At the time that Ram Rattan Khanna of Lucknow was converted, word had spread amongst all his friends and relatives of the divinity of Shri Nathji. Many amongst them came to see Shri Nathji either at Lucknow or at Amritsar and Lahore. Ram Gopal Mehra and his wife were the relatives of R.R. Khanna. The moment they came before Shri Nathji at Amritsar something happened to them. They saw God in Shri Nathji and became his forever. It was a faith that was to remain with them for over forty years till the last moments of their lives.
They first met Shri Nathji and Shri Babaji Maharaj at Amritsar in 1934 and later continued to come for his darshan and blessings at Lahore.
Shri Ram Gopal Mehra was another one of those who loved Shri Nathji dearly, and who had great devotion for him.
In 1937 Ram Gopal Mehra had to take his ailing father to Vienna in Europe. Shri Nathji was ill at the time and alone by himself in Lahore. Shri Ram Gopal Mehra hesitated to go to Europe with his father. He wanted to stay in Lahore and attend to Shri Nathji. He said to Shri Nathji:
You get well first, Shri Nathji, and then I will go to Europe.
He was an only son. Shri Nathji said to him,
Ram Gopalji, go with your father–he has only one son. There are many people here who can attend to me.
Shri Ram Gopal Mehra pulled out a blank cheque and gave it to Shri Nathji:
Use it whenever you like and for whatever amount you like. That is the only way I can serve you.
Shri Nathji returned the cheque, but he was greatly pleased with the bubbling faith of the young man.
I am afraid that I might spoil the spiritual wealth you have stored in me in the temptations of the West,”
Ram Gopal Mehra said to Shri Nathji.
Do not worry,” said Shri Nathji, I do not store my treasure in a place where it can be spoiled.
Ram Gopal Mehra went to Europe with his sick father. Whilst there, he fell ill himself. An urgent operation had to be done. He wrote a letter to Shri Nathji informing him of his desperate situation, and, having posted the letter, he went and had the operation with a calm mind. The operation was a success. The man’s faith kept him at peace within, even when he was thousands of miles away from Shri Nathji.
When he returned to India, he came to Shri Nathji and said:
Whenever I was about to fall, I saw you before me, and I was saved. This happened so many times that I ceased to marvel at it. I never fell, physically, to the temptations that came before me, though I must admit I fell in my mind. To that extent I spoiled the spiritual treasure you had stored in me. So, Nathji, beat me with this stick as punishment.
He presented a stick to Shri Nathji, which he had purchased in Europe.
Would this be a punishment or a reward? Shri Nathji asked him laughingly, you want to be beaten with the stick, and if your request is granted would that not be a reward? Your punishment is in this that your wish should not be granted, namely, that you should not be beaten with the stick!
All right, Huzoor, said Shri Ram Gopal Mehra, then place your protecting umbrella over my head.
And saying this, he unfolded an umbrella out of the stick.