Diwali with Bhagavan

Baba was very simple and had a very simple and ordinary attire, only a Langoti. He wore nothing else, no beads necklace, no rudraksha or Tulsi bead mala, tikka of Chandan paste or vermilion, no garland. Vairagya! He was in purna Vaibhav in Vairagya! As close to the nature.

Very rarely He wore a sweater, warm clothes, or a kafni. Devotees offered Him with great love. He wore it for a few minutes and no sooner than the devotees left, He removed it and was back to His normal attire, be it the extreme chill of winter or the extreme heat of summer. Occasionally, He carried a blanket over His shoulder when He walked around the village in early days, especially before He moved to Kailash. By that time, the number of devotees who wished to fall at His Lotus Feet had increased so much that it was becoming difficult to walk.

Normally offerings were placed at His Feet. The garland was not entertained by Him to be placed around His neck. He disapproved it. Very rarely He permitted some devotees occasionally to perform His Padya Pooja where His Feet were washed with water, milk, coconut water, etc and then wiped clean. Sandalwood oil was applied to His Feet, flowers, Bel leaves, Tulsi leaves, roses and other flowers were offered at His Feet and a Tulsi garland was placed around His neck. This we got to do during Diwali. My mother used to make beautiful garlands from cloth. There was something called ‘long cloth’ from which stripes were cut, few long threads were shredded and then spun to form a white garland. Roses and other flowers were made from velvet cloths of appropriate color and tied on these strips to form a uniform garland. This, very light and beautiful garlands were placed around His neck. He appeared very beautiful. But He did not allow tikka to be made on His forehead. We offered Him some Konkani breakfasts like Setdossa, Panpola, Sevai with sweet coconut milk, etc. He took part in it and gave rest to my father who was ‘greedy’ to have His prasad. He looked forward to them as great blessings.

Bhagavan never wore any headgear. Such a thing was never entertained. When He was a boy, some of my elders met Him in Mangalore station wearing a bush shirt – a shirt with half sleeves. He used to sit on the bench where all gathered to hear Him speak and answer their questions.

He occasionally wore a Kafni for a few hours. Before India’s independence, when in Mumbai, He demanded from my father a three-piece suit. My dad brought a tailor to take His measurements and the suit was stitched. My dad offered Him and He wore it. Wearing this suit, He and my father walked around the streets of Bombay. After some time He removed the suit and threw it away.

In Diwali, we carried our accounts books to Ganeshpuri and performed “Chopdi Pooja” of the Books of Accounts as in those days the financial year started on DIWALI New Year Day. The books were placed in front of Him. With red ink or vermilion paste using a wooden pen specially for this pooja, Swastikas were drawn on the first page, and Shubha Labh was written using the wooden pen dipped in the red vermilion paste. We requested Him to bless these books for a year for a year of Abundance and Prosperity. My father carried a large wooden carton, (used previously for tea powder,). of different types of crackers and fireworks. They distributed amongst the village children.