Shri Gajanan Mhatre:
I have mentioned about him in my book. He was my father’s Guru bandhu. He came in Bhagvan’s fold because of his relative Shri Baburao Khade. He was a firm and adherent devotee and often visited our house to meet my father. Whenever he visited, my father and I talked about Bagvan’s Leela and I made it a point to listen. Their session used to go on for hours. Every Diwali he used to come to our house for Paduka Darshan.
Once when he was in Kanhangad, his daughter insisted on getting lotus from the pond next to Ashram. It was infested with crocodiles. She would not relent. Finally, Shri Gajanan entered the pond to pluck the lotus for his daughter. Suddenly a crocodile came out of the water and caught his feet in its jaws. Gajanan was frightened and he called out to Baba. The crocodile left his feet and disappeared as suddenly it came. In no way was he harmed.
When he returned to Mumbai and went to Ganeshpuri, Bhagavan admonished him. He told him he should not have dared to enter the pond knowing about crocodiles. Without being told, Baba knew what had happened. It was by His grace Gajanan came unscathed from the crocodile’s jaws!!
All his life he remained absorbed in Him. He passed away in 1986.
Gajanan Keshav Mhatre
Birth date 22-8-1918
Date of Death 20-7-1986
There are 2 comments on this post
it is like Gajendra calling Lord Narayana
Dear Nagesh,
My Namaskara to Gurudeva. My namaskara to you. Yes, like Gajendra calling to Narayana. Here one things is different. Gajendra needed water to drink, it was necessity. There Crocodile caught him and he sought God's intervention. Knowing that the road is through jungle with minimum human support and 2 hours drive a young girl with old mother with some 7 years old car is like testing God. Similarly when there are good transports to travel, going by foot as a penance can be a foolhardy for which we trouble our God.
In His Prem,
Gopalkrishna