The fortunate chapter of an unlucky life

Mr. Narayan Kulkarni first saw Saint Baba Maharaj Arvikar when he was giving a discourse at the Kalaram temple near Satara. Mr Kulkarni in describing this said, “As the introductory words, ‘Dear, loving devotees of god…’ flowed from Baba’s lips, some of the listeners got goosebumps. I felt deeply emotionally moved. Like the reassuring and comforting call of a mother falling on the ears of a confused child that has lost their way, that’s how it felt. And the waterfall of his speech, resounding with profound philosophical ideas, surged and flowed with great intensity, uncontrollably. Time seemed to stand still, as though all of the listeners had entered another world.”

Once the discourse was completed, Mr. Kulkarni went back home in a trance like state. For the next two days, back to back, he went to listen to Baba’s discourses. After the third discourse, Mr. Kulkarni said, “The Gita discourses have been completed, and in my unlucky life, the fortunate Saint Moreshwar chapter of my life began.”

A few months later, having been given some administrative responsibilities by the Shri Samarth Seva Mandal, Mr. Kulkarni went to Sajjangad. There, he saw Baba climbing up to the fort and began walking behind him. Baba went into the Samarth temple, and the following is an account of what happened next in Mr. Kulkarni’s own words:

Saint Baba, with an expression of deep reverence, entered the sanctum. I followed him. Saint Baba rested his forehead on the samadhi. His dark, flowing hair spread over the samadhi, forming a soft, velvety veil around his face, as if an embrace of silent devotion, Two minutes passed, then five minutes passed, but Baba did not lift his head. All of the people in the samadhi temple were still and focused. The unique tradition of receiving the darshan of a saint in their home was being witnessed by everyone today. Movement stopped. What was this darshan! The body’s movement was halted. Simply a wordless meeting. After 15-20 minutes, Baba lifted his head, his eyes shone with blessings and his face glowing from the radiance of the darshan of a saint. Others, through this, also received a lesson in how to receive the darshan of saints.”

Later, after some time, Baba said to Mr. Kulkarni, “This land is so holy, right? Each and every particle of this land has been bathed in the divine radiance of Shri Samarth. Come, let’s go for a bath.”

Saint Baba, Saint Anant Swami, and Mr. Kulkarni, all went to the lake. Baba took off his clothes and began rolling around in the same way that one rolls around in the royal land of Vrindavan, saying “Our bodies must be covered in this holy dust, right? It is because that great and immensely powerful mahapurush dedicated and spent all his deep meditative practice (tapasya) on the happiness and welfare of the masses, that today, in this state of Maharashtra, we can walk around with the pride of being Maharashtrian. We can never repay this debt.”

Saint Baba Maharaj Arvikar says that the dharma that saints taught us, the work that saints did, that has not only been for the benefit/welfare of humans, but also for the welfare of all other living beings.