1. The dating of this lecture is vexed by conflicting evidence. All the “Tiffin Lectures” sources (TTL/FF pp. 87-89, TTL pp. 87-89, TLD/DF: 27-6-26, pp. 1-3, and TLD/FF: 27-7-26, pp. 1-3) clearly cite the date as 27th July 1926, and the same date appears in Chanji’s Diary (ChD 57: p. 121). However, the 26th July 1926 entry from “The Combined Diary” (ComD 1: ff. 306-7) records what cannot be doubted to be a synopsis of the same lecture; the 27th July 1926 “The Combined Diary” entry (ComD 1: f. 307) gives completely different content.

Since a decision has to be made, the editors have opted to follow the dating in “The Combined Diary,” this generally having proven to be the better source where dates are concerned. This 26th July 1926 “The Combined Diary” entry offers a detailed description of events of the day and the circumstances specifically that led to the lecture that night, and the 27th July 1926 “The Combined Diary” entry makes no mention of anything of the kind. On the other hand, the “Tiffin Lectures” manuscripts are probably dependent on Chanji’s lone diary entry in ChD 57: p. 121; a single wrong date there could have rippled out in the form of wrong dates in the other “Tiffin Lectures” sources. ChD 57: p. 121 records that the lecture took place “at night” (“The Combined Diary” likewise describes the lecture as having taken place at night—on the 26th—between 7 and 10 p.m.). Perhaps Chanji ascribed to this night talk the date of the following morning, when, as it happens, another meeting was held (on the subject of mandali diet).

2. ComD 1: ff. 306-7. The original text has been slightly edited.

3. The Gujarati text of ChD 57: p. 121 says that those with svayambhū powers “also have in their hands the other two, Īshwarī and siddhi powers” (“tenā hāthmā bījī be īshvarī ane sīdhīnī shaktio to hoyechhej”).

4. This last phrase (about Baba’s sudden disappearance from the view of Kaka’s brother) has been inserted editorially; the thought is missing from the original text of TTL/FF p. 87 and TTL p. 87: “The one Kaka’s brother – assures you of having actually seen Shree with his own eyes, nay, having actually taken his ‘Darshna’ [sic] and talked to him personally. . . .” (TLD/DF: 27-6-26, p. 1 and TLD/FF: 27-7-26, p. 1 read similarly; the Gujarati source text of ChD 57: p. 121 expresses the same meaning). Since Chanji is here describing an episode perceived as extraordinary or even miraculous, clearly he has inadvertently left out the miraculous detail of Baba’s sudden disappearance from a setting (i.e., the Ahmednagar bazaar) where Baba had just been seen. The editors have restored this detail, using as their source and authority “The Combined Diary” account reproduced at the head of this Tiffin Lecture, where this element of the story is clearly narrated.

5. Three of the “Tiffin Lectures” manuscripts (TTL/FF p. 88, TTL p. 88, and TLD/DF: 27-6-26, p. 2) give us, as abbreviations for these two names, “Pad.” and “Byr.”; TLD/FF: 27-7-26, p. 1 diverges in spelling the second abbreviation “Beh.” Now while “Pad.” can unproblematically be identified as Padri, “Byr.” and “Beh.” send mixed signals. Yet the diary source for this passage, ChD 57: p. 122, resolves the matter. For while it mentions no name, it gives the abbreviated English word “suptd.,” short for “superintendent.” A year earlier Behramji and Rustom had been appointed superintendents of Meherabad, and this office and the performance of its occupants came in for occasional discussion. Clearly Behramji is the individual being referred to, as consistent with the text of TLD/FF: 27-7-26, p. 1; “Byr.” represents a somewhat peculiar form of the abbreviation for this.

6. The original text of TLD/DF: 27-7-26, p. 2 reads: “Now, this poor unfortunate patient is here at a great disadvantage (of losing the benefit of so much ‘Sat-Sang’ and many other subsequent advantages) . . .” ; TTL/FF p. 88, TTL p. 88, and TLD/FF: 27-7-26, p. 2 read similarly. Clearly the wording of this sentence works counter to the theme of the anecdote, asserting as it does that the poor patient, by remaining “here,” has lost the benefit of Baba’s satsaṅg, when the problem resulted from the fact that the patient left. The editors have emended accordingly to restore good sense.

7. Again, the sources word this thought infelicitously: TTL/FF p. 88, TTL p. 88, TLD/DF: 27-7-26, p. 2, and TLD/FF: 27-7-26, p. 2 all read, “The advantage to the poor patient was either through a ‘mis-understanding’ . . .” But the very moral to the story is that the patient lost the advantage. ChD 57: p. 123 expresses this thought in the phrase, “gerfāydo thayo”; that is, “a loss occurred.” The editors have emended accordingly.

8. This sentence, expressing a thought implied by the context, has been inserted editorially to connect the preceding paragraph with what follows.