Narendra’s Trial and the Gift of Divine Knowledge

In the ancient times of the Navnath Siddhas — said to be born without a human womb — countless miraculous events were recorded in the *Navnath Bhaktisar*. Surprisingly, the same type of divine experiences appeared again in the life of Vyankatnath Maharaj, although he was born through a normal human birth. This disproves the popular belief that great Nath saints existed only in the distant past and would never appear again. Vyankatnath Maharaj’s life directly contradicts that idea.

In 1975, Maharaj had already told Narendranath about the future. He described what would happen at the time of his Samadhi and how certain devotees would suffer due to karmic forces. He had said, *“Before such suffering reaches them, I will change those situations right now,”* and indeed he did. He left his body on the holy night of Mahashivratri in 1993. Only the Nath tradition holds the power to foresee the future and alter it before it occurs.

Before the destined time of Samadhi, Maharaj himself faced a life-threatening situation. He was diagnosed with cancer; although treatment was going on, his condition suddenly worsened. He was admitted to a major hospital in Aurangabad, with expert doctors from several cities examining him. Narendranath travelled from Akola to see him, but because the condition was extremely serious, only close family members were allowed. Doctors concluded that no treatment was working and declared he had only about eight days left. They advised the family to take him home, saying he should pass peacefully in his own house.

Maharaj was taken to the residence of his elder son, Mangalnath Maharaj, who firmly instructed that no one would be allowed to meet him. Believing darshan to be impossible, Narendranath left for Kolhapur for urgent work. Eight days later, while returning to Akola by government bus, a sudden inner command arose: *“I must get down at Aurangabad and somehow try to see Maharaj.”* He immediately got off the bus.

He kept his luggage in the station cloakroom and began searching blindly. He knew neither the house nor the locality; only the area where Maharaj once lived — a place he no longer resided. Standing in a square at that old location, Narendranath looked up at the sky and asked aloud, *“Where is Devgaon Rangari’s Vyankatnath Maharaj?”* At that moment, a woman signalled to him from the corner of a house and said, *“No such person lives here.”* Disappointed, he began walking away. She suddenly called out again, asking if he was searching for the Nath Maharaj who tied the traditional turban. She said she did not know the exact address but that it was in building C-2. As she spoke, an auto stopped beside him and the driver asked, *“Do you want to go to Maharaj?”* Narendranath agreed, unsurprised — such divine arrangements were common on his spiritual path.

The auto took him directly to Mangalnath’s house. When Mangalnath saw him, he embraced him with joy and said, *“For eight days we have been waiting for YOU. Father has not spoken a single word. He has eaten nothing. He sits quietly as if waiting for someone — and we understood that someone is YOU.”* Doctors had already prepared the family for Maharaj’s final moments.

Mangalnath requested, *“Ask him his final wish. Whatever it is, we will fulfil it.”* Narendranath replied gently that he could not ask his Guru about a “last wish,” because for him such a thing did not exist. After much insistence, he finally went inside. Maharaj, who had not spoken for eight days, smiled softly upon seeing him. Narendranath bowed at his feet. For two minutes they looked into each other’s eyes in silent communion — Guru and disciple conversing without words. In a faint voice Maharaj asked, *“When did you come, my child?”* Narendra replied, “Just now.” After a pause he asked, *“Maharaj, may I return now? Can I go back to Akola?”* Maharaj nodded.

But Mangalnath ran inside and protested, *“He asked you nothing! He listens only to you. If you tell him to stay, he will stay. Please tell him to remain here!”* Maharaj signaled Narendra closer and said, *“Since they are requesting, go bring your luggage and stay here.”* Narendra agreed and went to fetch his bag.

That night Maharaj instructed, *“After dinner, you both sit in the next room and talk openly the whole night.”* They talked until three in the morning.

The next morning when Narendra prepared to leave, Mangalnath asked him to tell Maharaj what they had discussed. Narendra replied with deep pain, *“Maharaj’s life has been wasted — not because he lacked power, but because none of us learned anything. He had the strength to transform ordinary humans into divine beings, yet none of us used his grace. Today such a powerful Guru is suffering, and we cannot help him. It is our curse that we never prepared ourselves.”* Hearing this, Maharaj asked lovingly, *“My child, what do you need?”* Narendra said he did not know how to remove this crisis but that he would do anything Maharaj instructed.

Maharaj then whispered sacred instructions into his ear, looked deeply into his eyes and transferred divine power through his gaze. He said, *“Start everything I told you at sunrise after you reach home. Everything will happen on its own.”* That moment reminded Narendra of their first meeting, when Maharaj had asked, *“Child… why did you come so late?”* Only now did he understand its meaning. Maharaj had been waiting for this moment — the moment to pass his complete spiritual authority to Narendra.

Although doctors had declared Maharaj would die within eight days, he remained alive purely to give this knowledge to his disciple. For eight days he had not spoken to anyone — he was waiting only for Narendra.

As soon as Narendra reached home and began the instructed practice at sunrise, events changed rapidly. Maharaj’s health improved immediately. Within days he became strong, healthy, and active — almost as if he had never been ill. He began travelling again without support. Doctors were shocked: a terminal cancer patient declared to have eight days was suddenly healthy. This was not medical recovery — this was divine design.

For nearly three more years Maharaj lived in perfect health and completed all his remaining spiritual work. Some people, seeing the closeness between Guru and disciple, felt insecure and attempted to separate them. But such attempts were meaningless. Maharaj was the fifteenth Nath in the lineage beginning from the great Guru Machhindranath. His command extended across the subtle and physical worlds.

Because Narendra was prepared, Maharaj extended his life, postponed his Samadhi and completed his tasks. Just as earlier Nath Gurus, like Guru Vishwanath, extended their life for two years to prepare Madhavanath, similarly Vyankatnath Maharaj adjusted his lifespan to prepare Narendra. Life can be extended or shortened based on spiritual necessity — even *Gurucharitra* confirms this.

Thus Maharaj revived the Nath tradition once again and fulfilled its divine mission. The Guru tradition is an endless stream — one life-story flows into the next, forming an eternal chain. Understanding this is to understand the play of the Supreme Cosmic Master — the Brahmand Nayak. We must strive to remain connected to this divine current.