Sri Sadguru Mahime

Author: Charana Dasa

Translator: Shri.Ganesh Prasad

Chapter 69 : Devotion towards Guru

I am now going to narrate the story of a person who in Gurunatha’s own words was a personification of devotion towards Guru. This lady was born in a rich family and was also married to an affluent family. However the untimely death of her husband in an accident had made her a widow leaving her grief-stricken for life.

She used to refer to Gurunatha as ‘Mava’ (maternal uncle in Kannada), she was very affectionate towards me as well and had invited me to visit their house. Recently I got a chance to visit her. She had a huge list of things to discuss and recollect about our Gurunatha.

She started by saying, “See, I am a living example to show what happens if you ignore Guru’s words”. My father was a devotee of him for a long time. Though my husband had met him a few times, he had no faith in Guru. Once Gurunatha came to my house and gave us an account of my husband’s business he went on to give the details of various business transactions, value of share holdings etc till the last detail. When my husband came back and checked whatever Gurunatha had told, it matched exactly to what we had. The very next day my husband went to Sakharaya Patna to meet Gurunatha. Gurunatha called him in saying.. “I was waiting for your arrival”. A few months later Gurunatha called my husband and requested him to do ‘Upanayanam’(sacred thread ceremony) for our son immediately within next 2-3 days. He went on to say “You shall treat your relatives and friends later with a big lunch”. No matter how hard he tried to convince, my husband was not moved. During a visit to Gurunatha’s house, my husband informed Gurunatha that we had set out to visit Thirupathi next day. Gurunatha asked if we could wait for 2-3 days. My husband refused. He then asked if you have to start tomorrow, please make sure you start before 6am or latest by 8 am but not later than that. As our fate would have it, it was 10 am by the time we started. Knowing this Gurunatha had asked everyone in the house not to disturb him and was lying down for three days without food and water.

Our car collided with a tree near Nelamangala and my husband died in the accident. Whether fate did not let Gurunatha save us or we ourselves erred by not listening to him I do not know. Tears rolled down from her eyes as she recalled those events. One day Gurunatha had kept his hand on my head and said, I should never stop singing as it would give me a reason to live. His words are guiding us through till date.

A little later she regained her composure and started to narrate another story which Gurunatha had told her. There was a famous landlord who used to meet Gurunatha regularly. Gurunatha also visited their house a few times. It came to Gurunatha’s notice that the landlord’s wife had started a pawn broking business at their house without her husband’s knowledge. Once she took some ear rings as security and gave some loan. Gurunatha warned her against doing this business and went on to say “If you continue, you may not wear your earrings for long (In Hindu tradition, widows do not wear gold ornaments)”. A little later, Gurunatha also told her she should not let her husband eat anywhere other than at their home as his life would be in danger.

A few days later they got an invitation from landlord’s in—laws for a death anniversary. The couple thought that should be fine as they themselves would be preparing the food and went there. On the day of the ceremony when people were having their meal, it came to light that a lizard had fallen into one of the dishes. The landlord had already eaten it and by this time he was already vomiting. He died on the way to hospital. She was silently staring at Gurunatha’s photo with moist eyes. Her eyes were filled with tears again. I left that place saluting her devotion and purity of thought.

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