Ram Narayan Sinha, Ayodhya Nath, Akbar Ali Khan, Jaidev Singh
In
spite of my close association with Babaji, I acquired my devotion for
Baba and whatever understanding of him I might have from the gifts of
the open hearts of his old and selfless devotees. Each devotee
experiences Babaji in his own unique way. Tularam Sah said, "Babaji is
the greatest sage of the age." Ram Narayan Sinha said, "He is Hanuman."
Akbar Ali Khan said, "No pir (saint) or paigambar (prophet), but he is
actually Khuda (God)." Thakur Jaidev Singh said, "He is Bhagwan." I
could not disbelieve them. They poured out their experiences in full
ecstasy. They are as true to me as the experience I myself had on the
bank of the Ganges when he whispered in my ear, "Ram nam karne se sab
pura ho jata." (Everything is accomplished by taking the name of Ram.)
Most of the incidents recorded here were related in Babaji's lifetime
either in his presence or when he moved about. They have been told and
retold to the devotees, and Babaji did not object to that.
Shri
Ram Narayan Sinha lived in Allahabad after retiring from service and
used to come to Babaji when he stayed here in winter. It was difficult
for him to narrate stories about Baba's unusual grace without shedding
copious tears. He had to stop talking several times while narrating his
experiences and could not sit before Babaji for too long a time. He had
started his career as a police sub-inspector at the lowest cadre in the
service, but rose very high in the job by his honesty and hard labor.
Shri Sinha used to say that his rise was not by his efforts, but by the
sheer grace which came to him unsought at a very early stage and
continued all through his life.
He had been posted at Mathura as
a sub-inspector and was staying in a small house with his wife and his
young stepbrother. One day while getting ready to go to work, the front
door was pushed open. A big person with a blanket on, followed by two
others, entered the room. Ram Narayan said, "They were not known to me.
Pointing his finger at me, this person said, 'You are Ram Narayan
Sinha. You are sad because of the quarrel between your brother and your
wife.'
I was gazing at him when someone shouted, 'He is
Babaji—Neem Karoli Baba! Both my wife and brother were
standing before
him. Hearing that he was a baba, my wife touched his feet. When my
brother, a teenager, bent to his feet, Babaji shouted at him, 'You
quarrel with your sister-in-law and make her cry. She is actually your
mother and does so much for you. Bow at her feet and never quarrel with
her again.'" Ram Narayan said afterwards that this was a great event in
his life. "It not only made the opening for the flow of his grace in my
life, but also removed the canker that was so greatly disturbing family
peace."
He continued, "Babaji then left the house, saying, 'You
have to go to work and I must also go.' While coming out behind him, I
found many persons were waiting for him. It so happened that I had to
take the same path to my office as he was going. Along the way, he
would come to one house or another and taking the name of the person to
whom they belonged, said he knew them all. By the time he reached the
Dwarkadish temple, a large crowd had gathered around him. When the
temple priest came before him, Babaji shouted, 'You have no son. How
will you have one when you do not allow the children to come to the
Child?' Pointing his finger to the murti of Dwarkadhish, he said, 'He
is also a child and wants to play with the children. You prevent them
from coming to Him, so how can you have a son of your own?'
"While
everyone was left wondering what all this meant, the panicky priest
fell at his feet, and with tears flowing from the eyes, begged Baba for
mercy and to bless him with a son. The storm was over and the sun came
out. Smiling, Baba said, 'All right you will have your son. But you
must open the door for the children to come.' When Babaji had gone, the
priest said that he knew that Baba came to the temple to bless him. Two
years after that, he had his son."
Ram Narayan said that
during his long period of service, he had to work in many different
places in the state and it was very difficult to have Babaji's darshan
when he wanted it. In almost every town where he was posted, there were
people who knew Babaji. Sometimes Babaji visited them, but it was
difficult for him to contact Baba by searching him out. Baba was an
itinerant saint, and nobody knew about his visits or movement except
when they were with him.
Ram Narayan said he also suffered from
an additional handicap: Babaji's devotees, like all others, generally
used to stay away from the police and would not easily fraternize with
them socially. This made it difficult to keep in contact with the other
devotees in order to keep track of Babaji. He was emphatic that there
was no such discrimination in Babaji's mind. The police were as near
and dear to him as his devotees in other walks of life. Ram Narayan
mentioned the names of many high-placed police officials, such as
Jamuna Prasad Tripathi, Rai Bahadur Tika Ram, Chaudhary Omkar Singh,
and Shri Deep Narain Rai, who were among his very great devotees and
received his grace freely. He said his experience was that getting
darshan had to be left to Baba's decision; all he could do was remember
him in his heart.
One day, while officiating as Superintendent
of Police at Bijnor, he learned that his claim for confirmation as
Superintendent had been rejected and he was to revert to his previous
post. This was a very big shock and disappointment for him. He had
officiated as Superintendent for several years with full credit, but
the claim was rejected on the technical grounds that he did not come
through proper selection, but through promotions from the lower ranks.
Ram
Narayan narrated, "This was a great disgrace for me, and how was I to
face it? So I decided to resign. There was a pall of mourning over the
entire household. I was in my official quarter within closed doors in
the evening and there was no cooking in the house that night, as
everyone was in distress. It was about nine when a policeman knocked at
the gate. He said, 'Someone is sitting on the road ahead, and he asked
me to send you to him.' I actually jumped up. I was convinced that it
must be Babaji who had come at this time of night when I was shedding
tears and remembering him.
"When I reached there, Babaji was
sitting in the middle of the road. There was not much traffic because
it was within the official quarters. Facing me he said, 'You are going
to resign from your job? What kind of a man are you? You have not
allowed food to be cooked and have made everybody in the house
miserable. Don't worry. You will remain in your present post and be
made permanent.' I said there was no such chance; the decision was
final.
"He said, 'How can that be? There will be the Lahiri
Commission going through such cases and you will be confirmed.' Then he
said, 'Bring my food; I have to eat.' I took him along with me to the
house. The lights were switched on and cooking was started. After some
time, he began hurrying us up, 'Bring my food. Bring my food. I have to
go.' The food was served and he took a little. It was not that he was
hungry himself or needed the food, but it was a way to get the day's
cooking started for the people who were hungry. Soon afterwards, I was
confirmed in my post."
While narrating these incidents, Ram
Narayan said again and again, "This is the Baba I know, and take to be
Hanumanji in a human body. How could it be anything other than that?"
For me there was no question of believing or not believing him. All I
wanted was for him to repeat his stories as often as possible and give
us some taste of the joy that was with him.
When we come to
Shri Ayodhya Nath Sinha, the retired Assistant Excise Commssioner, it
is almost the same story of boundless grace rushing to the door of the
helpless devotee, rescuing him from limitless grief and bringing cheer
to his heart. Ayodhya Nath had been known to us from the very first
time that Babaji gave us darshan in 1955. He was a highly religious
person and a great devotee of Baba. Babaji, out of his sheer grace,
molded not only his service career, but also his whole life. "I have
left my service career and may not always remember how his grace
affected it, but I cannot forget what he has given me in my life. Faith
in the divine, and devotion to God and guru are life's most precious
jewels. They do not come from just anywhere. It is only through divine
grace that you get them, and Babaji gave that to me."
He had
worked as an excise inspector and was posted at Kasganj. One evening he
was returning home after playing tennis. Across the road by the side of
some trees and bushes, he saw several persons sitting silently. He
suspected they might be engaged in illicit liquor business. He heard
someone from the group saying, "He thinks we are smugglers of illicit
liquor." This confirmed his suspicion, and as he could not do anything
about it, he moved away. The matter ended there.
Sinha narrated,
"In 1932, when I visited my friend, Thakur Sultan Singh, in his house,
I saw they were all sitting around an old person. The striking thing
about him was that he sat wrapped in a blanket although it was not
winter. Sultan Singh told me he was Babaji, Neem Karoli Baba. Babaji
asked me, 'You don't recognize me? You thought I was engaged in making
liquor. If you had had one of your men with you, you would have
arrested me.'
I recalled what had occurred many months back and
thought how easily we form opinions about people without knowing them.
The irony of the whole thing was that it was a good augury and he must
have played this trick to test me on how I was discharging my duties."
There
were many such experiences indicating how Babaji kept track of the
doings of his devotees. In 1947 at the crown of Ayodhya Nath's glory,
as an honest and incorruptible officer who resisted all temptation to
make easy money while performing his duties, he was posted in Faizabad
as Excise Inspector. He received a telegram from Babaji asking him to
meet him in Allahabad. When he reached Allahabad the next morning, he
found Babaji sitting with several devotees in a room by the side of a
lane. He stood there in the lane looking at Babaji, thinking that he
might call him. But Babaji kept him waiting, then went to another room
inside the house. Ayodhya Nath felt highly agitated at the treatment
meted out to him. Babaji had sent for him; he had come for that only.
How could Babaji refuse to give him darshan? He was very upset and was
thinking of going away, when someone came and told him that Babaji
wanted him in his room. When he reached the room, Babaji was talking to
the people there. Then he said, raising his voice high, "You have
become atheist? You have become atheist? You have left God? You will
most certainly be made Assistant Commissioner. Do you think the law
made by God can be overturned?"
Hearing Baba shouting like that,
everyone in the house rushed to his room to find out what it was all
about. Only Ayodhya Nath understood. He understood much more than what
was spoken out loud by Baba. He became dumb and stood gazing at him,
avoiding everyone's questions. The state of suspense continued for some
time, then he was sent home with a devotee for his bath and food. Baba
told the devotee that after taking some rest, Ayodhya Nath should go to
the station and return to Faizabad that very afternoon. The parting
message was, "Jao. Sab thik ho jayega. (Go. Everything will be okay.)
You should never lose faith in God."
As Babaji had foretold,
Ayodhya Nath indeed returned to Allahabad a few weeks after that to
take up his new post as Assistant Excise Commissioner. The post should
have come to him long before as his rightful due, but corruption and
extraneous pressures barred his right. It was only when Babaji cast his
glance on his woes that the path was cleared for him.
Years
later Ayodhya Nath narrated to us the full story behind his promotion
in 1947. At the time Babaji had sent for him in Allahabad, he was very
sad that his long overdue promotion had been denied again, although
there was nothing in his service career to disqualify him. This he took
to be due to the heedlessness of God, and he lost his faith. He was a
religious person and a devotee of Krishna. He blamed Krishna for his
misfortune and took down the picture of Krishna hanging on the wall,
turning it face down. Babaji's telegram came at that time. Little could
he imagine that some unseen hand was going to set right the picture he
had turned upside down. Heckling him as he did, Babaji was referring to
what he had done to the picture in his house in Faizabad.
When
he returned to Faizabad that day, as Babaji had asked him to do, his
mind was divided in two. Even though Babaji had given him assurance,
the odds were strong that there was not much hope for him. He was
resting in his room one day when someone shouted, "Hazur, I come with
very happy news, and I should get some reward for this." It was an
orderly from the District Magistrate office with a copy of the message
sent by the Government Secretary saying, "Ayodhya Nath should proceed
immediately to Allahabad to take charge as Assistant Excise
Commissioner. Before proceeding, he should hand over his charge of
office to the District Magistrate."
"This was good news—the very
good news for which I had pined for so long. But it was not an unmixed
joy—there was also a feeling of pain, a repentance that
brought tears
to my eyes. How fragile is our faith in Babaji, who has nothing but
love and mercy on us."
Continuing his explanation, Ayodhya Nath
recounted that Shri Gobind Ballabh Pant, the Chief Minister of Uttar
Pradesh in 1947, had told the Excise Commissioner that he was tired of
hearing complaints of bribery and corruption against his department.
"People come and complain that nothing gets done without paying some
money to the officers in charge of that work. They talk of bribery and
corruption being rampant. This must be stopped without any delay."
Mentioning the names of two Asistant Commissioners accused by people,
he said, "Take away the work under them and give them some honest
officer." When the Commissioner said that there was no other Assistant
Commissioner to whom the work could be given, Pantji said, "There may
not be someone in that rank, but there must be an honest man in your
department." The Excise Commissioner replied, "There is one, but he is
junior and not selected for that post." Pantji burst out, "I do not
want to hear whether he is junior or senior, selected or not. I want an
honest officer for the post. Create a post for him, appoint him to it,
and then hand over the charge of the work now being done by the others."
This
was a secret known only by the Chief Minister and the Commissioner, and
Ayodhya Nath came to know of it much afterwards. He used to say that
many persons admire him, saying his appointment was a tribute to his
honesty, but he takes it as something different and very
precious—vindication of God's mercy and the sanctity of his
rule. "I
had lost my faith in God, and my gracious guru recovered it for me."
I
spent much time in the company of these two devotees, hearing them
relate whatever was stored in their hearts. I saw their
intoxication—God intoxication. Both were old and had been
wise and
experienced administrators. They learned in their jobs the skillful use
of mind and intellect and the proper control of emotions and
sentiments. But in talking of Babaji, all that experience was thrown
overboard. I cherish their experiences and intoxications, and recalling
them always brings a taste of it.
I have been with many other
devotees of Babaji who were likewise intoxicated. Some of them were so
intoxicated that whenever they started to talk they would get highly
agitated, and no systematic, coherent narration could come out of them.
One had to be cautious and tap them often to get their story. There
were others, no less ardent or enthusiastic in their love and devotion
for Babaji, who could contol their emotional pitch. Two of them whom I
cannot forget are Akbar Ali Khan and Thakur Jaidev Singh.
Akbar
Ali Khan was posted as Governor of Uttar Pradesh in the last years of
Babaji's stay at Kainchi. He visited him three times when I was with
him and after Baba's samadhi, he invited me to the Nainital government
house. We were with him for some time hearing about Baba. The visit was
short because of heavy rains.
Akbar Ali Khan used to come to
Kainchi to meet with Babaji. His was a busy life, mostly devoted to his
official duties. His first visit was short and he talked of his
misfortune in not being able to have Baba's darshan for so long. He
apologized to Babaji and begged mercy for his lapses. A highly cultured
and experienced person asking Baba for forgiveness was very striking,
but no less striking was Baba's response to his prayer. With a smile he
patted him and said, "It is all right. You have to work first and not
run after Baba. The most important thing is to do one's duty. It is all
right."
His second visit was important to me—not because of
the abuses hurled at me or the temper shown, but for a new revelation.
In this period, the big politicians were not coming to Babaji, yet
rarely had he been so particular about the cleanliness of his room and
temple premises and the controlling of the movements of people around
his room. He had the door to the Mothers' rooms locked to keep them
inside. Then Babaji told us that the Governor would be coming with a
big party. "His son has married a Swiss girl. Her parents, with other
members of their family, are coming to meet me and visit your ashram.
They are very clever people with keen observations, not like you. So
there must not be any wrong impressions given to them because of your
foolishness and negligence. You people are so thick-headed that in your
curiosity you will rush anywhere and ask all kinds of questions."
Cracking a joke, he mentioned the names of two persons, saying,
"Dressed in their full glory, they will wait at the gate to present
themselves to the visitors."
Babaji went on like this and then
he asked me what arrangements were going to be made for their prasad.
When I told him that there would be no difficulty, he said, "They will
not accept your puris and potatoes. They have doctors who examine the
food and they avoid food that might be infected. So your puris will be
of no use." When I told him that there were dry fruits, raisins, and
sugar candies, he said that would do but I might get more of them.
These
things I mention just to emphasize how very vigilant and careful he was
about everything around him, big or small, known or unknown to us,
going into the minutest of details about what was going to happen. We
two were alone together when these talks were going on. After the
instructions were over, I asked him whether tea was also to be
provided. He had been reclining on his bed while talking, but now he
sat up, and shouting loudly, abused me, "What a fool you are! You do
all kinds of foolish things and want me also to do wrong things. How
can you understand when you have no brains? I cannot imagine how you
could teach students. If you talk like that anymore, I shall turn you
away."
Some persons had gathered outside the closed doors. I
stood silently before him. When Babaji started talking again, gone were
the abuses, yelling and shouting. We were blessed with pleasant words,
coaxing and cajoling. He sat up and with a modulated voice said, "Dada,
you do not understand. You have your brain, you must use it. They are
coming to a saint, not to a politician or businessman. When the
Governor visits the houses of politicians there are receptions, tea and
drink, kalia and kabab and everything. But here they are coming to a
saint. They are intelligent people and know what the saints have got
and what they can get from them."
This was very important for
me. He seldom spoke about himself, certainly not about being a saint.
On two other occasions he spoke like this, but they were more or less
slips in some unguarded moments. This is the only time when he spoke,
and spoke repeatedly in full consciousness, of his being a saint. I
stood with my ears and eyes open, hearing and seeing him speak of what
a saint is and what he does.
The next day the party of eight
arrived, the Governor with his guests followed by a number of officials
and dignitaries. They all sat, squatting in Babaji's room on the carpet
that was spread there. They talked for almost two hours, with Akbar Ali
himself acting as the interpreter. I had to arrange for the prasad and
other things. Dry fruits and sugar candy were brought to his room, and
the regular prasad of puri and potatoes in baskets were also sent.
When
Babaji said they must return, Akbar Ali asked if they might be allowed
to stay for some time more, as they were in no hurry to leave. Babaji
did not oppose him, only looked outside to the sky and kept silent. The
clouds were gathering and were already very thick. The talk continued,
but Babaji suddenly said they must leave now. When they left, it began
raining, and after a few minutes there came a heavy downpour which
continued for some days. In the evening, we heard that a heavy
landslide on the road near Bhowali had totally blocked the route.
Several
days passed. The rains had stopped, the road was cleared of debris, and
traffic resumed as usual. It was on one of these days that Akbar Ali
arrived for an unscheduled visit. His guests were gone and he was free.
He had come to tell Babaji how he had saved his life along with the
lives of his guests. Babaji had just gone in for his bath, but I said I
would inform him. He tried to stop me so that Baba would not be
disturbed in taking his bath and meal. He said, "I shall wait, and when
Babaji comes out of his room we will talk." However, I had to inform
Baba. Hearing about his visit, Babaji asked where he was at that time.
I told him that he was sitting in the room talking to Kabir and a few
others. Baba told me to return to him and he would come after his bath.
We listened, spellbound, to what he was saying.
Akbar Ali
narrated, "We were all sitting in Babaji's room, listening and enjoying
the peace and serenity which charged the whole room. My guests were
enjoying themselves so much that they forgot to ask their questions or
hear the replies. Sitting before Babaji, we had no awareness of time or
thought of leaving, so when he asked us to go, we prayed that we might
be allowed to stay a little longer, which was granted. But after some
time, he repeated with some force that we must go, and we knew there
would be no more extensions. I could not understand why he was so
insistent to send us away. This was not in his nature so far as I had
known him.
When we left, it was drizzling, but little did we
know what was awaiting us. We were caught in a heavy rain on the way,
and when we reached the control barrier there was a very heavy
landslide. A big stone came rolling down, followed by an avalanche of
mud and stones which blocked the whole road totally. When the stone
came rolling down, our car had just passed not even one minute before.
Had we been late by just a few seconds, we would have been crushed into
pulp. He knew all this. Just to save our lives, he had to send us back
at the cost of being harsh."
He was very excited as he
continued, "People say pir and paigambar, but what is pir and
paigambar? He is actually Khuda for me. He is Khuda, he is..." His tone
calmed down after that. Babaji arrived, having given him some time to
have his say and then cool down. Seeing Babaji before him, Akbar Ali
expressed his gratitude again and again. He said, "Baba, we did not
understand you, and while going, we were not courteous enough to
express what we had received by sitting with you. You saved me and my
relations. How can I convey what it all means to us?"
He talked
a little more and then Baba told me that he should go now and should be
given prasad in a basket to be taken to his house. He left after all
this was done. This was his last visit to Kainchi that I know of.
Some
days later, Babaji was sitting after his bath with Kishan, Siddhi Didi,
and a couple of others. They were talking of Akbar Ali's visit. Someone
said that the whole conversation had been caught by Kabir's cassette
recorder. Babaji sent for the tape from Kabir and it was played for
everyone to hear and enjoy. It had reached the point where Akbar Ali
was saying excitedly, "He is actually Khuda for me," when Babaji
suddenly said, "Stop. Destroy the tape." Everyone resisted to their
utmost, but it had no effect on him. His order was to take the tape
out, twist it, and then burn it. So it was burned. That was the end of
the tape, and also the end of the words that came from the depth of the
devotee's heart, "What is pir and paigambar? He is actually Khuda for
me."
We have heard one intoxicated devotee shouting, "He is
actually Hanuman," and now we hear from another intoxicated one
shouting, "He is actually Khuda." How can we doubt them? I go on
questioning myself about it. I also hear other devotees say that they
have the same difficulty. For most of us, though, it doesn't make any
difference that Babaji is not here any more. How could it? We are not
among the precious few who can feel what a loss it truly is. And so it
was, that Babaji's most precious gift, coming to us through his
accredited spokesmen, was thrown away by us because we could not take
it into our hearts.
We come to one more of these accredited
ones. Thakur Jaidev Singh, who said, "He is actually
Bhagwan—he is
actually Bhagwan for me. He saved this body against many perils and
sure death. It was his grace, by no stretch of imagination can I claim
that I deserved it. The grace from high, from very high, flows without
any thought of the deserving or undeserving who are to receive it. It
is just the spontaneous kripa (grace) of the great divine."
I
had heard about Thakur Jaidev Singh. Babaji often spoke of him as a
great devotee. He was a soldier—a real soldier—who
obeyed his master
without any question or hesitation. This reference was not actually to
his army career, where he had acquitted himself very creditably, but to
his devotion to Babaji. He obeyed his master's orders till the last
days of his life.
In July, 1972, Babaji was sitting before
the row of bathrooms in the back of Kainchi ashram. A large number of
devotees staying in the ashram, and those few from the outside who were
allowed to come when the gates were closed, were sitting around. This
was a regular routine when Babaji was at Kainchi. The evening sitting,
as it used to be called, extended generally from five to eight in the
evening. This was a very enjoyable meeting for the devotees. They would
sit with him a long time, which was seldom possible otherwise. Babaji
would be in a very relaxed mood. His talks or comments, reminiscences
of days gone by or persons met, sallies or abuses, shouting and show of
temper, the way some people behaved who came to talk to him or to
collect prasad, often illustrated with acting and gestures, were very
entertaining. Those staying in the ashrams would not like to miss these
sittings, although they knew there may be some dig at them or laughter
at their expense.
One day when everybody was enjoying
themselves, Babaji pointed to a person, helped by his son and
grandsons, entering through the temple gate—a very tall and
strong
looking man with well-knit limbs and a thick bamboo staff in his hand.
Babaji asked me to go help by catching hold of his hand and bringing
the man to him. Reaching the man, I stretched out my hand to catch hold
of his, but he said, "No more help is needed here." Pointing his hand
to Babaji sitting with the devotees, he continued, "I have reached the
person from whom all help comes."
Moving a few steps ahead, he
laid himself flat on the ground, spreading his hands and legs. He was
helped to rise and taken to Baba. He stood there silently looking at
Baba with all wonder and amazement in his eyes, as if to show that his
journey was blessed and he had received what he was searching for.
Babaji asked a few questions—how he was keeping his health,
how long
the journey took, and such things. His son, standing near him, replied.
When they were allowed to sit, Babaji asked me to make arrangements for
their stay. Two buckets and lotas, and all such things should be put in
the big room with the four beds.
After some time, when they
reached their room and got settled, Jaidev Singh started talking about
Baba, and between stopping many times to take a breath and various
interruptions he said, "Babaji is actually Bhagwan for me. He picked me
up from the crowds by his sheer grace, when he was not known to me at
all. He saved me from all my perils—even when my death was
certain.
Whenever I was in difficulty, whether in the barracks or on the
battlefield, I used to have his darshan. I had my last darshan two
decades back when I retired from service. Since then I was looking for
it again from my home in a small village in Rai-Bareilly district."
While
we were talking, Babaji shouted for me and I went to him. It was past
nine. He was in his room alone and wanted to know about the
arrangements that had been made for Jaidev Singh. When he inquired
about their food, I told him that they took their food from the kitchen
tonight but from the next day they would do their own cooking. He told
me that they should be given any and all provisions from the
ashram—utensils and anything they might need. When he
inquired whether
Jaidev Singh said anything about him or his coming here, I reported as
I had heard it from him. Babaji listened, sitting silently, as if
looking back and recalling in his mind the whole drama enacted over the
past decades.
Babaji said, "He is an honest and God-fearing
person, very sincere and hard working. His devotion to duty and
obedience to his superiors used to be spoken of highly by his officers.
He is a true soldier and has been waiting for the darshan which I
promised when he retired from service. For all these years he has been
waiting for the moment, which has come now. He is not like you people.
If you have to wait for something, you start talking that this Baba is
nothing—no sadhu at all—he does not keep his word
and all that. How
different he is from all of you."
When I was going out, Babaji
called me, as if he suddenly remembered something. He told me that the
pillow that had been given to the old man was very hard, and I should
give him my own pillow, which was soft. I came out of his room brooding
over what he said. Nothing escaped his attention, not even this. This
may not mean much to most of us, but at that moment it was important to
me. It was as if to teach us that in serving we have to keep our eyes
open.
Jaidev
Singh was in the ashram for several days. He would be with Babaji
mostly in the afternoon when he was near the bathrooms, sitting with
others. For the first few days he was given a seat in the corner, near
Babaji's cot, but then he was moved for several days near the stairs of
his room from where he could see Baba clearly but not hear him. After
several days when Jaidev Singh was about to sit there as usual, Babaji
stopped him and asked him to take a seat near him, which happened, as
Jaidev Singh later said repeatedly, "because Babaji wanted to save my
life."
It was dusk. We were with Babaji before his cot when he
told me that I should go to the dharmashala building and ask Ravidas
for something. I had to go the stairs where Jaidev Singh had been
previously seated. When I reached the stairs, I suddenly stopped.
Others might not have been watching, but Babaji's eyes were pinpointed
there. As soon as I stopped Babaji asked me, "Dada, what are you
looking at? What is there?" Soniji was sent to see what it was all
about. Seeing a moving object, he shouted, "It's a very poisonous
snake!" He shouted again saying that it was a snake and that it had to
be killed. "So be it," said Baba.
Jaidev Singh felt certain that
all this was enacted to save his life. When someone said that I myself
was also saved from danger, I could not agree. Even though I did not
know that there was danger before me, Babaji knew, and he would never
expose me to danger.
Jaidev Singh's story was not long or
very crowded, but it was spread over a long period of time and over
several places, and was very precious and meaningful to him. "I rose
from a nondescript soldier to the rank of Subedar Major in my service.
That meant a lot to my family and relations. They were all happy about
it, but they could not know what was most precious to me—a
seat at the
feet of one who is actualy Bhagwan." He talked like an intoxicated
person while saying these things, but there were no tears. He had been
a disciplined soldier and was disciplined in his devotion for his
Bhagwan. But the unshed tears could not prevent those sitting with him
from being moved.
While he had been posted as a soldier in the
early years of service at Fatehgarh, he had his first darshan of
Babaji. Babaji used to come to his barracks sometimes, but Jaidev did
not know him. Once many soldiers came to see him. Jaidev said, "I was
also in the crowd. Looking at me, he took my name and asked me to come
closer. He said, 'He is an honest person, a good man, and devoted to
God.' Then, taking the name of Ram Singh, who was a Corporal, he said,
'Ram Singh, you give your post to him.'
Ram Singh replied, 'How is that possible, Baba? He is a very junior
one.'
Babaji
replied, 'That does not matter. He will get it.' I was surprised to
hear that. An unknown person and more or less a non-entity in the
service, being boosted before his colleagues and officers. But I was
more surprised when it actually came about. I was promoted to the post
of Corporal within a month.
When Babaji visited, he would
sometimes come to my room. Our chief, Colonel McKenna, was a very tough
person and would not allow any sadhu or fakir to visit the barracks.
There was a time when he would not even allow any soldier to visit the
Hanuman temple outside the army compound, but a softening of his harsh
attitude came about due to an encounter he had with an itinerant sadhu
who came and stayed by the side of a well near the Hanuman temple. The
municipal road passed by the temple, separating the military area from
the civil area of town, and the soldiers openly or stealthily visited
him. The best way to stop that was to drive the sadhu away from that
area. Facing the sadhu one day, the Colonel ordered him to leave the
place. The sadhu refused to do that. Others who were standing there
said it was municipal land, not army land. Colonel McKenna's reply was
to take up his whip and strike the sadhu for his audacity and
disobedience to his order, which was a most disagreeable thing to an
army chief.
Seeing him beaten, many persons protested, but the
sadhu was indifferent. After taking a few lashes, the sadhu just
laughed and said, 'Your lashes are directed to my back, but they are
actually falling on the back of your son, who is lying dead in your
house in England.' The Colonel might not have fully believed a crazy
mendicant, but in his heart as a father he was frightened, and he
returned to his office."
Jaidev Singh said this had happened
long before his posting there, but the story was still ripe in the
mouths of the soldiers. No one knew who that baba was, but some of
Babaji's devotees believed that he was that sadhu because Col. McKenna
toned down his harshness toward sadhus and had Babaji's darshan many
times. Babaji one day told him that he would retire as a General.
McKenna said that was unthinkable and he would never be a general.
Babaji's reply was the usual one: "It is certain that you will be a
General." On his promotion to General, he became an ardent devotee.
But
to return to our story, when Babaji was coming to Jaidev Singh's room,
a complaint was made to Colonel McKenna. The Colonel rebuked the person
complaining against a sadhu and sent for Jaidev Singh, asking about the
sadhu who visited him in his room. When Jaidev Singh took the name of
Babaji, the Colonel sat silently for a minute and then said,
"Henceforth when he comes, give him milk on my behalf." Babaji also
visited the Colonel afterwards, and once he was seen sitting on the bed
with the Colonel sitting below. The Colonel had become a different
person in regard to his treatment of sadhus and religious persons.
Babaji rewarded him for that.
Jaidev Singh was posted at the
front in several countries during his army career. While fighting in
the Middle East there was always danger facing him. In these
situations, he would often see Babaji moving around, giving him the
strength and courage to discharge his duties as the true soldier he
was. "He came at the times when I needed him most. Once the situation
was very critical, bombs were coming from the enemy planes in every
direction; most of the soldiers in our battalion were dead or left
wounded. I had lost all hope of life and was counting myself with the
dead. But a miracle happened! I saw Babaji assuring me of my safety,
and I returned alive. People may believe or disbelieve it, but that
does not make any difference to me. The more I faced the threats in my
life and came out of them safely, the more I took them as due to his
grace, and my faith in him as my Bhagwan went on growing. What Bhagwan
does for his devotee is known to him only. Why should I bother to make
others believe me?"
At his retirement, Babaji told Jaidev
Singh that he would have darshan again. He had been waiting for that
moment with patience and expectation. The moment had now come and he
was before his God. There was nothing more to ask for. He had
everything. This came at a time when Babaji was sending for some of his
old devotees, giving them the last darshan in his body. After Babaji
left Kainchi, there was nothing to keep him and Jaidev Singh returned
to his village. He had stayed at home patiently waiting for the
promised darshan, which he now had to his full satisfaction. When he
left, he took with him Babaji's promise of darshan again. We may
speculate about how and when it was to come about, but Jaidev Singh
left with full confidence and is certainly waiting patiently for his
darshan.
Strange are the ways of devotees. Their exuberant love,
devotion to their masters, their unusual behavior in expressing their
master's gifts to them, and the raising of their gracious master to the
status of a divine being or God, are all no doubt repugnant to our
common sense or mind. But true devotees are not interested in what we
think of them and are not affected by our comments. They enjoy the
ecstasy of their devotion to the one they call Khuda or Bhagwan and the
bliss that flows from there.
|
