One day Sukhdev was the recipient of Shri Nathji’s wrath. Sukhdev was amongst the bravest of men and had withstood the terrors of war without fear. However that day when he heard Shri Nathji’s voice he was so terrified that he locked himself in his room. It was as if all of Nature were going to burst its boundaries and unleash its forces upon mankind.
Shri Nathji had said: “Get out!”
Later, Sukhdev swore that no matter where he went, he heard people telling him to get out! It was as if the world had begun to echo with Shri Nathji’s anger.
However very soon an ecstatic peace descended upon his soul. He found himself purged and purified as if he had suddenly become a better man. Most of all, he felt the love of Shri Nathji, not only from within him, but also in the embrace of Shri Nathji’s arms. By becoming angry with him Shri Nathji had made him come even closer than he was ever before.
Those who thought Shri Nathji was like a lamb had a surprise in store for them. Shri Nathji was the bravest of men, the wisest and the most benevolent. He merely tolerated everything that happened around him. There were times when his wrath manifested itself on erring devotees. The voice was like a cloudburst, and its impact made even the strongest of men tremble with fear. Sometimes there would be accompanying thunder in the skies above.
When Mrs. Bhutt had heard the terrible voice in Delhi, she had said: Shri Nathji must only be pretending to be angry. If the anger were real, the whole world would have been destroyed – there would have been pralaiya!
Shri Nathji would voice a devotee’s feelings in the words:
He Bhagwan, yaa to mujhe pyaar karo aur yaa phir maaro.
Magar vo din kabhi na laanaa ke pyaar aur maar donon hee chhorr denaa!
“A devotee must call out to God and pray: ‘O Lord! Love me, but if thou will not love me, then be angry with me! But never let me see the day when thou will neither love me nor be angry with me! That would be the severing of all relationships’.
There was Shri Nathji’s favourite Urdu verse:
Gussaa teraa davaa hai raihmat teri ghizaa hai
Shaanen hain teri jitni jaane jahaaniyaan hain
Thy Anger is our medicine and thy Mercy our nourishment:
All thy glories are the Life of a thousand worlds.
Shri Nathji would have this to say about the anger of God:
Man must be happy when God is angry with him! After all, a King will beat only his own son with his hands! For the criminals, there is the police. God is an ocean of nectar. What will its storms contain? Only nectar! A doctor administers a bitter medicine only to break the patient’s fever!”
Gaali to dee sawaal par usne hazaar shukr
Daste sawaal jaadaaye raahe sukhan hua
He abused me for my question, a thousand thanks!
The hand of query became a path to reach him!
The Wrath of God is spoken of very frequently in the Scriptures. Lord Shankar brings about the destruction of the world when it so moves him. The dreadful dance of Lord Shankar, shiv-taandav, heralds an approaching doom. The wrath of God brought down plagues and pestilences upon Egypt when the Pharoah refused to let the people of Israel go. The Voice of God would frequently be heard by his prophets bringing down His wrath. Even the gentle Christ gave way to anger in the Temple. When he saw people converting it to a market place, he beat them out.
The Rishis and Maharishis of old frequently gave way to rage and cursed those who offended them. Lord Parashuram axed to death thousands of Kshatriyas. Lord Krishna killed Shishupala when the latter continued to hurl abuses at him. Even the gentle Lord Rama sent an arrow after the offending crow. He also killed Ravana.
Divine Wrath is not a phenomenon unknown. That it should have manifested itself in the gentle form of Shri Nathji, who was God in human form, was not surprising. However, the wrath was an outburst of love in Shri Nathji’s case, and those who received it felt an inner peace descend upon their souls, as if their sins had been washed away in the deluge. If he were ever angry with anyone–which was a rare occurrence, once in years, he would immediately give the man several times his share of love.
When a devotee said to Shri Nathji: “Maine galti kee hai! – I have made a mistake!”
Shri Nathji said: “Ek hee to kee hai, koyi hazaar to naheen keen! – It was just one mistake, not a thousand!”
And Shri Nathji added: “Bachche galtiyon se maihenge naheen hote! – Children are not given up for the sake of their mistakes!”