Part 1

 
When Beloved Meher Baba was in Manzil-e-Meem, the first ashram in Bombay, He asked members of His mandali to write Upasni Maharaj's biography in Marathi, Gujarati, and Urdu. They asked Upasni Maharaj Himself about His life. When it was written, printed and published, Baba asked Rustom, who was Adi K. Irani's brother and also one of the mandali, to send a copy to Gandhi which he did. When Gandhi received the biography, he read it and he thought, "Here is a Sadguru (Perfect Master). Why not go to him and have his darshan?" So in 1924 he went to Sakori along with his political companions.

There he found Upasni Maharaj sitting on a chair, wearing only a gunny sack around his waist. When Upasni Majaraj saw Gandhi, he shouted, "Get out from here! People have made you Mahatma! Are you a Mahatma? How selfish you are that they call you Mahatma and you feel happy! I don't want to see you! Get out!" Gandhi was shocked to hear this. Then Upasni Maharaj said, "Go away! Why did you come here?"... Gandhi immediately left Sakori and he never thought of having Upasni Maharaj's darshan again.

In 1925, Gandhi came to Ahmednagar to attend the conference of Congress political leaders. Baba had come down from Bombay by that time, leaving Manzil-E-Meem, and residing at Meherabad. One morning, Gandhi was walking towards Meherabad on his daily walk. Eruch's maternal uncle, Naosherwanji Satha, was also a political leader at Ahmednagar and he was walking along with Gandhiji and the other leaders.

He said to Gandhiji just a few miles away from Ahmednagar, "Meher Baba's ashram is nearby." Gandhi asked him, "Who is Meher Baba?" Naosherwanji told him Meher Baba is the disciple of Upasni Maharaj and Gandhi immediately said, "I had a very bad experience of Upasni Maharaj. I cannot go to Meherabad to see Meher Baba." He returned immediately to Ahmednagar and never thought of Upasni Maharaj or Meher Baba.

Baba later explained that Upasni Maharaj behaved badly with Gandhi because Gandhi's work was with Baba, not with Upasni Maharaj.