DANGEROUS AND BLEAK

 
Masaji had been sent to Pandharpur to bring masts, and he brought two on the 7th. Shireenmai arrived the same afternoon, and Chanji left that evening (and returned to Meherabad three days later).

When Baba returned to Meherabad, he instructed the mandali to again start lighting the dhuni every month from the 12th of December. The mandali thought this was perhaps for the purpose of bringing down rain since the dhuni had previously been lighted with that intent. But Baba explained, "This time the reason for igniting it is not for rain; it is for a certain definite purpose of my work."

Soon after, they realized it might be connected with the war, which was about to take a turn for the worse. Baba continued to monitor daily news of the spreading conflict. The global situation in December of 1941 was dangerous and bleak. Everywhere the battered Allies — Britain, Russia and China — stood on the defensive. Everywhere the Axis powers — Germany, Italy and Japan — were triumphant.

Hitler controlled practically all of Western Europe and his armies had pushed hundreds of miles into Russia, which seemed on the point of collapse. Italy dominated the Mediterranean, and its legions were swarming across North Africa and threatening Egypt and the Suez Canal. The Japanese had subdued a large part of China and were now preparing to sweep across to the Philippines and advance toward India, Australia and Alaska.

Britain was torn and bleeding, battered ceaselessly from the skies and threatened with starvation. Russia was beaten to its knees, its cities and factories destroyed, its armies decimated. So by December 1941, it seemed, as Baba had predicted, that Germany and Japan would wind up with three-quarters of the globe at their feet. America was still neutral — but that was about to change.

On 7 December 1941, Pearl Harbor was attacked, and Japan declared war on America and Great Britain. Four days later, on the 11th, Germany declared war on America. The same day, Baba began fasting on water and weak tea for a week, and informed his lovers everywhere to fast on the 12th of December, on only one meal.

Meanwhile, on 7 December, Masaji had arrived from Pandharpur with two masts and Memo, Perin and her children returned to Meherabad the same afternoon from Poona. Four days later Arnavaz and Nargis came. Eruch and his family arrived from Bangalore on the 12th and Meheru and Naggu the following day.

On the 12th, Baba came down from Meherabad Hill at 6:45 P.M. and stood near the dhuni underneath the neem tree. The wooden Table Cabin of Baba's previous seclusion had been moved there and his photograph had been placed on it.

In Baba's presence, Gustadji knelt and kindled the dhuni without any arti being sung or anything else in the way of ceremony. Neither did Baba allow the mandali to take his darshan. He stayed for only five minutes, but he did make some unusual remarks.

Seeing Pleader he said, "You will see God!"

After a while Baba spelled on the board, "God will see God!"

Then he added, "You, all of my mandali, will see God!" and told them to repeat, "Amen."