Shahenshah Baba Nebhraj, who used to go to school clad in a coat and trousers and wore a turban, now moved about naked. Generally, nakedness among holy men is regarded as a sign of their closeness to God. Clothes are a barrier between man and God. Naked does God send us to this world; So some devotees feel they must worship God in the state of nakedness. Some Sufi saints opine that there are seventy veils between God and us. These veils are to be torn asunder if we wish to be blessed with a vision of God. Yet others declare that God lies concealed behind seven hundred and seventy veils. Before we get a glimpse of God, all those veils are to be removed. Whether the veils be seventy or seven hundred and seventy, one of the veils, doubtless, is of body-consciousness. Seekers after God must do away with this consciousness. One of the ways of doing so is discarding clothes. As Shahenshah Baba Nebhraj was eager to behold God and to be in His constant presence, he cast away his clothes.
In the forest, Shahenshah Baba Nebhraj used to be in a state of such ecstasy that he wandered oblivious of his surroundings. He used to be simply rapt in thoughts of the Divine, moving about like one intoxicated. For full four years, he dwelt in the forest. He had totally surrendered himself to the Divine. Forgetful of his physical body and its needs, he remained completely lost to this world. He kept chanting the sacred word "Om". Soon the time came when he reduced himself to a zero. He rose above dwandas - pair of opposites. Like the devotee, whom Sri Krishna so aptly describes in the twelfth chapter of the Gita, Shahenshah Baba Nebhraj remained unaffected by censure or praise, grief or joy, loss or gain, and heat or cold. He destroyed his ego to such an extent that he never spoke of himself in the first person. He gave up the terms "I" and "mine". He referred to himself as "he". Whenever he needed anything, he would pointing to himself, speak as if he was referring to someone else. In case of hunger, he would say: "He feels hungry.". Whenever he wanted to bless anyone, he would say: "Lord! He is asking for blessings. Do bless him!" He, who merges himself with the Infinite, no longer exists as a separate entity. He loses his individuality, his identity. He becomes one with the One even as a drop ceases to be a drop when it falls into the sea, even as a river is no longer a river when it pours itself out into the ocean. Shahenshah Baba Nebhraj had become so spiritually evolved that he verily became one with the Divine.
The mother of Shahenshah Baba Nebhraj departed from this world in the year 1912. After the death of his mother, he turned his back to the world, snapped all temporalities and plunged himself into the search for the Divine. As there was now no one at home to control the movements of Shahenshah Baba Nebhraj, he felt absolutely free to move about as he liked. During the lifetime of his mother, he used to return home, though late at night. Now that his worldly fetters were torn asunder, he transcended all restraint. After the passing away of his mother, the house of Shahenshah Baba Nebhraj used to remain closed. Dishonest and avaricious people took advantage of this and made away with most of his belongings. All that they left behind was an old cot, a torn sheet, a broken lamp and a water pot. Shahenshah Baba Nebhraj was the least pertubed and was content with whatever was left. Such is the case with those who hanker only after the treasure of the Spirit. They spurn worldly possessions.
Does a rose leave the rose bush to invite bees? Its fragrance is enough to attract them towards it. Does a magnet move afar to draw iron filings towards it? Wherever it be, filings and articles of iron go to it spontaneously and irresistibly. Even so do aspirants, devotees and seekers flock freely around a man of God. His piety and spirituality are enough to attract them. Eager and earnest aspirants would go to Shahenshah Baba Nebhraj to have his darshan, to seek his blessings and to get their desires fulfilled. Strangely enough, even in a state of ecstasy, he would read the minds of his devotees and come to know of their desires. His way of blessing was rather strange and quaint. He would abuse or give a slap to the devotee whom he wished to bless. The latter would then leave, rejoicing that he had not gone to Shahenshah Baba Nebhraj in vain. He would go with the assurance that his desire would certainly be fulfilled for had not Shahenshah Baba Nebhraj poured his grace upon him by abusing or slapping him?
As stated above, after Shahenshah Baba Nebhraj renounced the world, he moved about naked. It was an unusual and unpleasant sight for the children and the did not hesitate to throw stones at him whenever they saw him. He did not even escape the wrath of adults, who would abuse him, whenever they passed by him. Shahenshah Baba Nebhraj cared for the least for this as he lived in a world of his own. There were times when he felt so famished, because of not taking food for days together, that he would pick up some food remnant or the other from the roadside, eat it and fill his hunger. He, who was an emperor, a monarch in the eyes of his devotees, would at times behave like a beggar. How strange is the leela of the Lord!