This incident took place during 1936-37. My age was about 15-16 years at that time. A saint along with his disciples stayed for a brief period at the famous Chawpatty in Mumbai City. As people knew about the saint, they started flocking there to have his darshan. I use to regularly visit Chawpatty and meditate there facing the sea for hours. So I also came to know about the saint. Saints and sages fascinated me during those days so as soon as I knew, I visited the place. The saint was young in age but he had an aura of peace and compassion on his face.
This happened during the days of his stay at Chawpatty. Disciples used to cook daily on the sea shore so for cooking purpose, they once needed water. They asked in the neighboring locality for the same but nobody favored them. Some of them were even welcomed with offensive words. Disheartened, they came back to their place and told everything to the saint.
The saint gave them a patient hearing and then calmly said, “There is no need to go anywhere for water. Dig a small pit in this sand and there will be water."
The disciples expressed apprehension at the suggestion of the saint. They were on the beach so they said that the water would be salty and it wouldn’t be useful for the purpose of cooking and drinking. Yet, the saint told them to have faith in his words and to follow as per his direction.
The disciples dug a bit in the sand and there came water! Everybody tasted the water and to their astonishment the water was sweet, it wasn't salty! On hearing this news, many people started coming over there. Some of the people even tried to dig nearby but the water turned out to be salty.
Another interesting incident took place during those days. The disciples wanted to have a feast of Malpuva. Everyone knows that Malpuva is made from ghee and neither the saint nor his disciple had it. The saint once again displayed his amazing power.
He told the disciples to use the water that came out from the pit and use it as ghee! He further instructed that "when we will have ghee, we will return the ghee to the ocean god."
The disciples followed the saint’s utterances and actually made Malpuva from the water! Lot of people ate that Malpuva as Prasad. People kept talking about the incident long after the saint and his disciples departed from Mumbai.
The saint however was very simple. When asked about his supernatural powers he said that sainthood does not lie in supernatural powers but it lies in devotion, purity and love. The real power is to control one’s mind and to realize the God. How true was his message!