A serious road accident averted, only due to the grace of my Sadguru Aniruddha Bapu!
— Sanjaysinh Lokhande
When we read about this Shraddhavan’s experience of a car accident, it sends shivers down the spine. The accident was so severe that it was impossible for anyone to survive it. However, the impossible was made possible! It is important to note that before the accident, the passengers had performed the Gunasankirtan of Sadguru Aniruddha Bapu. As a result, his Nama had been constantly chanted in the car.
Hari Om, I am narrating my experience from Friday, 28th May 2016.
Saturday and Sunday are my days off from the office, so my three friends planned a weekend visit to Shirdi. The three of them began insisting that I join them. Since my friends were so insistent, I decided to go along. Accordingly, my three friends Ravi, Harish, Ajay, and I set out from Indore for Shirdi at 5:00 pm.
Our conversations reached an interesting point. Being a follower of Sadguru Aniruddha Bapu, I had only topics related to him to discuss. I narrated the experiences of Sadguru Aniruddha Bapu’s grace and shared information about Him with my friends. I wholeheartedly narrated to my three friends how Sadguru Aniruddha Bapu guides Shraddhavans through his discourses and how Shraddhavans find answers to their problems through these discourses of Bapu. We journeyed joyfully. At 9:00 pm, after a stopover at a restaurant for dinner, we resumed our journey for Shirdi. I was the only one who knew how to drive. No one else could drive.
Since our stomachs were full after dinner and it was late at night, we all began feeling sleepy. Two of my friends, Ajay and Ravi, dozed off in the backseat while the third friend, Harish, sat next to me. At around 2:00 am, when sleep became uncontrollable for all, I asked all three of my friends to sleep. I continued driving while doing Namasmaran of Bapu. Since it was nighttime, I could see multiple loading trucks in the distance. At 3:30 am, when we were just 10 km from Kopargaon, my eyes also began to close. The urge to sleep was so overwhelming that without even realising it, I fell asleep. My friends were already fast asleep, and the car was moving at about 80-100 km/hr.
A loading truck was right in front of our car. My eyes were shut, and the car was speeding towards the truck. Just then, I heard my friend Ajay, seated in the rear seat, scream: “Lokhande! What are you doing?” His voice woke me up in a snap. I came back to my senses and opened my eyes. However, I thought it was too late, as the truck was hardly at any distance from us. It felt certain that our car would crash into the truck, that too at a tremendous speed.
Just then, I looked at Sadguru Bapu’s photograph in my car and said, “Bapu, only you can save us now.” We stared at death because Harish and I were in the front seat, and the other two were seated in the rear. I felt helpless, but the moment I prayed to Sadguru Bapu, I acquired the strength to face the situation. Getting rid of helplessness, I began steering so that, without me even realising it, the car started moving away from the truck. All these events happened so rapidly, and in such a manner that before my car collided with the truck, it rammed into the left side of the road.
The car’s left door and windscreen were completely smashed, but all four of us were safe and sound. None of us were injured or even scratched. Even after such a severe accident, I remained composed, immediately exited the car, and took pictures of it. My car was completely damaged, and it was impossible for it to start. Thinking that now only Bapu would guide us from thereon, the four of us stood near the car for 45 minutes. Just then, by Bapu’s grace, the thought of why not try starting the vehicle arose in my mind. I knew nothing was impossible for Sadguru Bapu. I attempted to turn on the ignition, and the car started immediately! What a surprise! The front of the car was completely damaged, but the car started in one go.
We reached Shirdi at 6:00 am but were not sure where we could find a place to stay. Since we had left unplanned, we made no reservations for accommodation. However, Sadguru Bapu always makes all the arrangements for us beforehand, and we have no reason to worry. Sometimes, we could forget something, but Bapu remembers even the smallest things about every Shraddhavan.
As we continued looking for accommodation in Shirdi, a boy suddenly came up to us and stood before us. He took us to his house without us asking him anything. We all freshened up. Later, he accompanied us in the car to the temple. Sitting in the car, he looked at Bapu’s photo and said, “Your Sadguru is already with you.” The boy showed us the temple, and in no time, he disappeared without any trace.
By now, my friends began to be convinced of Sadguru Aniruddha Bapu’s greatness and said, “Bapu definitely has bestowed his full grace on you. Only Bapu saved all of us and showed us the way.” My friends also agreed that looking at the car’s condition, anyone would feel that any of the passengers surviving in this accident was next to impossible. That is why my friends acknowledged that it was only due to Bapu’s unmerited grace that we survived this massive accident unscathed. We even returned to Indore from Shirdi in my car.
When Bapu stands with you, you are rid of every crisis in no time, and that too with effortless ease. What is destined will inevitably occur. However, the only one who can guide us effortlessly at such times and ensure the well-being of all Shraddhavans is Sadguru Aniruddha, the only ‘Sahaj-Siddha’ (one replete with matchless intrinsic capacities and powers).
I surrender unto you, O Bapuraya,
You are my Master,
the Saviour and the Doer,
My Aniruddha is Smartrugami (one who arrives as soon as he is recalled).