14
th August, a date which I can't forget. It was the day I came to Guruji's durbar for the first time. And the events leading to this were all-too fascinating. It was the month of 'Sawan', sacred due to its association with Lord Shiva, and I used to keep a fast in this month regularly. August 2008 marked the first exception. So I was scared and apprehensive and desperately praying to Lord Shiva to forgive me. On Thursday morning I had a dream, in which Parvati Ma gave me
darshan and reassured me that Shivji was not annoyed with me. But even in the dream, I requested Parvati Ma to let me have Shivji's darshan, which alone would satisfy me. That is when Shivji and Hanumanji came in and I was blessed with their darshan.
I woke up really happy that morning: this was a perfect start to the day. As I went to my tuition teacher, she showed me Guruji's photograph and I was blessed with Guruji's darshan for the first time. She asked me if I would like to join her at Guruji's Mandir that evening. She told me Guruji and Shivji are one and I grabbed the opportunity. We were sitting in Guruji's durbar that very evening.
He removes my doubts
From the
sangat, I got to know of Guruji's grace and heard of His many miracles. I learnt that Guruji's body oozed with fragrance. And you could have the fragrance in Guruji's physical absence as well—a pointer to His omnipresence. In the mandir, the sangat was mentioning that they could smell Guruji's fragrance even after Guruji's
mahasamadhi. Sitting in the mandir, I was asking Guruji how it was possible for me to identify His fragrance. We never had Guruji's physical darshan and, in the mandir, I felt the fragrance could come from the flowers as well. I beseeched Guruji to impart His fragrance in a unique manner. Guruji didn't keep me waiting. He came to my home and filled my room with His gracious divine fragrance. And in my room, there was no other source for the fragrance. There was no room left for doubt. Thanks a lot, Guruji, for the wonderful, fragrant incident and for blessing me by coming to my room.
Guruji's darshan
As Guruji satisfies one request, we line up others. Now I wanted Guruji's darshan in His
cholas. After hearing the sangat's constant praise of Guruji's stylish ways and His amazing dresses, I requested Guruji to give me a darshan in those cholas which had the sangat spellbound. After making this request, I kept Guruji's photograph under my pillow and went to sleep.
That night Guruji gave me darshan in all His various cholas and it was amazing. But what happened next was unbelievable. When I got up the next morning, I got to know of Guruji's website from a friend. As I logged on to www.gurujimaharaj.com and checked the photo section, the photos displayed had Guruji in the same cholas in which He gave me darshan the last night! Once again, Guruji eliminated any possibility of doubt in a most astonishing manner.
Guruji takes care of all His children and is a source of unconditional love for all of us. Here's how. Before we had started coming to Guruji, my mother visited a fortune-teller who predicted that my brother Nikhil would soon be very ill and be hospitalized. The coming days would be so bad that we would not even be able to open our shop, he added. As foretold, Nikhil got really sick and had to be hospitalized. Even after mom's best efforts, we were not able to open the shop that day. We came to believe in the fortune-teller.
The three slips
After we started coming to Guruji, mom revisited the fortune-teller. He again had bad news in store. He predicted that Diwali was going to be a time of peak troubles: our shop would do badly and my brothers and mom would be sick. Major financial loss was on the cards.
When Mom came to Bade Mandir next, and after these pronouncements had been made, it was drizzling. She slipped badly on the main staircase leading to the sangat hall, falling from the first to the last step. As devotees helped her get up and took her to the washroom, she slipped again-twice. Though she had slipped thrice, she was fortunate not to have any injury whatsoever. Devotees at the mandir told us that Guruji had converted impending disaster to a minor hassle. We understood that when Diwali approached. The shop did exceptionally well in business terms and everybody in the family enjoyed good health. Guruji thus reduced the severe illness of three people (mom and both my brothers) to those three slips which mom had in the mandir.
Taking care of me as His daughter
But even then mom did not firmly believe in Guruji and attributed the happenstance to a coincidence. As we continued coming to Guruji regularly, my mother was looking for an appropriate match for me and the passing time was making her jittery. Then one day, a devotee unknown to us, Manoj, had Guruji's darshan. Guruji instructed him to tell Khushboo's mother not to worry about anything, as Khushboo was now His daughter and He would take care of me. Manoj didn't know me or my family, and he asked Guruji how he would identify or meet us. Guruji asked him to contact Bela aunty in the sangat. Manoj passed on Guruji's instructions as commanded. I was elated to know that Guruji had taken me as his daughter. But Manoj could not escape the scrutiny of my mom, who was always asking him if what he had told us was true. Mom felt that it was great to be Guruji's daughter, but she still had all the worldly responsibilities to cater to.
All this had happened in September-and in January, we were approached with Gaurav's (Guruji's nephew) proposal. We were engaged shortly thereafter. That is when all elements of Guruji's message became clear. With Guruji taking care of all the worries mom had, she is also an ardent believer today!
Guruji's grace manifests itself every day and it is impossible to narrate all instances of it. Guruji's blessings are available in every aspect of life. For instance, when it came to the selection of my wedding lehnga, after a day-long shopping spree, I was too tired to decide. But mom insisted on taking a decision that day only, and we went by her choice. Later, Guruji gave me darshan: I saw Guruji Himself standing right next to the tailor and getting my wedding dress finalized. Amazing!
The Supreme is One
One evening, Guruji gave His darshan in Bade Mandir and the sangat clicked photographs. I too got the photograph from a devotee and could have Guruji's darshan in it. In the following days, I realized that I could see Guruji at five different points in that single photograph. I recalled reading in the Shri Shivmaha Puran that Shivji is '
Paanchmukhi' (with five faces). Here I was having darshan of Guruji's five faces in that single photograph. The darshan made it clear that Guruji is Lord Shiva and there's no difference between them.
Also, on the very first Navratra, I had Durga Ma's darshan in her '
Ashta Bhuja' (eight-armed) form. As I looked in amazement from Her
charan to the
Ashta Bhuja to Her face, I was amazed: Durga Ma, decked in her complete attire, had Guruji's face. And as I kept looking, the face transformed to that of Durga Ma's and then to Guruji's, clearly indicating the oneness of the supreme power. There's no other God. We have all come to God's
sharan and abode.
Thanks a lot, Guruji, for all the wonderful experiences. I pray you keep everybody under your protective grace and love forever.
Khushboo Bangia, Devotee
December 2009