Sri Sadguru Mahime

Author: Charana Dasa

Translator: Shri.Ganesh Prasad

Chapter 71 : That boy..

A boy staying in a village about 90kms from Sakharaya Patna was very pious and spiritually oriented. Whenever he had time he had made it a practice to visit the tomb of an advaitha peetha seer and offer his respects. This practice had gone on from the day he was a small kid.

After coming to know about Gurunatha he started visiting Sakharaya Patna frequently. Gurunatha also told him many fascinating facts about his native place during each of his visit. His desire to get a Guru and to move forward spiritually got stronger by the day.

A huge influx of visitors always kept me busy at Gurunatha’s house. On one of his visits, I offered something to eat to this boy as I would do to any other visitor as a part of my job at Gurunatha’s residence. The boy refused to accept it. Due to my work pressure and also a bit of ego and temper I became very upset with the boy and scolded him.

Gurunatha observed this from a distance and called me. In a raised voice he said “Do you even know who you were talking to? Apologize for your behavior; get a tender coconut from inside and offer it to him. I had to swallow my ego and carry out his instructions. When I just managed to do it, Gurunatha called his wife and pointing towards the boy said, “Do you know who this boy is? A big power has descended on earth; he shall become more famous than me”. I used to call Gurunatha’s wife as Amma(mother in kannada). Both of us offered our respects to the boy.

The boy had just finished his 12th. Gurunatha had blessed him to become a doctor. However he narrowly missed that opportunity as he got slightly less marks in his 12th. The boy was very upset at having lost the opportunity even though he had blessings from Gurunatha. Gurunatha recalled the boy’s visit last time to seek blessings when he had come with a big group of friends and reminded him that Guru is always meant for solitude, something to treasure as a secret. Gurunatha instructed him to stay in South Canara and study engineering.

Being very affectionate towards him Gurunatha asked him once “Whatever you want, you shall ask”.. The boy replied, “I want a Guru”. Not the one to accept anyone without testing, Gurunatha told him “You should not bring flowers and fruits here from your father’s earnings, you should earn”. The boy went outside found a fruit cart, worked there for a few hours asked ten rupees for his labor and got fruits from that and offered it to Gurunatha.

In another instance Gurunatha told him “if you really want a Guru, you should clean the main road in your village”. Not wanting anybody to see him doing it, the boy got up early in the day and finished the task and came to Gurunatha. Knowing this beforehand Gurunatha asked him “The one seeking a Guru shall not have any feeling of status, humiliation or fear, shall he? You shall clean the road during broad daylight in front of everyone and come to me”. The boy did that also.

In another instance, the boy was going to college with his friends, he then had a chance meeting with Gurunatha. Gurunatha was standing in front of a big gutter. He called the boy and said, “If you want a Guru you should immediately clean this gutter”. So intense was his desire to get a Guru that without any hesitation, the boy jumped into the gutter in front of his friends and cleaned it.

About this boy Gurunatha used to tell me, if one strives to move forward in the path of spirituality he should try to follow this boy’s dedication.

His parents also were pious and soft spoken, they used to offer alms to the beggars everyday and feed stray cattle before having any food themselves. They also used to keep a small light in the name of Gurunatha, in front of a basil plant outside their house (Hindu tradition suggests keeping a basil plant outside the house and offering prayers to it).

When they had come to Gurunatha’s house once, he asked them jokingly..”Why do you keep a light in my name outside the house? Don’t you want me to come in? From now on you shall keep the light inside.”

In another instance, Gurunatha had told them he would visit their house, but the couple waited for the whole day and Gurunatha did not turn up. The next day a bit disappointed they went to Gurunatha’s residence and reminded him about his promise. Gurunatha smiled and said, I had come in the form of a cow, you offered me hot cooked rice, it burnt my tongue; see for yourself, saying this Gurunatha showed his tongue with boils on it. The couple remembered offering hot cooked rice to a cow on the previous day with a lot of regret.

“Guru” is a feeling, an energy (chaitanya) and not the physical body, for a disciple with pure thoughts and feelings a Guru might visit him in any form is best illustrated by this incident.

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