The great Sage of Akkalkot -  Akkalkot  Swami Samarththa Maharaj

Pranams at the lotus feet of Swami Samarththa Maharaj!

Chapter – 9

There were a few royal personalities who had a great devotion to Akkalkot Maharaj Swamiji Samartha.  King Maloji Raje Sahib a pious and a wise ruler of Akkalkot state makes frequent visit to Swamiji, he persuaded Swamiji to stay in his palace and during his stay there were people to serve Maharaj at his will.   But it created difficulty among the ordinary people who were yearning to get a glimpse of Swamiji.  The King and Queen was a great devotee of Swamiji.  King Maloji Raje Sahib had a son who was born with the blessings of Swamiji, though Swamiji had great liking towards the King, he often criticizes him for his mistakes, once the King who was riding on an elephant to meet Swamiji was sharply criticized for his disrespect and pretentious act.  The King had to face the displeasure of Swamiji when he gave shelter to the arrogant Dajeeba Bhosle.  Even though, Maharaj appeared before the King who was on the death bed and blessed him.

Jayarajirao Shinde the Maharaja of Gwalior was a very devoted and virtuous ruler, he relentlessly serves pious and holy men in his Kingdom, he came to know about Swamiji Samarththa of Akkalkot residing in the palace of King Maloji Raje Sahib.  He arrived in the palace of Akkalkot and waited for four days to get Dharshan of Swamiji, though he was totally distressed, ultimately his devotion paid its fruit. On the fourth day, Swamiji took a seat under the Vatavruksha out of the palace, Maharaj got the news of Swamiji sitting under Vata Vruksha, soon he set aside his royal meal and came barefoot running towards Swamiji and prostrated before him.  They had a discussion on spiritual matters and Maharaj was deeply impressed by the lectures of Swamiji.

Tukojirao Holkar of Indore had visited Akkalkot to have Dharshan of Swamiji, soon he remembered the first meeting took place with the Swamiji in Mount Abu, he realized that Swamiji is the incarnation of Lord Dhaththathreya. Swamiji had a great number of devotees, Nawab sir Salarjung of Hyderabad was one among them.  He was fond of people with great devotion and faith.

Maharaja Malharrao Gaikwad of Baroda had a great desire to bring Swamiji to stay in the palace in Baroda.  He believed that his city would be sanctified at the touch of the feet of Swamiji.  Once Maharaja announced in the Assembly about his desire to bring Swamiji in Baroda, one of the assembly member Tatyasaheb decided to proceed to Akkalkot with his attendants to bring Swamiji,  as per the order all the expenses would be borne by the King in this journey and huge money would be given as a reward to Tatyasaheb.  During his stay in Akkalkot, Tatyasaheb sincerely spends fair money on charities and serving the hungry people as per the advice of Swamiji.  Tatyasaheb did not get any positive response from Swamiji, so he approached Cholappa who is  a sincere attendant of Swamiji tried to persuade him with the money, and it worked. Cholappa said to Swamiji “ If you visit the palace of the King of Baroda, I would be awarded huge money as a cash award.”  Swamiji said, “ Cholappa, If the King has  devotion I would have definitely visited him, but unfortunately it is not there.” Later, Tatyasaheb plotted a plan to take Swamiji in a Palanquin without his knowledge and deposit him in a special train to Baroda, but this plan was failed, Swamiji disappeared from the Palanquin.