It has been 8.5 years since I came into Spirituality and became the ardent devotee of Lord Shree Krsna. Right from the very first day I met my KrsnaGuru, it became the sole purpose of my life to become His highest devotee and be his everything of everything.
I started learning under the tutelage of my Master various scripture especially the Bhagavad Gita which my Master expounds and teaches all his disciples and devotees to live and follow Krsna’s Way of Life. He also explained to me, that the ultimate goal of a Spiritual aspirant is to become the highest devotee of Lord Krsna. So the questions I asked was Who are the highest devotee of Krsna? What are the criteria to become Krsna’s highest devotee?
The one name of Krsna’s highest devotee that is mentioned by everyone is Srimati Radharani followed by great saints like Meera Bai, Kabir or Tukaram. My master will always narrate various stories depicting the qualities and the criteria to become the highest devotee, which comes with severe and arduous sadhana and penance. The list goes on, and it is not so easy to attain that status.
I made it my goal to be known as Krsna’s highest devotee and disciple not just in this life but eternally. I started to emulate and follow what my Guru taught me and continue with this madness for years giving tests of my faith in my KrsnaGuru endlessly.
When I went to Kolkata in 2009, I met my KrsnaGuru’s foster parents for the first time – Karthik Ganguly (Uncleji) and Geetha Ganguly (Auntyji), unconditionally loving, simplicity, kind, compassionate, and very humble divine beings is what I experienced. Shree is the name which appends Krsna’s, it was the name given to me by Auntyji. I experienced my maternal grandmother in Auntyji. All I could feel was nothing but divine bliss in their cozy little home.
I cherished every moment of my stay with them. Those five days were the best days of my life which I will never forget. After that whenever we have been to Kolkata we just visited them but did not stay with them. Every single visit of mine I experience their unconditional Love for my KrsnaGuru. Both of them are old yet would exude so much of energy in serving my Guru.
Uncleji who is 80 + years old will go to market for buying everything that he would like to offer to Krsna. Auntyji will cook the best meal to feed her most loving son she ever had. They would make all the preparations for the lunch well in advance even before we have arrived. They both then wait anxiously to welcome us. When we came, the joy and happiness that shined on their face was the most precious and priceless sight.
Both of them would spend time talking with us and will then serve us the lunch with all the love in this world and only then partake their meal. Their entire life has been a struggle but not once did I ever see them complaining or asking for things from my Guru. They would offer the best from what they have. Uncleji is always lost in the world of Spiritual. He would only talk about God to my Guru. He never spoke anything wrong about anyone or cursed God for not giving them enough. If he wanted he could have asked for things from my Guru but he never did.
On the contrary, he only spoke of how contented he was with his life. My Guru had got him slippers many years ago. He wore the same thing by changing the broken straps. I was in tears experiencing his simplicity, humility, humbleness and above all no ego at all. Similarly, during one of our visits, we offered them some small gift which I quietly placed in their God’s shrine. The next morning he calls my Guru and asks him why have we given them such an expensive gift. They don’t need them and just we visiting them was a priceless gift to them. I was in tears when I heard the conversation. It was the first time it hit me really hard in realising the true meaning of the words having “Unconditional Love and Selfless Service.”
With the passing years, Uncleji has been bedridden due to a fracture in his leg and has undergone many surgeries with no signs of recovery. Since then both of them are enduring terrible pains and sufferings. We could only offer to help them monetarily, but they refused to accept any monetary support from us. They are neither well-to-do nor have any savings. The only livelihood or the income they have is the pension which Uncleji receives for his service in Indian Railways. For whatever reason, we have not been able to visit them yet, but we are checking on their well-being regularly.
Today, I felt the sudden urge to speak with Uncleji, and I immediately called him. I was pleased to hear his voice and experienced the strength he exuded. He enquired about how we were all doing and then said: “I pray to the Lord for your well-being.” He never showed he is sick or suffering. When I asked him about his health, all he said was, he is fighting hard, and the rest is in the hands of the Lord. I could not stop crying. He has so much suffering yet he did not curse God for it nor did he ask for his recovery or money. By the way, the pain that he is going through is not his own. He is suffering for someone else in this world. These divine souls take on people’s suffering. Despite so much of difficulties, he has not asked God to give him anything, on the contrary, he still means good for everyone in this world and shares whatever that little he has with him with others. They live the words “Sharing is Caring.” I have so much to talk about them but no words can ever describe the greatness of these divine souls.
Every single lesson which my KrsnaGuru has been teaching I see it being lived by Uncleji and Auntyji in reality. All that they asked from KrsnaGuru is to meet with him. Today, my head bows down at the feet of these great divine souls in deep reverence and gratitude for showing me how to be the highest devotee of the Lord. Uncleji is the “Highest Devotee of Lord Krsna.” Shree seeks KrsnaGuru’s grace to live “Thy Way of Life and attain Prema unto Thy Lotus Feet” in this life and eternally.
