Amongst those who met Shri Nathji at Chanda and established a lasting relationship with him were Shri Popatlal, Shri Girdhar, Prabhavati, Vallabhbhai and Shri Maandanbhai.
Each one of them had experiences that convinced them that Shri Nathji was God Incarnate upon earth. Some had experiences that came from within their hearts and souls, while others had experiences in the external world, which were more vivid. Amongst these was Shri Mandanbhai who maintained a diary of the events that followed him after he had met Shri Nathji.
There was the time when he became very ill from a protracted pneumonia and doctors gave up all hope of his surviving. He recalled how he was lying on the open roof of his house and praying, when the skies appeared to part and there was Shri Nathji in the form of Vishnu Bhagwan.
“Maandanbhai, you will get well soon,” Shri Nathji said and disappeared.
Maandanbhai’s fever broke in the morning and did not come again. He became fully well and lived for many years more.
Maandanbhai was a forest contractor. He had made many enemies and was apprehensive of his life in the jungles. He thought of Shri Nathji and wondered how anyone so delicate and loving as Shri Nathji could protect him from the powerful enemies that he faced. Doubts began to fill his mind.
Just then Shri Nathji appeared before him and said: “Maandanbhai do you doubt my power? Have you forgotten who I am?”
And saying this, Shri Nathji lifted up a mountain close to him with his little finger. Maandanbhai was at once filled with great awe for Shri Nathji, and a new-found courage to face his foes. Also, by a miracle, his enemies disappeared and never showed their faces again. He was able to do his work in peace for the remaining years.
At another time Maandanbhai found himself alone in the forest at night. There were the sounds of wild animals around him in the trees and bushes. Maandanbhai was afraid they might attack him while he was sleeping. He prayed to Shri Nathji.
Once again, Shri Nathji appeared before him and drew a circle around him on the ground with a stick, saying to him: “Maandanbhai, go to sleep. I am drawing this circle around you for your protection. No wild animal can get through it.”
Maandanbhai slept peacefully in the night and remained perfectly safe from the wild beasts of the forest.
One day Maandanbhai was sitting facing the horizon, when he saw a gigantic figure fly in the sky. It was Lord Hanuman. He was carrying Lord Rama and Lakshman on his shoulders. As the figure flew close to Maandanbhai, he saw that Lord Rama was none other than Shri Nathji.
Maandanbhai would say: “My experiences are enough for me. They are the mainstay of my existence on earth. They remain with me each and every moment of my life. It makes no difference to me whether anyone believes in them nor not. If anyone believes them and has faith in Shri Nathji, he, too, might similarly experience his protecting power. If not, he is welcome to have his own relationship with Shri Nathji on any plane that he desires.”
And thus it was that Shri Nathji manifested himself differently to different people. To some he was intensely human, to others a great Spiritual Master, and to others absolutely God.
He was like Lord Krishna who appeared as a friend and relative to Arjuna at first, and then, later as a Guru, and finally as God when He revealed Himself in all His Glory.
Shri Nathji was intensely human to his family and relatives, a great Spiritual Master to many of the devotees, and finally God to those before whom He disclosed Himself in all His Glory.