Shri Babaji Maharaj had always said to shopkeepers If you follow the advice that I am giving you, you will always be very successful. Always make an effort to win the goodwill of your customers, without caring for profit or loss. Always sell at the same price to everyone and never alter the prices to suit your profits. Once you have won the goodwill and confidence of your customers, then make an effort to retain their goodwill. Shun all temptations and follow the path of scrupulous honesty. If you do so, your shop will prosper like no other shop.
Shri Babaji Maharaj had given this advice to Shri Gokul Chand of Amritsar who had just then opened a small shop selling cloth. Gokul Chand had humbly accepted Shri Babaji’s advice and had sought his blessings. When Shri Babaji came to Amritsar a second time he found that Shri Gokul Chand had prospered to such an extent that he owned the entire bazaar in which his shop had been situated.
Shri Babaji Maharaj went to his shop but found only his brother, Shri Devi Chand, there. When Shri Devi Chand asked Shri Babaji Maharaj who he was, Shri Babaji Maharaj replied: I am the owner of the shop! I have come to see how much it is flourishing and to see what you are doing with the profits. But I am only a part owner. I own that ten per cent of the profits which were meant to be given to the poor. Have you been regularly giving ten per cent of your profits to the poor? That was a condition I had made with Shri Gokul Chand when he opened the shop.
Shri Devi Chand apologised for not adhering strictly to such a condition but said that they contributed to the poor whenever they could, and would do so with greater regularity in the future.
When Shri Babaji Maharaj made his intention known to open a cloth merchant’s shop, those who were close to him were worried where he would get the funds to purchase the stock necessary to run the shop. The initial investment would have to be large, and Shri Babaji Maharaj had given away almost everything. Although Shri Babaji opened a shop, it remained without any cloth.
The shop, instead, became a venue for seekers after truth to come to Shri Babaji Maharaj and to listen to his words, which were like the nectar of life.
One day Shri Babaji Maharaj said: If it be the Will of God then the entire shop can become filled with cloth in one night! I have no doubt in His powers, which are Almighty.