It is said that nonviolence is the highest virtue. Nag Mahashay practised this virtue strictly to the letter throughout his life. No one ever saw him kill an insect, and when he walked through the street, he was always vigilant lest he step on any creature. One day a devotee was seated with him on the porch of the shrine when he noticed that the eastern bamboo fence was covered with anthills. Thinking to protect the fence from further damage, the devotee jumped on it and shook it so vigorously that a large section of the anthill fell to the ground. Nag Mahashay cried out: “Alas, what have you done? For a long time they lived happily building their homes on the fence, and today you have made them homeless. It is unfair.” Seeing the tears in his eyes, the devotee was overwhelmed. Nag Mahashay then approached the ants and said: “Please climb up on the fence again and build your comfortable homes. You have nothing more to fear.”
Once a few European officers of the Narayangunj Jute Mill came to Deobhog to hunt birds. As soon as Nag Mahashay heard the gunfire, he ran up to the hunters and with folded hands begged them to stop shooting. The hunters did not understand what he was saying and no doubt thought he was crazy. They reloaded their rifles and were about to shoot again when Nag Mahashay leapt forward and with superhuman strength seized their weapons. He then carried the rifles home. The Europeans were humiliated and angry, and they decided to bring legal charges against him. Meanwhile Nag Mahashay sent the rifles back to the hunters through one of the workers at the jute mill. The worker explained to the Europeans about Nag Mahashay’s saintly nature, and they never returned to Deobhog to hunt.
Spirituality is not something that can be measured with a ruler. When a man becomes spiritual his heart expands and he feels intensely for others. Nag Mahashay could feel the hunger of the dogs, cats, fish, and birds, and he would feed them accordingly. Once when he met a fisherman with a basket of live fish for sale, Nag Mahashay bought all of the fish and immediately set them free in a neighbouring pond. On another occasion a cobra appeared in his courtyard, and Sharatkamini, fearing it would bite someone, wanted it to be killed. Nag Mahashay said to her, “It is not the snake of the jungle, but the snake of one’s own mind that injures a man.” Then, with folded hands, he addressed the snake: “O goddess of the snake, your abode is in the jungle. Mother, please go back to your own place and leave this poor man’s cottage.” Amazingly, the snake then followed him to the jungle. “If you do not harm anyone in this world,” he commented, “no one will harm you. The reflection in the mirror shows exactly the same face you make at it.”
It pained Nag Mahashay if anyone even tore a leaf off a tree. There was a cluster of bamboos adjacent to his cottage, and the branches were damaging the wall. They had even penetrated inside the cottage, but he would not cut them back. When someone offered to cut them for him, he said, “Is it proper to destroy something which you have no power to create?”
People talk about “cosmic consciousness,” “universal brotherhood,” “oneness of God,” “unity in diversity,” and “God in everything,” but are these beautiful concepts mere imagination? People get strength and inspiration when they find someone who has experienced and demonstrated these sublime truths. A holy person actually knows God’s will, and whatever he or she does is good for all.
Once a devotee came to visit Nag Mahashay. Nag Mahashay and his wife gave their room to him and they slept in the kitchen. In the middle of the night, the devotee was suddenly awakened by a startled outcry. He rushed to the kitchen as Sharatkamini was lighting a candle. They found that a cat had jumped on Nag Mahashay’s face and had scratched the white of his left eye. Sharatkamini wept at the sight of the wound, but Nag Mahashay consoled her, saying: “Don’t worry. It is nothing. Why do you think so much about this rubbish body? God came to me in the form of a cat to punish me for my past karma. Truly, this is the grace of God.” Fortunately, the scratch healed in a few days and his sight was not damaged.
Once, when Nag Mahashay went to a pond to wash his hands and feet, a snake bit a toe on his left foot. In spite of the pain, Nag Mahashay did not move, and after a short while the snake left. When Sharatkamini saw the bleeding toe she was very much worried. But Nag Mahashay said to her: “Don’t worry. It was just a water snake. Thinking my toe was food, it bit me.” Indeed, his capacity to endure suffering was remarkable. When he suffered excruciating colic pain he never complained, but would sometimes say: “Victory to Sri Ramakrishna! Master, I could not serve you well with this body so it became diseased as a fitting punishment. Blessed is the colic pain which reminds me of Sri Ramakrishna! Master, it is your grace. Without your boundless grace there is no other way for a man to attain liberation.” (Source: They Lived with God)