A letter to Shri Nathji, dated August 30, 1947, from Charan Das at Lahore gave an indication of the turn of events at Lahore.
Charan Das had received spiritual insight the moment he had set eyes upon Shri Babaji Maharaj and Shri Nathji at Lahore in 1935. His heart and soul had become so attuned to his Lord and Master, Shri Nathji, that he would not miss a single day in coming for his darshan whenever Shri Nathji was at Lahore.
He kept the portraits of Shri Nathji and Shri Babaji Maharaj in his home and worshipped them. He had no doubt in his mind that Shri Nathji was God upon earth enacting the leela, drama, he had come to play.
Charan Das spoke of the agony of the tortured land and said:
“There are Hindu Muslim riots everywhere in Lahore and the Punjab. This transitional period was prophesied several times by Shri Babaji Maharaj. All is being staged under your set programme.
“All the devotees of Shri Nathji are safe and sound in the midst of the riots. Not a single devotee has been killed.
“I had wanted to get my family out of Lahore but no trains were available. I prayed to you, and quite miraculously the Bombay Express appeared on the scene and I could get my family out to Dehra Dun.
“I have found my way out of Lahore and am in Delhi, but am greatly saddened by the fact that I had to leave the photographs of Shri Babaji Maharaj behind. Amongst these was the one taken during his last days. These pictures were the solace of my life.
“I have been transferred to the General Post Office at Delhi. My health has deteriorated. Your divine touch had kept me in the best of health when I was close to you, but after your going from Lahore the same troubles started once again. Have mercy on me and cure me by your divine grace.
“Lala Hargopal was still at Lahore when I saw him there on the 17th of August. Sri Krishen Khanna is also there and undecided about the future. Lala Sant Ramji is in a refugee camp and has lost all his property. Veeran Devi is also in a refugee camp at the present.
“Shri Sohan Lal has fled to Patiala. Shri Bhagat Ram’s whereabouts are unknown. I saw Dwarka Singh in a refugee camp.
“I hope and pray that with your grace Lala Hargopalji and Sri Krishen Khanna have got out of Lahore by now. Everything is in thy hands.
Thy Servant
Charan Das”
The letter spoke volumes about the state of affairs in the country at the time, and of the faith Shri Nathji’s devotees had in him.
It was during the days of the partition that Shri Nathji’s devotee, Shri Ram Saran Das of Rawalpindi, had sent his wife and daughters out of the city in a train to Amritsar. Later news had reached him that everyone in the train had been massacred. He had fallen down with grief and shed tears before the portrait of Shri Nathji saying: “O Nathji! Why hast thou forsaken us?”
He had tried to get out of Rawalpindi, but had been pushed out of the train. As he returned to his shop he had found a fierce Pathan there. For a moment Ram Saran Das thought he was going to kill him, but imagine his surprise when the Muslim offered him sixty thousand rupees for his shop – and this at a time when all the shops were being looted or burnt in the riots prevalent in the city. Then, all of a sudden, news reached him that he could get a seat on a plane leaving the city.
When he got out of Rawalpindi and reached Amritsar he had found his wife and daughters waiting for him! They were safe and sound. When the marauders had begun hacking people to pieces with axes and swords inside the train, Ramsaran Das’s wife and daughters had cried out, “Nathji! Nathji!”
A miracle had occurred. They suddenly found themselves under a pile of dead bodies, and escaped the inevitable doom that had lain in store for them. All these were the invisible works of Shri Nathji. He was bhakt vatsal– one who really cared for his devotees.