Chapter 4
Someone informed me when I was posted in Mhow, that a miracle man had appeared in a village outside Indore who could answer one’s unspoken questions, cure incurable diseases and perform unbelievable miracles.Miracles would only happen on a night when there was full moon, when a goddess performed miracles through the medium of this individual.It was not difficult to locate this man since thousands visited him on days when there was due to be a full moon.On reaching the spot,I met his daughter,one of the seven children of this simple villager,and established his background at first hand.He was a por man who owned a small piece of land close to the village.
One day after ploughing his field,he returned home,dancing,whereupon the villagers thought he had gone mad.He was considered to be a simpleton,but his graceful dancing amazed people and they gathered round him.He told them,”I am the goddess,so and so, ask any favours from me”.The villagers asked him to produce sweets to demonstrate his powers.He took some ashes from a nearby hearth,flung them up into the air and down came the delicious sweets.In awe,all villagers bowed before him.Then he cured those with diseases by prescribing nothing more than the ashes of firewood.The news spread far and wide and something like a huge market sprang up in this unfrequented spot to cater for thousand of pilgrims on the day before va full moon.On other days the miracle man continued to undergo the drudgery of rearing a large family.But now, of course,there was no dearth of money.
After interviewing his daughter,I took my place in the queue and while I waited,I composed three tests in my mind.First,I wanted to see some miracles with my own eyes to assess their authenticity.Secondly, I wanted him to produce for me a photograph of Guru Nanak,and thirdly,I wanted to know when,if at all, I would be blessed vwith seing God or have a darshan.
I clearly saw the miracles performed for the three men ahead of me in the queue.For one, he produced a miniature picture of Lord Krishna from a flower he plucked from the garland around his neck.For the second,he threw rice in the air and it came down as sweets.To the third man he offered his hand dipped in water and said:”You will smell whatever fragrance you name”. He asked for rose and got it.Offerting the same hand to the next man who wanted jasmine fragrance,he said:”It is jasmine” and sure enough it was. Turnming to this same man, he said:”You come to ask me when your court-cases will end,and my answer is,only when you stop drinking. You drink and quarrel with your brother. Unless you stop that,the court-cases against you cannot end”. The man was in tears. It was absolutely true,he said,loud enough for everyone to hear. Now it was my turn.
He was a dark-complexioned man, rather effeminately dressed.He looked at me and said,”As you have seen I have already answerred your questions about miracles”.This was true.”Here is the answer to your second question”‘, he said, and plucking a flower from the garland around his neck,he produced from it a miniature framed picture, the size of a thumb and handed it over to me. I noticed it was a picture of the famous Sai Baba of Shridi, that remarkable saint of Maharashtra in whom Hindus and Moslems believe with equal fervour. This was not the picture I had wanted but before I could open my mouth to say so, he said,”There is no difference betwen Sai Baba and Guru Nanak.Next time,I will give you one of Guru Nanak”. He had not produced the picture but had guessed my question correctly.From a secular point of view,Sai Baba and Guru Nank are very similar, which, to some extent,accounts for their immense popularity amongst the Hindus and Moslems.
My third question seemed to baffle him and he never gave me an answer,presumably because the spirits who perform these miracles through a medium, cannot ascend higher than than their own status.The wife of an officer,who had accompanied me, had the disease from which she suffered,diagnosed correctly, but the medicine he gave her had no effect on her.Many present, however proclaimed the great efficacy of cures suggested by this miracle man. We also heard of him using his miraculous powers to get the daughter of a rich widow married into a princely family, a match the boy had earlier rejected.This marriage ended in a disaster,however,since the mother of the girl was charged with stealing a necklace during the wedding and there was a great deal of unpleasantness for all concerneed.
I came back with the impression of having witnessed a magician’s performance.Can anything of this nature ever be satisfying to the soul?
India is full of similar strange occourences,particularly in the hill areas.Simple folk are most impressionable and it is these men and women that some spirits use most often as their mediums,and who, once abandoned by the spirit, are left a wreck.These people are so constituted that, once a spirit has formed an attraction to them,they are unable to resist.The medium is hardly the kind of person who can make an effective contribution towards spirtitual evolution,as there is no guarantee that the spirit using the medium,deserves respect,and is not merely a conjuror.
Tags: mediums, Miracles, simple hill folks
