MARGIIS PLAN TO ASK BABA TO SOLVE THEIR FINANCIAL DIFFICULTIES

Economically speaking, Ananda Margiis have always been lower middle and middle class people.

They are, therefore, always in want.

Due to lack of financial means, the propagation of Marga ideals and the expansion of the organisation was not taking place as rapidly as required.

Therefore, while I was at Jamalpur, the same Margiis approached me, that we may all request Baba to become Kalpataru.

When He becomes Kalpataru and gives us an opportunity to ask our hearts desire, we shall ask for the only boon that the economic difficulties of the Marga and the Margiis may be removed.

Looking at the economic difficulties of the Marga and the Margiis I also agreed with them.

It was decided that we should reach the field that very day and when Baba has taken his seat on the grave we may all request him to become Kalpataru.

Having thus decided that day I could not go to Baba’s residence as usual for doing my pranam. All of us reached the field earlier than Baba and began to wait for Him staying at about 20 to 25 yards away from the grave.

Baba normally used to sit on the tiger’s grave. But that day some other people were sitting there already. We therefore thought that Baba would sit that day on the grave of the English man.

So one of us flashed the torch several times to see if Baba had come to this grave, but saw no one.

We waited for long and when we got up and walked to the Englishman’s grave.

As we approached, we were all surprised to see that Baba was sitting there. The wonder was that only from a distance of 20 or 25 yards with the help of the torch we were unable to see him while he was sitting there. I asked Baba how long He had been there.

Baba replied, “I have been sitting here for long. You people had thrown the torchlight on me several times”

In fact throwing torchlight again and again at Baba was an act of discourtesy and impropriety. After Baba told about the torchlight we all felt guilty and bad and none of us had the courage to ask Baba to become the Kalpataru.

Although we felt disappointed we took solace in the thought that everything happens as per His wish and nothing can be dose without his wish. However another brother disciple and myself did a 2-day fast for our fault.

The third day it was Sunday and Baba was coming to the ashram. I was still on fasting and the other disciple got ready and reached the railway quarter for Baba’s darshan.

I was feeling somewhat weak and therefore did not go to the ashram. I was thinking to continue the fast up to the time Baba become pleased again. But that brother disciple returned in great disappointment from the ashram.

As he returned he asked me to give up my fast.

He said that Baba was very angry in the ashram about the fast of some Margiis. We had undertaken the fast as a measure of penance and to please Baba and what happened was just the opposite.

As I was pondering on what he said, he left to take his food.

When he returned after having his meal, he began to pressure me also to give up my fast.

While I was still thinking what to do, he brought food for me also. Now Bindeshwariji and his elder brother Puneet Babu also began to press me to give up the fast.

Under this circumstances. I had to give up the fast with a heavy heart. From the time I had come to Baba, this was the first occasion that I missed putting a request to Baba and placing my desire before him.

After this disappointing event I felt hesitant to appear before Baba for some time.

After this event I have never seen Baba becoming Kalpataru in my life. This is my ill luck. I wonder when Baba will give me such an opportunity again.

ALL WORLDLY WOES DISSOLVE IN BABA’S PRESENCE

I got one particular realisation in the contact with Baba.

While beset with worldly worries and in a greatly agitated state of mind I approached Baba many a time with the view to mention my troubles to Him. After reaching Him I either completely forgot my worldly worries or began to wonder with a quiet mind whether it would be proper to mention my worries to Him.

Is He not aware of my condition? Some time it happened that in an extremely disturbed and painful state of mind I went to Him with full determination that this day I would surely relate to him my tale of sorrow, but I would becomes quiet as soon as I reached Him.

Once in such as state of mind I went to Baba and did my sastaunga pranam, but while I was still prostrated before Him, He asked, “Do you want worldly wealth or spiritual salvation?”

I began to think, and my eyes were concentrated on Him.

The eyes want to absorb His charming beauty and the ears were busy in listening to the nectar of His sound and the mind remained most happy with all this.

Particularly in DMCs devotees are concentrating their eyes and ears on Baba with greatest attention to listen to the discourse and to see Baba. All the sensory withdrawal processes of the shuddhis prescribed in sadhana automatically take place when we are in His presence.

Although devotees float on the waves of many emotions, yet their object is one, that is, Baba. At that time they attain that indescribable stage which the great Saint Tulsidas has described in the following words:

“The tongue has no eyes and the eyes have no tongue, so how can God’s great beauty be described?”

I LEAVE JAMALPUR

For sometime I began to feel that while I was in Jamalpur, Baba would feel somewhat pain whenever he looked at me. First mentally I tried to find a reason for this, but I reached nowhere then I breached the subject, with those brother disciples with whom I had developed some intimacy and who where in closer contact with Baba, but they could also not enlighten me. Due to this I was now feeling ill at ease at Jamalpur. However my routine continued as usual.

Then I saw in the newspapers that the flood havoc was worse near

Muzaffarpur. This was near my village. In the evening while I was going for a walk with

Baba, I mentioned about this flood.

Baba said, “Yes, for some days you should go to you village and watch thesituation there.”

Although Baba thus allowed me to go to the village, it was not so easy to leave Jamalpur. Whenever I thought of leaving Jamalpur, I would feel very unhappy.

Jamalpur, where I got so much love from Baba and other brother disciples! It was difficult to leave this Jamalpur.

I would feel very restless at the thought of leaving Jamalpur and for hours many events connecting Baba would rise and make my mind restless. Where and when at all I get this opportunity to have Baba darshan everyday and to do sastaunga pranam to Him? Where will this good fortune and happiness come from?

I would recall same lines of great poet Vidyapati which described my mental state in the following language:

“I got great happiness near you. Now my eyes flow with tears at the thought of leaving You. What is the use of japa and tapah and dhyana? Life is meaningful with just one glimpse of You.”

Only those brother disciples who are left behind in Jamalpur after Baba left that place will be able to appreciative my mental condition of these days. They also saw the barren Jamalpur after Baba left that place and felt the pangs of His absence.

They continued to search and roam in every street, road, field and forest with tearful eyes those lotus feet that could give them solace even for a moment. Their pangs of separation were greater than those of the women of Gokul. They would touch the dust of Jamalpur’s streets to their forehead and feel his presence therein.

In this context I am reminded of a story which I will relate here. Once during the summer season, Rahim Khankhana along with his retinue and horses camped at that place where in the ancient times the ashram of Saint Gautam and his wife Ahalya was situated. Here once the husband (Saint Gautam) cursed his wife and she became crude like stone. She became alive again after God Ram touched her with his feet. There some elephants of his camp began to be the in the tank and began to play in the water. When the mahouts took them out of the tank for resuming the journey, they began to throw dust upon themselves with the help of their trunk. Rahim Khankhana was a great poet of has time and in those days [poems were also composed in the style of answering a question or problem. Some poet presented this problem before Rahim when he saw these elephants taking both in dust after the tank bath.

“Why are the elephants putting dust on their own heads?”

Rahim replied in his poem: “They are searching for the dust which brought the wife of the saint back to life.” How beautiful was the reply. Today the devotees of Jamalpur are similarly overwhelmed by devotion and searching their Lord in every particle of dust of that hallowed town. I was very reluctant to leave this Jamalpur and my mental state of those times is indescribable.

MY MOTHER TAKES INITIATION AND IS SAVED FROM DEATH

Before leaving Jamalpur, I had asked Baba about the initiation of my mother and Baba had instructed me to tell my mother all that I myself was doing. After two or three days I returned to my village with a heavy heart. My village is very much in the interior. In those days transport facilities were very rare. Even today the nearest bus- stand is four miles away, and the nearest railway station is six miles away. As a result through rainy season coming and going to the village is a problem. For education and health, one has to depend on Muzaffarpur, which is eighteen miles away from my village. The nearest medical care was an ayurvedic doctor, Shri Alakh Niranjan Pathak at Bariarpur about two miles away from my village. After my father’s death my wife and children had come back to the village and my mother had asked them to remain there itself.

After reaching the village I pressed my mother to start doing sadhana and she agreed. I initiated her as told by Baba and she began to do Sadhana. The rains were heavy and at such a time my second son Mohan fell ill. At that time he was only 9 years old. He was being given medicine by Dr. Pathak who as an Ayurvedic Physician. While this treatment was or, after two days at about nine o’ clock in the night his condition become worse, he began to sink. All the members of the family felt very much worried and I was also at my wits end.

Meanwhile I remembered Baba and I began to pray to Him for the restoration of the health of this child.

At that time it was raining heavily, even so I sent two persons with a lantern to Dr. Pathak who was two miles away. After this I again began to pray to Baba.

Even before the doctor came. The child’s condition began to improve a lot. Dr. Pathak reached at about twelve o’clock in the night on foot, and after examining the boy began his treatment.

That night the doctor stayed with us. In this situation Baba alone was my support and by his very grace my son could regain his health.

Dr. Alakh Niranjan Pathak had taken initiation at Jamalpur only a few days, back. Therefore we developed intimacy. Our families knew each of her for many generations.

The rains were over and the winter had not yet started and my wife fell ill. She remained ill for a long time. She became exceedingly weak. She was also wanted the treatment or the same Dr. Pathak, but there was no sign of any improvement. Now we wanted to call a doctor from Muzaffarpur and show her to him or wanted to take her to Muzaffarpur, when that very evenings her condition began to deteriorate. She began to fall unconscious again and again. All the members of the muffle became very much worried, Dr. Pathak also came and after remembering Baba, began to introduce some change in his treatment.

I continued to pray to Baba whilst sitting in a secluded place. At about midnight my wife fell asleep. That night also Dr. Pathak remained in our house. When my wife woke up in the morning. She told us that she would recover very soon, and there was no need to call a doctor from outside.

I said, “This is fine, but tell me on what basis you are saying that you will recover very soon?”

She said, “In the last quarter of the night I felt as if I was neither asleep nor fully awake. In that condition, I saw that Baba as bright as the sun is coming on a chariot. Baba was most effulgent and divine. I could not look at His brightness. The chariot and the horses were also shining in this effulgence. His chariot came and stopped just in front of me. I fell at his feet. Baba’s right hand lifted up in the abhaya mudra and a light emerged from that hand which fell on all my body. There after my sleep was broken.”In fact, my wife’s health began to improve everyday and in just a few days she recovered fully. Meanwhile my contact with Dr. Pathak became closer and we began to spend more time in spiritual conversation.