Mother's Chronicles - Book Five

8

Swami Brahmananda

Today's visitors can, however, see the Tapoban hills on the outskirts of Deoghar. It was in a small cave of Tapoban that Balananda Brahmachari Maharaj practised tapasya. When Rajnarain Bose was alive, Balanandaji was already engaged in his tapasya. He had great regard for Rajnarain. In 1897 when the latter became bedridden following a stroke which paralyzed his right side, Balanandaji became a steadfast visitor ... and more. The Sanskritist Gobindo Gopal Mukhopadhyay — his Sanskrit songs or duets with his wife Madhuri Devi transport one to another world —has been kind enough to give me a few lines on Balanandaji. Both his father and uncle were close disciples of the Yogi, whom he had the honour of knowing from his childhood. Gobindo Babu still remembers that he was just a child when he saw Barindra Kumar Ghose at Balanandaji's ashram. "Barinda stayed at Deoghar for some time after his return from Pondicherry (in December 1929). I remember very clearly that one day Barinda came to pay his respects to Balananda Maharaj, who rather chided him by saying, 'Why have you returned to family life instead of following in the footsteps of Sri Aurobindo

Page 77

who has remained self-lost in yogic sadhana?' Then itself I observed how very deep was Balanandaji's affection for Barinda, and how profound was his respect for Sri Aurobindo."

To show how much the Hindu Yogi revered the Brahmo philosopher, G. G. Mukhopadhyay recounted the following incident. "Shibnath Sastri," an eminent person of the time, "had gone to Deoghar to have a last look at Rajnarain who was on his deathbed." He found the whole town on tiptoe with anxiety. He saw a Christian gentleman, a retired high Government Official, spending his days and nights by the sick man's bedside. Sastri also noticed men attached to the Vaidyanath temple calling morning and evening to inquire about the state of the old man's health. When Shibnath Sastri left Deoghar after two days, he "travelled back to Calcutta in the same train with a well-known Bengali writer, a journalist of repute, a devout Hindu. The journalist told Shibnath Sastri that he had come to meet his guru Balanandaji; but his guru bade him return home, because he, the guru, had no time to sit and talk with his disciple, as all his attention was absorbed in Rajnarain Babu who was on his deathbed, and he wanted to run to Deoghar to see him. And," added Gobindo Babu, "this goes to show what high regard the guru of a devout Hindu had for Rajnarain Babu; so much so that he didn't hesitate a moment to disappoint his dear disciple by sending him back with dispatch." The Hindu journalist was none other than G. G. Mukhopadhyay's own uncle Krishna Chandra Banerji, who was the editor of a Bengali newspaper called Bangabasi, and against whom the first ever sedition case was instituted

Page 78

in India. "It is this profound reverence and love for his grandfather that formed an abiding bond between Sri Aurobindo and Balananda Maharaj."

Although the chosen spot of his sadhana was Deoghar, in Bihar, Balanandaji hailed from quite another part of India. He was born near Ujjain in Madhya Pradesh, by the banks of Shipra. Known as Avantika in olden times, Ujjain is made famous by poet Kalidas. There is a very old temple to Shiva as Mahakal which is considered as one of the twelve Jyotirlingas or major shrines of Shiva. Balananda was the only son of his widowed mother, Narmadabai, who had named her son Pitambara. He belonged to the Saraswat Brahmin clan. Three or four days after his sacred thread ceremony he left home and mother, pulled away by a greater call. Years went by. Narmadabai now felt that her time was nearly up. She prayed even more fervently than usual to Mahakal so that she may see her son Pitambar once more before breathing her last. Mahakal appeared to her and very lovingly said, "Daughter, soon your wish will be fulfilled. Your son is engaged in tapasya at Baidyanath, on the Tapoban hill. He is now called Balananda. Go there and you will find your lost son." Thus mother and son met after forty years. An emotional reunion.

What amazes me is how the old lady oxcarted or trudged all the way to Baidyanath-Deoghar from Ujjain —a matter of some 920 kilometres as the crow flies and, certainly more than 1500 kilometres by road? Again, how did she find her way to her son all those hundred years ago? All she knew from some pilgrims was that Deoghar lay towards Jagannath Puri. What pluck Narmadabai had!

Page 79

From him she heard many of his adventures during those forty years. After wandering here and there Pitambar had walked along the banks of the Narmada, and thus reached Gangonath. It was there that the great yogi Brahmananda's Ashram was; and, what joy! he accepted to take the young boy as his disciple, and at the time of the initiation gave Pitambar the name Balananda.

The guru of Balanandaji was therefore Swami Brahm-ananda of Chandod. Chandod, some forty kilometres south of Baroda, on the banks of river Narmada, is the railway station where one got down to proceed to Gangonath some three kilometres away. G. G. Mukhopadhyay said, "I heard from my father that whenever Sri Aurobindo came to Deoghar during the summer or Puja vacations' and was to return again to Baroda, Balananda Maharaj would send through him clothes or other useful things to his guru Brahmananda Maharaj. Thus Sri Aurobindo was the connecting link between the two, and the bridge of union between Baroda and Deoghar."

Only once did Brahmananda come to Deoghar. It was in 1905, to install. Lord Shiva in a temple constructed by his disciple Balananda at his newly founded ashram.

Swami Brahmanda was a very simple man. The Gaekwad and his family were his great devotees. Whenever the Gaekwad sent his own carriage to bring the Yogi to Baroda, the Yogi, for whom high or low did not exist, would pick up farmers' children, make them sit by his side, and take them to the Maharaja's Lakshmivilas Palace. Brahmananda was dearly loved by all sections of the people. They believed him to be the Goddess

Page 80

Narmada's own favourite son. Whenever a feast was given in his ashram on some occasion or another, it was open to all and sundry. People from the surrounding villages were sure to be invited. Out of a small quantity of food Brahmananda supplied many people. But sometimes so many turned up for the feast that there was shortage of ghee (clarified butter). Then Brahman ananda would take water from the Narmada and have things fried in it. And when the feast was over and a fresh supply of. ghee came along he would throw into the Narmada a quantity of ghee equivalent to the water taken. These were not tricks played by Brahmananda. "They have happened," confirmed Sri Aurobindo.

Sri Aurobindo was first taken to Brahmananda by his friends like Deshpande — who wanted him to take up yoga — and Deodhar, a disciple of the Yogi. Sri Aurobindo went to Chan-dod several times and saw Swami Brahmananda. It is said that he lived several hundred years. When Rajani Palit wrote to Sri Aurobindo, putting the Swamiji's age at 400, he replied in detail in a letter dated 1^st February 1936.

"There is no incontrovertible proof. 400 years is an exaggeration. It is known however that he lived on the banks of the Narmada for 80 years and when he arrived there, he was already in appearance at the age when maturity turns toward over ripeness. He was, when I met him just before his death, a man of magnificent physique showing no signs of old age except white beard and hair, extremely tall, robust, able to walk any number of miles a day and tiring out his younger disciples, walking too so swiftly that they tended to fall behind, a great head and magnificent face that seemed to belong to men of

Page 81

more ancient times. He never spoke of his age or of his past either except for an occasional almost accidental utterance. One of these was spoken to a disciple of his well known to me, a Baroda Sardar, Mazumdar (it was on the top storey of his house by the way that I sat with Lele in Jan. 1908 and had a decisive experience of liberation and Nirvana). Mazumdar learned that he was suffering from a bad tooth and brought him a bottle of Floriline, a toothwash then much in vogue. The Yogi refused saying, 'I never use medicines. My one medicine is Narmada water. As for the tooth I have suffered from it since the days of Bhao Girdi.' Bhao Girdi was the Maratha General Sadashiv Rao Bhao who disappeared in the Battle of Panipat¹ and his body was never found. Many formed the conclusion that Brahmananda was himself Bhao Girdi, but this was an imagination. Nobody who knew Brahmananda would doubt any statement of his —he was a man of perfect simplicity and truthfulness and did not seek fame or to impose himself. When he died he was still in full strength and his death came not by decay but by the accident of blood-poisoning

1. This refers to the Third Battle of Panipat, fought on 14 January 1761, between the Afghan invader, Ahmad Shah Abdali and the Marathas. Ahmad Shah belonged to the Durrani clan of Afghanistan, and after the assassination of Nadir Shah in 1747 he occupied the throne of Afghanistan. He died in 1773. But during that time he invaded India eight times, occupied the Punjab, and won a tremendous victory over the Marathas in the Third Battle of Panipat. But soon his own men compelled him to return to Afghanistan. However his victory proved to be a disaster for the Marathas. Even more disastrous was the blow it dealt to the Mughals throne, as it marked the eclipse of the imperial power of the Mughals. In a way this battle decided the fate of India for it facilitated the growth of British power in India.

Page 82

through a rusty nail that entered into his foot as he walked on the sands of the Narmada.... I may say that three at least of his disciples to my knowledge kept an extraordinary aspect and energy of youth to a comparatively late or quite advanced age — but this perhaps may be not uncommon among those who practise both Raja and Hatha Yoga together."

Regarding Swami Brahmananda Sri Aurobindo recalled another incident. "While I was residing at Baroda," he told his disciples in January 1939, "a Bengali Sannyasi came to see me and asked me to help him financially. I did so. But I found that the man was extremely rajasic, jealous and boastful and could not tolerate anyone greater than himself. He used to curse everybody who was greater than he. Once he went to see Brahmananda. He began to curse him because he was so great. Shortly after Brahmananda died of the prick of a nail. The Sannyasi took all the credit to himself! What might have happened was that Brahmananda's death was near and this man got the suggestion of it from the subtle planes."

It was in 1906 that Swami Brahmananda died. Just before that, in June or July when he had gone to Baroda to wind up his thirteen years' service to the State, Sri Aurobindo went to meet Swamiji for the last time. "He had the most remarkable eyes," said Sri Aurobindo. "Usually they were either closed or half shut. When I went to see him and was coming away, he opened them full and looked at me. It seemed as if he could penetrate and see everything clearly."

*

* *

Page 83

In 1940, on March 13, Sri Aurobindo was shown some photographs of Brahmananda and Balananda. Looking at Brahmananda's picture Sri Aurobindo said, "He was not so haggard when I saw him."

When he saw one of Balananda's pictures Sri Aurobindo said, "He was young when I saw him. In this photo he looks very jolly." Looking at another one, he said, "Yes, this is more like him." Added Sri Aurobindo, "I saw him only once. He was doing much tapasya."

Page 84