Shree Swami Samarth Maharaj

A Short Biography of Shree Swami Samarth 209
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His wife Smt. Durgatai Maa saheb took good care of him as long as she lived.
But after her death in 1945, there was nobody to look after him. His devotees brought
him food and he would keep a little from it for himself before distributing the rest to his
devotees. Very often, Shree Baba Maharaj would distribute stale food that was
sometimes even four days old, like tea and khichdi 296 to his devotees. It was a common
experience that the stale food he gave always tasted like fresh food. Shree Baba
Maharaj cured a number of sick people, saved them from the jaws of death, and took
them beyond their calamities. He directed many people desirous of knowledge towards
the spiritual path.
Shree Baba Maharaj accompanied some of his devotees & travelled to various
holy places such as Rameshwer in Tamilnadu, Jagannathpuri in Orissa, Varanasi in Uttar
Pradesh, Ayodhya in Uttar Pradesh. Once he visited the holy place of Tryambakeshwar
in Maharashtra State, Western India. The devotees that accompanied him learned about
a great saint residing on a nearby mountain. When the devotees went to take the
blessings of that saint, the saint proclaimed, “When a great saint is already with you,
why are you searching for him somewhere else?”. Shree Keshavdutt Maharaj of
Sonageer would come every year to worship Shree Baba Maharaj in a ‘Shodshopchar
way’. He always said, “If you want to see a fully accomplished Divine saint, you have go
to Shree Baba Maharaj”. Shree Lele Maharaj, the Guru of Yogi Aurobindo said, “Shree
Baba Maharaj has attained the stage of Ultimate self-realization. It is impossible for a
worldly person to perceive that stage of Shree Baba Maharaj”. The great Parsi saint
MeherBaba had come to pay homage to Shree Baba Maharaj. Anandmai Maa and Shree
Shankar Maharaj also maintained great respect and love towards Shree Baba Maharaj.
Shree Baba Maharaj preached his devotees and disciples “Meditate for half an
hour before having your meals”.
In the year 1953, Shree Baba Maharaj blessed and initiated Shree Vitthalrao
Joshi (Shree Digambardas Maharaj) and passed on the responsibility of propagating the
Swaroop Sampradaya. Shree Baba Maharaj had mentally decided of departing from this
world, so he decided to free himself from this mundane existence by taking ‘jalsamadhi’
(ending bodily existence by drowning in water) in the Sharayu River, at the holy place
Ayodhya in U. P. State, North India. So he took the permission to depart from all and
went on pilgrimage to Ayodhya along with some devotees. At Ayodhya he got down in
the Sharayu River for the abandonment of his body, but it so happened that he could
not find any place in the Sharayu River with water level above the anklebone. Then
Shree Baba Maharaj remarked, “This shows that the Sharayu River refuses to give me
any place for taking Jalsamadhi. This may be the wish of God Almighty”. So he returned
to Pune.
After returning from Ayodhya, his health was fast deteriorating. He had
continuous temperature as well as the trouble with piles. Over time, he reduced the
intake of food. He wanted to stay near Shree Digambardas Maharaj, but he had ordered
Shree Digambardas Maharaj to stay in Ratnagiri. His health started deteriorating
further. He had such a burning sensation in his body that even by placing ice cubes
nearby or by dressing him with wet coat the burning sensation would not calm down.
296 Khichdi: A mixed preparation of rice and pulse
Copyright © 2006 Shree Vitthalrao Joshi Charities Trust