It was the year 1890. Outside Nasik, India, a seeker named Kashinath despaired, and in his sorrow and hopelessness he decided to fast to death! He bypassed the city and ventured into the jungle, where he came across a mountain of caves. This was the Bhorgad mountain of precipitous rock in the middle of the jungle and was an ideal place to await his death, since there was no one else around and no food or water anywhere nearby.

Kashinath entered a small cave and spent two days and nights without food, water or sleep, longing for death – challenging it to come. And if death did not come soon he would throw himself off the precipice. On the third day, he wondered why he was wasting his life calling for death instead of thinking of God! He silently began repeating God's name for days. Kashinath gradually became absorbed in his divine contemplation of God and forgot everything – his despair, his family, his life in the world. He entered into a deep samadhi and remained in a state of bliss and enchantment for several months.