Shri Bhutt came for Shri Nathji’s darshan in 1958 at Allahabad, where Mateshwari was so pleased with him that she said to him:
Bhutt Sahib aapko Chief Justice kar diya hai! Bhutt Sahib, you have been made Chief Justice!
And, Shri Nathji, who was in the room, immediately said:
In 1959, Shri Ganesh Prasad Bhutt was appointed the Chief Justice of the High Court of Madhya Pradesh at Jabalpur.
When he became Chief Justice, Bhutt sent a telegram to Shri Nathji:
Thousands Pranaams for your servant’s promotion!
In all the successes that he had in life, he saw the will of Shri Nathji working.
Shri G.P. Bhutt invited Shri Nathji to Jabalpur in March 1959, and Shri Nathji went there by train from Allahabad.
When he arrived at Jabalpur he found Shri Bhutt along with a galaxy of judges and lawyers waiting at the Railway Station to welcome him.
Shri Bhutt had come bare-footed. He prostrated full-length before Shri Nathji in full view of the public and his friends.
Shri Nathji stayed at Jabalpur for about one week during which time he flooded the city with his spiritual vibrations, and all who came before him were lost in a world of Divine Bliss.
Bhutt had shown his Master to the world, he who had given him peace within and prosperity outside.
He said to Shri Nathji:
You have given me the greatest wealth that can be had anywhere–you have given me contentment! Prabhuj aapne mujhe santosh de diyaa hai!
Shri Nathji said:
The wealth of contentment is not merely that of the mind. It brings prosperity and peace in its wake. The Ocean remains content within its shores and all the streams and rivers flow down into it.
Bhutt’s Resolve to Serve Shri Nathji
Bhutt was seized by a desire to serve Shri Nathji with his tan-man-dhan, i.e. with his body, mind and his earnings. He referred to this as an intensity of desire for Prabhu Sevaa – the service of the Lord.
He had sent his son Jagdish to live with Shri Nathji during the time Shri Nathji had an arm operation in 1943. He would place his house at Shri Nathji’s disposal whenever Shri Nathji came to Delhi over the years from 1946 – 1952.
Whenever he sat on the ground close to Shri Nathji he would massage Shri Nathji’s feet and calves. Shri Nathji would ever fondly recall Bhutt Sahib’s hands and the soft manner in which he pressed his calves and feet:
“Bhutt Sahib ke barre gud-gude haathh thhe!
“Bhutt Sahib had very soft and chubby hands!”
Bhutt intensely desired to serve Shri Nathji with his salary. There was a time in New Delhi when he placed an envelope containing four hundred rupees before Shri Nathji. However Shri Nathji returned the envelope to him with the words:
“Bhutt Sahib I have no need for these! Bhutt Sahib hamen zaroorat naheen hai!”
Bhutt had come directly from his office at lunch-time to see Shri Nathji. When Shri Nathji asked him casually:
“Bhutt Sahib, will you go home now or return to tour office?
“Bhutt Sahib ab aap ghar jaayenge yaa office dobaara jaayenge?
Bhutt replied: “Prabhuji, I am going neither home nor to my office – I am going from this world!
“Prabhuji, main naa to ghar jaa rahaa hoon aur naa office. Main to iss duniyaa se jaa rahaa hoon!
“If you will not accept my seva what is the purpose of my living in the world!”
“Agar aapne sevaa naheen leni to maine jeekar kyaa karnaa hai!
Such was the intensity of desire to serve Shri Nathji that had entered the very core and being of Shri Bhutt. He could not live without serving Shri Nathji.
He knew that Shri Nathji had taken a very delicate frame in the physical world as an avatar. It was not enough for him to have found God; it was not enough for him to worship God – he had to serve him in any way that he could. It was only then that his devotion could find fulfillment.
Hanuman was seized by the same kind of desire to serve Lord Rama at the time when Lord Rama had suffered banishment to be imposed upon himself, and was wandering in the forests in search of Sita Maharani. Hanuman knew that Lord Rama was God upon earth, but it was not enough merely to worship him. He had to serve him as well with all his heart and soul and all the strength that his body possessed.
Shri Nathji often quoted the Sikh scriptures, which had placed service on the highest pedestal:
Sevak ko sevaa ban aayi
Hukam boojh param pad paayi
In Service lies the fulfilment of a devotee’s life,
In Obedience lies the highest status of his life!
When Shri Nathji saw the resolve of Shri Bhutt to serve him he could not refuse his sevaa and accepted it with the same degree of love with which it had been offered. It was a relationship that was to continue for the rest of Bhutt’s life upon earth. As a matter of fact, he was living and earning solely to serve Shri Nathji.
A devotee was awed at the spirit of service of Shri G.P.Bhutt to Shri Nathji and said:
“Bhutt Sahib, I, too desire to serve Shri Nathji like you do, but unfortunately I do not have the means. I have three sons to take care of!”
And Bhutt Sahib said to him: “What will you do if you have another son? Will you not look after him as well?”
“Agar ek aur larkaa ho jaaye to phir kyaa karegaa?”
When devotees would come and ask Shri Bhutt how they should serve Shri Nathji he would say to them:
“Look upon Prabhuji as the nearest and dearest relative of your home. Then your own heart will tell you what you must do for him!”
“Prabhuji ko apne ghar kaa sab se priya aur sab se nikat sambandhi samjho. Phir aapko unke liye kyaa karnaa hai aapkaa dil khud gavaahi degaa!”
Shri Nathji was not one to accept sevaa from anyone. He would accept the sevaa only of a man who had an intense faith and love within his heart for him and who could not live without serving him. Such souls were very rare.
Once when a devotee wrote to Shri Nathji asking him whether he could send anything to him, Shri Nathji wrote back:
“Thank you for your offer. But I have whatever I need. And if there is anything that I do not have, then I have no need for it!”
“Jis cheez ki mujhe zaroorat hai vo cheez mere paas hai. Aur jo cheez mere paas naheen uski mujhe zaroorat naheen!”
Shri Nathji never accepted any sevaa from the rich and powerful. The rajas and maharajas, seths and nawabs who met him always thought he was richer than them.
Shri Nathji used to say:
“If I accept the service of any person I have to give him a reward which is many times greater than the service he has rendered. And not everyone in the world is worthy of such a reward! The rich are already rich. I have to make the poor rich!
“I will accept even the half-eaten roti of a poor man if it is offered with love! But I will refuse the dishes of the rich even if they are offered in a golden plate!”
There was a time when the richest man in India, Shri Ram Krishna Dalmia said to Shri Nathji:
“Prabhuji, only those moments of life which are spent in the thought of God afford some peace. For the rest, this world is a living hell!
“Jo khshann zindagi ke Bhagwan ki yaad men nikal jaate hain bas vehi sukh dete hain, baaki to ye duniyaan nark hee nark hai!”
Dalmia then said to Shri Nathji: “Tell me what service I may do for you? Mujhe koyi sevaa bataayen.”
And Shri Nathji said to him: “Dalmia my service is not so cheap as to be given to everyone. I have reserved it for my special devotees.
“Dalmia, meri sevaa itnee sasti naheen ke har ek ko detaa phiroon. Ye maine apne khaas bhakton ke liye rakhhi hai!”
Shri Nathji was like Lord Krishna, and the devotee who came before him with a desire to serve him was like Sudama, the poor friend of Krishna, who had brought with him only a bag full of dry rice. Lord Krishna snatched the bag of rice from Sudama’s hands and ate it with great happiness. And he gave Sudama a palace of gold in return.
“If I have created a need for myself, it is only to fulfil your need!
“Agar main ne apne liye koyi zaroorat banaayi hai to ye aapki zaroorat ko pooraa karne ke liye hai!
Shri Nathji often recounted the story of Queen Draupadi. She had full faith that Lord Krishna was God. One day she saw Lord Krishna in a state of great distress. He had cut his finger and was searching desperately for a piece of cloth to wrap around it.
She could not bear to see the divine blood of Lord Krishna spill on the ground, and she immediately tore her saree and wrapped a piece of cloth around Lord Krishna’s finger.
Many days later Draupadi found herself surrounded by the evil Kauravas who tried to disrobe her by removing her saree. She prayed to Lord Krishna and was draped by innumerable sarees. It was a miracle that revealed the power of Lord Krishna.
Draupadi met Lord Krishna later and asked him: “ O Krishna! You had the power to grant me a countless number of sarees when I needed them. But what had happened to your power when you needed a mere cloth to wrap around your finger?”
And Lord Krishna said: “Draupadi! If I had miraculously obtained a piece of cloth for my finger at that time, then what excuse would I have had to give you a countless number of sarees!
“Agar main apni kati ungli ke liye kapraa paidaa kar letaa to tujhe kyaa bahaanaa banaakar laakhon saariyaan detaa!”
Bhutt had realized that Shri Nathji was providing an excuse to those who loved him to serve him, and that was the reason for the numerous trials and tribulations that Shri Nathji allowed upon himself. He gave people a chance to serve him so that he could reward them materially and spiritually both. On the material plane they were given wealth and status they had not even dreamt of, and on the spiritual plane they were given salvation.
The situation was amply illustrated by Shri Nathji using the example of Kewat the boatman in the Ramayana. He took Lord Rama across a river and in return asked that Lord Rama rake him across the Bhav Saagar – the Ocean of Life and Death.
Shri Bhutt would say to Shri Nathji:
“Prabhuji, our relationship with you is like that of Kewat with Rama. It is our duty to look after your external needs while you are taking care of our internal needs!
“Prabhuji, aapkaa aur hamaaraa to Rama aur Kewat ka rishtaa hai!
“Aapki baahar ki zarooraton ko ham dekhen aur hamaari andar ki zaroorat ko aap pooraa karen!”
Every month, with unerring punctuality, Bhutt would send a portion of his salary to Shri Nathji no matter where Shri Nathji was residing. It was a service of his Lord and Master that was only interrupted when Shri Nathji left India for four years from 1963 to 1967. During this period Bhutt became disconsolate and lost all interest in working further. He had retired as Chief Justice of Madhya Pradesh and had been appointed Vice Chancellor of Sagar University, a post he soon relinquished.