A tiger appeared at the mouth of the cave in Galta where Swami Shri Krishnadas Payahariji sat in solitude. He had never seen one here before. He looked at the creature and thought: 'This is my guest. I must offer it food.'
He had no food to give. So he took a blade and cut the flesh from his own thighs. He placed it before the tiger and said: 'Partake of this.'
The tiger ate and departed.
Seeing this act of boundless sacrifice, Shri Ramji could not restrain Himself. He appeared in a form more beautiful than a crore of Kamadevas, placed His lotus hand upon Krishndasji's head, and removed all his suffering. The thighs became whole again. Shri Payahariji, gaining the ananda of divine darshan, was fulfilled.
Consider: people hesitate even to give food and water to a guest. Who can act as he did? The very thought of it makes the soul tremble.
He was born in the Dadhichi gotra. Just as the rishi Dadhichi gave his body for the devas, Krishnadas Payahariji conquered Kaliyuga with a deed of the same spirit. He was the very limit of vairagya. Gold and desire could not color him in the least. He remained like a bee drinking the nectar of devotion at the lotus feet of Shri Ramchandra.
Shri Lakshmanbhattji, in the tradition of the infinite Shri Ramanujaswamiji, was truly established in sharanagati-bhakti. He practiced bhajana with sadachara and muni-vritti. He bore deep love for the bhaktas of Bhagavan and was an abode of dasha-bhakti. Supremely contented, free from self-interest, he was a guardian of param-dharma and a preacher of sant-marga. By narrating the Shri Bhagavat, he could distinguish between nira and kshira, the illusory and the supreme, showing each one with clarity. Such was his dwelling-place of vairagya, jnana, and bhakti.
Shri Gadaadhardasji renounced his home through vairagya and, steeped in love for Shri Shyamasundar, came to reside near Burhanpur. People made many entreaties, but he would not enter the town. His mana found its contentment right where he was.
One day heavy rains drenched all his belongings. Seeing His bhakta's distress, Bhagavan felt great compassion. In a dream, He commanded a devout seth in a most pleasing voice: 'Much wealth lies stored in your home. Go, bring My dear bhakta Gadadhardas, and build him a fine mandira. Shri Lakshmiji's grace will remain upon your household.'
That obedient bhakta accepted the Lord's word. With great difficulty, he persuaded Gadaadhardasji to come. He built a splendid mandira and installed the deity, named Shri Lalbihariji. Gazing upon that most beautiful dark form, Gadaadhardasji would become lost in prema.
His manner of sant-seva was extraordinary. Whatever provisions arrived would not last to the next day. He gave away every measure of grain before sleeping. Once, saints arrived at night. The cooks had secretly set aside a small portion for Bhagavan's bhoga. Gadaadhardasji told them: 'Take it out and feed the saints. More will come by morning.'
They did so. The saints, receiving prasad, were content. But by morning, nothing had arrived. Three watches passed. The Lord remained without food. His disciples grew vexed: 'Bhoga has not been offered. We are starving.'
At that very moment, a bhakta-seth arrived with provisions. Hearing the full account, the seth was glad, and from that day he supplied as much grain as was needed. With excellent devotion, he took up the joy of sadhu-seva.
After some time, Gadaadhardasji moved to Shri Mathurapuri, where he drank deeply of the ananda-rasa of Vraja-lila. His tongue sang Harikitti, his hridaya held faith in Shri Hari, and he never hoped for anything else, not even in dreams.
The Six Threads of Surrender
Shri Lakshmanbhatt Ji walked the path that Ramanujacharya had woven into the very fabric of devotional life: sharanagati, the practice of total surrender. This surrender is not a single gesture made once and set aside. It is a way of living held together by six threads: accepting what is favorable to the Lord's service, rejecting what opposes it, holding unshakeable faith that He is one's protector, taking Him as one's sole sustainer, placing oneself entirely in His hands, and carrying a constant sense of one's own dependence before the Infinite. Lakshmanbhatt Ji made all six threads into a single cord and wore it always. This is the teaching his life offers the seeker: surrender is not one act but a complete orientation of the self, renewed in every breath and every choice throughout the day.
Bhaktamal, verse 618, tilak commentary
The Bee That Has Found Its Lotus
The text of the Bhaktamal uses a tender image for Lakshmanbhatt Ji: a bee drunk on nectar. A bee does not wander aimlessly. It knows exactly which flower holds what it needs, and when it finds the lotus it settles there and drinks without ceasing. Lakshmanbhatt Ji had found the lotus of Shri Ram's lotus feet. The world presents two whirlpools that drag most souls under: kanakakami, the pull of gold and the pull of sensual pleasure. These two swirl together and are endlessly powerful. Yet the commentary tells us he was not colored by them in the slightest, just as the lotus floats above the water that surrounds it. His tongue, his mind, and his living were all turned in one direction. For the seeker, this image holds a genuine invitation: once the heart has truly tasted the nectar of the Lord's presence, nothing else retains its old weight.
Bhaktamal, verse 618, Nabhadas mool and tilak
Separating Milk from Water
Lakshmanbhatt Ji was known as a narrator of the Shrimad Bhagavat Katha who could do what the ancient hamsa bird is said to do: separate milk from water even when they are completely mixed. In the context of katha, this means the ability to distinguish what is genuinely real from what merely appears to be so. A narrator of this kind does not flatten everything into doctrine, and does not drown the listener in sensation or miracle. He gives the seeker an inner instrument of discernment. He lets the listener leave with the capacity to tell the difference between what glitters and what is truly luminous. This quality grew in Lakshmanbhatt Ji because he himself was a home of vairagya, jnana, and bhakti standing together, each one supporting the others. The teaching for us is this: clarity in the one who speaks comes from clarity in how they live.
Bhaktamal, verse 618, tilak commentary
The Guardian of the Path
The Bhaktamal describes Lakshmanbhatt Ji as a preacher of the sant-marga, the path of the saints. This path is not an institution alone. It is a living thread of genuine practice, genuine compassion, and genuine renunciation that runs through human history and can be broken if those who carry it become careless or self-serving. What keeps the thread intact is not organizational power or social standing. It is the sadachara of those who walk it: right conduct lived from the inside out, not performed for the eyes of others. Lakshmanbhatt Ji was among those who kept the thread intact. He had no trace of self-interest. The commentary says he was completely contented, possessed of a fine and gentle character, and free from selfishness. For those of us on the path now, his life asks: am I carrying this thread with care, or am I fraying it by carelessness or self-concern?
Bhaktamal, verse 618, tilak commentary
A Treasury of Tenfold Love
The commentary places Lakshmanbhatt Ji among those who carry dasha-bhakti as a living treasury within them. The tradition speaks of ten expressions of love for Bhagavan: hearing His names, singing them, remembering Him, serving His feet, worshipping Him, bowing to Him, treating oneself as His servant, treating oneself as His friend, and finally offering oneself entirely. What is striking in Lakshmanbhatt Ji is that these did not function for him as a sequence of practices to be completed one by one. They were the natural expression of a heart that had made its home in Bhagavan. Love for the bhaktas of the Lord was not a vague sentiment in him but a concrete and daily orientation. For the seeker, this is the real meaning of practice: not a checklist but a homecoming, where each form of love arises naturally because the heart has found where it belongs.
Bhaktamal, verse 618, tilak commentary
Hindi text from OCR scan (Khemraj Shrikrishnadas Prakashan, CC0). May contain errors.