The Midnight Knock

 

The Midnight Knock

It was a freezing winter night, perhaps around two o’clock. All of us in the family were fast asleep, curled up tightly under our quilts. Suddenly, there came a loud knock at the door.

Our house was attached to the Head Post Office, where Papaji was the Postmaster. Hearing the sound, he got up and opened the door.

In the pitch darkness stood a tall figure holding a gun. In a firm voice, he said their vehicle had broken down and they needed shelter for the night. When we glanced through the main gate outside, we saw more figures — all tall, with their long hair hanging loose. At first, those long tresses made us think some women were among them. A flicker of doubt crossed our minds — could they be bandits? But then again, they were asking for help. Who could tell whether their intention was to loot the Post Office or not?

Papaji calmly said, “Alright, I will arrange something.”

He came inside and woke us children, telling us to vacate our beds. There were five of those strangers. Fortunately, we had one extra bed belonging to our elder brother who was away studying. The rest of us — all eight family members — squeezed into three beds, half awake, half anxious. None of us could stop wondering: Who were these men really?

Our grandmother was with us too. She kept softly chanting “Waheguru, Waheguru.” Papaji stayed awake the entire night, pacing back and forth outside their door like a silent guard.

At daybreak, they quietly got up and left.

And then the mystery of the long hair was solved — they were Sikhs. They have untied thier hair at night after keeping it wrapped all day, as Sikh men usually do.

Even now, the thought still lingers in my mind — were they truly dacoits? But perhaps Papaji’s kindness disarmed them. They caused no harm and left as silently as they had come.

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only you

 

Only for You

Last night, after listening to Acharya Prashant’s video, the verse from the Bhagavad Gita “Karmanyevaadhikaaraste” became completely clear to me. What I have understood, I am trying to write for Krishna alone, because once this is understood, no other action remains.

All our sorrows arise from our desires, and desires arise from shame. Therefore, shame must be abandoned. Shame should exist only before Krishna, and action should be only for Him. We feel ashamed if our house is not good, so we desire to make it grand. We want a good job for that, a rich groom, a beautiful bride, worthy children. For the fulfillment of these desires, people go to temples, make vows, work hard, study, marry, have children. In other words, all responsibilities and duties are only for the fulfillment of desires. A whole life gets spent in this, yet desires never end, nor can they ever end.

That is why Krishna told Arjuna: leave aside the concern for results and surrender to Him. Then act, but act for Him. Let go of worries about victory or defeat—when there are no desires, what meaning do victory and defeat have? But for Krishna, one must act, for He alone is our beloved.

As for the question, “Who is Krishna?”—for that, one must read the Gita itself. I have read it many times, but a guide is also needed to make it clearer. It was Krishna Himself who sent me Acharya Prashant’s video.

Negligence of the daughter-in-law but trouble for the in-laws

 Negligence of the daughter-in-law but trouble for the in-laws

It had only been two months since the wedding when Sohni, wearing a fur-trimmed cardigan, was cooking. The sleeve of the cardigan caught fire from the stove’s flame, and the blaze quickly spread from her shoulder to her loose hair. Just as swiftly, she pulled off the cardigan, twisted it, and managed to put out the fire. Only a few strands of hair had been singed. She spent a few seconds catching her breath, trying to grasp what had just happened.

Her husband was away at the office, and her mother-in-law was in the garden chatting with a neighbor. When she came inside, Sohni first showed her the burnt sweater—it was only then she herself realized how much of it had burned—and then explained how it had happened. On hearing this, her mother-in-law panicked, thinking that had Sohni actually been harmed by the fire, the police would have harassed her endlessly with questions and accusations.

लापरवाही बहू की पर मुसीबत ससुरालवालों की

शादी को अभी दो महीने ही हुए थे और सोहनी फर वाला कार्डिगन पहन कर खाना पका रही थी .स्टोप की फ्लेम से कार्डिगन के बाजू के फर ने आग पकड़ ली जो तेजी से कंधे से होते हुए खुले बालों तक जा पहुंची और उसी तेजी से उसने कार्डिगन को उतार फेंका ,मोड़तोड़ कर आग बुझा दी. बस जरा से बाल ही झुलसे थे .कुछ सेकेंड्स साँस लेते हुए समझने में लगाये कि ये हुआ क्या आखिर .पतिदेव ऑफ़िस गये हुए थे और सासुमां घर के बगीचे में पड़ोसन से बतियाँ रही थीं.जब अंदर आयीं तो उन्हें पहले तो स्वेटर दिखाया, खुद भी तभी देखा कि कितना जला है और फिर बताया कि कैसे जला ,सुनते ही वह तो यह सोचकर घबरा गयीं कि खुदा ना खास्ता अगर सोहनी को सच मे आग से कुछ नुक्सान पहुंचा होता तो पुलिस तो उन्हें पूछ -पूछ कर तंग कर डालती.

Devraha Baba ji ka Prasad

We were returning from visiting the Ramnagar Fort in Banaras, all of us together in a boat. From another boat nearby, we received the barfi offered as prasad from Devaraha Babaji.

One family member hesitated and said, “Who knows what kind of prasad this is? Let’s not eat it. At least one of us should avoid it, so if something happens, there’s someone left to tell the story.”

Just then, the boatman’s oar slipped into the river. He jumped in after it—chasing the oar, but no matter how hard he swam, it kept floating farther away. Meanwhile, our boat started rocking dangerously in the wind. None of us knew how to swim. Our lives were suddenly at risk.

Another person remarked, “See, we didn’t eat the prasad. This is the result of our lack of faith.” At once, all of us quickly ate the prasad, thinking that our lives could be lost anyway.

At that very moment, someone from the other boat jumped into the river to help. He caught hold of the oar and handed it to our boatman. Swimming fast, the boatman climbed back in before our boat could overturn. He regained control, and soon we reached the shore safely.

Even today, the taste of that prasad remains fresh in my memory.

Live but with love

 If we only identify with what we see (our body, weaknesses, and helplessness), then naturally we fall into depression. Because the body and worldly life are full of limitations.

Because when we look closely at ourselves we see our weaknesses and helplessness. 

 Great souls and teachers are our pillars of light who drive away the darkness of our depression. Teachers introduce us to ourselves; they operate on the eyes of our mind. Then we see that we are not only the body — there is something behind whatever is happening here that we cannot see or understand, and we remain lost in thought asking why this is so.

But everyone wishes for a magic wand that would instantly make their pain and sorrow vanish. For that, however, one must have the courage to step briefly outside this world. To go outside the world, we must grasp what is beyond it — and that is God. We cannot see God, but we can sense Him, because by His love He is always with us. We are His children; He protects us. Whenever trouble comes, help arrives in one form or another. We are not even deserving of that help — it comes to us far more than we deserve — but our attention is not on being grateful to Him; instead we are busy trying to gain more than what we already have. Sometimes we should also pay attention to the blessings we have received. Then we will find that we are indebted to Him.

God gives us complete freedom to live according to our wishes; we place ourselves in trouble by nurturing various foolish desires, and then exhaust ourselves trying to fulfill them. He watches us and smiles, just as we sometimes smile at our children’s mischiefs and sometimes give them a little reprimand — all for their own good. But with God there is no need to reprimand, because He has created nature’s system so that wrong actions bring suffering. Whatever happens, however, is limited to this body. Even amid suffering, if we remember our true existence we will pass beyond the pain. If we can remember that God always loves us, then we will have no need to desire anything. But because of the results of the desires we have already formed, we find ourselves in the position we are in now; we must fulfill the responsibilities we have been given — but do so with love.

Life is the play of divine

 

Why are we living?

This question seems to have no final answer. Whoever is alive is searching for happiness. For many, happiness appears to lie in material comforts. Yet even those who possess comforts are not truly content — because there is no certainty of how long they will last. Then all the effort and possessions feel meaningless.

When the mind is disturbed, no physical comfort has real value. But the mind itself is not free — our intellect keeps interfering, always judging: “This is right, this is wrong, do it this way, not that way.” A sharp intellect often creates even more complications. Someone with less intellect may not achieve much, while someone who manages to gain satisfaction through intellect often ends up in pride, and pride isolates. In isolation, everything feels empty.

So what should a human being do? Again and again the same question arises: Why are we alive? But such an answer cannot be caught by intellect, because intellect itself is limited — its light is not its own. True clarity comes only when we reach the source of light, the very source that illuminates the intellect.

When one touches that source, it becomes clear: we are not acting independently — we are only instruments. Everyone is working as an instrument for each other. Someone grows food, someone makes clothes, someone builds houses, someone produces medicine. Can any of us do all of this alone? We are all serving as means for one another — and who is this “another”? Without the light of the Divine within, nothing remains.

In truth, it is the Divine working for the Divine. The One has turned into the Many. Then why is there suffering? That too is part of the play. If suffering were removed, the play of the world would end. The one who realizes this — that the world is a divine play — stops being troubled. Such a person lives in joy, doing every action as an offering, as a divine instrument.