(3) Service Is Not for Your Pleasure

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Sri Nabadwip Dham parikrama, day four
20 March 2019, part 9

Srila Jagannath Das Babaji Maharaj is a great Vaishnav. You can see his photograph last among the guru-parampara photographs in our temples. Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur brought him to Mayapur when he had identified and selected the place of Mahaprabhu's birthplace.

When Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur found that place in Mayapur, he came here to invite Srila Jagannath Das Babaji Maharaj to see it. Bihari Das, Srila Babaji Maharaj's servitor, put Srila Babaji Maharaj in a basket and carried him to Mayapur. When they reached that place, Srila Babaji Maharaj jumped out of the basket and began to dance, crying, 'Hari bol! Hari bol! I have found it!'

Srila Babaji Maharaj was 137 years old. He used to live in Radha Kunda, but then he received Srimati Radharani's order, 'All My pastimes are in Nabadwip now, so you must come here now and stay here.' Bihari Das brought Srila Babaji Maharaj from Vrindavan to Nabadwip in a basket. Srila Babaji Maharaj was very old at that time – you can see his photograph, here at the temple also.

One time, a devotee brought a batabi lebu fruit (pomelo, or grapefruit). I always like to eat this fruit (cleaned into small chunks, seasoned with salt and chilli) when the weather is hot. [His Divine Grace jokes] When I get hot-headed, it cools me down. So, when that man brought a batabi lebu, Srila Babaji Maharaj said, 'I know why you have brought it and what you want.'

[Clamour] Why are you talking? When I spoke in Bengali, all the foreign devotees sat quietly and listened. Do you have no patience? How can you get the Lord without patience? If you lose patience, you cannot get the Lord. You took initiation a long time ago, but you think, 'Oh, I do not see the Lord,' so you lose patience and begin to slacken (you forget all about Hari-katha and kirtan). What does slacken mean? It means you practise and practise Krishna consciousness but end up serving Maya instead. If you do not have submission, or strict adherence, to your gurudev, then your spiritual life is service to Maya (illusion).

So, Srila Babaji Maharaj said to that man, 'I know why you have brought this batabi lebu. You have some desire. You think you will give me this one fruit, then you will get more batabi lebu fruit on your tree.'

Another time, Srila Babaji Maharaj said, 'Do not commit offences to the Holy Name. Suppose a Vaishnav plants an eggplant tree. If you water that eggplant tree of a Vaishnav, it will be better than your making nama-aparadh.'

One time, an old lady who lived in Dhatrigram (near Kalna) came to Srila Jagannath Das Babaji Maharaj and invited him to her house.

'Maharaj, can you come to my house? I want to cook for you and give you some prasadam,' she asked.

'Ask my servitor, Bihari Das,' Srila Babaji Maharaj replied.

Then, she came to Bihari Das and asked him, 'Prabhu, can you bring Srila Babaji Maharaj to my house?'

'Yes, but I must ask him first,' Bihari Das said and went to ask Srila Babaji Maharaj.

Srila Babaji Maharaj agreed, 'All right. Arrange a date, and you can take me there on that date.'

Srila Babaji Maharaj never wore shoes – he would wear a short cloth as a dhoti (to his knees) and an uttariya to cover his upper body. When they were going to that lady's house, a rich man saw them. The man thought, 'This sadhu is walking barefoot, wearing old clothes. I should give him some money.' He gave Srila Babaji Maharaj some money. Srila Babaji Maharaj took it and hid it in his clothes. They continued their way, but having walked about three kilometres, he suddenly told his servant, 'Bihari, turn back. I want to give the money back to that man.'

'But why?' Bihari Das wondered.

'Come, and you will see why.'

So, they went back to the place where that man lived. Srila Babaji Maharaj was old, so he could not speak loudly. He told Bihari Das, 'Call the man who gave me this money.' The man came to them. He thought, 'I gave that sadhu some money. He must have come to ask me for more!' But Srila Babaji Maharaj returned the money to him. The man was surprised, 'You took this money from me then, so why are you giving it back now?'

'Sir,' Srila Babaji Maharaj explained, 'this money is too heavy for me. When I carried this money, I kept thinking what I would buy with it. I could not chant the Holy Name properly! The burden of this money is too heavy for me.'

'Heavy? But I have so much money, and I do not feel anything.'

'Well, you can tolerate this burden, you have the capacity, but I cannot.'

Having returned the money, Srila Babaji Maharaj and Bihari Das continued their way to Dhatrigram. When they reached there, the lady had already finished cooking, so Srila Babaji Maharaj sat down and Bihari Das offered the bhoga to the Lord. Then, both of them sat down and the lady served them prasad. She asked first, 'Maharaj, can I serve the prasadam to you?' Srila Babaji Maharaj agreed, 'Yes, you can.' Then, she served prasadam to Srila Babaji Maharaj, and Srila Babaji Maharaj ate everything she had put on his banana-leaf plate. Seeing it, the lady thought, 'Srila Babaji Maharaj has eaten everything, but I want to get his prasadam!' So, she started pushing Srila Babaji Maharaj to take more rice, dal and subji. Srila Babaji Maharaj refused, 'No, no, no. Do not give me anything more,' but she insisted, 'Take a little more, take some more.' Then, Srila Babaji Maharaj became very serious. He thought, 'Oh, so you want my prasad. I am not a Vaishnav – why do you want my prasad?' Anyhow, the lady forcefully put more prasad on his plate. Srila Babaji Maharaj took all the prasad again, and this time he also ate the banana leaf that served as his plate! Seeing this, Bihari Das thought, 'Oh no! I accepted this invitation, but it has turned out to be very bad! Because of me Srila Babaji Maharaj has had to suffer so much – he had to eat a banana leaf! I will never accept such invitations again.'

Jay Srila Jagannath Das Babaji Maharaj ki jay.

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READ OTHER PARTS:

1) Coming to Merciful Vaishnav Thakur
2) Srila Jagannath Das Babaji Maharaj's Pastimes
3) Service Is Not for Your Pleasure