________________ SOME ANECDOTES OF SHRIMADJI'S LIFE 1. Once he had gone out with a friend for a walk in Bombay and on his way he came near a cemetery. He asked his friend as to what was the place they came by. His friend replied: "Cemetery". Shrimadji said that he viewed the whole Bombay city as a cemetery. 2. Once Shrimadji's neighbor knowing his superhuman powers told him that he must be knowing the market rates of all commodities and such knowledge could be used to his financial benefit in his dealings in shares. To this Shrimadji replied that he was not a fool to use his spiritual powers for such petty selfish benefits. 3. Once Padamshibhai, a resident of Kutch, sought from him the remedy for removing his fear of death. Shrimadji advised that till life is fully led according to fixed destiny there is no death. Why then should we not live well until death visits us? By the fear of death one cannot be free from death. Be fearless, lead a chaste life and embrace death when it comes. 4. His servant Lallu, a resident of Morbi, who had stayed with his family for a number of years caught a deadly disease in Bombay. He used daily to nurse him personally till Lallu breathed his last. 5. Once Shrimadji went to see Tokarshibhai, who had Pneumonia and whose sickness was growing fatal. In his presence Tokarshibhai became quiet and experienced peace and joy. After some time Shrimadji receded from him and said to other relatives of Tokarshibhai that the latter was gradually sinking. When he was asked as to how did he know it and as to what did he do by which Tokarshibhai got a relief from his pain and enjoyed peace, Shrimadji replied that he could see Tokarshibhai's death and he therefore tried to change his mind and last desires so as to improve his spiritual prospects for the future birth. 6. Once Shrimadji asked his three years old daughter her name, to which she replied that her name was Kashi. Shrimadji lovingly said: "No you are the Self." But Kashiben refused to agree to it. Shrimadji laughed at the child's ignorance. HIS PERCEPTION OF SELF-KNOWLEDGE On Kartik Sud 14th, Samvat 1947, Shrimadji writes in a letter as follows: "That my soul has attained complete knowledge of its nature is an indubitable fact, that my knots of the heart and head have been removed, is a truth of all times and all Self-realized souls will easily recognize and endorse my experience." At other place he writes: "O you Self-knowledge, the source of all heights of joy and bliss, to you I bow down with all devotion and humility. Innumerable souls without you suffer from ignorance. It is solely by your grace that I could know you and I could reach the goal of my soul's pilgrimage. As a result, I enjoyed unprecedented peace. I felt freedom from all worries and burdens, mental and physical." "In Vikram Samvat 1947 I could realize the full stature of my spiritual being, and from then onwards I am enjoying increasing peace and bliss." 20
