He Reciprocates With a Devotees' Desire For Service

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I got my dīkṣā in Gokul-Mahāvan. Then I went to Chandigarh.  That time Amarendra Prabhu was attending to Guruji's cooking.  Suddenly a thought came in me, I have been doing sādhan for these many years, how can I know I am doing it properly?  And I was thinking about it while doing my chanting late into the night.  

Again in the morning, I thought that if I get direct sevā of Guruji today, I will consider my practice going on correctly. I was in the kitchen and suddenly Cidghananda Prabhuji called me and said. “Today you will be cooking for Guruji.” I told him I had never done this service, so I wasn’t sure how. He said, “I do not know, Guruji has selected you.”

So remembering Sri Radha Krishna, I prepared bitter gourd curry with khuskhus (poppy seed), very thin, nice roṭīs, and also some khīr. Just when I finished my sandhyā, Guruji requested, “Call Karunamay quickly; today I am feeling very hungry.”  I lost my presence of mind and wondered what inspired this in Guruji.  After I cleaned the place and put the mat down, I served Guruji but continued to sit there. Guruji asked me why I was still there and told me to leave the room. “ Amarendra Prabhu would serve and go out,” he continued, but “you are a very talkative boy sitting here.” 

When I went to get some more roṭīs, they fell out of my hands. I came again and asked Guruji if he would take khīr.  Guruji said, “I am old, and my sugar has increased, so the doctor has barred me from taking sugar.”  When I was taking the plate outside, he called me again, put his finger into the khīr, and tasted it. “Take it outside,” he concluded. This is the first opportunity I when I got to serve Guruji. 


When Guruji went to America on prachar, I was in Chandigarh. When I just returned from collections, Nishkinchan Maharaj told me there is a phone call for you from your god-brother.  It was from Bhakti Vichar Vishnu Maharaj. He said, 'Karunamay, Guruji is remembering you very much.  Guruji was only eating your kārela (bitter-gourd) and nothing else throughout his entire travel by flight.  This is the second opportunity I had got to serve Guruji. 


When I was in Chandigarh with Guruji, he would hurry me to go and have prasād, saying it is late and prasād will be over soon.  But internally he knew I would first take Guruji's maha-prasād and then go for lunch. By Guruji's grace, I got the sevā of cooking for him, washing his plates, and when devotees came for darśan, I handed Guruji prasād to distribute. Now I am here (Goalpara-dhām) as per his wish and he wants me to do bhajan and sevā in this place. May Guruji continue to shower his mercy on me so that I continue to serve him birth after birth.  

Another incident in Chandigarh happened when there was a slight delay in spreading the floor coverings for Guruji before he offered pranams, so I spread my upper cloth for him.  Another time when traveling by train second class sleeper, I observed Guruji as he was taking rest, I rolled my upper cloth and kept it at the nape of his neck so that he rest well. When he woke up, he asked surprisingly who kept this here? Then he patted my back. I would stand at the end of the queue of devotees for prasād from him and Amarendra Prabhu would get angry with me saying, “Hurry up, offer pranams to Guruji, now we have to get ready to serve Guruji's prasād. Guruji would say, “It is ok, he will do it later.” And when I was near him he would stroke my head saying “Madhavo, Madhavo, Madhavo, no fear, no fear.” When others would offer pranams, Guruji would go backward and when I would offer pranams he would extend his lotus feet and stroke my back or head.  Thus he would show his affection to me.   

Our Guruji is not ordinary.  He gave me darśan in my dreams too where I saw him offering sankīrtan. 


—Sri Karunamay Brahmachari 

Excerpt from a transcription-translation from Hindi to English
Listen to original audio on Youtube:  GOKUL INDIA
spoken on 1.5.2020



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