Lessons from an Avadhoota – A Master’s actions are beyond human understanding
Paramahansa Narsing Gopaldas Maharaj was a powerful Avadhoota who lived in Nashik, Maharashtra – a state in the Western region of India that is a prominent seat of the Nath and Dattatreya traditions.
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No one knows about his origins or whence he came from. He was found lying naked in the mud in a huge lotus swamp behind one of the rest houses near the banks of the Godavari river in Nashik. He would be there day or night. At that time, people were oblivious to his spiritual stature. Yet, they would take him out of the mud every now and then but Gopaldas Maharaj would just go right back in to lie in the mud. This continued for three years. He was not known to eat anything and also never disturbed anyone. He would lie in the mud without any body consciousness. Sometimes, he would be sitting with snakes coiled around him. At such times, people would get frightened and stay away from him. People gradually started realizing that this was not an ordinary man but a divine personage.
One day, Nandgaonkar, Dattopant Chaphekar and a few other people decided to house him in the Kala Ram temple in Nashik. As decided, they took him out of the muddy swamp, bathed him with the water from the Godavari river and brought him to the entrance of the sanctum sanctorum of the Kala Ram temple. He stood at that very place for a year and a half. People who came to the temple offered him food and drink but it was of no use since he neither ate nor drank anything. He did not even bother to look at the offerings. If someone fed him in the mouth, he would mostly spit it out and rarely eat a little bit. After a year and half, he took a seat in the sanctum sanctorum behind the big door by the East entrance and setup his dhuni (sacred fire) there.
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His favorite god was Lord Narsimha – the fourth avatar of Lord Vishnu and he would be constantly chanting Lord Narsimha’s name. Due to this, people started calling him Narsing (a variation of the name Narsimha) Maharaj and he came to be known in Nashik by that name. It is said that he had installed Lord Narsimha in the pillar next to where he sat and would never allow anyone to touch that pillar. After a while, he started smoking the chillum (pipe) with marijuana. It wasn’t a habit as he was not addicted to it. Since then, he started speaking a little though the words were not for everyone but intended for specific devotees only. For some special individuals, he would discourse on Vedanta, religion, etc after midnight. That was when people found out about the depth of his knowledge and wisdom.
Gopaldas Maharaj is referenced in the biographies of contemporary saints such as Sai Baba, Gajanan Maharaj, Ramanand Beedkar Maharaj, Madhavnath Maharaj amongst others.
In the Sai Satcharitra (Ch. 33), there is a reference to a devotee of Sai Baba named Haribhau Karnik from Dahanu, Maharashtra who went to meet Baba in Shirdi on the eve of Guru Poornima in the year 1917. He worshipped Baba with due formality, offered him clothes and money and then took Baba’s permission to leave for home. As he got down the steps, he felt that he should have offered one more rupee to Baba. As he turned to climb the steps again, Shyama, Baba’s companion, indicated through signs that since Baba had granted him permission to leave, it is best for him to go and not come back. En route to his home in Dahanu, he stopped to visit the Kala Ram temple in Nashik. Gopaldas Maharaj, who was sitting there with his followers, immediately got up, accosted Haribhau Naik, caught his wrist and asked, “Give me my one rupee!” Haribhau Karnik was surprised. He paid the money most willingly understanding that Sai Baba was fulfilling his desire to pay him one more rupee through this saint (Gopaldas Maharaj). This shows how the saints work in unison.
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Hansraj of Sakori was suffering from asthma and was distressed about it. He also had no children which bothered him as well. In 1916, he went to meet Gopaldas Maharaj in the Kala Ram temple. Without being told, Maharaj told him that I know that you are suffering. You need to go to Shirdi to get this resolved. Sai Baba of Shirdi will slap you twice and your work will be done. As directed, Hansraj dutifully went to Shirdi. No sooner did he get up after prostrating to Sai Baba, Sai Baba slapped him twice and asked him to leave his presence immediately. From that day, Hansraj was relieved of the asthma issue and in due course he became a proud father.
Once Madhavnath Maharaj (another contemporary saint) went to visit Gopaldas Maharaj in the Kala Ram temple. People around were curious to see how the saints would converse since Gopaldas Maharaj stayed mostly in silence. Madhavnath Maharaj went to Gopaldas Maharaj, looked at him and started slapping his upper arms like a wrestler. Gopaldas Maharaj responded by slapping his thighs like a wrestler. To this, Madhavnath Maharaj put his hands to his mouth and made loud sounds. Gopaldas Maharaj responded likewise. They then set off in opposite directions. 
