Children's Corner

Never test a Saint

Gondavalekar Maharaj, a Saint from Maharashtra, India once went to Indore, a place in north India. There, a rich merchant of Indore visited Him. Later, he invited Maharaj to visit his home and live there for a few days. Maharaj agreed.

The merchant told his wife, Jijibai, “Today I have invited a great saint to live with us for a few days. See to it that you prepare some special meals for Him.” Jijibai was a shrew and believed that all Saints are cheats. So, she decided to test the visiting Saint. She prepared ladoos (Indian dessert) and to test the Saint, she kneaded in spicy chilli powder.

Shortly afterwards Maharaj reached their house. Jijibai brought the ladoos over to Maharaj and said, “Maharaj, you must be hungry. Please eat these ladoos.” Maharaj smiled and ate one of the ladoos. Then she offered Him the rest of the ladoos. One by one, Maharaj ate them all! After finishing all the ladoos, He told Jijibai that the dessert was delicious. Jijibai was perplexed as to how the Saint could have eaten so many spicy ladoos without being affected. When the Saint asked for more, she said, “Maharaj! I don't have any more ladoos, but I will prepare something special again tomorrow.”

She thought that Maharaj must be used to eating hot food and hence, ate all of the ladoos without flinching. The next day, she brought a plate full of red-hot coals and offered it as her special meal to Maharaj! Again, Gondavalekar Maharaj smiled and ate all the coals. He said, “I liked today's dish very much. Can you give me some more?”

The incident shocked Jijibai and she started crying apologetically. She was now completely convinced that Gondavalekar Maharaj was a Saint of the highest order. She bowed down at His feet and asked for His forgiveness. Maharaj said, “I forgive you. You, too, try to forget that this incident ever occurred. But never again try to test another Saint. Always chant* Lord Rama's** Name. He will bless you and keep all evil thoughts away from your mind.”

** Gondavalekar Maharaj was a Saint of the highest order. He had merged with Lord Rama, the deity He worshipped. Hence, when He would advise people to chant Lord Rama's Name, He implied that they should chant the Name of the Lord.

Moral: Dear children, from this story we can see how God protects those closest to Him. Just as God protected Saint Gondavalekar Maharaj from spicy food and burning hot coals, He will also protect us from harm, if we make efforts to go closer to Him. Just like Maharaj advised, we can chant the Lord’s Name to bring us closer to Him.

Spiritual experience of a child seeker

Freedom from fear of swimming and subtle vision while swimming

My mother had enrolled me in a swimming class. I had a terrible fear of water and my swimming instructor was not happy with me either, as I was not doing well in the class. I would start crying as soon as I was in the water. One day, my mother advised me to chant while swimming. To my surprise, I could chant continuously while swimming and felt as if someone was holding me and teaching me how to swim. I was further amazed when I saw His Holiness (H. H.) Dr. Jayant Athavale's face right in front of me and saw Him holding my hand and helping me swim correctly. After that incident, I lost my fear of swimming.

– Master Brijesh Ganguli, Bombay, India..

[Dear Friends, whenever we chant while doing any activity, it imbues that activity with divinity and perfection. It also helps us get closer to God through that activity, as experienced by Master Brijesh.

-Editor.]

* Chanting means constantly remembering or repeating God’s Name according to one’s religion. Additionally, the below can be followed for children:

Young children should chant 'Om Gan Ganapataye namaha' (Lord Ganesh's chant) for at least 15-30 minutes daily for divine protection, as well as 3 malas (turns of the 108-bead rosary) of “Om Sri Gurudev Datta”, everyday for divine protection.
Older children, who have been doing spiritual practice for some time, can determine their exact chant from the experiment in 124, Message to Seekers section in addition to 6-9 malas of Lord Datta’s Name (“Om Sri Gurudev Datta”) (depending upon severity of distress and age) everyday.
Parents should chant The Lord's Name for children too young to do so themselves.