During the first few days of Shri Nathji’s stay at Khanna’s house, Khanna served him in the typical western style he was accustomed to. He laid out the dinner table before Shri Nathji and sat on the table along with Shri Nathji. While Shri Nathji was served vegetarian food, Khanna took meat himself. However, something within Khanna told him it was not proper to eat meat in the presence of Shri Nathji and especially not on the same table as he. Thereafter, from the next day, Khanna began to eat meat in a separate room while Shri Nathji ate alone at the dining table.
One day, while Khanna was eating meat in his room, he suddenly heard the voice of Shri Nathji come from within him:
Khanna! Too mujhe meat khilaataa hai!
“Khanna why must you force me to eat meat!
Khanna came and narrated the incident before Shri Nathji; and even though Shri Nathji urged him to carry on with his earlier life style, and to eat whatever he desired, Khanna was so moved that he gave up eating meat altogether, and became a vegetarian. Those who were closely associated with Shri Nathji quickly engrained his habits, even though he never asserted his will upon anyone.
Khanna’s life was changed. He acquired the devotion of the famous saint, Tulsidas, whose life had been changed dramatically from one of agnosticism to that of abject faith and devotion. His family, too, received a full share of devotion.
His conversion was a big event in the state of U.P., then known as the United Provinces. People wondered what divine force had changed the life of so strong an atheist and an intellectual as Khanna. Shri Nathji’s fame began to spread everywhere and multitudes began to throng to him at Lucknow. Amongst the people who came to Shri Nathji, there were the intellectuals, scientists and the eminent judges of the time.