"Once I say I will come, I will definitely come"

In 1962, one of Saint Baba’s disciples, Bal Mohalkar, was living in Gulbarg with his family.

One day, Baba sent a message to Bal Mohalkar, that he would be coming to visit him and his family in Gulbarg. Shri Mohalkar was so happy, that he began preparing for this visit in the same way that they would prepare for a big festival like Diwali. They made all of the traditional celebratory food items too! Also, knowing that a lot of people come to see Baba during his visits, Shri Mohalkar told his family to plan and prepare the food accordingly. It was truly as though they were preparing for a massive, merry-filled celebration.

Shri Mohalkar also invited all of his friends in Gulbarg to come and meet Baba. 

On the day, Baba was supposed to arrive in Gulbarg on a 10 AM train. Shri Mohalkar went to pick him up from the station. The train eventually arrived, but he didn’t see Baba get off the train at the station. There were not too many trains on the platform that morning. 

Shri Mohalkar was very, very upset. He came home and cried, a lot. Two or three hours passed in this sadness. He even refused to eat. 

Suddenly, a few cars lined up outside his home. Baba got out of one of these cars. Shri Mohalkar was shocked, and said to Baba, “You were supposed to come by train, so I waited for you for a long time but you didn’t come…”

Baba then said to him, “Gadya, once I told you that I am coming, how is it possible that I won’t show up?”

Later, Shri Mohalkar found out that Baba had developed a high fever and wasn’t well, which is why he had missed his train. Even in that state though, Baba travelled all the way to Shri Mohalkar’s home, purely out of his love. 

Saint Baba Maharaj Arvikar describes the nature of the sadguru — their extensive and unimaginably boundless compassion — in his text, Divyamritdhara. And, we see this nature come to life in Baba himself.

In Divyamritdhara, Baba says that since sadgurus are omnipresent and all-encompassing, they have a clear understanding of everyone’s inner emotional state (antarik bhav). When the belief and knowledge that whatever we have belongs to gurudev gets naturally fortified in our minds through our attraction for divine love, only then does it lead to a surrender to the divine. To receive the grace of a guru (gurukrupa), a guru's love (guruprem) is necessary.