After meeting the Guru, I still carried a few doubts in his mind. Even though he recognized the Guru, his inner conviction was not yet complete. He was testing the Guru, and the Guru was also testing him.
I wanted to speak openly with the Guru. The Guru already understood him completely.
I said, “Maharaj, you once told me to read Dasbodh and Gurucharitra. I have read both texts three times. I received the spiritual results I expected. But I still want to understand: Why should one have a Guru? What does a Guru truly do? How do I know if you are a Sadguru? I mean no disrespect, but I must be certain before accepting you as my Guru.”
The Guru replied, “I have been waiting for you. Ask freely.”
I explained that he had never met any saint or spiritual master before Vyankatnath Maharaj. He said, “How do I know you are a true Sadguru and not a pretender? How should I understand you?”
Vyankatnath Maharaj listened patiently, closed the door, and spoke with him until 4 a.m. Their conversation felt as if they had known each other for many lifetimes. Slowly, my heart began accepting: “This is my Sadguru.”
Maharaj said:
“When a seeker becomes desperate for God—like a fish struggling outside water—we must appear before him and reveal ourselves. Sunrise needs no announcement; the mind understands instantly.”
Even so, my disciplined and logical mind—shaped by his Chartered Accountant training—kept analyzing everything carefully.
Finally, with humility, he asked:
“Maharaj… I wish to receive your Anugraha (initiation). When may I receive it?”
The Guru smiled with divine playfulness and said:
“Do I need a ticket to go to Devgaon? I go freely! I will go now, tell them I am coming tomorrow, and tomorrow morning I will give you Anugraha.”
I felt a sweet thrill at these words, as if grace had already begun.
While talking, I secretly set 15 personal criteria in his mind. Only after receiving Anugraha would he check whether they were fulfilled.
He decided firmly:
If even one condition failed, he would say: “You are not my Guru, and I am not your disciple.”
He was prepared to declare publicly that the Guru was false—if even one criterion was unmet.
Two or three months later, I visited Devgaon for the Nath Shashthi festival.
A day before the festival, Maharaj smiled and said:
“So, today you want to receive Anugraha, right?”
I replied, “No, not now. I will tell you when I am ready.”
People around them heard this and did not agree with my hesitation.
The next day, before his morning rituals, Maharaj approached me again:
“Today is your day. You have decided to take Anugraha, haven’t you?”
I said, “Yes.”
Maharaj replied, “Yesterday you said you were not ready.”
Then he said:
“After my rituals, come to the Gadi room. I will give you Anugraha there.”
Maharaj came and sat on his high seat—the sacred Gadi. I sat on the floor below. He felt the spiritual height of the Guru and wondered how he could ever reach such a level.
Maharaj said firmly:
“Do not speak a single word. Do exactly as I say.”
He began the Anugraha. The room was closed; only both of them were inside.
After the initiation, Maharaj stepped down, sat beside me, and said:
“Child, now you tell me— Those 15 conditions in your mind… If even one is not fulfilled, show me where I have failed. Then I will say: ‘I am not your Guru, and you are not my disciple.’”
I had never told him about these conditions, yet the Guru referred to them directly.
I placed my head at the Guru’s feet and said:
“Maharaj, all my doubts are gone. Now I will follow anything you instruct.”
Thus, on 4 February 1963, during Nath Shashthi, I received Anugraha. I was 26 years old.
I had first come into Maharaj’s presence at age 17–18. For eight years, Maharaj had been preparing me for this moment.
“It is Maharaj who made me worthy of Anugraha. Otherwise, this blessing would never have happened in my life.”