Strings Stronger Than Steel

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur's disappearance
Nrisingha Palli, morning, 3 January 2021, part 6
Translated from Bengali

People like to talk nonsense and all kinds of things. Sometimes, you can see people are lying down almost dead but even then they are talking on the phone!

Srila Sridhar Maharaj had a sister, Rama Didi. She could barely see at all but she would still write letters on postcards, putting her face very, very close to the paper and sometimes even with her eyelids closed! One day, Guru Maharaj went out to take a walk around the temple in the afternoon, when everyone was resting in their rooms (brahmacharis would take lunch and go to sleep, and Gurudev would take prasad early, at 11 a.m. and come out for a walk at about 1 p.m.). I was supervising some labour workers at that time to make sure they do not cheat or do their work haphazardly. Gurudev would always ask me what works are going on, what is being done, etc., and I would write everything down in a record book. So, when Gurudev went out that day, he saw Rama Didi, and she had her mala in her hand at that time. She spoke to Gurudev and continued going through her mala, and Gurudev joked, "Didi, do you remember Guru Maharaj's fist?"

Rama Didi became a widow when she was 13 years old, and when a girl becomes a widow, she does not marry again, which is something that is followed in India to this day. So, Rama Didi gave all property that she got to Srila Sridhar Maharaj. Some of that land is in Hapaniya, where wheat is cultivated now. Later, she actually left the temple, but Gurudev personally returned her—he felt pain that she had left the temple.

So, when Gurudev asked her, "Do you remember Param Guru Maharaj's fist, Didi?" Rama Didi was puzzled, "What do you mean?" Gurudev laughed. I thought to myself, "Why is Gurudev saying this? Why would Guru Maharaj hit anyone? Param Guru Maharaj was a very calm person, he did not hit anyone." When I asked Gurudev about it, he said, "Yes, he was calm and did not hit anyone, but he did not tolerate it when others did wrong, including his own sister." I asked Gurudev then what wrong she had done, and Gurudev said, "Well, you can understand it yourself," and I did eventually.

Many old people are like this. Rama Didi became a widow at 13-14 years old, but no matter how much you try to protect them, there are still some desires. You can see young boys and girls always using their mobile phones when they go to school, they fall in love and go out, etc. So, when somebody becomes a widow at 13-14 years old and comes to the temple, do you think they have no desires? Rama Didi would affectionately feed others—she liked to treat others with some sweets, savouries, etc. This is not good. One time, Param Srila Guru Maharaj noticed her giving the Deities' prasad sweets to some brahmachari, and when he saw this, he waved his fist at her. You can imagine it—Srila Sridhar Maharaj was very tall, and he waved his fist at his sister; she got caught.

Rama Didi had two nephews, Nityacharan (Nitu) and Satyacharan (Satu). They would come to Rama Didi sometimes, offer obeisance, give her some money and leave. Rama Didi used that money for her expenses, to buy some food she liked, etc. One time, Gurudev asked Rama Didi, "Didi, are you chanting the Holy Name? Are you chanting Hare Krishna or are you holding your mala and chanting 'Nitu, Satu, Nitu, Satu, Nitu, Satu'?"

Asha Didi was also like that. Instead of chanting the Holy Name, she would be glued to her phone, going, "Rumu, Chumu, Rumu, Chumu, Rumu, Chumu." (Rumki and Chumki are her nieces.) She could not see, she could not hear, but she would not part with her phone. She got angry, "Oh, they do not feed me at the temple! I cannot walk! I suffer so much here!" Nothing happened to her, but she would complain to all her relatives, and I would start getting concerned phone calls from various places around Bengal. I was amazed, "What is this?! If a plough breaks at the temple, do you have to cry about it to others?!" At other times, she would lie down with her eyes closed, pretending she was asleep. She did not chant the Holy Name, but she would be always glued to her phone, chanting, "Rumu, Chumu, Rumu, Chumu, Rumu, Chumu." She would sit on her veranda and talk to them on the phone all the time, and when nobody saw it, she would also visit neighbours behind the temple. How do I know it? I engaged one person to watch the road behind the temple, and I told the man, "Keep an eye on the road and see if any old lady passes by." She would always complain about something. One time, she complained that some of the devotees had stolen her chanting beads. Who will steal your mala? She kept some money in her bead bag, and some neighbours must have taken it. Why would any devotee steal your mala?...

[His Divine Grace then finishes the morning class, chanting Sri Rupa Manjari-pada and Hari Haraye Nama Krsna and reciting Sri Jaya Dhavani.]

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