CHAPTER XLIII
ERNAKULAM-KASARAGOD -
ANGAR-SHOLAPUR
(i) The Miracles
The friends in Sholapur district were keenly longing to
have Ramdas in their midst. So the next place Ramdas
visited was this district. Here, as on previous occasions, he
was welcomed by vast masses of people with groat accla-
mation. He was taken from village to village in proces-
sion and honoured with tlxc grandeur and display, peculiar
to the East. In one village where ho stayed for u week,
there was a unique devotional ferment among its in-
habitants. People of all castes and creeds mingled to-
gether kirtan, bhajan, harikatha and i'east became the
order of the day.
Janardan Pant and Prem Singh were Ramdas' close
companions, of whom the latter was perfectly mad with
devotion. He was for days so inebriated with the divine
emotion that he would be often unconscious of his body
and surroundings. He spent days and nights dancing nnd
singing God's Name.
Mothers went into ecstasies at the sight of Ramdas.
Govind Joshi's wife would every evening wave round
Ramdas her hands containing salt to ward off the evil
eye—a custom observed by the Hindu mothers in regard
to their children! Prem Singh took Ramdas to his village
Diksal where, in the presence of a big gathering, he bathed
him with curds and milk mixed with sugar, #hoe, and
honey which they denominate as "Pauchamrit Abhishek."
A humorous incident took place during Ramdas' visit
to one of the villages named Khandali. He was invited
by the Kulkarni of the place. With Ramdas had como over
fifty friends from the preceding villages. The meals