There was an innocent young man named Adhaiya. Adhai means two and a half kilograms. His diet was bread made from at least two and a half kilograms of flour. After the death of his parents, there was no one to feed him. He went to a hermitage and asked for employment. He told the saints there that he eats two and a half kilograms of food every day. They agreed to fulfil his diet requirement and asked him about the services he could render. Adhaiya Ji said, whatever service you teach me, I will do it. He was given the service of grazing cows. He was told that following Vaishnav principles, take flour with yourself while taking the cows for grazing, cook food in the forest, offer it to Thakur Ji and then eat Prasad.
Adhaiya Ji Starts Cooking Food For Thakur Ji
Adhaiya Ji said that I do not know how to offer food to Thakur Ji. He was told to call Thakur Ji to eat as soon as the food was prepared. On the first day, he collected cow dung cakes, made bread out of two and a half kilos of flour and potato curry and said, “Gurudev’s Thakur, come and eat my offering”. Shri Ram, who does not come even by penance performed by great sages, came on a simple call of that innocent devotee.
Opening his eyes, he saw Lord Ram standing before him, holding a bow. Adhaiya ji said who are you? God said that people call me Ram, you said Gurudev’s Thakur, come, and I am your Gurudev’s Thakur, so I have come. Lord Ram said the potato curry smells nice; I will eat it with you. Adhaiya Ji said I thought devotees just offer food, and you just look at it. Do you eat the offered food? Lord Ram said that I do not eat everyone’s offerings, but when devotees like you call, I definitely eat them.
Lord Ram Started Meeting Adhaiya Ji Daily
Adhaiya Ji was absolutely innocent; he did not know anything. Lord Ram asked him to close his eyes so that He could eat his offering. Adhaiya ji thought the Lord would eat one or two bread, but lord Ram ate everything. Adhaiya Ji opened his eyes and said, Lord, will you keep me hungry today? Lord Ram said, do you know why your Gurudev asked you to offer food? Today is Ekadashi, so he gave you flour and told you to cook it yourself and offer it to me. They will give you raw flour and vegetables daily, and you call me every day after cooking.
Adhaiya Ji asked, will you come daily? Lord Ram said that if you call, I will come every day. Adhaiya ji went to the ashram and told his Guruji that your Thakur Ji had come and eaten all my bread. From tomorrow, I will take five kilograms of flour, two and a half kilograms for your Thakur Ji and two and a half kilograms for myself. Guruji laughed and told the grocer to give him whatever he asked.
Lord Ram Brings More People!
The next day, Adhaiya Ji reached the forest with the cows; after leaving the cows for grazing, he made bread and curry. After serving the food on the plate, he closed his eyes and said, “Come, Gurudev’s Thakur”. Opening his eyes, he saw that Sita Ji had also come with Ram Ji. Adhaiya ji asked, who is this? Shri Ram said this is my better half. Why didn’t you tell me yesterday that you also have a wife? Will she also eat with us?, Adhaiya ji asked. Shri Ram Ji said that she eats as much as Him. He said, eat my offering, Gurudev’s Thakur. Sita ji and Ram ji ate all the food.
Adhaiya ji went to the ashram and told Gurudev that seven and a half kilograms of flour would be required tomorrow. Today, your Thakur also brought His wife. No one could believe his words. They thought that Adhaiya Ji might be feeding the bread to the cows, so they let him take seven and a half kilograms of flour. This time, Lord Ram brought both Lakshman and Sita Ji with him. Adhaiya Ji asked who is this? Lord Ram said he is my younger brother. If you had told me earlier, I would have made arrangements and come, Adhaiya ji said. Lord Ram told Lakshman Ji that Adhaiya Ji was a simple devotee and he should not get angry with him. When all three of them left, Adhaiya Ji ate the remnants of the food; he felt an amazing bliss after eating their leftovers.
Lord Ram Brings The Whole Family!
The next day, he asked for ten kilograms of flour from the ashram. He told Gurudev that today, a brother of your Thakur JI came. Guruji wondered how this innocent devotee could experience Ram, Sita and Lakshman ji. The next day, he took ten kilos of flour, went to the forest, made bread and said, “Come, Gurudev’s Thakur.” He saw that Hanuman Ji had also come carrying a huge mace today and asked Ram Ji who this was. Shri Ram ji said this is my dear servant, Hanuman ji. Once you tell me how many people there are, I will go and tell Guruji to make arrangements, Adhaiya Ji said. Shri Ram ji told Hanuman ji not to get angry since this one was a unique devotee. He told everyone to eat the food. Everyone ate the food, and Hanuman Ji finished whatever remained.
He returned and said to Gurudev, give me five more kilos of flour from tomorrow. Today, a big servant of your Lord also came. Gurudev was thrilled. He wondered whether the Lord was showing mercy and giving darshan to this devotee. He thought I would test him if he came back next time. This time, he took fifteen kilograms of flour, made bread and said, “Come, Gurudev’s Thakur”. Lord Ram came, and two more people were with him. He asked Lord Ram who they were. Lord Ram said these are my two more brothers, Bharat and Shatrughna. Everyone ate the food.
The Lord Serves His Devotee
He returned to the ashram and said to Gurudev, give me a sack of twenty kilograms of flour from tomorrow; you have so many Thakurs; I will make food for them throughout the day. The next day, he went, kept everything, did not cook anything, and said, “Come, Gurudev’s Thakur”. Lord came and said there is no aroma of food today; why didn’t you prepare anything? Adhaiya ji said, Lord, you have your wife and servant with you; you have been eating food cooked by me for so many days; today, I want to eat food made by you.
The Lord looked at Sita Ji and said he was a carefree devotee. Sita Ji is infinitely powerful and is the mistress of all powers. Adhaiya ji said, Lord, I have collected neither wood nor cow dung. Tell it to your servants. Lord Ram asked Hanuman Ji to collect cow dung cakes and wood for cooking, asked Lakshman Ji to light the stove, and Sita Ji was cooking food.
God Is In The Devotee’s Control!
He told the Lord you keep preparing the food; I will collect the cows and come back. He ran to the ashram and told Gurudev that he had trapped his Thakur’s entire family today. All the Thakurs were together making bread. Gurudev, come on, you used to have doubts; today, you should eat the food they prepared. Gurudev thought he was a madman, Lord Ram, who was not even approachable by the great yogis; how could a simple man who did not know how to chant or read any scripture see Him? But he thought he should not doubt God’s kindness and should go and see for himself.
Gurudev was constantly devoted to Lord Ram, so he was certainly entitled to have the darshan of the Lord. When he went there, the entire Ram Darbar was present. He prostrated himself at the feet of the Lord and said, Lord, I did not understand this act of yours. Lord said, look, I cannot come under the grip of the knowledgeable devotees even with the utmost logic; the wisdom of the learned cannot touch me, but I forget my divinity and greatness in front of the humble and innocent. On this devotee’s orders, my entire family is engaged in his service.
Conclusion
This story teaches us to obey our Guru’s instructions. Adhaiya ji did not chant or have any worship routine, but he followed Gurudev’s instructions and found God easily.
Narrated by – Pujya Shri Hit Premanand Ji Maharaj
