Living with Baba

Once, I was massaging Baba at His Lake Gardens residence. I felt some scars on His body, one on His thigh and the other on His abdomen. I had never seen them before and wondered what caused them. As my fingers paused over those scars, He explained the reasons behind them.

Baba was then less than eight years old. Some astrologers had predicted Baba's birth and future role, saying that He had come solely to re-establish dharma and a universal society on this planet. This meant that the established religions, which divided humanity into separate compartments, would have to give way to this new, universal ideology. This prediction struck fear in the hearts of some orthodox religionists, who felt that Baba's continued presence would threaten their religion. Thus, they plotted to kill Him, in order that the prediction would never be realized.

Baba used to wander alone even as a child. One day, as He walked alone far away from the village, the small group of people who wanted to kill Him, followed Him stealthily, hoping to find Him alone, so that they could kill Him. They trailed him for some time, waited for an opportunity, and then caught hold of Him. As He was far away from His house and alone, there was not a ghost of a chance that anyone might save Him. The group of killers wanted to burn Him alive. They held Him, tied some strips of cloth doused with kerosene around the waist, and lit the cloth with a match. Baba's little body was then engulfed in flames, burning deep into His flesh. Satisfied with their work, they left Baba to die, and went away.

Due to the extreme heat generated by the flames, Baba's belly burst open and His intestines hung out of the abdomen. When the fire died out, Baba, in that painful, wretched condition walked home carrying His intestines. On seeing Baba in this gory condition, some of His family members fainted. The others immediately took Baba to a nearby clinic for emergency treatment.

As Baba recounted the story, He smiled at me and said, "I was not to be killed by those anti-social elements. I have come with My samkalpa!"

He then proceeded to tell a very funny story regarding the scar on His thigh. When Baba was a small boy He had a friend who lived nearby. Baba's laokik father was a very strict man. One day Baba's father punished Him by pulling His ear. His friend happened to see the incident. After that, whenever he passed Baba on the road, he would tease Him regarding this incident. He would say, "My father loves me like this!" and then he would cheekily demonstrate exactly what Baba's father had done to Him. Baba tolerated this unsolicited teasing for some time, until it got out of hand.

One day, Baba happened to meet up with him in the paddy field. The boy was coming home after catching fish in the paddy field. He was carrying his homemade fishing rod, with a sharp metal hook attached to it. On seeing Baba, the boy again started to tease and make fun of Baba. Without warning, Baba gave him a hard blow. The boy retaliated by hitting Baba on the thigh with the fishing rod. The metal hook tore at His flesh and caused a deep wound. Hence, the ensuing scar on His thigh. Baba narrated this story with a laugh, saying that it was only a small incident.

I thought to myself how all these ordinary events occurred in Baba's uncommon and illustrious life. His conduct and actions often made it seem as if Baba were just an ordinary human being like us. How well He camouflaged His true nature!