Destiny or Prarabha

 

I don’t remember whether I have written anything about Destiny in this blog which is a very important aspect and about which Sri Sri Thakur always used to impress and insist. Very few people accept whole heartedly about destiny or prarabdha!! All my whole life I have seen people and even from my own relatives who hesitate to accept destiny!! In the beginning, they would not accept it and would try their level best to change it and struggle more to fight with their destiny but in the end the things would happen which was destined to happen and like this those incidents would have happened 100 times in their life but still they are reluctant to accept prarabdha!! There are people even from our Guru brothers and sisters community (please don’t take offence) who very rarely accept destiny and don’t accept it very easily which is very strange on their part being a follower of our Gurudev!!! If we take a look at the epics or ancient stories we can find many such examples of prarabha where it played its major role in deciding the fate of the characters of those stories!! Once it happened that a devotee named Ramdas who was a businessman and was into the business of purified butter or ghee suddenly started incurring losses in the business and due to which he lost interest and one day closed it.  He started spending the days in deep depression and subsequently decided to renunciate the material world and met Sri Bholagiri Maharaj whose ashram was near to his house. Ramdas babu narrated all his story and told he has no interest left in the business of ghee anymore but Maharaj ji insisted to start the business of ghee once again and even asked him to take money from the ashram fund as a loan to finance his business. Accordingly, Ramdas babu took money from the ashram and once again started the business but again the business suffered huge loss and collapsed!! Ramdas babu once again went to the Maharaj and conveyed him the story but Maharaj wasn’t losing any hope and asked him to not to worry and can take more money from the ashram fund but he should and must do the business of only and only Ghee!!! At this Ramdas babu got furious and irritated as already he has got debt on his head for the money taken from the ashram and again he has been asked to take more!! This story came into the knowledge of Sri Sri Thakur and his devotees and once Rohini Mazumdar babu said as what is this?? This is not correct?? Why Sri Bholagiri Maharaj ji is insisting him to do the business of ghee again and again?? Sri Sri Thakur was also sitting there and He took strong objection to this and said that learned souls and saints never say lie!! Ramdas babu must do the business of ghee only as it is his destiny!! Ramdas babu once happened to meet our beloved Gurudev Sri Sri Ram Thakur!! Guruji listened to his story and suggested him to take a vacation and spend a month or so with one of his dearest disciple Sri Rohini Mazumdar babu who was at that time staying at Muzzafarpur in Bihar!! Ramdas babu wondered a little bit and then accepted the proposal and Sri Sri Thakur gave him a letter in the name of Rohini babu!! Subsequently, Ramdas babu reached the place of Rohini babu and gave him the letter of Gurudev where the whole story of Ramdas babu was narrated and Sri Sri Thakur requested Rohini babu to just take care of him properly and allow him to accompany everywhere wherever Rohini babu goes!!!  Rohini babu happily welcomed Ramdas babu and so he started living with the family of Rohini babu. They sat to take lunch, here it should be mentioned here Rohini babu and his family was purely non-vegetarian and Ramdas babu was purely vegetarian!! Fish and other non-veg items were served to him to which Ramdas babu objected and told that he is vegetarian, Rohini babu said then you shouldn’t have came here as we are purely non-vegetarian!!! Ramdas babu sat for a while and asked him what you suggest then?? Rohini babu said that in my opinion you must eat what we are eating and don’t worry at all!! Ramdas babu agreed to the proposal started eating non-veg items. He would go everywhere wherever Rohini babu would go. In the day time he would go with  Rohini babu to the school where he was a teacher and he would be busy in taking his classes and Ramdas babu would sit quietly in a chair the whole day watching him!!  In the evening he would accompany Rohini babu to the club where he used to go regularly and there also he would sit quietly in a corner and Rohini babu would be busy in playing games and chatting with his friends, cracking jokes, laughing etc. Like this a month had passed and then one day Ramdas babu asked that I could not understand you properly Rohini babu?? He asked Why?? Ramdas babu said that the whole day I didn’t saw you doing any puja or meditation sort of a thing, when you are devoting time for your spiritual quest?? I think you must be doing some meditations during night!! Rohini babu laughed at this and told that it is not correct as I am not doing any meditations at night!! But Ramdas babu didn’t agreed to this all. Rohini babu tried his level best convince him but couldn’t. At the end, he said alright from today you can sleep with me also!! After somedays Ramdas babu became convinced and asked that then when you are doing puja or meditation?? Rohini babu again laughed and said that I don’t do all these things and always remember my Guru while going out for my work and always remember the Sri Naam given by Him, thats all!! Ramdas babu then asked him then what you suggest me to do?? Rohini babu told him that honestly I also believe that you must start your old business of ghee once again as that is your prarabha!! Ramdas babu quite convinced and satisfied with this took leave of Rohini babu and reached his place and started the business of ghee and after somedays Rohini babu found that Ramdas brand ghee was being sold in the market and remembered the wordings of Sri Bholagiri Maharaj that you must and should do the business of ghee only!! I think this story very clearly tell us about prarabha!! There was another devotee who was a lawyer by profession but he didn’t liked it at all, as in this profession one has to say bundle of lies!! He pleaded before our Gurudev that he would like to do something else for his living but Guruji didn’t agreed to it and told him to continue his legal profession as it is his destiny only!! We would discuss more on this topic in our next post!! Jai Ram!!

 

What Holy Gurudev Likes

Sri Sri Thakur has always rejected even the slightest amount of proudness in His devotees !! It once happened that Gurudev was residing in a devotee’s house at Kolkata and the room where Sri Sri Thakur was sitting was full of many devotees, a kirtan group was singing melodious sri naam sankritan adjacent to that room for a quite long time and was being very much praised by the people sitting there. They sang for a long time in various types of rags and raginis and after finishing went to see off Sri Sri Thakur and asked whether He liked the Kirtan or not!! At this Guruji remarked with a surprise note as Kirtan??? Did any Kirtan happened here??? All the members of the group were stunned and shocked and didn’t said anything and slowly left the place!! This is our beloved Gurudev!! Once a devotee from a far off place happened to visit our Gurudev. Those days Guruji often used to complain of deformity in His eyes and ears, of course which were all part of His divine leelas only!! That fellow whose name was Abanimohan came before Sri Sri Thakur tried to give His identity as Guruji, can you recognize me?? I am Abani!! At this Guruji asked What?? Tarani?? He again tried to tell as No, Abani!! Guruji again asked Mohini?? That fellow tried his level best but more & more he tried Sri Sri Thakur would spell different names but not Abani!! At last, quite disappointed that person left the place and came outside the house started crying as what had happened or what sin he has committed that Sri Sri Thakur could not recognise him?? Here Sadananda babu who used to accompany our Gurudev met this fellow and asked Do you chant the Sri Naam regularly?? He thought for a while and told No!! I never chant as I am always busy with my worldly life!! Sadananda babu told him now you can understand very well that why Sri Sri Thakur could not recognise you?? Abanimohan babu asked now what to do?? Sadananda babu advised him to not to worry and sit here & chant the Sri Naam!! Abani babu started chanting the Sri Naam and after sometime suddenly somebody came from the house and called him as Guruji is remembering him!!! Sri Sri Thakur himself called and asked the houseowner as Abani babu is sitting outside, please go and bring him inside!! So Friends, what was that chanting actually?? It was nothing but Saranagati (Surrender) and our Gurudev is Saranagatvatsal!! If you don’t remember God that means you don’t need Him and so similarly God also will not remember you then!! It is as simple as that!! The moment that devotee started chanting and remembering Guruji, He immediately recognised him and called him in!!! We should always strive to do what Sri Sri Thakur likes as that would be the best form of worshipping Him!! Forgetting Him is Kortitabhiman or Obhab & remembering Him is Okarta or Sobhab!! (Now, I understand the true meaning of this famous bengali quote as Obhabe Sobhab Nosto!!) So, on this Holy day of our Guruji’s Birthday, let us all pledge that we will always chant the Holy Sri Naam given by Him in all our deeds and to our each n every breath of our lives!! That would be the best offering onto His Holy Lotus Feet!! Jai Ram!!

 

 

The Care of Holy Gurudev for All

 

Dear All, for the past somedays I am sharing with you all some of the greatest experiences and incidents related to Sri Madhob Pagla but today while preparing to write suddenly a beautiful and divine story came into my mind which is related with and has been narrated also by Sri Sadananda Chakraborty babu about whom I have already mentioned in my earlier posts in this blog.  It once happened that our Holy beloved Gurudev was staying somewhere in Bangladesh and an utsav was being organised under the holy guidanceship of Sri Sri Thakur!!! As you all must be aware that as per our Gurudev’s instructions the basic criteria of the holy festivals of Sri Sri Satyanarayan is to be having Akarta bhav (detachment) and surrendering everything into the holy lotus feet of the Lord and thus accordingly everything was done following strictly those guidelines!! Another very important order from Sri Sri Thakur was that nobody means nobody should be sent away without taking Mahaprasad and accordingly it was ensured positively by the volunteers of the utsav very strictly!! Sadananda babu was entrusted with the job of taking care of Sri Sri Thakur and who would be always with Him for His immediate needs. The utsav went off very beautifully and peacefully and everybody took Mahaprasad happily and went away.  Sadananda babu who had already prepared a sweetened water syrup requested Sri Sri Thakur to accept it but Gurudev enquired whether everybody has taken Mahaprasad or not to which he replied in affirmative but Gurudev didn’t seemed to be satisfied with the answer of Sadananda babu and asked him to check again!!!  After checking very carefully that everybody has taken Mahaprasad, Sadananda babu came back and told as everybody has taken Mahaprasad but Sri Sri Thakur wasn’t still satisfied and told that him that you did not checked properly, go and check again!! It was drizzling outside and already people who had came to the utsav premises had left and there was no one outside but since it was Sri Sri Thakur’s order Sadananda babu went out and looked everywhere, checked every corner and even came to the road connected with the house but couldn’t found anyone!! There was water and muddy ways everywhere and after ensuring properly that nobody is there he came and told Sri Sri Thakur that it is raining outside and I have gone outside upto the road and it is muddy everywhere and I couldn’t found anybody there!!! At this Sri Sri Thakur remarked that due to rain and muddy ways you don’t want to look or check properly!! And Suddenly became serious and said I don’t want anything!!! At this Sadananda babu became little afraid and went outside the house on the road and again tried to check properly and looked every corner very carefully, it was the time of a rainy evening and as usual there was nobody on the road due to rain and muddy ways!! Sadananda babu started walking on the road getting wet and then suddenly he saw a very frail and weak dog who was hidden under a heap of paddys (which is very common in villages of Bengal) came out and looking innocently towards him with a hope of mercy on it!! Sadananda babu took pity on the dog and thought inside Oh! poor creature !! It seems it is very hungry and has not been able to eat anything for days!! May be thats why, Sri Sri Thakur didn’t agreed to accept anything!! He called the dog to the utsav premises and the dog also followed him waving its tail and Sadananda babu with utmost care placed a clean plantain leaf before it and served the Mahaprasad to it which the dog ate very quickly!! Sadananda babu served the dog 3 times the Mahaprasad and after being satisfied the dog left the utsav premises slowly!! Sadananda babu again looked every corner very carefully and after ensuring properly that nobody is left came back and narrated the entire story to Him!! Sri Sri Thakur immediately jumped up and laughed happily and said yes, yes! He had came to the utsav premises earlier hoping to get some Mahaprasad but everybody chased and thrashed him away from there and thats why being felt offended didn’t ate anything for the whole day !!! Now, give me what you have kept for me!! Sadananda babu with tears in his eyes and seeing the care of Sri Sri Thakur even for a dog & gave Him the glass of sweetened water!! Sri Sri Thakur then asked Sadananda babu also to take Mahaprasad as He was knowing that Sadananda babu who was truly dedicated to the holy lotus feet of Gurudev wouldn’t take anything until and unless Gurudev eats anything!!  I remember Sant Tulsidasji’s quotation as Hari Ananta Hari Katha Ananta, Kahahi Sunahi Bahu Bidhi Sab Santa!! All Glory to Sri Sri Thakur and Holy Sri Naam!! Jai Ram!!

The Great Devotee Sri Madhob Pagla III

Dear All, today I would to share you all another very beautiful and divine story of Great Devotee Sri Madhob Pagla of Varanasi!! This incident again shows how our beloved Lord is always eager for the caring of His devotees!! It once happened that it was the time for the big annual festival to be organised in the famous temple of Sri Sri Radha Govindji where Sri Madhob Pagla was the priest.  The arrangements were going on with full swing and various offerings were coming in the temple from the various devotees all over the Varanasi and even from outside. Sri Madhob Pagla was obviously very much excited about the big celebration and keen as he was the main priest and there were responsibilities also vested on his shoulder. On the early morning of the day of festival when he sat to perform puja as per his daily schedule suddenly Sri Govindji spoke and asked him to not to touch and eat anything or any prasad from this temple!!!!! Suddenly hearing this instruction Madhob Pagla became totally shocked and stunned!!! For a minute he became totally dumb struck and became totally confused and thought why Sri Govindji is asking him to do such a difficult thing which would be very painful also for him!! He asked the Lord Why???? Why are you asking me to do this??? The whole world would be eating various types of prasad which would be offered to you and moreover I am the main priest of this temple and if I didn’t  touch or eat your prasad what will everybody think or say??? But the Lord didn’t  agreed and ordered him to not to touch or eat the prasad!! Hearing this now Madhob Pagla also argued and said that I will not listen to you and would definitely eat the delicious prasads of the temple!!! Sri Govindji didn’t said anything. After sometime a small boy came to tell him to visit a house of an old widow who used to live near the temple premises and here I should inform you that this widow had a long time desire to feed Sri Madhob Pagla. When Madhob Pagla visited her home he was astonished to see that she had prepared many delicacies for him and had placed and she kept all those items beautifully in a big plate!!! Sri Madhob Pagla became very much surprised at this and asked about it to which she told that it was her long time desire to feed him and very humbly requested him to accept the food!! Madhob Pagla couldn’t refuse her honest and pious desire and sat to eat and to his astonishment found that each n every item was very delicious and he ate full to his heart's content. After eating the food and seeing off the widow’s house when he reached the temple the time for the puja had already arrived and suddenly he realised that what mistake he has committed by eating the food at the widow’s house as he had decided to eat the prasad at the temple, now he has no place in his stomach to eat anything and felt very bad inside his heart!!! All the various types of delicacies were being offered to the Lord and Madhob Pagla sat to perform the afternoon puja but he became surprised that he was not able to remember the mantras being required for the worshipping!!!! The doors of the main sanctum was closed, outside there were hundreds and hundreds of people waiting eagerly for the completion of puja and inside he was alone with the Lord!!! He tried his level best to remember the mantras but he couldn’t!! He became astonished at this and started crying and pleaded before the Lord as to what sin he has committed that he is not being able to remember the mantras which he is chanting daily for several times!!!! He was crying profusely and then suddenly the Lord spoke and said you ask me eat all these uchchista (half-eaten or eaten by somebody else) food?????  Hearing this Sri Madhob Pagla was totally dumb struck and stunned!!! What are you saying my Lord??? Who is doing this??? Lord replied the Cook!! He couldn’t believe his own ears!!! Then suddenly he understood all the divine leela of his Lord who stopped him from eating the prasad which is actually a half-eaten food and made him eat at the house of widow so that Madhob Pagla not remain hungry!! He cried and cried for the utmost carefulness of the Lord for him and pleaded to forgive him for his earlier behaviour!! He opened the doors of the temple and people raised their voices glorifying the name of the Lord Sri Radha Govindji!! The prasad were being carried away and offered to the people and everybody ate that food thinking it to be prasad of Lord but it reality which wasn’t!!! The condition of Sri Madhob Pagla was very pathetic, he was just crying and praying to Lord as O Lord! Please do something and stop all this mischief of the notorious cook!! If I say something nobody will believe me!! He didn’t took any prasad and people started suspecting Sri Madhob Pagla and his devotion for the Lord!! The temple authority and the various other devotees even rebuked his devotion and discussed about him among themselves and everywhere he became the topic of their discussions!!!  Madhob Pagla would daily cry and request the Lord to bring to limelight the wrongdoings of the Cook before everybody and like this nearly a month had passed and then one day when he was not at the temple and gone out for market, the Lord played his divine leela and the mischief of the Cook was caught red-handed by the temple authorities and was removed from the temple!! When Madhob Pagla returned to the temple and came to know of the incident, became very delighted and informed everybody about the incident which had happened a month ago on the day of the annual festival!! He told everybody that daily he was asking the Lord to catch hold of the crook and today his answers had been answered!! All Glory to Guru and Govinda!!!

A New Year Wish ???

Dear Guru brothers/sisters!! I am sorry I am late to wish you all A Very Happy New Year 2013 but actually I was in a dilemma for the New Year wishes as it seemed to be so meaningless!! As you all would be aware of the recent tragic and one of the most heinous crime happened at New Delhi, the rape and murder of a girl and who has subsequently died at the end of the past year 2012!! After this how can someone ever think of doing any type of New Year celebrations !! In our ancient old scriptures somewhere it is written as Jatra Pujayante Nari, Tatra Ramanti Devataha means where women are being given respect and worshipped as a symbol of Shakti, all the demigods reside there!! My society many people as usual celebrated & took part in the New Year celebrations, may be they know better than me since they are very highly qualified, intellectual and city based modern people (I am not very highly qualified only a Graduate for which I used to feel little bad but today I feel myself to be very proud to not to be very qualified because my humanity hasn’t died) they even came to my flat to collect money for the celebrations as they feared that owing to the circumstances people may not come on their own to donate money, I just politely showed them the door!!! The other societies near to my society also celebrated the New Year and I am left to wonder as which world we are living?? Now the mindset of the people is myself and my family should be happy let whatever happens in my neighbourhood or in the rest of the world!!! Our Holy Gurudev used to address all the women as Maa (Mother) and there was no other word in His vocabulary for them!! He hasn’t hesitated to address even the prostitutes as Mother so as Sri Ramakrishna!! Great Saints always came to this world to teach us many things and it seems that all of us has forgotten these very very valuable lessons!!! It is our dirty mindset only which pollute our minds to differentiate between people and everything!! Rather we should check ourselves first!!! I afraid the write-up may become very large if I go on to write but whatever it is I wish all of you a belated Happy New Year 2013 and hope & pray to the Almighty Lord that this upcoming new year brings for all of us new hopes, safe and secure environment for all the girls beginning from their mother’s womb (as they are not even safe there) to all her whole life, proper and due respect & care for all the ladies, lots & lots of good news, happiness and prosperity for everybody!! Let the divinity and spiritualism spread more and more and materialism vanish away from this world!! Jai Ram!!

The Great Disciple Sri Madhob Pagla-II

Once Sri Madhob Pagla went to meet Sri Sri Thakur.  At that time Sri Sri Thakur was giving some spiritual discourse amongst many other devotees, suddenly He turned towards Madhob Pagla and said you should do Mahotsav (Sri Sri Satyanarayan festival in a big scale)!! And then as usual started talking to others. Sri Madhob Pagla thought inside that how can I do such a big festival when I have no money. Actually that was the truth also because during those days his financial condition was very pathetic and didn’t had sufficient money even to fulfil his daily meal or needs (this was  before his appointment as a pujari in the Radha Govind Temple).  Slowly everybody left and Madhob Pagla was still there thinking inside his incapability to fulfil the orders given by our holy Gurudev!! Guruji who is antaryami came to know about his dilemma and said festival should not be of lentils and rice or vegetables etc. instead it should be of ten indriyas (organs of senses) and the eleventh one manas (inner self)!!! It means Sri Krishna bhakti through all the indriyas which refers to as Mahotsav by our holy Gurudev!! Now I am going to describe a very divine experience which this great devotee had with the grace of his holy  Guru Sri Sri Ram Thakur!! Once sitting at his home he thought  that is his Lord Madhav listening to all his prayers?? Does He know about him amongst his crores of devotees?? Is it ever be possible for him to have his darshan?? And then suddenly a feeling came inside him that it is not possible for him to have the darshan of his Lord until and unless he himself wants it !! After sometime suddenly something divine happened to him and he lay in an half unconscious state (means except the capability of watching & thinking all other capabilities stopped) on the ground saw that Sri Sri Thakur similing & holding Lord Sri Krishna with His left hand  entered his small room!! Here the author had given a very detailed description of the beauty of the Lord which I don’t remember much only what I remember is that the Lord was very beautifully decorated with various ornaments and was very beautiful which is very different and incomparable to the pictures what we generally see!! He was wearing a dhoti which was worn in a very beautiful and typical way which is not found or seen generally in this world!! It seemed that to Sri Madhob Pagla by the body language & the look of the Lord that He didn’t wanted to come there to give him darshan and He just came due to the personal request of Sri Sri Thakur only!!! Both of them came,  saw and smiled and then after sometime slowly walked away and merged into the portrait of Sri Sri Thakur at the puja altar of Sri Madhob Pagla!! Lord Sri Krishna before finally going away just gave an innocent look at him and went away!! Madhob Pagla slowly regained his consciousness and became astonished to this divine darshan of his and then understood one thing that the Lord didn’t wanted to came, He just came to see him because of Sri Sri Thakur only and thus he is indebted to his Gurudev!! He thought that from now on I would be very careful and would do every such thing which would please my Lord and Guru!! Jai Ram!!

The Great Disciple Sri Madhob Pagla-I

This post is in continuation with the earlier one.  As I have told in my earlier post that the deity Lord Sri Govinda used to converse with this great devotee regularly and his relationship with Him was of Vatsalya bhav means like affectionate love with a child. Once it so happened that as usual after the night puja was over, Sri Madhob Pagla took the deity inside the rest room of the Lord to put Him to sleep and when he was about to leave just at that moment the Lord suddenly spoke and asked him to press his holy feet and to fan him for a while!! He got irritated a little bit at this since large number of devotees were waiting outside for the prasadam as per daily practice and he had lot of other chores also to be done. He said to Lord what is this request at this moment?? You know I have other works also to do, I am sorry I cannot fulfil your demand now!! Let me complete the pending work then I will certainly come and serve you!! But the Lord was adamant!! But as Sri Madhob Pagla tried to move from there, to his utter surprise he couldn’t move an inch!!! The people outside were shouting and calling him as what had happened?? Why you are taking so much of time??etc. He tried to answer them but that was also not possible since he couldn’t talk also!! So the condition has become very critical for him, he couldn’t move or talk and had become totally paralysed by the holy Lord!! Sri Madhob Pagla very well understood as why it is happening. He prayed to Lord Sri Govinda for his holy mercy and slowly regained very little energy just only to fulfil the demands of the Lord!! Therefore, he pressed His feet for a while and also fanned the Lord for a while and then kissed Him on His forehead and asked for His permission to leave to which the Lord accepted and then slowly Sri Madhob Pagla regained all his powers to move and talk!! He came out and didn’t revealed it to anybody inspite of people blaming  to be so late as nobody would believe and understand it!! But inside his heard there were huge waves of affectionate love & divine happiness dancing and playing for the Lord !! Jai Ram!!

The Great Disciple Sri Madhob Pagla

India has always been blessed by so many great devotees that if we start to count them the list would be endless!! Today I would like to tell you all my dearest Guru brothers/sisters about one such disciple of our Gurudev about whom many of you would not be knowing!! His actual name was Sri Gopal Chandra Mukherjee apparently came to be known as Madhob Pagla!!  Madhob Pagla was a Saint of an highly spiritual divine status & a very close disciple of Sri Sri Ram Thakur and by his ardent devotion and sadhana came to know about his previous birth that he was a priest in a Madhav mandir in Bihar's Chappra district and due to his immense devotion became totally merged with God and was in divine possession always.  He used to roam the streets here and there always wearing a torn blanket and would chant always as "My Madhav is very good" , "My Madhav is very good" because of which people used to call him by this very name, kids taking him to be a lunatic fellow used to throw stones & mud on him. Then in this birth he was in Kashi, Varanasi and took diksha from Sri Sri Thakur and became a priest in a Radha-Govind Mandir. Many divine past times took place here between him and his beloved God Lord Sri Krishna!! Here the deity always used to talk with him telling about the naivedyams offered to it, like there is no salt in the dal or the food offered to it is uchchista (half-eaten) as the cook himself used to eat those eatables before offering to the deity, etc. like that many incidents!! Sometimes the deity used to demand from him certain etables like mango or sweets etc. The secret facts disclosed to him by the deity which were hard to believe by the other people of the temple at the first instance but subsequently which were proved to be true established his intimate closeness and divine relationship with the Lord. This temple is still there in Varanasi and I had the opportunity to have darshan of the deity. He attained sadhana by sitting on pancha-mundi asana in shiv-shakti temple known as Shav-Shiva Mandir which is still there in Varanasi. Sri Sri Thakur used to enter his body and played many many divine leelas. Must read the book about this great saint who infact saw Lord Sri Krishna also by the grace of his Guru Sri Sri Ram Thakur!!  If we search the history there would be very few devotees in the modern age India where we can find any records of the devotees having able to see their respective Lords and Madhob Pagla is one of them!! This very birth when he was in a dilemma as to call his beloved Lord Sri Krishna by which name as his Lord is having so many names, he heard a voice calling & audible only to him in the busy street of Varanasi as to call him by the name Sri Madhav as then Lord would be very much pleased on him!! This was really very divine and mind boggling experience for him but it was just only the beginning of these incidents!!  Keep an eye on the blog.. there is more to come on this Great  Saint & Disciple of our Gurudev!! Jai Ram!

The Fanaticism of Gaudiya Vaishnavites

Each one of us sometime or other would have came in touch with fanatics which may be from various beliefs or faiths of different religions. The major problem with them is that they only believe in their respective religions and think that all other faiths prevalent in the society are wrong or baseless.  This type of attitude make them very narrow minded and a hardcore fanatic! Normally these fanatics are present in many religions but it seems they are mostly existing in the modern societies of Vaishnavites or more specifically the Gaudiya Vaishnavites!!  Our Holy Gurudev have always instructed us to give proper and due respect to all the holy saints from all other religions and this post is not meant to offend them in any way!! This is just to discuss about the attitude or thinking of fanatics from all beliefs and subsequently dealing with them in accordance with the teachings given by our Holy Gurudev!! The major problem with most of the followers of Gaudiya Vaishnavism is that they think that the devotion of Lord Sri Krishna has become wholly and solely their copyright only and it is only they who can show to the world about the correct & authentic way of doing bhakti/sadhna of Lord Sri Krishna!!  Here I would like to draw all yours attention is that Lord Sri Krishna came to our planet earth some 6000 years back and Gaudiya Vaishnavism existence has started some 60-50 years back only!! How can they claim their authenticity?? And moreover, Krishna bhakti is not anybody’s copyright!! If we look back in our history of some of the great saints of Lord Sri Krishna & Lord Sri Ram like Meera, Surdas, Kabir, Tulsidas, Ravidas, Tukaram, Namdev etc. the list is endless most of them who even had darshan of their respective Lord’s and they used to converse with their deities also, did they all were under the initiation of Gaudiya Vaishnavism??  Did they all followed all the strict guidelines as laid by the Vaishnavites?? Moreover, I doubt whether these modern age vaishnavites can ever reach to that state of devotion of those devotees of our history.  Another problem with the Gaudiya Vaishnavism is their various strict rules and regulations being followed in their daily life style!! Sri Sri Ramthakur used to say that God is beyond such all types of  rules and regulations of Vedas and is unachievable through those means instead God can only achieved through the innocence of a child!! Further, if anybody enrols in their community, the vaishnavites very often scare them by informing them about various types of sins!! Sometimes I wonder that these modern day vaishnavites would be knowing more about different variety of sins instead of virtues!! If you don’t follow their prescribed guidelines then you may commit various sins from which no court of law can save you!! Recently, I happened to visit the ISKCON temple at New Delhi and while coming out of the main sanctum I found that they were offering the holy charanamrit of the Lord. There it was written on the wall that if anybody takes one drop of this holy charanamrit his endless sins would vanish but if by mistake if you drop this charanamrit on the ground then eight types of different sins would attract you!! See the height!! Already due to too much of modernisation of our daily lives people are not very much inclined towards spiritualism and if you keep on scaring people like this tell me who will take interest in spiritualism??  If you talk with them about their beliefs and rules they will tell you about different types of sins which you are committing by not being their member/follower and here goes the list of sins!!  Further, it has been also found manyatimes that these Gaudiya Vaishnavites while claiming their authenticity about Krishna Consciousness continue to blame & show disrespect to other communities and even spread many negative ideas about other religions which is very much contradictory to their spiritual mission!!  It feels very painful when you see a modern day saint saying ill words and even using abusive language against a holy saint from our history whose devotion is known worldwide!! This is called arrogance at its peak & this cannot be called Krishna Consciousness!!  You are abusive, scaring people by your rules, nullifying other dieties and beliefs, claiming your copyright, shouting on others and yet you claim to be a Saint or a Vaishnavite???  Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu had once clarified as to how to identify a true Vaishnavite which is that to whom immediately upon seeing, you remember Lord Sri Krishna or whose presence helps you in remembering the Lord is a true Vaishnavite!!  Dear Guru brothers/sisters! Now the question comes how to tackle or deal with them!! I would tell you about my experience. Years back from 2001 to 2008 for some 7 years, I was in Chennai and there one Gaudiya Vaishnavite would regularly visit my residence. I would pay my respects as afterall he was a holy figure and because of him I used to get many prasadams from various pilgrimage places like Sri Mayapur, Sri Jagganath Dham, Sri Vrindavan Dham etc. He would always told me to take diksha from their Gurudev to which I would just smile and say nothing yes or no! Many times due to his preaching some mild confusions also came into the minds of my family members.  Once it so happened that I was not at home and this Vaishnavite came to my home and started talking with my mother. My mother always regards all the saints with very high respect and suddenly she asked him to see our Puja room which I always used to avoid to show him. But that day he went into our Puja room.  I must tell here that my mother always keep Sri Sri Kaivalyanath portrait on the altar alongwith a small portrait of Goddess Lakshmi.  The Vaishnavite immediately enquired about our Gurudev and asked my mother to remove the portrait of Goddess Lakshmi as she cannot be with Guru etc.. When I reached home I came to know about the dilemma of my mother and asked her to not to worry and explained that what the Vaishanvite had understood is correct and what we are doing is also absolutely fine. He understood our Gurudev only to be a Guru but he doesn’t know that He is also Sri Sri Satyanarayan and so Goddess Lakshmi has to be with Lord Narayan!! Another incident once happened is that this Vaishanvite came and as usual was pestering us to be strictly vegetarian and I would also just as usual would smile and say nothing!! But that day he started asking me are you eating vegetables? Are you eating vegetables? I said yes! We are!! When he left my wife asked why did you lied to him? You know we are not vegetarian, we eat fish also, then? I smiled and said what I said is correct as he was asking are you eating vegetables? And I replied him yes because that is also correct because apart from eating fish we also eat vegetables and so I confirmed that only!! Now this was the time of my wife smiling at me!! My policy is this as there is not point in arguing with them and moreover, I would strictly follow the instructions given by my Gurudev only!! Now after 7 years suddenly I received an order for transfer to New Delhi and one day when this Vaishnavite happened to visit my home I informed him also about my transfer. He asked to keep in touch with the delhi branch of their ashram and to take diksha from their Gurudev with sure before leaving Chennai. That day I don’t know what happened to me I revealed before him the actual truth of my Holy Gurudev Sri Sri Ramthakur which I never did in these 7 long years!! That fellow became totally quiet and was dumb struck and slowly left my home!! My Gurudev have given one very great teaching in Vedvani and which I always believe and follow which goes like this Dekhbe Sunbe Koibe Na, Shaar Bostu Charibe Na!! (See or Listen to everybody, don’t say or argue about anything with anybody,  inside know the actual truth and stick to it firmly). I think this mantra given by our Gurudev is the best one to deal with the fanatics of modern day society!! Jai Ram!!

Silchar Ashram

 

 

Sri Sri Ramthakur Idol, Silchar Ashram

 

 

Sri Sri Narayan Shila, Silchar Ashram

This post would be more beneficial for the devotees from Assam and Tripura. Many of you would not be knowing about the existence of an ashram of our Holy Gurudev at Silchar, Assam. This ashram is under the ardent guidanceship and care of a very pious saint known as Sri Balaram Brahmachari who is an ardent disciple of Sri Sri Ramthakur!! I must give you a brief introduction of this holy figure before telling about the ashram. Sri Balaram Brahmachari as I told you is a very pious saint of a divine nature and one can attain enormous peace by just only having his darshan!! Apart from his quest for spiritualism, he has dedicated his whole life to the benefit of common and poor people. While he took his sanyas & diksha from Sri Sri Sunil Maharaj of the Dingamanik Ashram, Bangaldesh at a very young age and surrendered his whole life at the holy feet of Sri Sri Thakur, he had been helping many many families who are very poor through the money donated to him by rich people. He has even sold his mother's ornaments for the education of many children of poor families and has taken care of those families for years and years until and unless those kids grew up and became financially stable to take care of themselves, like this many stories are heard when someone visits silchar!! The ashram at Silchar also takes care of boarding and lodging of poor people visiting from Agartala or the from the interior parts of Tripura who visits Assam for their medical treatments. The ashram charges a very nominal fee of Rs.100/- per day which includes room as well as the holy prasad all the threee times a day alongwith tea two times a day. More important is that anybody can go there and stay if they are needy and it is not required that they should be under initiation of  our Gurudev's Naam diksha!! He only believes in Humanism as our Guruji used to say that we are all Manob Somproday!! Whats more! there is also a facility of getting of injection drugs by a trained medical attendant boy prescribed by any doctor in case of any emergency. Due and proper care is taken by the ashram people who are very dedicated to serve the humanity which is nowadays is very difficult to find in other ashrams!! I can tell the difference as I have visited many ashrams of India. Many poor people specially from agartala daily visit this ashram and stay there while they visit silchar for their medical treatments. Like this Sri Balaram Brahmachari has got another land somewhere at Kolkata donated by some affluent devotee where he intends to make a Yatri Nivas for the common and poor people so that those poor people who come from north-eastern states or other parts of India for medical treatments to Kolkata can come and stay!! The ashram at Silchar is located at Rangir Khari, Vidyasagar Sarani, Srirampalli, Sudipta Nursing Home Road, Silchar. If you go by flight you would have to land at Silchar Airport and from there it takes another 1 to 1 1/2 hour journey by car and if you go by road then you would have to get down at Guwahati station and from there you can go by Assam State deluxe buses which took around 12 hours to reach there. The ashram celebrates each year the Maghi Purnima in a very big scale which falls mostly in the beginning of  February month. The festivals runs for 2-3 days where one can enjoy the holy and divine Naam Sankirtan and holy Mahaprasad. The Mohant Moharaj of Dingamanik Ashram, Bangladesh also visits here every year during the utsav and bestow his holy blessings on the devotees!! I would urge atleast the devotees of Assam & Agartala to whom the existence of this ashram was unknown and who are staying there to not to miss this occassion of the upcoming utsav!! Please go and participate in the Maghi Purnima utsav where you can feel the divine presence of Sri Sri Thakur Himself. I once had the opportunity to do the morning puja (Mangal Arti Puja) at 4.30 a.m. and can just tell you the experience which was just mind boggling which I would cherish all my life!! Jai Ram!! 

Surrender

 

Surrendering onto the holy lotus feet of your Gurudev or God is the very basic criteria in devotion and it should not be only in words or saying instead one should feel it from deep inside his heart. In our ancient epics there is one shlok in sanskrit which goes like this: Mukang Karoti Vachalam, Pango Langhyate Girim, Jat Kripa Tamahang Vande, Parama Nandam Madhavam which means that A dumb fellow can speak or a lame fellow can very easily cross over a big mountain if You bestow your holy mercy on him O My Lord Madhava!! Our Gurudev also always used to insist on this. Once somebody was discussing with Him on the wordly problems & pains and during that he asked then what is the Upay (solution) ? Immediately Sri Sri Thakur replied Upay is Nirupay!! means Surrender to God!! All great Gurus and saints have also insisted on this to be in submission to the almighty lord!! Sri Ramakrishna used to say as I am nothing, everything is my Holy Mother Kali!! Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu used to say Kirtaniya Sada Hari, to always chant Lord Sri Hari's Holy Name!! Shirdi Sai baba used to say have Shraddha on the Lord (of his Shraddha and Saburi quote)!! The acharyas also always give example of Draupadi from the epic Mahabharat about when she fully surrendered to the Lord Sri Krishna and cried out for help to save her Dushashan, the Lord immediately came to her rescue!! Another example also be given of Gajendra Moksham from our Purans as when an elephant who was attacked by a ferocious crocodile how he cried out for help to save him and also offered a lotus flower from the river and the Lord Narayan immediately came to his rescue and killed the crocodile by His Sudarshan Chakra!! The biggest example can be given of Sri Hanumanji from the epic Ramayan who was an ardent devotee of Lord Ram and who achieved so many unimaginable feats just  by chanting the Holy Name of Lord Ram!! The bridge which was made on the sea with the stones on which Sri Ramnaam was written to reach Lanka is the ultimate example of devotion!! Like this there may be hundreds of stories in our holy scriptures which throws light on devotion and surrendering to the holy feet of God and which actually guide us on our path of devotion!! Jai Ram!

Detachment

Dear Guru brothers/sisters! Jai Ram! I wish all of you who are located all around the globe A VERY VERY HAPPY AND PROSPEROUS DEEPAWALI!! I wish that Diwali which is the festivals of lights may remove all our darkness of ignorance about the Almighty Lord from our inner selves! Today I thought that I should narrate something about Detachment which has been told manyatimes in our ancient scriptures and also by our holy Gurudev Sri Ramthakur! To know properly about detachment it would be better to describe some incidents from our puranas. It once happened that rishi durvasa who daily used to eat only two chappatis made of durva (grass) was meditating on the bank of river yamuna and Smt. Radharani the consort of our Lord Sri Krishna who was on the other side of the river had a desire of offering many delicious food items to the rishi. Accordingly, she prepared all the items and started for her journey to see the rishi but when she came to river yamuna she was shocked to find that the river was overflowing due to high tide!! Due to this no boatman was available to ferry cross the river!! She prayed to Lord Sri Krishna who immediately appeared there and after coming to know about the problem smilingly said that just go to the river and say that if Sri Krishna hasn't thought or touched any other lady except Smt. Radharani in his whole life then give me way to cross you!!! Hearing this Radharani was stunned as how it is possible?? Sri Krishna who is always surrounded of hundreds of gopis always! But whatever it is she went to the river and told as instructed by the Lord and immediately the river yamuna gave way to cross her!!! Radharani was again astonished!! After approaching the rishi and paying her respects, when she offered the food items to him, the rishi who was famous for his daily meal of two chapattis of durva, requested radharani to feed all the items with her own hands then only he would accept them!! She agreed and accordingly the rishi ate all the food. Now Radharani had to return back and again the same problem came to which the rishi enquired that how had she came here. She told the entire story and the rishi laughed mischievously at this!! The rishi then said that now go to the river yamuna that ask her that if the rishi has ate only two chapattis of durva today then give way to cross!! now this was again the moment for radharani to be shocked!! how is it possible as she has fed the rishi with her own hands but the rishi insisted and she went and told as asked by the rishi and again the river yamuna gave way to cross!! Friends, actually this is the sense of detachment!! Lord Sri Krishna may be always surrounded of hundreds of gopis but He used to see always only and only Smt. Radharani in each n every gopi and similarly the rishi durvasa who may have eaten many delicious food items but his inner sense was only accepting them as his daily meal of two chapattis of durva!! Sri Ramakrishna also used to give example of a kind of fish which is found in mud but you will not find any mud on its body!! similarly, stay in this world like that fish which is mud with a sense of detachment!! do all your duties but inside know the truth that these are not real and are temporary!! Once somebody wanted to check the detachment state or renunciation level of Lord Sri Krishna Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and put some powdered sugar on the tongue of Mahaprabhu and even after a long time the sugar didn't melted and suddenly after some time the wind blew away the sugar as it is!!!! this is detachment!! But this is also correct that it is not possible without the mercy and grace of the almighty lord and we should pray for it from Him. Jai Ram!!

Sri Ram Thakur is Chaitanya Mahaprabhu

 

 

 

I don't know how many people know this eternal truth that our Gurudev Sri Sri Ram Thakur was none other than Lord Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu himself who had came some 500-600 years ago and Sri Sri Thakur was his incarnation. Even at that time also many people were not knowing this secret and it was revealed to only his very close disciples. Actually this secret was revealed some 2-3 times by Sri Sri Thakur himself in a state of Divine possession. It happened once at Phanindra Malakar babu's house when the Rajasuya yagna took place which happened as per our Guruji's instructions. During the yagya once Sri Sri Thakur asked for Malsa Bhog Prasad offered to the deity and asked why he hadn't been given that prasad. And then he explained that how this Malsa Bhog came into existence. He said that once Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu did Mahanaam Sankirtan at Sribas Angan (Sribas's house) and it continued for whole night, sometimes he cried, sometime he laughed & sometimes he became unconcious showing all the ashta-satvik vikars!! (8 divine symbols of Prema-Bhakti). After that He was very tired and felt hungry and asked for mahaprasad, at this all the devotees bowed their heads in shame and said that all the mahaprasad has been consumed & nothing is left!!! At this Mahaprabhu said that prasad can never be finished, bring to me all the earthen pots/plates that contained mahaprasad. When as per his instructions all plates were brought to him he asked Gadadhar (a very close devotee of Mahaprabhu) to collect all the leftovers of each n every plate in a separate plate and so everything like curd, ghee, honey, various types of dry fruits etc. and it was named as Malsa Bhog by Mahaprabhu himself. Mahaprabhu asked Gadadhar to give it to everybody to him also. While narrating the story, Sri Sri Thakur's words changed here a little bit in the end of the story and said as Gadadhar gave Malsa Bhog to everybody and to ME also, and I WAS VERY HUNGRY AND AFTER EATING IT I FELT VERY SATISFIED (Pl. read RAMBHAI SARANE BY SRI PHANINDRA MALAKAR). In an another incident it was the time of World War II. All devotees in bangladesh & kolkata were very much scared, at that time once Guruji suddenly exclaimed to a few close devotees as I AM ONLY SRI CHAITANYA MAHAPRABHU, DON'T WORRY!! EVEN IF THOUSANDS OF ARROWS, SWORDS ARE THROWN AT YOU THEY CAN DO NO HARM ONTO YOU. There is a misconception about Sri Chaitanya Maaprabhu's end of his divine past times amongst a larger secton of our bengali society even among our Guru brothers and sisters also. Its really a pity!! Some say he has been killed by the pandas of Jagannath Temple of Puri, some say he died in an accident by coming under the wheels of rath during Rath Yatra festival at Puri, some say he jumped into the sea in a state of krishna consciousness and never returned!! pathetic indeed. Our Guruji who was none other than Lord Sri Chaitanya himself had clarified this thing very clearly. Once during an evening walking in an isolated place with his close disciple Sri Phanindra Malakar babu Sri Sri Thakur had disclosed the actual truth to him. But actually it had started with a conversation involving about similarity between Sri Naam and Sri Guru's/Lord's human body form. Malakar babu questioned that how can both be same as when we spell out Sri Naam its a vaccum but Sri Guru has a body. At this Guruji said who told you that Sri Guru has an ordinary human body form instead his body is divine not like ordinary human beings. Haven't you heard that Lord Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu had mixed with Tota Gopinath Vigraha in Puri. At this Malakar babu also argued that it is true that I have heard actually but I don't believe it and also as you are my Guru, I cannot lie to you!! Hearing this Guruji was astonished and asked I am telling you & you don't believe??? Malakar babu reiterated again by saying yes. At this Guruji said Good! and immediately vanished into the air in front of his naked eyes!!!! Malakar babu was shocked and dumb struck for a few minutes and looked for him hear and there but to no use!! Then he understood his fault and started crying and asked him to forgive his fault and requested Guruji to come back as to what he will tell others because nobody absolutely nobody will believe him!!! When like this nearly 1 hour had passed, malakar babu was repenting and crying then suddenly Guruji came from behind and tapped his shoulder, malakar babu immediately fall at his holy lotus feet and begged to forgive him. Guruji said Never doubt your Guru's words as by doing this lose all your punyas or say EHOKAL AND POROKAL. MANTRA MOOLAM GURUM VAKYAM (Ref.Sri Guru Gita). Dear Friends, Actually what had happened that daily during mahanaam kirtan Sri Mahaprabhu would dance and enter the Grabha Griha of Sri Tota Gopinathji alone and would return but that very day Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu didn't returned back!! After waiting for him as usual when he didn't came back all devotees went inside to look for him but there was nothing!! Great Devotee Meera also had mixed with Lord Sri Krishna like this!! Jai Ram!

Happy Durga Puja

Dear Guru brothers/sisters! I wish all of you a Very Happy Durga Puja! The full world is busy now in celebrating the Shakti Puja!! This Shakti & Matri Aradhana would continue till the Jagatdhatri Puja in Kolkata!! Really bengal is great because of its various festivals and I feel myself to be very lucky to be born in a bengali community! Without mother's help one cannot reach out to his father and mother would only tell you who is your father!! Moreover, if sometime a child commits a mistake it is only mother who saves you from the anger or wrath of one's father!! It once happened that Sri Sri Thakur was staying at a devotee's house in Kolkata and his room was full of many devotees and He was busy in talking with them and then suddenly He stopped talking to them and joined His both hands and paid His respects to somebody in the vaccum and even asked to accept a seat near to Him! Everybody was astonished at this!! The room was filled a divine fragrance and all devotees were wondering from it is coming!! Sri Sri Thakur started talking to that invisible entity for a while in a low tone and suddenly asked how is Devadhidev?? Then  after a while He laughed! After that again He said as Yes, definitely I would certainly attend the Devi Puja!! and again joined His hands and see-off that divine entity in the vaccum!! That divine fragrance also slowly went off!! Everybody was astonished at this. Sri Sri Thakur suddenly asked one of the devotees to immediately bring the year calendar and to check the dates of Sri Sri Durga Puja!! Sri Phanindra Malakar babu asked as to who has came to which Gurudev replied that Maa Durga herself had came to invite Sri Sri Thakur to the Devi Puja!!  Maa Durga came to invite our Lord Sri Hari!! Our Gurudev also initiated the worshipping of Maa Durga in his own portrait and termed it as Durgotsav!! not only Durga Puja any puja of any diety can be performed on the portrait of our Gurudev!! I had once the opportunity of doing the morning puja (the mangal arti puja at 4.00 a.m.) in an ashram in assam during the holy Durgotsav and Friends I must tell you the experience was just mind boggling!!   Jai Ram! 

Great Devotee - Sri Phanindra Malakar Part III

Dear Guru brothers/sisters! Jai Ram! sorry for the little delay in posting new posts in the blog. This post is in continuation of the earlier post about Sri Sri Thakur's great disciple Sri Phanindra Malakar babu! Malakar babu had a house in a place called Belonia at Tripura, a small state which is in the north eastern part of our country and falls at the border with our neighbouring country Bangladesh. Sri Sri Thakur whenever used to visit Tripura very often would stay at that house and it was during one such time that Gurudev was not well and was staying at Malakar babu's house at Belonia, Tripura quite secretely. After some days had passed suddenly some devotees like Sri Upendra Saha etc. from Chowmuhani, Bangladesh arrived there much to the astonishment of Malakar babu as very few people were knowing about Sri Sri Thakur's presence there! Upendra babu informed Sri Sri Thakur only had written him to take Gurudev from there to Chowmuhani!! Malakar babu was surprised and taken aback!! The writing of this letter to Upendra babu was not under knowledge of Malakar babu and so it seemed to him that Sri Sri Thakur had secretely written that letter!! I have already told earlier that the relation between Sri Sri Thakur and Malakar babu was very close, Malakar babu went to Gurudev and started shouting on Him! He asked Sri Sri Thakur that if He is not happy here or if He had felt some discomfort here, He could have just told Him! or if He had asked him to write a letter to Upendra babu, had he denied it & or had he ever denied anything to Him in the past?? like that many questions etc. Malakar babu felt his ego as hurted by this act of Sri Sri Thakur!! Gurudev was quiet and didn't said anything!! Malakar babu went out of the house and returned home late in the evening!! On seeing Malakar babu Sri Sri Thakur started lamenting and said to Upendra babu that "No! I cannot go to Chowmuhani until and unless Malakar babu gives permission!" Upendra babu then started pestering Malakar babu to give permission but he didn't agreed at all!! The argument carried for long time and it became night but Malakar babu didn't agreed! Hearing all their arguments for long, Sri Sri Thakur said that "what to do? Malakar babu hasn't agreed, so there is no question of my going to Chowmuhani!! All of you may leave tomorrow for your home!" Everybody agreed and went to sleep. Then late in the midnight, when everybody was in deep sleep, Sri Sri Thakur said that "you know that as per my Guru's orders I cannot enter any ashram" Malakar babu replied "Yes" Gurudev continued "if I leave my body here, is it not that this very house would be changed into an ashram?" Malakar babu was stunned!! He cried "what are you saying Rambhai?" (Malakar babu used to address Gurudev as Rambhai always) Sri Sri Thakur said "Yes! I like this house very much, its atmosphere and so what I want is to go to Chowmuhani and leave my body there and come here & live in this house for ever!!! But if you didn't permit I cannot go!!!" Malakar babu cried and cried and fall at Gurudev's feet. Sri Sri Thakur consoled him and said that "allow me to go to Chowmuhani, I would leave my body there and come here & live here in this house!!!" The rest of the night went in crying by Malakar babu by the thought of Sri Sri Thakur going to leave this world. Next day morning, Gurudev told Upendra babu that Malakar babu has agreed and given permission to go to Chowmuhani. Everybody became very happy without knowing the actual truth behind this journey of Sri Sri Thakur towards Choumuhani, Bangladesh!! Malakar babu who was obviously under oath to not to reveal the secrets was crying profusely to everybody's astonishment!! When Sri Sri Thakur was in Choumuhani, Malakar babu was actually knowing the day also of Sri Sri Thakur's departure from this world and on that very day his pain was unbearable and uncontrollable!! It is said that after Sri Sri Thakur left His holy body, His presence has been felt by Malakar babu many times in the house like sound of wooden sandals while walking by Sri Sri Thakur, holy footmarks of Sri Sri Thakur on the bed of Him which were quite big in size, taking food and water etc. like this many other signs!! Even now in that house which has been renamed as "Sri Sri Ram Thakur Smriti Mandir" after Malakar babu left one can feel the vibration of presence of our beloved Gurudev!! Few people knows about the story and thus that house has not been changed into an ashram as per wish of our beloved God Sri Sri Ram Thakur!! I have a long desire to visit that place sometime in the near future as I belong to Tripura only! I could not visit that place earlier as it was unknown to me otherwise by this time I would have definitely gone to that place many times and would have pasted some photographs also.

The level of devotion that Malakar babu or other disciples had who were present in that period can never be expressed in words or I think we can never understand it also!! It all depends on the mercy of holy Gurudev and it is His divine mercy only which helps us to love Him and do His bhakti!! The author of the above story who was an aged sadhika (lady saint) happened to meet Sri Phanindra Malakar at his daughter's residence at Agartala, Tripura. When she went to met him, she saw that as if Malakar babu was seemed to be talking very slowly to somebody in the vaccum and seemed to be in a trance state!! She sat beside him and waited. In the meantime her daughter came kept a cup of milk for him on the table!! The trance went for little long and the sadhika noticed that the milk had become cold, and later on draws the attention of Malakar babu towards it that "the milk has become cold, why didn't he drink it?? He replied "how can I? Sri Sri Thakur is there!!" After some time he said "Yes, now it can be taken!!" All Glory to Holy beloved Gurudev Sri Sri Ram Thakur and His divine disciple Sri Phanindra Malakar Babu!! Jai Ram!!    

Great Disciple - Sri Phanindra Malakar Part II

 

Dear Guru brothers/sisters! There was another incident mentioned in the book written by Sri Phanindra Malakar about himself. It was so that once he had a desire of taking sanyas from the sansar or renouncing the material world and go in search of God and do sadhana in a forest. But he didn’t revealed it to anybody in his home. Instead he thought he would quietly leave his home without anybody’s knowledge and take sanyas. It can be mentioned here that he was unmarried at that time. But our almightly Lord Sri Sri Thakur who is antaryami and nothing could be hidden from Him, was knowing everything and on the night of his escaping Guruji alerted the family members of Malakar babu and he was caught and stopped from going. Malakar babu was quite surprised and when he came to know that they were informed by Gurudev Himself he felt very dejected at heart also felt being betrayed by Him. Next morning, when he went to met Sri Sri Thakur along with the family members He explained in detail as what is actual sanyas. Gurudev asked Malakar babu that "have you acquired that qualification to stay in forest and amongst the animals? Do you have the basic eligibility? If you have violence in you heart, your violence will attract the animals to attack you!! First gain that qualification!! You have previous births karmas due to which you have taken birth here in this family otherwise you would have taken birth in some isolated part of the world and until and unless you pay all your debts you cannot escape from here. Where will you go? Wherever you go, your prarabdha will also follow you!" (Guruji used to say that our forehead is our fate and you cannot keep your forehead at a place and go to some other place, it will go with you wherever you go! Further also when you die and your body is fully burned into ashes your forehead bone only remains!!) Sri Sri Thakur further said that "Don’t try to run away from your karmas instead face them (like Arjuna who also tried to run away from his duties but was ultimately brought back by Sri Krishna) Guruji also said that instead of going to aranya (forest) stay in this sansar aranya (world forest) and do tapas or sadhana through bearing with patience all sorts of miseries, blames given by family members, society etc. different types of difficulties, agony, sorrow etc. keep your mind at the lotus feet of God and do all your duties with an akarta bhav (detached state). This is called nitya tapasya and I bless you to be able to do that." So here we can see that how beautifully Gurudev explained that sanyas is not meant to be escaping from your home instead it means facing all difficulties with patience and keeping your mind in the holy feet of your God/Guru.

 

In my earlier post I had revealed one secret told by Sri Sri Thakur that Sri Phanindra Malakar babu was none other than a Gopi during the Vrindavan leela and our Gurudev was none other than Lord Sri Krishna Himself!!  I would like to reveal some more unkown great & divine facts about this great disciple of our Gurudev!! Most of you would be knowing that Sri Sri Thakur had the habit of addressing everybody as "Apni" in bengali whether it was a young boy or an old man, therefore Gurudev used to address Malakar babu also as "Apni" but that was in front of all only!!! Whenever Malakar babu used to accompany Sri Sri Thakur, he used to sleep in the same room along with our Gurudev so as to look after Him during night. Sri Sri Thakur would be sleeping on the bed and Malakar babu would be sleeping on the floor. Sri Sri Thakur very rarely used to sleep and almost all the nights when everybody went to sleep and the whole world is in deep sleep, Malakar babu on seeing Sri Sri Thakur awake used to enter inside the mosquito net of Gurudev & start pressing His holy feet or His body and during that time Sri Sri Thakur used to address Malakar babu as "Tumi"!!! Malakar babu also used to address Sri Sri Thakur as "Tumi"! During this time they used to discuss about various highly spiritual matters and Sri Sri Thakur would explain him many secret facts about the spiritual world! Malakar babu would ask Him those questions which he couldn't ask Him during the day time owing to the presence of many devotees and it is at this time only when suddenly Sri Sri Thakur once asked Malakar babu to stand on the back of Gurudev's body to give Him comfort!! Hearing this Order Malakar babu was totally dumbstruck and taken aback!! He pleaded that "how is it possible?? You are my Lord and I am your devotee, how can I put my feet on your holy body??" Gurudev smiled and asked malakar babu that  "Have you forgotten everything about your previous birth?? Have you forgotten the type of relationship we had in the past??" Malakar babu replied in negative. Sri Sri Thakur told him that "you were my Gopini and our relationship was of prema bhakti!! and in this relationship there is no question any sin!!" Malakar babu understood everything and followed the Order of Sri Sri Thakur and did exactly what was told by Gurudev!! Dear Friends! these were those secret facts which throws light on the type of divine relationship this great disciple used to share with our Gurudev!! Keep an eye on the blog..there are more to come!! Kindly tell your other Guru brothers & sisters about this blog where they can know many unknown divine things about our beloved Gurudev!! The main motive behind narrating all these incidents is know how to do bhakti or how to love one's God which these great devotees have shown to the world!!

Jai Ram!

The Great Devotee - Sri Phanindra Malakar

With Sri Guru’s unlimited grace and divine blessings and with His permission I would like to sing the glories of our beloved Guruji's greatest disciple Sri Phanindra Malakar babu. There are many incidents of our beloved Sri Sri Thakur where he showed the true way of doing bhakti which is total saranagati at the holy feet of our Guruji through His various great disciples & one of them was Sri Phanindra Malakar babu. Once  Malakar babu was returning home late night in bangladesh. That place is full of ponds, lakes & rivers etc. and those days it was raining very heavily and due to this all the rivers & lakes were overflowing. When he came nearby to a pond on his way home he found that a pond is overflowing more than earlier. He decided to cross that pond through the water itself. While crossing it when he came to middle of the pond suddenly he saw a very big and gigantic snake or rather say a python kind of snake eating fishes, insects etc. Seeing that creature Malakar Babu was totally shocked and stunned and couldn’t understand what to do?? His feet were totally stuck in the mud of pond and was thinking that what will happen if it saw him now?? Suddenly that ferocious creature turned its hood and looked at Malakarbabu, its eyes were looking like two fire balls and within a moment it rushed towards him!!! Seeing this Malakarbabu was totally dumbstruck and forgot the Sri Naam also given by our Guruji because of ultimate fear!!! When that creature was just a feet away from him he cried out saying Jai Ram! Jai Ram!! and become unconscious and fall on the water and exactly at that moment in an half unconscious state he saw that our beloved Guruji appeared there in a big and huge form. He saw that he fall on the lap of our Guruji and Sri Sri Thakur was staring angrily on to that creature and after that Guruji throwed him towards the bank of the pond without any type of injury to him. After sometime he gained his senses and in a drowsy state fully covered with mud somehow he managed to reach his home. Seeing this his mother asked him what had happened and he narrated the full incident. At this his mother advised him not to reveal all these things to anyone. Next morning, he went to meet Guruji, when he peeped inside his room, Guruji immediately asked him to close the door & to come near to Him. After closing the door, he cried and cried and fall at the lotus feet of our Guruji. Guruji consoled him and said why to fear when I am here!! Malakar babu asked that how you had came there and I had forgot the Sri Naam also at this Guruji smiled & said that you had called & attracted me by my name, that itself is sufficient, your target should be correct, if your target is correct then everything can be achieved. Then Malakar babu asked that "what was that creature, I haven’t seen such type of ferocious snake in my whole life, from where it has came?" At this Guruji said that "your fate or prarabdha has brought it to you but what it can do when I am here?? It all had happened due to your previous births karmas only but it couldn’t any harm to you because of me!!" So here we can see that our whole life is controlled by our previous births karmas which is called prarabdha also but those karmas can do no harm to us if we are always in the saranagati of our God or Guru. 

Some more posts are to follow after this about this great disciple of Sri Sri Ram Thakur who was infact a Gopi in his previous birth as disclosed by Sri Sri Thakur very secretely who was Lord Sri Krishna Himself. But at the same time Malakar babu was also instructed by Sri Sri Thakur to not to disclose all these secret facts till Sri Sri Thakur was present in His human body form!! Like this there were many many secret and unbelievable things about our God & His divine devotees which were not disclosed among the common people as per instruction of our God Himself!!

Jai Ram!Jai Sri Sri Kaivalyanath!Jai Sri Sri Satyanarayan!

Story:Courtesy Rambhai Sarane by Sri Phanindra Malakar

Kortitabhiman (Ahankar) Part Continuation

 

 

Dear Guru Brothers/Sisters! This is in continuation of the earlier post about Kortitabhiman.  Once Sri Sri Thakur was staying at the Malakar’s house and as usual Sri Phanindra Malakar the youngest son of the house was entrusted with the holy job of looking after the daily needs of our Gurudev. During that time Sri Sri Thakur used to take a particular type of food prepared under some specific guideline which used to consist of some boiled vegetables duly mashed mixed with some particular type of spices.  Phanindra babu used to cook that food himself with utmost care and would offer that to Gurudev which He used to ate happily. Once what happened that Phanindra babu had to go out of station quite urgently for some days and he called his elder brother & sister and asked them to take care of Sri Sri Thakur with due care, particularly the food. He also showed them how to prepare that food and requested them to be very particular about that. After getting their assurances, he took permission from Sri Sri Thakur and left for his work. Phanindra babu’s elder brother hired one cook from outside and asked him to prepare that food and after preparation his elder sister used to offer it to Gurudev. But Sri Sri Thakur didn’t used to eat anything from it and food had to be returned as it is!! Like this it went for many days and Sri Sri Thakur also used to return it without accepting anything from it!! One day when the elder sister kept the food plate in front of Gurudev, He remarked that “why to unnecessarily take so much of pain to bring the food here, instead you can ask the person who is preparing it!" Whatever it is, after few days when Phanindra babu returned home, he immediately rushed to meet Sri Sri Thakur and was shocked to his health!! He cried out as “What has happened to you? Why you are looking so pale and thin? Are you not taking food?” etc. But Sri Sri Thakur didn’t said anything!! Phanindra babu immediately understood as something wrong has happened here. He went to the kitchen and found a cook who was going to prepare the food for Gurudev!! Seeing this he got angry and fired him out and himself prepared the food and offered it to Sri Sri Thakur which He ate fully!! Phanindra babu called his elder brother/sister and came to know of everything and fired them for hiring a cook for the service of Sri Sri Thakur!! He asked them that when he had specifically told to how to prepare the food and why the hell they hired a cook from outside?? Friends! Now you can understand as why Sri Sri Thakur didn’t ate anything? Later on Gurudev called the elder brother of Phanindra babu and preached them about service or seva of one’s Guru and Lord!! He told that "Seva is not like a fruit from any tree that you will go and take it!! Instead one should have an Akarta bhav and saranagati onto the holy feet of your Lord!! You people are showing me your money power by hiring a cook for me!! I know that how much money you are having and with this itself you are displaying so much of Ahankar!!"etc. Any type of Kortitabhiman had always been rejected by our beloved Gurudev! Whether it was a Queen of an Estate who wanted to construct a big ashram for our Gurudev and keep Him there forever or the elder brother of Phanindra Malakar babu! Sri Sri Thakur had even called these so-called devotees in His language as Unara Bhokto Non unara Shokto!! Jai Ram!!

 

 

Ahankar (Proundness) & Saranagati (Surrendering)

 

Saranagat Vatsal Lord Sri Hari

 

Sri Sri Thakur had always instructed all his devotees to be careful of this harmful element known as Ahankar which has also been referred to as Kortitabhiman in the holy vedvani!! There have been many incidents wherein Sri Sri Thakur had shown His total dislike towards the devotees who are having this element of proudness which is one of the biggest hindrance  towards Devotion/Bhakti!! He had always insisted to be having Akarta bhav (sense of detachment) towards all our deeds and surrending everything onto the holy feet of Gurudev.  Out of many incidents where we can understand this aspect much better I would narrate some. It once happened that a devotee who was very poor at one time and was struggling very hard to do some business for his living but without any success happened to visit Sri Sri Thakur very often and everytime he would visit Him Gurudev used to ask him in front of all as “what have you brought for me”!  It is very well known fact that one should not go empty handed while visiting a temple or his Guru and should offer something into his Lord’s holy feet!! That devotee used to feel very much embarrassed & bad inside his heart and used to think that next time when he goes to see Him would try to bring something for Gurudev but next time also he couldn’t take anything and Sri Sri Thakur would again ask the same question!! Once when he was going to see Gurudev suddenly he heard a sound behind his back and when he turned around he was very happy to see a ripe mango fruit which has just fallen from the tree and thought inside that today I would not go empty handed and would be able to offer this mango fruit into His holy feet. He immediately took that fruit, washed it at a nearby pond and wiped it carefully with a cloth and happily went to visit Sri Sri Thakur. Gurudev immediately as per His habit asked the same question again and that devotee happily with tears in his eyes offered that mango fruit at his holy lotus feet. Gurudev immediately asked the house owner to cut this fruit gave it to him and also to all the devotees sitting there!! Accordingly, the fruit was cut into pieces and given to Sri Sri Thakur  and all the devotees but suddenly everybody started spitting outside that mango saying that this mango is very bitter!! That devotee also tasted it and found it to be very bitter and he immediately pleaded with Sri Sri Thakur to not to eat that fruit but Gurudev was already eating that mango and praising about its sweetness!! Sri Sri Thakur was continuously praising about the mango brought by him and its sweetness as “No No! the mango is very very sweet! You have brought for me! Indeed it is very sweet”!  That devotee fall at his holy feet and cried and Gurudev affectionately put His hand on his head and blessed him!! Years rolled by and that very same devotee became a very rich man living in a big palatial house and one day he happened to meet Sri Sri Thakur and requested Him to put His holy feet into his house to which Gurudev agreed. The season of mangoes was going and the devotee thought inside that one day I was so poor that I could not even offer a single mango of good quality to Sri Sri Thakur now when I am capable I would fulfil my desire! He went to the market and ordered for four big baskets of high and best quality mangos available in the market and bring them home. Next day, he asked to Gurudev whether he would like to eat a mango to which Sri Sri Thakur once looked at the baskets and replied “Not now”! Without first offering to Sri Sri Thakur it cannot be consumed by others so the devotee waited for some more time and again asked Him but again He replied the same answer!! Next day again the devotee asked Him to have a mango but to his astonishment Gurudev didn’t agreed and gave the same reply!! Like this many days went and all the mangoes got rotten and he had to throw them all away without anybody able to eat them!! The devotee asked Sri Sri Thakur about his fault as why he didn’t ate even a single mango and one day He had praised about the bitter mango brought by him for Gurudev.  Sri Sri Thakur said that those all huge baskets of mangoes were actually expression of his Ahankar!! There was absence of surrender or saranagati which was present during that time when he was very poor thats why even the bitter mango brought by him became sweeter for Gurudev but now he is a very rich man and has a feeling of proudness inside that he has got money and can offer anything to God & because of this only these all high quality sweet mangoes became bitter!! In Vedvani Gurudev once said that  God is Bhavgrahi Janardan means God only accepts your feeling or bhav not the items offered to Him!! Once when Sri Sri Thakur was in Chowmuhani a devotee who was very poor had happened to visit Gurudev and had carried alongwith him 2-3 sticks of very thin sugarcanes to offer them at His feet. When he reached there Sri Sri Thakur immediately asked the house owner to keep these sugarcane sticks carefully as He would drink its juice later on. The house owner asked the devotee to keep them in a room meant for this and when he went inside the room he was shocked to see that there were already huge heaps of variety of best quality sugarcanes alongwith many variety of fruits!! The sticks brought by him were looking as odd there!!  He felt very embarrassed at this and decided not to offer juice out these sugarcane sticks to  Sri Sri Thakur !! Later Gurudev asked the house owner to make juice out of those sticks brought by the devotee to which that devotee pleaded with Gurudev that those sticks are not good and are of inferior quality instead there are already good quality sugarcane sticks available here but Sri Sri Thakur didn’t listened & insisted for juice made out of those lean & thin sticks only!! The juice was made and it was not even half a glass but Gurudev praised the sweetness of the juice and told that He was feeling very thirsty and now His thirst is quenched!! The devotee cried & fall at the holy feet of Gurudev and begged for His divine blessings  which Gurudev bestowed on him! Dear Friends! You can now very well understand that what Gurudev expects from us! What He expects is pure Saranagati at His holy feet and leaving everything on to Him only!! All Glory to Sri Sri Ram Thakur!! Jai Ram!!