The Great Devotee, Sri Prabhat Chandra Chakraborty

Sri Prabhat Chandra Chakraborty was one of the very lucky disciples who was very dear & close to our beloved Gurudev!! There were many incidents where we find that there was very much love & affection between them and which was the basis of their relationship!!  Prabhat babu’s devotion at the holy lotus feet of Sri Sri Ramthakur was of so much higher standards that it is impossible to reach that stage without the grace or mercy of Sri Sri Thakur!! He  very often used to keep the holy feet of Sri Gurudev at his chest and chant loudly the full 11th Chapter from Srimad Bhagvad Gita where about the vishwaroop of Lord Sri Krishna & subsequently singing of the Lord’s glory by Arjuna has been described!! When he used to chant that chapter, tears of immense devotion & love would roll down his eyes & Sri Sri Thakur would also sit motionless looking at Prabhat babu!! When Prabhat babu met Gurudev for the first time before his arrival itself Gurudev said to everybody present there “a big ship of knowledge is coming here!!” Prabhat babu put before Sri Sri Thakur many questions to which all of them Gurudev replied very happily, after this Prabhat babu fall at the holy feet of Sri Sri Thakur and requested to forgive him!! His love for Gurudev was so much that even used to scold Him also manyatimes out of worry for the safety & care of Guruji!! Once it so happened that a young devotee was going through a court case through which he would get some property if he wins and for that he had needed one witness who would stood before the judge and confirm that he knows him & he is of good character. He approached many friends or known people but nobody accepted it & then he requested Sri Sri Thakur to do this favour to him to which Gurudev immediately agreed!! On the day of hearing Sri Sri Thakur became ready before time by wearing some good clothes & shoes in his feet and started waiting for that young devotee who had gone to fetch some conveyance to reach the court. Exactly at that moment Prabhat babu arrived in that house and became surprised to Sri Sri Thakur so beautifully dressed and prepared to go somewhere. He asked Gurudev as is He going somewhere? Seeing Prabhat babu Sri Sri Thakur also became little worried as Gurudev knows him very well. Sri Sri Thakur didn’t utter a single word & this made Prabhat babu very suspicious as something is going wrong here!! He immediately went inside the house and asked the house owner and came to know of everything and this was sufficient to made him furious!! He came back and started scolding Gurudev as what is need of Him going to the court and if He doesn’t go there that young fellow wouldn’t find anybody else in this whole world??etc. By that time that young devotee returned with the conveyance to take Gurudev & seeing him Prabhat babu literally pounced on him and started shouting on him as how dare you taking Sri Sri Thakur to the court?? You don’t have minimum respect to a holy figure about whom you didn’t thought twice before using Him for your materialistic gains!! That young fellow immediately understood his fault and fall at the holy feet of Gurudev & requested Him to forgive to which Gurudev told him to not to feel bad and that Prabhat babu love Sri Sri Thakur very much thats why care for Him so much!! Another incident happened once when a theft took place at the house of a devotee and he started lamenting before Sri Sri Thakur that you were there but still it happened.  Hearing this Prabhat babu became angry and started shouting on Sri Sri Thakur making audible to that devotee as “instead of being a Guru now start guarding your devotee’s houses otherwise they are not going to spare you.” Once Sri Sri Thakur was travelling along with some other devotees in a train in 3rd class (those days this class was existing which may be todays 2nd class sleeper). Prabhat babu was also among them and during the journey what he did left everybody wondering about his deep & immense devotion at the lotus feet of Sri Sri Thakur!! Gurudev was travelling bare feet which was His old habit and very often was visiting the toilet (railways indian toilet’s condition is known to all of you which are very unclean!) and every time Gurudev came back Prabhat babu who was wearing a very costly dhoti & kurta would wipe very gently & carefully the feet of Sri Sri Thakur with his dhoti and would rub that portion of his dhoti onto his own head!! An old man who was also travelling in the same class and sitting next to them was watching this for a very long time and at the end couldn’t control his curiosity and asked Sri Sri Thakur in typical eastern-bengali language as “Ini Ki Apnar Chaila?” (“is he your son?”) At this Sri Sri Thakur replied  “Ho!” (“Yes!”) How blessed, how blessed is Sri Prabhat Chandra Chakraborty Mohashoy!! Had Sri Sri Thakur said this for me I would have died immediately on that spot itself out of immense happiness!! Prabhat babu’s devotion was unmatchable indeed!! Another incident I remember when Prabhat babu and many other devotees along with Sri Sri Thakur planned for a vacation outside Kolkata to Puri and as decided they all hired some rooms in a lodge at Puri. During that time Prabhat babu suddenly got a telegram from Kolkata that his daughter is severely sick & ill due to cholera (those days cholera was being treated as a very deadly disease) Everybody suggested Prabhat babu to leave immediately for home to which he laughed and said “what are you saying?? Are you mad?? Whatever is in the fate of my daughter that would happen otherwise also!! There is money at the home and the doctor is also available in the city, my family can care of her very well! I am not going from here at any cause!!”

When the Durga Puja was being celebrated at Sri Sri Kaibalyadham, Pahartali, Chittagong by making an idol of the Goddess, Prabhat babu ran to Gurudev and enquired from Him whether He had ordered for this worshipping by making an idol!! When Sri Sri Thakur told that He didn’t ordered for idol making instead asked all the devotees for celebrating Durga-Utsav!! Prabhat babu only told everybody after confirming from Sri Sri Thakur that not only the Durga Puja, infact all the dieties can be worshipped on the portrait of Sri Sri Thakur itself!! Sri Prabhat Chandra Chakraborty who was a great Sanskrit scholar at Calcutta University even wrote the famous Sri Ram Stotra & Kaibalya Stotra which is dear to all of us now!! Prabhat babu while trying for Doctorate degree once lamented before Sri Sri Thakur that “it will not possible for me to get the degree as there is another person who is more learned & qualified than me!!” At this Sri Sri Thakur said “don’t worry, both of you will get it!” Prabhat babu said “then you guide me, on what ground I should be preparing my thesis!” Sri Sri Thakur replied “you write that language is the basis!!” Actually it happened what Sri Sri Thakur told!! Even after Prabhat babu died, his soul is always with Sri Sri Thakur as confirmed by Himself!! About him only Gurudev once had said that Sri Prabhat Chandra Chakraborty is that mahapurush who would again take birth after 100 years and would spread the greatness of Kaibalyadham all around the globe and would also work for establishing the  eternal religion (Sanatan Dharm ) on earth!! All glory to Sri Prabhat Chandra Chakraborty Mohashoy, the dearest disciple of Sri Sri Ram Thakur!! Jai Sri Ram!!