During those days of 1947, after the partition of India, R. R. Khanna met Shri Nathji in Mussoorie.
Khanna showed Shri Nathji his empty purse and said: “O Nathji! This is the state of my finances today! I lost everything that I had in Lahore. There was a time in Lucknow when I had a bungalow and servants, but today I am looking for a place to hide my head. I had received eighty thousand rupees as provident fund after retirement from Lucknow University, but I lost it all in Lahore!”
Do not worry, said Shri Nathji, Bhagwan phir degaa. God will give again!
Khanna’s face was expressionless.
Do you doubt my words? Shri Nathji asked him.
No Sir, I can never doubt your words, it is only my mind which keeps coming in the way of faith. Akal tang kar rahi hai!
“My sons have not received higher education, they do not have any jobs, and there is no hope of my securing a job at my age. I don’t see how… he replied.
Shri Nathji said:
If there are clouds in the sky and I tell you it is going to rain, you will agree with me, but if there are no clouds in the sky and I tell you it is going to rain, and you believe me, – that is faith. He, who can bring rain after bringing the clouds, can also bring rain without any clouds, if He so desires!
Shri Nathji’s exact words in Hindi were:
“Khannaji, agar badal aaye hon aur main kaih doon ke varshaa hogi, aur aap maan jaayen, to koyi barri baat naheen hai. Magar, agar aakaash men baadal ek bhee naa ho, aur main kaih doon ke varshaa hogi, aur aap maan jaayen – to ye vishvaas hai!”
When Shri Nathji met R. R. Khanna after another lapse of time, the man was rolling in wealth. He and his sons had earned two crores of rupees! They were millionaires. They had entered into a business deal with an American agency for the import of tractor equipment.
Mr. Khanna, Shri Nathji said to him, tell me – did it rain with the aid of clouds or without them! Ye baadal aakar barse yaa bin baadal aaye barse!”
Mr. Khanna’s wife had frequently complained to Shri Nathji during those earlier days at Lucknow that Khanna was neglecting the education of his sons because of his engrossment in spiritual work. Later, when she met Shri Nathji, she asked for his forgiveness for having doubted the designs of God.
If your sons had received further education, Shri Nathji said, they would have entered into the field of education like their father, and would probably have retired like their father did, on a similar salary. But today they are millionaires. God’s ways are mysterious but always for the betterment of man.
Tell me, Khanna! Shri Nathji said to him, for how long did you serve the university?
For over thirty years, said Khanna.
And what did you get at the end of the service?
Eighty thousand rupees.
And for how long a period did you serve me?
Over my twenty year association, you gave me an opportunity to actually serve you for only about two years.
Your salary for the two years of service was two crores of rupees!
Manushya mazdoori deth hai
Kyon raakhe Bhagwan
When man pays a salary to man for services rendered, why would God refrain from paying him?
Many a time Shri Nathji would tell his devotees, Do not beg of the world! My spiritual treasury is full. Ask of me!
It was a measure of Shri Nathji’s greatness that after he had given Khanna two crores of rupees he ceased to give him a chance to serve him. When someone asked Shri Nathji why he was not taking any service from Khanna now that he had given him two crores, Shri Nathji said: “Auron ko bhee to denaa hai! I have to give to others also!”
Whenever R. R. Khanna would walk on the Mall Road at Mussoorie he would take his solar hat off and bow down low at the foot of the hill on which St. Andrews was situated. He would say: “Ye meraa mandir hai! This is my Temple!”
In later days, he rented a house at Mussoorie, which was situated at the start of the road that led up to the residence of His Lord and Master, Shri Nathji.