The festival of Dusshera came and went at Nagpur, with Shri Nathji saying:
Today I have seen many persons wearing clothes that have Rama written on them. How much better it would be if this word could be written on their hearts instead!
There was Sharda Bahen, the sister of Mrs.Gangabai Bhutt, and her brother, who came for Shri Nathji’s darshan during this time. Sharda Bahen was an intellectual and poet of some fame and had been honoured by the government for her work.
Sharda Bahen had a faith in Shri Nathji which was equal to that of her sister Gangabai Bhutt. She had come with Gangabai Bhutt to Lahore in 1937 when Mrs. Bhutt had found Shri Nathji for the first time after a three-year search all over the country, as the Lord Vishnu she had seen in the heavens.
In March 1949, Shri Nathji had taken an arduous journey from Allahabad to Chandrapur and from there to Rajahmundry, proceeding forthwith to Calcutta on his way back to Allahabad, where Mahamateshwari and the children were waiting for his return.
While he was at Calcutta, he had received pressing invitations from devotees at Nagpur to grace their city. The Governor of the Central Provinces, Sri Mangal Das Pakvasa, and the Chief Minister Shri Ravi Shanker Shukla were anxious to give him a reception at the Government House. However Shri Nathji had already gone so far towards Allahabad that he was loathe to back-track and go to Nagpur.
The invitations had become more pressing because the devotees knew that Shri Nathji’s plans were very unpredictable and that he might never return to these regions again.
Sharda Bahen was then at Nagpur. She, along with a few persons, decided to go to Calcutta by plane to bring Shri Nathji to Nagpur.
En route the aeroplane developed engine trouble, and the plane began to shake. Sharda Bahen realised then that she had made a mistake by trying to force Shri Nathji to come to Nagpur.
She at once prayed to Shri Nathji saying:
Hey Nath! If it is thy wish to not to come to Nagpur, then don’t do so, but don’t take our lives in the process! Aapne naheen aanaa to mat aao magar hamaare praan kyon lete ho!”
Just then the pilot of the plane announced:
The plane cannot proceed all the way to Calcutta due to engine trouble. It is, instead, returning to Nagpur.
When Shri Nathji heard of the plight of the devotees, he had at once decided to go to Nagpur.
Shri Nathji was accorded a warm welcome at the Government House where the legislators listened to his sermon in pin-drop silence. Governor Mangal Das Pakvasa said to Shri Nathji:
We have heard your name a lot.”
And Shri Nathji had said:
You must have heard my name either from my friends or from my enemies. Don’t believe either of them. Friends will exaggerate as also enemies. Let your experience be your judge!
Shri Nathji’s historical words in Hindi were:
“Aapne meraa naam yaa to doston se sunaa hogaa aur yaa dushmanon se. Donon par vishvaas mat keejiye. Dost bhee barhaa kar kahengen aur dushman bhee barhaa kar kahenge! Aap swaiyam anubhav keejiye ke main kyaa hoon!”
After this Shri Nathji said:
I have not come to see the SEEPEE (C.P.) in your Central Provinces. I have come to see whether the C.P. has produced a divine pearl or not!
Main aapke C.P. men ‘seepee’ ko dekhne naheen aayaa, main dekhne aayaa hoon ke usne vo divine pearl bhee paidaa kiyaa hai ke naheen!