Prasang 70
A Love That Never Fades
“Balwant! Why are you up?”
“Swami! I need to wake up Dādā Bapu.” Ten-year-old Balwant replied.
“Why do you need him?” came the affectionate voice of Yogiji Maharaj, the Mahant of Akshar Deri.
“I need to go to the washroom,” the child said hesitantly, glancing at the sleeping Yogiji Maharaj nearby.
“Oh! There’s no need to wake him up. I will take you,” replied Yogiji Maharaj with care.
Placing his mālā aside, Yogiji Maharaj stood up. It was monsoon season, and heavy rain poured down with thunder and lightning outside. Picking up a sack from the corner, he said, “Balwant! Cover yourself with this sack and wrap it around your body. I’ll prepare everything and take you outside.”
Yogiji Maharaj quickly arranged a small metal pot with some mud inside under a tamarind tree, placing two bricks beside it for balance. He also set down a brass water pot nearby for washing. This setup was carefully placed near the tree trunk to ensure the child wouldn’t get soaked in the rain.
Returning to the doorway, he gently called out, “Balwant, come.” The child got up and walked with him. Yogiji Maharaj covered his head with the sack, shielding him from the rain, and led him under the tamarind tree. “Go ahead,” he said, stepping aside to give the boy privacy.
Once Balwant was done, Yogiji Maharaj carefully washed his hands with water and soil, ensuring he was clean. Then he softly instructed, “Balwant, wipe your feet on the cloth at the entrance before going back to bed.” His every word was filled with love and tenderness. In moments, the child was fast asleep again.
Meanwhile, Yogiji Maharaj returned to the tree, picked up the waste pot, carried it far away, and emptied it into the drain. He then washed the pot and placed it back under the tree. Despite the pouring rain and darkness, he completed the entire process with great care.
After thoroughly washing the pot and hands, he took a bath, wrung out his soaked clothes, and hung them up to dry on a rope inside his room. By then, it was already past midnight, around 1 AM. Standing soaked in rain, shivering in the cold, Yogiji Maharaj’s face glowed with love, compassion, and selfless sevā. The Mahant of Akshar Deri, serving a young boy in the middle of the night, showed the depth of his ocean-like devotion towards his devotees. Witnessing such selfless love and kindness, the hearts of countless devotees can only say: “Swami! The love of your heart will never be forgotten!”
