The Life of Shri Vitthalnath Ji | The Terrible Consequences of Causing Suffering to a Great Soul

Satsang of Pujya Shri Hit Premanand Govind Sharan Ji Maharaj — Watch the video above to hear the full discourse.

The Complete Discourse

Shri Vitthalnath Ji was the second son of Shrimad Vallabhacharya Ji. He was born in Vikram 1572 near Kashi in Chunargarh. Shri Acharya Mahaprabhu Vallabhacharya Ji went to Adel in Prayag and performed his birth celebration. From childhood, under the supervision of Acharya Mahaprabhu Ji, he received blessed upbringing and studied all the scriptures properly, and entered the householder stage. He had two wives: Rukhmani Ji and Padmavati Ji. After Shrimad Vallabhacharya Mahaprabhu Ji departed to Golok, his elder son, Shri Gopinath Ji, took the seat of Acharya Gadi. But within a short time, he departed to Golok, and Gopinath Ji's son, Shri Purushottam Ji, was still a child. So Vitthalnath Ji had to take on all the responsibilities of the Acharya Gadi, the service of Thakur Ji, and all of Thakur Ji's dominion. Shri Vitthalnath Ji had taken charge, but there was Krishnadas Ji, a disciple of Vallabhacharya Ji, who was the authority over all the service arrangements.

Here a very subtle matter emerges: never develop even a slight sense of animosity toward the guru and the guru's descendants, otherwise ruin is certain. No matter how great a devotee one may be. Krishnadas Ji is a great soul. He had authority over the entire service of Shri Nath Ji. This is not just a position. Now, regarding some matter of service practice, Shri Vitthalnath Goswami Ji made a decision, and Krishnadas Ji became dissatisfied. This should never happen. One should regard the guru's descendants as equal to the guru himself. If even a child of our guru's lineage comes, we will bow down and touch their feet. We would seat them on an equal seat with the guru and sit below them. When Chaitanya Mahaprabhu went to the village of Ishwar Puri Ji, he rolled in the dust and said, "Even the dust of the feet of all creatures here is not forbidden for us, because our guru, God incarnate, appeared in the village of Ishwar Puri Ji."

Here is where Krishnadas Ji made an error. What did Krishnadas Ji do? When Gopinath Ji departed to Golok, his wife and his son Purushottam Ji were still young. He spoke with them and took complete authority of the seat. Purushottam Ji indeed had the right, because his father Gopinath Ji was the authority, but Krishnadas Ji removed Shri Vitthalnath Ji. And he did not merely remove him—he removed him completely from all service. He seated Purushottam Ji on the seat, convinced the boy's mother and got her signature, and removed Shri Vitthalnath Goswami Ji. He even stopped him from coming for the service of Shri Nath Ji. This should not have been done. This became a great offense. And this was done to such a great soul. Krishnadas Ji is no ordinary person. You should listen to his life story sometime in the future.

Though losing all authority was not the greatest suffering for such a great soul, Goswami Ji—but losing the service caused him great suffering. And when any suffering enters the heart of a great soul, God does not tolerate it. He suffered greatly; the affection of Shri Nath Ji was lost, his service was taken away by Krishnadas, the authority. He went to live in Parashauli, but he was very sorrowful inside. From far away, he would come to where the flag of Shri Nath Ji was visible. From there, he would offer prostrations and look intently toward the temple and weep.

Shri Vitthalnath Ji—this is a matter of great loss, a matter of great loss. To oppose the guru and his lineage means the destruction of everything. No matter how great an ascetic or devotee one may be. There was one Shri Ramdas Ji Bhitaria who served in the service of Thakur Ji. He was aware of Shri Vitthalnath Ji's situation. Every day he would secretly find time. Although Shri Krishnadas Ji had forbidden him as well, he would go and give Goswami Ji the betel leaf prasad of Shri Lal Ji. Shri Vitthalnath Ji held the betel leaf prasad before his eyes and wept greatly. This is a great offense. A very great offense. Goswami Ji would make a garland of flowers with his own lotus hands for Thakur Ji and say to him, "Go and offer it to Him." And every day he would write a verse of gratitude and say, "Go and recite it to Thakur Ji." Every day Shri Ramdas Ji would come, offer the garland of flowers to Thakur Ji, and recite the verse to Him. He would adorn Thakur Ji with the garland of flowers, and Thakur Ji would give a betel leaf every day, which he would take and give to him, and offer him obeisance.

One day, Thakur Ji sent a message saying, "Tell Goswami Ji that the cloud will rain when the time comes. Why are you grieving? The cloud will rain when the time comes. Why are you grieving?"

When Ramdas Ji went before Vitthalnath Ji and said, "The cloud will rain when the time comes. Why are you grieving?" Since Lal has said so, Vitthalnath Ji replied, "The cloud will rain when the time comes, but why should the chatak bird abandon its call? The chatak bird will continue to cry out. What a beautiful truth! If the chatak bird were to abandon its call, what would it be? The cloud will rain when the time comes, it will rain, but the chatak bird cannot give up its cry. My cry will not diminish; I will continue to cry out to you."

Let the chatak's cry diminish if it must; let love increase in every way for all good.

Emperor Akbar heard of Vitthalnath Ji's suffering. He immediately issued an order and had Krishnadas Ji imprisoned. And because he had acted against Goswami Ji, he was given severe punishment by Emperor Akbar.

When Goswami Ji learned of this, he gave up food and water and said, "Until Emperor Akbar respectfully releases Krishnadas Ji, I will not accept food or water. See how the hearts of great souls do not cast aside Krishnadas Ji with disrespect. Until the Emperor respectfully releases him, I will not eat or drink."

When Emperor Akbar learned that Goswami Ji had given up food and water, he respectfully released Krishnadas Ji.

When Krishna Das Ji learned that Gosai Ji had renounced food and water for him, he came to Gosai Ji and fell at his feet, saying: "I did not know your grace. Forgive me." Krishna Das Ji came to Palasholi and grasped Gosai Ji's feet. Gosai Ji became grave. Understand this: if a Mahapurush scolds you, you are saved; if he becomes grave, you are ruined. Just know this. Gosai Ji became grave because you had Lalan separated from service. Everything else is fine, but you kept Lalan away from service—no darshan, no seva. That is why he became grave. Vitthalnath Gosai Ji received the authority of the previous service.

Do you know how Krishna Das Ji's final leela occurred? His feet slipped in a well, he fell and died, and became a ghost. For this offense—see how careful even such a great Mahapurush must be. The character of Krishna Das Ji is that of a great Mahapurush, but an offense against the guru became his offense. The guru is the very form of the guru-lineage. Because he offended, he went to the ghost realm. His feet slipped in the well, he fell, and attained the ghost birth. Great caution is needed. If such an offense occurs, then even if all one's bhajan is done, bhajan will afterward bring wellness—but the path is broken in the middle, and in the middle our ruin comes to pass.

In the end, there will only be auspiciousness, because a jan of God is never without bhakti. Even when these souls became ghosts, their liberation came through Vitthalnath Gosai Ji. Why was Akbar merciful? Why did he have faith in Vitthalnath Gosai Ji? Once, at Sri Yamuna Ji, when Vitthalnath Gosai Ji was singing a stotra, his radiance shone like golden luster. After bathing, he was worshiping Yamuna Ji, and meanwhile, a Hindu begum of the emperor was taking water sport on a boat. From a distance she saw that this radiant one is like the divine itself. She had the boat brought near.

She stepped down and bowed at his feet. Seeing Vitthalnath Gosai Ji, she felt certain that if he were to grant a blessing, it would surely come to pass. So she said: "I desire from you only one blessing—that my emperor remain favorable to me." Every wife desires this. "Please be gracious: bind some yantra for me, tell me some mantra, show me some remedy, so that my emperor stays in my control and under my authority." He smiled and said: "I give you a yantra. With this, your emperor will be under your control." And he wrote a couplet and tied it on her arm.

"Forget yantra, mantra and tantra, O jan.
Do what your husband says, let him be supreme."

He wrote this couplet and bound it. Spies were always watching from a distance. A spy said to him: "Vitthalnath Gosai Ji has worked some magic and bound a yantra on your Hindu begum's arm." He came at once. The palace was disrupted. The yantra was opened. When they read this couplet—"Forget yantra, mantra and tantra, O jan"—don't resort to any remedy. This yantra-mantra is: obey your husband's command. By this, the husband becomes obedient. When they read that obedience to the husband's command is the supreme power that makes the husband obedient, Akbar was exceedingly pleased and said: "Right now I must go to the feet of Vitthalnath Gosai Ji and receive his darshan."

From then on, there was great faith in Vitthalnath Gosai Ji. He came to Gokul and Govardhan and gave much property and land to Vitthalnath Gosai Ji.

This text is taken from automatic captions of the video—there may be errors in the words. Please listen to the video for the authentic words.

Original video: Bhajan Marg (YouTube)