The night before Shri Nathji arrived in Akola, numerous people in the City saw him in their dreams, in vivid visions, in various forms – some saw him as Lord Vishnu, some as Lord Panduranga, some as Dattatraiya, some as Lord Shankar, some as Nath himself. It was as if God had chosen this little town as His own.
Shri Nathji said:
Do you know what the definition of a soul is? That which is dearer than everything else is the soul–the Aatmaa!
“Jo sab vastuon se priya ho vo Aatmaa hai!”
And he continued:
And let me tell you the definition of the Paramaatmaa – the Universal Soul. It is that which is dearer than the Aatmaa itself!
“Aur jo Aatmaa se bhi priya ho vo Parmaatmaa hai!”
If one can look upon something and love it more dearly than one loves oneself, then surely that thing must contain an element of the divine.
The people gathered there were greatly impressed by Shri Nathji’s words.
Shri W. A. Sohni, who was an M. A. in Philosophy, was astonished at Shri Nathji’s ability to make a place in the hearts of people. He had offered him only his house, but Shri Nathji had entered his heart as well. No law could evict him from there.
There were many amongst the crowds who could not understand the simple Hindustani that Shri Nathji spoke, nor the erudite Hindi he used at times or his Urdu and Persian couplets.
Shri Nathji was in the heart of Maharashtra amongst people with a language different from his own. But words were not necessary. God was speaking to them through the language of the soul.
Shri Nathji had entered the hearts of the people, unasked, and had filled their minds with the apprehension that he might leave. No law was needed to evict him, on the contrary a law had to be made that could keep him within, forever.