Listen, all of good understanding, to the account of Krishnadev, greatly powerful — the story that follows. He employed his great power to win over people's hearts, showing extraordinary wonders unseen in the world. The happiness that no ear has heard of, no eye has seen for certain — that very happiness men and women were now experiencing on this earth. Let everyone know of Shri Hari's glory; I shall now tell what followed — listen all with attentive minds.
The capable Lord, abode of bliss, sat one day among the sadhus, Ghanshyam himself, speaking of meditation and concentration; hearing him, the people were delighted. After a few days had passed, as the sadhus sat and performed their devotions, they suddenly beheld, in meditation, the compassionate Sahajanand, protector of his people. From every single limb of his, countless suns and moons' worth of radiance streamed forth; such was the glowing form of Ghanshyam.
He wore yellow silk garments, a peacock-feather crown upon his head, the Kaustubh jewel, a garland of forest flowers, adorned beautifully with divine ornaments; playing a flute with both hands — such a vision of Krishna, giver of happiness, they beheld. This direct vision made clear to them that he was the complete and perfect Purushottam, Krishna himself.
Then, conversing with one another, the sadhus were filled with joy and delight. Effortlessly, naturally, the blissful Sahajanand Swami granted happiness; naturally, easily, samadhi arose even for those for whom it is difficult with any deity. He continued this same subject, and samadhi and remembrance arose in many. Children, youths, and elders alike — all fell into deep meditative absorption and dropped down into trance. Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Vaishyas, Shudras — of the four classes, whether men or women — all fell, their life-breath absorbed within, whether pure or impure of conduct.
Worshippers of Ram beheld Ram; worshippers of Krishna beheld Krishna. Worshippers of Nrusinh beheld Nrusinh, and beheld their own chosen deity, overwhelmed with rapture. Worshippers of Shiva beheld Shiva — many souls received such vision. Worshippers of the Goddess beheld the Goddess, her form arising exactly in their meditation. A Jain would see a Tirthankara; a Muslim would see the Prophet. A worshipper of a pir would see his pir, a worshipper of a hero-deity would see that hero-deity. A worshipper of Brahman would behold Brahman, the single essence of pure consciousness. A worshipper of Vaman would see Vaman, a worshipper of Lakshman would see Lakshman, a worshipper of Hanuman would see Hanuman — each attained meditation upon their chosen deity. A worshipper of the Sun would behold the Sun, a worshipper of Bhairav would behold Bhairav — thus each beheld their own particular deity instantly in meditation.
One who was sinful would see Yama, the god of death, and would relate whatever they saw. Some saw Shesha, some Ganesh — such meditative visions occurred continually. Some saw Indra's heaven or Kailash, some Satyalok or Vaikuntha, some Golok or the city of Brahman — thus did Hari reveal such things in meditation. Some beheld the nature of their own body, recognizing it as thoroughly impure, like a pit of hell. Some beheld their own mind, or another's mind, and told exactly what they saw.
Thus he displayed his great power, and everyone recognized this as belonging to Maharaj alone. They would see the Lord, and their pulse would grow faint, and beholding Swami, samadhi would come upon them. Then this truth became evident to all, and they became satsangis, abandoning their own former beliefs. Sadhus of the four traditional orders came, understanding that this was Swami's own doing for their salvation.
He taught them the art of yoga, and all learned it together. Listen now to what they saw directly in samadhi, as they described it: some beheld Radha, her attendants, and the Lord of Vraj, having gone in vision to Golok. Some beheld Vaikuntha, Lakshmi and her attendants, meeting Hari intimately in samadhi. Some beheld the great, boundless Purusha, the liberated Vasudev of Shvetadvipa; they saw Lakshmi, the attendants, the cosmic Being, surrounded by a great mass of radiant light. Some beheld the sage-pair Nar-Narayan, saw Vishala and were filled with delight. To some he showed the form of Yogeshwar Bhagwan, causing them to meditate upon it.
Some beheld him reclining upon Shesha in the Ocean of Milk, with Kamala beside him; some beheld a golden dark form together with the disk of the sun, the abode of bliss. Some saw the form of the Cosmic Sacrifice, understanding him as the cause of all. Some, having withdrawn their breath and vital energy, beheld the vivid, manifest form directly.
Some became capable of holding or releasing their breath at will, becoming independent masters of themselves. Some sat in Siddhasana or Padmasana, others in Virasana or Vajrasana, or Swastikasana or Shavasana, holding their breath so their bodies became as still as wood or stone. Children, youths, elders, and women alike — none would come out of that meditative trance on their own.
Some he would wake after a watch, some after two watches, some after two days; some after a fortnight or a month, some after two months, some awakened only after three or four months. He would rouse them after a short or long time, waking them by word or by his own will, watching over them. Some did not wake, could not return into the body at all — these he would bring back into the body by his own power.
Some spoke of Brahmapur or Vaikuntha, some told of Golok; having beheld Shvetadvipa and the three worlds, they described the abodes of gods and demons. Some described the abode of Brahma, Hari, and Hara; some described what lies beyond the worlds and their boundaries — the geography of the earth, the regions of the sky, or the netherworlds, the process of creation, sustenance, and dissolution.
Seeing these people now firmly established, he taught them the art of yoga — teaching them to draw and release the breath through the nadis (subtle channels), to withdraw the vital breath from all parts of the body and concentrate it in one place — thus he taught all the wise ones. Then some, when their limbs were cut or burned, felt no pain at all in their body.
Some remained with their gaze turned inward; some beheld Hari directly before their outward gaze. Some brought forth the divine form through one eye, some fixed it steady in both eyes. Some he taught to roll their eyes upward — such was the teaching of this giver of happiness — and in this the divine form would never vanish; this technique is called akshi-vidya (eye-yoga). By drawing the breath again through the eyes — this is the sign of akshi-vidya, keeping both eyes unblinking, as Shri Hari himself taught.
From the six chakras, he taught the discernment needed to restrain the breath in a single chakra — remaining in one chakra one hears many kinds of sounds, remaining in another one counts the pranava (Om). He guided the breath along the paths of Ida, Pingala, and Sushumna nadis; to some he granted vision of the realm of the sun or moon, to some he showed the heaven of the gods.
He caused entry into another's body, so that one could know entirely another's mind; he also taught how to restrain another's breath — such things did the wise Lord teach to the people. To know another's inner state entirely — this happens only through Shri Hari's own grace; such power can never be described fully — everyone who reflects upon it in their hearts knows this.
Then word of this spread from village to village, and people said that the all-accomplishing One had appeared manifest. He also established many free feeding-houses; listen, I will name them: Manavadar, Loj, Mangrol — pilgrims and wandering ascetics gathered there in crowds; Agatrai, Bhader, Dhoraji — sadhus ate there and rejoiced. Jamvali, Bhuj, and Nagar; Fanenī, Sankli, Jetpur; Kotdu, Gadhada, Kariyani — pilgrims flocked there drawn by these; Jetalpur and Shrinagar and many other towns besides gave freely, and everyone praised this generosity.
Thus joy and celebration continued, and the qualities of Shri Hariji were sung everywhere. Then Maharaj said to the sadhu-king: "We shall go into the satsang. You remain here, content and joyful, and continue distributing the free food well." So saying, Swami Sahajanand set off to bring happiness to the people.
From there he came to Meghpur, where he met Swami Muktanand, who had gone to Kutch to give good instruction to all. Muktanand had heard of the phenomenon of samadhi, but had not accepted it as anything beyond a trick of illusion; nothing of this had settled properly in his understanding, and, taking the side of the satsang's own doctrine, he spoke out: "Everyone's understanding here is immature — they have taken a false samadhi to be true. After so many days of practicing the satsang, how has everyone's mind changed so suddenly? Maharaj, give up this deception, and do not let it spread within the satsang. Samadhi is not so easily attained; even great yogis find it difficult. How could just anyone experience it? Others may believe this, but I cannot accept it."
Then Hari spoke calmly and told Muktanandji the truth of the matter. He said, "Everyone here is simply worshipping Swami Ramanand together" — meaning, whatever they experience they attribute to that; "he will surely tell you this himself if you ask him — you will forbid it, and he will say the same." Though they spoke of this at length, Muktanand was not persuaded in the least.
Then Santdas, who was present, a man of inner illumination, was made to sit in meditative concentration, and his breath and pulse ceased entirely. Shri Hari said to Muktanand, "Watch this concentration carefully. Look at the pulse in his hands and feet; if it stirs, wake him up." Muktanandji reflected and concluded that there was indeed no deception in the matter — he had never seen or heard of such a thing before, and could not understand how it could be explained away.
Then Maharaj woke him, and asked him to describe clearly what he had experienced. Santdas's words were true; he said, "I have seen the abode of Brahman. In it I saw two forms — one of Uddhav, one of Shri Krishna. Uddhav is in the form of Ramanand, and Shri Krishna is this very form of Hari before us. Shiva, Brahma, Sanaka and the other sages, and many other rishis and munis were there, surrounded by great throngs of liberated souls, and I saw these two forms as masses of light — like millions of fires, suns, and moons combined. There was radiance upon radiance, and within it these two forms were visible."
Thus Swami Ramanand himself had said this earlier, yet Muktanand had not accepted it then. "How can a true thing become false?" he thought; "in the end, the truth will be accepted." Other adepts of samadhi, too, described the very same vision. Still troubled and unable to understand, he searched within his own heart, and there beheld the one he trusted most — Jetho Madhavdas.
Madhavdas confirmed the matter emphatically: "Believe it, Muktanand, it is not false." Muktanand, still doubtful, and all present, then went to Kalavani. The people there, hearing this, came and, beholding the Lord, were overjoyed. Many other simple, innocent children came too, and all attained blissful samadhi.
They would enter meditative absorption, their pulse would stop, and they would be lifted aside, one after another. Having shown this power to all, he said to one, "Come, wake up" — and instantly everyone awoke together, and came and fell at the Lord's feet. Maharaj said, "Even if millions gathered together, how could they prove this samadhi false?"
Hearing this, Muktanand relinquished his pride: "You are the perfect and complete Bhagwan." Then, humbly, he bowed at his feet: "Lord, please forgive me." Then he worshipped the Lord with love, offered praise, and folded his hands; the Lord was pleased, and showed grace to Muktanandji.
Thereafter, by Muktanand's own word, samadhi came upon many people. They beheld heaven, Kailash, Vaikuntha, and found not the slightest falsehood in any of it. They beheld Golok and Shvetadvipa, and, seeing Brahmapur, rejoiced in their hearts. Such and other abodes, on waking, people would name.
He continued this same practice thereafter, and it pleased the minds of all the people. Whichever sadhu he had sit for devotion, that person, by his word, would enter samadhi; and even ordinary people other than sadhus were caused to enter samadhi by him. Such is Maharaj's own glory — what more can be said or described of it?
Thereafter he went to Gujarat; listen to that account. Going himself to Ahmedabad, he displayed his great power there. Whoever came for darshan, man or woman, would behold Murari within their own heart, and samadhi would come upon them, their pulse ceasing, until the Lord himself woke them. Everyone was struck with wonder, and bowed their heads at the Lord's feet. The people gathered and shouted acclaim: "The Lord has appeared — an avatar has come!"
Hearing such talk, hypocritical ascetics of rival sects rose up, burning within, and demonic men gathered to attack, like owls provoked by the rising sun. Then the Lord restrained his own display, though he was himself all-capable, he endured all that came. Having accomplished what needed to be done there, Maharaj departed. The sadhus were joyful at having seen this, while the wicked and sinful suffered distress. Having performed such divine deeds, Murari, the giver of happiness, arrived in Sorath.