|| Shri Swami Samarth ||
Narsappa was a sixty-year-old man from Mysore who had come to Akkalkot and was offering service to Maharaj. He was desirous of receiving spiritual initiation from Shri. He knew only a smattering of Marathi and Hindustani and was unable to clearly communicate what he wanted from Shri Swami Samarth. However, he was devout and took darshan and went and sat near Maharaj every day.
One day a recitation of the Puranas was underway before Maharaj. Narsappa was seated next to the Purankibua. Toward the end of the recitation, Maharaj signaled to Narsappa to come and sit close to Him. An elated Narsappa went before Maharaj and placed his head on His feet and then after offering his obeisances, stood with folded palms awaiting further instruction. There was a cleark seated nearby and Maharaj took a notebook from him and handed it to Narsappa.
When Narsappa looked at the notebook, on it was written in Kannada, Narsappa's native tongue, the clear instructions from Maharaj, "Recite the Bhagavad Gita, and you will benefit." His joy knew no bounds.
Vedashastra-sampanna Dattatreyabua was leaving after receiving Maharaj's darshan. Narsappa approached the scholar and narrated the incident to him and expressed his desire to learn the Bhagavad Gita from him.
Dattatreyabua went back to the clerk and asked for the notebook that Maharaj had handed over to Narsappa. The clerk complied but the writing in Kannada was nowhere to be seen. Everything was written in Modi script. He understood that this was specific instruction meant only for Narsappa and immediately began to teach him the Gita. This continued for some months.
Once, Dattatreyabuai and a Sannyasi were discussing Vedanta, late into the night. Narsappa was asleep nearby. At around midnight, he woke up sweating and there were tears in his eyes. He sat upright and began saying to himself, " Swami Maharaj is Ishwara," and began shivering.
Dattatreyabua went near him and asked, "Why do you say that Swami Maharaj is Ishwara?"
"Shri Swami Samarth took me to Vaikuntha", said Narsappa.
"There I received darshan of Shri Rama and Sita, seated on a jewel-encrusted golden throne, flanked by Lakshmana, Bharata, Shatrughna, and Maruti, after which Maharaj brought me back", he added.
He continued muttering to himself, "Hail Shri Maharaj! Hail Shri Maharaj! He took mercy on an insignificant being like me and showed me Vaikunta and Shri Rama! Such great effulgence! Such majesty!"
After some time he sat silently staring into the distance and then returned back to normal. From that day onwards, he was fixed in his devotion to Shri Swami Samarth.
Once Narsappa suddenly felt a sharp pain in his right arm and the pain continued for seven days. That is when he brought it up with Maharaj. Shri was smoking the hooka at the time and said, "I will cure your arm", and blew the smoke from the hooka onto his arm and it was miraculously healed. Such divine power!
|| Shri Swami Samarth ||
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