The baniya presented his account-book to the panchayat, furious: "Maharajji owes me a great sum and refuses to pay." He had demanded payment many times, but in those days there was not a single kauri at Pipaji's place.
When the panchas opened the ledger to the page under Maharajji's name, it was completely blank. Not a word written. The panchas scolded the baniya severely.
Swamiji, learning of this, sent word: "The baniya's money is indeed due, and rightly so. But he was demanding it with great harshness. Because of that harassment, by Bhagavan's will, his ledger was wiped clean." The baniya fell at Pipaji's charans, pleading. A merchant arrived, and by Shri Sitaram-kripa, paid off every last coin, freeing the man from his grief.
The kutiya of Shri Pipaji in the town of Tode overflowed with riddhi and siddhi. But one day, sensing danger, Pipaji and Sita-Sahchari deliberated together, left everything behind, and departed.
A Brahman accused of go-hatya had been expelled from his caste. He came weeping to Pipaji's shelter. Pipaji said simply: "Chant Hari Nama." The Brahman began to chant Rama Nama, and all sin fled from his body at once. But the orthodox Brahmanas would not readmit him. So Pipaji had that very Brahman place a navedya offering in Shri Hanumanji's mandir with his own hands. When the thali was taken down, clear signs showed the bhog had been accepted. The Brahmanas acknowledged him free of all stain.
After a long time, Raja Suryasenmal of Tode ached for darshan of his Guru. He sent horsemen in every direction. One of them found Pipaji at a distance of twenty days' journey and conveyed the king's longing. Pipaji replied: "I already know his desire. I was about to go." He gave the horseman a letter and sent him off. At that very moment, Pipaji and Sita-Sahchari appeared before the king in Tode-nagar. The horseman arrived many days later, astonished to learn they had already come and gone.
Shri Rangdas, a bhakta of Bhagavan and nephew-disciple of Pipaji, sent a letter of entreaty. Both Pipaji and Sita-Sahchari went and were received with great love and respect.
The Ledger That Was Wiped Clean
A moneylender pressed Pipaji with contempt, demanding payment with a sharp and unkind manner. When the case came before a village council, the page bearing Pipaji's name in the account-book was found spotless, as though no hand had ever written there. But Pipaji's response was not triumph. He sent word at once: the debt was real, the money was owed. He even arranged for a generous patron to settle the account in full, so the creditor left without loss or grief. This episode teaches that when grace moves on our behalf, the right response is not to collect the reward and walk away. It is to ensure that no person, not even the one who caused us harm, suffers because of our good fortune. Compassion flows in every direction, or it is not yet compassion.
Bhaktamal, tika on Shri Pipa Ji (continued)
Nama Japa as Purification, and the Miracle That Society Would Accept
A Brahman came to Pipaji carrying a terrible burden: accused of go-hatya, he had been cut off entirely from his community. Pipaji gave the simplest possible instruction: chant Hari-nama. The inner transformation happened at once. But the community needed evidence their eyes could receive. Pipaji understood this, and arranged for the Brahman to place an offering at the Hanuman temple with his own hands. The signs of acceptance were unmistakable, and the community received him back. Pipaji used his spiritual standing not for display, but for restoration. The teaching here is two-fold: nama japa truly purifies, but a genuine saint also sees the whole person, including their need to belong. Inner liberation and outward reintegration are both worthy of care.
Bhaktamal, tika on Shri Pipa Ji (continued)
Present in Two Places at Once
Raja Suryasenmal was seized by a desperate longing for Pipaji's darshan. He sent riders in all directions. One horseman rode twenty days before locating Pipaji at a great distance. Pipaji smiled and said: I already know his desire, I was about to go. He handed the horseman a letter, and in that same moment appeared before the raja in Tode-nagar, gave darshan, and departed. The horseman arrived many days later to find Pipaji had already come and gone. This is not presented as a curiosity. The Bhaktamal offers it as a portrait of what happens when the self no longer sets a boundary between here and there. For a consciousness entirely given to Rama, the world's distances are thin. The practical teaching is this: one who has truly surrendered is never far from those who need them.
Bhaktamal, tika on Shri Pipa Ji (continued)
Hands That Knew of a Distant Fire
During an ekadashi jagaran kirtana in the presence of Raja Suryasenmal, Pipaji suddenly stood and began rubbing his hands together urgently. Soot appeared on his palms. He explained quietly: at Dwarika, the canopy over Bhagavan's temple had caught fire. He had extinguished it from here. A messenger sent to Dwarika confirmed that on that very night, the canopy had caught fire and then, inexplicably, gone out. Pipaji's body was seated in Tode; his hands were busy at Dwarika. The Bhaktamal does not ask us to debate whether this is possible. It asks us to feel what kind of inner life would be required to live it. Decades of bhajan had worn thin the boundary between here and elsewhere. A life offered fully to Bhagavan becomes, in the end, available everywhere.
Bhaktamal, tika on Shri Pipa Ji (continued)
Seeing Rama in Every Face
Two young women of humble circumstances were gathering cow-dung near where Pipaji and Shri Rangji were seated, bent in ordinary labor. Pipaji smiled and said softly: apart from Rama, I see no one else. He called them near. They came with folded hands, unembarrassed and open. He told them simply: the true purpose of a beautiful human birth is to worship Shri Janaki-jivan with unbroken love. His words did not arrive as doctrine. They pierced. Both women took the tilaka and kanthi, went home singing Sita-Ram, and when their households grew cold toward them, they returned to Pipaji's shelter and never left. This is the pattern of Pipaji's darshan throughout this section of the Bhaktamal: he sees Rama everywhere, and those who come close begin to see it too. Vision is contagious.
Bhaktamal, tika on Shri Pipa Ji (continued)
Hindi text from OCR scan (Khemraj Shrikrishnadas Prakashan, CC0). May contain errors.