Kripaluji Maharaj
I heard a story from him.
This was when he was in his twenties.
You know, at 34 he became Jagadh Guru
this was before that.
So he used to do satsangh in people's houses
in UP.
Big big government officers were his
devotees.
Now the evening satsangh was at the house
of the judge of the Allihabad
high court
and the judges younger brother
was a district collector.
Collector is the government administrator of the district.
So the elder brother was such a deep
believer and the younger brother was atheistic
so he would keep getting annoyed with his elder brother.
why do you waste time running after these babas
what do you get?
But when the evening satsangh is in the brother's house
social etiquette demands that he has to be present.
So he did go
Now Maharaji was sitting in the drawing room
and speaking to a group of devotees.
The collector was furious at this waste of time.
He was pacing up and down
in the other.. in the corridor.
but Maharaji was speaking in a booming voice
the sound was coming into
the collector's ear and he was listening what is he saying
So what he heard, attracted him.
that he seems to be speaking sense.
He started standing on the doorway and hearing.
And as he kept hearing
it started clicking from inside
that it's not as I thought
he's become a Babaji just to eat two rotis
He seems to be explaining some
very useful things with very good logic and sense.
Now Maharaji continued to speak for 2 hours
and the collector continued to listen.
At the end of the satsangh,
everybody as was the tradition came to offer their respects.
The collector also fell in line.
So when his turn came
Maharaji had been warned by his elder brother
Maharaji you know my younger brother, he's such a nuisance.
he is so atheistic.
So when the collector's turn came
to offer respect, Maharaji fell down at his feet.
He was totally taken aback!
Aree Maharaji what are you doing, please don't embarrass me
You are such a great Yogi and I'm a bhogi
I should offer my respects to you.
Maharaji said no no no no no, you have got it wrong
I'm the bhogi and you're the Yogi.
No no no no Maharaji, everybody knows about you
Maharaji said look, what have i
renounced
I have renounced worldly pleasures.
The pleasures of the senses
They don't have any satiation
at all, they cannot satisfy the soul
If i renounce them knowing them to be useless
what is the big deal?
You are the real renunciant.
You have renounced God and your
running after these worldly things.
Your renunciation is so amazing that's why
I'm offering my respects to you.
Maharaji said that collector fell at his feet
and started weeping like a child.
He just understood
that yes we all want happiness
and the happiness I want is in God
it is not in these things.
The moment that understanding came
a few repetitions created attachment
to God. Then Maharaji
say later on he went in satsangh with even
greater speed towards God
than his brother
So it's all about
where you have decided
there is happiness.
You know the Saints, whenever they have a difficult situation
they see in it
the grace of God
Take the example of saint Tukaram.
He was a great saint of Maharashtra.
His wife had a terrible nature
she used to keep fighting with him
So Mahabharata would continue at home
all the time
One day there was nothing at home
and saint Tukaram was doing his
bhajan Rukmini Vitthal Rukmini Vitthal Rukmini Vitthal
his wife burst forth on him, what are you doing?!
Go and sit in your shop
earn something there is nothing to cook out here
So saint Tukaram obeyed
the high command and he went to the shop.
Now he earned his
daily income.
Purchased some groceries
When he was coming back he found some beggers
he kept giving to them in charity
and when he reached home he only had
one "ganna" one sugar cane
He told his wife this is all I have got today.
So got so mad at him
she lifted it and hit it on his head.
It broke into two.
You see she must have really hit it hard.
for it to break into two.
So saint Tukaram was not ruffled
by it.
He said oh it's split,
never mind you take one I will take one
we had to break it
and then he went into his pooja room
and he said, oh
Rukmini Vitthal
you're so kind, so merciful
you have given me such a wife that
I can never become attached to this world
You see this is
the positive nature.
The positive nature is
that I should not let the disturbance
come into my mind
The external disturbances
see in them a blessing.
Everything is happening for the good.
So he is seeing in that situation
the blessing of God.