Srimad Bhagavatam 5.5.12- Unless one has the opportunity to smear his entire body with the dust of the lotus feet of great devotees, one cannot realize the Absolute Truth. There are many other processes to understand the Absolute Truth, but the Absolute Truth is only revealed to one who has attained the mercy of a great devotee.
It was late summer and a bank holiday attracted many pilgrims to the temple. The car park was fully packed, which caused chaos for the devotees trying to manage the parking system.
The drizzle had just stopped and the sun was breaking through as I was walking towards the Goshalla to feed the cows. On my left side, I noticed a lady in a small white car entering, ignoring the devotee’s signals to not go in the direction in which she was driving. To avoid any contact with the devotees doing the service, the lady in the car sped up with the idea to quickly come in, park the car and rush for darshan.
It seemed like this was not the first time the lady had done this, because of the strategic way she planned the whole thing.
As it will be explained below, today was not going to work out exactly the way she planned!
As she sped up to avoid the devotees in the car park, she didn’t realise that stopping the car would take a little longer due to the wet ground. As she reached the desired area to park the car she suddenly slammed on the brakes to stop the car, but due to the wet plastic ground the car skidded and hit the car in front, causing the bumper on her car to break and fall down. The lady in the car was left in shock. I ran towards the vehicle to offer help, but the devotees managing the car park reached her before me.
The devotee whose car was hit by the lady was sitting in the car at the time, and whilst still in a state of shock he came out and questioned the lady about what happened.
“Don’t speak to me like this, you don’t know who my brother is,” the lady said defensively, but in an angry mood. “I will call him right now, he is an influential and advanced devotee in this community”.
Little did she know that the devotee whose car she hit was also a senior member of the community and also a devotee of Krishna, much more senior than her “influential brother”. The devotee remained composed, realising the kind of person he was dealing with. The devotees managing the car park tried to calm the lady down, but without much effect.
I decided to not get involved, realising that she didn’t require any help and luckily for her, she didn’t harm herself or others or damage the car she hit, and the bumper on her car was placed back by the very same devotees she tried to avoid by not following their instructions.
The lady, without apologising to the devotee whose car she hit, ran to take darshan of the Deities, of course not even thanking the devotees who fixed her bumper on the vehicle.
Whilst feeding the cows, I reflected on the drama that had just happened. It was a rough example of a situation that we encounter daily.
How often have we witnessed a similar situation whereby devotees don’t follow the instructions from seniors, and because of that end up committing offences in service and to Vaisnavas, thereby missing out on the blessings that are very easily available to a simple and straightforward devotee.
Although the lady in the white car was connected to her “influential” devotee brother and had his association, she didn’t recognise other advanced devotees, and spoke improperly to them, although they wanted the best for her.
“My guru is the best” – neophyte devotees will not always say this, but their behaviour clearly indicates their thinking. It is like young boys squabbling about whose father is stronger.
This is the wrong mentality, which the spiritual master or mentor of that individual would definitely not approve of.
The devotees in the car park came to the Dham to offer service by managing the car park and ensuring that pilgrims have the best possible experience whilst visiting the holy place. Those devotees are very dear to Krishna, they are as intimate servants as pujaris who are offering arati or dressing Krishna.
Offences committed to the devotees, acharyas explain, are like a mad elephant;
Srimad Bhagavatam 6.17.15 purport: When a mad elephant enters a nice garden, it spoils the entire garden. Similarly, if one becomes like a mad elephant and commits offences at the lotus feet of a Vaiṣṇava, his entire spiritual career is halted. One should therefore be very careful not to commit offences at the lotus feet of a Vaiṣṇava.
As I fed the last carrot to the cow I thanked Krishna for the experience today, which helped me to discover many shortcomings in my own heart and to become more careful whilst dealing with devotees.
Walking back to the ashram I recited the following verse;
Srimad Bhagavatam 11.29.10- One should take shelter of holy places where My saintly devotees reside, and one should be guided by the exemplary activities of My devotees, who appear among the demigods, demons and human beings.
Ananta Gopal Das
7 September 2022
Bhakti Wisdom 