He Honors Every Service

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My father used to say that Pakistan was made only for our family. If Pakistan were not there, then we would not have left there to come to Delhi and have the fortune of meeting Param Guru Maharaj and Guru Maharaj. They would often visit Delhi on prachar and we received their blessings. Param Guruji would advise his disciples not to even ask for water when they went for preaching at any devotee's home so as not to inconvenience them in any manner.

Many of the devotees would go to see Guruji off at Delhi Railway Station, but Guruji would ensure that we all have bought platform tickets. By his conduct, he taught us how devotees should be honest in our daily affairs. On the same day he arrived in Delhi, he called me and cleared all the payments of the previous journey tickets. I still have some two and five rupee small notes he gave to settle payments from the praṇāmi received. He gave me small services such as sending seva (money orders) to various maṭhs. Up to 2004, I observed that he asked me to book tickets by Sleeper class for the whole prachar party; he never asked me to book AC or a first-class ticket for him.

In 2004, we had a puja (grihapravesham) when we were entering our new house in Vrindavan. Gurudev just had an eye operation but despite that, he traveled from Chandigarh. The next day was jhulan-yatra and a feast was arranged. He started from the main math in Vrindavan with the kirtan party and came towards our home. When his sevaks brought a car for him, he did not use it and came the entire distance by foot. He was very simple-natured.

When the Delhi maṭh was established, he stayed at our home for quite some time. He never complained and was comfortable using our small bathroom. When we were passing through difficult times, my mother went and had met Param Gurudev in Vrindavan. He gave her a two rupee note and after that, all our difficulties vanished. There are so many small instances I remember. In the initial days, there were only a few of us in Delhi and we would go to welcome Gurudev and the prachar party. We would also organize programs and distribute posters. Guruji would say that we should not put pressure on any householder who invites vaishnavas for katha and kirtan. He would keep count of every single rupee devotees would offer for Vaishnav seva. With the understanding that these funds came from devotees' hard-earned money, he thus honored their devotee's mood, utilizing it only for seva.

During the inauguration of Delhi Math in 1993, Guruji arrived in Delhi just after completing Vraj-mandal parikrama and would leave for Bhatinda by that night. He came to our house at 9.30 AM and gave me a list of things to do. The first of those was to get tickets for their further journey. He would note down the advance payment for that purpose in his diary. By his conduct, he showed how important it is to keep account of donations and their utilization.

Surrender has no connection with how much you are able to speak or not. I was born in 1960 when Vrndavan maṭh was established and till now I have not seen the world outside Gaudiya Maṭh.  I have heard from my mother that when I was still a child and in Vrindavan, Srila Bharati Maharaj and Damodar Maharaj would call me and take me on their cycles when they go to the market.

In 1993, Srila Bhakti Pramod Puri Gosvami Maharaj and Srila Trivikram Maharaj blessed us with a visit to our home. Thus we have been getting blessings of Vaishnavas.

—Sri Shyamsundar Das (Delhi) 

Spoken in Hindi, translated by Rasbihari Prabhu on GOKUL India call, 8.4.2020








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