“The fifth of June, 1973, was a day l’II never forget”, described Patel. It was through a jungle at a ride 4:30 pm we left Untwada to go to Junagadh. In our car, a Fargo, along with Bapa was Dr. Swami, Anupam Bhagat (presently Bhagwatpriya Swami), Devcharan Swami, Pragat Bhagat, A. P. Patel, two other devotees and myself. The route would take us through the Gir Jungle. Shortly after entering the jungle, we came to a junction by a small dam. None of us were sure which way to go and so the driver, Dajibhai, stopped the car and asked Swamishri, ‘Which road shall we take?’
“Take a left turn,” replied Bapa.

I don’t know whether or not Dajibhai heard correctly, but he drove straight on. No-one said anything. As we drove on into the night we could see that the jungle was becoming more and more dense. Strangely, there wasn’t a road sign, giving directions, anywhere. We were all becoming restless. It was now pitch dark outside and we hadn’t seen a car or any people for a long time. The road was becoming worse and the fact that none of us knew where we were going was not comforting. But Dajibhai just drove on at full speed.

Suddenly someone shouted, “Lion! Lion!’. We looked out of the window and we could see a lion running alongside the car. After making sure all the windows were closed, Dajibhai slowed down the car so that we could have a proper look. A young, sturdy lion stood proudly in front of our car. Then it moved to the right and came and stood by Swamishri’s door. There was silence, except for the sound of the frantic beating of our hearts. The lion stepped up and put its face to the windows. We all held our breath. To our shock and horror, Swamishri rolled down his window! Then Swamishri and the lion just looked at each other. A whole minute must have elapsed, after which the lion simply turned around and disappeared into the undergrowth!