During the first few days of their visit, Baba kept asking Alain if something was worrying him. He would abruptly stop the conversation in the middle and ask, “Is something bothering you?” to which Alain would always say, “No, Baba.”
Finally, Alain said, “Yes, Baba, there is something that is worrying me. I am terrified I am going to encounter a snake. I am petrified of snakes! When I was a young boy I had a horrendous experience with one.”
Baba nodded gently and assured him, “If you see a snake think of me and say my name.”
Alain was doubtful the ploy would work and soon forgot about it. Their last night at Meherabad, he awoke in the middle of the night to urinate. When he went outside, as he was looking up at the brilliant stars, all of a sudden he glanced down and saw a snake at his feet. He began saying Baba’s name internally, and he was surprised at how calm he felt.
The next day, when they went to Meherazad, Baba asked how he had slept. “Is anything bothering you?” he inquired. Alain had forgotten the incident, but he now remembered it. When he was asked to describe the snake, he was told, “That was a krait, one of the deadliest snakes in India. It strikes without any warning or provocation whatsoever.”
-www.lordmeher.org, p4621
Dec, 1959; Meherazad