Now the sentiment of the discourse of Shri Gusainji’s sevak Nihalchandbhai, a Jalota Kshatriya of Ujjain, is being narrated.
Bhav Prakash (Revealing the Sentiment): These are sattvic devotees. In divine play, her name is “Makardini.” He manifested from Dhuwanand; therefore, he is of the form of sentiment itself.
He was born in Ujjain as a Jalota Kshatriya. He lived near the house of Kshatriya Padmaraval. Therefore, from childhood, Nihalchandbhai lived with Krishnabhatt. When Krishnabhatt became a sevak of Shri Gusainji, then both of them became sevaks. Thereafter, Nihalchandbhai submitted to Shri Gusainji and established the service of Shri Thakurji.
Prasang 1 – Steadfastness in Dharma Amid Mortal Danger
Nihalchandbhai had great fondness for the works of Shri Acharyaji, Shri Gusainji, and Shri Subodhini. Therefore, Nihalchandbhai and Krishnabhatt shared close companionship. Krishnabhatt would day and night recite the scriptures and the Subodhini discourse to Nihalchandbhai. Afterwards, they would discuss the narratives. In this way, both of them remained deeply absorbed in discourse. Shri Thakurji showed great affection toward Nihalchandbhai.
Once, Nihalchandbhai was coming from Ujjain to Shri Gokul. On the way, Bhumiya bandits captured him. The Bhumiya looted all his belongings and kept Nihalchandbhai confined in a dark house. Then the leader of the Bhumiya said, “In the morning, kill all of them,” and at night the Bhumiya slept in front.
With Nihalchandbhai there was also one Vaishnava. Both of them reflected. Then Nihalchandbhai said to that Vaishnava, “What are you thinking? Rejoice inwardly in your heart. What is written cannot be erased. Therefore, this must be in our destiny. Why lose heart uselessly? Therefore, accept joy in your mind, resolve upon your destiny, and engage in the Lord’s bhajan.” Then both of them attained great joy and began singing the Lord’s kirtan.
The Bhumiya’s mother was a Vaishnava. Through her uncle, she had become a sevak of Shri Gusainji. She heard their kirtan. Then that woman sent one of her men. She told him, “Go and ask those two who they are and whose sevaks they are.”
That woman’s man came to them and asked, “Whose sevaks are you?” But Nihalchandbhai did not answer him. He continued doing kirtan. In the intensity of kirtan, he did not become outwardly conscious, and thus gave no reply. That man stood there for a long time and then returned to the woman and told her the details, saying, “They are Vaishnavas, doing kirtan, but they do not speak.”
Then that woman sent a message to her son, the Bhumiya, saying, “Among those you looted today are two Vaishnavas. They are doing kirtan but not speaking. They have malas around their necks. Do not kill them. If you kill those two, I will die upon you.”
When morning came, the leader arrived and sat there. Then he had everyone brought out of the house. When he saw the malas around their necks, he recognized that they were Vaishnavas and said, “Keep them alive.” Then the Bhumiya said to his men, “Kill all the others.”
Then Nihalchandbhai said to the Bhumiya leader, “First kill me, and then kill all the others.” The leader replied, “You two are Vaishnavas, so we will not kill you, but we will kill the others. What are these people to you?” Nihalchandbhai said to the Bhumiya, “All these are ours; therefore, they belong to us. So whatever you wish to do, do it first to us, and then kill them.”
Seeing Nihalchandbhai’s great insistence, the leader spared everyone’s lives. Then the leader asked Nihalchandbhai, “If someone calls out, what should we do?” Nihalchandbhai said, “In exchange for everyone, we will write for you that nothing of ours has been lost.”
Then Nihalchandbhai wrote for that Bhumiya, and afterwards he told everyone in the group, “Do not say anything to anyone.” In this manner, Nihalchandbhai freed everyone. Then all the people of the group said to Nihalchandbhai, “By your grace, we all escaped alive.” In this way, everyone made great supplication to Nihalchandbhai.
After that, the Bhumiya began returning all the belongings he had taken from Nihalchandbhai and the other Vaishnava. Then Nihalchandbhai said to the Bhumiya, “If you return everything to everyone else, then return mine also. Otherwise, why return mine alone?” Hearing Nihalchandbhai’s words, the Bhumiya became extremely pleased. Then he returned everything he had taken from the entire group, and he gave one additional item to those two. That day, he provided all the group with provisions and arranged a good meal for them. Then the Bhumiya assigned his men to escort the entire group safely along the road. Thus, Nihalchandbhai was such a Bhagavadiya. Even when mortal suffering came, he did not reveal his own religious identity.
Bhav Prakash (Revealing the Sentiment): Therefore, this is the manner of this path: to keep Vaishnava dharma concealed. There is nothing equal to altruism. To the extent possible, one should save others even at the cost of one’s own life. This is the dharma of a Vaishnava.
After that, that group went with Nihalchandbhai to Shri Gokul and became sevaks of Shri Gusainji. Each of them kept only one garment for themselves and offered everything else as a gift to Shri Gusainji. Later, they took a little wealth in Shri Gusainji’s name from his treasury and came to their homeland, lived on that wealth, then prepared a shipment of wealth and sent it to Shri Gokul. They also wrote a letter to Shri Gusainji. Reading that letter, Shri Gusainji became extremely pleased. Nihalchandbhai was such a recipient of Shri Gusainji’s grace, wholly belonging to Bhagavan. Therefore, how far can his discourse be narrated?