In this episode of “5 Minutes,” Dr. Robert Svoboda shares the story of his first meeting with Vimalananda and the beginning of their association.

I was studying at the Ayurvedic College in Pune, and because I wanted to make sure that I had enough money to remain there for six years without placing any financial burden on my parents, I obtained a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities to report on Ayurveda as it was being practiced in Pune at that time.

I was interviewing many different practitioners who were involved in different aspects of the Ayurvedic world in Pune. I was getting help from the Sanskrit professor at the college, Dr. Babasaheb, who was also in charge of the college hostel, meaning the dormitory, to find people for me to interview.

One of the doctors who was then at the hospital was Dr. Galsashi. I never knew him very well, but he was a friend of Mr. Chotuvi Jacob, whom I came to know very well. Chotu was a longtime friend, associate, companion, and sidekick of Vimalananda.

It was Chotu who suggested to Galsashi that I meet Vimalananda. Galsashi then suggested to Babasaheb that I meet him, and Babasaheb suggested him to me. Chotu assured Galsashi, who assured Babasaheb, who assured me, that Vimalananda would be a worthwhile person to meet.

It turned out that Vimalananda was going to be in Pune because of the horse races. In Western India, horses race in Mumbai from November through around March or April. Since the racecourse is lower and closer to sea level, it takes time for parts of it to dry out. Therefore, during August, September, and October, horses race in Pune.

Vimalananda was there to watch one of his mares race, so one day I walked over to visit him. He was actually at the racecourse, and that mare won that day. I never got to know that mare very well because she was going to be sent for breeding shortly afterward, but she was a very fine animal.

Since he was not there, the kind people at the Irani colony, which was only about a twenty-minute walk from where I was staying at the college hostel, told me, “Please come back tomorrow around this time, and he will be here.”

So I returned the next day, and there he was. Naturally, he was in a good mood because his mare had won, she was about to go for breeding, and everything seemed to be going well.

He was certainly a different kind of Ayurvedic doctor from the ones I had met during my time studying Ayurveda and preparing my report. He was not only much stronger physically, because he had been a wrestler when he was young, but he was also much more articulate because he had received an English education, as many of the other doctors had not.

But beyond that, there was something about him, some kind of presence or aura, that suggested there was much more to him than simply Ayurveda.

He was very kind and modestly formal at that first meeting. He asked me a few questions, and I explained that I had a questionnaire that I wanted to give him. I said I would return after he had completed it and collect his answers.

He replied, “Why bother with the questionnaire? Let us just talk.”

So I came back over the next few days, and I discovered that without ever filling out the questionnaire, he had answered all of the questions that were on it through our conversations.

That was the first thing that made me think there might be something particularly unusual about him.