went with him to meet Shree Shivanand. When they saw each other, realizing the spiritual authority and the same thread of devotion to the Guru both of them hugged each other and were extremely happy. Shree Shivanand requested Swamiji to stay in his own Math called as Shree Paramanand Math, named after Shree Shivanand's Guru to which Swamiji readily agreed as the whole atmosphere there was conducive to his type of sadhana. Shree Shivanand knew Swamiji's sadhana and his authority therefore even to his disciples apart from the common men who visited the Math he would ask to seek the blessings of Swamiji saying that he is the real light of the religion. The people did that and started calling Swamiji as Sadhugalu (The simily for the word Swamiji in the regional language Kannada). Not only the people but Shree Shivanand also started giving some things or the other to Swamiji as he had nothing with him. Sensing that this also will prove to be a hindrance in his sadhana and following the same dictum mentioned earlier, he left Shigehalli. On the way he stopped at a Bramhan's place where everyone was affected by an evil spirit and was ill. Just as Swamiji put his feet in the house the evil spirit ran away and everybody started to feel better. He visited the famous temple of Venkatramana. Then he walked to Banwasi and stayed there for a night. There were some Bramhan's who had come to seek the blessings, they asked some questions regarding the Vedas and Swamiji answered them. Some of the questions and answers are:                From lively forms how are objects formed?                Just as the body produces hair, nails etc.!                The Ultimate Soul creates the universe and then again reabsorbs it in itself; can you explain this by any similar example?                The spider weaves the net around him and then re-eats it!                The Ultimate Soul is one, but expresses itself in innunerable forms. Can anyone find any simile for this?                A seed with the help of earth and water produces innumerable ones; similarly The Ultimate Soul by the wrapping of illusion and lack of real knowledge produces innumerable forms!                All were stunned with Swamiji's instantaneous yet appropriate answers and were very happy that they had seen a Great Saint.     Swamiji then went to the temple of Shree Renuka Devi (Goddess Renuka) who was the Goddess worshipped by his forefathers. He was overwhelmed to be there. He offered sashtaang namaskaar and both of them talked to each other for hours together without a word being said. The priest of the temple was very much impressed with Swamiji. During discussion Swamiji told him that people consider the Goddesses as women, which is absolutely wrong. The wife of Shree Mahadev, Parvati who is known in Hindu philosophy as the Prakriti (Nature) once imparted upon her father the knowledge that, she and the other Goddesses were not women or the root cause of the illusion as is presumed even by the followers of spiritualism, but were in unification with the Ultimate Soul itself. This being the case whosoever worships the Goddesses with this knowledge is on the right track.     During his further journey he developed malaria, but did not stop at any place as he knew that he was about to reach a place where Bhagwan Ram and his brother Laxman had stayed for a while, so he walked furiously even having the high grade malarial fever. Finally through the dense forest and the blinding darkness, and rain he reached the temple. He bathed in the lake formed by Laxman's arrow. Offered sashtaang namaskar and did pooja at the temple and then after his daily sadhana sat in the temple where he went into a trance. When he came out of it, he saw an elderly woman, sitting at his feet, praying him. She told Swamiji that Bhagwan Ram had told her in her dream (Hereinafter referred to as Drushtant) that a person like him would come there and bless her. Swamiji told her that he had not yet blessed anybody as this required thorough knowledge and authority in spirituality and he was still a person in persuance of spiritualism (Hereinafter referred to as sadhak) and had not become a Saint, but the woman was adamant and Swamiji being very kind by nature gave in to her demand and asked her to do Jap of the 13 lettered mantra (Hereinafter referred to as the Trayodashakshari mantra). The people from that place came to have a glimpse of Swamiji (Hereinafter referred to as Darshan) and requested him to tell something about Ramnam. Swamiji explained, When you utter the Ramnam, you first say Ra by which all your bodily sins come out of your mouth and vanish and when you say m you shut your mouth by which the sins from outside are prevented from entering into your body. The Upanishads say that the greatest of sins are washed out by simple Ramnam Jap. Ramnam Jap forms an impenetrable barrier around your body so that any evil power can never even touch you let alone troubling you. It also gives you the required material pleasures, moksha and unifies you with the Ultimate Soul. This mantra is better than even the Jap of Bhagwan Vishnu or Bhagwan Mahadev, as the name Ram has purposefully been taken from these two mantras by removing Ra from one and m from another. When this is done the meaning of the two mantras becomes exactly opposite of the original, because these letters are the only highly important ones in them and therefore when you utter them you get everything and get rid of the sins also. The Ram mantra is nothing but the first word uttered in the universe, which still occupies the whole of it and from which all the languages have evolved, 'The Omkar'. No matter whom you are and what authority you command the Upanishads have in clear words said that apart from the Jap of your Guru's mantra, it is always better to do Ramnam Jap also. No one is barred from doing Ramnam Jap. Further, the letter R is the seed of the sacred fire and therefore signifies the light of the Ultimate Soul and m is the visible form of the power of creation (Hereinafter referred to as Prakruti). So when you say Ram, both these ultimate powers are combined and you stand a better chance of being unified with them. Bhagwan Ram was free from any adjectives or adverbs by which the world recognizes the person as a great man (Hereinafter referred to as Nirgun sthiti or Nirgun awastha). We the common men and women aren't free from it (Hereinafter referred to as Sagun sthiti or Sagun awastha). Although Bhagwan Ram was born as a human being he was constantly in Nirgun sthiti, but for the outside world he was in Sagun sthiti. Therefore by keeping one's eyes firmly at the ultimate aim in spiritualism despite being in Sagun sthiti one can achieve the Nirgun sthiti. One who knows the real meaning of the Ram mantra is freed from this vicious cycle of birth, death and rebirth, gets moksha and is unified with Bhagwan Ram who himself is the Ultimate Soul. The wife of Bhagwan Ram, Mother Seeta, like other Goddesses is also unified with the Ultimate Soul as the Prakruti form of Bhagwan Ram, she thus is the creator, the sustainer and the ultimate destroyer of the universe. By doing Ramnam Jap one automatically worships Mother Seeta also and gets her blessings too! Can one find an easier way of attaining ones goals and the final aim?     All then hailed Bhagwan Ram. Then all of them requested Swamiji to stay with them for some time, but following the dictum of never staying at a place where you are revered, Swamiji immediately left, despite running high grade fever. He continued to walk in the searing heat of the summer with dehydration, sustaining himself on his sheer will power and the power of the blessings of Shree Samarth.     He reached Sagar, a place in Shimoga district of Karnataka. There he met Narayan Hegde, the son of Ram Hegde whom he had met in Shigehalli. But he stayed with him only overnight, with a view of not troubling anybody. He saw one temple of Gurudev Datt, and decided to go there, where one is allowed to stay for not more than 3 days. Now the fever had reached alarming proportions, but he still sat in front of Dattguru for 3 hours and was very happy. Because of fever, continuous walking and practically no food he was very thirsty and hungry. In the temple he asked the priest for some water but he didn't pay any attention. From somewhere a man came, who was a doctor! He not only gave him water but took him to one of the rooms in the temple, examined him and diagnosed that Swamiji was suffering from Typhoid fever. But Swamiji refused to stop his sadhana! The doctor brought some medicine which Swamiji refused to take, then the doc said that if you don't want to take anything orally I will apply an ointment around your umbilicus to which Swamiji's answer was no! He said who cares about this mortal body, I am not bothered if this body remains or dies. Everyone was astonished and realizing his authority asked some questions which Swamiji answered gladly.     Is there any difference between the body and the God?     - You can see the reflection in the vessel till there is water in it, once the vessel is emptied the object and its image are one. In the same manner till there is lack of knowledge you will differentiate between the two, but once you acquire it you will realize that there is no difference between the body, the mind, the soul and the God.     Is the soul capable of any achievement or work?     - No. It is again lack of knowledge which makes you conclude that whatever is done or achieved by the body is by the soul also. Just as a crystal has its own color which never changes, but is capable of reflecting or deflecting the light rays and creating new colors, the soul also never does anything, what you see being done is your perception.     Is the original Ultimate Soul corrupted after the creation of the universe?     - No. Again the same example is applicable here also. Sky is all pervading and never vanishes, so to say, and you see its image in the water in the vessel, but the sky is neither limited to the vessel nor in the water. It is there alright but is not confined to it. Therefore the originality of the sky is never corrupted. Same is true with the Ultimate Soul.     Many things have happened in this universe. Are they the real truth?     - No. This is like calling a tortuous thread, a serpent. Silver is present in a silver pot. Here silver is the original thing and the pot is a perception. The silver atoms don't change because they are made into a pot. Therefore although the Ultimate Soul created this universe, the creation is a perception whereas the Ultimate Soul is the only truth as perceptions change from person to person.     A woman residing in the adjacent room was listening to this and highly impressed she told her husband Krishnmurty who was also very much a spiritual man to go to Swamiji and get his doubts cleared. He went to Swamiji and put in front of him The Bible, some Hindu religious books and asked some of his queries. Swamiji solved them immediately. Krishnamurty was very pleased. That night he had a Drushtant of his Guru Shree Raghvendra Swami of Mantralaya, who told him that Swamiji and he were the same and Krishnmurty should perform Swamiji's seva, considering that he was serving Shree Raghvendra Swami himself. Swamiji by now had become very weak and was sleeping on the floor as he always did, but by now the rainy season had started and the floor was very damp and cold. Krishnmurty after the Drushtant went to Swamiji, told it and prayed him to accept his seva. Swamiji agreed and then Krishnmurty hired another very good room, the rent of which he paid for, for Swamiji. But Swamiji refused his offer of sleeping on a cot, so reluctantly he made a makeshift bed of rice plants on which Swamiji slept. Krishnmurty and his wife did all possible seva of Swamiji. Swamiji was on practically only water for 41 days! He just couldn't eat anything else. After 41 days he started getting relief from his fever and also started eating a little amount fruits. During these days despite fever he never departed from his daily sadhana! He had now become well known in the town as everyone knew about the Drushtant to Krishnmurty and it was nothing but a miracle for them that a man could survive only on water for 41 days, so lot of people visited him and wanted to listen to him. As was Swamiji's nature he never disappointed anyone. Some so called pundits from the town decided to test Swamiji and paid a visit, but as they saw him they realized their mistake and just offered sashtaang namaskaar and went away! Some of them used to bring milk and fruits for Swamiji afterwards.     After a month Krishnmurty himself took ill and his illness in no time assumed serious proportions. Even the doctors lost all the hopes. Swamiji being the kindest hearted person could never tolerate anyone's agony except his own! He prayed Bhagwan Ram and went to Krishnmurty who the night before had the Drushtant of Shree Raghvendra Swami and Bhagwan Ram telling him that as he had served Swamiji he would be unharmed. When he saw Swamiji coming to him he was overjoyed. Swamiji just gave him aashirwad caressed him and told him that his seva had been accepted by the God and he will start feeling better from that day onwards. He really felt better right from that moment and became perfectly normal in very few days. Krishnmurty was transferred to Shimoga, and repeatedly requested Swamiji to come along, but following his old dictum he refused. In Sagar itself there was a rich man Venkatgiriappa who assured Krishnmurty that he would care for Swamiji, which Swamiji accepted. The fact was Venkat was a disciple of Shree Shivanand Swami, who had written him to bring Swamiji to his home and offer seva to him as he would for Shree Shivanand Swami! Venkat himself had reached a long distance on the spiritual path following his Guru's orders to the core. He started Swamiji's seva sparing nothing. He even used to feed Swamiji as Swamiji had been rendered terribly weak. Day and night Venkat did everything possible for Swamiji. Swamiji, knowing his devotion and authority stayed for 4 months at his place. Never before Swamiji had stayed, for this long at anybody's. Now according to his dictum he decided to leave, but Venkat wouldn't budge. So one night at 3 am Swamiji, sensing that all are asleep started to leave, but was seen by one of the clerks of Venkat who repeatedly cried and requested him not to go. Swamiji's reply was simple, The God who has taken so much care of me here will do so anywhere, so don't worry. My aashirwad is always with you. Tell Venkat this and ask him not to grieve. I am always with you and then he left. At Venkat's home he was served by all but amongst those who served him absolutely wholeheartedly were Ganpati and Gopal Mrutguppe and Narayan Hegde. They were blessed by Swamiji. Afterwards they spread his preaching in this area a lot. Ganpati was chiefly responsible for raising and constantly improving the Varadpura aashram (A synonym for the place where great Saints live).     He went to a Math where one Swami was staying. He had a bad temper and therefore none stayed with him. Swamiji decided to stay there to pacify him and stayed there for some months doing all the seva and at the same time not insulting the Swami even though he many times abused him. But looking at the way Swamiji maintained his demeanor in any situation this Swami also started curbing his anger. Swamiji's job done, he now wanted to leave. The Swami wanted to visit some of his disciples and Swamiji asked if he could accompany him, to which he said yes. So off they went. On the way they met Anantappa, a disciple of Shree Shivanand who had told him about Swamiji. At the same time one family was keen to serve the Swami, taking this opportunity Swamiji started for Kodsadri.     On the way to Kodsadri in the night, Swamiji was sitting under a tree in the dense forest. He felt something cold and slimy brushing his bare back. It was a Tiger! Swamiji was unmoved and thought that Shree Samarth was caring for him and preventing other animals from troubling him by sending the King of them to look after him! Such was his extreme faith in Shree Samarth. In the morning he reached a place called Chitramool. Here Shreemad Adya Shankaracharya had done his sadhana and was blessed by the Goddess Jagadamba in the 7th century AD. There is a cave in which not only is Lord Ganesha (The elephant God) but it is said and many have experienced that great Saints of yesteryears also reside there. It is thus one of the most sacred places for the Hindus.     Swamiji decided that this was a very good place for his further sadhana and started it. For many days he drank only water and didn't eat anything, so engrossed was he in the sadhana. One day a man came from nowhere and offered him some nuts and requested him to eat that. He did his sadhana for some months there and was highly pleased with the way things were going.     The Swami of Sampekatti whom Swamiji had left now was craving for him as he had a Drushtant that if Swamiji again came to his Math, it will prosper. Swamiji knew his wish by intuition and met him but didn't stay long there despite repeated requests. He then pushed off towards Banwasi where Shree Shivanand Swami's disciple Shree Shankaranand was staying, who requested him to do his further sadhana there as he would like the total solitude there and there was a temple of a Goddess nearby also. Swamiji agreed and started his sadhana and seva. Here again he was touched by a poisonous serpent without doing any harm and Swamiji in fact caressed him! Suddenly Shree Shivanand sent a message that both of them should come to him at Shigehalli as he had decided to leave his mortal body. After they reached Shree Shivanand sat in samadhi and prepared to leave his body, but right then his Guru Shree Paramanand intervened and brought the leaving soul back to his body telling him that the destined time hadn't come. Shree Shivanand knew the authority of Swamiji and loved him very much. They did the Chaturmas there only in a lonely place near the Math but away from human inhabitation, where the villagers had built a zopadi (Like a slum) for them. Anantappa also came there. Many people used to come there to listen to Swamiji and he also didn't disappoint them, but after a while he felt that this was becoming a hindrance in his sadhana and wanted solitude. Knowing this Shree Shivanand decided to construct a cave for him in the nearby mountain, this was done by the disciples. Shree Shivanand had told him about Sahaj samadhi Yoga, Swamiji now got after knowing that fully and started his sadhana for it. This was Swamiji's fondest way of learning. When he decided something had to be learnt he was utmost perseverant in gaining thorough knowledge of that, no matter how much of hard work it needed. After some time he was most of the times remained in meditation and found the ultimate bliss in it so much so that for days he used to remain in that state without eating or drinking. He didn't know that this Yoga needed a lot of milk and yogurt. The effect was that he developed peptic ulcer, the pain of which was very severe. Shree Shivanand came to know about it and asked the disciples to provide it. Now the disciples and even the people of the town daily provided copious amounts of it, but Swamiji never liked to trouble others while on the contrary he was ever ready to help others by going to the extremes. So after a while he used to run away whenever people came for help. This naturally took its toll on his body which once was like a wrestler and was now reduced to just skin and bones. He couldn't care less. He survived this ordeal probably only because we should be benefited in our lives!     Swamiji was the firm believer in non violence, again to an extreme. While walking he used to look down rather than in front so as to avoid the insects being crushed under his feet! Once he saw an earthworm being surrounded by ants ready to attack it. He at once took the worm and placed it far away from the ants. Shree Shivanand was observing and asked Swamiji, whether this was right as he was depriving the ants of their food, which was a sin and against the laws of the Nature. Swamiji replied at once that, everybody is born with his destiny, it was destined that the ants wouldn't get this worm, that I would be instrumental in it and that the worm's time of death had not yet come as yours had not come when you wanted to leave your body! Shree Shivanand laughed and said that nobody could beat him in the knowledge of the Vedas!     Swamiji always was aggrieved by the state of the poor. He wanted everyone on earth to lead a happy life and knew that unless they followed the Vedas it was not possible, so whosoever came to meet him he would start talking about the preaching in Vedas in simple language which they could understand. Shree Shivanand asked him, These ones don't know a word about it, don't do any sadhana or seva, what use it is telling them directly the Vedas? Swamiji said that by repeatedly listening to it at least some will start in that direction, otherwise the dooms day is not far.     Shree Shankaranand came to the Math for a routine festival of seven days (Hereinafter referred to as Saptah). On the seventh day Shree Shankaranand left his mortal body, he had wanted to spread the message of spiritualism along with Swamiji but destiny wanted Swamiji to stay in south India as per the orders of Shree Samarth.     By now Swamiji had become very popular in Karnataka. Lots of people used to come daily for his Darshan. Even Shree Shivanand wanted him to head the Math, but Swamiji told him that he would never.     On every Ramnavmi and Dasnavmi he felt an immense urge to be by the side of Shree Samarth, but Shree Shivanand also wanted him. He was every time caught in a quandary. After that Chaturmas of 1935 was over he finally decided to leave and asked for Shree Shivanand's permission. Very thoughtfully but with sadness he said yes. Swamiji was overjoyed. Everyone came to know this and was sad but then offered their help as they knew that Swamiji in his state of health could not walk the whole distance. Somehow they convinced him to at least go by a vehicle to which he agreed after a long thought but refused to be escorted.     He went to Hubli and was waiting for the train when the ticket collector started laughing at his langoti. Swamiji said, Okay, you think this is a jest and thats why you are laughing but if a jest you can not take a jest you should not make. The ticket collector was astonished that this person looking like a beggar was talking in fluent English! He asked for forgivance and left. If he had known that Swamiji had no formal education in English he probably would have gone in coma!     He had no money to buy a ticket till Miraj on way to Sajjangad. So he had to let go one train. Suddenly some porters came and asked him where he wanted to go. They went and came back with a ticket to Miraj saying that they were originally from around Sajjangad and were very happy that this way they could offer some seva to Shree Samarth! The same thing happened at Miraj and this time a student gave him a ticket to Satara. From Satara he walked across to Sajjangad. During this whole journey he only drank water as he never used to keep a single penny with him!     Finally he entered Sajjangad. Throughout his walk from Satara to Sajjangad he was incessantly crying. He was absolutely overwhelmed by the thought that he was really seeing Sajjangad. Such was his devotion to Shree Samarth that on his way he was behaving like a child who has seen his mother after a long time. Crying and laughing at the asme time, leaping ahead to be in his mother's lap. People around were astonished to see this man offering sashtaang namaskaar time and again, that too on the road!     It was the day before Dasnavmi when Swamiji entered Sajjangad. He stood before Shree Samarth Samadhi, and then as usual they talked without a word being said. Then he sat in a corner in meditation for 3 consecutive days drinking only water and without food. In the festivies noone knew that he had come. After they were over somebody thought that this may be Swamiji and informed Gangutai who was like an elder sister to Swamiji. She immediately came and recognized him. The news spread and every body surrounded him with utmost happiness, after all they were seeing him after 5 years.     In Shigehalli, Shree Shivanand now no more wanted to continue with his life, a feeling strengthened by Swamiji's absence. He called his disciples, told them that he was finally leaving his mortal body, but not to worry as his soul would always be there and also that Swamiji would ultimately come back. He then left his body. Thousands of his disciples were highly aggrieved and were worried as to who would advise them now. Remembering Shree Shivanand's words they sent a man to Sajjangad to request Swamiji to come back, but Swamiji said that the time had not yet come and wrote 25 mantras in Sanskrit for the disciples to follow the further path; which are still very reverently recited in the Shigehalli Math.     At Sajjangad Swamiji now preferred now preferred to sit in front of the Samadhi all the time, doing meditation all the while. He had ultimately got the final bless. He knew that now by the blessings of Shree Samarthhe had gained that knowledge which every spiritual pursuer aspires for and had unified himself with Shree Samarth who himself was the Ultimate Soul. He also knew that despite this he had to continue with his mortal body till the destined time to leave it. Although for the rest of the world he was in Sagun sthiti he had attained the Nirrgun avastha! This he experienced and imbibed it thoroughly in his soul. He was now in total peace with himself and the surroundings. This pleasure can never be quantified by any measure! It is the treasure of only the Truly Knowledgeable!     He still continued with the sadhana as Vedas tell that even after attaining the real, true knowledge there should be no breach in sadhana, or else there is a chance of your achievement evaporating quickly. He, on the orders of Shree Samarth now started writing books for the benefit of mankind. During this time he wrote:             Shree Ram Gaurav (Hail Shree Ram) - 200 mantras             Swatm Nirupan (Reckoning the body and the soul) - 1000 mantras             Bhaktisar (The filtrate of worship)     He always liked solitude. Once for 3 days he sat in meditation in a cave in the forest around Sajjangad. All searched all over but didn't go to the dense forest. Then the head priest had a Drushtant of Shree Samarth who told him that Bhagwan Shreedhar Swami is in the cave, go, offer pooja and bring him back!     He came back but he was very much aggrieved not only by the state in which people lived but by the way they led their lives also. He prayed Bhagwan Ram and Shree Samarth to have another reincarnation of them or else empower people like him for the benefit of the society. He knew that for his empowerment he would have to further do sadhana, putting tremendous efforts into it without any disturbance whatsoever. So he decided to go to the Himalayas for sadhana.     One day without informing anybody he left Sajjangad for Himalayas. When the people of Math came to know this they were shell shocked. Again the search began. Swamiji was taking bath some 20 miles away in Krishna River when the head priest saw him. He offered sashtaang namaskaar and told Swamiji that since he had left nobody had either taken food or water. Swamiji was pained to know this as he couldn't bear others troubles. He decided to come back. After some days again the urge for futher sadhana came up but when he tried to walk he just could not lift his leg at all, despite the best of his efforts. He knew that Shree Samarth did not want him to go to the Himalayas at that time and had decided something else for him; therefore he dropped the idea forthwith, pending Shree Samarth's orders. Now he spent time happily with the disciples in the Math, discussing and explaining finer aspects of the preaching of Vedas.     In Shigehalli, the disciples of Shree Shivanand were desperately waiting for Swamiji. In the month of Shravan, 1939, Shree Narayan Maharaj from Harihar arranged for a Saptah at the very pious place for Hindus, Shreeyan. At this place Goddess Mohini had killed the devil named Bhasmasur. Thousands were expected for the Saptah. All thought that this was the right time for Swamiji to return back to Karnataka and further enlighten them. So a messenger was sent to Sajjangad to bring Swamiji back. But Swamiji was reluctant to leave Sajjangad and wanted to stay back to be in close proximity with Shree Samarth. He was now undecided about what to do, and therefore went to the Samadhi and sat there in meditation. Shree Samarth appeared before him and told him to go to Shreeyan as the people there were in great need of an authoritative spiritual personality. Now that he had the orders of his revered Guru, he didn't waste time and immediately left for Shreeyan. This was informed to the people there and everyone was extremely happy and relieved. Throughout his journey he was welcomed in the manner in which a King is by his people and a King he was not only in the field of spiritualism but everything else also. Everywhere there were arcades with flowers and bouquets. Swamiji didn't like this, but didn't want to disappoint the people who were so happy with his return. Literally thousands thronged to have just a glimpse of him. He blessed all of them. In Shreeyan he was revered as a deity and people were bubbling with overflowing enthusiasm as he had finally come. The Saptah went very well with Swamiji everyday delivering a discourse. It was a pleasurable experience for both him and the people of Karnataka.     Swamiji now was persuaded by the disciples of Shree Shivanand to come to Shigehalli to which Swamiji readily agreed and went there. He was overwhelmed with emotions when he saw the Samadhi of Shree Shivanand. He knew that his wish had brought him there along with the orders of Shree Samarth. The building of the Samadhi was incomplete and the Math was in debt. Swamiji immediately called a meeting of the Trustees and gave them orders to get on with the job and not to be lax in their duties, he told the disciples also in no uncertain words that Shree Shivanand was responsible for the pleasures they were enjoying till now but if they showed apathy towards the work of the Math then his blessings will no more be with them and they all will have to face the consequences. This had the desired effect and all started working and within no time the things fell in place. Now Swamiji decided to continue with the writing of his books which he had started on Shree Samarth's orders. He further added to his books, 'Swatm Nirupan' and 'Bhaktisar', translated 'Swatm Nirupan' in Kannada. He then wrote 'Vivekoday' (The beginning of Wisdom) in Marathi and translated that too in Kannada. Some further writings of these books remained, but Swamiji, knowing that now the Math was functioning routinely and well which he had assessed in the Chaturmas of 1940, now decided to leave as per his dictum of never staying at a place where he was revered and again as was his wont left without any body's knowledge. The people of the Math again were in severe distress and went in search of him. They found him some distance away from Shirsi and again requested him to come back with everyone crying. Swamiji, if any thing couldn't just see anyone's grief, and therefore relented and went back. The Math celebrated his coming back with festivities spanning 21 days. Now Swamiji again started his work on his incomplete books. Every day people thronged to listen to him and as he had long ago mentally parted with his body and because basically he was very kind at heart, he delivered daily discourses for the people, ignoring the needs of his body as always. He never disallowed any body either young or old, men or women, rich or poor, in fact he was far more inclined towards the old, the women and the poor all of whom had to face a lot of difficulties daily. He advised all of them to understand the real soul inside them and get totally unified with it for everlasting happiness. The common men were very much impressed by his preaching in a language easy for them to understand and Swamiji purposefully took great care that he should tell the preaching of the Vedas in simple words and terminologies. He told them that they should stop worrying being very happy about their bodily grief or pleasures as the body was an illusion. If they could take grief and joy without batting a lid or in the same vein then no one could by any means make them unhappy. This in fact is the gist of the Vedas but made and put in simple terms. One of the priests didn't like this simplification and started to have doubts about Swamiji's intentions. But one day after going home he saw Swamiji in the photo of Shree Dattaguru and the very next moment he saw that Swamiji was Shree Dattaguru himself, this went on for quite a while and when he realized who Swamiji really was the cascading images stopped. He immediately went to Swamiji and asked for forgivance which was immediately granted!     Swamiji's popularity had increased in Karnataka and Maharashtra also. Many people started coming to him and those who were really interested in following the path of spiritualism were blessed by him, not to say that others went empty handed, they also got aashirvad, which took care of many miseries in their lives.     He started a school teaching Vedanta in Sanskrit. He also renovated many temples which were in a bad shape. He didn't say no to anything which would spread the message of the Original Hindu religion (Hereinafter referred to as the Sanatan Dharma). He even asked a Kannada writer to write a drama and perform it also, which entertainingly conveyed the message that the path of pursuing Nirgun avastha was superior to that of Sagun avastha. This way the whole area was buzzing with the atmosphere of Sanatan Dharma and everybody was not only doing his job but doing it in the right way and in a way that would bring him and his family members, peace and happiness. Swamiji was happy, that he was able to follow the orders of his Guru.     Every now and then either messages or messengers came from Sajjangad, requesting him to come there, but as soon as this happened the people of Shigehalli literally cried and Swamiji couldn't go! After all Shree Samarth himself had ordered him to go to the south and he being the Ultimate power in the universe, how could anything happen contrary to his wishes? To put it in a simple manner the people of Karnataka were luckier.     The work of Shree Shivanand and Shree Shankaranand's Samadhi was over and Swamiji established the Shivling at both the places ceremoniously. During this period his sadhana and discourses for the aspirants didn't stop and it had to take its toll on his already weakened body which anyway always ran fever due all this hectic work and totally inadequate food, water and sleep. But Swamiji as was his wont paid scant attention to what was going on with his body, and was very happy with every moment of his life. But the disciples now realized that although Swamiji wouldn't pay any attention to his body, it was their duty to do it. Dr. Hazare from Mumbai who was his disciple came down and requested him to come to Mumbai for further investigations and rest at his place, but Swamiji had become so weak that the other ones feared that his body may not sustain the journey, so they arranged for a spacious bungalow with beautiful natural surroundings at a nearby place where all the investigative facilities were also available. Swamiji spent the rest of the 2 months of Chaturmas there and started feeling that much better. In this period itself he had a Drushtant of Shree Samarth, telling him to formally become a Sanyasi. He immediately asked the people of Shigehalli to prepare for the ceremony on the auspicious day of Vijaya Dashami, the very day on which he had left Pune for Sajjangad! This was in 1942.     Thousand flocked to Shigehalli to witness this once in a life time ceremony which took 3 days to complete. Shree Samarth had a motive behind this. Swamiji was off course doing the job allocated to him as per his orders but Shree Samarth wanted that he should follow the ritual of the Sanatan Dharma and thereby set an example for others. After becoming a Sanyasi, the person is formally accepted as the one who would strive for not only the spread of the correct Sanatan Dharma but also would preach it and practice his preaching, for the betterment of mankind. The intention was the upliftment of the poor and the downtrodden, to prevent their minds wavering from good thinking and working accordingly, to make them willingly enthusiastic about creating and maintaining happiness within and around themselves and to take them on the spiritual path ultimately so that they can attain the ultimate bliss. Swamiji was already doing this but the formal ceremony would further empower him in the ultimate cause of bliss to all which is the essence of Hindu philosophy. One part of the ceremony is to grant all the living freedom from fear. At this point Swamiji himself intuitively uttered 13 Mantras, which enlightened all those present there. On Shree Samarth's orders he was given the title of 'Shreemat Paramhans Parivrajakacharya Bhagwan Shreedhar Swami'. Now people started referring to him as 'Bhagwan Shreedhar Swamiji'. The meaning of the word Bhagwan in Indian languages is The God! He was definitely the reincarnation of The God as his deeds until now and afterwards amply proved!     Swamiji now decided to complete the book, 'Swatm Nirupan'. He needed at least some solitude to further write the book and that was impossible in the Math. Mr. Hegde suggested he write it in his bungalow and was very happy when Swamiji agreed. He then proceeded with the book and completed it. His disciple Nanjudayya by this time had translated many of Swamiji's works. Then was the anniversary of Datt Guru which was the birthday of Swamiji also. This was the first one after Swamiji took sanyas, so the disciples wanted to celebrate it on a grand scale. It went on for 7 days in the presence of thousands of Swamiji's disciples. One of the highlights was the Yakshgan, a Karnataka style of dramatized debate, in which the first actor puts forth his views in the form of poetry on the allotted subject and then the second one opposes it again in poetic form. This time the subject for debate was deliberately chosen as Charvak's existentialism versus the Vedic preaching.     The first actor put forth his view and almost convinced the audience, most of who were the followers of spiritualism, that the happiness and pleasures associated with day to day living and the material one were the ultimate. Now came the turn of the disciple of Swamiji, Ganpati Kademane. He first touched Swamiji's feet, got his aashirvad and started talking without fear with the feeling that it wasn't he but Swamiji who was talking through him as his mediator. He talked for more than 3 hours, all poetry and no prose! He said that the organic pleasures were short lived whereas what you get when you dissolve yourself in your own soul is continuous bliss. He quoted from Bhagwadgeeta that if you sacrifice everything you get immeasurable peace which naturally culminates in total bliss. It is up to you to decide whether you want temporary happiness or permanent bliss. It is so simple that it is anybody's guess. The iron curtain of pride which emanates from lack of real knowledge can be torn apart by the sword of wisdom wielded judiciously with immense efforts made effortless by the blessings of the Guru. This yields the sweetest fruits of all, the permanent bliss. Mind well it isn't something you work for and get it, but is the one which you get in appreciation of your sadhana, from the Guru. There was a deafening applause as he stopped and went to Swamiji and offered sashtaang namaskaar to him, who touched is head and gave aashirvad. The audience at once knew that it was Swamiji talking through him and hailed him thrice. After the discourse by Swamiji on the 7th day all dispersed, having had an experience of their life time. Swamiji now decided to go Honnavar, the place of Shree Shankaranand.     On the way he stopped at Karki, the place where his many disciples just forced him to stay for a while. He gave a discourse spanning 2 hours on how any man can, by employing proper sadhana can attain Moksha. He told them that one gets birth as a human being after many births as various animals. He can then by sadhana become a God. If he wisely decides to leave the pleasures of being a God he can finally attain Moksha. He explained it in a very simple language, for better understanding, which had become his own inimitable style. Even great pundits who were in the audience were highly impressed by Swamiji's knowledge and his way of expression. After celebrating Das Navami there he went to Honnavar. On the way he stopped at Ram Teerth, where Bhagwan Ram and his Brother Laxman had come in search of Mother Seeta and had encountered a devil whom Ram had killed and as there was drought in that area then he had created a continuous never ending source of water which still flows even in severe drought, even after about thousands of years of its creation. During this whole journey for some months Swamiji because of the requests of the disciples had to stay at practically every place he went through. Again he could not disappoint the disciples for delivering discourses on Vedanta apart from performing his rigorous sadhana which was uninterrupted whatever the circumstances. Again he started to feel sick and needed rest. His staunch disciple who was very rich also, Mr. Manjnath Aiyer requested him to rest for a while at the well equipped farm house in his coffee plantation, taking this as Shree Samarth sent order he didn't refuse as Shree Samarth had ordered him to go to the south and spread the message of spiritualism, Vedant and Sanatan Dharma for which he had to be physically fit, so off he went to the farm house in the big city of Chikmaglur. This house was made as if for Swamiji's sadhana, situated on a hill top and surrounded by a forest of silver oaks. Swamiji wanted to spend the time here throughout the Chaturmas most of the time in solitude. Aiyer had made all the arrangements for his comfort, but that was the word to which Swamiji was allergic to. But not to disappoint his disciple he didn't say anything, but continued his sadhana further. As there was no one to disturb him, he could spend any amount of time in solitude, in a state in which he was completely unified with the Ultimate soul wherein he used to be unaware of anything happening in the outside world, without eating or drinking anything (Hereinafter referred to as Sahaj Samadhi avastha), and to think that he had come there to rest! That is the way of the real Saints of spending there time on this mortal earth. Food and water are needed for the common man to survive whereas the great Saints like Swamiji can survive any length of time in Sahaj Samadhi avastha as that is there food, water and everything! That is a state where they get the utmost peace and bliss. They can survive in this state even after the end of the universe. Off course for achieving this state they have to climb and cross many a mountains of terrible hardships! In this period he wrote 3 collections of mantras in Sanskrit.             Dattashtak (8 mantras on the preaching of Guru Datt)             Dattprarthana (Prayer of Guru Datt)             Vighnavinashak stotra (Mantras to tackle calamities)     One morning when he was meditating before dawn Bhagwan Ram told him that although he had so fervently dedicated himself for the reinforcement of Sanatan Dharma, it may not be possible. Swamiji asked the reason and Bhagwan Ram said that it was none of his fault or any shortcoming in his sadhana but the time for that hadn't yet come. Swamiji offered sashtaang namaskaar and Bhagwan Ram disappeared. Now Swamiji's goal was clear. If Sanatan dharma was to be reinforced later it didn't in any way mean that he should not show the correct path of acquiring Moksha to those who really aspired for it and to improve the state of the poor and downtrodden in the society and thus the society itself. He dedicated his whole remaining life exactly doing that with all his might. He created incessant sources of water in the draught prone areas, provided food and clothes to the needy, opened schools where knowledge was given free of cost and even sometimes interfering with destiny saved the lives of almost dead ones or put life back in to those who were already dead (He did this part of his service to all only for those whose death might have severely affected the lives of the posterity or would have rendered many others dead). He decided to celebrate the anniversary of Guru Datt there which was arranged by Aiyer. It was done on the mountain Chandra Dronagiri. When Laxman was injured in the war with the devil Ravan, Hanuman had carried the whole mountain Dronagiri from Himalayas to Lanka where Laxman was lying in an unconscious state as the herbs on Dronagiri had the required medicine! Some part of the mountain had fallen off there and hence the name Chandra Dronagiri. There is a temple Guru Datt on the mountain and the celebrations took place there. Swamiji was very happy that it was done there as Shree Samarth was a reincarnation of Hanuman himself. In the mountain there is a cave where it is believed that Guru Datt appears before the Saints and blesses them. Swamiji went in the cave and Guru Datt did appear himself and blessed him! On Guru Datt's orders he stayed in the cave for a day and after that left for Manglore.     This city has the temple of Mother Manglai who it is said that recreated this city which was destroyed by a cyclone in the Arabian sea, the banks on which it is situated. Swamiji was taken by the people of Manglore to the temple in a procession. Mother Manglai was very eager to meet her child, Swamiji. When they met again the oft repeated dialogue for a long time without a word being said occurred between her and Swamiji. Neither he nor the mother wanted to part, but had to as the disciples were waiting for Swamiji. So with a heavy heart the Mother Goddess permitted him to leave for the benefit of the people. The Gods Goddesses and Saints never want to leave each other but they know that they have to as the people for whose upliftment the Saints are born will be deprived of that and the whole purpose of their birth will be defeated. Swamiji then stayed in Manglore for some days again blessing the needy and teaching them the correct way of leading and living life. His body continued to suffer because of the hectic work and one Mr. Shene who was very rich realized this as Hegde had and requested Swamiji to rest at his farm house named Kadriguda. Although Mr. Shene was very rich he, his family members and even his workers were terribly distressed all the time and had almost lost the peace of their mind. When Swamiji came there he asked Shene if this farm was earlier a crematory, as he was seeing a population of ghosts in that area. When Shene said yes, Swamiji knew the cause of their unhappiness and blessed even the ghosts and relieved them of their agony, on which all the ghosts offered sashtaang namaskaar to Swamiji and disappeared, never to reappear on the earth again. Such was Swamiji's authority! The root cause of their distress gone the Shenes were suddenly very happy indeed! Swamiji also liked this place and it became a favorite of him for doing sadhana. He even stayed during some of the Chaturmasas there.     One day he had a Drushtant of world famous Shree Venkatesha of Tirupati, one of the most revered Gods in India asking him to come to Tirupati. He immediately left and on reaching Tirupati, sat in the temple where immediately Shree Venkatesha himself came in the disguise of an old Bramhan and asked Swamiji if he was Shreedhar Narayan Patki from Deglur. Swamiji knew who it was and offered sashtaang namaskaar to him. Shree Venkatesha wrote something in his book and after blessing Swamiji left. No one understood what was going on. Swamiji explained the whole thing and told the people that his mother had come there and had prayed for getting something (Hereinafter referred to as Navas) and the God himself had come to notify it! He stayed there for some days and when he was leaving by some intuition he looked back and there was the giant sized Shree Venkatesha giving him aashirvad. Swamiji was overwhelmed and till the time the temple was visible continuously looked back to imbibe Shree Venkatesha in his soul. Till he reached Manglore he was almost in a trance. On the way he also had a very satisfying dialogue with the Shankaracharya of Kanchi Math, who is supposed to be an ultimate authority on Sanatan dharma. He celebrated Das Navmi and Ram Navmi in Manglore.     Swamiji had always desired to go to Rameshwar from where Bhagwan Ram had built a bridge of stones with the help of Hanuman's monkey army, across the Indian ocean to Lanka where the devil Ravan had kept mother Seeta in captivity. Bhagwan Ram had also established a linga of sand there. This is one of the most sacred places for Hindus. He reached Rameshwar and him and the others accompanying him saw the famous sunset over the ocean. Swamiji told them that the way the Sun rises and sets without disturbing the nature's laws and without any break, the universe also is formed and then destroyed and this cycle also continuous without any break. Shree Samarth had established a temple of Hanuman at Rameshwar. Swamiji very reverently visited it, offered prayers and stayed there for a while, when the priest came he at once knew the authority of Swamiji and requested him to stay there for a few more days which was seconded by many accompanying him. Swamiji also wanted the same and camped in the Hanuman temple spreading the message, teaching and preaching of Shree Samarth. When he felt the job was done he started his way back.     He stopped at Tanjavar where Shree Samarth's disciple Bheemswami had set up a Math. There are many yet unpublished works of Shree Samarth in the Math which Swamiji read and as he had photogenic memory instantly remembered them. There are some original pictures of Shree Samarth drawn during his life time and other unique works of art. Swamiji was very happy to be there. He explained to the people of the Math the similarity in art and yoga. He said that in both you have to control your body and mind and see the reflection of your soul in your mind which should be as transparent and clear as a mirror. Swamiji had described the essence of abstract painting before it had started! Chaturmas was to begin and Swamiji decided to celebrate it in Kadriguda. Once, an old disciple asked Swamiji to explain the inticacies of Saint Hood to him. Swamiji told him that one who can win over his worldly desires and knows how to maintain the peace of mind can become a Saint provided that he also knows the meaninglessness of the worldly pleasures. Only a peaceful mind can unify with the soul residing inside the body. When this state becomes ethereal he gets the real peace and bliss. This then makes him eligible for achieving Saint Hood, as he has wisdom but has the knowledge that it should be used with a kind heart for giving solace to the people and not the dry knowledge which is utilized for unnecessary and harmful debates over petty issues. Your wisdom should turn your intellect towards the soul and not away from it. If this happens the other way round then there is no chance of even nearing Saint Hood although the world may hail you as a highly intelligent man! On every 11th day of the month Swamiji used to keep fast according to Hindu tradition (Now after so many years even modern medicine is recommending it!), and he didn't drink water also on that day. The next day he used to break the fast by having a glass of milk. So this time on the 12th day a glass of milk was kept in front of him without disturbing him as he was in Sahaj Samadhi avastha. After a while a disciple went to fetch the glass and saw that a dog was drinking it and Swamiji was looking at the dog with utmost love. The fellow tried to shove that dog away but Swamiji stopped him, saying that God is in everybody, so let him drink! When the dog went Swamiji started burping as if he had himself drunk not only a glass but liters of milk. He was very kind to every living being. Once he saw that Shene's fruit garden was full of oranges and some monkeys were looking forward to eating them but were prevented by Shene's guards. He told Shene that these were the same ones who had helped Bhagwan Ram in winning the war against Ravan and they should be satisfied with which Shene removed the guards and the monkeys enjoyed their fruits. Shene for this obedience was rewarded with even greater yield of fruits in the same season! That year the winter was very cold and the disciples sleeping outside Swamiji's room one night were literally shivering. Swamiji realizing this got up, put his warm clothes on them and himself went into the cave where it was much colder. He had so much empathy for others and was so caring about every one. His whole life is full of such anecdotes.     After the Chaturmas was over Swamiji went to Shigehalli. By this time a number of his disciples to Swamiji's satisfaction had done a lot of progress in spiritualism and they were not only from Karnataka but from all over India. To some of them Swamiji asked to go back to their native places and start spreading the message of Sanatan dharma and of Shree Samarth which the disciples felt an honor and did just what was told. Swamiji then went on a tour of the holy places in Karnataka. At many of these he found that the Gods or the Saints had left as these places had lost the holiness because of the wrong doings of the people staying there or they had become commercial ones with merchants looting the worshippers, a state which favored the invasion of the evil spirits as a result of which the sadhana and wishes of the pious were going in vain. With the arrival of Swamiji all this disappeared and the piety of these places was restored. It became a routine for him to bless the evil spirits also so that they would never come back and disturb the worshippers. This tour took quite a while to end and seeing the despicable state of affairs he again decided to go to the Himalayas for further sadhana to benefit the mankind. Right at that moment the God Badrinarayan of Badrikedar in Himalaya appeared before him and told him to go to Badrikedar. Swamiji was very happy that now even the Gods wanted him to come to their land, the Himalayas!     He first went to Sajjangad for the blessings of Shree Samarth got the nod of his approval and then he started his journey to Badrikedar crossing the whole of north India and then along the holy river Ganga (Wrongly spelt as Ganges) through the Himalaya where he visited many of the holy places en route to the destination. Even in the extreme cold of the Himalaya he wore only his langoti and never stopped his routine of daily sadhana and 3 times bath in the subzero temperature and even much colder waters of the river! He finally reached the temple of Badrinarayan at the first sight of which he offered sashtaang namaskaar and then entered it. At the entrance itself there is the sculpture of Hanuman erected by Shree Samarth. From that moment onwards he was almost in Sahaj sadhana avastha. He stood in front of Badrinarayan who was his Guru as a Sanyasi and went into a trance and then began their dialogue without words. He immediately wrote 2 collections of mantras in Sanskrit in praise of Badrinarayan. He decided to celebrate Chaturmas there only. He was given a room just across the river which separated it from the temple, so that he could see the God from his room anytime. During these 4 months he spent he spent most of his time in solitude doing incessant sadhana, for which he had longed so much and was therefore very happy as his wish was fulfilled by none other than Badrinarayan himself. Now with the advent of winter the cold worsened and became unbearable as Badrikedar is at the height of 13 thousand feet. Many of the sanyasis left as is the practice there but Swamiji didn't go and even started to offer his own belongings which the Sajjangad people had given him to them. He left Badrikedar only when the Chaturmas was over, i.e. on Vijayadashmi. After trekking his way back through the Himalayas he visited many holy places in north India and then started for his journey to the Girnar Mountains in Gujarat, a western state in India .     Near Junagadh there are 4 mountains surrounding one steep one on which are located the replicas of Guru Datt's footwear (Hereinafter referred to as Padukas). This is a very important place of worshippers of Guru Datt. One has to climb more than a thousand steep stairs to have a darshan of them. Swamiji climbed the mountain, reached the Padukas and sat there in Sahaj Samadhi avastha. Guru Datt appeared before him and blessed him. Then started their dialogue without words, for hours. Swamiji then offered sashtaang namaskaar and climbed down. In Junagadh he was requested by the erstwhile King to stay at his palace and the people also forced him for that as it was the only place which could accommodate thousands for his discourses. Swamiji had to agree and stayed there for a few days preaching Vedanta. One day he had a Drushtant of Guru Datt asking him to bless a young army officer who was disenchanted with life, Mr. Bhaskar. Swamiji blessed him and asked him to go to Sajjangad for further sadhana. He later on became an authority on Shree Samarth's preaching and came to be known as Bhaskarbua Ramdasi.     There was a lady in the town who was also a great authority in spiritualism and used to be in Sahaj Samadhi avastha all the time. Unaware of the surroundings she most of the times walked across the streets without any clothes. For her nothing else but only the bliss mattered, no matter whether the clothes were on or not. But the people despised this and later on started troubling her. Swamiji heard of this and went to meet her. She never listened to anyone but she also instantaneously knew Swamiji's authority and willingly listened. He told her that even the greatest of the Saints or even the Gods when they adopted human shape, had to abide by the rules of the society, and the rule was that no one can roam around nude. To the surprise of the people she immediately agreed and started wearing clothes. She afterwards became the disciple of Swamiji and worshipped Narsi Mehta, the great Saint of the same town. In this manner wherever he went he guided everyone and showed them the correct path. The people of Junagadh as others everywhere requested him to stay there only, even the King did but Swamiji refused and then went to Porbandar. This was the city where Bhagwan Krishna had his baptism in his Guru Sandipani's ashram. He had his education there with his very poor friend Sudama, a friendship which has become folklore in Hinduism. Swamiji gladly stayed there for a few days and now started for the Capital city of Krishna's kingdom, Dwarka.     He stayed at the Shankaracharya Math in Dwarka for 1 month during which he visited all the temples and places where Bhagwan Krishna had stayed. The main temple is extremely beautiful with its dome about 150 feet in height, and the peak made of gold. He visited the palace of Krishna which is on the island in the sea called as Bet Dwarka. That time there was an epidemic of malaria in Dwarka and Swamiji also suffered from it but got alright soon due to the caring and nursing done by the disciples in the Math. The situation on the newly formed India - Pakistan border made Swamiji very unhappy as a literal human carnage was going on there. He was even angry with the Gods for having allowed this and put it on paper in the form of a 16 mantra poem, asking Ram to stop it or empower him to do that. It did stop after a while. This despicable carnage of human lives further convinced him that unless Sanatan dharma was reestablished humans will continue to behave like animals or even worse than that. Fed up with all this he decided to go back to Maharashtra, his native state. He wanted to visit another holy place, Narsobachi wadi. Here the great Saint Nrusinh Saraswati had done sadhana for 12 years which has made this place free of sins. In the temple there are Padukas of him. This was one of the places of the existence of Guru Datt, and Swamiji being born on the very day Guru Datt was born, had always had immense pleasure in doing sadhana in his presence. So he continued his sadhana with vigorous enthusiasm despite the fact that many people had started visiting him for blessings and as always not to disappoint anyone he had to deliver daily discourses. Right at that time, the people of the town started hearing some strange sounds of crying animals around the temple which was unforeseen. This went on for a while and fearing about the unknown they asked Swamiji about the meaning of this. Swamiji told them that when such things happen around so pious a place it signifies that the whole country would have to undergo a tumultuous phase. People's fear was now magnified with this prophecy and they asked him can it be stopped. Swamiji said that just as a man can't change his destiny till he attains the Parbramha the country is also no exception to this. His prophecy did come true as Mahatma Gandhi was assassinated and in the riots that followed, many of the houses in the town were also destroyed. Swamiji was thoroughly disgruntled with this and now wanted to go back to the place he loved most, where he felt utmost peace as he did nowhere, Sajjangad. When he went there he was very happy as were the other disciples. They requested him to celebrate his arrival by arranging continuous Ramnam Jap for 7 days and culminate it with his discourse. It was to his liking and therefore for 7 days Sajjangad was drowned in the name of Bhagwan Ram. In his discourse he told that continuous Ramnam Jap increased the divinity of that place, it also washes the minds of the people of all the sins and makes it crystal clear for further sadhana to succeed which culminates in attaining fullest concentration that is needed to acquire Sahaj Samadhi avastha and unification with the Parbramha. This is the easiest method in spiritualism, which can be followed anywhere, anytime almost all the time one is awake, even while doing the daily work and by anyone who has the requisite faith.     Every one from Manglore wanted that Swamiji should celebrate this years? Dasnavmi there. So Swamiji asked for Shree Samarth's permission and on getting it went to Manglore for the celebrations. Being very kind at heart he could not see anyone's grief and therefore used to give them sacred water from the daily pooja (Hereinafter referred to as Teerth) which relieved them of all their grief! Seeing this some of the young men thought that he was using some unfair means or fooling the people. They blatantly asked him about this, Swamiji smiled and told them that these people are suffering because of their lack of real knowledge which can't be imparted immediately, but to tear away the darkness surrounding them, which is the cause of their lack of knowledge and unhappiness I just give them the teerth which not only reduces their sufferings but there is a chance that at least some of them would follow the correct path of spiritualism and that would lead to resurrection of the Sanatan dharma, which is the only way of freeing the mankind of all the grief. The youth realized that this was no deception, on the contrary their perception was horribly mistaken and offered sashtaang namaskaar, on which Swamiji blessed them too!     Swamiji now wanted to visit his native place, Deglur. He reached there and went to the home of his ancestors. Immediately a big evil spirit who was one of his ancestors appeared before him. During his life time he was very miserly and even after death never left that place watching over the property, money, gold and what not, so that no one, not even his posterity should spend it! Swamiji knowing this threw teerth on him upon which there was a sudden change in his attitude and he requested Swamiji to enlighten him. Swamiji told him that he had not come to take anything away as he was a sanyasi but had come to relieve him of his evil mind. No body till now has achieved happiness through money and nobody will ever. The organic pleasures are the real diseases and property brings over calamity. These diseases and calamities are responsible for everybody's sufferings. If you want to achieve real happiness you just have to look deep inside you where the soul is and where the real bliss resides. Creation is certain to lead to destruction and thence to unending grief and sorrow. Your soul is free from all this. It neither is born nor does it die. It is omnipresent and thus is present within you also. It is the only form which continuously emanates happiness. Once you realize this you will also be freed from this vicious cycle of birth, death, unreal happiness but real grief. All the material which you think gives pleasure originates from the earthen elements and goes back to them when destroyed, the earlier you realize this sooner will you attain Moksha. I have come here to do just that! The evil spirit and the audience who couldn't see it but could feel its presence due to Swamiji's authority were stunned that when Swamiji finished talking the evil spirit vanished into thin air and the audience lost its perception! Swamiji's job done, he now started for Indur Bodhan Math where Shree Samarth's disciple Uddhav Swami had resided 300 years ago. Nearby there is a place called Sarangpur. This area was under the Nizam (A Muslim King). Some years ago it underwent a very severe draught, when the Nizam ordered all the Brahmins in the area to pray for rains and threatened that if it did not rain he would impose lifelong imprisonment for them. All the Bramhans stood in the dried lake for days together praying all the while, still it didn't rain. Shree Samarth then appeared there and threw his sacred cloth on a huge stone after carving the outlines of Hanuman on it. He asked them to pray Hanuman now and took his cloth away. Where the outlines of Hanuman were there, now appeared a beautiful sculpture of Hanuman! He then disappeared. When the first prayers were over, it immediately started raining torrentially! Swamiji stayed there for 4 days and continuously sat in the presence of Hanuman's sculpture. After their usual dialogue, he left and went to Hyderabad . He visited many places on the request of the disciples, but specially spent some more time in the Math where he used to go frequently with his mother and where he first time in his life had seen Shree Samarth's portrait and prayed. He was extremely happy to be there once again. Then he decided to go to Shree Shail Mountain , where there is one of the 12 very sacred Lingas of Shree Shankar. He did sadhana for some days there and then he got a letter from Aiyer requesting him to bless his son on his Threading ceremony at Chikmanglur. By this time wherever he went the place would be full of thousands of people, eagerly wanting to listen to him and have his aashirvad and blessings. He was very fluent in the local language Kannada and people just flocked for his discourses. All the time all the while it used to be a big congregation of people joyously celebrating just because Swamiji was present there. He was revered as a deity. He didn't want it but didn't want to disappoint them also. He used to take this opportunity to spread the message of Shree Samarth and Sanatan dharma. Chaturmas was approaching and one of the disciples who owned a huge property and a very good bungalow, ideal for sadhana, pleaded with him to celebrate it there. Swamiji never wanted to be amongst the riches, but it used to so happen that only they had the right kind of premises for his further sadhana and therefore keeping in mind the larger interests of the society and seeing that all the rich who pleaded with him were really doing sadhana as per his instructions he was convinced that it wasn't wrong to be there after all but at the same time he always used to see to it that no poor would go empty handed from that place and he used to give his affirmation to the rich only on the condition that they would look after the poor and the downtrodden even after he had left which they religiously did. So this year's Chaturmas was celebrated at this disciple's place, Kalale. After that he went to many big cities of Karnataka, spreading the message of Shree Samarth and Sanatan dharma.     Then he went to the town of Shimoga , on the banks of the river Bhadrawati where there is the ashram of Shankaracharya where he stayed. Mr. Kadappa from the ashram was blessed by Swamiji and he and other disciples established Shreedharashram. Swamiji had become very popular in Karnataka for his unparalleled authority in the field of spiritualism and his love and affection for the poor and downtrodden, whose sufferings he had relieved with his divine powers. In Shimoga a procession of Swamiji was taken out on a highly decorated elephant, which was the privilege of only the Kings at that time! People revered him as they would a deity and the Gods also knew that he had by then surpassed their powers also! Such were his powers that whosoever came in contact with him, even for a while could easily attain Sahaj Samadhi avastha! When he thought that his job at Shimoga was done despite repeated pleadings of the people he left for Sagar, comforting them by telling that he would be just nearby. In Sagar the people who were earlier blessed by him there were eagerly waiting for him and just at his sight all started crying, Swamiji knew the reason and told them that as they were following the right path in the way he had advised them to, they had nothing to worry for and although he wasn't bodily absent his mind was constantly with them and would be whenever they remembered him. All were happy and decided to celebrate the Datt Jayanti there, to which Swamiji agreed. The celebrations went on for 7 days and thousands of poor got food which was made available for 24 hours by the people of Sagar. Swamiji was very happy that his disciples had imbibed the right things. The same things happened at the next stopover, Shigehalli where the disciples of Shree Shivanand, as told by himself when he left his mortal body were waiting all these years for Swamiji for further directions and those words being the Saint's words even the Gods had to listen and follow them whereby Swamiji's arrival there was on the cards and the disciples were joyou