My wife, a doctor, heard about Guruji more than a dozen years ago through a colleague, but we didn't get a chance to visit Bade Mandir. We then heard about Guruji in 2016 through my brother. He exclaimed that visitors to the Mandir enjoy all types of blessings, including that of wealth. He had not been to Bade Mandir, but his words encouraged me. I was not going through a good time in my office since the last few years, and not getting any good job opportunities. My wife and I both wanted to visit Bade Mandir, though we stay far away in East Delhi and didn't have a personal vehicle.
One weekend the call came: We both had a strong urge to visit the Mandir. We booked a rental cab and took our elder daughter, an infant, with us. The cab driver oddly stopped at a temple near Chhattarpur. We had to insist this wasn't the temple we wanted to go to. The driver got irritated and unfriendly, even asking us to get down from his cab. But within a few seconds, he had a change of mind and drove us to the Mandir.
At Bade Mandir, we followed the instructions of the volunteers. The divine ambience of the Mandir was enjoyable. We listened to the
shabads and took Guruji's blessed food, coming out late evening, when we couldn't book a cab. Volunteers directed us to a bus shuttling devotees from the Mandir to the Metro station. We were unsure about getting on, but took the
sewadar at his word. Inside the bus, we got
jal prasad; it was a mark of special attention. By the time the bus reached the Metro station, we could only thank the bus volunteer and Guruji more profusely for taking care of us with such love. We reached home safely and smoothly.
At that time, we were followers of Shirdi Sai Baba and I also had great
shraddha for spiritual masters such as Shri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa and Shri Sathya Sai Baba. I had also developed a deep reverence for Lahiri Mahasaya when I read about him in '
Autobiography of a Yogi'. I was in search for someone who could be my guru. Now I felt that with their blessings, I had found my spiritual master in Guruji.
However, I was expecting quick financial reward from Guruji. When that did not come, my wife and I discontinued going to the Mandir—only to visit again after a few months. Guruji began sowing faith in our hearts for Him. Soon I got an opportunity to go to Japan on a weeklong business trip. The flight transited via Thailand, where we had wait for nearly half a day. While my colleagues busied themselves inside the Thailand airport, I went to YouTube to hear devotees' experiences of Guruji's grace. Little did I know that I too would be the beneficiary of
satsangs.
My brother-in-law is saved, as am I
In January 2017, my brother-in-law met with a serious vehicular accident. He was driving back around midnight after attending a relative's wedding; we had come back early in a different car. My brother-in-law was taken to the nearest government hospital. The accident was grievous; he had been hurt on the head and he was unconscious. I began chanting Guruji's
mantra while my doctor-wife got brother-in-law shifted to another hospital. There it was found he had multiple neck bone fractures with a doctor assessing his situation as critical. The next step was an MRI scan. I had been doing jap of Guruji's mantra throughout, and Guruji showed His mercy: The MRI result was normal! The doctor who had sounded the alarm became considerably relaxed and judged that my brother-in-law was out of danger. Doctors predicted it would take up to half a year for him to get well. Yet he had a very speedy recovery and was discharged from the hospital in a mere 20 days. Such are Guruji's blessings.
Guruji came to my rescue too while I was returning from my office in a colleague's car. We were sure to hit a high-speed car approaching us when a small truck came between our cars. The oncoming vehicle collided with the truck while we drove away safely. Guruji has averted many such accidents during my commute to the office in the company cab.
As my devotion grew, I wanted to visit the mandir where Guruji had initially arrived to bless His devotees in Delhi, which was in Greater Kailash. A website mentioned the timings and one Saturday I reached the Mandir in the morning. I had taken a rickshaw but could not locate the address, flat 458 in S block. I could see a person sweeping outside a flat. No sooner had I asked him about the address that he confirmed that this indeed was the temple. As I went closer to the building, I thought I could see a
swaroop of Guruji welcoming me from the basement with a sweet smile. My joy knew no bounds. When I asked the caretaker to let me inside, he refused politely. Devotees were not allowed in. I was fortunate I had come at a time when he was outside the Mandir, he added, allowing me to bow down to Guruji from afar and giving me
jal prasad in a bottle. I returned home floating on air.
Unlimited divine protection
My wife was set to give birth to our second child when I was between jobs. Guruji smoothed the path and removed all obstacles. First, I could procure my graduation certificate from Calcutta University through my friend's father even though I was asking for it after a gap of 15 years. I could also get an experience certificate from my previous company, which had by then closed down. Moreover, my notice period was reduced from three months to less than two and a half months, which gave me more than a fortnight to be with my wife. Soon Guruji blessed us with a lovely daughter.
My infant daughter became an early recipient of His grace. She had severe pneumonia and was admitted to the children's ICU, but came out of it.
One afternoon, my elder daughter too was saved. She was playing with her doll at home while I was working elsewhere in the house and my wife was out for work. I heard her crying and would have ordinarily dismissed it as I knew her fondness for pretend play, but an inner voice told me to go and check upon her. A pearl had become stuck inside her nose. I asked her to blow hard, and the object came out. Thanks to Guruji, I had paid heed to her crying; had I not done so, it could have turned into a serious issue.
Then it was my wife's turn. She had a cyst, which thankfully turned out to be benign. She had always wished to find a suitable job close to our house with a nice salary. Thanks to His grace, that is exactly what she got.
Guruji's grace also spread to our immediate family. My sister's husband contracted Covid-19, but was cured. My sister's family remained untouched, as did ours. My niece developed a cataract, which required surgery. Guruji resolved the problem by turning into a minor issue.
Last year, in January 2020, we prayed to Guruji to accompany us as went shopping for our first daughter's birthday. An SUV that we had booked to come back home after shopping had 'Guruji' written on the rear window and His swaroop on the dashboard.
Then on January of this year, on my elder daughter's birthday, His grace was again with us in an invisible, protective form. We were thinking of getting Guruji's old swaroops along with one big-sized one framed. When I unwrapped the frames one by one, I found that the glass for the big swaroop had shattered and the frame was cracked. The bag carrying the photos hadn't hit any surface. We realized that Guruji had taken some impending danger upon himself. The next day we sought and obtained e-passes for the Mandir and could go and thank Guruji for His blessings.
Guruji's blessing are ceaseless and countless and they are too innumerable to recollect in entirety. Jai Guruji, Shukrana Guruji!
[Following section added January 2022
New Year brings a dream job
I lost my job in the month of May last year. Since the last seven months, I had been applying for jobs everywhere, but was not succeeding. In my heart, I knew that Guruji would definitely provide what was most suited for me at the time He deemed best. Guruji had given me that faith. In the last month of 2021, I interviewed with a leading company in Japan. The interview went well. The firm had a project requirement in Chennai and it was understood I would have to relocate once the work-from-home scenario ended. My family and I had mixed emotions: happiness at getting a new job; dismay at relocating. It so happened that HR put their foot down when it came to my salary package. I wasn't hired, and we were upset.
After a few days, the same company again asked me to appear for an interview for a different project in Bangalore. This too required relocation. I did not get through. At the very end of the year, on 30
th December, I received a call from a manager with the company for another project, this one based in Noida. I got through the interview. So it was that in New Year 2022, I got a very precious and lovely gift from Guruji: A dream job with great prospects and a handsome salary—an improbable occurrence after exiting from the job market. As the shabad says truly:
Vin Boleya Sab Kich Janda, Kiske Age Ki Je Ardaas.
We get a car and lots of grace
We were in a dilemma while buying our first car: Should we go for a new one or a second-hand vehicle? Since I was then out of a job and my wife was the breadwinner, we could not afford a new one. We test drove a sedan, but it was out of our budget. Later, my wife visited a dealer of second-hand cars and we bought a hatchback. Parking was an issue, since the area around our home is occupied by a market and buzzes with people, two- and three-wheelers and street vendors. Yet we found parking for the car very near our place. Best of all, my wife could now park her Scooty alongside, while earlier she had to park at some distance. All this was Guruji's grace.
I did not have enough experience driving. A few months before getting our first car, my wife and I took lessons for five days with a driver from the
sangat in a sedan. But I lacked the confidence to drive. So we went for driving practice with our new car at a not-so-busy place near our house. My wife and I practiced for 30 to 45 minutes each, parked the car on the road, and then went with our kids to a nearby mall to celebrate.
It was already evening when we decided to come back. As the car entered the market area, I drove into a nightmare. The whole place was taken up by vehicles and vendors. There was not enough space to walk freely. How would I ever drive through? I went blank at the wheel. Suddenly Guruji took control of the steering. We drove through the congested narrow lanes straight to our garage without the car getting a scratch. Anyone who'd have seen the car being driven would have imagined the car was in the hands of an expert driver—but of course it was in beloved Guruji's hands. A couple of stints over two days with the car and I was fine.
This experience instilled confidence in me. I was nervous about handling our scooty. Whenever my wife went to her parent's home with the children on the scooty, I would walk on foot to her home. It was not that far, but I always wondered if I would be able to ride the scooter and take my family on it. Four days after Guruji had steered the car, I found the skill and grit to take my family on the scooty. Thank you, Guruji!
Ayush Mishra and family, a devotee
January 2022