PARAM STORIES

Gurudev… This is Unfair!

For a shishya, Guru’s lotus feet are his home. And his home becomes a temple when it is graced by Guru’s blessed charan! So, a shishya always yearns for that one moment when his Guru will grace his home and heart, and sanctify it with his pious presence.

“Hey Gurudev! You have graced the doors of this heart and drenched it with samveg bhaav (devotion for the Divine). Now I await the auspicious moment when this house will become a temple with the dust from your lotus feet!”

In February and March 2023, Param Gurudev graced the homes of more than 500 gurubhakts during his vicharan of more than 550 kilometers across Mumbai. Countless homes were blessed by his august presence, and countless hearts were blessed with his kalyankari sanidhya. People who had never laid feet in the field of religion, witnessed an inner transformation as they got an opportunity to learn the true essence of Jain philosophy. They experienced the joy of bhakti and the inner happiness that one rejoices with the Divine. The priceless seed of samyaktva was sown in pure hearts. And many lives evolved for the better as innumerable people became free from addictions, mental blocks, family negativities, stressful lifestyles and depressive mindsets with Param Gurudev’s bodh vachan, his inspiration, his unique practical experiments, and his guidance on living a meaningful and purposeful life.

During his vicharan in Mulund, gurubhakts noticed something peculiar. Param Gurudev was gracing the homes of people who were not very active in shasan seva and not going to the homes of those who were tirelessly offering seva day and night. One day, a young gurubhakt came and asked him, “Gurudev, isn’t this unfair? You are going to homes of people who are aren’t doing seva, but you aren’t coming to our homes even though we work so hard for seva…!” There was a ray of hope in her heart that Param Gurudev would concede to her request.

However, Guru’s actions and intentions are way beyond a shishya’s ability to understand. In a compassionate voice, Param Gurudev replied, “Beta, Guru to Guru j hoy! If I visit the homes of those who offer seva, it will mean that all the punya they have earned through their seva will get used up with my pagla at their homes. When Guru arrives at someone’s house, he aspires to awaken those souls and be a sattnimitt in their aatmakalyan. That’s why, Guru always knows which house he must visit.”

The young gurubhakt’s eyes became moist with gratitude as well as regret on hearing Param Gurudev’s words, as if they were echoing the feeling that ‘Guru’ is such a vast tatva which can’t be understood even if we try to do so. We see only the present, but Guru is the one who sees our infinite past and future.

Our utmost vandan towards this compassionate Guru tatva… who thinks about our aatmik wellbeing far more than even we think for ourselves!
On a day when visible smiles painted the sky with colourful kites, there were invisible voiceless cries of injured birds waiting to be heard. Innumerable Jain organisations, animal welfare NGOs and government organisations had set up camps across the country to save such birds.
For Guru, every shishya is like a child. And the one who experiences Guru’s care, never yearns for affection or love from anyone else in this entire world! Param Gurudev was in Punadi, Kutch, during the 2022 chaturmas. His selfless love and boundless grace had won the hearts of innumerable villagers who were not Jain by birth.
In December 2022, Param Gurudev was at Palitana. More than 100 gurubhakts from Punadi had specially come to Palitana for the kshetra sparshna of this divine land with Param Gurudev. Next morning after the yatra, everybody was taken to a place named Rohishala on the banks of a River named Shetrunji for early morning meditation.
How many times have we experienced situations where someone junior to us disobeys us, and we become REACTIVE because our ego gets hurt? It was December 2017, and Param Gurudev was in Deolali. He was blessing one and all with profound vachanas from the Aagam scriptures.
Previous
Next