031. Shri's leelas at the Tol home

|| Shri Swami Samarth ||

Maharaj began his leela when at the home of Chintopant Appa Tol. 

He would go to the forest outside the village and bring back large branches from the castor tree. He would then make foot-long pieces of these branches and stuff them with mud. These pieces he would arrange these as if he was readying rifles for battle. Maharaj would also gather the woolen fringes found at the end of a ghongadi and would arrange these in a queue. He continued to do this for seven months.

Whenever anyone asked Him what he was doing, He replied, "I am readying platoons."

Only when Nanasaheb Peshwa led the first war of Independence against the British, did everyone realize what Maharaj was referring to, through his words and actions.

Every word that Maharaj spoke and every action that he performed had a deep significance and esoteric meaning which in some cases was crystal clear, with the benefit of hindsight.

After the British defeated us Indians after the first war of Independence, the instances of armed uprisings in pockets around the country eventually subsided. It was then that Maharaj started playing a new game.

At Akkalkot there is a large cannon that is called Lakshmi. Maharaj used to put his face into the mouth of the cannon and sit for hours. He did this for many days.

The British were looking for those Indians that had directly or indirectly supported the Indian side in the first war of Independence and were sentencing them to death by cannon. When this fact became well known, that is when people understood the meaning behind Maharaj's actions.

Many princely states were investigated and action was taken against them. Some people from Naldurg, Menglai began looting.

One day Shri Swami Samarth was seated in the front yard of Badulkhan's house in Budhwar peth. Someone mentioned the looting. 

On hearing this, Maharaj said, "Nothing belongs to the Hindu now. The elephant is gone. The horse is gone. The palanquin is gone. Everything is gone."

His words ring true as the Hindu still suffers in his own country.

|| Shri Swami Samarth ||

030. Maharaj throws the golden chouphula into the well

|| Shri Swami Samarth ||

Once when Shri Swami Samarth was strolling in the Akkalkot palace grounds, he saw one of the king's attendants nearby holding a chouphula, a container with four compartments, shaped like a flower, used to keep cardamom, cloves, and other such items used as mouth fresheners. This one was made of solid gold and was beautifully crafted.

He snatched it from the servant and pointing to a nearby well asked the king, "Should I throw this into the well?"

The king, with folded palms, said, "Maharaj, it is Yours. You may do as You wish."

On hearing these words, Maharaj promptly threw the chouphula into the well. All the courtiers and servants present were saddened thinking that such a lovely item was now at the bottom of the well. However, the king was not saddened as he was fully assured of Swami's powers. That night, Maharaj stayed at the palace.

The next morning, Maharaj was once again playing on the palace grounds. The king also arrived there. 

"Get the pohara!", ordered Maharaj. The king instructed that a pohara (pail for drawing water) and rope be brought, and lowered into the well.

When the pohara was pulled up, everyone was surprised to see the chouphula inside with the items inside it as they were before it was thrown in the well. 

What was even more surprising to everyone was that the items in the chouphula were completely dry despite having been at the bottom of the well overnight.

|| Shri Swami Samarth ||

029. Malojiraje receives a divine vision

|| Shri Swami Samarth ||

Every Gurupratipada, Shrimant Malojiraje, went to Gangapur and stayed there for three nights, and in addition to other rituals, he would feed many brahmins.

One Gurupratipada, he had a divine vision in which Shri Narasimha Saraswati appeared before him and said, "I am at your village so why do you come here!?" On seeing this vision, he woke up and hastened for Akkalkot the next day. He was convinced that Shri Swami is a Datta Avatar.

At Akkalkot, Malojiraje received Samarth's paduka, applied gandham, and placed Them in his home altar.

From then on, the king began celebrating Gurupratipada at Akkalkot. In those days, an amount of two hundred rupees used to be sanctioned for the festivities.

|| Shri Swami Samarth || 

028. A mouse in the palace

|| Shri Swami Samarth ||

Maharaj roamed wherever he wanted, whenever he wanted, and ate wherever he wished. 

One day, Maharaj went to the palace and stood in front of the king. The king, with all honors, escorted Maharaj to the pooja altar and seated him on the swing. 

The king's priest, Appa Salabh Pujari, was preparing gandham when a mouse began eating the wick in the prayer lamp. Salabh noticed and angered by the rodent who had been a nuisance in the pooja room, hurled the grinding stone at the mouse killing it. 

Salabh picked up the mouse and was about to throw it out when Maharaj spoke, "Bring the mouse here."

He handed the mouse to Maharaj who took the mouse in His hands and passed it from between the rings of the swing around ten to fifteen times.

Maharaj said, "Go child!", and the mouse immediately jumped from His palm, onto the floor and scurried into his hole.

On seeing this miracle, the king and all those present were amazed at Shri's power.

|| Shri Swami Samarth ||

027. Description of Shri's playfulness

|| Shri Swami Samarth ||

Once Cholappa's wife had ground green lentils and had prepared a very good quality dal in a container.  When no one was looking, Maharaj entered the kitchen, took some dal from the container, and fed it to the cow. He did this for many days and finally, there was no more dal left. Some days later, on the occasion of some festival, Cholappa's wife decided to make puran poli and went into the kitchen to get the dal. All she found was an empty container.  

She suspected Maharaj right away as she was aware of His routine of roaming all around her home, and complained to Cholappa.  When Cholappa asked Shri Maharaj about the dal, He replied, "How should I know? Your cow ate the dal! Ask her!", and walked away. 

Cholappa was from a poor family and that is why his wife would get angry at Shri Maharaj when he would do such acts. She had not understood His true nature and thought that He was just an ordinary man.

The ruler of the princely state of Akkalkot, Shrimant Malojiraje, was informed of Maharaj's arrival in Akkalkot. They described Him as a sadhu who had come to grace Akkalkot. On hearing about Maharaj, Malojiraje said, "How do we know that he is a sadhu? I will only believe that He is a sadhu if He appears before me right now and gives me darshan." Just then, Swami Raj appeared in Malojiraje's court in His Digambar form seated on an asana in front of Malojiraje. After the ruler had the fill of His darshan, Swami Maharaj disappeared.

Once, the Governor of Mumbai was visiting Solapur on government business. He requested Malojiraje to come and meet him. Malojiraje, accompanied by this administrator, Chintopant Appa, began to make preparation to visit the Governor. 

Chintopant suggested that they visit Cholappa's home and seek the darshan and seek blessings from the sadhu who was staying with him. If they did that, Malojiraje would surely be successful in any discussions with the Governor. Malojiraje agreed they set out to Cholappa's place.

Maharaj was seated on the verandah of Cholppa's home. He was in an especially angry form and Malojiraje could not muster up the courage to stand before him and stood standing near his palanquin. 

Just then, Maharaj called out to him, "Come here!"

Malojiraje stepped forward and paid his obeisances to Shri, who took a sword from a nearby soldier and handed it to the ruler. Into Malojiraje's other hand, he pushed a spittoon. Then, after offering Him worship, Malojiraje went to Solapur.

The Governor was in a hurry to leave and the cannon salute, and the formal announcements that are the usual protocol for royal visitors were not carried out. Malojiraje was unhappy that the protocol was not followed. 

Malojiraje met the Governor and was informed that the restrictions on bearing arms, which had been in force for some time, had been lifted. That is when he realized the significance of Maharaj handing him the sword. The spittoon implied that he would be insulted.

From then on, Malojiraje's devotion to Shri Maharaj grew, and allocated an allowance of five rupees monthly for Maharaj's worship and expenses, which would be handed to Cholappa.

|| Shri Swami Samarth ||

026. From Solapur to Akkalkot

|| Shri Swami Samarth ||

In the month of Kartik, Chintopant Appa Tol went to Akkalkot and Maharaj went with him. Tol had arranged two horses, one for Maharaj and one for himself, and a servant who would walk with them.

When they had barely traveled ten kilometers, a messenger from the collectors' office came riding with a message for Tol. He had been asked to return to Solapur in order to attend to a work emergency.

Tol gave strict instructions to the servant, "Stay here with Maharaj until I return, and don't allow Him to go anywhere!" 

The servant nodded and Tol rode off with the messenger back to Solapur. As soon as he had left, Maharaj dismounted from the horse and wandered into a nearby garden. The servant followed, pleading with Maharaj to not go any further. 

However, Maharaj does what He wills, and is not bound by anyone's instructions. Maharaj disappeared from the garden and appeared in Akkalkot seated in the Khandoba temple, leaving the Tol's servant worried about what explanation he would give to his master. 

Here, Tol wound up his work at Solapur and swiftly rode back to the place where he had left Maharaj. Noticing only his servant, Tol chastised him for having let Maharaj leave even as the poor man explained that he did all he could to stop Swami from leaving. They looked around in the nearby area but there was no sign of Samarth. Tol then hastened towards Akkalkot, worried that he may never see Swami again.

The Khandoba temple is on the outskirts of Akkalkot on the route to Solapur. As Tol approached Akkalkot, he noticed Swami seated in the Khandoba temple. His joy knew no bounds and he dismounted and ran towards Maharaj. 

He pleaded with Maharaj, "Please come home, Swami."

Swami replied, "My home is different."

Even after much pleading, Swami did not agree to go with Tol, so with a heavy heart, after offering his obeisance to Shri Swami Samarth, he returned back to Solapur. Maharaj then left the Khandoba temple and sat at the village entrance, not yet entering Akkalkot. He sat there without food for three whole days.

On the fourth day, Ahmed Alikhan, a soldier, mockingly asked Shri Maharaj, "Do you smoke chilim?", to which Maharaj replied, "Yes I do!". Alikhan handed an empty chilim to Maharaj which He put to his mouth and took a puff.  

A thick smoke emanated from the chilim and this convinced Akikhan that Maharaj was an avaliya. Alikhan had noticed that Shri Maharaj had not eaten for three days and thought of arranging food for Him from a Brahmin home. Cholappa lived nearby and would surely make arrangements. 

Cholappa brought food for Maharaj and went with Alikhan to where Maharaj was. He prepared a plate and offered it to Maharaj, who asked Alikhan to touch the plate. 

Alikhan was understandably hesitant to touch the food prepared by a Brahmin. 

Sensing his hesitation, Swami reassured him, "Don't be scared, hold it in your hands."

At the insistence of Shri Swami, he touched the plate and placed it in front of Samarth who ate with great joy. 

At women of Cholappa's household were livid because Cholappa brought Swami home. They criticized his actions, called him names, and made life miserable for him. Swami did not make life easy for Cholappa either: He would feed the grains and lentils to the cows, would pass stool wherever He wanted, and would donate household items to the needy. 

But, even through all these tribulations, Cholappa's devotion to Maharaj only grew stronger.

|| Shri Swami Samarth ||

025. Tol is instructed to go to Akkalkot

|| Shri Swami Samarth ||

Rajshri Chintopant Appa Tol was leading a retired pensioner's life during the time that Shri Swami Samarth had come to Akkalkot.  Later, Shahajiraje, the king, appointed Tol as an administrator at Akkalkot. 

Once, when Tol was on his way to Solapur, the king called for him and asked him to go to Akkalkot instead. Shri Swami Maharaj was at Tol's home at that time. Tol requested Maharaj to accompany him.

Maharaj replied, "It is very hot in Akkalkot, I am not coming."

"Then when will you come to Akkalkot?", asked Tol. 

"I'll come after it rains!", replied Majaraj.

Then, with Swami Maharaj's permission, Chintopant Appa Tol left for Akkalkot.

Shri Swami Maharaj never shied away from roaming at will in the scorching hot sun. The unbearable summer at Akkalkot was not the reason He did not go. He wanted to imply that the summer would be a difficult time for the people there, because the king, Shahajiraje, was going to pass away, and rainfall would be delayed.

Just as Shri Samarth had foretold, Shahajiraje feel ill and he left his mortal coil in the month of ashad. That year, it did not rain during the chaturmas. Later in the year, after Diwali, in the month of kartik, there were good rains, and the crops flourished. Swami came to Akkalkot after these rains.

Malojiraje, the newly anointed king, had just assumed his royal duties.

From then on, for the next twenty-three years, Shri Swami Samarth resided at Akkalkot and performed various leelas, to become bhakta-kama-kalpadruma for his devotees.

|| Shri Swami Samarth ||

024. Chintopant Appa Tol

|| Shri Swami Samarth ||

Sometime between 1854 to 1855, Swami left Mahol and arrived in Solapur. He stayed there for a few months at the home of Rambhau Gurjar.

One evening when Shri Swami Samarth, in His digambar form, was seated in the Datta Mandir, many people arrived for the darshan of Shri Dattatreya. Chintopant Appa Tol was also amongst the gathered devotees.

After receiving darshan from Shri Dattatreya, he was circumambulating the deity when he saw Maharaj and thought to himself, "This must be some siddha purusha." 

No sooner did he think this than Majaraj called him out, "I may or may not be a siddha purusha. What's it to you? Go your own way?" 

He was wonderstruck on hearing this and thought to himself, "He must be a mind reader."

Maharaj retorted again, "I may be a mind reader, or I may be anybody."

Tol was truly surprised. The display of any mystical feat surely warrants reverence and Tol did exactly that. After he had offered his obeisances to Maharaj, he invited Shri to his home. At his home, Tol worshipped Maharaj and offered naivedyam. After He had eaten, Tol arranged a place for Him to rest and continued to serve His lotus feet.

Tol was now fully devoted to Shri Maharaj. Seeing that Maharaj also reciprocated, Tol would frequently invite Maharaj to his home and offer Him naivedyam.

Once, Maharaj was seated in the front verandah of Tol's home. Tol was in the backyard completing his bath. Sohni was also in the backyard with him and Tol said to him, "Swami eats wherever He wants, and hence it's not right to seat Him with others during meal time." 

After wearing his dhoti, when Tol came onto the verandah, Maharaj stood up and said, "You discriminate amongst people, I will not eat at your house!", and began walking away.

Tol was repentant of the words that he had used when speaking of Maharaj and fell at His feet seeking forgiveness, and convinced Him to return back home and have His meal.

Vishnupant was Chintopant Tol's son and was a clerk at the collectors' office. Golatpeet was the collector and Hanmantrao Pitambar was his secretary. Both officers were strict and expected punctuality from their department staff. Their clerks had been instructed to be in the office by ten o'clock sharp.

Once, when Maharaj was at the Tol residence, Chintopant Tol bathe Him, offered worship, and placed a plate with the naivedyam in front of Him. However, Maharaj did not partake in the offering and the food on his plate remained untouched for a long time. 

Vishupant had to reach the office by ten o'clock and his father, Chintopant, suggested that he eat and leave. However, Vishnupant, who was a devotee of Shri Maharaj, decided to wait until Maharaj had eaten, no matter what the consequences were at the workplace.

At around eleven o'clock, Maharaj began to eat, and Vishnupant also had his food. He then got ready for work and left. When he reached the office, he placed his things at his desk and made his way to the head clerk to mark his attendance and to explain his tardiness.

However, the head clerk, Deorao, was surprised. 

"You arrived at work before me and I can see your attendance already marked", said the head clerk.

When Vishnupant checked the attendance register, he was pleasantly surprised that his attendance had already been marked for the day. When he narrated the incident to his colleagues, they were also surprised, and this continued to be discussed for many years going forward. We are told that this happened in 1856. 

Such is the nature of Maharaj's leela.

|| Shri Swami Samarth ||

023. Collector Sohoni

|| Shri Swami Samarth ||

Mamledar Ganesh Hari Sohni had arranged a kirtan performance at his home in celebration of the Ganesh Utsav. It was a wonderful kirtan and Shri Maharaj was also attending. 

At around midnight, Maharaj stood up and walked out of his home. Anxious as to why Shri had left the kirtan, Sohoni followed Him, pleading with Him to come back inside. 

There was a light drizzle and Maharaj was making his way toward the forest. Sohoni's servants brought a torch they followed Him into the dark forest. Maharaj would not relent and refused to come back to his home. He said, "Your home is very boring. I will not come."

Sohoni asked, "When will we receive your darshan again?"

Maharaj replied, "In the mango season."

Having realized that Shri would not come back, a disheartened Sohoni left an attendant with Maharaj and returned home.

Sohoni had maintained a mistress in his home and was very attached to her. This was not acceptable to Maharaj as Sohoni was a very devout man under the evil influence of kama.  This is what He meant when the said that he found Sohoni's home, boring.

So, until Sohoni gave up his mistress,  it was certain that Maharaj would not give him darshan. This ran so true and he had to face many obstacles in his career due to his obsession with this rand.

Sohoni's well-meaning seniors took him aside and discretely asked him to leave the woman as he, being the collector, needed to project an image of a respectable man. However, he told off his seniors and the miffed seniors brought a disciplinary inquiry against him. 

However, fortunately for Sohoni, Shri Swami Samarth helped him get off with just a loss of his job without having to spend any jail time. Finally, he gave up his attachment to his mistress.

Sohoni then went home to Solapur and stayed there for many days. In the mango season, Shri Swami appeared before him in digambar form and gave him two mangoes. Eventually, he was reinstated as a collector at Baroda.

|| Shri Swami Samarth ||

022. A Gaveswamy receives darshan

|| Shri Swami Samarth ||

After leaving Mangalvedha, Shri Swami Samarth first went to Pandharpur, and to Mahol. It was the monsoon season, and the Bhima river, which flows between the two towns, was flooded. The boat service that ran between the two villages was not operational. 

Shri Swami Samarth began crossing the flooded river and the river water subsided to knee height till Maharaj had crossed over. The people of Mahol saw this miracle.

Rajashri Ganesh Hari Sohni was the collector at Mahol. Shri Swami stayed at his residence.

Gaveswamy was a lingayat sadhu at Mahol. He was 125 years old. It is said that when he used to meditate in solitude, his asana levitated one to two feet above the ground. An adept master, he could speak of the past, present, and future.

Once Shri Swami Samarth and Gaveswamy spoke in private and after that, he gave up yoga sadhana and began interacting with the world. Shri Samarth used to visit his math once in a while. Many days after Shri Samarth went to Akkalkot, Gaveswamy entered the Samadhi state.

At Mahol, koshti man began troubling Shri Swami Samarth, "Show me, Brahman, Show me, Brahman." Maharaj tried to shoo him away but he would not listen.

Finally, Maharaj took him to the Nagnath mandir at Mahol, and said to him, "Look at Brahman." As soon as He uttered these words, the koshti began seeing snakes everywhere. He lost his mind and for many days he started behaving like a madman. After that incident, Gaveswamy interceded on this behalf with Shri Swami Samarth, who in answer to his prayers, brought the koshti back to normalcy.

|| Shri Swami Samarth ||