PARAM STORIES

Universal Love in Action

The second wave of COVID-19 hit India in 2021. From 50+ sant-satijis in Param Gurudev’s shishya samuday, 36 of them contacted corona and were shifted from Vadia to Rajkot’s Uvasaggahar Sadhana Bhavan. Param Gurudev’s stay was safely organised in the newly-constructed Shyam Prabhu Niketan Apartment nearby.

After a few days, when things normalized, Param Gurudev’s vihar towards Mumbai began. When Param Mahasatijis who were doing a final inspection of the house to ensure that everything was back in its original place, they found an envelope on the window sill. Assuming that it may be someone’s letter for Param Gurudev, they opened it. But instead, they were surprised to find a note in Param Gurudev’s own handwriting. It read, ‘Sarva nu shubh thaao, sarva nu mangal thao, sarva samruddh thaao – wishing for the wellbeing and prosperity of every soul!’ They wondered, “Whom is this note meant for?” Because that flat was still fresh and unoccupied; the owner was planning to rent it out!

They later asked Param Gurudev if he had forgotten to give the note to someone, and he replied, “No, I had left the note intentionally in that house. It was for the family that will soon come to live here…” It’s easy to do something for someone who respects you, but showering blessings and praying for the wellbeing of those whom you don’t even know is the unconditional compassion of a Mahapurush!

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.
One evening, several gurubhakts were doing bhakti in Param Gurudev’s sanidhya. Param Gurudev never misses a chance to bless those around him with inspiration for their aatmakalyan. That day, his eyes fell on a gurubhakt, and Param Gurudev asked him, “Your hands were joined throughout the bhakti for the last 28 minutes! Do you know what will be the result of this gesture?”
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