- Swami Vivekananda

Through supreme good fortune, I have obtained an interview with Babaji. A great sage indeed!—It is all very wonderful, and in this atheistic age, a towering representation of marvellous power born of Bhakti and Yoga! I have sought refuge in his grace; and he has given me hope—a thing very few may be fortunate enough to obtain. It is Babaji’s wish that I stay on for some days here (Gazipur), and he would do me some good. So following this saint’s bidding I shall remain here for some time. No doubt, this will give you also much pleasure. I don’t mention them in a letter, but the facts are very strange indeed—to be disclosed when we meet. Unless one is face to face with the life of such men, faith in the scriptures does not grow in all its real integrity.

Apparently in his features, the Babaji is a Vaishnava, the embodiment, so to speak, of Yoga, Bhakti, and humility. His dwelling has walls on all sides with a few doors in them. Inside these walls, there is one long underground burrow wherein he lays himself up in Samadhi. He talks to others only when he comes out of the hole. Nobody knows what he eats, and so they call him Pavhari Baba. Once he did not come out of the hole for five years, and people thought he had given up the body. But now again he is out. But this time he does not show himself to people and talks from behind the door. Such sweetness in speech I have never come across! He does not give a direct reply to questions but says, “What does this servant know?” But then fire comes out as the talking goes on. On my pressing him very much he said, “Favour me highly by staying here some days.” But he never speaks in this way; so from this I understood he meant to reassure me; and whenever I am importunate, he asks me to stay on. So I wait in hope.

He is a learned man no doubt but nothing in the line betrays itself. He performs scriptural ceremonials, for from the full-moon day to the last day of the month, sacrificial oblations go on. So it is sure, he is not retiring into the hole during this period. How can I ask his permission, for he never gives a direct reply; he goes on multiplying such expressions as “this servant”, “my fortune”, and so on. If you yourself have a mind, then come sharp on receipt of this note. Or after his passing away, the keenest regret will be left in your mind. In two days you may return after an interview—I mean a talk with him ab intra. So, do come up directly you receive this; I shall meanwhile let Babaji know of you.