Satsang Power of Guru

Power of Guru
(From the glorious life of Bodhala Baba)
In the village of Dhaman, there lived a pious family which
was devoted to Sri Vittal of Pandharpur. That famous
abode of the Lord was near their village, and no day passed
without their remembering the great mercy of Lord Vittal.
Manakoji Bodhala was the father, Mamatha Bai the mother,
Yamaji the son and Bhagirathi his wife. All the four were
deeply religious and worshipped the Lord and fed Sadhus
with real fervor. Every 'Ekadashi' they would all go to
Pandharpur and spend the day in soulful bhajans and on
'Dwadashi' they would feed guests and take the remnant
as the Lord's 'prasad' and then return to the village.

One day, Bodhala was watching over the jowar crop in his
field. As his thoughts were full of Lord Vittal, he did not
notice what was taking place in the field. Several birds
were taking the ears from the stalks and depleting the
grain that should otherwise fill the granaries of the devotee.
His wife noticed this and implored the absent-minded
Bodhala to watch the field more carefully, but he did not
care. A party of pilgrims happened to pass that way felt
hungry and begged Bodhala if he could give them food.
But Bodhala simply told them that they were free to take
away as much corn from the green stalks as they wished.

Soon the revenue collectors came and demanded their
dues. The fields had yielded no corn. But the revenue
arrears had to be paid. Bodhala had half the amount in
his hand and prayed for time till the next morning for
the balance. He went to his neighbor Nagabai for a loan
which she promised to give a few hours later. But meanwhile
the envious neighbors who wanted Bodhala to suffer,
dissuaded Nagabai from giving any loan to Bodhala, who
they said was getting bankrupt.

The myrmidons of the law came for the dues; Bodhala was
disappointed in Nagabai and so left for the neighboring
village of Virala to raise a loan from certain friends there.
The tax collectors thinking that the devotee had absconded
laid siege to his house and forbade the exit of the inmates.
But Lord Vittal assumed the form of a Talayari went to the
Taluk Office and paid the necessary dues of Bodhala and
obtained a receipt. The Tax collectors on production of the
receipt by the Talayari accepted it and went away.
Meanwhile, Bodhala had gone to the Taluk Office to pay up,
but was informed that a Talayari had paid and obtained the
receipt. The devotee was overwhelmed with gratitude for the
Lord. On coming home he found all his chests were full of
gold, and his granaries full of corn and the stalks of jowar
in the fields were hanging down unable to bear the grains
in the ears which showed forth in large clusters.

Bodhala lived for a long time singing the glory of Lord
Vittal and ultimately reached the lotus feet of the Lord.

Learning to Love the Divine in Others
When we look at another human being, we can remind
ourselves what he really is. Ordinarily, we focus on the outer
appearance and behavior of people their idiosyncrasies, their
quirks, their habits, the clothes they wear, the way they comb
their hair, and so on. But have you ever looked at someone
and thought: "That is a soul, a child of God. That human
being is an expression of the Infinite?" By doing so, we acquire
a more understanding perspective: "That person has feelings
just as I do. He has thoughts and opinions and aspirations that
are as important to him as mine are to me. The life energies of
God in that person are manifesting in the services he performs-
in the things he does for me, the dishes he washes, the money
he earns, the joy he brings me".

Source Saipadananda October 1992