There was a great singer which many of you would have heard of, Tansen. He was probably the most famous singer in recent history. He lived 500 years ago, and was a disciple of Swami Haridas Ji, who was a Divine Saint, who had attained that highest bliss of Radha Krishna. He resided permanently in Vrindavan in a simple hut. One time, Swami Haridas Ji had a dream, and in that dream he was shown that there was a murti of Shri Krishna buried over in a certain place. So he got some villagers and went and dug it up. Then he kept that murti in his hut and served Him every day. That murti became known as Banke Bihari. It was a beautiful murti of Shri Krishna.
Later, a mandir was established. It's one of the most well-known and famous mandirs in Vrindavan even nowadays called Banke Bihari Mandir. So, Swami Haridas Ji always was engaged in serving his Banke Bihari Lal and Radharani all day every day, serving them, singing songs of the leelas that he saw practically with his Divine eyes. He was also helping whatever devotees came to him to get closer to Radha Krishna.
So, Tansen, the most famous singer of all time, was one of his disciples, but Tansen had to sing in the court of the emperor of that time, Akbar. The Muhammadan ruled India at that time, and Tansen didn't have a choice. He had to serve the worldly king, the worldly emperor, by singing for him in his court.
So, one day Akbar asked Tansen, “You sing so well. Who is your teacher?”
So, he told him about Swami Haridas Ji, and that he lives in a very simple way in Vrindavan, and he's always absorbed in devotion and service to Radha Krishna. Akbar asked,
“Can we go meet him? Can I see him?”
Tansen said, “Yes, but you cannot go as a king. You have to go as a simple devotee.”
So, both Tansen and Akbar just put on very simple clothes, and went to Vrindavan. When they reached the hut of Swami Haridas Ji he was sitting absorbed in the Divine bliss of Radha Krishna. So, they just sat quietly, did pranam to him, and eventually when he opened his eyes, Tansen said,
“Oh Guruji, this devotee has come to hear something from you.”
So, Haridas Ji said, “Oh, yes, I'm always absorbed in thinking of my beloved Radha Krishna.”
And he sang a song telling about Radha Krishna and Their leelas. The song touched the heart of Akbar. He was truly impressed, and he fell at the feet of Swami Haridas Ji, and he said,
“Please just give me some service to do for you. I would be most happy if I could do any service to you.”
Although he was expressing a humble desire, Haridas Ji knew that he had some pride of being a king in his heart. He wanted to teach him that true service can only be done in humbleness. So, when he kept insisting Swami Haridas Ji said,
“Look, I don't need anything. I have my hut. I have my Banke Bihari Lal here, and villagers bring me a little bit of food, whatever I need. So, I truly don't need anything from you.”
But Akbar kept insisting. So, he said, “If you want to do something… I don't need anything, but you know the pond out here? The corner of it is broken. You could get that repaired.
Akbar was thinking, “Get the corner of the pond repaired? I could build him a whole new pond.”
It's the pond where Haridas Ji went to get water to serve Radha Krishna every day. So, with these thoughts, Akbar went to look at the damaged corner of the pond. At this time, Swami Haridas Ji decided he was going to use his Divine grace to give him a devotional vision, not a Divine vision. You have to be God-realized for that. He received a devotional vision of the reality of that pond. So, when he went there he saw that the entire pond was made of jewels, and he went and touched that corner which was broken, and he said,
“I don't have any such jewels in my whole kingdom. I can't even repair one tiny part of this pond.”
And he came back again to Swami Haridas Ji and was humbled, and just having learned his lesson, quietly went on his way back to his kingdom. So, we have to understand the status, the Divine status of a Saint, whether that Saint is living a simple life, or as King Janak or King Ambarish or Dhruv or Prahlad living the luxurious life of a king. Their minds were always absorbed in Radha Krishna, not yearning for any material thing. And they do not need anything from us, but they have something to give us. So, if we go to them with humbleness we can receive that thing.
So, we've understood, in general, what a Guru is. So now step number two is to accept the Divine Saint as your guide and humbly go to that Saint to receive Divine knowledge. Learn about the path to God, The one you accept as your guide becomes your Guru. You will receive whatever Divine attainment that Saint, your Guru, has.
