Radhe Radhe ! My beloved sweet devotees, very recently i got this piece of gem from my old friend Sadanandi Mataji, and i can’t help but share it with you. It is so heart-touching that it brings tears to the eyes of any sensitive devotee with even little bit of realization of Sri Krishna’s mercy. She writes –

Dear Madhumati,

Radhe Radhe!

Here I want to share a diary entry of my Guru Maharaja from his kartika vrata which he spent this year in Jagannatha Puri:

Gopinatha’s old pujari

You can’t miss Mahaprabhu Das.

Whenever you enter the temple of Gopinatha , you pass him.

Either he lies on a stone bench, or he sits with eyes fixed on the floor.

He is old, so old- and he seems to be waiting for someone: his death.

Sometimes though, like yesterday he slowly moves through the temple. With great efforts he moves his feet, which are heavily swollen, from elephantitis.

He carries an eating bowl, which is filled up at the altar of Madanmohan, and then returns to his waiting place on the stone bench. I usually greet him, when I enter or exit, and sometimes bow down: He is Gopinatha’s Pujari , who served Him for 50 years.

When I look into his eyes I see fear- fear of the visitor who will take him without bringing him back. His gaze has grown so tired and weary, that it does not seem to grasp anything anymore. It seems to me that he only sees up to his eating bowl- behind it there is no world for him.

But this morning I was shown wrong.

When no one else was in the temple, he brought himself to lean against the door to the altar and stood for a long time. An intimate communication with Gopinatha was going on. And then he turned around and looked right into my eyes. I was shocked.

There was Gopinatha in both of his eyes!

And then I could see him as an energetic priest kneeling down before the Lord and painting His face with sandalwood. I saw him running on the altar with exquisite cloth to dress the Lord, bringing food, waving arotika lights.

In another scene I saw him chasing the monkeys away who were eating from Gopinatha’s plate, shouting and laughing at the same time. The images of his life of serving where dancing wildly in his eyes.

(Oh, I don’t know if I can write this – who will believe me) As he held my gaze, his eyes started to fill with tears, which make him look so tender. His face and features changed. Gone was the old man, with his fearful eyes. In his stead I perceived a young person, maybe an indication of his future life in the spiritual world. The life of service always continues. Once a river has been started it flows until it reaches the sea. A strong realization overwhelmed me when I saw the change in old pujari’s eyes.

Gopinatha takes care of His servants always: past, present and future. No one of His servants should worry.

Realizing the grateful care, which Krsna extends to His devotees, Akrura prayed: “How can any intelligent person take shelter in anything else but You? It is well known that You give Your unique affection to Your devotees. You keep Your word that You will always protect even the least of Your servants. And You are ever grateful for any service rendered to You- even insignificant ones. You fulfill all desires of the sincere souls who serve You- even up to the extent of giving Your very Self to them. Nevertheless despite all these qualities Your sweetness and opulence never increases nor decreases thereby.”

Take courage from these words- don’t hesitate to give yourself fully to such a merciful Lord.

PS: As I was writing this, Balarama Dasa the present head priest of Gopinath came by on his bicycle to bring prasadam from Gopinatas own plate to this insignificant servant. When asked who drove him to do this, his answer was simply: “Gopinatha!”