We have all heard about the superiority and spiritual quality of Shri Braj Dham. All the creatures and trees, the roads and temples, forests and gardens are unworldly, purely spiritual, and part of the pastimes of Radha Krishna. The vrajwasis we see through our mundane eyes are no different. And those of us who have been living in shri dham have experienced the mercy and compassion of vrajwasi maiyas at some point or the other. Various scriptures and Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu himself instruct us to have deep faith in the transcendental quality of the vrajwasis and take even their crudest behavior as mercy for our spiritual advancement. But there is an underlying caution - keep a respectable distance from vrajwasis, says Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu.
There is a time for every flower to bloom. Gurudev Shri Binod bihari das babaji maharaj says, "Keep your deepest faith in your heart, but the actions we perform must be practically thought out. Don't show your faith in the material world in as much that can cause you to lose faith and incur offense later on. If you honestly think you have the appetite to digest the seemingly crude and even mean behavior of vrajwasis and take all that as mercy without any regrets, then go ahead with your faith and let it show. We have many examples of bhaktas who have shown great patience and examplary faith in the transcendental quality of the Dham. But we must be honest with ourselves. Take on your plate only as much you can digest. If you show too much faith, too much humbleness, people will want to take advantage of you. Because that is the work of Maya devi. To our mundane eyes, the Dham seems indifferent to other places, the vrajwasis seem like so greedy, mean and opportunistic. If you can still keep your head and take it as a pastime of Radha Krishna to shower mercy on you, it is best. But if you feel bad about it, become angry, feel you have been taken advantage of, then it's better to hide your feelings in your heart and deal with the vrajwasis from a respectable distance".
Humbleness, a great quality granted by Bhakti Maharani, is a precious jewel meant to be nurtured in a sadhak's heart. You don't have to always praise others and make great statements showing how humble you are. Neither do you have to bow down to every person you come across. But it a sentiment, a perspective you have to quietly develop inside your heart. The practical aspect of life can be quite different. I am giving the example of my own gurudev.
Once, a vrajwasi came crying to baba's ashram. He told a disciple of baba there that he was leading a group of people to take darshan of various places in and around barsana and one of the ladies is lost. The disciple said that nobody had come to their ashram and of course, they could not go about looking for the lady. So how could they help? The vrajwasi cried even more and said, "Ok, I'm in a miserable state now. Please atleast give me some money and a shawl." Baba keeps money and shawls for sadhu seva, he doesn't take even one shawl for himself even if the one he uses gets torned. Only if someone offers a shawl only to him he accepts, that too on much insistence. So the disciple asked baba whether to give him what he wants. Baba came and joining his hands, said, "Please forgive me. I'm a poor wretched sadhu. Where will I find shawls? If you have an extra, please give to me. I will be blessed". He gave the vrajwasi 20 rupees and bid him off.
This is not because he is miser or doesn't believe in the transcendental quality of vrajwasis. But we must be very careful even in serving sadhus and vrajwasis. The point of service is to give what one needs, and not to nurture his greed. Just view the behavior of sadhus and vrajwasis as pastimes of Radha Krishna. If a transcendental vrajwasi is acting like he is mean and greedy, become a part of the pastime and act out the role of a careful spender. Keep deepest faith in the words of the scriptures but deal with others with a very practical mindset. Haribol
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