THE IDEOLOGY AND LITERATURE OF ANANDA MARGA

While describing the event of Ist April 1955, I have already mentioned that one Margii brother had brought the proof of the book called Ananda Marga which was being printed at the time. That day Baba had refused to look at it, but the importance and the significance of the book is great.

Ananda Marga is a philosophy and Shrii Shrii Anandamurtiji it its propounder.

From 1953-54 onwards Baba had given a series of discourses to his Bengali speaking disciples. These were jotted down by them and were again shown to Baba for his approval and Baba was correcting them wherever necessary.

Before the winter of 1954, The book ‘Ananda Marga’ had taken shape in Bengali by compilation and correction of His talks.

Now it became necessary to translate it into Hindi. This task was entrusted to my medium respected Chandranathji. He took up this task seriously. Acarya Chandranathji is the first Hindi speaking disciple of Baba. Thus he is the senior most disciple in this respect. He completed the translation before the spring of 1955, and gave it to a press in Monghyr for printing.

Those days Baba was taking classes for tattvikas and acaryas. He was thus very much pressed for want of time. Even so, somehow or other He went through its proof. Thus by 1956 ‘Ananda Marga Elementary Philosophy’ in Hindi came into our hands. Those who believe in this philosophy began to call themselves Ananda Margiis.

This book facilitated the knowledge of philosophy amongst His disciples. The talks on philosophy that used to take place after weekly dharma cakra were also very useful for sadhakas. The sadhakas had already given up the superstitious and divisive practices of wearing sacred threads and tufts of hair on the head, and the ideas of caste superiority or inferiority. The disciples now felt the need for a book setting out the daily routine of spiritual aspirants, in order to build a disciplined and organised society.

Therefore, Baba wrote down “Carya Carya” This book is also originally in Bengali. The task of its translation also was entrusted to Shrii Chandranathji. In his characteristic efficient way, be translated this book also speedily. Now this second book was also given to the press for publication. Its first edition was available in 1956.

About this book Baba said, “For the physical, intellectual and spiritual development of man, there is the need for an efficient social organization. Ananda Marga has undertaken to build a new society after fully understanding the pains and pleasures and the mental propensities of modern people. It accepts whatever is the truth naturally and reforms wherever necessary.

In the name of take gentlemanliness, we have not protected the defects and mental diseases of our society, which keep the social body injured from within.

This book is in 3 parts and has been written keeping in view every aspect of humanity’s Individual and social life”.

After ‘Ananda Marga’ and ‘Carya Carya’ were written, Baba said, “Your philosophy is logical. This will be easily adopted by the youth of this country as well as the western world”.

In this context Baba said:

THE PRACTICE OF MENTAL PRANAM

Whenever I came into contact with Baba after my initiation, the desire to do sastaunga pranam and to massage His feet would overwhelm me. Any day when I did not get the opportunity I always become sad and depressed and had no inclination to do anything else that day. These two feelings were my great weakness, I had great desire to touch his feet and do sastaunga pranam. An incident in the Ananda Purnima DMC in Ranchi in 1958 reduced the intensity of this desire, although I continued to yearn for it. The incident was like this.

Baba was staying in a very big house in Ranchi. That house had a big compound and in the morning, some Margiis collected here to have Baba’s darshan, myself amongst them. Somebody informed us that Baba was sitting in the drawing room after breakfast and so we all started towards the drawing room. Those days the restrictions on going to Baba were much less, and everyone felt very happy when they found Baba alone in the room and began to do sastaunga pranam in turn in a disciplined manner.

We were less than 10 Margiis in the room, and when four or five brothers had done their pranam it came to my turn.

As I was about to prostrate, Baba’s personal secretary came into the room and said that we were committing a great mistake. I felt disturbed and could not do my sastaunga pranam with full concentration.

I rose and began to ponder what could be the mistake in doing pranam to ones guru? If this is a mistake why is it a part of sadhana?

As I come out of the room, I asked the attending secretary to come out also. I was angry and sad. Sad as I could not do my sastaunga pranam properly, and angry that someone had obstructed me, for the first time, from doing pranam. When the attending secretary came out. I asked him in an agitated tone as whether he had done his pranam to Baba that morning. He replied in the affirmative. I further enquired, “When you have done your pranam, what right had you to prevent others from doing the same?”

He was silent and then admitted his own mistake. He said that seeing the crowd he had objected almost mechanically. I became quiet but the miracle happened that from that day I developed the desire of doing sastaunga pranam mentally and I began to feel satisfied with this. Now whenever I get a chance to do my sastaunga pranam to Baba either by touching His feet or otherwise, I always take it as a special grace of Baba, normally I am satisfied by doing sastaunga pranam mentally only. Even this isHis grace that he allows us to do pranam to His physical body or mentally.