10.1 In the Samvat year 1876, on Mãgshar sud 13 [29th November, 1819], Shreeji Mahãrãj was sitting in Dãdã Khãchar’s darbãr in Gadhadã. He was dressed entirely in white clothes. A sabhã of paramhans, as well as haribhaktas from various places, had gathered before Him.
10.2 Then, Shreeji Mahãrãj said, “Once, when I was travelling from Venkatãdri to Setubandh Rãmeshvar, I came across a sãdhu by the name of Sevak-Rãm. He had studied Shreemad Bhãgvat and other Purãns. During his journey, he fell ill. With him, he had a thousand rupees worth of gold coins. However, as he had no one to nurse him, he began to cry. I consoled him, and said, ‘Do not worry about anything. I shall look after you’.
10.3 “On the outskirts of the village, there was a banana orchard, where there was a banyan tree that was home to a thousand ghosts. The sãdhu had become extremely ill and was unable to walk any further. I felt extreme pity for him. So I prepared a bed of banana leaves one-and-a-half feet high under the banyan tree. As the sãdhu was suffering from dysentery and was passing blood, I would wash him and attend to him.
10.4 “He would give me enough of his money to buy sugar, ghee, and grains for himself. I would bring the ingredients, cook them, and then feed him. As for myself, I would go to the village for my meals. On some days, when I did not receive any food from the village, I had to do upvãs. Despite this, that sãdhu never once said to me, ‘I have enough money. Cook for both of us so that you may dine with me’.
10.5 “After serving the sãdhu for two months in this way he began to recover. Then, as we walked towards Setubandh Rãmeshvar, he made me carry his belongings weighing about twenty kilograms, whereas he walked with only a mãlã in his hand. By then, he was healthy and capable of digesting half a kilogram of ghee, yet he still made me carry his load while he walked empty-handed. In actual fact, my nature was such that I would not keep even a handkerchief with me. But respecting him as a sãdhu, I walked carrying his belongings weighing twenty kilograms.
10.6 “Although I served that sãdhu and helped him recover, he did not offer me even a single penny worth of food. Therefore, realising him to be ungrateful, I abandoned his company. In this way, a person who does not appreciate favours done by others should be known as a krutaghni.
10.7 “In addition, if a person has committed a sin but has performed the prãyshchit for it as written in the shãstras, then whoever still considers him a sinner should himself be considered a sinner, just like a krutaghni.”
End of Vachanãmrut Gadhadã I || 10 || 10 ||