Shri Nathji stayed at Dilaram Estate in Mussoorie in 1936 and then returned to Lahore along with Shri Babaji Maharaj. In 1937, after staying at Kahkashan at Mussoorie for a while he came down to the valley of Dehra Dun which was 20 miles from Mussoorie. It was a place which Shri Nathji was to make his home in the years to come.
He stayed at 25 Inder Road at Dehra Dun, a large sprawling building which he had taken on rent, and which he was to purchase in the coming days. Dehra Dun was easily accessible from the rest of India. The sick and the elderly, who could not come to the Himalayas of Mussoorie, found it easier to come to Dehra Dun instead. It was a place that many retired persons also chose to live in because of its salubrious surroundings, the imposing view of the Himalayas close by, and the mild climate.
In 1937, Shri Nathji stayed at Dehra Dun for a short while before proceeding towards Lucknow, to live with his devotee R.R. Khanna, where the entire city of Lucknow had been waiting for him with great expectancy.
Shri Nathji and the Seth in Dehra Dun
Shri Nathji met a Seth, a rich man, who owned several houses, in Dehra Dun.
All these buildings are mine! said the Seth to Shri Nathji, pointing to the houses with a sweeping gesture of his finger.
Shri Nathji immediately made a sweeping gesture with his finger and said:
All the houses in the world are mine!
How? said the Seth.
You swept your finger in the air and called these buildings yours, so I swept my finger in the air, and called all the houses in the world mine! said Shri Nathji.
But I have proofs that these buildings are mine! said the Seth, I have a registered document!
If deeds on paper are all that matter, Shri Nathji said, then I can make out a registered document, too, signed by God, to prove that all the houses in the world are mine!
But I live in these buildings, said the Seth.
In all of them at the same time? Shri Nathji asked.
No, physically I can live only in one of them at any particular time! said the Seth, but they are all mine, nevertheless.
I, too, live in one of the numerous houses on earth! said Shri Nathji, but they are all mine!
But I can prove that these buildings are mine. The people who live in them are my tenants, said the Seth.
The people of the world are my tenants, too! said Shri Nathji.
What proof do you have that they are your tenants? the Seth asked.
I can ask the same question of you, Shri Nathji replied, what proof do you have that the people who live in these houses are your tenants?’
I can enter these houses to prove my ownership, said the Seth, while you cannot enter the houses of the world.
Sethji! As far as I know the law, even you cannot enter the houses of your tenants by force!
But I can evict my tenants, said the Seth, I can send them a notice for eviction!
You will send them a notice of eviction only when they are disagreeable, isn’t that so? Otherwise you will let them remain. None of my tenants is disagreeable to me, so I have no need to send them a notice of eviction! They can remain! said Shri Nathji.
And he continued:
Sethji, you can live only in one house in one room at one time. You can occupy only the space that is beneath your feet while you are standing, and only the space that your body measures when it is sitting or sleeping. More than that you cannot take, and less than that you cannot get! My position in the world is similar to yours. As much as is in your possession is in my possession as well. If these buildings are yours, then let me assure you, that this world–inclusive of your buildings–is mine!
The Seth was amazed at Shri Nathji’s incontrovertible argument. A new spiritual world had opened up for him, with Shri Nathji as the Landlord!