About Baba (page 2)

He was never to meet his guru again in the flesh after that night. He remained in the forest for a while, wandering about looking for this amazing giant man. He approached a number of sadhus asking if they had seen such a huge man, hands this big, feet that big. They answered in amazement: "You saw him? Why did you let him go?" 

One day, still in that area, while sitting by a tree in a semi-doze he had a clear vision of that man again, his Guru. The Guru told him not to bother looking for him in the physical form. He said that he would alway be with him and would come to him hereafter in visions and in dreams. And so it happened. Whoever Prahlad's Guru really was he would be able to make Baba to know things that were to happen in the future. The story of this incident seems the stuff of myth and legend.

After this he returned home there was a most joyous homecoming. The parents, who had feared their son was dead, were beside themselves to have him safely back in their arms. But Prahlad could not help but suffer to see that his parents were in such dire poverty. After some time left for Calcutta to try to earn some money and ease the destitution of his family. There was little work there and he spent years as a beggar, selling rice by the roadside, washing pots and pans at a bread shop, and sending what few rupees he could to his mother and father.

But he always remembered and was haunted by his encounter with the sadhu (holy man) in the forest. He began to spend more of his nights in meditation by the banks of the Ganges river, where many secrets of yoga were gradually revealed to him. He became a sadhu himself and a temple priest, first in a remote village called Kuldanga, and later in another village called Ramanathpur where his ashram still functions and his body is buried.

It is a matter of sad acceptance that so many wonderful and miraculous stories of his life went unrecorded and known only to those few involved. He never had the slightest inclination to consider himself a great man or to gather a large flock of disciples. He was instead the perfect disciple himself of that mysterious being he called his Guru, and an ardent worshipper of that majestic force and presence he called simply "Mother."

Baba made three visits to America, the first in 1976, where he lived as simply as he did in India, doing his daily worship and meeting with whomever showed up at the door. His holy company brought untold joy and inspiration to all who met him. The many wonderful stories of his life will gradually be published on this website, as well as the reminiscences of friends and disciples.

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