Mathura Junction
Shriji left for Mandleshwar in the year 1946. I went to see him off at the railway station of Mathura. It was five o' clock in the evening. He was sitting at
a window seat of the train.
The Girl Begged to Live in Vrindavan
Standing on the platform I was talking to him when Shriji seemed to be suddenly transfixed and said," Manoharji! I am
seeing with open eyes, the vision of a girl has flashed forth in front of me. ' Make me live in Vrindavan,' she is requesting. Who could it be? I have no plans for anyone and have no inkling of which girl is about to come here."
I was too dumbstruck to say anything. The train started in a short while and I returned to Vrindavan. After a span of just eight to ten days I too could go to Mandleshwar and present myself at Shri ji’s feet. Satsang and sankirtan began taking place in joyous abandon, all over the region.
Dhargaon
Shri Nageshwar Baba used to live in Dhargaon, five miles away from Mandleshwar.
Lord Shiva
One day at his insistence Shriji's satsang and sankirtan was organised at the Shiv Temple near Dhargaon. Shri reached Dhargaon wih all his devotees in the morning itself. Emotional devotees of the village began to gather for his darshan. The place is very charming. It has a small shivalaya[1] in the secluded forest area, a little water tank
with steps and full of water is located nearby, and there is a beautiful cottage of Shri Nageshwar Baba, with a big platform in front. Shriji took rounds with his circle of devotees to see this enchanting sight, and constant laughter as well as joking went on. At noon, the whole lot of them took the meal offering. After some rest all the devotees came and sat next to Shriji.
Shri Balkrishna Das ji Maharaj (Shriji)
Some spiritual talk was going on when Shriji
entered bhava stithi[2], a state of
awakened spiritual consciousness. Horripilation, tremors, perspiration etc., such sattvik emotions began to emerge. His eyes became bloodshot. Shriji stood up at once and began to walk unsteadily. I was holding his arm from one side. Emotionally charged with religious rapture, he entered the Shivalaya and fainted after just a few moments. I took Shriji's head into my lap and signalled at all others to go out.
Much time passed but no
sign of Shriji's regaining normal consciousness could be seen. I made a gesture
to Nageshwar Baba to come in and placing Shriji's head on his lap, came out for
a while.
Meanwhile, a strange
occurrence took place which Baba narrated later on, " Shriji's head was on my lap. I was watching the bhavas flitting across his face, when a radiance
suddenly gleamed on his face, which went on increasing slowly.
Shriji's Facial Features Transformed into a Gopi's Face
His outer appearance disappeared in that bright light and the features of his face changed into those of a gopi's[3], as he assumed the form of a very beautiful maiden. The lustrous glow of the face was spreading all around and its shingar matched accordingly. My movements were drained of energy. Stupefaction overwhelmed me and my body hair stood on end. The glow began to subside gradually in a few seconds, Shriji's face regained its former appearance and his bhava stithi changed into wakefulness."
After about an hour of having regained his composure Shriji came out and sat on the big platform in front of the temple. All day long, the activity of devotees coming and leaving, having meals and so on continued. At night a memorable programme of satsang and sankirtan took place. Most of the village folk were present and so the night passed by in joyous abandon.
After completing morning ablutions, Shriji and I set out for Mandleshwar by tonga.
Vrindavan Dham
We had hardly gone for a mile or two when startled, Shrji said, "Look, look! The vision of that girl has flashily appeared again and is asking me to make her reside in Vrindavan.I have no inkling about which girl is destined to come to the Dham."
What could I say? Neither did I pay particular attention to this matter nor did Shriji talk about it
any more.
Mandleshwar
In Mandleshwar the programme of sankirtan and satsang would be on every day in some devotee's house. Everyone would strive to spend as much time as they could with Shriji. They would experience a special delight in his company. Almost giving up all his activities, Shri Mangilal took the maximum benefit of Shri ji's company. He had taken the responsibility of making Shriji commute around the place. Moreover, he would say that everything belonged to Shriji and Shriji would also live freely in his house. The merry bustle of devotees thronging his house would go on all day long. He alone took up their burden. I have said earlier that even Shriji's amusing
jokes would not be devoid of a flavour of Godliness.
One day, a person started boasting about grain in front of Shriji, "A
superior
quality of grain grows here, this
species and large size of wheat grows in this field, such big gram grows in our field," and so on.
Fields in Nepal
Shriji kept listening for a while and said, " We had gone to Nepal and a gram called 'batmaas' grows there. It's size is as big as a play ball."
Everyone burst out laughing and the topic ended there. Soon after,
the man realized his mistake.
Even while living in Shri Vrindavan Dham Shriji would cleverly resort to humour and guard himself from fame and public contact.
One day, a woman who was formerly acquainted to Shriji came to see him in the evening. As soon as he heard her voice, he got down from the cushioned seat and wrapping a big sheet around himself, sat down in a corner.
The woman came in and began asking him, "Where is Maharaj ji? I have come for his darshan."
"Well, he comes at times but doesn't stay here. He is not here at the moment," Shriji replied instantly.
" Baba! I heard that he is here right now and therefore I came to have
come to see him. Are you the Maharaj, by any chance?"
the woman asked.
Shri Banke Bihari Thakur
We laughed at her query and seeing us do so she became suspicious. Meanwhile, Shriji got up quickly and went out for Shri Bihariji's darshan. The very next day, she came again with hot milk.
"So you are the Maharaj! Take the hot milk I have got and drink it," she exclaimed on seeing Shriji.
One night at around 8 o'clock Shriji was talking about spirituality, as he sat amidst his close associates when someone knocked at the door. I got up and opened the door. Some wealthy businessmen had come from Shuk Bhawan.
"We have heard that a great Mahatma lives here and so we have come to have his darshan,"
they clarified.
I was still talking to them when Shriji got up instantly and came and sat in our midst.
Those people came in and sat down. "Does any Bal Govind Dasji Maharaj live here?" they asked
The poor men had forgotten Maharajji's name.
"No Mahatma by this name lives here," Shriji answered
at once.
"Someone had particularly told us this," they were insistent.
"Well, I understand. I have also come for his darshan. In fact, he has gone to Goverdhan," Shriji responded soon after.
All of them went back. We had a hearty laugh at Shriji's cleverness after they had left.
Shri Maharajji never preached anyone individually. He would give a hint at the collective sermon.
Abundance of Milk & Yoghurt in Mathura Vrindavan
"We have heard that there is abundance of milk and yoghurt
in Mathura and Vrindavan," a person asked him once.
Shriji replied jovially, "Milk and curd flow in drain-pipes there and are not sold. Those in need, carry away pail-fulls of them. People living there do not eat roti but survive by drinking milk and having
yoghurt."
That person thought it was the truth whereas the devotees sitting there burst out laughing.
In this manner Shriji alerted everyone through the medium of amusing anecdotes. Shri Vrindavan is the site of Lord Krishna's lila or divine play and His Rasa[4]. The sadhaka should be curious to know about dark-hued Krishna's playfull dalliances and not about worldly affairs.
Boat Ride in the Yamuna, Vrindavan
Sometimes Maharajji would go for a boat ride with associates of his inner circle. At times he would set out for a stroll in Mangilal's fields. Waves of joyous abandon would keep gushing forth. Meanwhile some topic related to spirituality would be initiated and the atmosphere would become so serious that no one dared to speak a word.
Spellbound, everyone would keep sitting. A sort of unrestrained joy persisted in the atmosphere even after conclusion of the satsang. Seeing the ambiance no one could guess that this circle of devotees could be so playfully naughty at times. Sattvik signs of body hair standing on end, tremors, shedding of tears could be seen in some devotees when the satsang would be on.
Shriji was the one who would start speaking slowly. Talking humorously for a while, he
would make them become conscious. Again the same ambiance of joyous abandon would emerge and a few of the devotees would enjoy some wonderful divine experiences in this merriment.
[2] Bhava stithi:
or spiritual emotion
is a state of
communion with God. It
is related to the
sub-conscious mind (chitta). When
one’s spiritual emotion
is awakened, for that time
one transcends one’s usual
state of identification with
a worldly existence. The
awareness of one’s
own existence also reduces. Thus
in a state of
spiritual emotion one transcends
the little ‘i’ and
identifies with the big
‘I’. Spiritual emotion
gives us a spiritual
experience of Bliss (Ānand).
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