His Highly Significant Instructions in Seemingly Small Instances

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I've been given this opportunity to glorify his Divine Grace Śrīla Bhakti Ballabha Tīrtha Mahārāja who I consider my foremost śikṣā-guru. There are so many things to glorify. I remember some glories connected from his visits to Singapore and Malaysia. My remembrances may seem like very small and trivial things, but behind the small things are opportunities to understand the deeper meanings. 

When Gurudeva was in Singapore on one or two occasions, I was given the service of being a chauffeur (driver). I had a white Mercedes Benz and I took him wherever he wanted to go— That was my duty. So in going from point A to point B, sometimes to temples or to devotees' houses, some words would be exchanged between Śrīla Gurudeva while I was driving. 

Rasabihari Prabhu from Jammu was there; I believe he was the secretary while traveling. Viṣṇu Mahārāja was there too before he took sannyās, and another American sannyāsi named Hṛṣīkeśa Mahārāja. Hṛṣīkeśa Mahārāja was the one who introduced me to Śrīla Bhakti Ballabha Tīrtha Mahārāja and I am forever indebted to him for that.

 

So in the course of driving from here to there, there was some inquiry as to my background, but my background is not very good. So he was asking me, how did you come here, why are you doing this? I said frankly I’m just doing this for sukṛti, I am trying to collect as much as I can to be able to become favorable to pure devotees and Kṛṣṇa so I can perhaps get some mercy from them. 

One of the things that struck me most was when he explained three types of services to the guru. As we listen to these three types of sevā mentioned, we may feel surprised that we do the exact opposite of what Śrīla Gurudeva wants. Of course, it is not good but you will be surprised many of us do that. 

The first is when the guru gives a specific instruction and the disciple will hear the instruction and perform the sevā. The second type of service type is when you follow the guru’s instruction exactly, in a way that Gurudeva knows you have actually followed it and that is good. The third he mentioned is the best of all, this is when Śrīla Gurudeva does not give any instruction at all but the disciple performs the services that satisfy him without hearing instructions. He said the third is the best possibility. I took that to heart. 

I try to speak from the heart and hopefully by doing that, I’m able to purify myself and if Kṛṣṇa wills it, it also inspires anyone hearing me. So this was one small talk we had. These small talks we had while I was driving, although seemingly trivial were not. And I still try to follow these instructions now.



There was another incident in Singapore at one Lakṣmī-Nārāyaṇa temple. Somehow or another I was able to organize for Śrīla Gurudeva to go there and deliver hari-kathā. The audience was mainly from the Indian community there. I drove him there just stood beside me in the crowd, doing arāti and kīrtana. After that Śrīla Gurudeva was offered the vyāsāsana to speak. 

At the end of the speech, it is customary as you may know that the priest of the temple offered something to the speaker. He made Gurudeva an offering of a mala made from buddha beads, not the tulasī beads we are used to. He refused very clearly telling the priest that no, I’m not going to accept this. The priest was stunned, but he had no choice. He was about to put it on his Gurudeva's neck, but Gurudeva was strict and very insistent that no, he does not accept this. He told the whole audience also that he didn't accept this. He said, "We Gauḍīyas only accept tulasī, this is a very strict order." He was very firm. 

We went back to the car and then Gurudeva asked me if I understood anything he said. I said, “No, I don’t understand Bengali or Hindi but by your action, I can understand.” And he cracked up, laughing freely. In public he had been so strict, but when he came up to us it he was very hearty laughter. So he can be very strict and can be very gentle. I remember many small incidents with Guru Mahārāja that may seem small, but not trivial. Behind the so-called triviality, there is a big message. I try to understand this and live on it. 

—Vidyāpati Dāsa

Excerpted from Vyāsa-puja offerings 25th April 2021, in Honor of the 97th appearance day of Śrīla Gurudeva

(repost)


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