We take up the tale of Jivan, whose travels with Babaji were of longer duration than those of Tularam and the longest that we know of.

After his period of travel/companionship, he came to be known as Jivan Baba, a transformation and elevation that might have seemed unusual to Jivan's near and dear ones.

This transformation would not have seemed unusual to those who had seen many such cases before.

Those who saw or knew the murtis only, but not the craftsman, saw each as distinct and separate from each other. But for those who had met the craftsman from whose hands the murtis came, and had seen him at work, they were not distinct.

All the murtis were the products of the same master hand.

The unique underlying qualities could not be traced by judging one or two of them at random, but when you took them as a whole, you could find the missing link.

K. C. Tewari

Shri K. C. Tewari, also known as Kishan or simply as Tewari, was from Nainital. Born in a middle-class Brahmin family, his education was different from most of the other devotees of the educated class who had assembled before Babaji.

Like them, he had attended schools and colleges to qualify himself for his livelihood, but he also had a second type of education—one that takes place in the family. This consists of religious and spiritual lessons and is considered essential for the children of orthodox Brahmin families.

The first type qualified him to be a teacher, which was his livelihood, but the other—scriptures and religious literature, with their rituals and practices—was for living a purposeful life, the blissful life.

Ram Narayan Sinha, Ayodhya Nath, Akbar Ali Khan, Jaidev Singh

In spite of my close association with Babaji, I acquired my devotion for Baba and whatever understanding of him I might have from the gifts of the open hearts of his old and selfless devotees.

Each devotee experiences Babaji in his own unique way. Tularam Sah said, "Babaji is the greatest sage of the age." Ram Narayan Sinha said, "He is Hanuman." Akbar Ali Khan said, "No pir (saint) or paigambar (prophet), but he is actually Khuda (God)." Thakur Jaidev Singh said, "He is Bhagwan."

I could not disbelieve them. They poured out their experiences in full ecstasy. They are as true to me as the experience I myself had on the bank of the Ganges when he whispered in my ear, "Ram nam karne se sab pura ho jata." (Everything is accomplished by taking the name of Ram.)

My first darshan was sudden and unexpected, and came at a time when mentally I was least prepared for it.

I lived a carefree social life with friends, mostly from my college days, whose company and friendship I valued. On holidays we used to get together to enjoy our time.

One Sunday evening in June 1955, we were sitting in the courtyard, joking and laughing. My mother, Maushi Ma (my aunt), and Didi (my wife) said that they were going to an adjoining house to see a baba who had come there. Hearing her, a friend asked, "What kind of baba is he? If the baba wants to eat, I could feed him."

At the Kumbha Mela of 1966, a big camp was set up in the mela grounds for the devotees who were coming to spend the entire period of the mela there and also for feeding the sadhus and pilgrims visiting the mela.

At the bhandara, thousands of people were fed without any distinction or discrimination all day, every day of the mela.

There had never been anything like that before, nor was there afterwards.

This was all done through the dedicated and inspired services of devoteees, not through hired cooks and servants, as it is mostly done in the ashrams.