The ‘Mad’ Saint of Shegaon and the Fire of Truth
In the vast tapestry of India’s spiritual masters, some saints arrive with a known lineage, while others appear as if from the very earth—shrouded in mystery. Shri Gajanan Avadhut, lovingly known as Gajanan Maharaj, belongs to the second.
We don’t know his birthday, his birthplace, or his parents. Speculation points to Sajjangarh in Maharashtra, but the truth remains hidden. Like many fully-realized souls, his origins are not bound by mortal records. He never spoke of his past, encouraging none to seek it.
His story doesn’t begin with a birth, but with an appearance.
The Saint in the Leftovers
On February 23, 1878, a man named Bankatlal Agarwal was walking on the outskirts of Shegaon village. He witnessed a sight that was both baffling and divine: a young man, completely naked and seemingly unaware of his body, was picking out leftover food from a garbage dump.
Despite his actions, the man’s body was radiant and healthy. Bankatlal, who had some experience with holy men, felt a powerful pull. He sensed this was no ordinary madman, but perhaps a Siddha—a perfected being.
He and his friend, Damodar Pant Kulkarni, humbly approached. “Maharaj,” Bankatlal asked, “Why are you eating those leftovers? If you are hungry, I will gladly arrange a good meal for you.”
The man paid him no mind, remaining completely detached, absorbed in his task.
Bankatlal ran to a nearby ashram, gathered what food he could, and offered it. Maharaj took all the different items, mixed them together in one motion, and ate them. It was clear he was beyond the sense of taste, beyond the pull of the physical world.
When Bankatlal rushed off again to get drinking water, he returned to another shock. The mysterious man was happily drinking from a trough meant for cattle. At that moment, Bankatlal was convinced. He was in the presence of a highly evolved spiritual entity. He bowed deeply, seeking a blessing.
When he raised his head, Maharaj was gone. Disappearance and reappearance at will is one of the eight siddhis (yogic powers) of the ancient masters.
The Unpredictable Path of a Perfect Master
Bankatlal was heartbroken. He didn’t know it yet, but he had just met his Sadguru, or Perfect Master.
A Sadguru’s work is universal. They operate beyond the boundaries of caste, religion, nationality, or even species. Their job is to provide a spiritual push to all of creation. As Shri Sai Baba of Shirdi once said, “I pull my children from thousands of miles away, just as one ties a string to a bird’s leg and draws it.”
Bankatlal searched all day. Finally, that evening, he found Maharaj again at an old Shiva temple. With a voice choked with emotion, he begged the saint to come and stay at his home. Maharaj agreed, and from Bankatlal’s house, his divine play (Leela) truly began.
Hosting a Perfect Master is no easy task. They are not bound by social rules. Their behavior can seem erratic, like a child one moment and a madman the next. But whatever they do, it is only for the good of others.
Maharaj would often wander off, and Bankatlal would tirelessly search for him, pleading with him to return.
Miracles of a Boundless Heart
The stories of Gajanan Maharaj’s Leela reveal his true nature—an ocean of compassion hidden behind a baffling exterior.
The Water from a 12-Year-Dry Well
One night, Maharaj walked to the nearby village of Adgaon. He approached a farmer, Bhaskar Patel, who was tilling his land, and asked for a drink of water.
The farmer, seeing a wandering beggar, scoffed. He scolded Maharaj, saying he wouldn’t give a drop of water to a sadhuwho was just a “parasite on society.”
Maharaj simply smiled and walked toward a dilapidated old well. Bhaskar Patel mocked him from behind, “That well has been dry for twelve years! How can a fool get water from it?”
Maharaj reached the well, stood silently for a moment in meditation, and instantly, the well filled to the brim with pure, fresh water. He calmly quenched his thirst.
Seeing this miracle, Bhaskar Patel fell to his knees, terrified and ashamed, begging for forgiveness. A Sadguru, being an ocean of mercy (Kripa Sindhu), cannot hold anger. Maharaj looked at him kindly and explained he had brought forth the water so that Patel would no longer have to toil and carry water from the far-off village every day.
This is what is known as Ahetuk Kripa—causeless kindness, given without being asked, and without any qualification.
The Armor of the Guru
A Sadguru’s protection is the strongest armor a devotee can have.
One day, Bankatlal invited Maharaj and other devotees to his farm to eat roasted corn (bhutta). They lit a fire under a tree and began roasting the corn. Unseen by anyone, a large honeycomb hung from the branches above.
As the smoke rose, a massive swarm of angry bees descended, stinging everyone. The devotees screamed and ran for their lives—all except Maharaj. He sat perfectly still, unmoving, as the entire swarm settled upon his body.
Bankatlal watched in horror from a distance. Moved by his guru’s plight, he started to run back to help. Maharaj, seeing him, spoke to the bees: “Go back to your home. My beloved devotee Bankatlal should not suffer any pain.”
Instantly, the entire swarm flew back to the hive. The devotees returned to find Maharaj’s body covered in hundreds of stings. As they fretted over his pain, he simply smiled and took a deep breath. In that single exhale, all the stings were expelled from his body, falling to the ground. He had taken the pain of the bees onto himself to protect his children.
The Fire That Burns Only Ego
A Sadguru is the universal teacher, and their methods for destroying the ego can be… dramatic.
One day, a group of Gosains (a sect of sadhus) came to where Maharaj was staying. Their leader, Brahmagiriji, was arrogant and pretentious. They demanded halwa-puri (a rich meal) and ganja (cannabis) from the devotees, claiming that serving them would bring more merit than serving a “naked madman” like Gajanan Maharaj.
To prove his superiority, Brahmagiriji began giving a lecture on the Bhagavad Gita. He chose a famous verse: “Nainam Chindanti Shastrani, Nainam Dahathi Pavakam… The soul cannot be cut by weapons, nor can it be burned by fire.”
As he spoke, he grew angry. The crowd was ignoring his lecture and was instead mesmerized by Gajanan Maharaj, who was sitting opposite him on a wooden bed, calmly smoking his chillum (clay pipe).
Suddenly, in a way only a Sadguru can orchestrate, the wooden bed Maharaj was sitting on burst into flames.
The fire roared high. Devotees panicked, shouting for Maharaj to jump off and running for water. Maharaj held up his hand. “I will not use water,” he declared, “and I will not get down.”
He then turned his gaze to the arrogant Brahmagiriji.
“You have been telling everyone that fire cannot burn the soul,” Maharaj called out. “Please, come and prove it. Sit here on the fire with me.”
One can only imagine the terror of the pretentious sadhu. His face went pale, his ego shattered in an instant. He fell at Maharaj’s feet, repenting not only for his behavior but for his entire life of pretense. Maharaj, the ocean of mercy, forgave him and gave him genuine advice on his spiritual path.
Gajanan Maharaj’s life teaches us that a true master’s power isn’t for show. It is a tool, used with perfect precision, to shatter our limitations and destroy the one thing that blocks us from the divine: our own ego.
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