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December of 1972, Swamishri was travelling by train to all the major
pilgrimage places of India. He wanted to do darshan of the holy places
where Nilkanth Varni had spent seven years, travelling around India
by foot. Swamishri had arranged the whole trip by train so that sadhus
and devotees could join him. Almost 800 devotees and 50 sadhus joined
him on the “Nilkanth Varni Yatra Special Train.”
Though by train, this yatra (pilgrimage) turned out to be a little rough.
The sleeping, bathing, eating schedules were constantly disrupted. The
timings changed daily because it depended on the facilities where the
train stopped for 2-3 hours. On one ekadashi day, Swamishri observed
nirjala (a waterless fast). That particular day, the travel time between
the two stations was very lengthy.
Not wanting to take a nap on ekadashi, Swamishri insisted that he do
katha. So, Swamishri sat on his seat and opened the Vachnamrut. Some
sadhus squeezed in and sat on the floor of his compartment while the
elderly sadhus sat on seats facing him. The sadhus had arranged a mike
system so that the remaining sadhus and devotees could hear the katha
while sitting in their compartments. An announcement was made that Swamishri
was going to start katha. Hearing this everyone stopped talking and
reading and were eager to hear Swamishri’s voice.
Swamishri started reading and narrating Vachanamrut Gadhadha II-8: “Ekadashinu.”
Swamishri’s sweet voice praised the glory of Bhagwan Swaminarayan.
He explained it by using clear, descriptive examples and stories of
devotees who displayed firm faith in God. There was no movement or sound
throughout the train because everyone was listening attentively. The
clock kept ticking, the train was going full speed, and so was Swamishri.
The minute hand on everyone’s watches had moved past the same
number three times! Swamishri spoke on the glory of Shriji Maharaj continuously
for almost four hours! He finished the katha without pausing, without
water, and without being wornout!
His enthusiasm to talk about Maharaj was the same at the beginning of
the katha, during the katha, and end of the katha. Swamishri likes to
talk about Maharaj. He believes that katha is the spirit of life.
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