In
the early years, Sri Manglu, a local orphaned unmarried young man became
attached to me. He served me and I
shared food with him and looked to his needs of clothing, etc. but paid no
salary for his services. He was
innocent and devoted. Stealing and
lying were unknown to him. During daytime hours, he was in the Ashram, but he
spent the night with his brother’s family in Barahat.
For thirty years he served me whole-heartedly. When he became old, a house was built for him with some land
for cultivation at Laksheswar. Also,
some money was kept in the Bank in Savings and Fixed deposits.
He is now in total retirement and unable to walk to our Ashram.
His brother’s family is looking after him. His property will go to his
family as he never married. These
days he has become a bit insane, but is manageable.
Inscrutable are the ways of karma.
I feel I can never recompense adequately for Manglu’s services.
May the Inner Presence bless him with a happy departure from this world!
Swami
Brahmanndaji, the gurubhai who
assisted me in the Post Office and followed me to Uttarkashi, and later
accompanied me in my South Indian tour, came from Shivananda Nagar soon after I
began staying in the Ashram, wishing to rejoin me. He acutely felt the need for a kitchen. He
said he would write to Mother Soundderigger in Switzerland for a donation for
building a kitchen. She had motherly love towards him, he said, ever since she
met him in Rishikesh. He wrote and
she remitted the money. Early in
1963, the kitchen came into existence. The
donor came subsequently for darshan.
She impressed me as a noble lady. She
expressed her desire to come and stay in India for spiritual practices.
Brahmanandaji wanted to establish an Ashram for women in Ujaili. I discouraged him because the sadhu community would look down upon anyone attempting such a thing. I suggested that he might do so in Rishikesh if he was serious. Accordingly, he went there and established what is known as Swiss Cottage, near Andhra Ashram. Mostly foreigners come and stay in this Cottage for shorter or longer periods. And the Swamiji has his own quarters and helps not only visitors, but also maintains and feeds stray dogs, monkeys, mules and so on. He is very kind to animals.
Swami
Madhavanandaji, Vice-President till recently, had a great liking for Uttarkashi.
For many years he spent one or two months every summer with me.
Only when he became old and XXX walk did he stop coming here.
Swami
Om Tat Satananda, one of the Secretaries in our H.Q.’s Ashram, became my
companion for some months in 1963 before Guruji’s Mahasamadhi.
He would fetch bhiksha and I would cook. We would bathe in Ganga and bring water in
buckets to the Ashram.
Phalahari
Baba, Swami Satchidanandaji, Gurudev’s Private Secretary, came to Uttarkashi
to do penance for six months. His
special food was not only costly, but also not available. Kshetra roti-daal he never touched, not even the vegetables
we cooked. He was fond of gardening
and would dig pits for plantains and those that he planted yielded abundant
fruit. “Chaitanyanandaji, you
will remember me for the produce of plantains,” he remarked.
And so it turned out to be true.
Swami
Tejomayanandaji, a darling of Guruji, became an inmate for some months.
His spirit of adjustment enables him to get along with others
effortlessly, but he is a ‘free bird’ that does not perch any place for too
long. He has been a wandering monk
- an aniketa, with no worldly
ambitions and no attachments.
Swami
Akhandanandaji, a gurubhai lacking
scholarship but staunch in devotion and vairagya
stayed with me and served me for three or four years, both before and after the
construction of Sivananda Ashram. Later
he shifted to Netala and built the Ashram near Siror Bridge.
He spent altogether thirty-five years in Uttarkashi and attained Mahasamadhi
in 1993. Earlier, he had
transferred his Ashram to Swami Vishnudevananda’s organization - Sivananda
Yoga Vedanta Centres. This Ashram
grew up to be an International Centre for Yoga-Vedanta teaching.
Swami
Chidanandaji Maharaj and Vishnudevanandaji Maharaj, both of international
reputation with extensive following, favoured our Ashram three times with their
visits and spent a few days with us. Our
Ashram could not provide the facilities they needed, yet they managed very well,
for their innate simplicity and titiksha were intact, standing them in good stead.
Swami Atmanandaji, another gurubhai, who was taught Vedanta by Rev. Tapovanam Maharaj, stayed a few times with us. During one chaturmasya, he and Swami Shankaranandaji of Mangala Ashram wanted to study Brahma-Sutra Bhashyam. We covered up to the middle of the third chapter.
Swami
Nirvedanandaji, a disciple of Rev. Swami Purushothamanandaji of Vasishta Guha,
came in 1969 intending to study Brihadaaranyaka
Bhashyam. It took one-and-half
years to complete the four chapters. Nirvedanandaji
was intelligent, earnest and industrious. He
gained not only adequate Vedanta knowledge, but also proficiency in Sankara’s
Sanskrit Bhashyam. He wrote
Purushothamanandaji’s Biography and other works in English.
He was a good cook and was in charge of our kitchen during his stay.
He was a Guru Bhakta, as also a good Guru in his own right.
Swami
Janardananandaji, a disciple of Swami Vishnudevanandaji, became an inmate of our
Ashram. He studied Bhandarker’s
two books of Sanskrit grammar and some Upanishads,
Brahma Sutras etc. during his stay of
more than four years. A person of
good culture and efficiency and endowed with a spirit of adaptability and
devotion to elders and affection for one and all, he endears himself to all.
He established in 1998 an Ashram in Uttarkashi in his Guruji’s name,
Vishnudevananda Tapovanam, assisted by his brother-disciples, Swami
Gireeshananda and Swami Hariomananda. He
is keen on spiritual sadhana, but not averse to teaching and training sincere seekers.
He has been rendering valuable service to our Ashram here even after
shifting to Vishnudevananda Tapovanam.
From
time to time, swamis and brahmacharis,
residing in different Ashrams in Ujaili, learnt Sanskrit language and Scriptures
from me. A few of them are notable.
A Soordas brahmachari, almost blind, belonging to Garhwa, was possessed by a
deep longing to memorize all the ten Major Upanishads.
It was tiring task and I undertook to teach him.
Sincere, tenacious and ambitious, he plodded on for years and became an Upanishad-Veda
Paati and could influence devotees by his discourses.
Swami Sharvananadaji of Pranava Dham, Ujaili, a centre of Bharata Seva Ashram Sangh, an engineer and a jignyasu of Brahma-vidya studied first Bhandarker’s two books and Apte’s Guide to Sanskrit Composition, and later studied the Upanishads and Brahma Sutras in our afternoon classes over the years. He mastered whatever he learnt and became a good teacher. His humility and friendliness, coupled with readiness to help others, render him a conspicuous person. His amiability deprives him of all leisure and he engages in constant service. His parents come year after year for his darhsan, but he displays no special attachment to them.
Gireeshanandaji
and Hariomanandaji studied Bhandarker’s grammar, and by attending the
afternoon class, gained Scriptural knowledge.
Like Janardananandaji, they too are very devoted to their Guru and his
mission, and at the same time are engaged in spiritual practices and service to
the deserving. Scholarship does not
tempt them, nor are they assailed by any mundane ambition.
A
mere boy of fifteen, Kutti Swami knew only Malayalam when he arrived from Kerala.
Anyone who observed him would admit that he had no juvenile tendencies,
but had a mature mind, well above his age.
It is learnt that from childhood he was being guided by a benign Spirit -
a sannyasi - who appears whenever a
certain pooja is performed and gives
instructions and clears doubts. He
possessed powers of healing and patients kept flocking to him for cure.
He was curing successfully, but one day the Spirit advised him to give up
the exercise of this miraculous power as it would block his spiritual evolution.
So when he came here, he had already stopped this practice and was
impelled purely by spiritual aspiration. I
advised him to learn first Hindi and later Sanskrit.
For some time Janardananandaji taught him Hindi through Malayalam. Later for one year, I taught him Hindi and when he picked up
enough to read and speak the language, his study of Sanskrit began with K.L.V.
Shastri’s Readers and the Sabda-Dhatu
Manjaris. In about two years he
mastered sufficient vocabulary and grammar and could join our Upanishad
class. Soon he could follow
Shankara Bhashyam and was second only
to Sharvanandaji. He learnt enough
English to study Apte’s Guide to
Sanskrit Composition in which both Sanskrit and English are of a high
standard. He is now studying it and
progressing satisfactorily. On the
advice of his Spirit-Guru, he became a sannyasi
and is known as (Hari - Brahma -
Indra) Hari Brahmendrananda Swami. We
wish to see him as an ideal Brahma nishta
Mahatma!
Among
female seekers, Brahmacharini Jasjeet of a
well-to-do Sikh family of Delhi became an inmate of Mata Brahma Jyoti
Ashram and wanted to learn the two books of Samskritam and Scriptures. She worked hard and learnt the two Books of Bhandarkar.
She joined our Upanishad class and
could follow Bhashyam. Her
Guru was a married elderly lady in Delhi. Swami
Vimalanandaji of Ram-Ghat, a disciple of Rev. Swami Akhandanandaji of Brindavan,
initiated her into the holy order of sannyasa
with the name Swami Amritananda. She
has been living in Gangotri since 1998 doing vichara
and meditation.
Out
of those who lived in our Ashram and served me for longer periods, mention must
be made notably of Brahmachari Narayan,
a disciple of Satya-Mitranandaji of Haridwar, who studied mostly English along
with Jagmohan of Baarsu, a student of M. A.
Sri. Narayanji is now a resident of Gangotri. His Guru wants him to succeed him, I am told, but he is
refusing to get entangled in samsara
and prefers to live the life of a virakta
sadhu.
Brahmachari
Satyanarayanananda (now Swami Gambhirananda), and Brahmachari
Satyananda, both from Sri. Vyasasram, Andhra Pradesh, received initiation into brahmacharya
from Rev. Swami Vidyanandaji, the head of the said Ashram, and later joined me.
They both served others and myself with devotion and reverence for more
than a decade and gained Shastra Jnana.
Their seva is continuing.
They insisted that I initiate them into sannyasa.
With Vidyanandaji’s permission, I initiated them into the fourth Order
and conferred the names of Swami Gambhirananda and Swami Satyananda,
respectively. While the services of
the former have continued without break from 1983, those of the latter have been
intermittent.
Brahmachari
Vishwa Dev and Brahmachari Akhilesh of Arya Samaj studied Ashtadhayi of Panini and Maha
Bhashya of Patanjali in an Institution in Haryana and became pracharaks,
preachers. They felt the need to
learn English; without it they felt they were out of time in modern society. They entreated me to take the trouble of teaching them
English. I told them they would not
have the patience to learn in view of their age and Acharya degree in Sanskrit,
but they disagreed and persisted in their solicitation.
They made good progress, but after about a year they became dispirited;
they realized that a study of few more years was needed to be able to deliver
speeches in English and wanted to quit. I
counseled patience. Akhilesh was
brighter in studies but lacked qualification to become a sannyasi,
while Vishwa Dev possessed the requisite viveka
- vairagya to succeed as a sannyasi.
Akhilesh left to pursue the career of a preacher and married soon thereafter. Vishwa Dev, however, continued his studies and after four years could speak well in English. During this period on three occasions he felt like giving up, each time I counseled patience and he obeyed. Finally, he took formal sannyasa in our Ashram here, and after a short stint in Australia, proceeded to America and established an Ashram in Oregon, Portland, with the help of Gujarati devotees. I visited and stayed in this Ashram during my foreign tour in the year 2000. The Swami has initiated a Rajasthani young woman into sannyasa who is managing the Ashram, while he mostly keeps traveling and preaching. Swami Amritananda, the sannyasini, is well educated and has the necessary qualifications for an ideal renunciate.
In
1948, I met a young man in Rishikesh. He
was then serving Tapovana Maharaj. He
hails from Andhra. We became
friends. He came to be known as
Swami Sundaranandaji after he became a sannyasi.
When I visited Gangotri, I stayed with him.
He has a flair for service and served many sadhus and gained their
blessings. An adept in Hatha Yoga,
a successful mountaineer, a renowned photographer, Sundaranandaji conducts
slide-shows on the Himalayas all over India.
He has captured rare pictures of Himalayan flora and fauna, waterfalls,
ice peaks, village folk etc. His
commentary is in Hindi. He has
become a famous Swami.
I
taught him some English. He is
extraordinarily brilliant. His
powers of observation and ability to master any art he tries his hand on, are
astonishing. Yet his prarabdha
did not permit him to become a scholar. He
spent sometime with me in Dandiwada also and in our new Ashram for many years.
He is now perhaps the longest lived sadhu in this part of the Himalayas -
Gangotri. Six months he lives in Tapovan Kutir, Gangotri and six months
in cities in different parts of India.
Sri.
B. Venkaiah, the station master, comes first.
I have already given instances of his munificence.
He studied Bhrigu Samhita and became a palmist par excellence.
His readings unfailingly were accurate.
About his own end, he wrote: ‘I have only one year left.
There will be a heart attack and sudden demise.
I am sending my two Fixed Deposits.
Sixty-percent of earnings I will have given you with these.
Write soon about any clarity you need, otherwise your letter will not
reach me for I shall soon be care-of Vaikuntam!’
“On
Bhishma Ekadasi, he was proceeding to the bathroom; he fell on the way and
breathed his last instantaneously,” a note from his friend intimated.
Sri. Ranga Reddy, my youngest brother, came to Shivananda Nagar in 1958 during summer vacation with an intention to learn Samskritam. He was then an Engineering student. We could go through only a few chapters of the First Book of Bhadarker, when he had to return. In the following two years of ’59 and ’60, he came to Uttarkashi and completed the First Book. Thereafter, he became an Electrical Engineer and never visited me again. But he started remitting some amount through M. O. every month. After some years I asked him to stop sending money. He replied, “This small amount of Rs. 30.00 will not make any difference to me; please do accept the M.O.”
I
learnt from others that he was different from other engineers; he had absolute
integrity and was totally incorruptible. So
I thought I might be a burden to him. He
once wrote to me about his plight: “By not taking bribes I displease three
different sets of people; my subordinates, because I thereby prevent them from
indulging in them; my superiors, because I deny them their share in the booty;
and my family because, living within my salary I could not build a house in all
these years. I displease all these,
but the public is pleased because I try to solve their difficulties promptly and
justly. Perhaps I am pleasing God,
at least!”
For
twenty long years, he continued his remittances and when he could no more serve
me in this way owing to family growing bigger and other commitments, he wrote to
inform about it. I replied, “Your
source dried up, but another with a bigger amount has commenced from a devotee
in Ahemdabad, so don’t be sorry. I
am pleased with your service; God will reward you!”
In 2000 he retired as a Chief Engineer, but the Government of Andhra Pradesh persuaded him to take up a Government Project, ‘because of his past, excellent confidential reports.’ His children are well-placed.
A
bachelor and an employee in the Gujarat Secretariat, Gandhi Nagar, Sri Amrit
Sodhaji visited Shivananda Nagar, in 1973 having learnt about me and came for a
month-long stay. He liked our
Ashram, but our food arrangement was not satisfactory; I was going to kshetras and cooked rice and vegetables occasionally.
After ten days he left saying, “Next time I will stay longer, I have to
go now as my leave is coming to an end.”
True to his word, he did return for a longer stay. He told me that his aged mother was living with him, and that after her passing away, he will give up the job and become a sannyasi. He began sending an M.O. monthly. Every year he spent a month with me. He would make a list of all things needed in the Ashram and bring them next summer. He possessed sterling qualities and became a Guru in his own right. Most of his associates and colleagues became his admirers. He started a Satkarma Trust to serve the poor and destitute. There was a weekly feeding and occasional distribution of clothes, etc.
He
wanted to take mantra deeksha from me,
but I persuaded him to have it from Rev. Chidanandaji. He approached Swamiji with my letter of recommendation; on
going through it, Swamiji was pleased to give him the deeksha. After some years, sannyasa
deeksha was given by me in Uttarkashi,
and Sodha became Swami Anandananda Saraswati in 1996.
Through
his influence many colleagues of Sodhaji became my devotees and rendered service
in various ways, which is continuing. I
should specifically record the services of Sri. Amritlal Patelji of Ahemdabad.
It was he who financed the total construction of Sivananda Centenary hall
in 1986, the amount involved being in the neighbourhood of Rupees one lakh, and
did not wish his name inscribed in a plaque or tablet to be hung in the hall.
His monthly remittances and periodical donations since 1982 are
continuing. When I visited
Ahemdabad in 1998, he spent a huge amount in ceremonial reception. His whole family took mantra initiation.
Mukesh
Patel is a bachelor friend of Anandanandaji.
He is bringing every year groups of devotees from Gujurat for darshan and short stay in the Ashram. He has not taken up any job and leads the life of a naishtika
brahmachari. He lives in Gandhi
Nagar.
After
sannyasa, Anandanandaji could stay in
our Ashram for one year only. Liver
cancer put an end to a promising life. By
way of expressing our gratitude for his devoted service, Swami Gambhiranandaji
named the room in which he lived as Ananda
Kutir.
There
are other friends of the Swamiji in Gandhi Nagar who are not only continuing the
services of Satkarma Trust, but also serving our Ashram here, but their names are too
numerous to be mentioned here. May
Gurudev bless them all!