Reference: posted by: vejeestu on 7/17/00 to Kirpal Singh Satsang Club; Message number 535 - 537
From the Ocean of Grace Divine, this is Harbhajan Kaur's account of their month with Sant Kirpal Singh in the Himalayas, several months after the passing of Hazur.
When the Beloved Master, my respected Father-in-law, retired from Service in March 1947, after some time He went to live at Beas to be in the service of the Great Master. One year later Hazur Baba Sawan Singh Ji left the physical body, so Maharaj Ji came to stay with us in Delhi. After He had been with us for about two and a half months He started for the Himalayas, telling us that when He found a suitable place He would write to us and we could join Him there.
After fifteen days of anxious waiting, the letter arrived telling us that Maharaj Ji was staying at Rani's Kothi in Rishikesh, and that we could join Him there. So Darshan Singh Ji, my husband, took leave from the office for one month, and together with my respected mother-in-law and our one and a half year old son, Raji, we went to stay with Him.
There we found a simple house with a very calm atmosphere overlooking the river Ganges. Each day Maharaj Ji not only did a lot of meditation Himself but put us all into meditation also for long hours at a stretch, generally totalling six to eight or even ten hours a day; He would put His hand on our foreheads, and lovingly make us sit. In the breaks between meditations He would be with us, and we would all enjoy the natural beauty of the place glorified by His Divine Radiance. Sometimes He would humor us by doing a little household work. One day He told us that we should make the most of this time with Him because there would come a time when we would not be able to be with Him like this. Occasionally He would cook the vegetable for us. One day He said, "Now, let me make some chapatis for you," and we laughed as if He couldn't do it; but He said, "No, let me just try." And to our great surprise He made beautiful chapatis, and we all enjoyed them. He would ask us to bring large leaves from the trees for plates. It was a period of pure enjoyment.
It was at this time that my husband took the photograph of Maharaj Ji sitting on one of the rocks in the river where He went to meditate. To get this photograph my husband had to wade into the river up to his waist. Photography was also my hobby, and Maharaj Ji very graciously allowed me to take a photograph of Him making chapatis, a photograph which has only turned up again after having been mislaid for twenty years.
Sometimes Maharaj Ji would take us around to show us the beauties of nature, and on one occasion He took us to see Haridwar, the other nearby holy place on the Ganges. He also took us to see Dehra Dun which was later to become the place where Manav Kendra was to be built.
At twilight MaharajJi would take us to sit outside the house and ask us to sing shabdas in praise of the Great Lord. I would sing, and Respected Tai Ji, who was also there at this time, would also sing. Afterwards, He would explain to us the inner meaning of the shabdas which was very illuminating. While we were staying in Rishikesh, the Beloved Master took us to visit many Ashrams; He was always looking for holy men and saints who could go to the higher planes inside. Although He met many holy men and sages there, He didn't come across anyone who could go very high inside except one; this was Yogi Raghuvacharya Ji who Maharaj Ji told us was a very high soul.
Maharai Ji was fond of walking, and sometimes in the mornings He would go for long walks alone, and sometimes He would take us along with Him. Whenever we got tired He would make us sit down and tell us some humorous stories about the people of Rishikesh and its history. When He would come across Sadhus who had been living in the jungle for many years, He would tell us in His own way that if these Sadhus were still performing rituals—even in the jungle, and had not risen above in meditation—it was better to lead a normal family life. He would explain that wearing saffron robes and doing other superficial things would not help a person spiritually.
The main part of Master's daily routine was taken up by meditation. As He was fond of very simple food no time was wasted in preparing the meals; there were only two meals a day; one in the morning and one in the evening. We always ate together with the Master.
He used to play with Raji and amuse him by giving him different colored flowers which the child very much enjoyed. He would shower the child with love, and look into his eyes, and make the child look into His.
My Respected mother-in-Law who was with us, was a very noble and loving soul greatly devoted to the Master. She used to relate to me the different aspects of His early saintly life, how He used to go out of the house at night to still His mind in lonely places, and sometimes would immerse Himself in tanks of water. She had great love and respect for the Master and she had great faith in Him.
When the Master took charge of the spiritual work, He told my husband that the responsibility for looking after the family would now fall on him; this he accepted gladly. At that time my respected Mother-in-law came to live with us. She told Maharaj Ji that she would stay with us from now on if it was His wish, but she would very much like to die at His holy Feet. Her request was accepted; in fact she told me that Maharaj Ji had assured her that she should spend the last two years of her life with Him. This indeed came true; she lived with us for about twenty years—until her last two years—which she then spent at Sawan Ashram where she left the physical body in 1970.
At the end of that month spent with Maharaj Ji in Rishikesh in 1948, we had to return to Delhi as my husband's leave was up. After some time the Master also left and rejoined us in Delhi, staying in our apartment. People then started visiting Him early in the morning and they would stay until late at night, and He would pour out to them His spiritual treasures; His Mission had started. After a while He decided to build an Ashram. The number of people coming to the house had increased so rapidly that one day He told us in his own sweet words that His stay in our house had been very nice, and He appreciated our service to Him, but He told us that it was not possible to run an Ashram in the house, it was necessary that He should go and start an Ashram and work for the uplift of mankind.
One day the Master was returning to our home where He was staying after coming back from Rishikesh. Our small son Raji was standing on the dining table. He loved Maharaj Ji so much that when the Beloved Master came in he rushed to meet Him, forgetting he was on a high table. He would have crashed to the floor had the Master not caught him in His arms. Maharaj Ji caressed the child and then He told us, "This is how you should throw yourself into the arms of your Guru; then the Guru must take care of you."
As Maharaj Ji's Mission grew, it turned out as He had predicted at Rishikesh — we could never spend so much time again with Him in private; however, He would have His own way of showing His love for us whenever we went to see Him. Even when He was extremly busy He would shower us with His love in His own sweet way.
Something I can never forget happend several times over the years. Maharaj Ji would call me into His room in the Ashram I would wait as He would go to the bookshelves and pick out a certain book, open the book, and show me a photograph which He kept in there; the photograph was of my husband and myself side by side when we were married. He would say, "Who is he? Who is she?" Such were His ways of showing His great love for us.
Although the Master became extremely busy with His work, He would sometimes find time to come and visit us. We always ate simple food, and as He did not like spiced food we always knew what to serve Him. Even when He called unexpectedly I would hurriedly prepare a meal, and He would ask us to eat it with Him. We would like to have served Him on His own but He always insisted that we sat by His side, and sometimes He Himself, with great love and affection, put the vegetables and chapatis on our plates. After taking His meal He would just sit calmly in His own way appreciating the atmosphere of the house and the simplicity ofthe food. And then He would tell us the benefits of leading a simple life and eating simple food.
Sometimes Maharaj Ji would even come to visit us without informing us; He would immediately make Himself at home as if He was still living with us. The first thing He would do would be to sit in the drawing room on the sofa, and read the headlines of the newspapers that might be lying on the table. On one occasion he brought with Him a Jain Muni who picked up one of my husband's books; it was a rare book not easily available. The Muni became so fascinated with it that Maharaj Ji said, "Do you like this book?" The Muni answered that as it was such a rare book it had given him much pleasure to glance at. Maharaj Ji replied, "If you like it so much, and as it's not easily available, please take the book home with you." The Muni remarked that it was not only rare, but also a costly book, so before taking it he requested that the owner of the house be consulted. The Master asked, "Who is the owner of the house? I am the owner of the house, and I tell you to take it!" So that man took the book with pleasure, and our joy knew no bounds when we heard that the Master considered our house His own.
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