Surdas' bhakti is a priceless chapter in the history of the bhakti movement. Surdas was as a great poet as he was a devotee of Lord Krs'n'a. He gives such faithful descriptions of Krs'n'a's childhood liilas and his love-plays that the devotee's heart never tires of reading. He wrote as if he had witnessed it all. But Surdas was blind from birth. What did he see? How did he see? To see the Lord the eyes are not a necessarily medium. Despite people having complete vision, they don't see the Lord, and those who are blind completely can witness His divine form. Surdas would perceive his most beloved Krs'n'a through his inner vision, his inner eyes. A similar incident took place with one of Baba's devotees. He was a great bhakta of Baba, a mad ecstatic bhakta. Insanity is a special feature of devotion, not a weakness. Despite tremendous clash and disharmony within his family, despite numerous social encumbrances and health problems, he remained attached to Baba to the very end. Today his physical body is no more, but his great devotions is indeed worthy of remembrance. Once a Dharma Maha Cakra was planned to be held at Allahabad. He was not able to contain his joy. His eyes were thirsting to see Baba again. Every passing moment seemed to hang heavily. Finally the hour came. On the day of the DMC he prepared himself mentally and physically to join the DMC celebrations. He was impatiently waiting for Baba's Varabhaya Mudra. In the crowd he somehow managed to lose his spectacles. He was near-sighted and hence needed glasses to see over a long distance. He would now be deprived of the darshana for which his eyes had long waited. "Alas Baba! What sort of test is this! What sort of samskara is this that I'm being punished for?" His limbs began to swell, his breathing became heavy, his eyes began to flow with tears. In his mind he said, "Oh beloved of the bhaktas! Oh repository of grace! What sort of play is this? That very instrument that was necessary, you snatched away from me at the very last minute. What sort of cruelty is this, oh Lord of my heart. You read the smallest thought that crosses the mind! You are the knower of my inner self, oh Lord!" No thought is ever hidden from the Lord, what to speak of at DMC. The Lord Himself said many times that when He sits on the vyasa asana (the posture of omniscience) at the time of DMC, He reads the thoughts of all present. How is it possible that He did not hear the anguished plea of His beloved bhakta! See the pranks that the Lord plays! During the discourse the devotee could only see very dimly. As hard as he strained his eyes, he could barely make out Baba's form in the distance. But the moment Baba took on His Varabhay Mudra stance, the bhakta was suddenly able to perceive Baba's form very clearly. And this divine vision that he was momentarily graced with was clearer than what he could have ever seen with glasses. The moment Baba completed giving His Varabhaya blessing, the bhakta's hazy vision returned. Your grace is unprecedented Lord! The lame can scale a mountain, the dumb can speak, the blind can see. As it is, this sadhaka was an incomparable bhakta. After this experience, his devotion knew no bounds. He plunged into the work of the mission with even greater zeal and earnestness. He makes the impossible possible for His devotees! Which bhakta will not devote himself entirely to such a Lord! Experience by Girija Shankar Varmaji of Varanasi at Allahabad DMC, Ananda Purnima May 1967
