Once, Maharaj arrived at Kariyani from Gadhada. From here Maharaj wanted to go to Vartal for the festival of Ram Navmi or Hari Jayanti. But suddenly nineteen sadhus fell ill. Maharaj said, “I’ll give the fruits of one hundred festivals to whoever stays to serve these ailing sadhus.” But nobody was prepared to leave Maharaj and stay behind to serve the ailing sadhus. Only Swami, who always knew Maharaj’s inner wish, volunteered. Maharaj was very happy and said, “Kudos to this sadhu! He has not let me down.”
Maharaj then left for Vartal. Swami served the ailing sadhus with enthusiasm. By the grace of Maharaj all the sadhus recovered fully. There were still a few days to go before the festival, so Swami expressed his desire to go. All the sadhus gave their consent willingly and requested Swami to embrace Maharaj on their behalf. Swami reached Vartal by constantly remembering Maharaj along the way. Maharaj was very happy to see Swami for having served the ailing sadhus, and embraced him nineteen times.
From the very beginning, Swami was in Muktanand Swami’s group. But other sadgurus, like, Krupanand Swami, Bhai Atmanand Swami, Mota Ramdas Swami, Brahmanand Swami and others requested that he be placed in their group. So, Maharaj used to post Swami to each group in turn. Everyone wanted him due to his modesty, service-mindedness, politeness and constant love for spiritual discourses. Each group treated him with love and respect. When Atmanand Swami was sick, Swami remained in his group to nurse him. After Atmanand Swami’s recovery, and with his permission, Swami joined Krupanand Swami’s group.
Krupanand Swami was extremely affectionate towards Maharaj. He disliked even the slightest disobedience in carrying out Maharaj’s orders. He disapproved of any behaviour outside the rules of Satsang. Therefore, only those sadhus who were patient and who only saw the virtues in others continued with him. That’s why Swami preferred to stay in his group. Once somebody asked him, “Why do you like to be with Krupanand Swami?”
Swami replied, “Unless a person is disciplined by elders he cannot imbibe the virtues of seniors. One cannot find out one’s own merits and demerits without being told. Only those who obey the guru can cultivate the virtues of great people. Krupanand Swami is forthright, so I prefer to remain with him.”