One afternoon, an astrologer came to Khima Dobariya’s house. Though by appearance he donned a pair of odd clothes and sported a heavy beard, Khima Dobariya’s wife welcomed him thinking that he was a Brahmin. After a while he turned the pages of a voluminous book and uttered, “Lady, I am warning you with reference to the scriptures of astrology that your husband’s stars have now become unfavourable.”

“What do you mean by unfavourable?” Khima’s wife enquired. And the Brahmin took the opportunity to prey upon the woman’s apparent gullibility. He uttered a chain of references and stories and added, “It means that he will have to beg for alms from village to village and will go hungry for days on end.”

At this, Khima’s wife responded emphatically, “There are no unfavourable stars shining on my husband’s fate. He has happily had his lunch and is now peacefully taking an afternoon nap on his farm. So it seems that it is not his stars but yours that are unfavourable. Otherwise why would you have to come roaming all the way from Gujarat to Kathiawad to earn your living!”

The Brahmin was simply astonished at the unexpected answer. Then Khima Dobariya’s wife added, “Listen, O stranger! We have Swaminarayan as our guardian and protector. Through His powers no amount of mumbo-jumbo or black magic can affect us.”

The Brahmin left in shame, never to return to that village.

A true devotee has unswerving faith in God. He does not believe in black magic nor can evil elements exercise their influence over him or her.