Guru mero Kripalu....

Guru mero Kripalu subhag hamaro.

There is no difference between God and Saints. The latter is God incarnate. After a Saint has realized God, he inherits God's bliss, God's knowledge and everything else that we associate with God. Not only this, God becomes a servant of His devotees (saint). In the Bhagavatam, Shri Krishna has gone to the extent of saying that He follows His devotees wherever they go in order to collect the dust of their feet so that He gets purified.

Just think for a moment how great a Saint is! Lord Krishna who ould not bother to visit the samadhi (state of deep meditation) of highly reputed paramhamsas, (those who have attained the final stage of jnan or yaga) and of the great sages who have done severe penance for ages and have lived only on air, is eagerly treading on the heels of a Saint. Just think, how lucky you would be if a personality so great is approachable to you. Now, what price have you paid to have him in front of you? A person who has some power or position would be unwilling to visit someone who is inferior to him, would not like to talk to him, and would have nothing to do with him. This is the way of the world. What is our status before a Saint who is the incarnation of God, the Lord of the infinite universes and who has an inexhaustible treasure of Divine Knowledge, Divine Love and Divine Bliss? He is the abode of all Divine powers. If you find him just in front of you, you should go mad with exultation, with tears rolling down your cheeks. oh, how fortunate I am that my Guru is standing before me and looking at me. If anyone is overwhelmed with this recurring thought, he need not perform any devotional practice.

Anywhere in the world, if a cavalcade of a V.I.P. - a Prime Minister or a President is passing through and a poor, crippled, shabbily dressed person standing in his field flags down his car and succeeds in shaking his hand, he will naturally be very happy because he knows that he will never be in a position to be able to greet a V.I.P. with a handshake in this life and about his next life only God knows. He would be so happy that he will tell everybody he meets, that he shook hands with the Prime Minister. if by any chance he could get a photograph of that occasion, then he will show that photo ever to the collector of his area to flaunt his clout saying that he knows the Prime Minister very closely. Similarly, if it so happens that a Saint shows up before you and also talks to you, it is his kindness towards you, which you can fully understand only when you have realized God. Did you do anything extraordinary or did you undergo any penance or perform any devotional practice to deserve this? Why should a Saint whose eyes always see Shri Radha Krishna and who is constantly immersed in the infinite bliss of Their Love, condescend to glance at a hellish creature, a filthy dirty individual who is not worth it? Look, e are extremely filthy. Not only from out side we look dirty, but also inside our body there is nothing except filth. Our mind too is full of dirt. And our intellect? It is even worse. Just imagine, if while serving us some food to eat, somebody should place beside it a dollop of human excreta, how queasy and repulsive we would feel! We will immediately stop eating and leave in disgust.

We are more nauseating than heaps of feces. If a Saint turns his eyes towards us, is it not something wonderful? He is complete in all respects. Is it not his causeless grace that he chose to look at extremely filthy person that we are? Why should he bother to look at a heap of garbage? We look away and close our nostrils tightly when our eyes meet foul-smelling night soil on our way. An ordinary mortal when finds by his side an unclean person giving off bad smell, would instantly wrinkle up his nose in disgust. There is no question of his hugging that dirty person. On the contrary, the saint has not only looked at us, he has talked to us too and asked where we live, etc. He has embraced us too!! What more grace do we need and can there be? The Saint is all the time deep in the infinite bliss of love. Whatever he does to us dirty people is only his CAUSELESS GRACE. If a person can realize its importance, he is sure to realize God without having to do any devotional practice. Even it for a minute or rather a second you could find him close by and you totally surrender to him believing him to be a genuine Saint, you will immediately have God realization and you will not have to do any devotional practice for that. Lord Ram stayed with Shabari just for a short while and not for many days. So even one second’s association with the Guru is so valuable for anybody that if he accepts him as a Saint, he doesn’t need to do any other devotional practice. He will be thrilled with pride and joy and will proudly tell others that he was so lucky that the Saint talked to him, whom he could touch as well. Whatever the Saint does to a living being is only his grace and nothing else.

If somebody comes and says that he was able to meet the Saint who talked to him and also embraced him but he did not gain anything. It is so because that person did not realize that grace. He did not realize its value and importance. It is like somebody is given a ring worth cores of rupee and he keeps it away just like that thinking it was just an ordinary ring. If he had realize its true worth he would have immediately kept it safely under lock and key. Unfortunately, this person does not give any importance to it nor does he have any feeling that he owns a precious ring. Similarly, if a person had a chance of meeting with the saint but if he does not understand his value, does not feel it from within that he is in possession of a priceless treasure, he will not understand its importance. Supposing that somebody is eager to see the Prime Minister, to talk to him and hug him and the Prime Minister in turn appears in disguise wearing dirty clothes with unkempt beard and all, and offers to embrace that person, what would be his reaction? Surely, that person will reel back in revulsion and snub him not knowing that he is the Prime Minister. A little later, shedding his ‘put on’ appearance the Prime Minister comes back in his real person with all his security and other paraphernalia that come with his power and position, That person now realize that he is in fact the Prime Minister, whom he could not recognize earlier. Now his yearning to talk to the Prime Minister and even to touch him intensifies. So when we come to know the real worth of something that we have, we tend to develop special attachment for that thing. On the contrary, so long as we are ignorant of the worth of a thing that we have, e won’t be able to benefit from it.

 

Finding a Genuine Guru is not an easy task. There is so much sham and hypocrisy everywhere that when you go to a so-called baba (an imposter), he will not give you the spiritual knowledge that you want to seek. Instead, he will advise you to go on a pilgrimage or read some religious text, like Hanuman Chalisa, etc. You would spend all your life following such advice with little sense of purpose.

Once Haridas, a devotee and Jayadev, the author of Geet Govind met. Haridas wanted to know from Jayadev how and where he could meet God. Jayadev replied, if he could find a Saint, it would amount to meeting God. There is no difference. Haridas asked him further, "Maharaj! It means if somebody is able to find a saint, he has found God. It i okay but even after he has found a saint, he is not free from the bondage of maya and has not received bliss. Why is it so? If one attains God, One is immediately freed from the bondage of maya and bliss is bestowed on him." Jayadev replied, "If God appears before you with his flute in His hands, it will not do you any good. Even if you are able to talk to Him, it will be of no use. It is because your intellect is under the influence of maya you can not consider God as God. Similarly, if somebody does not understand the importance of the Saint, he will gain nothing out of his meeting with him. The degree of benefit that he will get is directly proportionate to the degree of importance that he gives to the Saint.

So about the IMPORTANCE OF THE SAINT, the more you realize the more benefited you will be. If you have seen the Saint just once, this itself is a special grace on you. No amount of rituals, sacrifices, charity and penance can get you the association of a Saint. It may be possible for one to see God, but it i not so with the Saint as he is greater than God. If somebody says that he spent some money and could see a Saint, he is under wrong impression. Any amount of money, howsoever big will not work. If the Saint has talked to him for a minute in a day and looked at him with affection just once, it is enough. If a person happens to meet the Prime Minister and shake his hand and that moment is captured in a photograph how proudly that person goes about declaring boastfully that he often meets the Prime Minister. Now think, if a person can understand how important and valuable is the association with a Saint, his love and affection, his touch, etc. he will have nothing else to do to attain his goal. To reflect upon that rare achievement is enough for God realization endlessly.

Just think, we got this human body, we were born in India*, we got an association of a Saint who gave us the spiritual knowledge. Now consider how many of the world population are blessed with this fortune which we have got? How many of them, in thousands or lakhs are there who have received the grace of God as we have? Surely, you will realize that they are very few. Ponder over it time and again how great God’s grace on you is. If even a second before you die you are able to realize that you are so lucky to have received God’s grace in various forms, and that you have got the love and affection of a Saint who has always benefited you with his grace, then you will curse yourself if still despair has any place in your life.In this situation you should surrender your intellect to his holy feet and the despair will vanish. And if you die after the despair is gone, your life in your next birth will be full of hape and good luck. Therefore, always think how lucky you are to be blessed with the All Gracious Master. He is the embodiment of grace. Grace outside, grace inside, grace and only grace............

Our Guruvar Jagadguru Shri Kripalu Ji Maharaj is grace and kindness personified. It means grace is all around, both inside and outside. This is how he truly is. The word Kripalu itself means one who showers grace and kindness all around. One may come to him with good intention or bad he will impart his grace on all regardless of their intention. It seems the whole existence of our Guruvar is made of grace. Every moment of life whether he is sleeping or awake, he is bestowing his grace on all living beings. The day we accept him as hundred per cent Kripalu, the Embodiment of Grace, we will attain our goal. 

 Bali, shri gurudev kripal ki.

Jinke divya vachan suni chutat, granthi avidya jal ki.

Jinke varad-hasta ke sanmukha, chal na chaal kalikaal ki.

Jinke banat bigari sakat nahin, mayashakti gupal ki.

Jinke yugal charan parasat man, pavat rati nandalal ki.

Lakhat ‘Kripalu’ anugrah guru ke, leela ladli lal ki.

A devotee feeling deep respect and gratitude for his Spiritual Master says, “I offer my everything to my gracious Guru.” By listening to his divine teachings, the knot of one’s mayic ignorance is cut asunder. After being blessed with his grace, one is not affected in the least by the influence of the age of Kali (the age of darkness). After becoming his servant, one remains absolutely safe from God’s unconquerable power, Maya. By merely touching his lotus-feet with devotion, one is blessed with the love of Shri Krishna. Jagadguru Shri Kripalu Ji Maharaj says in the words of a devotee, “Through the grace of my Guru, I am able to drink the nectar of the ever-new divine leelas of Shri Radha-Krishna.”

Auran ko Guru hon ya na hon,

Guru mero Kripalu subhag hamaro.