PARAM STORIES

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. They belonged to different castes like Kshatriyas, Rabaris, etc. And yet, after experiencing Param Gurudev’s unhindered love for every living being, many of them had accepted Him as their GURU. One of them was Ashwinsinhji Jadeja.

Param Gurudev had noticed that Ashwinsinhji’s leg was injured since the past few days. So one day, Param Gurudev asked Ashwinsinhji, “What has happened to your leg? Is everything alright?” And Ashwinsinhji replied, “Gurudev, my leg has become infected. If it doesn’t heal, the doctor has said that I may have to get it amputated…”

Param Gurudev asked him, “Have you got your blood sugar checked? Do you have diabetes?” To which Ashwinsinhji replied “Gurudev! I am not sure, I haven’t checked. I don’t know anything about it.” That is when Param Gurudev said, “Get the glucometer, let us check his blood sugar levels!”When the glucometer was brought, Param Gurudev opened everything, took out the needle, applied the strip and did all the settings Himself. The gurubhakts present there came forward and requested Param Gurudev that they would take care of it and conduct the test for Ashwinsinhji. But Param Gurudev refused. He said, “No, I will do it myself for him. It is the Guru’s responsibility to take care of his shishya’s overall wellbeing… You have accepted me as your Guru, so I must take care of you, isn’t it?”

Ashwinsinhji became teary eyed as Param Gurudev himself conducted his blood sugar test. He fell short of words to be able to express his feelings, but his eyes reflected the deepest gratitude that was resonating in his every heartbeat.

A mother never hands over her child to somebody else when he is sick or injured. In the same way, Param Gurudev went out of his way to take care of Ashwinsinhji himself. And when everyone witnessed that inspite of being at such a high position, Param Gurudev unflinchingly took great care of Ashwinsinhji, regardless of the pus and scratches on his feet, everyone bowed down in reverence.

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.
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.
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.
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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