(9/14) Example of Vaishnav Quality

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Ishwarpur, 19 January 2019, part 9
Translated from Bengali

I began telling you about Vaishnavs and Srila Jagannath Das Babaji Maharaj...

You know that Srila Babaji Maharaj stayed in Nabadwip. We always go to his bhajan-kutir during the parikrama (on the dvadasi day). It is a small place, but we come there to offer him our obeisance – even if you cannot enter the temple but offer your obeisance to him from far, it is sufficient.

One time, Srila Jagannath Das Babaji Maharaj was walking down the street together with his servant, Bihari Das. One man, who lived in a two- or three-storey house, saw him from the house and thought, 'Oh, this sadhu does not even have proper clothes, does not have any shoes. I should give him some money to get some shoes or a dhoti...' The man came downstairs and gave a rupee to Srila Babaji Maharaj, 'Please use this money.' Babaji Maharaj took the rupee and, tying it into a knot on his cloth, continued his way. Having walked quite far (perhaps, two–three miles), he suddenly told Bihari Das, 'Let us go back to that place!'

'Why? Are we not going somewhere?' Bihari Das asked.

'No, let us go back to that house first.'

When they came back, the man was sitting on the rooftop, getting some sun in the winter time. Srila Babaji Maharaj could not speak loud, so he asked Bihari Das to call the man. Bihari Das shouted to the man, 'Sir, please come down, Babaji Maharaj wants to talk to you!' The man became annoyed, thinking, 'I have given that sadhu some money and he has come again. He probably wants to ask for more!' As soon as the man came down, Babaji Maharaj took out the rupee and gave it back to him, saying, 'Take this back please.'

'Oh, but why? I gave it to you, and you took it and went away. What is wrong now?'

'No, no! I cannot tolerate the burden of so much money!'

'What do you mean? I have millions of rupees and do not feel anything.'

'Well, you have a big head, so you can tolerate a lot, but I am a small man, I cannot take this burden. When I took this money, I kept thinking what I will buy with this money, what I will do. Because of all these thoughts I could not chant the Holy Name properly! Please save me! Take it back!'

Babaji Maharaj left that money with the man and went away.

Another time, a very old widow invited Babaji Maharaj to her house to take prasad. Bihari Das asked her about the date, and they agreed which day they would come. She asked them to come a little earlier so that they could speak some Hari-katha and then take prasad. That lady lived in Dhatrigram, near Kalna. By the time Babaji Maharaj came there, it was a little late. He asked the lady, 'Have you finished cooking?' He did not want to speak Hari-katha there, thinking, 'What will I say to them?' He spoke about very high things, so he did not want to speak there. The lady said that she had finished cooking, so Babaji Maharaj asked Bihari Das to offer the bhoga. The lady then served prasad to them.

Srila Babaji Maharaj ate everything that was on his plate (rice, vegetables, dal, etc.). Seeing this, the lady who had invited them thought, 'It was so hard to get Babaji Maharaj to come, I cooked so hard, but I will not get any of his prasad...' Then, she told Babaji Maharaj, 'Oh, Maharaj, please take some more.' Babaji Maharaj refused, 'No, no, I do not want anything.' She insisted, 'No, take some more.' She forcefully put more rice, dal, etc. on his plate. Babaji Maharaj became serious – he was not angry, but his expression became very serious. Then, he ate everything that was on his plate again, including the banana-leaf plate! This is not a lie – he ate the banana-leaf plate! Seeing this, Bihari Das was taken aback, 'Hari bol! Hari bol! I will never take such invitations again!' The lady also said, 'Oh God, I have made such a big offence!' Then, Srila Babaji Maharaj said, 'You wanted to take my prasad, but I am not a Vaishnav. Why will you take my prasad? You must take the Lord's prasad, not mine.'

Such was Srila Jagannath Das Babaji Maharaj, and such are Vaishnavs of the highest qualification. We do not think about their examples – instead, we think that we have become Vaishnavs. People do not understand these things. They invite their gurudev to their houses and before gurudev has finished eating, they ask, 'Give us some prasad!' They do not worry whether gurudev has finished eating or not, whether he needs something or not – they want to take gurudev's prasad first! Many people are like that. I am telling you all this so that you can learn something about how we should serve our guru, Vaishnavs and the Lord.

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READ OTHER PARTS:

1) Dearth of Hari-katha
2) Follow without Imitation
3) Higher Conceptions
4) Pursuit-Free Devotion
5) Dasya-Abhiman, not Prapya-Abhiman
6) Servant's Stance
7) Internal and External Mood of Servants
8) Highest Vaishnavs and Pseudo Vaishnavs
9) Example of Vaishnav Quality
10) Action and Reaction
11) In Search of Reality
12) Cutting Illusory Bondage
13) Love for Lord, Love for Yourself
14) Come to Serve Devotees