The Story of Raghunath Ji and the Devotee
In Vrindavan, there was a saintly person who used to sit outside a temple and cry. He would sit outside the temple every morning and would not enter the temple. He would simply sit outside and weep.
Whenever the devotees came, they did not call him a saint. Instead, they would greet him by saying, “Judge Sahib, Ram Ram,” “Judge Sahib, Jai Shri Krishna,” and “Judge Sahib, Ram Ram.” Gradually, everyone came to know him as Judge Sahib.
One day, some people came to Vrindavan. They noticed that everyone was calling this person “Judge Sahib.” He had a long beard, matted hair tied on his head, a kamandal in his hand, and was dressed like a साधhu. Yet everyone was calling him Judge Sahib.
They asked the devotees, “Why do you call him Judge Sahib? Where is he a judge? He looks like a saint.”
The devotees replied, “He sits outside the temple and keeps crying.”
The temple priest was there. He said, “Sit down. I will tell you his story.”
The priest explained that this man really had been a judge.
Many years earlier, in a small town in South India, he had been a Sessions Court Judge.
One day, a case came before him involving a boatman.
The boatman earned his livelihood by rowing a boat. He was such a simple and innocent person that people began calling him Bhola.
Whenever anyone asked him how much he would charge for crossing the river, he would simply say:
“Raghunandan Ji knows. Whatever my Raghunandan Ji gives me, I will accept.”
If anyone asked him anything, his answer was always the same:
“My Raghunandan Ji knows everything.”
He had complete faith in his Lord.
As time passed, his daughter grew up and reached marriageable age. His two sons told their father, “Father, we do not have enough money to arrange a good marriage for our sister. We will collect whatever savings we have, but we may still need to borrow some money from the moneylender.”
The boatman agreed and went to the moneylender.
He said, “My daughter's marriage has been arranged. Please lend me the money. I will return it.”
The moneylender gave him the money and prepared a written agreement asking when he would repay it.
The boatman replied, “I will return it soon. Raghunandan Ji knows everything. By His grace, I will receive the money and repay you.”
He was completely absorbed in his Lord, repeating:
“Thakur Ji will arrange everything. Thakur Ji will show His grace.”
The marriage took place.
After his daughter was married, the boatman went to the temple of Raghunath Ji. He decided to remain there and serve the Lord.
He told his family, “I have fulfilled my responsibility. Now I will stay in the temple and serve Raghunath Ji.”
His sons said, “Father, you continue your service to the temple. We will work hard, save money and repay the debt.”
They worked and eventually collected enough money.
The boatman went to the moneylender and said, “By the grace of Raghunath Ji, the money has been arranged. I have come to repay you. Thakur ji have mercy me in arragning the money,now I came here to repay the lended money to you.”
He was ready to pay the principal as well as the interest.
The moneylender was surprised that he had returned the money so quickly. He dint like this fast return of the lended money by him.
He prepared a receipt stating that the entire account had been settled and asked the boatman to
Sign that all money lending records of you have been cleared.
Botaman replied –Thakur ji knows that I am not educated ,I can use my thumb impression
The moneylender replied –You havent got educated totally ?
The old person replied yes,
The moneylender seth said ok put your thumb impression on it .
moneylender same time said, “Go outside and bring me some water.”
While the boatman was away, the moneylender secretly changed the receipt.
(The seth mind got dirty –and wished to take adv. Of uneducation fact of boatman.)
"The original receipt stated that the entire debt had been paid. But he replaced it with another document saying that the account had not been settled and that more money, interest and compound interest were still due.:
He kept the genuine receipt and gave the changed document to the innocent boatman.
The boatman, believing that everything was settled, returned to the temple peacefully and continued serving Raghunath Ji.
After some time, the moneylender sent his clerk to collect the remaining money.
The clerk went to the boatman and demanded payment.
The boatman said, “But my account has already been settled.”
The clerk replied, “There is no mistake.Bring your receipt-See your own receipt says that you still owe money.”
The clerk said I am going to call the police ,The matter went to court.
And the judge before whom the case was presented was the very same judge who later came to Vrindavan.
The judge asked the boatman, “Did you borrow money from this man?”
The boatman replied, “Yes, Judge Sahib. I borrowed the money for my daughter's marriage. I returned the entire amount along with the interest. I am not lying. Raghunath Ji knows everything.”
The judge asked, “Do you have your receipt?”
“Yes,” replied the boatman.
The judge looked at the receipt. It stated that the debt had not been fully repaid and that the boatman's thumb impression was on it.
The boatman began to cry.
“Judge Sahib, I am not lying. Raghunath Ji knows. My Thakur Ji knows. I returned everything.”
The judge asked him, “Who was present when you repaid the money?”
The boatman answered innocently:
“Raghunath Ji was there.”
The judge thought that perhaps Raghunath Ji was some person who had witnessed the transaction.
He asked, “Where does this Raghunath Ji live?”
The boatman replied, “In my village.”
The judge gave a date and ordered that Raghunath Ji be summoned as a witness.
The judge understood that the boatman was an extremely simple and innocent man. So, using his own money, he sent a court messenger to the village.
The messenger went around asking, “Where does Raghunath Ji live?”
Nobody knew.
Someone finally said, “There is a Raghunath Ji temple here.”
The messenger went to the temple.
The priest was sitting outside, absorbed in chanting “Ram, Ram, Ram…”
The messenger asked, “Where is Raghunath Ji?” The priest, lost in his devotion, casually replied, “He is here.”
The messenger thought the priest himself might be Raghunath Ji. He asked him to sign the summons. The priest signed it.
Then the messenger handed him the court summons.
The priest was surprised.
“A summons for Raghunath Ji?”
He thought, “Perhaps this too is the Lord's grace.”
He took the summons to the deity and said:
“O Raghunath Ji, I have seen people offer You beautiful clothes, ornaments, anklets, food and beautiful decorations. But this is the first time I have seen someone send You a court summons!”
He placed the summons before the Lord.
Later, the priest called the boatman and said, “You mentioned Raghunath Ji as your witness.”
The boatman replied, “Raghunath Ji is the only one I have. He is everywhere. Where is He not?”
The priest understood the simplicity of the boatman's faith.
As the court date approached, the priest told the boatman to leave one day early so that he would reach the court on time.
The boatman bowed before Raghunath Ji and said:
“Raghunath Ji, please come tomorrow. You must come. You have to give your testimony. Please do not forget to come.”
He then left for the court.
The next morning, the priest beautifully dressed Raghunath Ji, offered Him bhog and opened the temple early.
He said:
“O Raghunath Ji, today everything is happening early. You have to go and give testimony for Your devotee. I have offered Your food early because I do not know whether You will get food while travelling. Please eat now.”
The priest lovingly offered bhog to the Lord and then, with tears in his eyes, said:
“Please go, Prabhu. Please go. He has no one except You. If You do not go, he may be punished.”
Now see the Lord's grace.
When the boatman reached the court, the judge asked him:
“Have you brought your witness?”The boatman folded his hands and replied:“Yes, Your Honour. My witness lives with me.”
The judge asked, “Where is he?”
The boatman pointed outside.
The court messenger called out loudly:
“Raghunath, appear before the court!”
He called three times:
“Raghunath, appear before the court!”
Suddenly, an elderly man appeared.
He had a walking stick, a mala around his neck and sandalwood paste on his forehead. He walked slowly, raising his hand and saying:
“Wait, I am coming.”
He entered the courtroom and stood before the judge.
The judge asked, “What is your name?”
The old man replied:
“I am Raghunath.”(mein hee raghunath hu)
The boatman stood there in astonishment.
The moneylender also looked shocked.
He said, “Your Honour, this man was not there when the money was repaid. Only the boatman and I were present.”
The judge asked the baotman, “Raghunath ji was there between us?”,but same time with folded hands seeing ashtonishngly that which raghunaht ji is he stading in the court .
The judge asked “you are raghunath ji –you came here to witness the boatman, you were there when the batman gave the mony to the money lender
He replied, “Yes, I was there.”
“Do you have any proof?”
“Yes,” he said.
He told the judge to send someone to a particular place where the original account and receipt were kept. (It is in the almera of moneylenader with the date mentinoned on it)
He explained that the moneylender had changed the receipt and that the genuine receipt was still kept in a particular cupboard, his mind got dirty herapheri agai ti is seth ke mun mein.
The judge immediately sent a police employee and a court messenger to bring the document.
While they went to retrieve it, the old witness disappeared.
The genuine receipt was found.The moneylender finally admitted his wrongdoing and begged for forgiveness.The judge said that he would now have to face punishment.
The boatman, however, was still confused.
He asked, “Your Honour, may I ask something?”
The judge said, “Yes.”
The boatman asked, “This elderly man who came to testify—is he really Raghunath Ji?”
The judge replied, “Yes.”
The boatman said, “No, Your Honour. He is not Raghunath Ji.”
Everyone was surprised.
The court messenger then said, “He is right. The person whose signature I took on the summons was someone else. I went to the temple and took the priest's signature.”
The judge asked, “Then who is Raghunath Ji?”
The boatman replied:
“You will have to come with me.”
The judge went with him, fiding this more serious.
They entered the temple.
The boatman pointed toward the deity and said:
“There is my Raghunath Ji.”
The judge immediately stepped back, fell to the ground and began to cry.
He realised that the Lord Himself had changed His form and come to the court to give testimony for His devotee.
The judge understood that God had personally stood before him in his own courtroom, yet he had failed to recognise Him.
From that day onward, the judge resigned from his job.
He came to Vrindavan and devoted himself to the Lord.
He would not even enter the temple. He would sit outside and cry, blaming himself.
He would say:
“God came into my courtroom, and I remained seated while He stood before me.
The One before whom I will one day have to stand came to my court and stood before me, while I remained seated.
What a great misfortune!
O Lord, please forgive me. When I come before You after leaving this body, please do not punish me.