Chapter VIII
Philanthropic Nature
Bhagawaan Ji was an ocean
of power and helped those who called on him to advance on the path of
spirituality, and also those who came to see him for the fulfillment of their
worldly ambitions, the removal of their physical maladies or the solution of
other problems. Besides, he would help the deserving monetarily as well.
He would pay multitudes of sadhus Re 1/- each, on as
many occasions as they called. Why he did so became clear to me one day when I
was a witness to the following incident.
Once, I happened to see Bhagawaan Ji's sister on the
ground floor of the building where he lived those days. She was complaining
bitterly that he gave away all the money to saadhus, leaving very little to meet
the needs of the household. I seemed to agree that Bhagawaan Ji should not be
indifferent to the financial needs of the household. I went upstairs to
Bhagawaan Ji's room. As soon as I paid my obeisance and was seated before him,
he said, 'These poor gosaains (saadhus) have only the earth to sit on, with the
open sky as the roof over their heads, and they are naked and starving.' I was
abashed. Some of these saadhus said that, after they had got a rupee from him,
other avenues opened for them automatically.
A few other instances of his munificence may also be
cited:
(a) Pandit Dina Nath was the priest of the family with
whom Bhagawaan Ji lived during 1957-68. The priest was very poor and had three
daughters, two of them married and the third of a marriageable age. One day,
along with the unmarried daughter, he paid obeisance to Bhagawaan Ji. He placed
his pass-book, with a balance of Rs. 500/- only, before him and told him that he
would poison either himself or his daughter, as he had no where withal to marry
her off. Bhagawaan Ji was visibly moved. He told the gentleman to come again
after two days, on the Somavati Amawsyaa day, early in the morning. He was to
knock thrice at the closed door of Bhagawaan Jl's room (which used to be
unlocked). In case the door did not open at the third knock, he was to return
home. But as soon as the priest knocked the third time, Bhagawaan Ji himself
opened it and then resumed his seat on the aasana. He gave the priest
charanamrita (holy water), that was lying there on a lotus petal, to drink
thrice. The priest says that it appeared that there was only a single drop on
the lotus petal, which appeared to get divided into three parts. Bhagawaan Ji
then predicted that his daughter would be married in the next six months and
that thenceforth his pockets would never be empty. After he had fixed the date
of his daughter's marriage, this gentleman came again to see Bhagawaan Ji who
gave him Rs. 200/ - and told him not to worry as he would get the funds
necessary for performing the marriage. He received help also from some other
people, in cash as well as in kind, and was thus able to celebrate the marriage
of his daughter comfortably, in about six months. The gentleman met me recently
and confided that, since his above-mentioned meeting with Bhagawaan Ji, his
pockets had never been empty. The question that naturally arises is that, if his
poverty was a result of his past karmas, how did Bhagawaan Ji manage to help
him?
(b) Bhagawaan Ji stayed at Kshirbhavaani for some
months during the year 1961. Once, when only two people, Pt Dina Nath Ticku and
Swami Amritaananda (both his disciples), were present in his hut, a lady came
and whispered in a low voice to Bhagawaan Ji that the date for her daughter's
marriage was only ten days away. The money-lender, who had promised to lend her
the required amount, had backed out. In a fix, she did not know what to do.
Bhagawaan Ji immediately emptied the contents of his cloth purse, which
contained Rs 60/-, in the lady's hand. He also beckoned to Mr Ticku to give her
some money. The latter gave her Rs. 600/- from his Post Office Savings account.
Bhagawaan Ji left the Shrine a few days later for Srinagar. After the girl's
marriage, the lady went to Srinagar and offered to Bhagawaan Ji the prashaada of
the marriage yajna He told her, why did you get the naivedya for me? I was
present at the ceremony.' Bhagawaan Ji must have been there in his astral body
as he was in Srinagar on that day.
|