Repeating and Remembering His Divine Words

By

Whenever Guru Mahārāj would come to Chandigarh or Bathinda on pracār, one tall Sikh Punjabi gentleman in his late seventies would come to listen to Gurudev. He was very well-versed in scriptures, in guru-vani, (Guru Granth Sahib) and knew Śrī Ram Chārit Manas by heart. I observed that Gurudev would give him a friendly smile whenever he came for darśans. He would often speak to devotees in Punjabi, saying, "You will not find such a Gurujī easily. I have traveled to many holy places, attended so many spiritual seminars, and I have met many sadhus, but I have never seen such a genuine sadhu at any time in my life." He would follow Guru Mahārāj to such places as Dehradun, Chandigarh, and Bathinda to hear his hāri-kathā. He would also say, "Even if I cannot follow his hāri-kathā, I would feel happy just glancing at his face and felt convinced that I will never get such a sadhu's association anywhere, anytime." Sometimes Gurujī would ask him to speak in the assemblies.

It is Gurujī's nature to see goodness in others. Once in Chandigarh, Gurujī aked him to speak and praised him saying his name is Maṅgal Singh, so he is full of auspiciousness. In Punjabi, he told the listeners, "All of you listen to me carefully.  You should hear Gurujī's hāri-kathā daily, otherwise I will be behind you like the planet Mangal (Mars) which causes disturbances and difficult situations in life. 

Another point he made is very important for us to know. He asked, "How does one know that a cow is ill?  A healthy, normal cow always moves her mouth, chewing the cud, whether sitting or standing. If she does not do this, a Veterinary doctor knows she is unwell. Then he forcefully administers her medicine through a bamboo pipe to her mouth.  When the medicine works, she again starts chewing the cud. Likewise, until a disciple is completely engaged in again and again recollecting, remembering, recapitulating, repeating, and then meditating on the transcendental divine words coming from the lotus lips of Śrīla Gurudev every day of our life, we will have indigestion and it will not be good for our spiritual life.  

[On the request of Śrī Krishnananda Prabhu, Śrī Rasbihāri Prabhu repeated what he had previously spoken.]

Our Guru Mahārāj used to repeat the last instructions of Param Gurudev mostly on his viraha-tithi days so that these words would be infused in our minds and we can remember the final instructions of Param Gurudev. The most important message of our Param Gurudev is that he has not given us the license to do what we want to do. So we do not have that luxury like the material people to do whatever we want. We have to follow the instructions and live according to the order of Gurudev, living according to the direction and discipline that Guru Mahārāj expects from us. That is what Param Guru Mahārāj wanted in his final words.  

In Jalandhar, once Gurujī's program was arranged in Aśvinī Prabhu's place on a Saṅkrānti day (first day of the Solar month). In Punjab, people are very conscious of this ritual of hearing the name of the month from a pūjārī or a mahātama in a temple on the first day of the month. 

Śrī Pandejī, one of the senior and very respected disciples of our Param Gurudev announced that the next day there will be a program at a particular devotee's place and we will hear the name of the month from Gurudev's lotus lips. He declared this to attract devotees to attend the program in large numbers. The next day Gurudev was requested to announce the name of the month. 

Gurudev said that all days are equally important for us. He said, whatever may be the tithi, (special day) we should remember the real objective of our life and examine whether we are giving our time for this or not. We have to remember this. We should have a daybook, and introspect on such holy days. On special days like Gurudev's appearance day and Viraha tithi, our only goal should be how we will listen to Gurudev's glories, how we will remember him so that his glories enter our heart through our ears and we establish ourselves in those thoughts and memories.

I have seen some of my god-brothers who cannot live without singing glories of Gurudev and the Lord, always anxious to hear about the Lord and Gurudev. My śikṣā-guru, Śrī Sekri jī of Ropad would say, I will go on speaking to whoever visits me, whether my colleagues, my friends, relatives, or neighbors. If they are interested to listen, then I will continue, if they are not interested, they leave and I save my time. He has inspired many people like this to take shelter of Gurujī. One who has developed the taste for listening to the glories of Gurudev cannot stop. We have to make this our goal. But while moving about in a car or two-wheeler, we will not be able to hear kathā attentively.  

We had fixed a speaker in Bathinda for devotees to listen to hāri-kathā while busy in service and cannot exclusively sit for hāri-kathā.  But Gurudev did not like it.  We have heard Śrī Tapasvī Mahārāj say that Gurudev got down from his vyāsāsana and sat down to listen attentively to Param Gurudev's recorded kathā. So, if we want to remain spiritually healthy, it is indispensable for us to listen to hāri-kathā and guru-kathā regularly with śraddhā and attention.  


—Śri Kṛṣṇananda Dās (Kuldeepjī)

Excerpted from Hindi to English translation, 27.4.2020

This recording may be heard on the GOKUL YouTube channel








Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

"She Has Gone to Goloka-dhāma "

By
Image
Guru Mahārāja is not an ordinary person; he is sent by the Supreme Lord to rescue all of us. In the office, if we are working in one place, we may be deputed to another place to do some work. Similarly, Gurudeva has been deputed from Goloka-dhāma to help us. Guru Mahārāja has come here to fulfill the desire of Hari-Guru-Vaishnavas. In 1997, I received harināma in Gokula-Mahāvana along with my  dharmapatnī , my wife. Guru Mahārāja asked my wife, "If something bad has happened to you, how do you take this? As if Gurudeva is at fault, or as if other persons are at fault?” My wife replied, “Whatever happens, I think it is good for me, by your arrangement.” In 2013, my wife was detected with breast cancer, and later left this world. Some devotees came to the maṭha and gave the news to Gurudeva. Gurudeva replied, "She has gone to Goloka-dhāma." In the hospital, I remember when my wife was in the ICU, and the doctor came and told me, "Your wife is in the fina
Read more

He Accepts Every Circumstance With Utmost Humility

By
Image
I heard something very deep and nice from a devotee that I met in Switzerland. He told me about how he had been staying at a temple there while Guru Mahārāja was visiting.  He said that the maṭha-in-charge expressed his desire that Gurudeva speak about Bhāgavatam. But then an order came that he was not allowed to speak there. In the room where the Bhāgavatam reading was, there was a young boy,. He was maybe only three months in the maṭha and recently came out of a completely material life, eating meat, smoking, etc. Anyway, he was the only one who had permission to speak about Bhāgavatam. And what did Guru Mahārāja do? He entered the room, bowed down to this boy and he sat in front of this boy and listened to his Bhāgavatam reading. This is his humbleness. This is always the way; they teach by example, not by punishing or whatever. When this maṭha-in-charge saw this whole situation, he decided in one moment to leave this institution forever. Although he left that organization, he did
Read more

The Greatness of His Simplicity

By
Image
When Guru Mahārāja visited Ukraine his programs were in a public place such as a camp near the Black Sea, like a tourist camp. So he had his own room there and after harikathā or before harikathā devotees could visit him and speak with him. Generally, it was very free, everyone could come and ask some questions and he was very happy to answer them.  My personal experience was that when I met Guru Mahārāja in his room, he was very open. I was shocked because after association with ISKCON devotees for a long time it was very difficult to meet some Guru or talk with him. It was like an audience with some Prime Minister or President, very difficult to get. But still, when we first entered Guru Mahārāja’s room I was surprised that such a great person was at the same time very humble and he asked us, "How can I serve you?" It was very very sincere, in a very simple way.  He replied to all the questions that we asked and we just talked. It was like a conversation with a family membe
Read more