THE CIRCUMSTANTIAL DEATH OF DNYANESHWAR

 
In the book Listen Humanity, Meher Baba enumerated the different types of death. Later he said that there was one more type of death that had not been included in Listen Humanity — this he called circumstantial death. There is only one case of circumstantial death among the Perfect Masters, and that is with Dnyaneshwar.

Dnyaneshwar was very beautiful physically. His personality was also dynamic and captivating. His presence was such that everyone flocked to him. They could not be persuaded to leave him, even though Dnyaneshwar would take great care to tell those people who had a connection, a link, with other Masters, to go to them and not stay with him. As Baba explained, in spirituality the most important point is the link that one has with the Master. You may go to any Master and, of course, you will derive benefit from the contact, but if you have no connection with that Master, you will eventually have to go to the one with whom you do have a link. This ensures further progress on the spiritual path.

So Dynaneshwar would dissuade people from staying with him where this was a barrier to their spiritual progress. But his beauty, his language and the expression of his personality were such that they persisted in staying with him. Eventually, so his personality would no longer be a hindrance in the spiritual development of some people, he asked that he be sealed alive in a small crypt. That is the one case of circumstantial death amongst Perfect Masters.

It is said that many years later, a certain person had a persistent dream of Dnyaneshwar telling him to open the crypt. The dream or vision continued to occur and so, in time, the elders of the town decided to open the crypt. Dnyaneshwar was still there, inside, but a root of a nearby tree had entwined itself around his neck and was choking him. It was cut off. It is also said that Dnyaneshwar said that the crypt was not to be opened again.