When prema filled him to the brim, Shri Jaswant Singh ji would become utterly still, like an inert object. The world could call his name and he would not stir. He was lost in the highest prema, dissolved in it, gone.
Of the Rathod jati, he had taken up the bhakti of his elder brother Shri Jaymal Singh ji and guarded it so beautifully that it suffered no decline. With Bhagavan's bhaktas he abandoned all deceit. With constant prema-bhava he would stand joyfully on one foot, hands folded, obedient to their ajna.
He held the deepest priti for dwelling in Shri Vrindavan and for the darshan of kunja-krida. Every day he would lovingly adore Shri Radha-Vallabh Lal. The essence of all dharmas, the navadha bhakti, and the supreme treasure of prema-bhakti he kept always within the abode of his hridaya. He was a shishya of Shri Haridas ji.
Carrying the Flame Forward
When Jaswant Singh ji's elder brother Shri Jaymal Singh ji had given his life to bhakti, the question that remained was whether the flame would survive the transition. Would the prema find a new home, or dissolve like smoke once the lamp went out? Jaswant Singh ji answered that question with his whole life. He received his brother's bhakti not as an inheritance of property but as a living seed, and planted it in his own heart, watering it with tears and attention until it grew into something full and flowering. The Bhaktamal praises this explicitly: he guarded the bhakti beautifully, so that it suffered no decline and no diminishment. This is no small matter. In the transmission of spiritual inheritance, things are easily lost. The outer forms get copied while the inner spirit evaporates. Jaswant Singh ji held both: the outer continuity and the inner fire.
Bhaktamal, chhappay 155; tikaEn commentary
Transparency Before the Assembly of Bhaktas
Jaswant Singh ji came from the Rathod clan of Rajputana, a lineage trained in the arts of the sword, the court, and the battlefield. In that world, tactics and strategy were honored qualities, the intelligence of those who survived. But the Bhaktamal records something quietly insistent about his conduct among the devotees of Bhagavan: he abandoned all trace of deceit. Before those who loved God, he brought no calculation, no managed impression, no performance of virtue. He was entirely open, entirely as he was. This distinction matters. It is one thing to be upright with strangers and to manage one's image with care. It is another thing altogether to be completely transparent before the assembly of bhaktas, to lay aside every protective layer and stand there simply, as you are. That transparency was itself a form of surrender.
Bhaktamal, chhappay 155; tilakHi and tikaEn commentary
One Foot, Folded Hands, Joyful Heart
The Bhaktamal paints a very particular image of Jaswant Singh ji in his service to the devotees: he would stand on one foot, hands folded in anjali, waiting with a joyful heart upon the bhaktas and upon the will of the Lord. In the language of bhakti, standing on one foot signals absolute one-pointed attention. The body itself speaks through this posture: I am not distributed across multiple concerns. I am here, fully here, awaiting only this. The hands in anjali add the dimension of reverence, of the self held as an offering rather than as a demand. And the word used to describe his inner state in that posture is ananda, joyful and light. This was not the bearing of grim penance. It was the posture of a heart so glad in its orientation toward the divine that even standing on one foot became easy, even natural.
Bhaktamal, chhappay 155; tikaEn commentary
The Treasure of Navadha Bhakti and Prema
In his heart, described in the verse as a sadan, a dwelling, Jaswant Singh ji kept as a nidhi, a great treasure, two jewels: navadha bhakti and prema-bhakti. The ninefold path of devotion taught by Prahlada in the Bhagavata Purana encompasses shravana, kirtana, smarana, pada-sevana, archana, vandana, dasya, sakhya, and atma-nivedana. It is the complete map of how a human being can turn toward God through every faculty and every moment. He did not practice one or two while neglecting others; he gathered all nine and kept them tended in his heart. And beyond the ninefold path, as its very culmination, he kept prema-bhakti itself. Not bhakti that hopes for liberation or seeks powers, but bhakti that wants only the beloved, only the nearness, only the sweetness of that love itself. This was the wealth he had gathered, stored, and protected through his years of practice and seva.
Bhaktamal, chhappay 155; tikaEn commentary
When Prema Fills You Completely
There is a condition described in the Bhaktamal for Jaswant Singh ji that is both mysterious and deeply recognizable to those who have touched the edges of deep absorption. When prema filled him to the brim, his body would cease to respond to the world. Someone could call his name and he would not turn. Someone could touch his shoulder and he would remain unmoved. The ordinary faculties of hearing and responding, the ones that keep a person anchored to the social world, would simply withdraw. The Bhaktamal calls this state jada: inert, still, like a stone. Yet the word carries no coldness here. Inside that stillness there was nothing absent. Everything was present. The infinite had simply filled what is ordinarily called a person until there was no room left for peripheral concerns. The stone the ocean has polished smooth is not empty. It is complete.
Bhaktamal, chhappay 155; tikaEn commentary
Hindi text from OCR scan (Khemraj Shrikrishnadas Prakashan, CC0). May contain errors.