Sri Swami Samarth was once wandering in the outskirts of Mangalavedha barefooted in the year 1850. It was a hot summer afternoon and the sun was very hot. There were two farmers called Pandarinath and Eknath working in the fields nearby. Swamiji went near them and asked Pandarinath to give him the shoes he was wearing. Pandarinath gave the shoes immediately and Swamiji wore it and walked away from them. When Swamiji was out of sight of them Eknath asked Pandarinath why he lend the shoes to the mad man (Swamiji). He said that he has gone away and what he is going to tell his elders.
In many Places at the Same time
Pandarinath was agitated in his mind and suddenly Swamiji came there and gave back the shoes and told Pandarinath that now his elders will not have to scold him and left the place immediately. The farmers thought that Swamiji must have overheard their conversation hiding somewhere nearby. But later few travellers who were passing by told the farmers that they met Swamiji two miles outside the city Solapur which was quite far away from the village they were working. Swamiji never returned to Mangalavedha after this incident. Swamiji could read what was there in the minds of people even when He was not near them.
There was a Brahmin man who vowed to offer milk sweets to Swamiji if he was blessed with children. This man later had a child but forgot to offer sweets to Swamiji and by the time he remembered about the vow Swamiji had already left the earthly abode. The Brahmin man was very sorry about what he did and his desire to feed Swamiji with milk sweets with his own hands remained strongly in his mind. One night Swamiji appeared in his dream and told him that he was living in Kolhapur in the form of Sri Krishna Saraswati and he could fulfil the vow by feeding Sri Krisha Saraswati. The Brahmin manvisited Sri Krishna Saraswati and after offering proper worship he fed the sweets to the saint with his own hands.
True Worship
There were many devotees who tried to take Swamiji to their homes but only the devotees who did true worship succeeded. One has to worship Swamiji from within the heart to get His blessings. Swamiji was never interested in worldly things and He used to donate all the offerings made to him to the poor and helpless. Swamiji was the Guru to many great souls like Sai Baba of Shirdi, Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, Sri Gajanan Maharaj of Shegaon and many more.
