Visions of Champaklal

An Unforgettable Wonderful Experience in Kottakal

1980-09-14

There was a feeling of unusual joy since the morning. I looked at the calendar and noticed it was Rishi Panchami day. I remembered my native place Sidhpur Pattan in North Gujarat. On this day, according to the custom of our Moddh Chaturvedi Brahmin caste, we have a ceremony of changing our sacred thread. I recollected everything. Early morning we all used to go together to bathe in our Saraswati river for changing our Yagnopavit (sacred thread). The river was very broad. It was in an open area with small shrubs here and there adorning the place. There were small heaps of beautiful shining sand. There was gold in the sand but it was very costly to separate it from the sand. The river was not deep. The water was waist-deep and even less at several places. But the force of the flowing water was so much that it was difficult to cross it. But when one stood on the sandy bed, the feet slipped as the sand moved. In a particular season, there were some cases when the whole body had sunk into the sand. During the monsoon the river was deeper, and in summer there was no river at all, it dried up.

During the ceremony, we purified our clothes (dhoti and chaddar) in the river, dried them on the bank taking care that no one touched them and, after bath, put them on.

The priest performed the ceremony and made us bathe in different postures, sitting and standing at times, for different purposes. All these religious rites are based on hygienic principles but we did them without understanding anything. We however enjoyed ourselves and used to wait for this day even though we understood nothing. It is only by the Mother's and Sri Aurobindo's Grace and through the experience given by them, that the real meaning of all these rites is understood by me now. It is very clear to me now that all these rituals are a prayer for living a higher life and are an expression of inner aspiration, and the stuti (glory) and prayer to different gods.

After the ceremony, we all brought from our houses our Ishta Devatas (chosen deities) along with their thrones, small or big. Some thrones were made of metal, some of wood but some of them were very beautiful and artistic. Generally on this day, the Shaligram is worshipped. The Shaligram is black and round and comes in different sizes. Usually it has a very small dimple but the one which is perfectly round in shape and has no dimple is considered very auspicious and rare. My father had a small, beautiful and perfectly round Shaligram. So we were very happy about it and some of us even proud as no other family had such a beautiful Shaligram.

Our caste had a special small temple with a small courtyard. We all used to gather there with our Ishta Devatas. We used to sit in two long rows keeping our Ishta Devatas in front of us. Then the priest would utter the mantras in Sanskrit and make us perform the ceremony and each one would do the puja for his own Ishta Devata. It was a long ceremony of many rites. Towards the evening, after the puja was over, we used to change our dhotis and chaddar and put on colourful pitamber of various types—coarse, woollen, silk, etc. We all took our food together there. At the time of serving, we would chant in chorus the Mahimna stotra and when half meal (consisting of laddu, dal and vegetables) was finished, each individual would recite a verse. Some had lovely, sweet, sonorous voices pleasing to the ear. My father had such a remarkable voice! Even small children used to recite in their sweet lisping manner. There was great laughter. We all used to take part in the recitation and enjoyed it all very much. Can the present generation imagine such occa­sions and such a wonderful atmosphere?

Experience

A very clear, commanding but at the same time compassionate voice is heard—”“Come with me, come with me, don't fear at all come without any expectation and watch whatever happens!” replied, “I do not keep any hope now, but what you say is correct. Before coming here, I expected that I would be able to walk just like before. After coming here, that hope is no more. That means, I feel I may not get cured. However, this is not due to despair but because of the trust that the Divine will do what is best for me. This faith is becoming more and more firm day by day. The Mother has given me this experience in every moment of my life. In Pondicherry, when anyone asked me, 'How are you?' my usual answer was, “The Compassionate Mother, by her Infinite Grace, has made me walk just as much as required. The most important thing is my inner condition which is very fine. Then what more is needed? Every day, all the time, the Compassionate Mother's Infinite Grace is being experienced.”

The one whose voice was heard spoke again, remaining invisible. This voice was not The Mother's nor Sri Aurobindo's but it was full of compassion and was very sweet and charming.

During the massage time, I am lying on the Dhara Patthi (long wooden tray used during the time of massage in Malabar). I feel as if the whole Patthi is lifted up. Simultaneously I experience uneasiness and fear. The Patthi tilts and becomes unstable. When it rises to a certain height, suddenly four lamps appear burning on its four corners. In the beginning, the Patthi goes up very slowly. After a while, it takes me up at an aeroplane's speed and shoots higher and higher in space.

From light dark, it passes into deep dark realms. I have never seen such pitch darkness before. As the Patthi shoots ahead, the darkness turns fainter and fainter. Now the space is filled with ash colour. This also I pass through, rising higher and higher. Now I see absolutely white light—nothing but white light all around. The special feature of this light is that it is vibrant and living. It is very difficult to explain. I proceed up into higher and higher regions. After a certain distance, far, very far, a brilliant bright-red, very beautiful, lustrous sun is seen shining. Its radiant glowing flames burn my body even from a far distance and make me feel suffocated.

Just then, the same commanding yet compassionate voice is heard again. It reassures me: 'Don't be afraid, don't be afraid, don't be afraid in the least! Remember what I told you at the very outset!' Immediately I sense that these illumined flames have taken off something from all over my body which became extremely light like a flower. I was advancing closer and closer to this red sun. Now the light of its dazzling flames filled me with bliss! The body did not burn at all! It penetrated through this blazing sun and forged ahead higher and higher! One after the other, at long distances, I shot through each of the beautiful, brilliant, splendid, innumerable suns of various bright hues. They were at a very far distance from one another. Now I experienced a feeling of newness in the body, both in and out. I felt it to be of a totally different stuff.

I was lying on the same Patthi but now I felt as if I was in space—a little above the Patthi, and this time beautiful, bright, lustrous, sparkling lights of different colours started entering into my body. This process continued for along time. From this also, the body began to go still higher and higher. After reaching a certain height, I saw a wonderful, unique, extremely luminous, shimmering golden sun. It was limitless and endless i.e. from top to bottom and also from sides, there was no end! Its golden light was seen covering the whole 'brahmanda' (universe) and everything was saturated with this golden light. My whole body also became blissful and lustrous, as if made of that light only. As I was approaching nearer and nearer this golden sun, I was getting new and totally different experiences which are impossible to put in words.

Again the voice of the invisible man is heard: 'Be on your guard, be on your guard, always, constantly, be on your guard! Your real time is coming now!' Reaching very near these bright shimmering, luminous lights, gave me an unimaginable coolness and in no time I entered into that wonderful resplendent golden sun. At the same time, I heard the voice of the massage man calling out, 'ulta, ulta' (turn, turn)! I got a little jolt and looked at him with great surprise. But what could he understand! An unforgettable wonderful experience remains unfinished but leaves me with a definite inner change. And there is a strong, vibrant feeling now that I have nothing to do. They will do everything—whatever is needed.