When Maharaj-ji had drawn anyone to him, he cared for and protected that person. He would provide whatever was needed.

Whether you took it or not, that was up to you. Occasionally, however, he did force.

One winter, a relation of Dharm Narayan Sharma came to Allahabad to see Babaji.

That evening this man was to go to Calcutta for a job interview with the railway board. He was seeking Maharaj-ji’s ashirbad so that he would be successful.

When he was to leave, Babaji said, "Don't go"

 The man said, "No, Baba, I must go. "

But Babaji was insistent. They argued, but ultimately the man had to give it up.

He said to me, "Dada, I came to him for his ashirbad, so I could get that job. Now he has stopped me. " He was very bitter.

The next morning the man ran into the house, shouting, "Dada, see how Babaji has saved my life!"

The newspaper had come and he learned that there had been a very serious accident at the Mogul Serai railway station.

When we first arrived there was a big tent for a yagna that was being celebrated.

Many priests were engaged in doing the puja, and the number of visitors was increasing daily.

Bhandara was going on everyone was fed or offered prasad to carry away with them. Everyone was happy, but there were some exceptions.

 One day a few political leaders came after visiting some cities in the area. They were welcomed and offered prasad, but their reaction was hostile.

Seeing so much ghee and other ingredients being used for havan and the large number of people being fed puris, some of them flared up and said to me,

"There is such a food shortage in this country and so many are faced with famine. It is a sacrilege to waste so much food. How this can happen in an ashram is beyond our understanding.'

Babaji was not there at the time. Later he asked me about the episode.

He said, "These are the persons who have become the guardians of the people. They do not know where the food comes from.

We were sitting with Maharajji near the front of the ashram when a sadhu came walking in the gate.

He had a big jata and a beard, was wearing rudhraksha beads and carrying a trident.

As soon as he saw the man, Babaji jumped up and ran toward him.

Babaji met the man, spoke to him for a minute or two, and then the man disappeared. He just disappeared! Usha Bahadur cried, "Who was that person?" Maharajji never said a word about it.

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When I first went to Kainchi the construction of the main buildings was over, but there were few bathrooms and latrines.

For his morning toilet, Babaji used to go into the fields, several furlongs away. Moti Ram and I would accompany him in the jeep.

After finishing his toilet, Babaji would sometimes sit by the river; then returning to the road he would sit on the parapet giving darshan.

 One day while Baba was sitting on the parapet, Mr. Chavan, the Defense Minister of India, was returning from Ranikhet with a large number of army officials.

He was riding by in his car, and when he saw Babaji, he came out and prostrated before him.

"Baba, it has been six years since I last had your darshan. This has been a very difficult time for us -there was the trouble with China and then the war with Pakistan. "

The army officials, including a general, were gathered around Baba. Babaji said,

"India is the land of gods. Nobody can take it by war and conquest. But if politicians give away the land in political games, who can prevent that?"

Then, of course, there was another type of darshan.

One day in the early sixties, Babaji came out of his room and he looked like Hanuman. I had heard from so many devotees that Babaji was an incarnation of Hanuman, but Didi and I still had our doubts.

The next day, Maharajji asked Didi to scratch his back. She found his body to be so bulky, so big, that she was actually perspiring while trying to reach her hand across his back.

 In 1968, Didi did not go to Kainchi during the summer; she was in Allahabad with her mother, so I came alone. It was the day of the June fifteenth bhandara, the anniversary of the inauguration of the ashram.

After taking his food, Maharajji went around the ashram checking on all the activity and visitors. Afterward he went to the river side and sat on the wall.

He talked about an old devotee from Unnao: "He is an old man now, but people say he was the leader of the dacoits, taking money from the rich and distributing it to the poor. He defended the helpless although he terrorized stronger people. He used to carry two revolvers, one licensed, the other not. I told him that he should surrender one. He read the Ramayana very well. He used to read it for me, "

Then I. C. Tewari, an old devotee who has since died, said, "He's the person whom Babaji once asked to read the Ramayana. When he asked, 'Baba, wherefrom shall I read?' Baba said, 'Read from the part where I am talking to Vibishan'. "