At the Guest House

As we came to the Howrah Station in Kolkata, I saw Banwari Lāl Singhania together with a large group of his relatives, standing on the next platform. Mr. Banwari Lāl Singhania was there to pick his children and friends who had just come from Jagannātha Purī. At the same time that I saw them,

Mr. Singhania’s ten year old daughter spotted Śrīla Gurudeva and was excitedly pointing us out to her father. As some of us went to get a taxi from outside Howrah Railway Station, Mr. Singhania walked towards us and asked us how we were doing. I replied that my Guru Mahārāja was sick and upon hearing this, Mr. Singhania insisted to host us in his company’s guest house which was close by.

Several cars that had come for Mr. Singhania’s family had already left, and only two cars remained for the rest of his group. Mr. Singhania accommodated us by putting the remaining children in one car so that Śrīla Gurudeva, Guru Mahārāja and I could ride with him in the second car with his driver. Mr. Singhania took me first to their residential house at 1 Pritoria Street, Kolkata, and dropped me there so I could start cooking, while Guru Mahārāja and Śrīla Gurudeva were driven to the guesthouse on Baligang Circular Road, a place which was normally reserved for his business. I was familiar with their home as I had been there many times with Śrīla Gurudeva. All the family members knew me very well since I was Śrīla Gurudeva’s brahmacārī servant at that time. They said to me, “You go and cook for both of your Guru Mahārājas and our driver can drive you to the guest house later, when you finish cooking.”

I always kept several days supply of dried breakfast food for Śrīla Gurudeva. We had come from Mathurā to Navadvīpa recently, so I had a lot of food in our luggage such as “pera from Mathur ā”. (Gurudeva used to love this milksweet very much, so we would also take it to the West when we started travelling there; Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Swāmī Mahārāja was also fond of this sweet and Śrīla Gurudeva used to send it to him regularly upon his request). I also had some roasted chickpeas and “khurchan”, a type of dry sweet made of cream, “petta”, another sweet made of a certain type of squash, puffed rice and other snacks. The locked bag also had Śrīla Gurudeva’s plate, bowl and water thermos, so, before I left the car, I gave him the key. While both of them were at the guest house, without any brahmachari to serve them, they opened the bag, which was full of prasādā. They both became very happy. When the parents are not there then the children become very happy. No one is there to check them.

They were very hungry, so after Mr. Singhania dropped them off, they opened the bag and ate many snacks and sweets—till their stomachs were full. After cooking, when I arrived there, they saw me and began to laugh together. My Guru Mahārāja was making Śrīla Gurudeva laugh, and Śrīla Gurudeva was making Śrīla Guru Mahārāja laugh, and they were in stitches, laughing so much. It was as if they were teasing me. “What is the matter?” I asked. “Why are you laughing so much?”

Neither of them was saying anything. They were only looking at each other and laughing so much as if they were tickling each other.

Then my Guru Mahārāja said, “Your bag is empty. We were hungry. No one was there, so we both ate till our stomachs were full. We didn’t know when you would go to the market or when you would return, and so we ate to a full stomach. So if you would have returned two hours later, we would still be full.”

Then I said, “This bag is not for me but for the service of all of you: both of you and Pūjyapāda Trivikrama Mahārāja. By your causeless mercy my bag will always be full and never be empty again.” They became pleased with me.

Then my Guru Mahārāja and Gurudeva were speaking to each other. My Guru Mahārāja said that he will be the first to leave this world. Then Gurudeva said, “No, I will go from this world before you.”

My Guru Mahārāja said, “No, you have to do so much service. Śrīla Bhakti Prajñāna Keśava Gosvāmī Mahārāja has reserved some big service for you that no one else can do.”

Then Gurudeva said, “I am a cardio patient. What can I do? Nothing is possible by me in this life time.”

Śrīla Guru Mahārāja replied, “You cannot understand now. When the time will come after a few years you will understand.”

“But what does Guru Mahārāja want to do through me?”

My Guru Mahārāja said, “I will not tell you now. After a few years you will understand by your own. Then you will be surprised by what I am saying to you now.”

Then I said, “You are only speaking about who will go first from this world. What kind of discussion is this? There is no other discussion. I don’t like to hear this kind of discussion between you, especially in my presence.”

Guru Mahārāja said, “Yes, we should not discuss this in front of them. They are children. Their minds will be disturbed.” Then they stopped. This event happened around 1989.

So the first time Śrīla Gurudeva went out of India was in 1996. We were in Badger, California when I told Gurudeva, “Remember Guru Mahārāja had said that you would have to do a very big service that no one else can do, which Parama-gurudeva had reserved just for you?” As soon as I said this, Śrīla Gurudeva began to weep. “Yes, now I understand what Śrīla Vāmana Gosvāmī Mahārāja said. My Guru Mahārāja has kept this big preaching sevā reserved for me.” He said he now knows what Śrīla Vāmana Gosvāmī Mahārāja meant when he spoke those words so many years earlier at Mr. Singhania’s guesthouse.

Śrīla Gurudeva had so much affection for his Godbrothers. Whenever Gurudeva would go travelling, he would write to Śrīla Vāmana Gosvāmī Mahārāja, to Śrīla Trivikrama Mahārāja and to Pūjyapāda Śānta Gosvāmī Mahārāja, to request their blessings.