There were riots in Lahore. Every day there was news of people being murdered, of houses being set on fire, of women being dishonoured. No one felt safe any more. People had begun to flee from Lahore. A mass exodus of humanity was in the offing. Shri Nathji had a taste of this dreadful atmosphere himself one day.
While Shri Nathji was at Lahore, his dear devotee, Sahadeva Tayal, visited him frequently. Sahadeva Tayal had a relative in Lahore, Shri Aftab Rai by name, who he sought to convert to Shri Nathji. However Shri Nathji seldom forced conversion on anyone. His divine grace went out only towards those who came before him with empty hearts. Shri Nathji did not have to give his divine grace; it went out spontaneously towards those who deserved it. Shri Nathji used to say in Urdu:
Tahi daston kaa rutbaa aihle daulat se zyaadaa hai
Suraahi sar ke bal jhukti hai jab paimaana aataa hai
The worth of empty hands is greater than all the wealth in the world
The goblet must bow down its head when a glass comes before it
Then again, Shri Nathji poured out the fountain of his divine grace generously to all, but much depended upon the receptacle that the seeker after truth brought. If a man came with a glass he would take home a glassful, if a man came with only a spoon he would take home a teaspoonful. The receptacle was the empty heart of man.
Sahadeva Tayal would often recall how he once asked Aftab Rai to send his car for Shri Nathji so that he and Mateshwari could ride in it and see Lahore.
Those were the days when petrol was dear and rationed. Aftab Rai made some excuse and did not send the car.
That very day his wife took the car to the city, and, whilst there, lost her purse. A result of this was her searching hectically for the purse in the entire city for the whole day. This resulted in a very large petrol bill – far greater than it would have been had Shri Nathji used the car. Sahadeva Tayal would ever recount this episode humorously and say: “It has been my experience that if you try to hide anything from Shri Nathji you will lose it!”