Shri Nathji narrated the following parable to the Maharaja.
A child fell down. He tried to get up with his own efforts. He grasped a curtain, which ripped and fell. He leaned against a table that slid across the floor; he gripped a chair that tumbled. For a long time he continued thus, but when all efforts failed, he cried out loudly for his mother! And the mother left everything in the kitchen and came running to his aid! For as long as man tries to gain peace with his own efforts he remains in uncertainty and fear, but when he cries out to God with a genuine yearning, God comes running to his aid!
Maharaja Indore said: Your Holiness–I have forgotten half of my worries already!
In the days gone by, Maharaja Indore had come to Mussoorie and visited Shri Nathji at his residence Savitri Nivas. There again he had removed his shoes at the iron gate of the house and walked barefooted all the way to the entrance of the verandah of Shri Nathji’s home.
Shri Nathji had prepared an elegant tea party for him, befitting a Maharaja, and had called the waiters and food from Hakman’s hotel.
The Maharaja was much too humble to sit before Shri Nathji but had been persuaded to do so by Shri Nathji himself.
His wife, Maharani Sarmishta was an American lady, who also had a deep reverence for Shri Nathji and Mateshwari.
Maharaja Indore had frequently invited Shri Nathji to his State, but Shri Nathji could not go nor did he have any desires to go there.
Another spiritual leader in Shri Nathji’s place would have rushed to Indore to consolidate his relationship with the Maharaja, and would have visited him again and again and possibly sought his help to establish an ashram at Indore itself, but not so Shri Nathji.
Shri Nathji never met any person in life for any motive or with any expectation, no matter how high his status. With Shri Nathji all relationships were one way–Shri Nathji would give and the other person would receive.
The invitation of the Maharaja had escaped Shri Nathji’s mind altogether, and it was only the chance occurrence of his trip to Bombay that brought the Maharaja’s invitation back to Shri Nathji’s mind.
And thus it was, that several years after the invitation of the Maharaja, Shri Nathji had arrived in Indore by car, along with Mateshwari and his sons.
Shri Nathji had always said: “Every intense desire must find fulfilment!”
And here was the intense desire of the Maharaja that had drawn him across the desert wastelands to Indore.
Shri Nathji would always tell his devotees:
“Ghar sajaa ke rakho aur dwaar khulaa rakho. Naa maalum vo kab chalaa aaye!
“Keep your homes decorated and your doors open. Who knows when he may arrive!”
As Shri Nathji’s car entered the city of Indore, Shri Nathji enquired from the people where Maharaja Indore’s Palace was located, and the people directed him to Shiv Vilas Palace where the Maharaj was residing at the time.
Shri Nathji’s car entered the large palace gates and then drove into the majestic portico, where the guards asked for his name and business. Shri Nathji told them he had come to see the Maharaja. The guards took a look at Shri Nathji and sensed the presence of some Great Personality whom they could not comprehend. Something told them that he was possibly a greater Maharaja than their own. Little did they know that he was not an ordinary Maharaja but rather the Emperor of the world, Shahenshaah Rue Zameen, disguised as Ghulam Rue Zameen, the servant of the earth.
Immediately upon hearing of Shri Nathji’s arrival, the Maharaja set aside everything and rushed into his wife’s chambers to tell her that Shri Nathji had come to visit them. Their happiness knew no bounds.
Even though he was a Maharaja, the verse appeared to echo in his mind:
“Vo aayen hamaare ghar men ye hamaari kismat hai.
Kabhi ham unko kabhi apne ghar ko dekhte hain
He has come to our house, O how good is our fortune!
We stare in disbelief–sometimes at him and sometimes at our home!”
Maharaja Indore and his Maharani came down the stairs of their portico and received Shri Nathji. They touched his feet and led him into their drawing room. The Maharaja and the Maharani insisted that Shri Nathji and his family stay with them for a few days. Shri Nathji told them he was en route to Bombay, but agreed to stay for lunch.
Even though Shri Nathji did not have a fixed schedule for his arrival at Bombay and no immediate appointments there, nor any reason to hurry, yet he did not agree to stay longer at Indore as the Maharaja had requested. Shri Nathji did not wish the Maharaja to think that he desired anything from him. To the Maharajas, long accustomed to people coming to them for favours of various kinds, this was a revelation in itself.
Shri Nathji had often said:
“How long does it take to take a photograph? Only a second. And for how long does that picture remain? Forever.
“In a like manner those who come before me with receptive hearts receive my blessings in an instant, and these blessings remain with them for all time to come.”
The Maharaja and the Maharani served Shri Nathji with great respect, with their own hands. They also served the boys, Pran Nath and Priya Nath, with the same degree of reverence.
After the meal, the Maharaja and Maharani brought the water and washed the hands of Shri Nathji and Mateshwari themselves. Shri Nathji was greatly pleased at the Maharaja’s devotion and he said:
Maharaja Sahib, the food I have eaten here today has become a part of my body. Whatever good that comes from this body for the world shall carry your share with it. By serving me you have thus served the world. Tell me, now, is there anything I can do for you? Ask whatever you will, of me!
Maharaja Indore said:
I have but one thing to ask of Your Holiness–leave your blessings behind! They will contain everything!
Shri Nathji said:
Maharaja Sahib! A flower was lying on a table. When taking leave of the table, the flower asked what it might give in return for the resting place the table had given it. ‘Leave behind your fragrance,’ said the table. But the request was superfluous–because by its very touch, the flower had left its fragrance behind on the table.
And it was thus that Shri Nathji took leave of the Maharaja and the Maharani. They came down the stairs of the portico and held the doors of the Standard car open, even as Shri Nathji and Mateshwari and the children got inside. Then Shri Nathji raised his hands in a gesture of blessings. The Maharaja and the Maharani bowed their heads.
And Shri Nathji left Shiv Vilas Palace with the fragrance of his blessings lingering on inside the hearts of the Maharaja and his Maharani. He was never to see them again. This last visit was the divine photograph that would remain for ages to come in the spiritual world.
For well over forty years Shri Nathji continued to send his birthday cards to Maharaja Tukojirao Holkar, receiving a telegram of greetings and obeisances each time in reply. It was a long and lasting relationship. The devotion that Maharaja Indore had for Shri Nathji was terminated only by the passing away of the Maharaja at a very ripe old age in 1978. Even then Maharani Sarmishta Bai kept on acknowledging the invitation cards that Shri Nathji sent till her last days upon earth.