Revered sir,
I have just received your letter, and it gave me the greatest joy. Babaji is an ācārī Vaiṣṇava; you could simply say he is yoga, bhakti and humility in human form. His hut has a wall all round it, with a few doors in it. Inside this wall there is a very long underground passage, and he lies in it absorbed in samādhi; only when he comes up does he talk with people. What he eats nobody knows, and that is why they call him Pavhari Baba. Once, for five years, he never came up out of the pit at all, and people took it that he had left the body; but he came up again. This time, though, he does not show himself; he talks from behind the door. I have never heard such sweet speech. He answers no direct question; he says, ‘What does this servant know?’ But as he talks, fire comes out. When I pressed him hard, he said, ‘Stay here for some days and do me that grace.’ He never says such a thing; from this I understood that he was giving me assurance, and whenever I press him he says, stay some days. I am living in that hope. He is a very learned man, but none of it shows; and he does the karmakāṇḍa too: from the full moon to the saṅkrānti there is homa. So it is certain he will not go into the pit before then. As for asking his leave, he will give no direct answer; he will say a great deal about ‘the servant’s good fortune’ and the like. If you wish it, come as soon as you read this. If his body goes, a great regret will remain; in a couple of days you can see him, that is, talk with him from behind the screen, and go. My friend Satish Babu will receive you with every warmth. Come as soon as you read this; meanwhile I shall tell Babaji.
Your servant,
Narendranath.
PS. Even if his company is not granted, no trouble taken for such a mahāpuruṣa will be wasted, that is certain. No more.
Your servant,
Narendra.