Shri Vasudevanand Saraswati Tembe Swami Maharaj

A compact Biography.

• Adhyatmic  
  Adhyatmic afflictions are those originating in the body. These consist of the thousands of ailments that human beings suffer from. Shri Swami Maharaj had a plethora of knowledge of herbal remedies and he cured literally thousands of patients. He not only prescribed the cures but also went to considerable trouble to make the herbs available. He did pass this knowledge to a few selected students like Shri Ganesh Satavalekar of Kolgaon, Shri Gangadharpant (Baba) Vaidya of Nisarpur and others. During epidemics, he used to organize mass production of the required medicines to be distributed to the needy. 
  In selected cases, he used to advise yogic practices to cure them. A Brahmin suffering from loss of appetite and pain in abdomen was asked to do the head-down position (viparitkarani). This not only relieved his pain but also improved his appetite so much as to make his wife find difficult to feed him. When she complained to Shri Maharaj, he asked the Brahmin to discontinue the practice that brought down his appetite to more manageable proportion. Once he made Shri Gulavani Maharaj practice peacock position (Mayurasan) to cure his fever. 
  After his Mahasamadhi (dissolution of physical body), an artisan working on the ongoing construction developed an infection of foot that disabled him completely. He was sorely disappointed at being unable to participate in the sacred work and was planning to return home. One morning, an ochre-robed monk appeared to him and pointed to a shrub to be crushed and applied to his sore foot. On complying with this, his foot got well the very next day and he could join his work. Later when shown the picture of Shri Swami Maharaj, he identified him as the Baba who pointed out the shrub!
  Of course many an apparently physical illness are caused by supernatural beings and in such cases Shri Swami Maharaj used to advice the relevant remedies to be discussed later.