THE DREAM COME TRUE

The hero of this story is Vishwanath Upadhyaya, an orthodox and devout Hindu hailing from Nepal. Shri Ramakrishna used to address him as 'Captain'. He had come to Calcutta, the then capital city of India, as the Officer-in-Charge of a large timber yard belonging to the State of Nepal. It was located at Ghusuri, Howrah on the banks of the Ganga opposite Calcutta. One night in 1871 or '72, Upadhayaya saw in a dream a holy man who beckoned to him to come for receiving the gift of Divine knowledge. Soon after, he heard of Shri Ramakrishna, decided to pay a visit and was very pleasantly surprised to find in Shri Ramakrishna the holy man of his dream! No wonder he became a devotee. But devotees have no special immunity from troubles of this world and our captain got into very serious trouble indeed. The timber yard was located on the banks of the Ganga which upto Calcutta (and for some distance further upstream) is subject to the influence of the tides. On days of very high tides the Nepal Govt. timber yard at Ghusuri used to get flooded, often resulting in some pieces of stored timber being carried away by the receding waters. By the time the Captain woke up to these small but persistent losses, the accumulated value of the missing timber had become very high and he found it difficult to render accounts on the basis of physically verified stocks of timber. So the Captain also defaulted in the submission of accounts! When vague rumors about stock shortages and alleged embezzlements reached the King, Upadhayaya was summoned to Nepal to explain. He knew he was in very grave danger and toyed with the idea of disobeying even the royal command to return to his country. He finally decided to make an appeal to the Master for protection and was shedding copious tears when he approached Shri Ramakrishna for this. The Master, who could surrender everything else, to his Mother Kali but Truth, naturally asked Upadhyaya to come clean. 'Captain' explained the position and assured Thakur that there had been nothing malafide and the large losses were entirely due to natural causes. Assured on this point the Master said that he believed him and Upadhyaya need not be afraid to tell the exact truth to the King also. He further assured his devotee that be the grace of mother Kali he would return to Calcutta fully exonerated! With this clear cut assurance of protection, Vishwanath went to Nepal and faced the King with confidence. He admitted the losses and his responsibility for failure to take timely preventive measures but denied any malafide or improper conduct like unrecorded sales and embezzlement of cash. The Ruler not only believed him fully but was also impressed by his straightforward manner and the able presentation of his case.

The result was that he was not only re-posted to Calcutta but also in a much more responsible position as the Envoy of His Majesty's Govt. in India. His salary was increased four-fold and his rank upgraded to that of a Colonel in the Royal Nepal Army. A weeping Vishwanath shedding, this time, tears of joy, reported all this to the Master dwelling on his 'Colonel-hood' the most. Thakur sought clarification about the precise significance of this but concluded by saying "That is all very good, but I would rather call you Captain." And that is why he continued to be ' the Captain' and achieved immortality in that name in the pages of Kathamrita, a one sentence extract from which is given below:

" Master: There is another big man. Captain. Though a man of the world, he is a great lover of God ..... he knows the Vedas, the Vedanta, the Bhagavata, the Gita and Adhyatma Ramayana and other scriptures by heart."

With this testemonial from the Master himself, there is hardly any scope for doubt that the Captain's dream did come true. Remember, he was summoned in his dream to "receive the gift of divine knowledge".

It is time now to try and record one of Swamiji's miracles. I select one which because of the time factor would appear to be the Master's doing as well. The story has been recorded by  that famous Yogi, Paramahansa Yogananda whose Autobiography must be regarded as the most astounding and outstanding first-person experience of reality behind the phenominal veil of our day-to-day experience.

The story is as much about Yogananda as it is about Vivekananda, but I shall highlight the role of Swamiji only ...

MORE MIRACLES: CARRYING THE LOAD

It was during a rainy season that the Sevak ( Swami Mahadevananda) came to Jairambati (Mother's village) from the Ashram at Koalpara. The Mother asked him to stay on to help her by fetching things from a grocery shop in another village - Haldipukur - at a distance of two kilometers. (There was no grocery shop in Jairambati). In the afternoon the Sevak went to Haldipukur and purchased atta, ghee, and other provisions and one tin of kerosene oil weighing, in all, about a maund. Noting the weight of the of the items, the shopkeeper suggested that a porter be engaged for carrying the provisions. As Mother had not specifically authorised this expenditure, the sevak put the heavily loaded basket on his own head and started for Jairambati. However, after covering only a short distance he realised that the load was too heavy to be carried in comfort. The muddy surface of the road, drenched by the monsoon rains, had become slippery and full of puddles and he had to keep one arm engaged in holding the umbrella to protect the provisions from the pelting rains. But ignoring the pain and hardship and with firm determination he kept moving forward, for he was carrying things needed by the Mother! In this fashion he negotiated a tricky stretch of water-filled depression on the road which stretched his endurance to the limit, when he suddenly realised that the load was no longer troubling him and seemed to have become lighter. So surprised was he that he actually halted in his tracks and looked for an explanation but could not find any. When he resumed his walk towards Jairambati, he had been fully freed from all discomfort. Thus he entered the Mpther's house at ease, but found he walking about on the front Verandah in extreme agitation. He face was flushed, as if with exertion and the whites of her eyes were showing. She was muttering to herself, "Oh, why did I not tell him to engage a porter!" After the sevak had unloaded the basket on the floor she said to him: " You should have engaged a porter. Does it matter that I did not ask you to do so? One must never undergo such hardship".

Gentle reader, you decide, how the Sevak's load was lightened!.

Next, back to the Master for a story of full protection for a devotee.

MORE MIRACLES

 In the first part of this essay, nine of the lesser known miracles of Shri Ramakrishna have been studied. In this section, we take up some more of these miracles performed not only by the Master himself but also by Ma Sarada and Swami Vivekananda through whom also the Master's powers operated.

2. Regarding Shri Shri Ma, the Master himself made the position clear through many utterances such as this one to Galap-Ma (a woman devotee of the Master who was an "Antaranga" of the Mother');

" Bestower of knowledge is she, born with uncommon sagacity. She is no ordinary person - She is my Shakti." Again, after the Sodoshipuja (worship of Ma Sarada as Divine Shakti) the Master's final offering was - himself. He offered up the fruit of all his Sadhanas together with his rosary at her feet. Shri Shri Ma herself said: "What is Shri Ramakrishna that I am." So, a miraculous act by the Mother is equally a miracle of Shri Ramakrishna. Hence it was teh Master himself who set the ball rolling when a lady ( wife of Kalipada Ghosh), who at that time regarded Shri Ramakrishna no more than Sadhu with yogic powers, approached him. Her prayer was that the Master prescribe some 'Medicine' to cure her wayward husband of his evil ways which had blighted her married life and rid him of the unwholesome friends who had led him astray. The Master surprisingly did not rebuff her but said " You better appeal to the lady who stays in the Nahabat: if you explain frankly your predicament to her, she will give you the right medicine. She knows all about these miraculous remedies and in such matters she has even greater powers that I"; Shri Shri Ma was then approached and gave a patient hearing to the lady, concluded that teh Master was playing a game and told the lady that it was the Master who knew about such medicine and she must press him for it. The poor woman was thus tossed from one to the other three times when the Mother's kind heart melted and, maybe, to remove here immediate distress she picked up a 'Bel' leaf that had been offered in puja and gave it to her saying, "my child, take this; it will bring about what you wish". The result of this blessing of the Mother is now a leaf in the history of the Ramakrishna movement. How the 'Dana' (terrible) Kali was in due course converted into one of the brightest gems in the string of the Master's devotees has been recorded in the 'Punthi' as also in Swami Gambhirananda's essay on Kalipada Ghosh in his 'Bhakta Malika' (Garland of Devotees)

3. Now, Vivekananda. We have noticed earlier that the Master had declared categorically that he and Naren were non- different. The sole witness of the strange behaviour of the Master towards Naren on that occasion, Vaikuntha Sanyal, has recorded the Master saying to Naren:

" What I see is that I am this body and I am also that body. It is true, I see no difference .... What ignorance! Are you and I different? This is I and that is also I".

We also know of the Master's offer to transfer to Naren all his occult powers and Naren's refusal to accept these. But the matter did not ed there. The powers did get transferred. This is how Christopher Isherwood describes the process of transfer, vide Ramakrishna and His Disciples:

" ..... Ramakrishna summoned Naren to him. There was no one else in the room. Gazing fixedly at Naren he passed in Samadhi. Naren felt a force somewhat like an electric current was taking possession of his body; Slowly he lost consciousness. When he came to himself again he found Ramakrishna weeping. "Oh, Naren, " he said " I've given you everything I have - and now I am a beggar! But these powers I have handed over to you will make you able to do great things in this world. When all that is accomplished you can go back where you came from". 

But these inherited (?) powers were used by Swamiji for the good of humanity only He had said so specifically to the daughter of Mr. & Mrs. Lion of Chicago whose hospitality was accepted by Swamiji quite often during his stay in America. This young lady had got interested in Indian religious practices and with the help of someone had quickly made some progress and had acquired the power of visualising the face of the writer of any letter she might hold in her hand. After about a year Swamiji came yo know of it when he was again a guest of the Lions. He told Miss Lion that he had also possessed miraculous powers but Shri Ramakrishna had cautioned him never to use these powers except for the general benefit of people at large.

4. With this brief introduction, let us now get on with the miracles themselves and start with a cameo from the Mother.

The Final Hours - Baba

Ram Krishna Ganguly

On 25/02/2011, my father, Sri Ram Krishna Ganguly, passed away. He was 86 years, 7 months and 25 days old. He had been showing signs of central nervous system disorder for the last 4 months or so. For about two months he had been slowly unable to take care of himself and needed help with eating and cleaning himself. On the 23rd of February Swamiji Bishendu Maharaj, from the Dehra Dun math suddenly visited us, around 9 in the morning. He had visited us once before, when we were staying at Transport House: he had never come to Prasashan Nagar before. He said that he had come to Hyderabad and wanted to meet Dad and so had persuaded the lay sanyasi at the Math to bring him over, without a formal appointment. Shiv was giving Dad a wash at the time, so he waited. When Dad was wheeled into the room, he saw Swamiji and gave him a big smile. No words were exchanged, just namaskars and the look on Dads face showed how delighted he was to see him. Swamiji was clearly moved, and did not say a word. In hind sight, I feel he might have known that Dad was not going to be in this world very much longer. The next evening, we realised that Dad's feet were very cold. Called the doctor and started giving him high glucose drinks. He responded immediately, so we kept up the same treatment during the night. Next morning he was fine, and had a big bowl of oats, from Shiv. We were quite exhausted ourselves, so after lunch, decided to nap. I wasn't comfortable, though, despite the fact that both Kiran and Purushottam were with him. Around 4 that afternoon, I went down to check on Dad and found that his hands were very cold; called Shiv.....we made him lie on his bed. He was not speaking but was alert and conscious. He spoke a few words to Shiv..." I wish..." I had called Karthik  and he was on his way back from the factory. We gave him orange juice. It was sour and he made a face. “is it sour" I asked. He nodded yes. I added honey and gave him some more. He smiled, nodded and took the remaining juice. Karthik walked in, with his usual hi Dadu....dad's face lit up, the smile was one of the biggest I have ever seen on his face. Karthik came and stood near his head, pulled him up a little, so he could drink the juice more easily. By now, he was getting steadily colder. I put Ma's jap mala in his hands. Asked for the Ganga
Jal from the puja room. Someone went and brought the can. Put a spoonful in his mouth. He drank it. I asked Shiv, Karthik, Sunita, Kiran and Purushottam to give him some jal. Veda had just come in. I could make out that Dad wanted to see Shiv, so I moved to his feet and asked to Shiv to stand next to him. Karthik was at the head. Krishna came. A little fluid came out of his mouth, so Karthik wiped his mouth and told his granddad to just bring it out. Suddenly I saw two or three twirls of what looked like smoke come out of his mouth. They were very beautiful. Pearl grey in colour and perfect twirls....can't describe how beautiful they were. Tara barked sharply, looking towards the door. When I looked back, the twirls were gone. And so was Dad. It was 6pm.

Baba had written about Ma's final hours in a hand-made paper book, which I found after his passing away. Am posting his thoughts, in his own words. The next post records my memories of his final hours. 

Rekha – 30/03/1926 – 22/07/2005

Died in 80^th year leaving husband, two daughters, one son,  two sons – in-law and one daughter-in-law alive and in good health. All eight grandchildren in good health.

Lost both parents and parents-in-law only brother (Gaur) and both elder sisters (Roma and Reba) Two younger sisters’ are  alive (Neela and Ila).

Deeksha by Swami Gambhirananda, President, Ramakrishna Mission at Belur Math on 17^th October 1985.

Met Ma Anandmoyee in Bombay (in 1982)

Favorite Uncle Dr. Kalikinkar Sengupta. Close friends – Joanna, Kanu, Anima, Chinmoyee.

MA. in Philosophy (Cal. Univ.) 1948

Scholarships in Matric, Inter and B.A.

1^st class 1^st in B.A. Phil Hons. Several Univ. Medals and Hawkins gold Medal from Scottish Church College. Name on Roll of Honour of Scottish Church College for 1946.

Confined to bed for two years. Never a Complaint, why me? Nirmal ‘man’ in a nirmal body was achieved at the end. There was no need to excrete any ‘mal’ during the last three days of life, nor after passage of the soul. This must be rare!

Taught me to be happy in my own company – to pray in solitude as recommended by Shri Rama Krishna.

There was a visitor on 22^nd July evening, Veda, Ranjana’s batch mate and my Service colleague.We i.e. Veda and I, were talking about K. N. Rao another Service Colleague who had achieved post-retirement fame as an astrologer. Had worked with me at Calcutta when I was AG II there Many senior IAS officers used to visit the office to consult him astrologically! Was initiated into the “Kriya Yoga” in the line of Bijoy Krishna Goswami. Had not married. Used to donate his monthly salary to the Ashraam where he used to live!

Ranjana gave her mother a feed – horlicks, poured spoon by spoon in the mouth. After that Ranjana said “Ma would sleep now” and she and Veda left the room. I looked at Rekha – the eyes were wide open but with a vacant look. I jumped out of the bed and came to the other side and looked. There was a slight jerk of the head and she was gone. The colour of the skin changed and the face was at peace. No certification was required. The Soul had left the body. Called Gaun and told her. Gaun cried as she embraced her mother. I said loudly: What a nice way to go!

Beyond Communisim

Communism is dead, deader than the proverbial Dodo. Along with it, the USSR (and its Super Power status), lies buried in the Christmas snows AD 1991~. The economic theory of State Capitalism today stands
utterly discredited. Eve the 'Commanding Heights' are up for sale all over the world. Only China and Cuba are keeping up the semblance of a fight but sooner, rather than later , these two will have to fall in line. And Communism, a vaunted ideological landmark will probably live on in as a museum piece in that last refuge of lost faiths, India.
2. Why has Communism, once accepted by many knowledgeable and intelligent persons as virtually the 'final truth' crumbled so very suddenly and with such finality? The reasons are many; some of them may be listed listed below:

1. As a faith it was over-dogmatic. Humanity has always had a sneaking suspicion that the 'final truth' is not so easy to achieve and like the ding-en-sich@ of Emmanuel Kant may really be unknowable!. A rigidly dogmatic faith however appealing and vital initially, sooner or later meanders into desert sand and being unable to change course, dries up there.
2. The laboratory experiment of the new faith took place in the wrong country where despotism of a dynastic monarchy was replaced by another - Government of the Party, by the Party and for the Party! It turned out to be much the crueler of the two when the self-appointed protectors of the masses turned as it were in a trice, into their worst ever oppressors and exploiters.
3. The new faith was founded on a wrong understanding of human nature. It ignored the dual nature of man - an economic animal but a God in the making in spirit. That the motive-springs of the Saint in man and the animal are different was over-looked. While economic activity is rooted in combativeness, self-aggrandisement and 'bhoga' or enjoyment, the Saint is motivated by love (of 'thy neighbour' variety) and renunciation or 'tyaga'. It was indeed foolish of the faith to expect that a motive that would activate a Gandhi or a Shaw will also be adequate for the ordinary human-animal. The average, run-of-the-mill animal cannot be expected to keep on doing his best indefinitely for the benefit of the 'more-equal'# animals in the manner of the old work-horse in the Animal Farm! More so, if you have deliberately and ruthlessly suppressed the springs of altruism and have forced every budding saint to seek refuge in the vodka bottle.

3. Do we then treat the passing away of  Communism as an unmixed blessing, a devoutly desired consummation or shed a tear or two and sigh for what might have been?  First let us allay a fear or two.

Does the death by suicide of the Soviet Super Power leave us at the tender mercies of the other Tryanr? Does a Mr. Bush (or his successor who may make us quail!$) decide for every country every little thing on pain of being electronicuted% a la Iraq? That would indeed be terrible, for Mr. Bush's New World Order may be just another name for Pan-Americana.

Luckily for humanity at large, the menacing shadow of American 'arms' is only a passing one. The muscles of American 'arms' will cease to flex soon enough with the rapid decline of the once almighty dollar. You can actually see he prospective supplanters^ waiting in the wing willing, and able to to pounce on the aging giant.The real danger for humanity is in the revival of Nazism in Germany and the unrestricted growth of fundamentalism in oil-rich Islamic countries or the ganging up of the yellow nations&. Actually, humanity should hope that the aging giant hold aloft the 'star spangled banner' for long enough for Man to undergo the sea-change which will make international strifes entirely redundant and irrelevant.

4. Now about the tears. That the aim of Communism, a classless society providing justice and equality for all is (and was) highly laudable no one will gainsay. Again, the cry for social justice did not originate in the bosom of Communism and it shall not cease to be heard merely because Communism has called quits! Even in the modern European context demands for Liberty and Equality were very much in the forefront of the French Revolution! That demand - for social justice - had been voiced much earlier by Buddha and Christ and the demand is not going to evaporate merely because one experiment to try and arrange it has come to a premature and ignominious end. Man has always clothed his Maker with the virtues of Charity (daya) and mercy (karuna). Whether or not there is  a Maker and , f so, what His qualities are may be questioned but that these are basic human virtues will be generally accepted.

5. The void created by the sudden demise of Communism must, therefore be filled up and the sooner that is done, the better. Any delay may usher in a new dark age which, backed by modern scientific power may be a thousand times more oppressive than anything experienced bu humnaity so far, the barbrism of the Monghols and Huns not excluded. Who or what shall fill the void, then?

6. Some possibilities are:

• Spread, throughout the world, of Islamic egalitarianism. Maybe voluntary or by the threat of nuclear annihilation. Pan-Islamism with the backing of Petro-dollars and of nuclear arms is a distinct possibility as the break up of the Soviet Union  has created at least one Islamic nuclear state. Other Islamic countries are not only veering towards fundamentalism but are also mad about the Islamic Bomb.
• A strong Christian revival with simultaneous emphasis on maximum use of the 'talents'* entrusted to man by his Maker on the one hand and sharing of the surplus produce (the Biblical coat'+) on a purely voluntary basis, on the other.
• A conscious and deliberate adoption by the rulers of every country of the 'trusteeship' principle advocated by Gandhiji along with the Christian vow of poverty. This in a sense is the Socratic or, if you prefer, the Platonic prescription of Philosopher Kings**. This may not be as absurd as it may appear at first glance. We have seen in Indian history how power (i.e., authority to legislate and adjudicate) could be divorced from weaponry ( of the Kshtriyas) or money (of the Vysyas) and held by a group (the Brahmins) which preached and practised the twin 'dharmas' of love of knowledge and self-imposed poverty. India has also seen how in various tribal groups, still surviving in isolated pockets (in North East India for example) property like land and forest could for centuries be owned by the community as a whole. The assets could be put to productive use by the individuals only to the extent authorised by the 'elders'! There was also sufficient production to meet the minimum needs of all and distribution was equitable. This miracle was achieved by keeping the needs down to the essential minimum and by separating the off-springs from the parents as soon as the child was weaned. Thereafter, his or her upkeep, training etc., were the responsibility of the village. It was hence unnecessary for anyone to accumulate for the next generation. Similarly, the old or the infirm were taken care of by the village and it was not necessary to build up a personal nest egg for the rainy days of old age or illness.

7. Any perceptive observer of current events would have noticed the stirrings of an Islamic revival, particularly in Africa and Asia. Though overshadowed just now by ethnic, linguistic and economic differences and disparities, a Pan Islamic movement is very much on the cards. A religious revival in the Christian world must follow the routing of the anti-Christ-Communism in Europe. There are also signs that the internal divisions within Christendom may be ironed out restoring Christianity to the preeminent position it once held as the harbinger of civilization. Gandhiji's ideas will also have many new votaries, now that the dangers of over industrialization and its impacts on the environment are becoming obvious. But, it does not seem likely that Christ, Mohammad or Gandhi will adequately fill the void left behind by Marx. we may have to look elsewhere for a superior idea that can enthuse humanity to move into a New World Order as we step into the 21st Century. The reasons for looking elsewhere, very briefly, are:

• Pan-Islamism: Islam, in spite of its egalitarianism suffers from the same over-dogmatism that killed Communism. Its intolerance of other faiths apart from its internal humanity. Should it mellow down to a bolder faith of universal love eschewing its hatred for the 'non-believers may be at some future date its egalitarianism will build up a brotherhood of man. But not just now.
• Christian Love: This has had a long innings of about 2000 years and while it has done quite a lot of good. by spreading world wide a very highly ethical theory, it has lost a lot of its vitality on account of internal dissensions. The Christian world is ripe for a change but the wisdom of Christ will have to appear in a new garb, shorn off theological dogma, before Christ can unify first Christendom and then the rest of the world.
• Philosopher Kings: However much we may hanker after selfless (therefore, celibate) rulers and their obedient subjects who love high thinking so much that they accept simple living with a smile, the days of self-contained and self-sustained village economies are over. It will also be impossible to put back the clock of consumerism. A society used to the ease of micro wave ovens, deep-freeze storage and machines that do the washing and has been reared up on instant entertainment via TV and video, will not, cannot, go back to the primitive living of the pre-Second World War days. Even the knowledge that we are moving towards an ecological disaster which may very well terminate mans very existence on Earth, will not make man give up the fruits of the Forbidden Tree.

9. No, mans ability to find and found a New World Order where the more-gifted (individual or nation) will suo-moto share the surplus with the deprived, the handicapped and the backward brethren, will have to be based on an Idea superior to Communism and which will use rather than, abjure the acceleration in the growth of man's knowledge of and power over nature. How nice - and very much more effective- would 'Christian Love' be if it were based on knowledge of the here-and-now world instead about faith about the other world.

10. Humanity must, therefore, quickly move towards that knowledge which will provide an unshakeable basis for a really egalitarian society. The Christian - and its Islamic off-shoot- hope for equality in the belief that we are the 'sons of the same father' has not materialised firstly because the daughters have been ignored and secondly because, in real life, brothers have been the greatest enemies of each other., particularly when it came to sharing the patrimony. What is required is the universal awarness that like the same electricity lighting up the different bulbs in the house, we are all repositories of the same self or 'atman'. In a general, intellectual way, this is known already. It is the realised souls, the arrant 'adhikarika Purusha' who knows this for a certainty having experienced this identity. This knowledge will have to be made the 'common currency' and in the words of Swami Vivekananda, " The Vedanta once kept hidden in the forest would have to be exposed to the day light of our dwelling places". The practical way of doing that would be to see each human being as the embodiment of the divine. Again, to quote Swami Vivekananda: " I do not know of any God other than the sum total of all human souls". Once this is accepted, the objective of each human existence will be (i) the realisation of the God that is in him and (ii) to serve all other humans as God. "Sarve Jiva as Shiva" as Shri Ramakrishna said.

If all of us could do this, there is no strife and sharing ceases to be a sacrifice. This realization, this acceptance of the Idea "Jiva is Shiva" will redeem humanity and also perhaps bring in the 'GNOSTIC BEING' whose arrival has been predicted by Shri Aurobindo!!.


FOOT NOTES:
~ Gorbachev resigned on Christmas Day, 1991
@ Thing-in-itself, expression to denote the ultimate 'substance, in Kant's Critique of Pure Reason
# Expression coined by George Orwell in his famous 'Critique' of Communism - Animal Farm
$ Dan Quayle is the present Vice President of USA and likely to be Bush's running mate for the next election also. Quayle has the reputation of being an eccentric
% Electronic and electricuted
^ Japan and Germany
& Japan, China & Korea, Mongolia will indeed be am irresistible force. Vivekananda did predict that the whole of Europe, not excluding Great Britain, will be under Chinese occupation - mercifully about 900 years from now.
* Talent was the highest valued (gold) coin in circulation during Christ's time. One of his parables was about the non-use of 'talent' entrusted by the master to his servants. John Milton makes a telling use of the word in his poem - 'On his Blindness' - '..that one talent which is death to hide..."
+ Mathew 5(40): 'If any man take away thy coat let him have thy cloak also;"
** Plato's Republic
!! Life divine, Book II Chapter 27

The Saint of the Century

All worthwhile literature is essentially autobiographical, whether it is a Kathamrita or the Autobiography of an  Yogi. I shall therefore start with myself, though the object is to meditate on the Saint of the Century and her special kripa for a person known to me.

The Saint I met briefly, once only, at Bombay in 1981, when I was posted there as the Chief Executive of the Khadi and Village Industries Commission. The " Specially Blessed" person, I met at remote Kohima in 1971, when I was working as the Finance Secretary, on deputation to the Government of Nagaland, and where Binod Kumar had just joined as an IAS probationer. Young, handsome, and a bridge addict, Binod became a favorite of the Ganguly family which at that time (and place) consisted of self ( Ram Krishna), wife (Rekha) and the younger daughter (Ranjana) the son (Ananda) and the elder daughter (Ratna) being away in Delhi studying for their B.A. degree. Ranjana was then only a kid, going to the Little Flower School in Kohima run by Christian Missionaries. But, Ranjana had already picked up the rudiments of the game (of bridge) and was willing, and able, to be a fourth when we had but three regulars at the table. In a manner of speaking, Binod was my disciple as, I believe, I did teach him some of the finer points of the game. That he later became an expert and played in the Nationals, does not mean that he had  nothing to learn when the young Binod came to Kohima to become our adopted son. A bachelor, he was born a Bihari but studied in Calcutta and could read, write and speak better Bengali than my born-Bengali children! A strict vegetarian, he also preferred our simple Bengali style meals to what was available at the Naga Government guest house he lived in. So, he was a frequent - and welcome- guest at our dining table, too.

We parted from Kohima (and Binod) in 1974 at the end of my period of deputation to the State Government. Thereafter we lived at Lucknow, Calcutta, Bombay, Delhi, Calcutta, Dehra Dun, Delhi and Hyderabad, in that order. And at each place Binod had visited us, at times making a detour to do so. During this long association of over twenty five years Binod has given us many gifts and favours, but the most precious one was a letter of introduction to the Saint of the Century, Ma Anandamoyee. Ma had come to Bombay in January 1981. Binod informed us of the fact, gave us the address where Ma would be staying and also a letter to Hansa Didi, introducing us as 'his people'. This Didi, like the better known Gurupriya Didi, had the great privilege of rendering personal service to Ma. Rekha and I hoped to make a quick trip to the address in the morning before my office (in the KVIC) opened at 10. Arriving at the place we found it to be a very affluent person's bungalow with garden, lawn etc.; A long line of cars was already parked outside. There was also a 'queue' of devotees spilling out of the garden on to the road. If we took our turn at the 'queue' , we would never make it to Ma's presence. in the hour's time that I had before my office opened. I would have to give up either Ma or the office! Rekha said: " Why not look for Hansa Didi? and ask for help?" So, abandoning my place at the queue, I went in search of Binod's Didi and ran her to earth just outside the room where Ma was giving darshan to the devotees. I handed over Binod's letter and after a glance at it Didi went into the room where Ma was. I could nit hear what Didi said to Ma, but Ma's voice was loud and clear: "Binod has sent them! Binod! send them in".

Thus we jumped the queue and had immediate darshan of Ma. Ma was all kindness and we got, in addition to prasad, a set of books each, wrapped in a 'gerua' coloured handkerchief. For Rekha, who was fully at ease, the darshan was satisfactory. But I heard Ma's voice and saw her feet, but just could not lift my eyes to see her face. I never got another chance to do so for Ma gave up her body soon after , in 1982, at Dehra Dun, which place we reached only in 1987 to see Ma's Ashram there and other places linked to her memory but not Ma herself.

It would not be correct to infer from what I have said above that it was Binod who introduced me to Ma. Peripherally, I had been in touch with Ma from the time I was about 8 years old. In those days - 1933- recording of voices was rather primitive and gramophones needed frequent manual cranking. On one such primitive device I had heard a sweetly entrancing voice singing a Shiva stotrum and a Guru Bandana along with a few other songs which I do not now recollect. The young lead voice was of Ma Anandamoyee. Though Shri Ramakrishna's name was known to me, I did not at that time know that the guru bandana was addressed to the Paramhansa by a devotee of his named Devendranath Mazumdar. In a sense, therefore, it was Ma Anandamoyee who intrduced me to Shri Ramakrishna as well as to herself!

I have also heard that before my birth (1925) my father had mysteriously met Ma when he, a civil servant, was traveling by boat on Government duty in rural East Bengal. It was after dusk when he realised that he would not be able to reach in time the town where he had planned to put up for the night at a Dak Bunglow. He therefore asked the boatmen to moor the boat at the next village on the river bank. Both the boatmen were Muslims and there was no question of his sharing the frugal meal that they were cooking for themselves. He had just had his bed spread on the boat deck and was preparing to lie down for the night, when a couple of men carrying lanterns in their hands approached the ghat were the boat was moored and enquired whether there was in the boat a Brahmin person who had not had any food that night. My father pleaded guilty to being a brahmin and confessed that he would have to fast for the night. On learning this, the two villagers invited father to accompany them to a house in the village where the housewife had already cooked a meal for the fasting brahmin whose arrival was anticipated Yes, Ma Anandamoyee was the housewife!

Biswanath Ganguly, a first cousin, provides the next link with Ma. Biswa, a few months younger to me, was my uncle's only son and my aunt, Biswa's mother, was the daughter of Kunja Mohan Mukherjee at whose Benares residence Ma stayed a number of times. Before her first visit in 1927 Kunja Babu had seen her in a dream and right from the beginning he was convinced of Ma's divinity. It was also in Kunja Babu's house that Gopinath Kaviraj had Ma's first darshan. Incidentally, Gurupriya Didi whose diary provides  bulk of the information about Ma's early life was Kunja Babu's brother's daughter and therefore Bishwanath's aunty.

Biswanath never married and therefore had enough time to remain in touch with all his cousin's, including me.  I learned many things from him and I am fully convinced that after losing his Dehatma Buddhi he had voluntarily given up his body at Mother Ganga in Haridwar. 

I have also been closely associated with several devotees and disciples of Ma of whom I would mention the two who have given me some insight into Ma's famous ' Kheyal' . The first is one B.G. Ghosal who has worked with me in two different offices in Calcutta. His first hand experience narrated to me was of a not-so-affluent lady who had come to meet Ma at the Benares Ashrama with only a humble guava as an offering Understandably, some of those who surrounded Ma had value judgements which did not match Ma's.  The guava was unceremoniously cast aside. When the time came for Ma's lunch, she was fed the few usual morsels of food and the plate was kept aside. Unexpectedly, Ma said she had not finished and asked, yes, for the guava which her devotee had brought! Only a thorough search produced the offered guava. Ma had a bite and declared that now her meal was complete. In Ma's eyes, it is the devotion and not the price of the offering that counted.

The other devotee, Dr. Niranjan Chakravorty of Delhi University's Bengali Faculty, is one of the few disciples who had been given deeksha by Ma herself. He has narrated to me several incidents which had made it clear to him that Ma always knew the inner workings of the devotees mind and her 'Kheyal" was 'Aghathana ghathana Patiyast '.

I shall now give free rein to my fancy and speculate who, Buddha-like, reincarnated as Ma in village Kheora in Tripura in 1896.

In the recent past, say the last 150 years, only about half a dozen men (or women) of God have made their presence felt on the other side of the Padma, the river that divides East from West Bengal. Of these four names are generally known. These in the order of seniority in age are:-

1. Lokenath Brahmachari, also known as the Brahmachari of Barodi

2. Ram Chandra Chakrabroty ( better known as Ram Thakur)

3. Bejoy Krishna Goswami

and 4. Nirmala Sundari Bhattacharya ( known to the world as Ma Anandamoyee)

Lokenath Brahmachari was born in Shanthipur in West Bengal in 1731 and spent the last years of his life in Barodi village near Dhaka. He died in 1891 at the age of 160! 

Ram Chandra Chakraborty was born in Faridpur District, adjacent to Dhaka, in 1859 and died in Noakhali, East Bengal, in1949. 

Bejoy Krishna Goswami was born in Shantipur, in West Bengal, in 1842, but he lived the fulfilling years of his life in Dhaka and died in 1900 (at Puri).

Nirmala Sundari was born in Tippera, in 1896 and spent the formative years of her life in East Bengal (including several years in Dhaka) She died in Dehra Dun in 1982.

Some tidbits:

1. Ram Chandra and Nirmala had met at least twice. On both occasions there was no conversation. The two just sat together for a while and parted. On one occasion Ram did shastanga pranam as if she were the senior. 

2. Lokenath was Bejoy Krishna's great grandfather's brother. He was residing in Baradi, incognito, as an ordinary person for many years before Bejoy Krishna met him and announced both his great age and yogic greatness. After this Lokenath got public acclaim. Lokenath and Bejoy Krishna trace their ancestry to Advaita Prabhu a Parsada of Lord Chaitanya. 

3. Ram Chandra and Nirmala were greatly admired by the scholar Gopinath Kaviraj who wrote about them both. Gopinath Kaviraj participated in many of the activities organised under Nirmala's direction and considered Ma as a divine being. He was, however, not a disciple, his guru being Swami Bisuddhananda who has mentioned in the famous Autobiography of Paramahnsa Yogananda.

4. Lokenath was the preceptor of Jyothi Basu's father who hailed from Baradi village. 

5.Bejoy Krishna was a contemporary of Shri Ramakrishna and figures very prominently in the Kathamrita. The diary kept by Bejoy Krishna's disciple Kuladananda Brahmachari recording many acts and instructions of the guru published in Book form is an unique record of the day to day life of a Saint. 

I now conclude this section with a free translation of a portion of the conversation between brjoy Krishna and Kuladananda which took place after the news of the death of Lokenath reached the Gendria Ashrama of Bejoy krishna ( in Asadha 1293 B.S); 

Question:( By Kuladananda): Will the Brahmachari take birth again?

Answer (By Bejoy Krishna): Yes, he has work to complete. He will very soon take birth retaining full       awareness comparable to that of Buddha.

Bejoy Krishna said this in 1891. Who were the great souls born in that decade? 

Ma Anandamoyee is one, born in 1896. Paramhansa Yogananda is the other born in 1893. 

Ma was born in East Bengal, but Yogananda in Calcutta in West Bengal.