The birth of this baby brought great joy to everyone, including parents. An expert astrologer was called, and the newborn’s horoscope was made. And it turned out that the child was born only for his planned work on earth, for the welfare of the world. When spiritually beings are born as humans to perform the tasks assigned to them by destiny, they have to assume a body like any other ordinary being. So, naturally, they have to face ups and downs, joys and sorrows, expectations, neglect, and life crises.

His early childhood was full of calamities. He lost his father when he was only fourteen months and lost his mother when he was four. Considering it her worldly duty, his grandmother looked after him. He used to meditate in solitude in the temple of Venkatesh near his house. 

Shri Maharaj’s thread ceremony was done on the lap of a Vedic Brahmin Sridharpant Ghate staying near their house. He was taught the Gayatri Mantra and initiated to do Gayatri sadhana. After the vratbandha (sacred thread ceremony), Shri Maharaj’s Gayatri Sadhana was started very regularly. It included getting up before sunrise, bathing, Sandhyavandan, Gayatri chanting, Arghyapradan (offering water) before dawn, and after sunrise, Surya Namaskar, recitation of Shri Gurucharitra, the ritual of Gayatri Mantra. He was very strict in following his routine. Because if anything went wrong, he would fast that day and not eat. His meals were very simple, very little. But he could not do without clarified butter that he was very fond of (ghee). 

From this age, he also started the vow of worshiping Shri Satyanarayana. Later, he left home after arguing with his grandmother for some trivial reason. After leaving home, he took rest for the night in Shiva’s temple, but no one came to enquire about him. This proved to be an important event to break all the worldly ties for him.

Many incidents prove that the unseen divine hand was constantly guarding him. For example, when he was just twelve years of age, he resided in Lord Shiva’s temple. Every day for more than a week, a tiger was coming to the temple, bowing to the Lord and touching Narayan’s feet, who used to be meditating in the corner. Once, when in deep meditation, the roof of the temple collapsed. So he protectively covered the Shivalinga. As a result, both the Shivalinga (Lord Shiva’s Idol) and Narayan were saved. 

Once, while meditating in the riverbed seated on a big rock, the river flooded suddenly. The water level increased, but instead of flowing over the rock, the water currents took a detour leaving Narayan safe and untouched.

Another time he was going through a dense forest, where humans, even animals, were hesitant to enter. Narayan was extremely thirsty. Suddenly a horse rider coming from nowhere showed him a spring and disappeared. When he was sleeping under the tree, and a large snake encircled his legs. Fear did not enter Narayan’s mind. After a while, it started raining incessantly, and the snake loosened its grip on his legs and went away.

After leaving home, he was asked by a Saint to go to Gangapur and serve Lord Dattatreya. He traveled to Gangapur from 1900 to 1901 performed penance throughout the year. Lord Dattatreya appeared to him and gave him mantra diksha [initiation], showing him the definite and fearless path to achieve his cherished goal. He entirely and earnestly surrendered to the Lord and made an abode for the Lord in his heart. In the Shri Datta Sampradaya, the location Shrikshetra Gangapur has a unique significance. This is a special land of Shri Dattavatar Narasimha Saraswati. Shri Maharaj’s ascetic life began in this Siddha area of ​​Gangapur.

Later from 1902 to 1904, he stayed at Arvi and Supe; during that time, the people there experienced many miracles. He arrived at Old Island or Bet in 1905. In the Marathi language, Island is called Bet. With the vision of Shri Dattaprabhu, fragrant padukas adorned with flowers were seen by him in the belly of the earth under an Audumbara tree. He heard the conversation of a pair of Pingla birds that the brief stay of Lord Ram had sanctified the place and that it was a Holy Land, where thousands will get food and true satisfaction. Hence, Maharaj acquired four hectares of land to create a place for his divine service rendered to humanity.

He created a magnificent township in four hectares of land at New Bet, which was known as Narayan Nagri, adorned by the majestic temple of Lord Dattatreya. In addition, Lord Shiva’s temple, a Sadhana (Practice) place for Maharaj, a large Dharamshala (Rest house) for devotees, and many small cottages were built by the devotees desiring to live near the Master. Distribution of free food every day to thousands of people and chanting the Lord’s name made the whole place divine. 

In 1915, Shri Maharaj traveled to Kashi-Nepal. In the year 1922, Prasadik Vastu was constructed for Bhajan Kirtan. (At present, there is a Samadhi of Maharaj at this place.) In 1927-28, a gold idol offered by Shri Vasanji Shet was installed in the Datta Temple. At that time, the first Atirudra ritual took place. The golden idol of Datta is studded with three and a half kilos of diamonds and rubies. This idol is currently in a locker at the Bank of Maharashtra Pune for security reasons. The idols are taken out on the Thursday before Datta Jayanti in the month of Margashirsha. Pooja is offered in the bank itself, which is owned by trustees. This idol is available for darshan of devotees from morning till noon. Hundreds of devotees do not miss this rare opportunity to visit.

When Maharaj was in Bet, he rose at four o’clock in the morning hours. After taking Shri Dattatraya’s darshan, Narayan Maharaj would see his devotees. He had quite an extensive correspondence which he personally attended. His words of blessing worked wonders, but to relate them would be a huge task. For lunch, he would have buttermilk and half ground boiled jowar, quite in contrast with the costly clothes he wore. At noon he would retire from all the activities of the ashram for an hour or two. In the evenings, he would attend the bhajan programs. On Thursdays, when the procession of Shri Dattatraya was taken around the temple, Narayan Maharaj would join in singing bhajans. He had an exquisitely sweet voice. On some occasions, he would join the devotees in indoor games. At times he would explain spiritual truths based on the games played. He often emphasised to his devotees that playing games, shouldering family responsibilities, and devoting oneself to the daily sadhana were not only interrelated but that they formed part and parcel of life as one indivisible whole. In the summertime, he followed a regular practice of offering with his own hands a delicious cold drink to his devotees, called panhe, prepared from boiled mangoes.

Maharaj also served as a spiritual Master to several individuals who later became teachers themselves. He worked for a brief period with Meher Baba, who afterward traveled west. Maharaj also served the awakening of Sri Upasani Baba, who later became the spiritual successor of Sai Baba. 

Spiritual Master Meher Baba once stated, ‘What I am, what I was, and what I will be as the Ancient One, is always due to the five Perfect Masters of the Age. Sai Baba, Upasani Maharaj, Hazrat Babajan, Tajuddin Baba, and Narayan Maharaj — these are the five Perfect Masters of this Age for me. Meher Baba referred to Narayan Maharaj as a Perfect Master. The following story illustrates Meher Baba’s omniscience relating to Narayan Maharaj. 

Before becoming one of Meher Baba’s early disciples, a young boy named Ramchandra Pankhraj lived in Kamptee near Nagpur. Narayan Maharaj used to visit a temple at Kamptee. On these occasions, Pankhraj criticised Narayan Maharaj for his dress and ornamentation opulence, including gold rings and silk clothing. So when Pankhraj went to see Meher Baba for the first time at Ahmednagar, Meher Baba all-knowingly refused to meet Pankhraj and sent a message instead that Pankhraj should give his devotion to Narayan Maharaj who, Baba explained, was a Sadguru.

Pankhraj understood the relationship between Baba’s order and his former practice of criticising Narayan Maharaj in no time. Pankhraj begged Meher Baba for forgiveness. The status of a Sadhguru as described by Meher Baba in ‘God Speaks’ is unparalleled among men, and it is a phenomenal blunder to backbite a Sadhguru.

In the year 1930, Shri Maharaj performed the first 108 pujas of Shri Satyanarayana. In the year 1933, Shri Maharaj performed the alluring ceremony of 1108 Mahapujas of Shri Satyanarayana. In March 1936, 108 poojas of Shri Satyanarayana were performed day and night for one week. After that, Shri visited India and made all the pilgrimages from 1937 to 1943.

Narayan Maharaj had frequent contact with the British army in India before and during World War II. Like many great adepts, Maharaj engaged in transcendental work, which intensified the divine power in the world. Through his spiritual blessings, he seemed to influence the outcome of the war. Maharaj took great interest in the activities of the allies and the Germans. He kept a large transistor radio with him. Every day, a devotee would listen to the Berlin review at eight and the BBC report at nine-thirty. Then the devotee would prepare a detailed report for him. He wanted to know all phases of the battle – on land, in the air, and at sea. He kept a map of  Europe so that he could monitor the situation of the allies, how far the Germans had come, and so on. As the war continued with soldiers getting wounded and dying, mysterious wounds would appear on the body of Sri Narayan Maharaj, with no apparent cause. He had to be bandaged three or four times a day. He could not walk and could not dine with his own hands. When questioned about the relationship between the spontaneous appearance of wounds on his body and the war in Europe, he refused to talk about it. 

From 1942 onward, he was having frequent health problems due to constant pilgrimages and his efforts during the war; then, he decided to move to Ottacmond Ooty of Tamil Nadu.

In 1944, Mahamrityunjaya mantra ceremony was performed in Bet. In 1945, he finally came to Bangalore to perform an Ati Rudra Swahakar to Lord Mallikarjuna (a form of Lord Shiva). The The state of Mysore made lavish arrangements for this occasion, which nearly 100,000 people attended. During the final stages of the pooja, Maharaj was informed that the British had landed in Japan. He answered, ‘The war is over; my work is finished.‘ After the Maha Pooja, he gave a mantra to the devotees present, retired to his chamber, sat in Padmasana, and left his physical body.  The day was Monday Sharavan vadya dwadashi, 3rd September 1945, when Maharaj merged with Lord Datta. The glorious Saguna became one with the Nirguna.

When Maharaj dropped his body, the State of Mysore provided an aircraft for his body to be taken to Bet. Still, later it was decided to dedicate nearly two acres of beautiful land near Kempambudi Lake at Bangalore, where his mortal remains are kept at a Samadhi (tomb shrine).