Once, Bhagwan Shree Swaminarayan sat down to eat a meal prepared by Motibai (Jivuba) in Gadhada. Despite being the “Protector of the People” (Janapratipal), he looked profoundly sad. He was thinking of the difficulties his followers faced. Motiba, seeing this sadness, instructed Mulji (Mukundanand) Brahmchari to keep a close eye on Shreeji Maharaj.
At midnight, while his attendant Mulji Brahmachari was momentarily asleep, Maharaj attempted to slip away alone, but Mulji Brahmachari eventually caught up to Him. He intended to go to Visnagar to confront a hostile Governor, but on the way, he decided to visit Vijapur to test a foremost female devotee named Vajiba.
Who was Vajiba?
Vajiba was from the Satarvara community. Before finding the Swaminarayan Sampraday, she followed the Margi sect and would serve every wandering ascetic (Vairagi) who entered the village, giving them food, tobacco, and other intoxicants, believing them to be the messengers of Bhagwan. However, after meeting a true sadhu named (Bhai) Ramdas Swami, she and her husband recognized the difference between “fake” sadhus and “true” sadhus. She became so firm in her faith that she stopped feeding the wandering pretenders, telling them, “Where did this sin of a being come from?” when they knocked on her door.
The Arrival of the “Strange Bawa”
Shreeji Maharaj arrived at Vajiba’s house in Vijapur, accompanied by Mulji Brahmachari. He was disguised as an ordinary, weary traveler. It should be noted that while Vajiba was a devotee, she had never physically had the darshan of Shreeji Maharaj, hence she did not know what He looked like.
Shreeji Maharaj asked a villager, “Is there anyone here who serves santo with love?” The villager, who disliked the Satsang, replied mockingly, “Vajiba used to be good, but she’s ‘spoiled’ now; she’s become a Swaminarayan follower. If you go there, she’ll just tell you to leave.”
Maharaj went to her door anyway and said, “Mother, we are pilgrims. May we stay the night?”
Vajiba replied sharply, “Go somewhere else! Go beg for your food. You ‘Bawas’ are just frauds who became “santo” because you were too lazy to work. If you want true salvation, worship Swaminarayan!”
The Ultimate Test
To test her conviction, Maharaj began to insult Himself:
Maharaj: “Listen, you simple woman, you’ve been misled. This Swaminarayan is a hypocrite (Pakhandi). He has mastered a ghost named Babaro and uses it to show ‘miracles.’ If you eat his sanctified food (Prasadi), you’ll go crazy!”
Vajiba didn’t flinch. She snapped back:
Vajiba: “Quiet! Why are you speaking such lies? Swaminarayan is the cause of tens of millions of universes. He has taken a human form to establish Dharma. Even the devtas worship Him. You have a dull mind and cannot recognize Him.”
Maharaj pushed further, saying he could summon scholars from Kashi to prove Swaminarayan wasn’t Bhagwan. Vajiba laughed, “Even the ancient Rishis living on the banks of the Yamuna couldn’t recognize Krishna when He was right in front of them. What will modern scholars know? Unless one has the grace of Bhagwan and past merits (Sanskars), one cannot identify an Avatar.”
She finally told him, “Go away, you ‘Langot’ (loincloth-wearer)! You are a fake and your Guru is a fake. Even if my head is cut off, I will not leave Swaminarayan.”
The Demands on the Porch
Seeing her absolute firmness, Maharaj agreed to stop talking and just stay on the porch (Oshari). He promised not to ask for anything. Vajiba warned him, “If I see you smoking a pipe or a cigarette, I’ll throw your belongings out! No smoking is allowed in a devotee’s house.”
As He laid down on the hard floor, Maharaj started complaining: “My body aches. Give me a bed (Palang).”
Vajiba said, “I don’t have one to give.”
Maharaj pointed to a locked room and said, “There is a bed in that other room. Give me that.”
Vajiba was stunned. How did this stranger know about that specific bed? She gave it to him. Then Maharaj asked for a quilt (Godadu). When she said she had no more, he pointed to a specific stack and told her to give him a new one from the bottom. Again, she was baffled but gave in.
The Midnight Miracle
At midnight, Vajiba looked through a crack in the door to check on the strange sadhu. She saw a terrifyingly divine sight: Maharaj’s legs had stretched out from the porch all the way to the branches of a Pipal tree in the distance.
Even then, Vajiba’s faith was so “Ananya” (exclusive) that she thought: “This must be some magic. Even if he shows me a cosmic form (Virat Swarup) or flies to the sun and moon, I will consider him a slave of Maya. Only Swaminarayan is true; all these other Bawas are frauds.”
The Reveal in Gadhpur
The next morning, Maharaj and Mulji Brahmachari left. Sometime later, Vajiba traveled to Gadhpur for a festival. Because of the massive crowd, she stood far away. Maharaj saw her and commanded the crowd, “Let her come forward!”
As she bowed at His feet, Maharaj smiled and said, “Vajiba, these are the same feet that touched the Pipal tree that night.”
Vajiba’s heart jumped. She looked down in shame, remembering how she had called Him a “fraud” and a “Langot” to His face. Maharaj then told the entire sabha the story of her “Ananya” faith—praising her because she was so loyal to Him that she wouldn’t even accept Him when He appeared in a different form.
This prasang has been documented by Acharya Shree Viharilalji Maharaj in Shree Harililamrut Kalash 7, Vishrams 17 and 18.
