Chandod : c.30 miles south of Baroda, is on the northern bank of Narmadā. Not far from there is the temple-town Karṇāḷi. In 1905 Sri Aurobindo & K.G. Deshpande visited a Kali temple there. In a conversation with disciples in the 1920s, he said, “I went to one of the temples, & saw in an image of Kāli, the living Presence.” His poem “The Stone Goddess” describes that experience.
... gift in him." . . . One day ... in the beginning of 1905, Messrs Arvind Babu, Deshpande and Jadhav went to Chandod, a small town on the bank of the Narmada, and a place of pilgrimage. There they passed a day with a Yogi and then proceeded to Ganganath, a place a few miles distant from Chandod. There is a beautiful Ashram there where Swami Brahmanand spent his life. At that place they passed another... After passing a total of a week or two at Baroda, he went back to Bengal. During his stay in Gujarat he went to Chandod for the last time. He had been there twice or thrice before, during his stay at Baroda, with K .G. Deshpande and others. On one of these visits, at Karnali, near Chandod, he saw Swami Brahmananda. At the time of leaving the Swami, each one who was present did pranām (bowing).... from behind which got the idea accepted by the mind; mine was a side-door entry into the Spiritual Life." Sri Aurobindo consulted engineer Devdhar, who was a disciple of Swami Brahmananda of Chandod, for details about Pranayama. There was an idea current that yoga could not be done without Pranayama. Sri Aurobindo describes the results of his practice as follows: "My own experience is that ...
... already concentrated on Sri Aurobindo's yoga, his personality did not touch us to that extent, but had I nor already come in contact with Sri Aurobindo, I might have joined him. To resume the tale of Chandod-Karnali. After he finished singing in the evening he told me, “Come tomorrow to my house at midnight. I will take you to an avadhut [ascetic]. Even if he abuses you or loses his temper and asks you... wanted to make me his disciple. But nowadays, when we meet, he introduces me to his disciples as his close friend. × Chandod is on a tributary of the Narmada; Karnali, only a few kilometers away, is on the Narmada. It was during a visit to Karnali that Sri Aurobindo had a vision of the World Mother in a Kali temple. He described ...
... mount is a tiger. It was Deshpande —he had joined the Baroda State Service in 1898 —who had taken Sri Aurobindo there from Chandod during one of their visits there, as the temple town was not so very far from Swami Brahmananda's place. Both Page 182 Chandod and Karnali are places of pilgrimage. "Once," Sri Aurobindo said describing one of his pre-yogic experiences, "I visited Ganganath... instance is the sense of Page 179 the Infinite I had at the Shankaracharya Hill at Kashmir and at Parvati Hill near Poona, and the reality of the image in a temple at Karnali near Chandod." In his visit to the Parvati Hill in 1908 he was accompanied by Lele. Sri Aurobindo, in a letter to Dilip, gave a comprehensive account of his pre-yogic spiritual experiences. Recalling the effect... Ganganath after Brahmananda's death, when Keshava-nanda was there." Ganganath, on the banks of the Narmada, is about two kilometres from Chandod. It was Swami Brahmananda's Ashram; upon his passing away Keshav ananda had become its head. "With my Europeanised mind," said Sri Aurobindo, "I had no faith in image worship and I hardly believed in the presence of God. I went to Karnali where there are several ...
... in the Gods. I had gone to Karnali (near Chandod) and there are several temples there. There is one Kali temple and when I looked at the image I saw the living presence there. For the first time I believed in the presence of God. 5.12.1939 Sri Aurobindo The idol of Mahakali, Karnali situated on the northern bank of river Narmada, near Chandod in Gujarat. When Sri Aurobindo visited... true Liberty, the Liberty of the constant and invariable union with the divine Will. The Mother, Questions and Answers (1929 - 1931): Happiness Once when Sri Aurobindo was on a visit to Chandod he went to one of the temples of Kali on the bank of the Narmada. He went there because of the company. He never had felt attracted to image worship — if anything, till then he was averse to it. Now ...
... 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 ...
... him and remained for long months afterwards,) the realisation of the vacant Infinite while walking on the ridge of the Takht-i-[Sulaiman] 1 in Kashmir, the living presence of Kali in a shrine in Chandod on the banks of the Narmada, the vision of the Godhead surging up from within when in danger of a carriage accident in Baroda in the first year of his stay etc. But these were inner experiences coming ...
... and disordered soul (pishachavat) though inwardly there is the purity and poise of the Spirit." - Sri Aurobindo, The Life Divine . 4 This Brahmananda should be distinguished from Brahmananda of Chandod, 5 ''I take refuge in the Buddha, I take refuge in the Dharma, I take refuge in the Sangha." 6 "Old man, old woman, the two together." 7 The following comments on Lajpat Rai are based on A ...
... gave me a Stotra of Kali, – a very violent Stotra ending with "Jahi" "Jahi" – "kill", of securing Indian freedom. I used to repeat it but it did not give any results. Once I visited Ganganath (Chandod) after Brahmananda's death when Keshwananda was there. With my Europeanized mind I had no faith in image-worship and I hardly believed in the presence of God. I went to Kernali where there are ...
... Sri Aurobindo : Yes, but I have not made up my mind. Disciple : In Khechari Mudra the lower connecting line of the tongue is to be cut. Sri Aurobindo : I think Keshavananda at Chandod also had his tongue freed by cutting it for Khechari. Disciple : What is, after all, the result of Khechari Mudra? Sri Aurobindo : I believe it leads to a kind of trance which may give ...
... of the place. Another instance is the sense of the Infinite I had at the Shankeracharya Hill at Kashmir and at Parvati Hill near Poona, and the reality of the image in a temple at Karnali near Chandod. Disciple : I asked X why the Jews are so much persecuted in Germany. He said that they were a rich minority and so they were made the scapegoat. He said, the same thing Page 209 ...
... still.... A lonely Calm and void unchanging Peace On the dumb crest of Nature's mysteries. 15 Again, the living presence of Kali in one of the temples at Karnali near Chandod on the banks of the Narmada came upon him unawares and filled him with an eerie and stupendous Power leaping out of the sculptured confines. This experience was to be immortalised in a sonnet of later ...
... according to the nature, to each one his Eden. 7 November 1938 The Age of Swami Brahmananda Captain Guha, an Assistant Surgeon, asked me whether there was any proof that Swami Brahmananda of Chandod lived for 400 years. Could you possibly enlighten me? 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 ...
... no point in quarrelling like this. Afterwards they lived in a deeper and truer harmony. × Some miles southwest of Chandod-Karnali, not far from Narmada. ...
... Barin’s fever by muttering some words, drawing with a knife a crosswise figure in a glass of water, and making his brother drink it. He had met the great yogi Swami Brahmananda of the Ganga Math in Chandod and been impressed. In England he had already been familiar with the writings of Ramakrishna Paramhamsa and Vivekananda. Maybe he would find in yoga some resource to help realize his political ideals ...
... the atmosphere of the place. Another instance is the sense of the Infinite I had at the Shankaracharya Hill, and at Parvati Hill near Poona, and the reality of the image in a temple at Karnali near Chandod. In 1939 Sri Aurobindo described these three experiences in sonnets: Adwaita, The Hill-top Temple and The Stone Goddess In 1903 Sri Aurobindo took a month's leave and went to Bengal. His ...
... and all was as before; Only that deathless memory I bore. Here is a description of a vision that Sri Aurobindo had during his Baroda period: Once when Sri Aurobindo was on a visit to Chandod he went to one of the temples of Kali on the bank of the Narmada. He went there because of the company. He never had felt attracted to image-worship—if anything, till then he was averse to it. Now ...
... was a perfect organisation to prevent epidemics and that succeeded well. But after the war they broke out with great force. All that is not conquering death. Disciple : Swami Brahmananda of Chandod lived for more than 200 years. Sri Aurobindo : Yes. If you know Hatha Yoga you can keep the body safe against disease. You can also reduce the slow process of ageing by supplying the vital ...
... casting its own glow upon the physical. The vital Purusha is immortal and that creates a sense of immortality in the body but that is not the real conquest. In the case of Swami Brahmananda (of Chandod) he lived upto 300 years Page 310 so that he was practically immune from the action of age but one day a rusty nail pricked him and he died of that slight wound. On the physical ...
... Guru also had revolutionary ideas; Thakur Dayanand was a revolutionary, I think, and the Sannyasin who spoke about the Uttara Yogi, the Yogi from the North, was another. PURANI: Brahmananda of Chandod spoke of driving away the British. SRI AUROBINDO: Is that so? I didn't know it. PURANI: It is said that Nivedita wept bitterly because she found that everything the revolutionaries had done to ...
... on top of which was Shankaracharya's temple to Shiva, I immediately experienced the Infinite. I saw an infinitely vast Emptiness covering the universe. "Another spiritual experience occurred in Chandod where I had gone to meet the Yogi Brahmananda. This place is on the bank of the river Narmada, which is dotted with innumerable temples, big and small. I entered a Kali temple and lo! It was not a ...
... years after his return to India that he started certain practices on his own, just getting the rule from an Engineer friend, Mr. Devadhar, who was a disciple of Swami Brahmananda of Ganga Math, Chandod, on the banks of the Narmada; this was, however, confined for the time being to sustained prānāyāma, for three hours in the morning and two in the evening. The immediate effect was a marvellous ...
... illimitable store of potential energy, and release it for the national cause. Sri Aurobindo returned to Baroda in June 1906, but presently took leave on loss of pay for a year, and after a visit to Chandod where he met the successor of Swami Brahmananda, came back to Calcutta in July. For all practical purposes, he was leaving the Baroda service for good. He hardly gave a thought to the settled salary ...
... National College with the stipulation that Sri Aurobindo be made its first Principal. Sri Aurobindo passed his sojourn in Calcutta. at the Raja's place. Visited Swami Brahmanand at Chandod. with Dutt. Was doing Pranayam and Yoga. Attended the Bombay sessions of the Congress presided over by Sir Henry Cotton who made a vigorous protest against the proposed partition ...
... establish a general law leaving out the details; the physical is not so; it requires constant patience and minutiae. ,.. 35 And Sri Aurobindo gave an example: In the case of Swami Brahmananda (of Chandod) he lived up to 300 years so that he was practically immune from the action of age, but one day a rusty nail pricked him and he died of that slight wound. On the physical plane something you have ...
... and Mahratta shoes on his feet; clean and neat, though not overdressed. An indescribable but very pleasant aroma of purity emanated from his body. The stranger went away. So did Barin. He reached Chandod's station. From there he went to Navasari to the house of a friend from Baroda days. As he entered he found the short, fair stranger sitting there in a chair. Both were astonished. "Then the man asked ...
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