Once, a gurubhakt family from the USA had come for Param Gurudev’s darshan. Param Gurudev told them, “There may be many foreigners living around you in Chicago, isn’t it? You must teach your neighbours that whenever they ignite the stove, they must first check it carefully for any insects inside and keep them at a safer place, so that they don’t suffer a painful death in the flames.”
Hearing this, the family was a little apprehensive and asked, “Gurudev! Your inspiration is wonderful, but who will follow this in America?” With a reassuring smile, Param Gurudev said, “They will also follow it, you try your best.” He then took a letter pad and wrote down a special message. But instead of showing it to them, he sealed it in an envelope and said, “Open it only when I ask you to, not before that.”
After returning home, the family inspired their neighbours to practise jatna (carefulness) in their daily lives. To their surprise, many of their foreign neighbours diligently started practising jatna in their kitchens.
That family was residing in a high-rise building on a high floor. One day, suddenly a fire broke out in their house. Everybody panicked with fear, but just then, the gurubhakt didi felt as though she received an invisible inspiration to open the window. She couldn’t understand what made her do this. The moment she opened it, a strong wind rushed in from outside. The force was so much that it put out the flames on the burning curtain. Even more surprisingly, this took place at noon, when there was no possibility of winds blowing at all! Nobody understood how the blaze, which was going to consume the entire house in its flames, got contained on its own within seconds. Their heartbeats were racing; they had just seen death before their eyes!
After a while, they conveyed the incident to Param Gurudev and he said, “Do you remember the handwritten letter I gave you the other day? Open that envelope now.” The gurubhakt quickly found that envelope and opened it. It read: tamē jyārē kōīnē badtā bachāvō chhō, tyārē tamnē paṇ khabar na padē ēm tamnē kōī badtā bachāvī lē chhē. When you save other living beings from getting burnt in flames, someone comes and saves you from flames in a way that even you don’t understand. She had no words to express her gratitude.
The Guru’s vision is beyond a shishya’s imagination. That family was under the impression that Param Gurudev had blessed them with such an agna to save the lives of other living beings and sow the seeds of compassion in foreigners too. But they had no idea that the agna would eventually become a reason for securing their own future and saving them from such a great mishap!
