Anandji Sanghediya was a staunch devotee of Ramanand Swami. He, along with Muktanand Swami and Parvatbhai of Agatrai pledged never to accept anyone other than Ramanand Swami as their guru. However, Ramanand Swami would repeatedly state that he was simply preparing the foundation for the Lord, and was awaiting his arrival. Thus, upon Nilkanth Varni’s arrival, Ramanand Swami appointed the young yogi as his spiritual successor.

Anandji, not yet convinced of Maharaj’s supremacy continued to revere Ramanand Swami as his true guru. Once Anandji saw Muktanand Swami collecting Shriji Maharaj’s nail clippings. Confused, he asked, “Have you
changed from your allegiance to Ramanand Swami?” Muktanand Swami, now a firm believer of Maharaj, attempted to explain Bhagwan Swaminarayan’s greatness. Still unsure, Anandji asked, “What if I lose my moksha by believing this way?” However, when Muktanand Swami agreed to accept the burden of any negative consequences, Anandji too became convinced of Shriji Maharaj’s greatness.

Upon understanding Maharaj’s supremacy, Anandji began to spend the whole day in worship, in devotion or in the service of Bhagwan Swaminarayan. Eventually as Anandji became more and more engrossed in devotion, his business began to fail. One by one he lost all of his customers, putting his family under serious financial pressure. Eventually, Anandji’s wife, Rajbai, sent a complaint to Maharaj claiming that Anandji was neglecting his family responsibilities, by spending all night listening to katha, and then sleeping during the day.
So the next day, when Anandji came to listen to katha, Maharaj explained to Anandji that he may sit to listen at night, but must fulfil all of his family responsibilities as well. Acting according to the wishes of Maharaj, Anandji worked during the day, and at night he attended sabha. Slowly this hectic schedule made Anandji extremely tired. Often he would accidentally doze off in sabha.

Seeing this, Maharaj made him stand up and listen to the katha, yet Anandji would still fall asleep. Once, in the winter months, Shriji Maharaj decided to pour cold water on Anandji while he was dozing. Yet, even in the cold winter nights Anandji, dripping wet, would stay and listen to Maharaj’s katha. Regardless of how tired he was, Anandji never lost his enthusiasm for listening to Maharaj’s discourses.
Anandji’s immeasurable faith earned him Maharaj’s profound blessings. But Rajbai was not pleased by the way the townsfolk ridiculed her husband for his zealous devotion. This created more friction between the two. So Maharaj told Anandji not to attend any Satsang events for the time being.

This was a shock for Anandji. How could he live without listening to the spiritual discourses and serving his beloved Lord! He pleaded with Maharaj to allow him to continue his involvement in Satsang. But Maharaj remained adamant. He told other  devotees to shun Anandji like an outcast! The young and old treated him with disdain. Yet Anandji’s enthusiasm did not wane. He would sit outside the mandir compound to listen to the kirtans and spiritual talks and would clean the devotees’ shoes.