Shri Swami Samarth was a great soul and he treated Hindus, Muslims, Christians and Parsis, all alike. For Swamiji, both rich and poor were all the same and he never used to provide special treatment for anyone. He was kind to the people in the lowest rung of the society, poor and the needy. Swamiji used to celebrate all festivals like Dusshehra and Moharram and Thursday is the special day of celebration at Akkalkot. Swamiji is fond of mass feeding and used to provide food for many.
Food for All
Once in Rampur, a devotee called Rawaji had cooked food for 50 people when Swamiji went there for a visit. Hearing the news that Swamiji was present, hundreds of people from the village and nearby villages started arriving. Rawaji was panicking because he had cooked food for only 50 people. Swamiji understood the situation and also understood the plight of Rawaji. Swamiji asked Rawaji to bring some empty baskets. When the baskets were brought from the market there were idols of all the deities like Khandoba, Annapurna were put in them and also food materials like bread and rotis were heaped over them.
Swamiji asked Rawaji and his wife to carry the baskets and take three rounds around the Tulsi plant. They were asked to serve food from these baskets to the visitors without looking into the baskets. Rawaji and his wife were surprised to see that the baskets never became empty while the food was served. All the people who had come to see Swamiji ate the food and after that Swamiji also had his meal. This is known as Annapurna Siddhi. This was also a great example for Swamiji’s love for mass feeding. Swamiji also knew the problems of each and every devotee of his and solved their problems, whether the problem was spiritual or materialistic.
Swamiji knows the Past and Future
Swamiji had the ability to read the minds of people visiting him and was also able to know the past and future of each one of them. He had one devotee by name Baba Saheb Jadhav and he was one of Swamiji’s strong devotees. One day this devotee came to meet Swamiji and on seeing him Swamiji said that a summons is coming in his name. Since the devotee knew Swamiji very well he understood the meaning of the line and begged to Swamiji to save him from death so that he can continue serving Swamiji. Swamiji was moved by the devotion of the devotee and he looked up in to the sky and muttered something. Swamiji pointed his hand towards a bull passing nearby and said in a loud voice “go to the bull”. The bull fell dead in front of the people gathered and Jadhav was saved from death.
