In Nainital, Guruji blesses a couple with child
It was a warm Saturday evening of May 2002 and the atmosphere was buzzing with excitement. We were going on an excursion with Guruji to Ramgarh, a place around 21 km from the hill station of Nainital, where a devotee had a resort. Everything was in readiness. Luggage had been packed; two buses and a few cars were stationed outside the Empire Estate gate. Upon Guruji's signal, the
sangat got inside the buses, with Guruji Himself getting into one of them. There was a brief scramble, as devotees tried to get into the bus Guruji was travelling in. Then, the buses roared and the trip was on.
We were at Ramgarh at about 2 pm the following day.
After washing up and having lunch, we sat down in the resort's garden waiting for Guruji to come out. Waiting with us were devotees from the surrounding areas who had come to know of Guruji's presence.
One of the devotees, who had come from Nainital, was about to bow in front of Guruji when He said: "
You have three wives and you want a child." The devotee, Nassar, was stunned that the
Satguru knew his personal details. He had been married for 15 years but none of his wives had been able to conceive. Nassar continued coming for Guruji's
darshan everyday along with his wife. After a few days, Nassar came alone, prompting Guruji to ask him where his wife was. Guruji was told that she was unwell, with stomach pain and headaches. Guruji rubbished this interpretation, telling Nassar that there was nothing wrong with her and that she had conceived.
His words came true as two months after the excursion Nassar sent a message around the time of Guruji's birthday - which falls on 7 July - that doctors had confirmed his wife's pregnancy. Fifteen years of infertility had been dismissed at the
Mahapurush's very first
darshan.
In February of 2003, Nassar was blessed with a boy and he came on
Shivratri to thank Guruji and seek a name for his son. Guruji aptly named the boy Murad, signifying the fulfillment of a wish.
Train journey provides a ticket to health
I was commanding one of the elite commando units of the National Security Guards (NSG) at Manesar (around 40 km from Delhi). Guruji was in Chandigarh in December of 1996 and I got His message to come to Chandigarh for two-three days. I took causal leave and left.
At that time, I was suffering from spondylosis and also used to have severe pain on the entire right arm, with my right thumb often getting numb.
I reached Chandigarh and stayed there for two days with Guruji, deciding to return by bus to Delhi on Sunday after taking Guruji's permission. The nod was given, but I was told to go by train. I was apprehensive of train travel, that too without reservation and during winters, as it compounded my problem. In an unreserved cabin, the cold could be biting.
An officer dropped me at the Chandigarh railway station and I managed to get a middle berth in a three-tier sleeper compartment. I boarded the train at 2.30 at night and fell asleep immediately. I got up when the train reached New Delhi at a chilly 7.30 in the morning. I had been expecting to endure agonizing pain, but there was none. It has been 10 years since that day and my spondylosis and its pain have never re-appeared.
It is worth noting that I never mentioned this problem to Guruji nor did He every say anything to me. I had merely obeyed the
Satguru's word or
hukm, which signifies the divine will, and the problem had gone away.
The
Satguru's divine will, so often benign, can also make a mockery of modern scientific notions of healing. I had been diagnosed with diabetes in 1995 and my sugar level and blood pressure were shooting up to high levels. This was an area of professional concern for me for the Army demanded high levels of fitness.
I approached Guruji with the problem and Guruji blessed a copper tumbler from which I drank water daily. I was also directed to get tests done afresh after a week. During this week, I had my fill of
prasad, which was as usual lots of sweets - poison for diabetics.
Yet, a week later, the tests were astonishing: every parameter used to check the blood was within the normal limit and my blood pressure was as healthy as a young man's. Thus, even after eating the huge amounts of sweet prasad, sugar levels were kept at an absolutely normal level.
That is because, the
langar and prasad given at Guruji's contain
amrit or divine nectar, which cures and relieves every ailment. One only needs to accept and consume it with faith or
shraddha. It is only when the disciple surrenders and hands himself over to the Satguru then, and only then, does he experience the effect of divinity on his life. There are many ways in which Guruji showers His blessings upon devotees. Often, what Guruji orders may appear weird, but the secret of making best of it is to accept and act as directed: that is what SURRENDER is.
When it rained mercy on an Army unit
While I was a group commander of the NSG during 1995-1998, the Director General was to inspect the unit. The soldiers worked very hard to get the unit spick and span. The unit road was swept clean of dust and even the leaves of the surrounding trees were brushed up. The tree trunks and the brick-lining bordering the approach road to the unit got a paint of
geru. The entire unit was ready for the inspection and hoping to get a '
shabash' ('well done') from the Director General.
On D Day, I was driving up from Delhi to Manesar at 7 in the morning. It started raining. Then, it turned torrential. By the time I neared Manesar, I could not help but be dejected. All the labour the unit boys had put in would get washed away. I prayed to Guruji that this wouldn't happen.
I was amazed as I entered the unit gate. The unit grounds showed no signs of rain. The staff told me that it was raining everywhere - but not on the unit. As for the inspection, it exceeded expectations. The Director General said the unit was an example for other units. But, as soon as the DG left, it started raining in my unit as well. The divine hand was evident.
A devotee's sincere prayer had been enough to bring forth Guruji's grace. I felt as if a divine protective umbrella had been placed over the unit while it rained hard everywhere else. In the evening, when I went to Empire Estate, Guruji remarked on the event, testifying to the fact that it was He who had kept the rain from spoiling the show.
Guruji takes care of me and my family in every way - as this small incident shows. I have no words to thank one who is above all.
Weight gain through faith
My wife used to be a little thin and try as she might she could not put on any weight. In fact, she had not gained weight even while she was with child.
Guruji, however, used to repeatedly tell her that He had increased her weight by five to ten kilos. The family could not notice any change in her weight initially. But, after some time she started getting a wholesome rounded-ness to her figure. So much so that her youngest son started calling her '
motoo' or fatso.
Even in this brief working of Guruji's will, it was evident that Guruji has His own ways, methods and time frames to regulate the life cycle of an individual. As human beings, our vision is myopic. We worry about the near future and about small worldly things. The omniscient Guru looks beyond the shadow of the past, the narrow present, and the unimaginable future. When He grants us something, it is within the context of a cosmic and not merely an individual perspective. That is why one should develop an attitude of unquestioning surrender towards Him. He should put Him in the place of his father, mother, beloved and friend and with the distilled essence of his love throw himself at the
Satguru's lotus feet.
It is of paramount importance that the disciple does all the tasks the Satguru assigns to him. The results of the deeds, however, should be left to the Satguru. For the Satguru, the only truly illumined person, alone knows what is best for the disciple. And His compassion knows no bounds, extending equally to the disciples as to their near and dear ones.
I feel Guruji is like Lord Shiva, who drank up the poison that came out when the ocean was being churned for its treasures by the Gods and the demons. Guruji also drinks out the poison from His disciples' lives.
Not even those you most dearly love and cherish can take your pain even if they wish to relieve you of suffering. Your father, mother, friends, relatives, children, none of them can do so. The Satguru can even bestow life on you and only He can be truly yours. A stanza from the Ramcharit Manas puts it aptly:
"More prabhu tum guru, pitu, mata,
Jaaun kahan tazi pad jal jata."
My Lord you are my Guru, father and mother
Where else can I find solace than at your lotus feet?
My niece is cured of depression
My niece Bhavna who lives in Jaipur was in very bad shape. She had been admitted to a local hospital and was in the D1 list. My sister called me up while I was driving to Guruji's at Empire Estate. She was in tears, but I had no opportunity to tell Guruji of the problem.
After most of the devotees had left, Guruji sat down in the hall and began saying that He was not feeling well. I felt that since Guruji was unwell, He should not be told anything. But I was surprised since just then the Satguru started describing Bhavna's symptoms to me. He told me to get a particular medicine from the All India Institute of Medicine, New Delhi. It was one o' clock at night and I returned in an hour with the medicines in hand. Guruji told me to throw these in the dustbin and asked me to take my wife to Jaipur for a day and return.
In the morning, I rang up my sister and learnt that Bhavna was a little better and would be discharged from the hospital by evening. Though her problems had disappeared, Bhavna was still depressed.
The next day, my wife left for Jaipur. As soon as she met Bhavna, Bhavna became cheerful and got over her depression. The change was there for all to see.
Subsequently, my entire circle of close family members and relatives felt Guruji's blessings on their lives.
Guruji is a Mahapurush, a divine being. When I would take a walk along with Guruji, the Mahapurush's divine body would exude a rosy fragrance from the sole of His shoes. Even if you sat in the
sangat hall with Him and surrendered yourself to Him, your body would start exuding the fragrance. Such is the effect of His aura; so great is the gap between mortals and their immortal Guru.
The Satguru is, as these experiences show, omniscient. His presence is felt at a number of places at any instant of time. He repeats the conversations, which a husband has with his wife when the couple are miles away from His physical presence.
One finds that the sacred literature of this country is but a brief commentary on His oceanic being. As a stanza from the Ramcharit Manas says:
"Binu Pag Chalahin Sunahin Binu Kana,
Kar Binu Karam Kare vidhi Nana."
(Walks without legs, hears without ears
Works without hands: the Lord does all.)
Col. (retd) S. K. Joshi, senior executive with Reliance Infocomm
July 2007