Shri Balkrishna Das ji Maharaj - Jin Guru Diye Milaye

Dark-hued Krishna Shri Balkrishna Das ji Maharaj

guru govind dono khade kake lagu paye

balihari guru aapki govind diye milaye.

[Sant Kabir]

Kabir asks, 'If both, Guru and God in the form of Govind were to appear at my door, whose feet should I worship first?'And then answers, 'It has to be the Guru’s feet first, because without him, how would I have recognized (known) God?'

The instant one is born on earth the ease with which one gets one's parents without making any effort and chooses them, similarly I met Shri Maharajji when I was merely seven years old. Neither did I know the meaning of  a guru nor a saint in that age of innocence as a young child. I would just sensitively feel in my inner mind that this figure sculpted in affection from head to toe seemed as much my own as any other member of the family.

Drawn to Shri Radhe-Krishna by Maharaj ji

When Shri ji would drop in to our house I would run around and frolic about in joy to express my delight. Calling me, he would make me sit in front and urge,"Yes, sing that Marathi pada of yours,'Kalindi che doha!'

With the course of time, this question kept arising in my mind that everyone chooses a guru so who would be my spiritual preceptor! One fine day on guru purnima, highly revered Sri Maharajji told me in my dream, 'Give me a dhoti' and kept two white flowers on the palm of my hand. Since that very day I grasped that I had found the wealth which I had been looking around for so long.

Shrai Manohar Baba

Revered Shri Manohar Dasji Baba was my chacha and we shared the bond of a blood relationship. Fortunately he is the author of 'Charit Vaibhav' and one of the close members of Shriji's  inner circle of devotees.

Naam Sankirtan

A young saint named Shri Kripalu ji Maharaj had propagated Naam Sankirtan with great fervour and created a furore in Madhya Pradesh. Using this saint as a medium, Shri Banke Bihari ji Maharaj, the Thakur (deity of Vrindavan) passionately drew Baba to His abode in Vrindavan.

Drawn by the Lotus Eyes of Krishna to Vrindavan

On reaching Vrindavan Baba Manohar Dasji met Shri Maharaji,a rasa-siddh saint who had experienced the highest ideal of religious rapture by relishing Shri Radha-Krishna's madhurya or sweet romance. He held Baba's arm and bathed him in affection. Baba stayed like a shadow by his side for a long time period and attained unprecedented benefit. He kept putting down the incidents and truths of Shriji's life in writing. With extraordinary common sense he took pictures of the bhava aveshas or trance like states of emotional frenzy, which have become a priceless treasure for his close adherents. He was so addicted to the divine attraction of revered Shri ji that he began to feel that nothing else needed to be attained compared to the ecstatic joy of his company.

Now came the turn of :

'tivra-tapa-dhutasubhah '

Shri Manohar Baba with His Beloved Shri Balkrishna Das ji Maharaj

Intolerable separation from his beloved Shri Maharajji caused an intense agony that burnt away all impious karma. He had to bear the anguish of separation for a considerable period of time. So far Baba had been living in perfect harmony with Maharajji's soul. Shriji's suddenly becoming indifferent led to his profuse weeping. Lamenting in separation, Manohar Baba went and fell on a tangled thicket of brambles on the sands of the Yamuna. He strongly felt that dark-hued Krishna was holding him in His arms but ended up asking Him the same question,"Where is Maharajji?'                                                                                                                                                

Several times Baba tried to give up his body but the very same ray of mercy saved him every time.  Baba's age was around eighty years at this time.Several ups and downs cropped up during this time span, and he went through the toughest stage of passing the test of his guru. But Baba's implicit faith in the feet of his spiritual preceptor remained unshaken and resolute.

What more should I write?During thirty-two years of my studies I had wasted so many sheets of paper and ink, and squandered away my time. It is my great good fortune and a purposeful use of time that I got a chance in helping out a bit in the writing of revered Shriji's 'Charit.'

Shri Maharaj ji, My Supreme Guru

"Doing pranam at the the auspicious feet of Baba who made me meet my spiritual guru: 'jin guru diye milaye,' the following lines are dedicated to the lotus feet of revered Shri Maharajji, my supreme guru:

'shat shat vandan! shat shat vandan!!

us shyam tamal praneta ko !

us saras vallari-roop ko !

us venu kunj bihari ko !

us alijan yuth swamini ko !

shat shat vandan, shat shat vandan, shat shat vandan  !'

'us shyam tamal praneta ko !

us saras vallari-roop ko !

us venu-kunj bihari ko!

us alijan yuth dulari ko  !

shat shat vandan, shat shat vandan, shat shat vandan! '

'Hundreds of times I salute the composer of that dark-hued tamal tree, that charming form of a creeper, that Venu Kunj Bihari who sports in Venu Kunj, the swamini  of the swarm of capricious black bees, I salute you hundreds of times.'

'Hundreds of times I salute the composer of that dark-hued tamal tree, that charming form of a creeper, that Venu Kunj Bihari who sports in Venu Kunj, the  darling of the swarm of capricious black bees, I salute you hundreds of times.'

Recipient of Your Grace

Shashikala