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His spirit to serve was monumental. Whatever the seva
at whatever
hour of night or day, Yogiji Maharaj was always ready
and happy to serve.
His name became a synonym for ideal service.
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Introduction
Yogiji Maharaj was an embodiment of service. No matter how trifling
it may appear to the world, it was his heartthrob of life. It ranged
from washing the clothes of sadhus to preparing food for devotees
at all sorts of odd hours. Nothing would put him off. He considered
it an honor and a privilege to serve others.
Essence of Greatness
Once Yogiji Maharaj was travelling by train to Bochasan. At every
station devotees flocked to his compartment to greet him and receive
his blessings. A young man who was travelling in a first class compartment
was curious to know the qualities which made him such a respected
figure. He came to Yogiji Maharaj and offered his respects. Yogiji
Maharaj asked him, "Who are you?"
The youth replied, "I am a resident of Palanpur and am presently
in Calcutta where we have a tea business. I am going to London for
higher studies." After introducing himself the young man said,
"Everybody is attracted towards you. What makes you such a charismatic
personality?"
The youth thought Swamiji would rattle off a list of qualities of
head and heart which made him so popular. Imagine his surprise when
Yogiji Maharaj replied, "I acquired this quality by scrubbing
utensils and through the grace of my guru Shastriji Maharaj."
It is but proper to credit one's greatness to the grace of one's guru.
But what has cleaning of utensils got to do with acquisition of greatness?
It will come as a surprise to those who are not familiar with Yogiji
Maharaj's life. Cleaning utensils may appear an ordinary thing for
outsiders. But it had great meaning for Yogiji Maharaj's philosophy
of life. The simple action (of cleaning utensils) typified seva dharma
or service which was essential for the spiritual elevation of a sadhu's
life.
Role Models
of Service
Yogi Bapa kept before his eyes the lives of Shriji Maharaj, Gunatitanand
Swami, Bhagatji Maharaj, Shastriji Maharaj and other senior sadhus
and devotees as examples of service whose model had to be followed.
He would say, "Parvatbhai agreed to become a servant of Dada
Khachar. Rajabhai ploughed Parvatbhai's fields. Muktanand Swami drove
the plough of Mulubha. Gunatitanand Swami was passing through the
district of Bhal with a group of 30 sadhus. It started raining and
the sadhus' shoes became wet and bogged down in mud. Gunatitanand
Swami collected the shoes from the sadhus and wrapped them into two
bundles. He placed the luggage, weighing 40kg, on his head and walked
7½ miles. Shastriji Maharaj walked 90 miles to get mesur (a
kind of sweet) for Bhagatji Maharaj. He trekked from Dholera to Navda
in pouring rain in chest-deep water and reached Gadhada. If he had
written a letter would not a sweetmeat dealer have made the sweet?
But he said, 'I have to get it so that he can eat it.' This is total
dedication. If we understand that our guru has walked 90 miles then
would we feel any discomfort in walking?
"Shriji Maharaj used to wash the kaupins of sadhus. Muktanand
Swami would render service and used to visit the neighboring places
of Loj to beg for alms. Maharaj would make chapattis for sadhus.
"Once the Mahant of Tarnetar Mandir came to Junagadh for Gunatitanand
Swami's darshan. Swami was engaged in sweeping the mandir courtyard.
The Mahant, who expected Gunatitanand Swami to be sitting on a high
seat, took him to be an ordinary sadhu and asked him where he could
find the Mahant. 'Go to the assembly. He will come there,' was the
reply. Imagine the surprise of the Tarnetar Mahant when Gunatitanand
Swami washed his hands and feet and came to receive the visitor.
"The Mahant of Tarnetar asked, 'Were you not the one who was
sweeping the courtyard just now?'
"'Yes, in our scheme of things he who serves is great.'"
A Night Call
At Sarangpur mandir all the devotees were fast asleep on a certain
night. Shastriji Maharaj, who was sleeping on a cot, woke up. He found
a group of about 75 devotees before him.
"Welcome," said Shastriji Maharaj sitting up on the bed.
"Where have you come from?"
"The bus which was bound for Kariyani broke down. We would like
to spend the night here."
"Good. Make yourselves at home. This is your mandir. Have you
eaten?"
"No, but why give you trouble at this odd hour?"
Shastriji Maharaj smiled, "What trouble do we sadhus have? This
is a service which we would perform gladly." Then Shastriji Maharaj
thought, "Nobody will be prepared to cook food for 75 devotees
at this hour. Most of the sadhus have retired after a day's hard work."
Then he suddenly remembered Yogiji Maharaj. A beaming Shastriji Maharaj
searched for Yogiji Maharaj's sleeping place. When he approached,
Bhagvatswarupdas was awakened by a faint noise and asked, "Who's
that?"
"I am looking for Yogi Swami to prepare food for some newly-arrived
devotees."
Bhagvatswarupdas recognised Shastriji Maharaj's voice and said, "Merciful
guru, he was telling beads till 1 a.m. and slept thereafter. He gets
up at 3 a.m. and does not sleep during the day. It is good if he is
allowed to sleep undisturbed for some time."
"But Bhagvatswarup Swami, barring Yogi who will do what I say
now?" There was a tinge of softness in his tone. He said, "Only
Yogi will save my face. Let me wake him."
"What if the devotees are fed in the morning?" Bhagvatswarupdas
suggested.
Yogiji Maharaj was a light sleeper. When so much talk was going on
it was not possible for him to still lie sleeping. He got up and stood
before Shastriji Maharaj with folded hands. The guru was overjoyed
when he saw his disciple and said, "Yogi. Come. You have to cook
food."
"I am ready, Swami..." And Yogiji Maharaj happily got up
for another round of service. He prepared food and served the devotees.
When he finished at 3 a.m. his joy was unabated.
Joy in Service
Younger people were the special charge of Yogiji Maharaj. He would
mix with them freely and do things in such a manner that they would
be inspired to follow his example. Once he was visiting East Africa.
He went inside the bathroom in the mandir in Dar-es-Salaam. On seeing
a pile of clothes belonging to some youths he locked the bathroom
and happily started washing them. It was only when he came out that
everyone realised that Swami had washed the youths' clothes.
In a matter-of-fact manner he recounted his experiences in the field
of seva to a night assembly on 3 June 1959. He told the young men
among the audience, "I have served 40 sadgurus. When I was serving
at Sarangpur mandir devotees would come from Navagam, Mojidad, etc.
They had to leave early in the morning so I had to prepare food packets
for them. I would get up at 2.30 a.m., prepare 100 to 150 rotlas.
Normally provisions from the store were issued in the morning. But
I would collect gor and pickles the previous day so that I would not
have to wake up the storekeeper early. By 4 a.m. I would prepare packets
of 10 or 15 rotlas with gor and tie them in cloth. Today if you ask
me I can prepare food for 50 people, serve them all and still would
not get tired one bit." When he gave this talk Yogiji Maharaj
was around 70 years old.
On another occasion he said, "Serving food. How can one get such
a beneficial opportunity! I have been serving food for 40 years. I
have never eaten first. I ate dal or whatever that was left after
serving others. And then have my meal at night. You will be immensely
blessed if you serve food."
Glory of Service
Once Yogiji Maharaj went with some sadhus and devotees to bathe at
Narayan Ghat in Amdavad. At that time Kothari Babubhai was changing
his dhoti after bathing. Yogiji Maharaj got hold of the wet dhoti
lying down and said, "Let me wash your clothes." Babubhai
was taken aback by the offer. He took hold of his dhoti and interjected,
"How can you wash it!" But no service was beyond Yogiji
Maharaj. When something had to be done he would put his shoulder to
the wheel. Yogi Bapa humbly replied, "How can I have the privilege
of serving a blessed mahamukta like you who was devoted to Shastriji
Maharaj?"
In the Service
of Devotees
The 85th birth anniversary of Shastriji Maharaj was being celebrated
at Atladara. A lot of people had come from different places and finding
a place to sleep was a problem. At 11 p.m. C.T. Patel, who had come
from Mombasa, was looking for a spot to sleep. The clock struck 12
midnight and he could not find an inch of space to lie down. He then
reached the kitchen where he found Yogiji Maharaj sitting and telling
beads. As he went up to him Yogi Bapa asked, "Have you not slept?"
"It is all right, but why are you awake? You look tired and yet
why are you staying up late?"
Yogiji Maharaj smiled and said, "You see we are celebrating a
festival. And devotees may come late at night, so one has to serve
them." Saying this he got up and found a place for C.T. Patel
to sleep.
Happy
to Serve
On another occasion Yogiji Maharaj went to Ramod at the
invitation of devotees. As it was a special occasion because of Yogiji
Maharaj's presence, the devotees decided to include ladus in the menu.
Matam Swami started the preparations. Yogiji Maharaj was delivering
a discourse.
A lot of smoke was being produced in the kitchen because of wet firewood.
To make matters worse there was no proper ventilation. Matam Swami
could not stand the smoke which began to irritate his eyes. He left
the kitchen, went up, wrapped himself in a blanket and went to sleep.
After completing his discourse Yogiji Maharaj went into the kitchen
to see how things were. He was surprised not to see Matam Swami, who
was supposed to have finished cooking. Yogiji Maharaj went up and
found Matam Swami sleeping. He woke him up and asked him as to why
he was sleeping instead of cooking.
"I will not cook! The smoke is too much for me," he replied.
Then Yogiji Maharaj asked with affection, "What about Thakorji's
thal? We have to offer Him food on time."
Matam Swami replied in an angry tone, "If you want to offer thal
to Thakorji then you can do the cooking. I shall not enter the kitchen."
Without a word Yogi Bapa plunged into work after washing his hands
and feet. In no time delicacies like ladus, rice and vegetables were
prepared. Then a devotee of Ramod, Mohanbhai, came to the kitchen
and on seeing Yogiji Maharaj preparing the food asked, "Where
is Matam Swami?"
Yogiji Maharaj was fighting smoke. His eyes had become red. But still
in his usual cheerful mood he said, "After a long time I got
an opportunity to prepare Thakorji's thal. I am grateful to Matam
Swami who with great affection has offered me an opportunity to serve."
Passion for
Service
The ardent desire to serve grew with advancing age as this incident
from Gondal shows. Swamiji was then 76. It was 3 p.m. All his attendants
were sleeping. Swamiji was awake in his bed. He quietly got up from
his bed and came out of the room. He noticed two things. Things in
the kitchen were lying uncovered and the tap was not properly closed.
He restored order. Then he carefully stepped down the kitchen steps
and found that the garden was littered with leaves. He got hold of
a broom and collected the mango peel and then attended to the litter
under the almond tree. When the Guru was going about his self-appointed
task he saw to it that there was no noise. But a sudden noise awoke
the servants. They looked for Swamishri in his room, but he was not
there. Then they traced him to the garden and found him gathering
leaves. They rushed out and caught hold of Yogiji Bapa's hands and
said, "Bapa! Don't do this." Yogiji Maharaj responded, "I
am eager to do service, but nobody lets me serve."
He found that his exalted status as guru came in the way of service.
"Before, I was a chela (disciple). Then I became a guru - this
is one degree higher. Now I would like to become a chela so that I
can scrub utensils and serve. There is no charm in being a guru..."
At 74 his exertions took their toll on his body. He was suffering
from several diseases. But it was business as usual for him where
seva was concerned. One day he suddenly got up from sleep and declared
he wanted to wash dishes. Those around assured that the dishes were
being washed. He went back to sleep. After a while he got up again
and said, "I want to go and wash dishes. Take me there now. When
can I get the opportunity to wash the devotees' dishes?"
Dreams of Seva
Such was his passion for service that he often dreamt of it. On 1
January 1969 he had one such dream which he narrated while eating,
"I went into the kitchen. There was nobody there. I thought it
was 10 o'clock and nobody had cooked food. I thought 'Why hasn't anybody
cooked?' So I prepared 10 kg of chapattis on two pans in half an hour.
Balmukund Swami helped me. Then I suddenly woke up." The urge
to serve would not desert him even when he was sleeping.
On another occasion he dreamt he was at Junagadh Mandir. "I visited
Jaga Swami's room and had his darshan. Krishnaji Ada was engaged in
a spiritual discussion and I had his darshan, too. Then I came to
Gondal and I, Daji Bapu and Jayanti (Jr.) went to the gaushala (cowshed).
It had not been cleaned for three or four days. I said to Daji Bapu,
'Let's clean it.' And he replied, 'I shall get it done by some people.'
'Why go in search of another man. I shall do it!' I said. After that
Jayanti (Jr.) and I got hold of two baskets and filled two cartloads
of dung and emptied it in a refuse heap. We cleaned the cowshed until
it shone like silver. Then we spread wheat husk so that it would not
look wet. Then the cows came and sat down. When the devotees came
and saw the place they asked, 'Who has cleaned it?' I said, 'The gods
came have cleaned it - Indra, Brahma and others.'
"Then I saw Daji Bapu going out with a basketful of dried-up
unused neem sticks (datan) for dumping in the refuse heap. I told
him, "Don't throw away the neem sticks. We can use them a second
or third time. One day when I was fasting I went to a house on the
fifth floor in Mumbai. As was customary with such visits the devotees
donated Rs.1.25. This is how we get money. So you can't afford to
throw away neem sticks like this. You should get fresh ones for Thakorji
whereas for us dip them in water so that we can use them for two to
three days."
He had another dream about which he spoke on 9 January 1970. "I
dreamt that Mota Swami had kneaded 5 kg of wheat flour at Chansad.
After that he went to sleep. When I entered the kitchen I saw the
dough ready. I asked Mota Swami as to why nobody was attending to
it. 'I am running a temperature,' he said. Then I prepared 5 kg of
chapattis and 10 kg of vegetables."
It is no wonder after reading all this the picture of Yogiji Maharaj
that comes before one's mind is that of dedicated service, service
to please Shriji Maharaj, his guru Shastriji Maharaj and the devotees.