had come no less than 900 miles to see Him. He radiated joy and bliss so great that many wept unashamedly and tears came to our own eyes continually. Loving disciples mopped sweat from His brow, and skilled hands massaged His legs, as it is still impossible for Him to stand unaided.

By midday more than two thousand had received prasad and there was still a queue of eager devotees. Rich and poor, young and old, learned and unschooled, all went to Him with barriers broken down and love in their hearts, such love as very few in the West can even dimly imagine.

Baba retained His unfailing sense of humor throughout, playfully throwing balls of fruit to distant devotees for them to catch, and tenderly patting the paunch of a devotee, whose future was a little too much in front! One mother placed her naked baby on Baba's lap, and the joy of all at this beauteous sight was beyond words.

At the start, Baba sent a brief message over the mike, translated into other tongues, and this is given below:

"I am happy to have come today to Sakori, the seat of my Guru, Upasni Maharaj. Maharaj was Perfection personified. I am also very happy to be with my 'mother' who is sitting by my side. I, being Krishna, call her Yashoda.* In purity of heart she has no equal in the world."

After Arti had been performed and the darshan started, Baba later gave out these two additional messages;

"All that you see is nothing but Illusion. Even your seeing Baba sitting here with you, giving you darshan and addressing you, is nothing but illusion, and there can be no compromise in it. One who loses his all for this Cause can reach the depth of the unfathomable Ocean of Reality."

Later Baba said:

"In the recent car accident I and some of my dear ones received serious injuries. The injury in my hip-joint made me remain confined to bed, but through the love of all of you, the progress attained by me has been much more than could be expected within the time taken, and I feel that in fifteen days I will be able to walk freely and independently."

The Telegu translation of these messages was given in a masterly way by T. S. Kutumba Sastri, from West Godaveri District, Andhra State. Just before Baba arrived, a doctor, leading the contingent of 72 from this State,

*Yashoda was the mother of Krishna.