In December of 1972, Swamishri was travelling by train to all the major pilgrimage places of India. He wanted to do darshan of the holy places where Nilkanth Varni had spent seven years, travelling around India by foot. Swamishri had arranged the whole trip by train so that sadhus and devotees could join him. Almost 800 devotees and 50 sadhus joined him on the “Nilkanth Varni Yatra Special Train.”
Though by train, this yatra (pilgrimage) turned out to be a little rough. The sleeping, bathing, eating schedules were constantly disrupted. The timings changed daily because it depended on the facilities where the train stopped for 2-3 hours. On one ekadashi day, Swamishri observed nirjala (a waterless fast). That particular day, the travel time between the two stations was very lengthy.
Not wanting to take a nap on ekadashi, Swamishri insisted that he do katha. So, Swamishri sat on his seat and opened the Vachnamrut. Some sadhus squeezed in and sat on the floor of his compartment while the elderly sadhus sat on seats facing him. The sadhus had arranged a mike system so that the remaining sadhus and devotees could hear the katha while sitting in their compartments. An announcement was made that Swamishri was going to start katha. Hearing this everyone stopped talking and reading and were eager to hear Swamishri’s voice.
Swamishri started reading and narrating Vachanamrut Gadhadha II-8: “Ekadashinu.” Swamishri’s sweet voice praised the glory of Bhagwan Swaminarayan. He explained it by using clear, descriptive examples and stories of devotees who displayed firm faith in God. There was no movement or sound throughout the train because everyone was listening attentively. The clock kept ticking, the train was going full speed, and so was Swamishri. The minute hand on everyone’s watches had moved past the same number three times! Swamishri spoke on the glory of Shriji Maharaj continuously for almost four hours! He finished the katha without pausing, without water, and without being wornout!
His enthusiasm to talk about Maharaj was the same at the beginning of the katha, during the katha, and end of the katha. Swamishri likes to talk about Maharaj. He believes that katha is the spirit of life.