There was also a certain Shri S.V. Marathe at Akola who had been converted at first sight when Shri Nathji and Mateshwari had come to Akola in December 1950. The light of faith and devotion continued to burn within him over the years. He was especially devoted to Mateshwari whom he regarded as the Divine Mother of the Universe.
He referred to Shri Nathji as the Lord of the Universe.
When he was undergoing a serious operation in the hospital, he had a portrait of Shri Nathji taken inside and placed it on a wall in the operation theatre. The operation was a success far beyond the expectations of the doctors.
Shri Nathji’s photograph was a real image of God. His devotees carried it with them and used it in all the difficult moments of life.
When a son was born to Shri S.V. Marathe in 1953, he named him Shri Nath, with the permission of his Lord and Master, Shri Nathji. Many a time in life Shri S.V. Marathe would have visions of Shri Nathji walking on the streets behind him.
An acquaintance of his, who was in great trouble, came to see him to take refuge in Shri Nathji.
When the acquaintance left his house, Shri Marathe said to him:
Look! Your troubles are over! Shri Nathji is walking behind you!
And Shri Marathe was right. The man was saved from a catastrophic blow to his career.
One day before Shri S. V. Marathe’s wife left the world, she had a vision of Shri Nathji and Mateshwari. They came into her room and said:
We have come to take you with us!
The next day she passed away in a blissful sleep, released from the suffering of a body racked by illness.
As the years passed, Shri Marathe’s devotion to Mateshwari and Shri Nathji became more and more powerful.
In 1975 he constructed the Mahamateswari Savitri Devi Temple at Akola on the roof of his house. The temple was to become a living shrine to the memory of the Divine Mother. People from different parts of India were to visit it one day.
When the temple was complete, Shri Marathe prostrated himself before the Moorti, the image of Mateshwari within. A sudden fragrance filled the air, and a powerful light shone outwards from the moorti. Other devotees of Shri Nathji who came to the temple had a similar experience.
After the passing away of W. A. Sohni in the 1960’s,–who delivered up his life to the Supreme Being, with the name of Shri Nathji, on his lips–Shri S. V. Marathe took it upon himself to propagate Shri Nathji’s message at Akola.
He would celebrate Shri Nathji’s birthday in Akola every year and send out invitation cards with himself as the host.
In 1976, a certain devotee from Akola, Shri L.A. Muley, who had just visited Shri Nathji in New Delhi, declared that he had been given the privilege of celebrating Shri Nathji’s birthday in Akola that year. However, Shri Nathji had wanted the privilege to go to Shri Marathe every year. The devotee was seeking to prove his devotion as well, and the invitation cards went out in his name that year.
Perhaps it was a coincidence–but Shri S. V. Marathe passed away that very year. Immediately after the birthday celebrations were over, he returned home, and collapsed in the arms of his dear son, Shri Nath. His soul entered the Universal Soul of Shri Nathji.
Death, to Shri Nathji’s devotees, was a final and complete union with Him.
Shri Nathji Writes Memorial
In an unusual gesture, Shri Nathji wrote a memorial on Shri S. V. Marathe, and had hundreds of copies of the memorial printed and sent out to devotees all over India. It was an unusual worship of a devotee by God.