Shree Swami Samarth Maharaj

A Short Biography of Shree Swami Samarth 125
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Three Ascetics
Once, three ascetics belonging to Giri, Puri and Bharati sects, came to Akkalkot.
After hearing the name of Sri Swamiji, they started asking, “Who is this Swamiji? From
where did he come from? What is the spiritual stage of this Swamiji? Is he a Hans 212 , or
a Param Hans 213 ? Even after being an ascetic he is seen either lying on a bed or rolling
on a bed and pillow. Where is the punishment for him? Which scriptures represent and
justify his path of behaviour? ”. Seeing the arrogance of these ascetics the people
present there said, “You should personally meet Sri Swamiji and then get your doubts
clarified”.
When those three ascetics went in front of Sri Swamiji, their tongue became
very heavy and their speech was arrested. They were unable to talk in spite of their
frantic efforts. They all got confounded. They could not bear the sight of Sri Swamiji’s
Divine splendour. Repenting themselves, they prostrated at the lotus feet of Sri
Swamiji. Sri Swamiji got softened with pity. Sri Swamiji put some holy ash on their
tongues and the speech was restored.
Then they started singing in the praise of Sri Swamiji and started saying “Sri
Swamiji, your miraculous works are even incomprehensible for the Vedas. Now we pray
to you to kindly guide us as to which path should we follow for our welfare? How could
we get liberated from the illusion and attain divine favours?”. Sri Swamiji spoke to them
with open-heart “Keep full faith in the words of saints. Seek their shelter, sacrifice your
ego and devote your time for singing, worshiping and continuous repetition of God’s
name. Be happy with whatever you get. Do not harass any animal physically, mentally,
or by speech. Maintain your cordial relations with me. Remember that God is the doer
and he gets things done as well. Take shelter of devotion. When your worship to God
gets accomplished, you will be fully satisfied.
Thus the pride of those three ascetics was totally destroyed. They remained in
Akkalkot rendering devotional service to Sri Swamiji till their end.
Ramacharya
Once, when Sri Swami Samarth was in Khedmanoor Village, he put himself up in
the temple of Goddess Yellamma. The headman of that village, Appasaheb Patil, was a
devotee of Sri Swamiji. He performed Shodshopchar worship of Sri Swamiji and gave
the water by which he had washed the lotus feet of Sri Swamiji to his family members.
There was a learned man of Vaishnav190 sect named Ramacharya in this village as
well. Seeing the honour offered to Sri Swamiji by Appasaheb Patil, Ramacharya started
fretting and fuming with jealousy.
He started making critical remarks about Sri Swamiji. He would say “This
ascetic is totally corrupted. He has no caste, no kith and kin nor any family. He sits
212 Hans: One of the fourteen kinds of ascetics of high order.
213 Param Hans: An ascetic of the highest order
Copyright © 2006 Shree Vitthalrao Joshi Charities Trust