I am Harmony. Radhe Shyam

the mere sight of His presence.

      "Many learned Sanskrit scholars, ministers, social reformers and social workers, and rajas and nawabs came to see Him. In the presence of this Great One - the final goal of all teachings, the solution of the existence of the Self - the natural practice of mutual intercourse and the tranquility of those who realized Brahman was available to all in equal measure.

      "Always of sweet countenance, compassion­ate eyes, benevolent behaviour, slender of body, with child-like gestures, dressed only in shirt (kurta) and cap - these physical features were a source of super­natural attraction for all. Of food, He took very little; He drank a lot of buttermilk. When He opened His palms, the group of devotees around Him got intoxicated with their divine fragrance. His hair never grew longer. He never slept. Shiromanji lived with Him for six months but he never saw Him sleep. If someone clothed Him, He allowed Himself to be clothed, but He never asked for clothes and, even if there were clothes available, He never used them. His devotees presented Him with costly clothes, gold coins and many precious things, but He did not even glance at these uninteresting things. Yes, to entertain His devotees, He some­times used to play with the things, like a child, for ten or fifteen minutes; then anything could happen - any­one could take the things; He made no arrangements about their disposal. To Him, dust and precious things were all alike. To Him, friend and foe, detractor and admirer, sinner and saint, in His compassionate sight, all had rights to His mercy.

      "[Shiromani] recounted to me great, wonderful, and unheard-of stories of His supernatural acts, seen by himself. Due to my doubtful nature, sometimes I used to wonder at his stories and then Shiromanji used to swear on his faith, his own self, his son, and on everything, that whatever he told me was perfectly true.

      "At that time, even though my heart had not much faith, I was forced to believe in these supernatural happenings. We talked together for hours. At that time I also thought to myself that though I had no inclination for prayers, repetitions of religious verses, and discourses on religious subjects, yet how interesting I found these talks! They drew me forcibly. The whole purport of [Shiromani's] talk was that Shri Haidakhan Baba was Ishwara Himself! This personification of God was extraordinary!

      "[Shiromani] had seen many instances with his own eyes when the dead were made alive, when the illiterate were given instant eloquence to compose, the childless were given sons, those with financial troubles were given the boon of patrons. Devotees in search of divine qualities had all their desires fulfilled and gained power over occult phenomena. Those in search of salvation, not only from India but from Europe, and the holy men from Tibet, by taking refuge under His fearless and generous protection, gained illumination. People of diverse views and religions and great devotees had their hopes fulfilled by coming to the feet of the Lord. The long and the short of Shiromanji's good company and talk was to prove this. He swore repeatedly under oath, and greatly agitated, about these phenomena."³⁵

      * * * * * * * *

      In 1921 or 1922, Shri Babaji made some preparations for ending the incarnation. Gangotri Baba, who became a widely-known saint, was then about fifty years old; he had retired from his profession as a school teacher. On his return from a pilgrimage to the Tibetan Mount Kailash, Gangotri Baba met Sombhari Baba in the town of Haldwani. Sombhari Baba (a great siddha yogi) told Gangotri Baba that Haidakhan Baba wanted to see him in His ashram at Kathgharia, about three miles outside of Haldwani.

      Gangotri Baba went straight to the Kathgharia Ashram and sat with Haidakhan Baba. Haidakhan Baba said that He was about to leave the material world and go to the astral plane to do other work. He told Gangotri Baba to take up the work He was leaving behind. Haidakhan Baba instructed Gangotri Baba to go to live near the mountain village of Gangotri, from which he later received his name. Babaji also instructed Gangotri Baba to take special care of Dr. Hem Chand Joshi, the linguist, and his wife, Durga Devi. Then Babaji handed to Gangotri Baba a tulsi mala (a necklace or rosary made of tulsi wood beads) in a cotton mala bag and told him to keep it safely, saying, "I will take it back when I come next time."³⁶

      In the autumn of 1922, Haidakhan Baba traveled again to Tibet and ended this trip with a stop in the town of Ashkot, just inside the Indian border with western Nepal. Babaji stayed in Ashkot for a few days as a guest of the local rajah (king). When Babaji left the town, the rajah himself helped carry the palanquin in which Shri Babaji sat. A few miles out of Ashkot, Babaji sent the rajah back to Ashkot and continued His journey with some devotees and some of the rajah's attendants.

      When the party came to the junction of the Kali and Gori Rivers, Shri Babaji told the party that He would return again for the benefit of all human beings. Then He stepped onto the waters of the river, which is deep and swift at that point, walked to the center of the river and sat yogi-fashion and changed into Light and disappeared.³⁷

      "Whenever there is a decline of righteousness in the world, Then Thou comest in the world to save righteousness; O Destroyer of sins, cleanse us of all our defects! Hail, hail, O King of Sages, Remover of the pain of Thy devotees." From the Haidakhan Aarati

      CHAPTER III

      PREDICTIONS AND PREPARATIONS FOR BABAJI'S RETURN:

       MAHENDRA MAHARAJ AND VISHNU DUTT MISHRA

       Mahendra Baba finds Babaji

      During the years of Shri Babaji's physical absence, from 1922 to 1970, a great siddha yogi³⁸ came on the scene to tell people about Babaji and to foretell and prepare for His return.

      The man who became known as Mahendra Baba, or Mahendra Maharaj, was born on March 4, 1908, in the home of his maternal grandfather in a village called Manika, near Mithila, Bihar. Mithila is the reputed birthplace of Lord Ram's wife, Sita. His childhood and boyhood were spent in this grandfather's home.

      Mahendra's grandfather was a staunch devotee of the Goddess Durga - one of the names and aspects of The Divine Mother, the Creatrix and Nurturer. The family was well-to-do and well-educated. Mahendra attended the local school and when he came home from school he was taught Sanskrit by learned teachers. He also studied several other languages, including English.

      The grandfather was learned in Sanskrit, astrology, and the ritualistic worship of God. He had a room separate from the rest of the household where he could do his pujas (ritual worship). He also read Durga Saptshati ("Seventy Verses in Praise of Goddess Durga") in Sanskrit several times a day. Young Mahendra soon learned to read it, too.³⁹

      In his childhood and youth, Mahendra had several experiences of Babaji. He said that, as a very young child, he was healed of a near-fatal illness by a vision of Babaji and the Divine Mother, Goddess Durga. On his fifth birthday, Mahendra went to a sweet shop to buy candy and was given sweets by Shri Babaji. A man in Bombay, whom Mahendra Baba insisted on treating as a friend, rather than as a devotee, says that Mahendra Baba told him that when he graduated from high school, Mahendra went to buy sweets to celebrate the event and that, at the sweet shop, he was embarrassed by the stare of a tall, old saint. When Mahendra received his sweets, he offered some to this saint. The saint refused the sweets but said he wanted to go to Mahendra's home. Mahendra led the saint to his home and for the next six days and nights the saint taught Mahendra yogic knowledge. Then the saint walked out of the house and did not return. Mahendra had asked this guru where he came from (he replied that he had come from the Himalayas), but he had not asked his name. It is customary to call religious men "Baba" or "Maharaj," so Mahendra had needed no other name in his conversations with the saint.

      Mahendra told other devotees that as soon as he reached boyhood he developed a desire to go to Vrindaban and meditate; he had a great love and respect for Lord Krishna. One day, when still a young boy, he asked his mother's permission to go to Vrindaban and repeat Krishna's name and 'find God.' His mother wept and begged him not to go until he had more education and understood spirituality better.

      Mahendra went to college in Patna, Bihar. He told his friend in Bombay that while he was in Patna he saw his saintly