It was the strong desire of Sriman Malharrao Gaikwad, the King of the then Baroda State to have Sri Swami Samarth, to come and start living in his state. The King had heard about the fame and prowess of Swamiji. He felt that Sri Swamiji’s visit would grace his capital.
To ensure this happening, the king was all ready and set to spend huge sums of money as well. Accordingly he made an announcement in his Darbar to all his courtiers that he intended calling Swamiji to Baroda State. He made an announcement that anyone who is successful in convincing Sri Swami to live in Baroda State, would be awarded a huge piece of land, as gift.
Now, this challenge was accepted by Tatyasaheb, one of the Chieftains of the King. The King was very happy and awarded Tatyasaheb with huge amounts of ornaments, costumers, money as well as servants for his assistance.
To fulfill this challenge, Tataysaheb had to reach Akkalkot. He left for Akkalkot with the finest gifts and lots of money for the Swami. He tried showing off his grandeur of the royal court as well as his importance. He showered gifts and spent lots of money on people who moved close to Sri Swamiji.
Tatyasaheb tried to bring Cholappa, Sri Swamiji’s trusted disciple, under his influence and control. Tatyasaheb started with discussions with Cholappa who was very greedy unfortunately. Cholappa was enticed by the grand prospects and was completely enticed by Tatyasaheb. Finally Tatyasaheb successfully convinced the greedy Cholappa and designed a plot to take away Sri Swamiji by train to Baroda State.
Both Tatyasaheb and Cholappa took Swamiji to Kadapgaon station, in a closed palanquin. On reaching there, Tatyasaheb went forward to check Sri Swamiji. To his disbelief, he saw that Sri Swamiji was not there and the palanquin was empty. They understood that Swamiji had disappeared from the palanquin.
