Dev Badri Shaligram*
Somehow, the night passed. Out of excitement to have the Lord’s darshan, I couldn’t sleep the whole night. The temple was very crowded, but the Lord knew that we had walked such a long distance on foot to reach there. Out of His compassion, He had already kept a separate gate open just for us. We didn’t have to go through the crowd.
Early in the morning, everyone got ready, and we left for the temple. We were allowed to enter through a special gate. As always, the Lord’s grace remained the same. Every time I’ve gone to a temple, the Lord has never made me go through the crowd. Even here, something similar happened.
When His compassion flows upon you, what more could you ask for? The very way He called us into His temple revealed His grace. Just as we were waiting to see Him, it felt as though He too was waiting to shower His blessings upon us. That’s how it felt — seeing everything around, my mind went blank.
I don’t even know who came, who took us — and despite such a large crowd, we found ourselves inside the temple, right before the Lord! Usually, due to the crowd, entry inside the sanctum is not allowed, and people take darshan from outside. But we were taken inside the temple — right up to the inner sanctum, before the Lord’s very door.
The priest seated us for worship. We didn’t know anyone there, nor did anyone know us. It was only the Lord Himself who was orchestrating everything. I wasn’t surprised, because that’s how the Lord always works!
We sat for the puja. Before us was the most divine, indescribable form of the Lord. How could I even begin to write about it? I couldn’t find words. I said to the Lord, “What should I ask from You? Just walk with me always.” But as soon as I said that, my eyes fell upon the Shaligrams placed in the temple. My eyes widened — “Oh Lord, what is this? I had completely forgotten!”
I had come here with the wish to take a Shaligram with me for worship — and now, I had forgotten that very thing! I couldn’t understand this divine play of the Lord. Perhaps I had gone mad, forgetting everything like this. I remembered food, sleep, everything else — but not this!
Yet, I wasn’t angry with myself. I felt as if my wish might not be right — perhaps the Lord Himself did not wish for me to take one with me. That must be why it happened.
After the puja, everyone came out of the temple. The Lord had shown such immense grace. I thought to myself — I’ll surely write all this in my book. So, I’ll continue this experience later.
After the darshan, we went together to the temple of Mother Lakshmi. We all offered prayers to Her. The crowd suddenly surged forward, and I felt as though I might fall. I was pushing hard through people, and suddenly, I stumbled — my hand landed on the shoulder of a priest sitting outside the temple.
He looked at me and said, “Where have you come from, Maharaj ji?”
I replied, “From Himachal.”
Another priest sitting beside him laughed heartily and said, “Ah, so you’re a hill man too!”
I smiled and said, “Yes!”
He held my hand and said, “Please give me your number.”
Then the first priest said, “He is a senior officer here — he oversees all the temple affairs. All the priests and workers follow his instructions.”
The officer laughed and said, “Swamiji, I will surely come to meet you. It gives me great joy to see you!”
And thus began another divine play of the Lord…
*To be continued…*