I have become really close to Param Pujya Jyotiben only in the past eight years or so, even though she is such an important pillar for the satsang and also my guru’s guru! In August 2007, I was exceptionally lucky enough to have joined Param Pujya Jyotiben in the US to be in her seva.There are too many things to write about Param Pujya Jyotiben, even in the short time I spent with her.

She has a wonderful way of demonstrating what Guruhari Pappaji wants from us, she has an amazing memory and is captivating in every way. 

At the same time she is so humble and has a simple way of life. Every moment, she displays every possible ‘saintly’ characteristic in her words, actions and her being.

One annubhav I thought I would share was during our stay at one satsangi’s house in New Jersey.  They had a big house and decorated throughout with various Indian artefacts, including many copper items such as pots, kumbhs, statues and murtis.  Now and again I would notice Jyotiben looking at these things around the house and even pick them up to take a closer look but didn’t really take too much notice.

One day, it was just the two of us in the house and she called me in the kitchen.  She asked me to go around the entire house and collect all the copper items and bring them to her.  I thought this was a bit strange but didn’t question it.  So, I went around the house and collected all the copper items from the mandir to pots being used as plant holders.  Then she asked me to find salt and lemon in the kitchen.  Finally, she said in Gujarati, “Let’s clean all these items and bring them up to a shine.”

My initial thoughts were that the owners may not like us doing this – the copper was black and tarnished but maybe they liked it this way?  Shouldn’t we ask first?  And surely there were other things Jyotiben could be doing?! But with Param Pujya Jyotiben’s gentle instructions, we started cleaning.

What amazed me was that Jyotiben was doing the cleaning too without any hesitation.  My hands were beginning to sting from scrubbing with salt and the lemon and despite telling her not to because her hands were going red, she was adamant she wanted to continue.  Throughout the process, she would be doing dhun or talking about Guruhari Pappaji.  And, when it came to the murtis , Param Pujya Jyotiben would talk and sing to them all as she was cleaning.  When she had the Nilkanth Varni murti in her hand, she cleaned and polished it and then she stood the murti in a silver tray and washed it with milk – I was really amazed and touched by this display.

Once we had finished, we put everything back in its place.  Then she explained to me that the owners are busy working and when do they have the time for such things?  She said that she had noticed that many of the items were blackened and that in our religion copper is a sacred pure metal, especially when used for murtis - she had been thinking of cleaning them for days.  When the owners came back they were overjoyed and could not believe what Param Pujya Jyotiben had done.

It demonstrated to me the level at which Param Pujya Jyotiben’s mind works.  When it comes to seva nothing will stand in her way.  In all the time I have spent with her she is always in the seva of others; be it making wrist malas for the youth, dhun and bhajan for all of us, through to the vichran she continues to do all over the world today.  Her every being is thinking about Guruhari Pappaji and seva, seva, seva!!!

Many times Param Pujya Jyotiben will say that our progress is not necessarily about how much dhun and bhajan we do.  But the way to achieve our goals and make Guruhari Pappaji happy is in the wholehearted seva we do for the beno and for our fellow satsangis in whatever way we can.

Author: Pujya Neha Vang Nielsen