After the devotees who had come for the samaiya dispersed, the devotees of Mahemadabad requested Maharaj, "Please send a learned saint to our village to defeat the Vedantins and enhance the satsang." Mahemadabad was a strong-hold of Vedantin-Brahmins. They prevented people from becoming satsangis with the help of their pseudo knowledge of Vedanta. Maharaj tried to send a learned saint but nobody was prepared to go. At last He ordered Swami to go and sent him with the devotees of Mahemadabad.
When Brahmins of the village who where pseudo Vedantins got the news of Swami's arrival in the village, they came to the temple with an object to defeat him. There was a huge assembly in the temple. Swami began to address them, "Pundits ! You have merely known Brahman in letter only and not in spirit, and have learnt to utter, "Aham Brahmasmi", but you have neither achieved Brahmic state nor have you realised the true Purushottam. Brothers, only Shukdevji had attained the Brahmic state and as a result of that he was above the discrimination of sex. Shukdevji possessed the pervading Brahmic energy and therefore, when Vyasji called him he replied through a tree. If you have attained a similar Brahmic state, come here and reply to me from this pillar.
"But you have not attained that Brahmic state. You have not lost interest from this world. You indulge in numerous intrigues even for a penny. You have your own friends and enemies. Your ego has not yet dissolved from yourselves. Still you have not lost the sense of 'I' and 'Mine'. You have not attained equanimity for various tastes. For you, a delicate and a hard touch do not mean the same thing. You are still fascinated by attractive material objects. A sweet sound still charms your ears. You are able to repeat the phrase 'Aham Brahmasmi' like a parrot, but you can't be called 'Brahman'.
"Sensuous pleasures which are like a mirage can not lead anybody who is Atmaram astray. When you attain that state, you do not have to proclaim yourselves as 'Aham Brahmasmi'. People will automatically come to know that. Shukji or Jad Bharat never went to anyone saying so. But the world knew their Brahmic state. Where there is incompleteness, there is ego. So till you utter 'Aham Brahmasmi,' you are incomplete, and you worship only the letters and not the spirit behind them. Lord Krishna has said in the Bhagvadgita :
"Atmaupamyen sarvatra samam pashyati yo'rjuna,
Sukham va yadi va dukham sa yogi paramo matah"
O Arjuna, one who sees everyone equal, and like himself, and for whom happiness or otherwise makes no difference, is a Yogi.'' "Have you attained that state? Do you have a desire to share the happiness as well as the woes of others ? If anybody's son dies you begin to preach to him Brahmagnan and when your goat dies, you shout and cry.
"Pundit-like behaviour of such hypocrites will no longer be tolerated. Swaminarayan Himself is Para-Brahman and many have become, are becoming and will continue to become one with Brahman by worshipping Him. So shedding all your hypocrisy if you really wish to attain the Brahmic state, I can get you in contact with Para-Brahman. You may read or contemplate on several books but you'll never attain the Brahmic state, unless you surrender yourselves to Almighty Para-Brahman Swaminarayan. And I am the eternal Brahman sustaining the innumerable cosmos."
As soon as Swami finished his statement, floods of light emanated from his body. The pseudo-pundits who were sitting there were dazzled. The house in which Swami was sitting began to shake as if life had come to it. The Pundits were frightened and thought that the house might collapse. Seeing them frightened, Swami began to laugh and said, "Don't be afraid. It won't collapse. If you are Brahman, absorb this light." There after, Swami himself absorbed the light in order to appease them.
All of them cried, "You are indeed Brahman!" Then Swami said, I am indeed Brahman but Swaminarayan is Para-Brahman. So if you are convinced, come for His darshan." Some of them were so impressed with Swami's divine power that they touched his feet and became his disciples. Some of them felt defeated and went home. But since that time on they were convinced that among the tyagis of Swaminarayan there is a divine genius.