84 Vaishnav Varta 46 - Bula Mishra

Now, Shri Acharyaji Mahaprabhu’s sevak, Bula Mishra, lived in the West. He was a Saraswat Brahmin. Here is the narration of his story.

Bhav Prakash (Revealing the Sentiment): In the divine play, he is the companion of Shri Swaminiji’s friend, Visakhaji. In the lila his name is “Sumandira.” He appeared in the house of a Saraswat Brahmin in Lahore, in the western direction.

When he was ten years old, his father told him, “If you study the scriptures, it will be good. Otherwise, you will remain ignorant like me.” Then Bula Mishra said, “Find me a proper pandit and tell me. Then I will study.” So, in Lahore, he was seated with a pandit to study. That pandit said, “Offer me ten or five rupees of worship, then I will teach you.”

So Bula Mishra returned home and sat there. His father asked, “Why did you come back home again? Will you study sitting at home? You have lived inside the house since birth, so you will only learn women’s work. If you go outside, you will feel ashamed.” Then Bula Mishra said, “When I go to study with someone, they ask for money. That is why I am now going to Kashi to study. Why do you scold me?”

Then the father said, “You do not even want to step outside the house. So how will you go to Kashi?” Then Bula Mishra rose, bowed to his father, and said, “I am going to Kashi.” His father did not believe it. He thought, “How will he go alone? He will sit somewhere in a village.” So the father said no.

But Bula Mishra left. On the way, he begged for flour in villages, baked it into bread, and ate. In this way, in a few days, he reached Kashi. There he sustained himself by begging and went to study with a pandit.

For three years he tried very hard to study, but he did not gain even a little knowledge. Then the pandit said, “We have taught many students, but I have never seen such a fool like you. For three years you struggled to learn, I struggled to teach. But you have not gained even the knowledge of letters. Now why do you grieve? Knowledge is not in your destiny.”

Then Bula Mishra became very distressed. He thought, “I left home to study, endured so much suffering, but knowledge did not come. Therefore, I will die at the feet of Goddess Saraswati.” So he went far from Kashi to the bank of the Ganga where no person was there. He stopped taking water and sat there.

Three days and nights passed without taking even water. Then Saraswati appeared in the Ganga and said to Bula Mishra, “Why are you sitting on me to die? I am a maidservant of God. Wherever God sends me to teach, I go. In this world, the doer of all actions is only God. So you should worship God. If God is pleased, then whether it is knowledge or whatever you wish, you will receive it. If you sit to die upon me, you will die in vain. Without the will of God, I do not go to anyone. If it is God’s will, I may even go to a Shudra or a Chandala and make him a pandit. If it is not God’s will, then even a Brahmin remains ignorant. This I tell you. Now, if your mind wishes, then die or live. But knowledge will come only if it is God’s will.”

Then Bula Mishra said, “I cannot do God’s remembrance or bhajan. Until now I was dying upon you, but now I will die upon God. Only if knowledge comes will I drink water.” Then Saraswati went away.

Afterwards, he began chanting the name of God, “Vishnu, Vishnu,” day and night. Then God said to Saraswati, “You have made a Brahmin sit upon your head to die. Now go, it is my wish. Give him knowledge and feed him.”

So Saraswati, taking the form of a woman, came near Bula Mishra. She said, “Brahmin, open your eyes.” He asked, “Who are you?” She said, “I am Saraswati. God has sent me, so now I have come to you. Take as much knowledge as you want.”

Then Bula Mishra said, “Just yesterday you said that knowledge is not in my destiny. Today, why have you come to give knowledge?” Saraswati said, “This too is God’s wish, that you should now be given knowledge. That is why I have come.” Then Bula Mishra said, “Why is it God’s will to give me knowledge now? Before, it was not. If it had been before, then in three years of study, why did I not gain it? Why has God now sent you to me?”

Saraswati said, “You have chanted God’s name day and night. So God is pleased with you. Your sins have been removed. That is why God has sent me. You chanted God’s name with full heart. This is its power.” Then Bula Mishra said, “If God’s name is greater than God Himself, and by it God has been pleased, then I no longer want knowledge. I have seen that God’s name is greater than knowledge. So now you may go. I do not want knowledge. Now, if God Himself comes, then I will take His darshan, and only then will I accept something.”

Then Saraswati went and told God, “Maharaj, he does not want knowledge. He wants your darshan.” Then God was pleased, “At this time, who is there who would want only me? I too desire him.”

Then God, from within the Ganga, spoke by voice, “Brahmin, now eat and drink. You have taken no water for five days. I am pleased with you. Take whatever boon you want, knowledge or anything.” Then Bula Mishra said, “Maharaj, I want nothing. Please grant me only one darshan.” Then God said, “In Adel, Shri Vallabhacharyaji is residing. Go there and take his refuge. There you will get my darshan.”

Then Bula Mishra said, “Maharaj, please give me darshan once. If I see you, then I will not be bound by Maya. Otherwise, if I eat, associate with many people, then Maya will bind me. Then my mind and intelligence will not remain steady. If I go to Adel and die on the way, then what will I do?” God, pleased, gave darshan in His beautiful four-armed form and said, “Now you go to Adel. Shri Acharyaji will fulfill your wishes. And Maya will not bind you.”

Then Bula Mishra, bowing, prayed, “Maharaj, forgive my offenses, for I argued with you. Who am I, a lowly being, compared to you, the Supreme Person? Yet what you said is true. But your Maya has made me wander in the world in many ways, giving me much pain. That is why I begged for your darshan.”

Then God consoled Bula Mishra and disappeared. Bula Mishra ate and drank. Having realized the greatness of God’s Name, his faith became firm. Chanting God’s name constantly, he went towards Adel. In a few days, he arrived in Adel, had darshan of Shri Acharyaji, and bowed down.

Then Shri Acharyaji said to Bula Mishra, “You are blessed, for with such patience and firmness you attained darshan of God in this very body.” Then Bula Mishra prayed to Shri Acharyaji, “Maharaj, I had darshan by your grace, but I have not experienced the bliss of God’s form. Please grant me refuge, then it will happen.” Then Shri Acharyaji said, “Now what will you do by taking refuge? You have already attained God. God has given you a boon, saying you will not be bound by Maya. What is left for you to do?”

Then Bula Mishra said, “I do not want liberation which is attainment of God. I want devotion. That comes only by your grace. That is why I take refuge, so that I may gain devotion. This God Himself has told me. Therefore I have come to your refuge.”

Then Shri Acharyaji said to Bula Mishra, “Go bathe in Shri Yamunaji, then come.” So Bula Mishra bathed in Yamunaji and came to the assembly. Then Shri Acharyaji initiated him, recited the Name, and made him offer his submission. He made him recite Krishnaashraya Granth. Then Bula Mishra began to experience Shri Thakurji’s lila. He understood that the shelter of all the scriptures, Puranas, and Vedas is in Him. Shri Acharyaji granted him the fruit of mental service (Manasi Seva). His mind became fixed in Shri Thakurji.

Then Shri Acharyaji said, “Now you should go home.” Then Bula Mishra prayed, “Maharaj, why are you sending me home? What work do I have at home?” Then Shri Acharyaji said, “I am sending you home so that by your association many souls will be uplifted, and devotion will spread. You will no longer suffer worldly sorrows. Wherever you live, you will be with me. And just as God is full of all power, so are the Bhagavadiyas (devotees of God). Therefore go home. Your parents are aged. By your association, they too will attain liberation. They think their son is either dead or alive. You will remove this doubt.”

Then Bula Mishra bowed down, took leave of Shri Acharyaji, and left. In a few days, he reached Lahore. His parents felt great happiness. Afterwards, Bula Mishra arranged his household, cooked food, and offered bhog to Shri Thakurji mentally. One portion he gave to his parents at home, from the milk of one cow. One portion was for Vaishnavas coming and going. If anyone was hungry, he gave them Mahaprasad to eat. He remained absorbed in the reading of Shrimad Bhagavat Subodhini and the works of Shri Acharyaji. Many Kshatriya yajmans were there, by whose support he lived.

Prasang 1 – The Harivansh Purana Reading

In Lahore there was a Kshatriya who was Bula Mishra’s yajman. He had two wives but no children. Someone told that Kshatriya, “If you listen to the Harivansh Purana, you will have a son.” Then that Kshatriya came to Bula Mishra and pleaded greatly, “Please recite the Harivansh Purana to me. By your grace, I will have a son.” Then Bula Mishra said, “Right now I do not have time. When I have time, then I will recite.”

Bhav Prakash (Revealing the Sentiment): This means that if the son is destined by God’s will, then by hearing Harivansh Purana, he will be born. If he is not destined, then why should Shri Thakurji be troubled? If by my reciting, Shri Thakurji must give a son to display my glory, then that is not proper. That is why he said, “When I have time, then I will recite.”

Thus he dismissed him. But Shri Thakurji thought, “How can one who makes a request to a Bhagavadiya go away empty-handed?” Therefore Shri Thakurji said to Bula Mishra, “That Kshatriya will indeed have a son. You should recite to him.”

Later, one day suddenly Bula Mishra went to the yajman Kshatriya’s house. The Kshatriya received him with great honor and respect, touched his feet with his own hands, placed them on his head, and seated him on a fine seat.

Then Bula Mishra told the Kshatriya, “You and your wives should bathe, wear new clothes, and sit.” So both husband and wife bathed, wore new clothes, and sat. Then Bula Mishra read one verse from the Harivansh Purana:

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इदं मया ते हरिकीर्तनं महत् श्रीकृष्णमाहात्म्यं परमभुतम्।

This great praise of Hari has been recited by me to you. It is the supreme and wondrous glory of Shri Krishna.

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Then he explained, “This glorification of Shri Krishna, His fame, is of supreme and wondrous greatness. Whoever hears it gains immense fortune, which is very rare. In this verse all fruits are obtained.” Afterwards, he read the mantra and gave akshat (grains) into the lap of the elder wife.

Then that Kshatriya said to Bula Mishra, “Why did you do this? The elder wife is not capable of having children according to woman’s nature. Why did you not give it to the younger wife?” Then Bula Mishra said, “If Shri Thakurji wishes to give a son, He will give it to her only. Shri Thakurji is all-powerful.” Saying this, Bula Mishra rose and went home. Then that Kshatriya said, “Please kindly recite the whole Harivansh Purana to me.”

Bula Mishra replied, “Your wish for a son will be fulfilled by listening to this much only. You desired the fruit of a son, you will have a son. The fruit of listening to the whole Purana is what you already desired. Now what is the need to hear the whole Purana?”

Bhav Prakash (Revealing the Sentiment): Bula Mishra said this because he did not have leisure to recite the whole Purana. By God’s will, he had only spoken this much. So, the elder wife conceived and later gave birth to a son.

Bhav Prakash (Revealing the Sentiment): In this story, the greatness of the Bhagavadiya (devotee of God) is declared. The Bhagavadiya is giver of both devotion and liberation. If they wish, they can unite someone directly with Shri Thakurji. What then is a son? That is a trivial fruit. The true meaning is that they do not give a worldly son, but a divine son. That son became a sevak of Shri Gusainji and brought welfare to the whole family.

Therefore, whatever the Bhagavadiya gives, it is extraordinary. If they give something worldly, it is not the same. For who is truly called a son? The one who redeems his parents. Otherwise, sons like those of animals—dogs, donkeys, etc.—are also born. If worldly sons are like that, they are equal to animals. Therefore, Bula Mishra gave the kind of son praised in the scriptures.

Thus, Bula Mishra was greatly favored by Shri Acharyaji’s grace. He remained always immersed in the nectar of God, absorbed in Manasi Seva. Therefore, the story of Bula Mishra is told up to this point.

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