As the month of January 1979 came upon them, Shri Nathji looked up at the skies one day and saw a dark threatening cloud in the sky that looked like an enormous hand–a gigantic claw, reaching down towards him. It was a manifestation of the forces of darkness that were gathering strength to make an onslaught on Shri Nathji. For long now they had been seething with discontent at the rising glory of Shri Nathji.
There was the eternal struggle going on in the Universe ever since the dawn of creation between the forces of light and the forces of darkness.
For days now these invisible forces had been seeing Shri Nathji’s flag of divinity rise high in the world, more and more people were being converted to God, greater and greater righteousness was being spread everyday by the personality of Shri Nathji upon earth. They could bear it no longer. They had to strike in a decisive way.
They had to strike like they had struck at Lord Rama, Lord Krishna, Lord Christ, Lord Zoraster, Hazrat Muhammad, the Sikh Gurus. They knew that they could never touch the inner soul of Shri Nathji, but they also knew that Shri Nathji’s body was delicate and vulnerable and could be hurt. They prepared to destroy his life and mission with a single powerful stroke.
These forces played upon the minds of susceptible persons who had been seething with discontent at Priya Nath’s inter-community marriage, and wished to break it at any cost.
Priya Nath would now be praying the price for his attachment to the woman he had married. It was a natural law of Nature. Shri Nathji was with him to cushion the shock and to bear the brunt of the onslaught of the powers of darkness when it came.
Shri Nathji’s house was stormed in a violent manner by a large group of interested parties, and, before anyone could fully understand what was happening, they had gone, taking Priya Vari with them.
For a while it appeared as if it was the Ramayana being re-enacted and Sita Maharani being abducted. However, the age of Rama was that of the Tretaa Yuga in which spiritual values of truth still existed. In Shri Nathji’s time it was Kaliyuga, or the age of darkness, and everything that happened in this age was in consonance with it.
Shri Nathji’s life had been in danger that night. The intruders could have harmed him. Priya Nath had the option before him–whether to pursue the intruders who had gone with his wife, or to remain with Shri Nathji in the house. And he chose to stay with Shri Nathji.
Even before Shri Nathji and Priya Nath had gotten over the shock of the sudden invasion into their home, some morning newspapers arrived with absolutely false, and highly scurrilous, defamatory news that sought to destroy the entire life’s mission of Shri Nathji.
Priya Nath fell at the feet of Shri Nathji and shed tears, saying: “All this has happened to you because of me.” He realised then the heavy price he had to pay for the attachment he had formed to the person he had married. It was the inexorable law of Nature working in the Universe that brought retribution in the form of sorrow and suffering for any kind of attachment to the objects of the world.
There could not have been any person in the world who was as loving, as kind and as gentle as Shri Nathji. He had given the highest possible honour to Indian womanhood by welcoming the bride into their home. He had showered unending praise and love on Priya Nath’s wife and given her the seat of honour with Priya Nath amongst thousands of people. Intellectuals, lawyers and judges who respected Shri Nathji had also bowed before her. The entire world was witness to the atmosphere of happiness and adulation that surrounded her. It was apparent to them that whatever the newspapers had printed were lies of the highest order.
Tara Buty, who had read the newspapers, came to Shri Nathji and said: “None of your devotees will ever believe these lies. Even if they wrote a million times worse than this, people would not be affected in the least. Everyone knows of your goodness and love, and absolute divinity!”
The devotees came to Shri Nathji and said: “Our faith is forever!” Not a single person was affected by the slander and character assassination.