Sheltered by the Guru, Safe for Eternity
This is a true incident that happened over forty years ago. There was a devout couple who had a small temple in their house where they had established a metallic idol of Shri Radha Krishna. As per her daily routine, the lady of the house used to scrub the idol with wooden ash before washing it off to keep it bright and shiny. When this couple met Shri Maharaj Ji for the first time, Shri Maharaj Ji pointed out to his rough skin and said, “See your wife scrubs me so hard with wood-ash that my skin is peeling. This daily scrubbing causes me pain.”
The husband understood what Shri Maharaj Ji was saying and tears of repentance started rolling down his eyes. From that time on, his entire family took shelter under the lotus feet of Shri Maharaj Ji.
One day, their 5 year old son disappeared from their home. Everyone started looking all over but could not locate the child. At 5am the next morning, there was a knock on the door and the little boy was standing at the door unscathed. Everyone was anxious to know where had the child been. He told them how he had been kidnapped by 4 people. He further said, “That man, whose picture we have on the wall in our house, came from somewhere and fought with all those people to save me. Then he brought me here, knocked on the door and when you opened the door, he left.”
Everyone knew at that moment that it was Shri Maharaj Ji who had come to save the little boy. Shri Maharaj Ji, not only takes care of the spiritual needs of the surrendered devotees but also looks after their material well-being.
After these incidents, the family’s faith in Shri Maharaj Ji increased even further. The husband, an ardent devotee of Shri Maharaj Ji remained engaged in performing mental seva, such as pressing Shri Maharaj Ji’s lotus feet after he was asleep or fanning Him during the summer months.
A good devotee does not ever talk about their feelings or devotion, but sometimes to help someone, they may say things that illustrate the state of their devotion and selfless love. One day, while chiding another devotee for crying out to Maharaj Ji for help, the husband said, “if you cry out to Shri Maharaj Ji for help after he retires in the night for sleep, how will he ever fall asleep listening to your cries”.
Such beautiful sentiments of love for Shri Maharaj Ji, are a great source of inspiration for all aspiring devotees.
Moral
In Gita, Shri Krishna says -
ये यथा मां प्रपद्यन्ते तांस्तथैव भजाम्यहम् |
मम वर्त्मानुवर्तन्ते मनुष्या: पार्थ सर्वश: ||
गीता 4.11
“I reciprocate the feelings of my devotees with the same sentiment and with the same intensity as that of the devotee’s feelings towards Me”.
When the feelings of the devotee are so pure and soft, God reciprocates the same feelings, thereby providing the devotee with indescribable bliss.