Jai SriRam!
Towards the end of His एकांतवास, Dada met us. He said
that two days later on May 29th, He would be going somewhere and that Alpana
(my wife), Kalpita (my sister-in-law), and I could join Him if we wanted. We
were extremely pleased. He said that we would need to be ready early in the
morning and the place where He would be taking us was approximately three hours
away by car.
I told Him that my mother was going to come back to Goa with
my sister on the 29th by an afternoon flight and that they would go to my
sister's place. Since I reside in Goa, I thought that I should be at the
airport to receive them and bring them to my home first so that my mother could
rest awhile before they proceed onward. Since we would be leaving with Him in
the early morning, I had thought that I could go with Dada and return in time
to receive my mother at the airport.
However, Dada said, "You need to attend to your mother.
So unless some proper arrangement is made, you and Alpana cannot come along
with me."
I spoke to my sister afterward and offered to reschedule
their flight on some other day. She replied that she had arranged for a car to
take them directly to her place and that there would be no need for me to
receive them. With His Grace, my problem was solved and we joined Him!
That day, we realised that the place where Dada had brought
us was श्री क्षेत्र गोकर्ण
in Karnataka. Dada told us that it is also known as दक्षिण काशी. Here,
there is Lord Shiva's स्वयंभू Temple, wherein lies the आत्मलिंग
/ज्योतिर्लिंग. I had been here once before; it was Alpana's and
Kalpita's first time.
We reached the temple around noon. Dada took us inside the
temple premises for Lord Shiva's Darshan. After that, He enquired about
SriGanesha's temple. Though I had been here before, I didn't know that a temple
to SriGanesha also existed in the vicinity.
After asking around, we walked to SriGanesha's temple. We
reached the temple just as the Prasad/ नैवेद्य was being offered to
Him. During this ritual, the Pujaris hold a white cloth (वस्त्र) like
a curtain between the Lord and the devotees, including the Pujari offering
Prasad. As per the ritual, no one is supposed to see the Lord while He accepts
the Prasad.
At first, SriGanesha was not visible because of the वस्त्र
in the way. But then to our utter surprise, one of the Pujaris who was
holding one end of the white वस्त्र suddenly lowered it enough so that Dada could see
SriGanesha! Then the Pujari who was holding the other end lifted the वस्त्र
up properly. But yet again the first Pujari lowered the वस्त्र,
allowing SriGanesha to be visible to Dada!!
After Darshan, Dada asked me whether I had had SriGanesha's
Darshan when I had visited before. I told Him I hadn't. Then Dada jokingly
said, "It is said that unless you have SriGanesha's Darshan, you will not receive
the complete पुण्य of Darshan of गोकर्ण महेश्वर."
The above incident had shown me again how great my Satguru
is. I was astonished to see how SriGanesha made the Pujari lower the वस्त्र
to allow Dada to have His Darshan. Or was it that SriGanesha wanted to
see Dada?
He initially tested my faith, but He showed me His
compassion by allowing me to accompany Him so that I could have a proper/शास्त्रोक्त
दर्शन of गोकर्ण महेश्वर and receive His blessings.
Satgurunath Maharaj ki Jai!
04-10-2020 11:07 pm / POSTED BY : SHANKAR GAJANAN KULKARNI / Where the Experience took place : 29th May, 2019. Nuvem, Goa
