Shri Swami Samarth’s teachings have indepth spiritual and material knowledge in it. Swamiji never spared even minor deities. According to him the deities are some kind of powers whic offers the desires to the devotees when propitiated. The deities like Shiva, Vishnu, Dattatreya and Durga are worshipped for spiritual and material goals. There are some deities whcih are worshipped for only material goals. It provides positive experience to the devotee and there are evil powers along with the positive powers which should be avoided. There are deities whom people worship locally in rural areas and sometimes sacrificial offerings are also made. Swamiji was disrespectful of such deities and never encouraged his devotees for this.
The Blind Devotee
When Swamiji was sitting in the house of Mr. Deshmukh, a person called Shivubai brought a blind boy. The boy was blind since the time of his thread ceremony. The lady asked Swamiji for a remedy and Swamiji told them to wait because five demons are on their way to test him. Swamiji said that the boy will get the eyesight back at that time. Soon five dark cskinned Vaishnav Brahmins came to meet Swamiji. They were talking in a mix of Kannada and Sanskrit and they came bowed to Swamiji. Swamiji called the blind boy and asked him to tell loudly the questions in the minds of these people.
The boy was humble and said that he did not know anything. Swamiji removed the beads from his neck and wore it around the boy’s neck. Swamiji touched the boy’s eyes with marigold flower. The boy got up and started telling the thoughts of the five Brahmins. The five Brahmins put their heads down in shame. Swamiji told the chief of Brahmins, “You people came to test me because of the reason that I eat from anybody’s hand and I was not bothered about the caste. You insulted me and tried to test me. Your mother had illegitimate relationships with many Muslims and you are born from a Muslim named Imambaksh.” The chief of the Brahmins was shocked and ashamed and begged for forgiveness from Swamiji. The boy who was witness to all this regained his sight.
Women and Children Targetted
In Akkalkot, there was a local deity called Ganadevi. She never left any child or woman who passed nearby in the afternoon or evening and regularly gave trouble to them. She would not leave them unless offerings of a chicken and coconut were given. Women and children were easy target because they are prone to such hardships. The deity was a stone smered with red oxide and Swamiji started going there and urinating on the deity. Swamiji even started defecating on the deity and slowly it lost its importance and people ignored it totally.
