PARADE OF ANIMALS

 
At every halt there would be a crowd of visitors — men and women with eyes filled with inquisitiveness. This made the women companions feel rather uncomfortable as they had spent most of their lives in secluded places. The villagers marvelled at the parade of animals and the strange group wearing long robes and turbans. Some thought that they were a group of refugees from Pakistan, for this was the period following the partition. Some inquired if the companions belonged to a circus troupe! A few were curious about the inclusion of the donkeys with the other animals. Nowhere in India had they seen or heard of any spiritually minded group leading donkeys to a place of pilgrimage! It was extremely difficult for anyone to satisfy their curiosity.

Years later, Kaka Baria, one of the companions, commented that through the animals taken with them in the New Life, Baba gave a fresh impetus to the work done for the animal kingdom in His past Advents. The white horse, according to Kaka, represented the work accomplished by Zoroaster and the cows that by Krishna. The donkeys were the medium for recharging the spiritual push given by Jesus and the camel that by Prophet Mohammad. Kaka, as Baba's dearest disciple and personal attendant, might have asked Baba about the significance of this "parade of animals" in the New Life or this might be entirely his own interpretation, I am not sure. Had Kaka told this to the villagers, some might have laughed at him and perhaps this explanation would have intrigued them all the more.

Leaving such queries apart, as soon as the villagers knew that this group was on its way to Hardwar, the famous place of pilgrimage in India, their minds and hearts would be filled with deep respect and devotion. They would ask if they could be of any help to them.