Shri M. P. Khanna, an officer of high rank in the railways, was a man of gigantic proportions. He would dwarf Shri Nathji’s five feet four inch body each time he would embrace him. He was the only friend Shri Nathji ever had. Shri Nathji called M. P. Khanna Sakhaa, meaning, friend.
Mahadev Prasad Khanna was the Registrar of the Divine Love Society, founded by Shri Nathji on the 6th of July 1932, at Mussoorie, during those early days when Shri Nathji resided at Silverwood Cottage in Charleville. Its President was Mr. R. R. Khanna. Its aims and objectives were the furtherance of Shri Nathji’s teachings, a revival of spiritual values and a unification of all religious faiths. It was founded by Shri Nathji at the behest of R.R.Khanna. But the Society never took a practical shape in any sense of the word, because neither Shri Nathji nor any of his close devotees were interested in propaganda or organisation. Somehow the concept of a Society with rules and regulations and members, did not quite fit in with Shri Nathji’s liberal sprinkling of Divine Love on one and all. Shri Nathji was a whole world in himself–the fountainhead of all spirituality that ever existed. He could not be limited within the framework of a society. He was God, and the whole world belonged to Him. Ultimately the Divine Love Society merged completely in Shri Nathji and was lost in its outer form or semblance.
Coming back to Shri. M. P. Khanna, the man enjoyed the rare privilege of being Shri Nathji’s friend. His gigantic proportions–a body altogether too fat and tall–made it
difficult for him to sit upon the ground. Therefore, a chair was provided for him at satsang time. This was very embarrassing to him, because at his feet sat Maharajas and Rai Bahadurs, Judges and lawyers, and intellectuals of a high order, who had gathered together for Shri Nathij’s darshan.
Nathji, he would say, I trust by elevating me to the status of a friend you won’t deprive me of my spiritual share! Mujhe sakhaa bhaav hee men na maar daalna!
I have a special relationship with everyone, Shri Nathji said, with some it is a mother and son relationship, with another a brother and sister relationship, –with you it is the relationship of a friend! And I don’t want to lose him!
After satsang, every evening, the people would wait to watch a deeply moving scene. Shri Nathji would place a cardamom in M. P. Khanna’s mouth, and he would place one in Shri Nathji’s mouth. When the two embraced–in Shri Nathji’s words–it was like a squirrel embracing a mountain. People would come from far and near to see the only friend Shri Nathji ever had–his ‘Sakhaa’.
Shri M.P. Khanna would frequently be seen carrying the register of the Divine Love Society, and he would use the register as an excuse to enter within and talk to Shri Nathji.
Once inside, he would be flooded with the divine flow of Shri Nathji’s words and his divine love that overwhelmed him completely.