Shri Jagdish Prasad Srivastava

Shri Jagdish Prasad Srivastava  was amongst those devotees who came to Shri Nathji at Allahabad.  He was the vice-principal of C.M.P. Degree College. Shri Nathji had been very pleased with his devotion ever since he had offered to go to Benaras to seek admission for HH Pran Nath, if he so desired. However the occasion never came. But Shri Nathji was pleased with the man’s bhaavnaa –the spirit behind his devotion. Shri Nathji always placed great emphasis on ‘bhaavnaa’, the spirit within a person, which was generated by real devotion.

One night Shri Nathji was writing in his small satsang room, which overlooked the road alongside. Shri Nathji always used reading glasses for his reading and writing work, which was voluminous.
 While he was trying to adjust the spectacles on his face one of the screws from the frame fell on the ground. The screw was so small that it could not be easily seen on the carpet below. Shri Nathji tried in vain to serach for it, but soon gave up.
 He could not wear the spectacles because the screw that held the sides of the frame had fallen out. It was about 10 p.m. and Shri Nathji had wished to finish the divine revelations that he was setting down on paper in the night.
 Just then Shri Nathji heard a knock on the door. He opened the door and found that the visitor was Shri Jagdish Prasad Srivastava. Shri Nathji allowed him in, and then began to speak to him with his usual exuberance. After about an hour had elapsed, Shri Nathji stopped speaking. Just as Shri J.P. Srivastava was about to leave the room, Shri Nathji said to him:
 “Jagdish Prasadji, the screw of my spectacles has fallen out and I cannot find it. Do you think you could get the spectacles repaired anywhere?”
 It was already late in the night and all the shops were closed. However, Shri J.P.Srivastavaa was fired with the bhaavnaa of devotion, and he took the spectacles from Shri Nathji, promising to get the screw replaced that very night.
 He rushed out and went to the residence of an optician, and asked him to replace the screw. The optician opened his shop especially for Shri J.P. Srivastava and replaced the screw on Shri Nathji's spectacles.
 Shri J.P. Srivastava was back within one hour and gave the spectacles back to Shri Nathji. Shri Nathji was intensely pleased. This was the bhaavnaa he had always spoken about. Shri Nathji thereafter blessed Jagdish Prasad and the man went away.
 Shri J.P. Srivastava came again the next day and prostrated before Shri Nathji. He had an interesting event to narrate:
 “I had not been confirmed as principal of the college since a long time. It appeared that there were certain elements who were inimical to me, who were trying to stall the process. I came for your darshan last night. And today I received a letter confirming my appointment as principal of the college. It is all due to your blessings!”
 Shri Nathji laughed and said: “Shri J.P. Srivastava! This is the reward for that service you rendered me last night – getting the screw of my spectacles replaced in the dead of night. Had I not lost the screw you would not have received the divine grace for restoring it! The lost screw was merely an excuse to give you the chance of serving me!

When Pran Nathji had to leave for his higher studies to London, Shri Nathji had arranged for Jagdish Prasad Srivastava to accompany Pran Nath to Delhi from where he was to board the flight to London on 18th September 1961.

With Shri Nathji’s blessings, Shri J.P. Srivastava later become the principal of of C.M.P. Degree College in 1957. The year 1957 saw the rise of a new era in the history of development of C.M.P. Degree College, when Sri J.P. Srivastava took over the reins as Principal from previous torch bearers. At that time, the institution was struggling hard to find its feet in the face of paucity of resources and lack of desired support.  In 1957 the U.P. Government funded and Pandit Kamalapati Tripathi, the then Education Minister, Laid the foundation stone of the college hostel which was later inaugurated by Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru, the then Prime Minister and named after Dr. Sampurnanand, situated well within the College campus. In 1957 itself, the foundation of Chemistry department building was laid and the extension of Zoology and Physics Laboratories was taken up in 1958-59

C.M.P. Degree College (C.M.P. stands for Chaudhry Mahadev Prashad) is managed by a very progressive body- Kayastha Pathshala Trust, one of the biggest Trusts in Asia which manages a number of institutions all over India. It was established in 1873 by late Munshi Kali Prasad Kulbhaskar, a leading lawyer of Lucknow. The Trust has made commendable efforts to upgrade the academic excellence of the College.  These are the photographs of the C.M.P. Degree College.