An English
railroad guard approached Abhoya and her husband. Contrary to all
precedent, he volunteered his services.
"Babu," he said, "give me the money. I will buy your tickets while
you get aboard."
As soon as the couple was seated and had received the tickets, the
train slowly moved forward. In panic, the engineer and passengers
clambered again to their places, knowing neither how the train
started, nor why it had stopped in the first place.
Arriving at the home of Lahiri Mahasaya in Benares, Abhoya silently
prostrated herself before the master, and tried to touch his feet.
"Compose yourself, Abhoya," he remarked. "How you love to bother
me! As if you could not have come here by the next train!"
Abhoya visited Lahiri Mahasaya on another memorable occasion. This
time she wanted his intercession, not with a train, but with the
stork.
"I pray you to bless me that my ninth child may live," she said.
"Eight babies have been born to me; all died soon after birth."
The master smiled sympathetically. "Your coming child will live.
Please follow my instructions carefully. The baby, a girl, will be
born at night. See that the oil lamp is kept burning until dawn.
Do not fall asleep and thus allow the light to become extinguished."
Abhoya's child was a daughter, born at night, exactly as foreseen
by the omniscient guru. The mother instructed her nurse to keep
the lamp filled with oil.
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