(6/6) Strings Stronger Than Steel

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur's disappearance
Nrisingha Palli, morning, 3 January 2021, part 6
Translated from Bengali

People like to talk nonsense and all kinds of things. Sometimes, you can see people are lying down almost dead, but even then they are talking on the phone!

Srila Sridhar Maharaj had a sister, Rama Didi. She could barely see, but she would still write letters on postcards, putting her face very, very close to the paper and sometimes even with her eyelids closed! One day, Guru Maharaj went out to take a walk around the temple in the afternoon when everyone was resting in their rooms (brahmacharis would take lunch and go to sleep, and Gurudev would take prasad early, at 11 a.m., and come out for a walk at about 1 p.m.). I was supervising some labour workers at that time to make sure they did not cheat or work haphazardly. (Gurudev would always ask me what works were going on, what was being done, and so on, and I would keep record of everything in a special book.) So, when Gurudev went out that day, he saw Rama Didi sitting at her house with the mala in her hand. As she spoke to Gurudev, she continued going through her mala, and Gurudev joked, ‘Didi, do you remember Guru Maharaj’s fist?’

Rama Didi became a widow when she was thirteen years old, and when a girl becomes a widow, she does not marry again. This is something that is followed in India to this day. So, after she became a widow, Rama Didi gave all property that she had to Srila Sridhar Maharaj. Some of that land is in Hapaniya, where wheat is cultivated now. Later, she actually left the temple. When she left, Gurudev was very hurt, and he personally brought her back.

That day, when Gurudev asked her if she remembered Param Guru Maharaj’s fist, Rama Didi was puzzled, ‘What do you mean?’ Gurudev laughed. I thought to myself, ‘Why is Gurudev saying this? Why would Guru Maharaj hit anyone? Param Guru Maharaj was a very calm person, he did not hit anyone.’ When I asked Gurudev about it, he said, ‘Yes, he was calm and did not hit anyone, but he did not tolerate it when others did wrong, and that included his own sister.’ I asked Gurudev what wrong she had done, but Gurudev said, ‘Well, you can understand it yourself,’ and I did eventually.

Many old people are like this. Rama Didi became a widow at thirteen–fourteen years old, but no matter how much you try to protect them, there are still some desires. You can see young boys and girls always using their mobile phones when they go to school – they fall in love, go out and mix with each other in many ways. So, when somebody becomes a widow at thirteen–fourteen and comes to the temple, do you think they have no desires? In Rama Didi’s case, she liked to affectionately feed others – she liked to treat others with some sweets, savouries, and so on. This is not good. One time, Param Guru Maharaj saw her giving the Deities’ prasad sweets to some brahmachari, and when he saw this, he waved his fist at her. You can imagine it – Srila Sridhar Maharaj was very tall, and when he waved his fist at her, she knew that she had got caught.

Rama Didi had two nephews, Nityacharan (Nitu) and Satyacharan (Satu). They would come to Rama Didi sometimes, offer their obeisances, give her some money and leave. Rama Didi used that money for her expenses, to buy some food she liked and other things. One time, Gurudev asked Rama Didi, ‘Didi, are you chanting the Holy Name? Are you chanting “Hare Krishna” or are you holding your mala and chanting “Nitu, Satu, Nitu, Satu, Nitu, Satu”?’

Asha Didi was also like that. Instead of chanting the Holy Name, she would be glued to her phone, going, ‘Rumu, Chumu, Rumu, Chumu, Rumu, Chumu.’ (Rumki and Chumki are her two nieces.) She could not see, she could not hear, but she would not part with her phone. She got angry, ‘Oh, they do not feed me at the temple! I cannot walk! I suffer so much here!’ Nothing happened to her, but she would complain to all her relatives, and I would get concerned phone calls from various places around Bengal. I was amazed, ‘What is this?! If a plough breaks at the temple, do you have to cry about it to others?!’ At other times, she would lie down with her eyes closed, pretending she was asleep. She did not chant the Holy Name, but she would be always glued to her phone, chanting, ‘Rumu, Chumu, Rumu, Chumu, Rumu, Chumu.’ She would sit on her veranda and talk to them on the phone all the time, and when nobody saw it, she would also visit neighbours behind the temple. How do I know it? I engaged one person to watch the road behind the temple, and I told the man, ‘Keep an eye on the road and let me know if any old lady passes by.’ She would always complain about something. One time, she complained that one of the devotees had stolen her chanting beads. Who will steal your mala? She kept some money in her bead bag, and some neighbours must have taken it. Why would any devotee steal your mala?…

[His Divine Grace then finishes the morning class, chanting ‘Sri Rupa Manjari-pada’, ’Hari Haraye Nama Krsna’ and reciting Sri Jaya Dhvani.]

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Length: 53 min
Language: Bengali

READ OTHER PARTS:

1) Srila Prabhupad's Exclusivity
2) Listen and Learn
3) Live Exemplary Life
4) Srila Prabhupad: Divine Benefactor
5) Life's Purpose
6) Strings Stronger Than Steel