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“With delicate and charming illustrations as the backdrop, the wondrous stories of the life of P. R. Sarkar unfold.  I laughed and I cried.  For the believer, this book is a blessing.   For those who want to believe, it’s a magical journey.   And for those who cannot believe, it’s the very mystery P. R. Sarkar warned us his life story would be.”

Eric JacobsonDirector of the Progressive School, Long Island, New York, USA

ISBN 978-81-7252-346-6  

WhoCanRideThe

Tiger?Stories ofBaba’s Life

Avadhutika Anandarama Illustrated by Avadhutika Ananda Carushila

Who Can Ride The Tiger? Stories of Baba’s Life

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Who Can Ride The Tiger?Stories of Baba’s Life

Avadhutika Anandarama

Illustrated by

Avadhutika Ananda Carushila

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May these stories stir our children’s imagination and wonderand enkindle a conviction of the Spiritual Presence in every day living.

May these stories reaffirm the pure, the good and upright values in themand strengthen their mystical bond and longing for the Supreme

Ananda Marga Pracaraka SamghaP.O. Baglata, District Purulia, West Bengal

India

www.anandamarga.org

Avadhutika Anandarama Illustrated by Avadhutika Ananda Carushila

Layout Design by Jagadiish Azzopardi

Copyright © 2013 Ananda Marga Pracaraka Samgha (Central)

ISBN 978-81-7252-346-6     

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher.

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Who Can Ride The Tiger?Stories of Baba’s Life

Avadhutika Anandarama

Illustrated by

Avadhutika Ananda Carushila

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‘Who Can Ride the Tiger’ is an attempt to bring real life events and stories in the life of Shrii Prabhat Rainjan Sarkar closer to older children. The attractive illustrations may also catch the attention of young children to whom the parents or guardians could either read or retell these stories.

This book is a collection of wonderful mysterious stories of Shrii P. R. Sarkar who later was also known as Shrii Shrii Anandamurti and as "Baba" by those close to him. These stories are from his early years and young adult life while he lived in Jamalpur from 1922 to 1966. They do not follow a strict biographical order. Although most of these stories are verified by the archives department of Ananda Marga, a few stories are included without verification. The story on page 63 is adapted from the narration of Shrii P.R. Sarkar and published as ‘The Science of Instrumental Music has Multifarious Expressions’, Ananda Marga Publications EE7. There are many more mysteries and stories of Baba’s life in his later years that have been published in many volumes. We hope to have a second volume with a selection of suitable stories for young readers from the years 1967 to 1990.

The illustrations are by Avadhutika Ananda Carushila. She visited Jamalpur to draw many pictures from the locality.

For encouraging this publication I would like to thank Arete Brim, Acarya Maheshvarananda Avt. and Devashish. Many thanks go to the reviewers of the text: Kamala Alister volunteered for the first review followed by Rosemany Srinivasan, then by Avtk. Ananda Jayati and finally by Arete Brim. Acarya Pranavatmakananda Avt. from the archives department of Ananda Marga helped with lots of corrections and reviews as to the accuracy of the stories. And final approval was from Ac. Sugatananda Avt. and Ac. Sarvatmananda Avt. from the Ananda Marga Central Publications.

Avadhutika Anandarama

Introduction

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The Mystery Begins The Beautiful Town 9 Full Moon in May 12 Living at Radha’s 14 Night Creatures 16 Shiva Mantra 18 Carried by the Wind 20 Daily Life at Home 22 Love for Nature 24 Bird Hunter 26 At Grandmother’s 28

School Days The Encyclopedia 31 Playing Sports 32 The Whistling Bird 33 The Friend of All 34 Raging Bulls 36 Riding a Tiger 38 High School Years 40 After School 42 Death Valley 44 The Tiger’s Grave 46 The Bifurcated Banyan Tree 48 The Sky is Falling 50 Earthquake 51

Student Life Predictions 53 Initiation of Kalikananda 54 Kamalakantha 56 Wheel of Dharma 59 End of Term Holidays 60 The Madman 62 Music from the Forest 63

The Working Years Integrity at Work 68 In the Shadow of War 70 Tea Breaks 72 Life at Home 76 Healing with a Red Rose 78 Magic Mirror 82 Giving Advice 84 Visits to Bamunpara 86 Early Disciples 88

The Beginning of Baba’s Mission First Gathering 95 Death Demonstration 96 Ananda Marga 100 Why Follow Morality 102 When You Call Me, I Come 106 As You Think, So You Become 108 Divine Help 112 Testing the Guru 116 One Big Family 118 Ananda Nagar The Best for You 124 Wholetimers 128 A Coconut Story 131 Guru and Disciple 134 Tantric Meditation 136 My Friend the Rhinoceros 142 Personal Contact 144 Visiting Baba in Jamalpur 148 A Special Blessing 155 Departing From Jamalpur 156 The Red Bicycle 158 Under Baba’s Protection 159

Contents

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The Mystery Begins …

Baba was once asked to write his autobiography. The next day he announced that he had completed the work, and handed over a piece of paper with these words: "I was a mystery, I am a mystery, And I shall always remain a mystery."

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The Beautiful Town

There is a small town in India, situated about eight kilometres from the River Ganges in the state of Bihar. The enchanting natural surroundings make the town beautiful, jamal in Arabic. But Jamalpur got its name from the Muslim saint Jamal Mia, who lived there, and whose grave is still a place of pilgrimage.

Day and night you can hear trains passing through the heart of the town with their rumbling and whistling. About a hundred and fifty years ago, during the British rule of India, the biggest railway workshop in Asia was established here. Apprentices from India and many other Asian countries came to learn the exciting new technology of train engineering.

The railway tracks divided the town. On one side were the affluent living quarters of the British, who had their own swimming pool, cinema, dance hall, bowling lanes and other entertainment; and on the other lived the local folks in their own traditional ways. Jamalpur was a fine town, a lively cosmopolitan hub in those days.

The town was surrounded by hills on three sides and covered with dense jungle that had wild animals. Adjoining the hills was a lake with lotus flowers and walking paths around it. There was also a large open grassy field, so big that sounds didn't carry from one end to the other. Here children and young men liked to play cricket, and the elders went on walks along the tree-lined path encircling the field and lake.

In the Kalipahar hills nestled a little old temple of goddess Kali. In the daytime a priest went to the temple to perform the ritual worship, but after sunset no one wanted to remain in that secluded, awe-inspiring atmosphere.

In the evening twilight the air was fragrant, the evening hush broken only by the ringing sounds of crickets and cicadas. And sometimes, a tiger would stealthily peep its head out of the jungle.

Here in this pretty town, in the gentle lap of nature, the great banyan trees and tall palm trees, the hills and ancient rocks witnessed many wondrous events.

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Full Moon in May

The full moon night in May, 1922 must have been very special. Maybe the air was gentle. And maybe none of the creatures were sleeping at all but rather were wide awake with excited anticipation. Possibly even without a breeze, the leaves of the trees were quivering. The nightingales were singing, the peacocks were dancing and tigers were roaring from the hilltops.Some villagers were blowing conch shells, burning incense and chanting with cymbals and drums. Not too far away, thousands of pilgrims gathered at Bodh Gaya to celebrate Lord Buddha’s birthday at dawn. And at sunrise, on this wonderful auspicious morning, a child was about to be born into a Bengali family, who had moved here and who lived in a modest house on a small side lane off Keshavpur main road. The father, Lakshmi Narayana, had seen a vision that he would have a son. He was hoping, with happy expectancy, to welcome a male heir into his family. And indeed, his wife Abharani Devi gave birth to a rosy boy. Much later, as an adult, he could recall the moment of his birth: ‘I am in my mother’s womb. I am seeing my mother and I recognize her so well. I see my father, my sister, my grandmother and my other relatives. How well I know them and I know their names, too. I am born. I am happy to be born. I don’t weep at the moment of birth. I am all smiles. I want to address the persons around me by their names because I know them so very well but, alas, how incapacitated I am. My vocal cords do not permit any voice to come out.’

Everyone was delighted with the arrival of a son in the family. The grandmother, Indumati Mitra, brought fresh cow’s milk in a silver cup to feed the newborn, according to family tradition. But the baby himself was thinking: ‘Now they want to feed me for the first time in their customary ways. They will dip a piece of cotton into the cup of milk. They want to drop milk into my mouth drop by drop with the cotton. How silly of these people. Am I a baby to be fed in this manner! I shall drink from the cup and not the cotton. In protest I raise my hands to hold the cup. They are taken aback at what I have done. I realize I have done much to perplex them, so I return to being a newborn baby.’

All were surprised and mystified, especially the grandmother, who exclaimed, "Look at this boy, he is taking the cup with his own hands and wants to drink by himself!" Grandmother endearingly called him, "Burha", which means "an old man."

An astrologer was consulted to make the horoscope chart of little Burha. He calculated, and thought. His chart, however, was very contradictory. It said the boy’s name would become known throughout the world, bringing great fame to his family, but it also showed he would have nothing to do with the

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family. It said, he would have the qualities of a king but also showed that he would live like a holy man and spend all his life with yogis. Although the father trusted the ancient art of astrology, he felt uneasy about the contradictions and decided to burn the chart so as not to be reminded of these strange and unsettling predictions. In time the family gave the newborn the name Prabhat Rainjan, which meant "the morning, which illuminates everything and fills everything with colour."

After two months, the family arranged a feast for the celebration of the birth of a boy into their family. Many family friends, neighbours and relatives came. Everyone was in a joyous mood, including little Bubu, as they called him endearingly, except for one thing: the family had killed a goat for the feast and little Prabhat could feel the terrible pain of the goat being slaughtered, as he told his close friends many years later.

As Prabhat grew up, he remembered how he had felt as a baby: ‘I am growing up. To move about I have to crawl. How painful it is! My elbows and knees are hurting. How long will this last? And I notice someone is speaking into my ears, ‘some days more, just a few more days. I know you are in trouble, but just a few days more.’ I don't see anyone. Who is talking to me? But this voice is around me whenever I am dejected. What a consolation! It encourages me by telling me that this painful affair will not last much longer.’

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Living at Radha’s

In the neighbourhood there was a Bhojpuri speaking family who were close to the Sarkar family. They were very fond of little Prabhat and when he was about one year old they would carry him to their house. They were delighted to look after little Prabhat, especially their only daughter Radha who was five years older than Prabhat. Radha’s eyes lit up when she saw little Bubu, who could not even walk yet. She would play with him all day. She was so enchanted by spending time with him, that she lost interest in everything else and almost gave up her old friends and companions. It is here in this family that little Prabhat started to speak, and he spoke his first words in Radha’s Bhojpuri language.

After the birth of the second son Abharani found it difficult to manage the newborn and Prabhat Rainjan and also attend to the regular household chores. So occasionally she entrusted Prabhat to the care of her Bhojpuri neighbours. The family looked after him very well and treated him like a precious toy. Bubu, however, was mischievous and kept Radha running after him. Even though Radha was a small girl herself, she always kept an eye on him. He learned to dance and sing with Radha. Sometimes Radha’s friends would come to play games with them but Bubu was invariably the constant centre of attraction.

Many years later when Radha was about 15 years old she suddenly fell ill and died. Her mother was inconsolable and for several years she could not overcome her grief. One day she expressed her unbearable pain of losing Radha to young Prabhat Rainjan. He wanted to ease her grief and said to her that if she so desired he could show Radha to her once for a few minutes. He had three conditions for her to abide by for this favour. One was that she could not touch her, then that she should not request him again to show Radha to her. The last condition was that she would not tell anyone that he had shown her daughter as he did not wanted people to disturb him with similar requests. She agreed and Prabhat Rainjan asked her to go into a dim lighted room in the house. There Radha appeared in one corner. The mother started crying seeing her daughter as in real life. Finally when she came out of the room her grief over her daughter’s death was alleviated to a great extent.

After many years she appealed to her Bubu again to show Radha once more. But Prabhat Rainjan said that it was not possible because Radha was already reborn.

Years later during an evening walk Prabhat Rainjan told Haragovinda, one of his disciples, that he had created Radha’s rudimental body with his own mind’s ectoplasm and presented Radha to her mother in this way. He had done this to reduce her pain. He also said that she was reborn in a devoted family but did not give further details.

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Night Creatures

When Prabhat was two some strange things started to happen to him during the nights. He described them later in this way: ‘I have grown up a little more. I am sleeping by my mother's side. In the dead of night I am awakened. What I see is so unusual! My entire being, my mother's being, the bed, the room and the space beyond, are all full of such sweet effulgence. I enjoy seeing it. I am lost more and more in it. I wonder what would have happened to my mother if she too had seen this all-engulfing light.’

On other nights he saw something even more magical: ‘Often during the night, I awake to see creatures of all kinds and sizes coming out of my left ear and walking and dancing in the space around. I see all this with such interest. But as if to end the show, a strange thing occurs – these creatures now crowd around my right ear and enter inside it. This is so fearsome that I utter a shout and cling to my mother, who is confused, listening to all that I have to tell her.’

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His mother was well aware of these nocturnal disturbances of little Prabhat. She told the family, "I don’t know what is wrong with Prabhat. He has a disturbed sleep. And even when he is awake he still tells me about insects and all kinds of animals roaming around him. He even tells their names as they float around." And she continued telling jokingly, "it looks like the whole universe is coming out of his ear and going back into the other." But in the end she could not make sense of the endless procession of unfamiliar creatures and insects, birds and animals, unknown people, even planets and stars, that Prabhat told her about in the nights. She even went to a specialist in magic and consulted him about her son, but no one could help.

Little Prabhat had other strange dreams. Once he told his mother that he saw a village that was burning and orange-clad holy men were running

away from it. She listened silently, but then to her amazement, a few days later, she read about

this incident in the newspapers. All this made her think that her little boy

was quite different from other children of the

same age.

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The Shiva Dhyana Mantra

Dhyayennityam’ Mahesham’ rajatagirinibham’ carucandravatam’sam;

Ratnakalpojjvalam’gam’ parashu-mrga-varabhiitihastam’ prasannam.

Padmasiinam’ samantam’ stutamamaraganae vyaghrakrttim’ vasanam;

Vishvadyam’ vishvabiijam’ nikhilabhayaharam’ pain’cavaktram’ trinetram.

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Shiva Mantra

It was the festival of Shivaratri, the night celebration of Lord Shiva’s birthday. Traditionally, on this day, unmarried girls fasted. They hoped that their fasting would please Lord Shiva and that he would grant them a good husband. Although she was only twelve years old, Hiraprabha, Prabhat’s elder sister, decided to fast too. "I think you should fast as well," she suggested to Prabhat, "so that you won’t have those strange dreams anymore." "Maybe that would help," said their mother. And so, although Prabhat was only four years old, he also happily fasted.

In the evening, the family went on a little pilgrimage, climbing all the stone steps up to the top of Kalipahar, to pray at the Shiva temple. As they arrived, their father met a friend outside the temple and stopped to chat. Meanwhile Prabhat went into the temple and stood in front of the Shiva statue. He followed the others in their rituals, and poured water over a special stone considered to be holy. Then he solemnly started to recite, with perfect pronunciation, a relatively unknown verse in the ancient Sanskrit language, that only a few people in India were familiar with. The meaning of the mantra was:"One should constantly meditate on Maheshvara, who is like a silver mountain, whose ornament is the lovely moon, whose limbs are brightened with the splendour of jewels, with axe in hand, holding animals, bestowing boons, ever-blissful, seated in the lotus posture, wearing a tiger-skin, worshipped by all the gods, the seed, the cause of this vast world, who removes the boundless fears of the entire universe – the one with five faces and three eyes."

The learned old temple priest was shocked by this amazing display and bent down to little Prabhat, asking: "My child, where did you learn this? It’s the meditation mantra on Lord Shiva!" Prabhat remained silent, and the priest excitedly rushed to congratulate his father for having such an accomplished son. The father was surprised and said, "I don’t know how he learnt this mantra! I certainly did not teach him." The father knew that his mother had often complained that Prabhat had an aversion and dislike of the old traditional rituals of the family.

Everyone was wondering who could have taught Prabhat this verse. The temple priest was perplexed and wanted to solve the mystery. He questioned Prabhat very carefully, but could not draw anything out of him. He advised his parents to let Prabhat observe the rituals and fast on Shivaratri every year for the next three years. The parents agreed, but still the mystery was not resolved.

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Carried by the Wind

Every now and then, orange-clad so-called ‘travelling holy men’ passed through the town. In the evenings they would light a fire, and while they sat around it, many villagers would come to offer them food and encircle them, singing devotional songs. Although Prabhat liked their chanting, he disliked their ways, such as smoking marijuana pipes. That was why he harassed them, either by throwing little stones from afar, or taking some of their sumptuous food and running away. The family wondered if perhaps these travelling yogis had taught Prabhat the Shiva mantra? But his mother said, "No, Prabhat doesn't like their habits. Last time, while a group of them sat in meditation, he whispered to me, ‘Look, their eyes are half open to see what food the people offer them.’ He even did a sacrilegious act by taking a box of sweets from the offerings and running away with it." Prabhat was testing them mischievously, and sure enough, some of them jumped up from their meditation and ran after him. Prabhat ran down the street and hid behind a public toilet, which he knew the holy men would not come near as it was against their caste restrictions. Prabhat liked to hear stories of Shiva. Though he did not understand much about religious rites, every morning he used to play at performing his own rituals, chanting mantras of his own fancy, washing the Shiva stone, and then standing it up on a decorative brass plate. If it did not fall over, he would take it that his worship had been accepted by Shiva, and that now he was free to have breakfast or to do anything else.

The mystery about who had taught Prabhat the unusual Shiva mantra, was not yet resolved. His father decided one day to question him firmly. Prabhat relented and said, "I was taught this mantra by a holy man." He narrated, "One night I dreamt that suddenly there was a mighty storm that lifted me up and whisked me through the air, far away. The airstream finally dropped me on a huge soft sand bank of the River Ganges. I got sand in my eyes and mouth. The storm calmed down. I cleared my eyes and when I opened them I found myself face to face with a yogi carrying a trident in his hand. Looking at me, the yogi uttered that mantra and said,‘My boy, repeat the mantra.’‘No!’ I shouted.

The yogi recited the mantra and said affectionately, ‘Repeat it, my boy; it will be good for you.’ I said, ‘No, never! I won’t say it!’Lifting his trident the yogi said ‘Say it! You must repeat it.’ ‘No! I won’t say it!’ I answered again. But nevertheless I heard the mantra. Then again a fierce storm came and carried me away and cast me down on my bed.

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With the impact of falling, I woke up. I realized that all the time I had been dreaming. In the morning I found that I could recall the whole story. The next night, I had the very same dream, and awoke in the same way. This sequence of events started to repeat itself, and went on for more than twenty days. By repeatedly hearing the yogi’s mantra, I memorized it."

Prabhat’s father pensively gazed at his mysterious little boy. And there was more to the story! Prabhat continued, "But then, having had the same dream for such a long time continuously, I felt a desperate determination inside me. I thought, ‘every day the yogi raised his trident and threatened me, yet I however, didn’t seem able to do anything about it’. This seemed quite disgraceful on my part. I resolved that if I had that dream again, I would attack that yogi in my dream. So the next time I had that dream and the same sequence of events started to occur one after another, as soon as the yogi lifted his trident and said, ‘Speak! You must repeat it!’ I seized the trident from his hands, and taking aim, hurled it at him. Suddenly there was a clanging sound. I looked around but the yogi was nowhere to be seen. The trident had bounced off a stone image of Shiva and fallen down, and this had made the clanging sound. It seemed that the Shiva image was looking at me and smiling joyfully. I was sweating out of embarrassment, and then I woke up."

The family thought this explanation was still very puzzling, but nevertheless they noticed that Prabhat’s sleep had become more peaceful.

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Daily Life at Home

From an early age, Prabhat was independent and rather mischievous at times. He was sprightly and light-footed, playing with his elder sister and mother and making them run after him. But as he grew older, his lively nature increasingly revealed more quiet elements. He loved to listen to his elder sister Hiraprabha playing the sitar or jalatarang. Her musical talent delighted the whole family. Sometimes their mother, who had a good voice, would sing along too. Prabhat used to invent his own dances, with gestures, or play along on the flute.

By the age of five, Prabhat used to sit in meditation regularly early in the morning and in the evening. No one in the family knew how he had learnt it, or when he had started it. He did not speak about it, and the family understood by then that he was extremely independent, with a mind of his own.

Once, a relative who smoked cigarettes came to stay with the family. Prabhat requested him directly not to smoke, as it would disturb his meditation. The relative did not pay attention to young Prabhat’s request and continued his addictive habit. In protest, Prabhat did not come to meals. Finally it was discovered that he was refusing to eat as a protest to the smoking in the house, which was disturbing his meditation. The relative had no choice but to comply with Prabhat’s request, by not smoking there.

Prabhat’s mother was a devout woman. She prayed to a small image of Krishna, according to her Hindu tradition. Prabhat often brought her flowers for her worship. She complained to Prabhat one day, "You know, when I place a garland around the idol of Krishna your image keeps coming before me. I am unable to pray because your image keeps coming up in my mind."Prabhat had a prompt reply: "perhaps this happens because you love me above everything else!" Prabhat refused to eat the family food if it included meat and fish. Bengali families usually only feed their children vegetarian food until they are five years old, but even after that Prabhat refused to eat the normal food in the house and nothing would change his mind. Fresh vegetables, milk and fruit had to be arranged for him or else he would not eat anything. His parents accepted this, but his grandmother kept telling him the Bengali belief that eating fish was necessary to develop the brain. She said to him, "You don't want to grow up to be stupid by refusing to eat fish, do you?"

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Many years later, Prabhat was with a dear friend, who loved to joke with him. The friend suddenly announced, "You know, I can also read palms!" Then he took Prabhat’s hand and declared, "Let me see, now. Why, this shows that you are incredibly dull witted, a complete idiot, you have no brain at all!Prabhat laughed and replied, "That’s amazing, that's exactly what my grandmother told me would happen if I didn't eat fish. She said that my brain wouldn't develop and I would grow up dull-witted, and it has happened. You are indeed a great palmist!" Whenever his grandmother brought live fish from the market and began preparing them, Prabhat started to weep quietly. At first his family didn’t understand what was wrong with him. But soon they realized that he felt so much for the poor fish, that tears were rolling down his cheeks, and so they stopped bringing live fish into their kitchen. Exasperated at his stubbornness, one day his grandmother forcibly pushed a piece of fish into Prabhat’s mouth. He immediately spat it out on the table, stood up, and announced that if anyone ever again tried to force him to eat non-vegetarian food, he would never again eat at the family dining table. Then he went to his room. Neither his grandmother nor his mother ever brought up the subject of eating fish again. Prabhat lived his whole life without ever once swallowing a morsel of non-vegetarian food.

One day Prabhat’s mother got into an argument with her mother-in-law over something that had happened a few years earlier. They stopped arguing for a while, trying to recall exactly what had taken place that day. Prabhat intervened to help their memory. "I remember that incident," he told them matter-of-factly. He then reminded them of the details about their discussions whether his sister Hiraprabha should study music or learn household work that they had forgotten. "How do you know that?" his astonished grandmother asked him. "You were not even born then." "I just know, that's all," was his brief reply. His mother smiled. In the years to come, whenever one of her other children would ask her a question that she couldn’t answer, she would say, "Ask Bubu. He knows everything. Whatever I don’t know, he knows."

Sometimes, to his mother's pleasure, he would recite long poems of Rabindranath Tagore, with perfect intonation, gestures and dramatic presentation. Decades later, his mother asked him curiously if he still could remember those poems. Prabhat immediately began to recite one of the long poems in exactly the same flawless style he did as a young student. His mother was convinced of his good memory.

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Love for Nature

Prabhat had an innate love for nature. He used to help in the garden, removing dry grass, fetching water from the well and even planting trees outside, near his home. It was as easy for him to be wandering in the wild as it was to be safe at home. He was often seen far from the other townspeople, roaming freely in perfect oneness with the birds, trees and wild things of the jungle.

The seasonal changes were charming around Jamalpur. In spring the wild mango trees of the mountain bloomed and the red Flame of the Forest trees looked like they were on fire. Sometimes, as Prabhat was walking, a verse would come to his mind and he would recite it rhythmically in time with his steps. Or he would sing to the glorious beauty around him. Prabhat was full of joy in the midst of nature.

One day, as he passed the fields, he noticed several hares and small deer coming out from the pea fields. The animals, realizing that he wasn’t an enemy, were wandering happily here and there, and he walked past them just like a friend. He was looking for a place to sit down, and selected a spot to sit near a large shal tree, next to a muddy pond. He glanced over the plateau between the two hills. The plateau was sloping from south to north and ended a little way beyond, at the river Ganges. The flat terrain was covered with shal, kendu and palash forest, interspersed with shiyakul thickets, and for the most part was full of smaller and larger pebbles.

Farmers would come here during the rainy season and cultivate late-spring peas. The pea plants took almost a year to grow. The harvesting of the pea plants would start after the full-moon in spring. The pea plants were used for making houses, thatching roofs, making fences, and as cooking fuel. But besides this, Prabhat knew that the late-spring pea fields gave good shelter to smaller animals avoiding attacks by larger animals. If the smaller animals were chased by bears, tigers or wolves, they would hide in these pea fields. Once they were in the pea-fields, it was impossible to find them.

In the midst of this serene nature Prabhat played his bamboo flute, exploring the different scales and variations of Indian music.

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Bird Hunter

Although Prabhat’s family kept a close watch over him, the neighbours and other villagers continued to tell strange stories about him. One day, a bird hunter reported to Prabhat’s parents that, as he was entering the forest just before dawn to catch birds, he had seen Prabhat coming out of the forest. He had been surprised to see a small child come out of the forest at dawn, when no grown up person dared to go near the jungle at night. Prabhat’s mother asked him sternly, "Tell me, do you go out during night?" He had replied, "No, I'm asleep in bed all night."

At the age of five Prabhat entered primary school. Often, when school was over for the day, he did not go straight home. His family did not worry about him as they thought he would be playing with his friends on his way home from school.

One day, when the bird hunter was returning from the forest in the afternoon, the birds suddenly began to squawk in alarm and the squirrels became startled and darted away. He knew that there must be a dangerous animal nearby and so he quickly climbed a tree. And sure enough, from the safety of the tree top, he saw a tiger padding by below him. But – he got a shock! Little Prabhat was riding on the back of that ferocious tiger! He could not believe his eyes and blinked and rubbed them to clear his vision. But without a doubt, it was that same little boy that he had seen before. The tiger climbed the hill, with the child serenely seated on his back. The hunter stared in disbelief until they were out of sight. The hunter could not contain himself; he jumped down from the tree and ran straight to Prabhat’s house to tell his father what he had seen. Prabhat’s father was on his way back from his office when the hunter met him. He was shocked to hear what the hunter had seen and rushed home, but Prabhat was not in the house; he had not yet come home from school. He went to the school to look for him but was told that Prabhat had left with the other boys after school. When his father arrived home again, Prabhat was sitting quietly at the table, as if nothing had happened. "Where did you go after school?" asked his father in a stern voice. "I was with my friends," answered Prabhat. "The hunter said that he saw you riding on a tiger in the jungle." "Perhaps the hunter did not see clearly," answered Prabhat with a smile.

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At Grandmother’s

Jamalpur town was extremely hot in summer, even though it was surrounded by green hills. So during the school vacations the family used to go to Prabhat’s father’s native village of Bamunpara for their holidays. Another reason for going away was to stop Prabhat roaming in the jungle. When they arrived at the small railway station, a bullock cart, sent by Prabhat’s grandmother, would be waiting to take them to their village a few kilometres away. The village, surrounded by lush vegetation, was refreshingly cool. The houses were built in the typical Bengali style, with overhanging thatched roofs and shady porches which kept the inside cool and pleasant. The orchard gardens were full of summer fruit: mangoes, papayas, bananas, guavas and jackfruit. Prabhat and his brothers and sisters loved to sit in the cool shade of the trees, and enjoy the freshly picked ripe fruit. They would also run off to play with the village children, roaming in the vast, unexplored fields around the village. Prabhat adored the cool, shady overhanging mango trees for another reason: they were ideal for his quiet daydreaming and long sessions of silent meditation. And he often went for long, solitary walks through the fields or to the neighbouring villages. At other times he would spend hours reclining on a string cot in the cool shade of his grandmother’s hut, with his eyes open, staring into space. The family thought he was a daydreamer, but his grandmother thought otherwise. She was delighted with him because he could narrate and explain about the stories of the great epic, the Mahabharata.

His sister, by then a sensible young girl of fourteen, thought her younger brother was lazy and asked him, "What are you doing lying down all day?" "I’m reviewing the history of the universe," Prabhat told her, an answer that did little to please his sister. The next day she asked him again. This time he replied, "I am watching what is going to happen on this planet after a thousand years." Finally, Hiraprabha retorted, "Instead of studying you just lie in bed. Children your age know how to write but you can’t." Prabhat smiled knowingly, got up, took a note book and, in his sister’s presence, wrote down his name in Bengali and ten different scripts. He handed it to her and said, "You can only read the first line, which is Bengali." Then he explained some of the scripts, "The second is Arabic, the third Roman, the fourth Nagri and the fifth Tamil." Hiraprabha was dumbfounded and utterly amazed, and for the rest of the vacation she did not bother him again about studying.

Prabhat jokingly said, "When Mother visited the fortune teller, he read my palm and said, ‘I don’t need to tell you anything, because you know everything.’

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So from that day on I knew everything."His sister was still speechless. She did not know what to say to her brother who looked so simple and who was always lost in himself.

Prabhat was very fond of his elder sister. A few years later, when his sister was receiving gifts during her wedding, Prabhat went to her and said, "I want to give you some ornaments, too." "What are you saying? You are my little brother. How can you give me jewellery? The tradition is that the elders are supposed to give gifts to the young ones, not the other way round." "Nevertheless I shall give you ornaments too," replied Prabhat. Many years later he kept his promise and presented her with an exquisite pair of golden bangles and requested that she wear them all the time.

Years later, Prabhat recounted that, while he was lying on his cot, supposedly idling away his hours, he was actually planning out his life's work, which would include his fight against the caste system and other social evils. It was during that vacation, when he was only seven years old, that Prabhat devised the structure of a socio-spiritual movement that he founded more than twenty-five years later.

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School Days

At school, Prabhat had a few close friends. They used to call at his house early in the morning and walk with him the one kilometre to school. They also walked home with him after school. They knew he was very disciplined, even though he was so young. They never saw him quarrel or get into arguments. If other children were fighting, they saw that Prabhat would go straight to the core of the dispute, and help settle the matter with a cool head. He was also known to be a voracious reader with a quiet temperament. It was as if he could see into the minds of his friends, because during their conversations with him, he was able to answer all their mental questions. One schoolmate asked him, "How do you know the questions and doubts that are in my mind, and are able to reply to them, even though I haven't asked you about them?" He said, "Sometimes when somebody stands in front of me, the thoughts of that person’s mind flash like a cinema-reel before me." "Then you have extraordinary powers and you are capable of doing anything you like in no time." Prabhat said, "I just like to make an effort. I want to struggle in the prime of my life so that I may live peacefully for a long time. Struggle is beneficial. You cannot progress in the absence of struggle."

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The Encyclopedia

During classes at school Prabhat used to sit very still, listening carefully. He was inquisitive and often asked his teachers and elders questions. He never forgot anything they told him. He was brilliant in every subject, but had a special mastery of geography. He knew the names of the rivers and mountain ranges of the entire world. He knew the origins of the great rivers, the Ganges, Brahmaputra, Mississippi, Amazon and others. He knew how long and wide they were and the type of terrain and the towns that they passed through. He knew how the different rivers had got their names. He knew the capital cities of countries and their seaports.

Within no time he could master the contents of thick geography books. Prabhat's classmates saw that Prabhat always knew the answer to every question. They gave him the nickname ‘Encyclopedia.’

During one recess he and his classmates were sitting on benches looking at a new geography book that had just arrived. Prabhat flipped through the pages with great interest. Then Prabhat closed the book and said, "Ask me any question from any page in the book." The other boys excitedly took up the challenge. They opened the book so that he couldn’t see it and bombarded him with questions. One by one, he answered them all correctly. They were all smiles and quietly impressed, even though they had seen this happen before. A new boy, named Vimalendu, had recently moved to Jamalpur from a small village of Sylhet district in East Bengal. He did not know about Prabhat’s encyclopaedic knowledge. He exclaimed, "That's amazing! How can you learn all that so fast?" Prabhat just smiled and said, "Tell me the name of your village."But without waiting for an answer, Prabhat went on to describe it in minute detail, right down to the division of the rice fields and the placement of the wells. The more Prabhat went on, the more Vimalendu was astonished. Everything was exactly as Prabhat had described. "But how do you know all that?" Vimalendu finally burst out. Prabhat gave a little grunt, as if in mock disgust. "You people don't study," he said. "That’s why you don’t know these things." It was only some years later that Vimalendu realized that the information Prabhat had described so accurately was not to be found in any book.

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Playing Sports

Prabhat was clear about his attitude to studying and playing. He told his classmates, "I love sports and play eagerly in the afternoons. I never miss the chance to play a round of games in the morning before school, but when I am at school, I use that time to learn. In this way I have less homework, more time for sports and more free time."

Whichever team Prabhat played on was sure to win, no matter what the game was football, ha-doo-doo, swimming or wrestling. At the beginning of the game he would rally his team mates with a pep talk that went like this, "Hey! We have to win this game at any cost! No defeat for us. We want victory!" His steely determination spurred on his team mates. He knew what was needed to win - a strong will and determination to achieve the goal.

He demonstrated this well in an exhibition of stick-fighting between himself and his playmate Saril. Prabhat was 13 and smaller and weaker than Saril, who, at 16, was tall and strong. The fight started and, for a while, no one had the upper hand. Everyone took it for granted that Saril would win. But then Prabhat skilfully aimed a strong blow to Saril’s leg. Saril fell to the ground with a thud and Prabhat won the match.

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The Whistling Bird

Stories of Prabhat's strange ways spread throughout the school and many of the boys wondered about him. Tales about Prabhat were whispered from person to person. Some students said that Prabhat could understand the language of the animals and birds, and that he talked to them.

One day when he was visiting in Bamunpara, Prabhat was sitting under a tree with his friends when a serious argument broke out. Suddenly Prabhat called out, "Look, look! See that bird in the tree. What a beautiful bird it is! Can you see it?" As all eyes were fixed on the bird, it let out a whistling call. "That whistle means that it's calling the other birds. If you all keep quiet, other birds will come. But birds don’t like quarrelling," Prabhat explained. The young friends were all mesmerized and stared up into the tree. Sure enough, within a few moments the tree was full of birds. Then the first bird whistled again. "It is signalling the others that it's time for them to fly away now," said Prabhat as if he understood exactly how they felt and how they communicated. And with a big flutter all the birds flew away. By drawing attention to the birds, Prabhat had not only stopped the noisy quarrel among his friends, but had changed the atmosphere and made them aware of the sensitivities of other creatures.

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Friend of All On another school day, a close friend came to him with tearful eyes, saying, "I need your advice." "What happened?" enquired Prabhat, seeing his friend in distress. "Yesterday evening I came home half an hour late and my father beat me with a cane. I can't bear it anymore; I want to run away from home." Prabhat looked directly into his eyes and said, "Don't go anywhere and don’t leave your house. Go and apologize to your father for your mistake and promise me that in future you will not give him any cause to scold you."His friend swallowed, and due to love and respect for Prabhat, he accepted his good advice and did just that. His father was very pleased and forgave his son. Prabhat also predicted his friend’s future and everything that he told him came true: he got a respectable government job and led a good and happy life.

One day Prabhat invited a low caste boy to his room and they sat together on his bed. His mother didn’t say anything while the boy was there, but once he had left she rebuked Prabhat, "How could you invite such a boy to sit on your bed? Now I have to wash the bed sheet and pillowcase." A low caste person, according to Hindu religious customs, is considered impure and anything such a person touches is seen as polluted. Prabhat listened to her without saying a word. After she had removed the sheet and the pillowcase, he grabbed the mattress and the pillow, took them outside to the washbasin and started immersing them in water. "What are you doing?" His mother shouted. "You said that everything is polluted," Prabhat replied, "so these are also polluted. I am washing them as well." His infuriated mother tried to make him understand his foolishness. "That is not necessary. We have to wash the pillowcase and the bed sheet because the boy touched them, but we only need to sprinkle some holy Ganges water on the mattress and the pillow and that will make it pure already." "No," Prabhat replied, continuing to wash the mattress and pillow without a pause."If you say that the bed sheet and the pillowcase are polluted, then everything is polluted. He had touched me too and so have I not become impure? How am I to get purified? What about the Ganges water with so many impurities and in which many so-called untouchables bathe? The grains and vegetables we eat every day are touched by them in the field or market. And so is money as well. Are these not all polluted? Mother, now you keep quiet as their services are essential to you. For me nobody is untouchable. All are children of God and how can we treat God’s children as untouchables?"

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Abharani had no answers to the logic her Bubu was giving. She felt exasperated, threw up her hands and exclaimed, "There is none in this world who can convince you of anything." Prabhat was telling her, in his own way, that he would not discriminate against anyone. He was adamant that he would not support the caste system, which dogmatically classified people by birth as either pure or impure.

On another occasion Prabhat was sitting on the porch in front of his house. Across the road there was a platform, empty at that moment, where people from the neighbourhood would often gather to chat or play cards. A harijan, a man of the so-called untouchable class, was walking along the road. He stopped and addressed Prabhat as 'Khokha Babu' or 'little gentleman' and asked if he had seen a certain person or knew where he might find him. As the man was asking his question, Prabhat was surprised to see him stand on one leg and remain in that posture while he waited for his reply. "I know who he is," Prabhat said, "but I don't know where he might be at this moment. Please come and sit on the bench. You can wait for him here if you like." "Khokha Babu," the man replied, "I can't do that. There is a rule that a harijan has to remain in this position whenever he goes to a gentleman's house." Prabhat repeated his request several times but the man would not sit or put down his leg. The injustice of this custom made Prabhat very angry. He swore to himself that he would fight this ugly tradition and one day help put an end to all kinds of discriminations that label people as superior or inferior.

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37

Storming Bulls

Prabhat was walking home after playing football with several boys, when they saw on old cow licking water trickling from a tap in the street. The cow then turned on the boys and they wanted to beat it, but Prabhat held them back, "Look she is a harmless old cow." The cow then tried to walk through the group, which annoyed the boys. "She won't hurt you," Prabhat assured them. Then the cow stood, blocking their way along the narrow alley. "Now we'll have to charge at her with a stick or else we can’t pass," the boys told Prabhat. Then Prabhat solemnly went to the cow and touched her on her head with his fingers. To the boys’ astonishment, the cow started shivering and dancing, and with a great thud and long drawn out sound it collapsed on the ground and became lifeless. The boys were shocked and speechless. "Don’t worry, it was the moment for this cow to begin its next life and be reborn as a human being," explained Prabhat.

A boy called Manoranjan, who was several years younger than Prabhat, had a special encounter with him. He had often seen Prabhat sitting for long hours in the Shiva temple in town, with his eyes closed. He was very impressed by Prabhat's meditating motionlessly in that way. One day, when Manoranjan was coming home from school, a group of five bulls suddenly started chasing him down a narrow lane. He dropped his books and ran for his life. As he ran, he saw Prabhat standing at the end of the street. Manoranjan reached Prabhat and hid behind him. Prabhat shielded him from the bulls. The bulls continued charging towards them, but just before they reached Prabhat, they stopped abruptly and became as still as statues. Manoranjan was stunned by the incident. "Go and pick up your school books," Prabhat told him. "I'm frightened. How can I go past the bulls to get my books?" He was trembling. "Don’t worry," Prabhat comforted him, "they won't harm you." "Really?" He hesitated, then, holding his breath, he moved slowly forward inch by inch. He walked stealthily past the bulls, picked up his books and came back to Prabhat. The bulls stood motionless. Then Prabhat waved his hand at the bulls and they started turning around and walking slowly away. Manorainjan realized, after this incident, that Prabhat had special powers.

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39

Riding a Tiger

One day, Prabhat was out on his usual stroll into the hills, seemingly unaware that he was being followed by three boys. Prabhat’s neighbour Sachin, who was two years younger than him, had been curious as to what Prabhat was up to in the woods, and he had persuaded some of his friends to go with him to spy on their mysterious schoolmate. They were excited, and were very careful to avoid being seen by Prabhat. From time to time they lost sight of him, but spotted him again as he was going up the hill and they followed him into the forest. As they went deeper and deeper into the woods, they became scared. They had heard stories that tigers, bears, wolves and even ghosts supposedly roamed the forest. At the top of the hill the path dipped again and disappeared into a thicket. There, somehow, they lost sight of Prabhat, and none of them dared go any further. They decided to wait there for him to come out.

After a long wait, Sachin suddenly saw something that made him gasp and stare. "Look!" he whispered, pointing. There, coming towards them between the overhanging trees, was Prabhat, riding on the back of a tiger! They gazed in stunned silence, rooted to the spot. While they watched, Prabhat got off the tiger's back, patted it a few times, and the tiger strolled leisurely away and disappeared into the forest. Then Prabhat strode up to where they were waiting. Sachin blurted out, "We saw you riding a tiger just now!" Another boy questioned him, "Weren't you afraid of it?" The third one said, "How were you able to ride such a ferocious animal as a tiger?" "We saw you with our own eyes, just now!" Sachin yelled excitedly."Nonsense! It's dusk now, and what you saw was probably a figment of your imagination," Prabhat said sternly. "We saw you!" Sachin said, refusing to accept Prabhat's adamant denials. "No, you didn't see properly!" Prabhat would still not admit it. "I'm going to tell your mother," threatened Sachin. Prabhat laughed, "Do you honestly think anyone will believe you?" Sachin didn't listen, and when he got back to town he told both his own mother and Prabhat's mother what they had seen. Understandably, neither of them believed him, but nevertheless they still questioned Prabhat. "Do you honestly think I could ride a tiger? They're just making up stories." With this remark Prabhat put an end to the questions. When Prabhat saw the three boys the next day at school he rebuked them for telling tall tales. The boys were puzzled and didn’t know what to think. However, they didn’t mention the incident again. Gradually Prabhat resumed his easy friendship with them. Yet for sure, in their hearts, Prabhat remained a mystery to them.

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High School Years

Prabhat Rainjan started primary school in December 1927 at the age of five and seven months. When he was nine he started at the East India Railway High School, where he continued his studies until matriculation. His personality had gradually changed from a gifted, fun-loving child into a quiet, far-seeing youth. He was gentle, had a bright face and incredible self-confidence. He was serious at times and had an extraordinary capacity to understand people. He never took part in shallow and frivolous jokes or spoke rudely. Nor did he speak lightly but was always sincere and direct in his use of words. Sometimes he would keep quiet or leave, rather than join in the conversation of his peers. If someone crossed the bounds of decency in their remarks, Prabhat would tell them, "You don’t know what you're saying. You don’t know what you're doing."

He often sat reading a book under the large peepal tree in the school yard, or on the school veranda. The other boys would approach him to discuss one topic or another, often concerning their homework. Whenever they wanted to know something they could not figure out, they went to ask him. But mostly they left him alone, respecting his love of solitude.

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One day, the headmaster came into the classroom and announced, "Students, I am sorry to tell you that your geography teacher is absent today. Prabhat, would you please come forward and teach the class." "Yes Sir, I shall do my best." Prabhat answered and proceeded to teach the class without any difficulties. Later his close friend asked him, "How do you know so much?" Prabhat replied, "If you studied properly, you too would know everything." "Is that why you read your textbooks in the school yard instead of playing?" asked one of his friends. "When I study, I study, and when I play, I really play," replied Prabhat. "I follow the maxim: Work while you work Play while you play, That is the wisest way To be happy all day."

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After School

A group of boys had become very attached to Prabhat. They used to wait in front of his house in the mornings to accompany him to school. Prabhat’s father was unhappy about the many strange and unbelievable stories that Prabhat’s teachers and fellow students told about his son. So he naturally felt very happy when he saw how some of the boys loved and respected Prabhat. He told his wife, "Look, our eldest son is so different from his brothers and sisters." "Yes," said Prabhat’s mother, "and he is an ideal student at school." The headmaster told about Prabhat to his father, "He is an exemplary student. There are no mistakes in his exercise books. He always has his homework completed. He remembers everything he is taught, and, above all, he is so disciplined and well-behaved with the teachers and students."

After school Prabhat first went home and would inform his mother that he would go to Kalipahar. So he continued to visit his friends in the jungle: animals and birds, and some unseen beings. He went to his secret hideouts in the hills for long periods of contemplation. Sometimes after school, some younger boys went with Prabhat to the big fields, where they played games and sports. However, Prabhat did not join in their games, but went into the hills. Sometimes the boys waited for him to return and then they would all walk back to town together. At other times, one or two of his friends went with him deep into the woods. The boys were afraid in the depths of the woods, but Prabhat would tell them, "Don’t be scared, I'm with you." He would lead them to a serene place. They would sit in silence and meditate. But once they had been there, they

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would not go again. Prabhat, however, loved to roam the lonely forests and at times he would stay out alone, late into the night. Many of the boys knew of his habit of looking for secluded places in which to meditate, and they believed that one day he was sure to become a yogi. In the winter, when the temperature could drop to three or four degrees Celsius after sunset, Prabhat continued to wear shorts and a light shirt, while the rest of the boys wore warm woollen clothes. "Don’t you feel cold?" They asked him. "No. You wrap up with warm clothes, but what about your face? You do not feel cold on your face, do you?" They had to admit that they did not find it necessary to clothe their faces. "But the face is made of the same matter as the body. That’s the reason I don’t feel cold," replied Prabhat. One of the boys arrived home late. His parents were annoyed and scolded him, "Why do you go around with Prabhat all the time? Please stop it!" "You don’t understand," the boy complained. "Then tell us why you always run after Prabhat?" They demanded. "I have a very good feeling whenever I'm near him," he said. "One evening I saw Prabhat standing on the road and he was surrounded by brilliant light. I thought, anyone who is surrounded by such effulgence couldn't be an ordinary human being, could they?" His parents were speechless. What could they reply to this? From then on they had no objection to their son being with Prabhat. The ancient traditions of their culture had taught them to respect the privacy of those whose minds were tuned towards God.

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Death Valley

The hills around Jamalpur, rising from the verdant green jungle, were hard bare granite. These stony hills had, for centuries, served as a natural defence for Anga, the ancient kingdom of Karna, the legendary king in the Mahabharata.

Between the hills was a narrow forested valley, called Death Valley by the village people. At a bend in the valley, with the water reservoir on one side, and the mountain range on the other, stone steps were carved into the hillside, leading up to the Kali temple. Halfway up the steps there was a breathtakingly beautiful view of the valley, the fields, the lakes and the entire town. Further up, beyond the Kali temple, was the Shiva temple. And beyond that, higher up, no one dared go, as it was a vast wilderness, the habitat of wild animals. From the very top of the hills one could see Monghyr, the ancient capital of Anga, on the banks of the Ganges. On religious holidays devout people would climb up the steps to the Kali temple to worship before the image of the goddess, Mother Kali. They tied ribbons on the branches of the ancient, gnarled wood-apple tree behind the temple. They believed that Mother Kali would grant their wishes if they left ribbons for her on her favourite tree. However, when the sun started descending, the people would hurry down from the hills, for they knew that even Kali would not save them in that wilderness.

People were afraid to go alone to Death Valley, even in daytime. They said that fierce battles had been fought there centuries ago, and hundreds of warriors had died. A whole company of British soldiers, on a military exercise, had been lost there without trace. There was a steep cliff at the top of the hill and anyone who did not know the place could easily fall into the valley to certain death. It was thought that a company of British soldiers must have met such a fate. The tragedy was not reported to headquarters as no survivors were found. Wild animals must have devoured the bodies. And so, the people of the town, old and young, still whispered, shivering with fear, about Death Valley and the hills, and about the wild animals and tigers which had been seen there. Some said that the ghosts of the dead warriors still haunted the woods. Prabhat seemed to have no fear, and so Death Valley and the hills were his quiet refuge; he had the vast deserted wilds all to himself. Sometimes when people were coming down the steps from the temple, they saw him climbing up alone. Concerned about his safety, they told his father that they had seen him wandering in those perilous hills at a frighteningly late hour. When his father questioned him, Prabhat said, "I like to walk where it is peaceful so that I

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can think." All the strange stories whispered about Prabhat agitated some mean minded people. Maybe they had heard about his aversion to their dogmatic traditions and blind belief system. Perhaps his unusual abilities made them wary of him, and so they planned a sinister attack on him to stop him while he was still young. One evening, as Prabhat was walking alone towards Death Valley, he came to a natural spring of mineral water on the western side of the hill. The local people, even to the present day, collect this health-giving drinking water and carry it to town in containers. Prabhat drank some water, then crossed over to the foot of Kalipahar and climbed to the top. Above the Kali temple, he sat on a flat rock for meditation until it was dark and the night was lit only by the full moon. After his meditation, on his way downhill, he suddenly heard loud voices coming towards him. "There he is! Catch him! Catch him!" A crowd of people surrounded him. Somebody shouted, "He's our enemy, kill him! At last, after so many days we've found him." Prabhat stood motionless and calm. The mob grabbed him and tied him to a tree with ropes. They lit a fire under him and ran away so as not to witness the result of their crime. Miraculously, Prabhat escaped death from the fire, although he was burnt quite badly. Holding together an open wound on his belly with both hands, he made his way home to get help. Many years later he told of how those dogmatic people, fearing prophesies that he would destroy their narrow beliefs, had decided to kill him. He explained that the scar on his stomach was from this incident.

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Tiger’s Grave

In the early evening twilight, Prabhat was sitting on the stony hilltop above the Shiva temple. Just as the sun was turning the sky purple and crimson, he decided to return to the town, and walking down the stone steps, he reached the vast open field where the boys played games. The giant mango trees and the tall palm trees around the edge of the field, were basking in the perfect calm of

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the beautiful sunset. A few boys on the far edge of the field were on their way home. Prabhat walked towards the middle of the wide field to where the Tiger’s Grave was and sat down on the still warm cement platform. The Tiger’s Grave marks an incident which happened almost a hundred years earlier, when a young Englishman, out hunting, was confronted by a tiger. He had fired a shot at the tiger on this very spot. The wounded tiger attacked the Englishman, who courageously fought for a long time, but finally both of them lost their lives in the struggle. The Englishman’s colleagues later made two raised concrete graves, one for the hunter and one for the tiger. They placed a gravestone on the young man’s grave with an epitaph remembering him. Not far away was the bigger concrete grave, known as the Tiger’s Grave.

This was one of Prabhat’s favourite places to sit and contemplate, sometimes deep into the night. During the forty years that Prabhat lived in this town, he went there almost every day. He would briskly walk the one kilometre from his house to the Tiger’s Grave. The site of the Tiger’s Grave was witness to many wondrous stories and scenes and became an important meeting place.

Many years later, Prabhat related a significant incident of his young solitary contemplative encounters. "From my early childhood I was very courageous. I knew no fear. I used to go to the Tiger's Grave late at night. One night, when I was about nine years old, I was sitting there after midnight and I saw that an entity of light was moving towards me. I was not afraid of that entity. That being of light came near me and stopped. I asked that entity, ‘Who are you?’ Then the entity answered, ‘Don't you know me? I am yourself.’ After saying this, that entity of light came and merged with me. At that very moment I had the experience that the entire universe was within me and I was within every part of the universe."

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Bifurcated Banyan Tree

One pleasant evening at twilight, Prabhat was sitting with some friends on the Tiger’s Grave. They were looking towards the hills, with the three tall palm trees standing in a triangle in front of them. The enormous banyan tree that was bifurcated in the middle was standing at their right, almost blocking out the entire view of the town. Monkeys were jumping and leaping around it. "Did you know that this banyan tree has a history?" Prabhat asked, pointing to the huge tree. "No, tell us what you know about it," replied his friend, who knew that Prabhat could reveal many incredible things. "A long time ago there was a money lender called Uditnarayan Singh. He hailed from Muzzfarpur. He was very cruel towards those who could not repay the loans they borrowed from him. One day a poor man in a difficult financial situation came to him to beg pardon for not being able to repay his loan on time. The money lender went into a terrible rage and killed the destitute man by tearing him apart. For this crime, nature punished him, and after he died he was reborn as this banyan tree. You can see how one of the branches is splitting the main trunk in the middle, to remind him of his misdeed in his previous life." "That was a harsh punishment for his crime," said one of the boys. "Yes, you're right," said Prabhat, "but one day this banyan tree will attain a human form, and get the chance again to be a truly human being." "What about those three palm trees in front of us? They form a triangle and we saw you sitting in meditation in there." "That is a spiritually charged place where the yogi Praviiranath became a siddha." "What is a siddha?" The boy asked him. "A highly evolved realized being who helps others on their spiritual path." "Only the other day I saw you sitting there in the middle of the triangle between the palm trees," said one of the boys, “and you moved your hands around. Did you communicate with that siddha?" Prabhat smiled, "Yes. That luminous body or siddha wanted to touch my feet, but I would not allow him, so I was preventing him from doing so with my hand." His friends enjoyed hearing these strange stories from Prabhat. "What did he want from you?" The other friend asked. "Although they are highly elevated beings, siddhas long for a human body, so that they can continue their spiritual journey to attain complete liberation. Attaining a human body is very rare, and because one needs a human body to reach enlightenment, many beings would like to have one." These were some of the things that Prabhat talked about with his friends at the Tiger’s Grave.

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The Sky is Falling

One evening, when two teenage boys were walking with Prabhat to the Tiger’s Grave, he asked them, "What would you do if a tiger jumped out now and attacked us? Would you run away or would you stay and fight?" One of them replied in a defiant tone, "I'd fight the tiger and kill it. I'm a very good fighter." "Okay, Prabhat said, turning to the other boy. "And what about you?" "We're best friends," the boy said. "If my friend would stay and fight, then how could I run away? We could never let a tiger attack you, so I would fight along with him; we'd give our lives to protect you." Prabhat patted them both lovingly on the shoulder and said, "You are both very brave and in the future the world will need your bravery." After they arrived and were sitting on the grave, Prabhat began discussing various aspects of astronomy. He pointed to a star and started describing it and the solar system it belonged to. As he was talking, they both stared wide-eyed at the sky. Gradually, it seemed as if the stars and the night sky started descending lower and lower. When they reached the level of the palm trees, the two boys became frightened and grabbed Prabhat. " Get down, get down," they shouted. "What’s going on?" Asked Prabhat. "Prabhat, don't you see? The sky is falling. It will kill us!" Prabhat smiled. "Don't worry, nothing will happen." He pointed once again towards the sky and slowly traced circles with his finger. Gradually the sky receded, until it was once again back where it belonged. It was an amazing experience that the two boys couldn’t understand what had happened. Did they just imagine something? Or did it really happen? As they were still thinking in awe of their experience Prabhat got up and said, "It’s time to go back home, otherwise you might get a beating from your parents." "Oh, it’s so late! It’s almost midnight! They are sure to give us a beating!" they told him worriedly. "Don’t worry, everything will be alright." Prabhat predicted. And sure enough, when the boys got home they were able to sneak back into their bedrooms without their parents ever finding out that they had been gone.

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Earthquake

It was 1934, the afternoon of January 15th, and Prabhat was fourteen. His father had gone away that morning to the capital city and his mother was visiting a friend with the other children. Prabhat was playing with his brother in an open field near their house. Suddenly the earth began to shake under their feet. "What’s that?" exclaimed Prabhat’s brother. "It’s an earthquake!" replied Prabhat "Look, part of the ground has sunk a little and another part has risen up!" "Let’s run and find mother!" Prabhat and his brother rushed to the house of their mother’s friend. They were all safe but when they all later returned home, they found that a part of their house had collapsed and the roof had caved in. Other houses were also damaged. They spent the night in the undamaged portion of their house, wrapped in blankets due to the cold. Prabhat along with his brothers Himansu and Manas went to meet their father and Hiraprabha early in the morning at the station. Though it was cold, Prabhat was as usual without any warm clothes just wearing his normal clothing. The following day, Prabhat’s father took him and his brother to survey the damage caused in the town. As well as his regular work as an accountant at the railway office, Prabhat’s father was a well-known homeopath. Prabhat organized a group of his friends, and working by his father’s side, together they helped to put up tents for all who needed them. Prabhat’s father not only treated patients, he also collected food, blankets, clothing, and medicine for distribution. In the weeks that followed, the entire family assisted Prabhat’s father in his efforts to relieve the tremendous suffering that surrounded them. In recognition of his efforts, the municipality asked Prabhat’s father to head a relief committee for Jamalpur and Monghyr town. For months he organized relief activities and rebuilding, and what was left of their house became a storage centre for relief materials. However, the duties and responsibilities of his office work, his family, his homeopathic clinic and the relief work took a heavy toll on Prabhat's father's health. His well-being gradually began to deteriorate. Although many doctors were consulted, and different medicines prescribed, nothing could be done to regain his health, and two years after the earthquake, Prabhat’s father died. At that time Prabhat was studying in grade nine. He was the oldest son but was still too young to support his family. Until then his family had been relatively well off, never having faced financial hardship. Prabhat’s mother was determined to give her children a good education and was able to manage the family affairs by selling a piece of land they owned in Jamalpur, and with the help of her husband’s provident fund. When Prabhat graduated from high school he tried to persuade his mother to let him find a job, but she would not hear of it. It had been her dream to see Prabhat go to college, and nothing he could say or do could change her mind.

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Student Life

After Prabhat graduated from high school, his mother decided to send him to college in the capital. As the eldest son, it was expected, under normal circumstances, that Prabhat should shoulder the family responsibilities, but his mother insisted that he continue studying and took it on herself to look after his sister and three younger brothers. In 1939 Prabhat was admitted to the Vidyasagar College in Kolkata, to study science. He stayed with his maternal uncle, Sharat Chandra Bose. Prabhat’s cousin had also started at the same college and every day they walked together to the college and waited for each other after the lectures to walk back together. On the way home they enjoyed chatting together, before separating to go to their own homes. On Sundays and on other holidays they met at each other’s homes, sometimes going for long strolls in the mornings and evenings, and at other times sitting discussing for hours in the park.

During his years as a student, Prabhat enjoyed the affection of his uncle Sharat Chandra, who was not married and was a disciplined tantrik. He also regularly visited his aunt in north Kolkata, who was a famous Veashnava saint, called Lady Goranga. He was a pure vegetarian and never went to the cinema or theatre. His behaviour was restrained and reserved like a wise elder.

Prabhat was a prolific writer and sent articles, songs, poetry, short stories and childrens' and teenagers' literature in English and Urdu to the Statesman, the English daily and an Urdu newspaper. He gave tuition to students as he used to do in Jamalpur and even taught dancing. From these activities he earned a bit of pocket money which he shared with needy friends.

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Predictions

Prabhat’s deep knowledge of so many subjects – such as ancient cultures, philosophy and economics – soon became known, just as it had in Jamalpur. His classmates regularly asked for help in their studies, as did students from even the higher classes. His friends also discovered that he was an adept palmist and could forecast people’s future by reading their palms. Two friends were very keen to have their palms read and after much vehement pleading from them, Prabhat finally relented. "What do you want to know?" Prabhat asked them kindly. "We want to know our future; we want to know when we are going to get a job" Prabhat looked up and down at one of the friends and without seeing his palm, said," "You will not get a job. You should concentrate on a business of your own as early as possible." He then gave him some hints as to what sort of business he should undertake. Then he looked at the other friend and said, "Your job is assured and you'll get it within a month." That young man was amazed because he had not yet applied for a job. But, as predicted, within a week he got a letter with a job offer, and the week after he had the job. The other friend established his own business and went on to make a fortune.

Prabhat once told a friend that just by looking at people’s foreheads, he could tell their future. Sometimes there was such a crowd of people who wanted to see Prabhat to have their fortunes told, that Prabhat made a condition that everyone could ask only one question. One of the young students thought, that as he was the same age as Prabhat,

he would be able to ask more than one question. Prabhat saw everyone individually and when that

hopeful student came out, very disappointed, he said, "The

moment I asked a second question, he cut me off and asked me to leave. What a terrible person!" The other students laughed at him, knowing full well Prabhat’s personality. Many of the predictions that Prabhat had made were to come true in later years.

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Initiation of Kalikananda

On the full moon night in August, seventeen year-old Prabhat took his usual long walk along the banks of the Ganges River. The moon was shimmering on the surging waters of the monsoon-fed river. In this enchanting atmosphere Prabhat walked on and on until he came to the isolated Kashimitra Ghat, where funeral pyres of wood burned the dead bodies. Most people avoided this place at night as it was feared to be unsafe. With pyres still smouldering around him, Prabhat found a spot to sit at the river’s edge. He was sitting absorbed in himself, when he saw a tall figure pointing a dagger suddenly appear from out of the dark. With perfect composure, Prabhat asked him, "Who are you? What do you want?" "Young man, give me whatever you have," demanded the evil-minded person. Prabhat looked at him unperturbed and said, "What do you want?" Kalicharan, a notorious robber, was dumbstruck by the young man’s fearlessness. Prabhat said, "So you have made it a habit of robbing people, even poor, defenceless students like myself?" The thief tried again to frighten him but Prabhat continued talking to him. "I will give you my money, don't worry! But I have something much more valuable than money. Wouldn't you like to know what that is?" The thief was now feeling unnerved by the eerie calm and strange smile of the slightly built teenager sitting in front of him. "Why have you chosen this criminal path? Don’t you want to be good?" "Hah! Good?" gasped the dark figure. "Nobody would believe me!" Kalicharan had a feeling that something unusual was happening to him. Prabhat pointed to the river and said commandingly to him, "Go and bathe in the river!" Not knowing what was happening to him, Kalicharan as though mesmerized, followed Prabhat’s orders and went down the steps to the Ganges River to take a dip in its waters. When he came out, still dripping, Prabhat asked him to take an oath to be good and not to harm anyone any more. He initiated Kalicharan into the practice of tantric meditation. Kalicharan’s heart missed a beat! Something unimaginable and wonderful had happened to him. Kalicharan felt humbled before this boy and tears came to his eyes. He was now a transformed person. "From today you will begin a new life." Prabhat instructed him on how to conduct his life. Then he told him, "It is mandatory in Tantra discipline for me to accept an offering, after giving you initiation. So I am asking you to give me something." "I have nothing with me today that I can give you," said Kalicharan. Prabhat responded, "Here, take this small silver coin and then you can offer it back to me." Embarrassed, Kalicharan did as Prabhat directed.

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Now the only thing Kalicharan could think of was to escort Prabhat home safely. "Let me accompany you home," he said. As they walked together Prabhat decided to change the ancient tantric rules from that day. The student would not need to offer anything material, but instead should offer everything of themselves in surrender. In this way tantric meditation could be affordable for all.

They walked together until they reached Prabhat’s home. As Kalicharan was leaving, Prabhat took another coin from his pocket and said to him, "Here take this, you will need it." Kalicharan objected vehemently. "No, no, I don’t want it." But Prabhat insisted. The more Kalicharan opposed, the more adamant Prabhat became. The more persistent Prabhat was, the more Kalicharan’s heart melted. Ultimately Kalicharan accepted Prabhat’s gift, which seemed to wash away all his crimes. Prabhat made him promise solemnly to devote his entire energy to serving creation until the last breath of his life. Kalicharan was a changed man and became known as Kalikananda. For the rest of his life he served society in various silent and anonymous ways and stayed in close contact with Prabhat, his spiritual teacher. This incident became known as the first initiation given by Prabhat and marked the start of his teachings as a spiritual master, a Guru.

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Kamalakantha 

Prabhat had been invited to a friend’s wedding in a village. He set off by train, together with some of his student friends, and then they took a bullock cart to the groom’s house. On the afternoon of the wedding day, they went with the groom to the bride’s house. The feasting began after sunset, but in the midst of the commotion of the merry crowd Prabhat became uneasy and decided to go for a walk by himself. All around there were open fields, so even if one went out alone, there was no danger of getting lost. With a flashlight in his hand, Prabhat was able to pick out a trail by following the ruts of the bullock cart wheels, and after walking for about three miles he came to a vast uneven stretch of land. There were no signs of people living in the area. Growing in the area were Myrobalan, Indian Butter trees and rare Flame of the Forest trees. The undergrowth was dense with bushy thickets. Prabhat’s approach startled some jackals into flight. No one came here, but Prabhat, fearless as he was, was drawn to such lonely places. Even the distant stars could not light that dark place. In the pitch blackness, the haunting call of the owls and the piercing howl of the jackals broke the serene silence, intensifying the eerie depth of isolation. ‘What place is this? Is it a cremation ground?’ Prabhat asked himself, seeing skulls strewn about. Not only was it a cremation ground, it was also a dumping ground for animal carcasses. Using his flashlight, Prabhat found a spot to sit down. Sitting quietly in the darkness, he could see a shadowy figure slowly coming towards him. He called out, "Who’s there?" The figure stopped but there was no answer. Then the figure moved silently forward again. Prabhat waited, and then, the stranger stopped, and breaking his silence, began to sing a song:

The play of life has ended, brother, The festival of the world disbanded. Return, O man of this world, return.

His voice was melodious and Prabhat enjoyed listening. "So, who are you? Please come here," he requested. Slowly the figure moved closer to Prabhat, who asked again. "Who are you? What are you doing here?" The man replied, "I am Kamalakantha, Babu, the road is my abode, traveller I am, dwelling on the path. Going is as coming to me, coming is as going. I am here to meet my Master who promised to teach me." "Please sit down Kamalakantha and sing me another song," requested Prabhat. Then, one after another, Kamalakantha sang some beautiful mystic songs for Prabhat. With his singing Kamalakantha had the power to draw the

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sweetness of heaven down into the darkness of the cremation ground and Prabhat could feel this to the core of his heart. Suddenly Kamalakantha stopped and asked, "Now tell me what I have to do so that you will initiate me?" "But I am just a boy, what could I teach you?" replied Prabhat. "You must teach me, you know everything!" implored Kamalakantha. So Prabhat gave him his much sought after tantric initiation. After the initiation Kamalakantha was overflowing with ecstatic feelings.

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Then Prabhat told Kamalakantha that he had to go back. "That’s a long way – nearly three miles," replied Kamalakantha. "Yes, and my feet are very tired after walking all the way here," Prabhat replied. Kamalakantha expressed his concern and with full respect he said, "I have one request tonight." Prabhat nodded to indicate that he was ready to listen. "Please stay here with me tonight." "How can I? The people at the house of the wedding party will be looking for me." But Kamalakantha was so persistent with his request that Prabhat agreed. "Babu, please lie down and let me massage your feet. After all, you have walked such a long way." "No, you’ve come from even farther away, and are surely much more tired than me," Prabhat answered. "No Babu, I’m not at all tired. As I told you, the path is my home. Now then, you lie down – you’re just a young boy." "No matter how tired I am," Prabhat said, "It’s not proper for an older person to massage my feet." "Then just put your head on my lap and lie down with your legs outstretched." Prabhat did just that, and supremely serene, in the heart of the cremation ground with his head in a stranger’s lap, he slept. When he awoke, towards the end of the night, he felt intense pain in his feet. As he sat up, he found that Kamalakantha was clutching his feet with both hands. And where his head had been resting, there were now three human skulls. "Kamalakantha!" Prabhat called out. "Hey, Kamalakantha! Are you listening? You’re sleeping, aren’t you? I told you that I didn’t want an older person to massage my feet. You didn’t listen to me." Kamalakantha gave no reply. 'What’s the matter? Why isn’t Kamalakantha speaking? Is he sleeping? Is it possible to sleep sitting up like that? Even if he is sleeping sitting up, how can he hold my feet so tightly’ Prabhat thought. Kamalakantha was clutching Prabhat’s feet so hard that the blood circulation in his feet was cut off and the pain had woken him up. Again he called out, "Hey, Kamalakantha, can you hear me?" As he didn’t answer, Prabhat pushed him gently, and with that little shove Kamalakantha’s body fell over. "What has happened to him? Has he become unconscious? No!" Kamalakantha’s body was lifeless and cold. He was a liberated soul now that left this world. Prabhat was worried about leaving Kamalakantha's body to the wild animals, so he used a yogic technique to dissolve the physical remains into their fundamental elements. At sunrise Prabhat started his journey back to the wedding house, leaving behind the three skulls, which were the only evidence of the events of that night.

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Wheel of Dharma

World War II broke out during Prabhat's first year of college. India, being under the colonial rule of Britain, was full of tension. There were talks, debates and agitation among the people for the independence of India. Led by spirited leaders such as Subhash Chandra Bose, students and young activists were engaged in discussions in classrooms, at home and on the streets. During this time Prabhat wrote articles for newspapers and magazines about social events in society. He sent statements to editors of newspapers, making suggestions that would best serve the nation’s interest at that time. He wrote about the defects of the caste system, capitalism, and the exploitative dowry system. He expressed many radical ideas and solutions that were characteristic of his deep concerns for justice and freedom. He even found time to work part time as a sub-editor in a Kolkata newspaper. Prabhat’s letter-writing was prolific, including critical letters to political leaders about the current political issues. He gave suggestions during the days of partition about which area should go to Pakistan and which to India. Years after the partition also there were disputes over certain areas that were claimed by Pakistan. Prabhat wrote detailed letters to Shyam Prasad Mukharjee who brought up these matters in Parliament and that was when Prabhat came to the notice of Prime Minister Nehru. However, when it became known that P.R. Sarkar was in his early twenties, the politicians were taken aback. And yet, Prabhat’s astute opinion was noted by Nehru who years later on his deathbed warned his secret service advisor to be watchful of him. Prabhat’s writing also attracted attention among the revolutionary thinkers of those days, due to his judicious analysis of the political situation and the challenging suggestions he made. Soon they invited him to closed discussion sessions at their homes. Prabhat was in close contact with some of the revolutionaries, such as the radical humanist M.N. Roy and the freedom fighter Subhash Chandra Bose. Prabhat thought the Ashoka cakra should be always depicted resting on top of the head of the beast, to symbolize that the Wheel of Dharma, and thus moral leadership, should rule over corruption and vested exploitation Despite Prabhat's involvement with some of India's radical revolutionary leaders, he never joined a political party or student organization. As he had done in high school, he mostly kept to himself, spending his time outside the classroom either alone or in the company of a few close friends. Yet he was discrete when he was with his peers and never spoke of his relationship with the political activists and revolutionaries of those turbulent pre-independence days in India. Above all, he continued to look for solitary places to pursue his meditation.

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End of Term Holidays

When Prabhat was at home during the semester holidays, he would once again enjoy strolling in the hills of Kalipahar. During one of these holidays Prabhat’s cousin and college friend had come to stay with the family. One evening, as Prabhat was getting ready to go for a walk, he asked his cousin, "Do you prefer going out with my brother or with me?" It was understood what this question implied. Prabhat’s brother would go to the town for the cinemas, shops and other attractions, whereas Prabhat would walk in the opposite direction towards the countryside and nature’s dark and secluded places, far away from the town. "I am more drawn to nature and the stillness of the night," replied his cousin, who preferred Prabhat’s company. They walked through paths dappled with light and shade, talking on various subjects. Most of the time it was Prabhat who talked. When they reached the field at the foot of Kalipahar they sat down close to each other, and Prabhat said, "Now we shall sit quietly." And, looking out towards the dark mountain, they sat, each with their own thoughts, or meditated, for more than an hour, until it was time to go back.

One day, during one of the winter holidays, Prabhat was sitting on the veranda at home, warming himself in the morning sun. A group of women in brightly coloured saris approached and one of them placed a plate of sweets near to Prabhat. They walked on, further down the street, but then stood and observed Prabhat. "Please come close!" Prabhat called to them to come back but they hesitated. "Please come back!" He continued to insist and then they hesitantly came closer. "Young Sir, we belong to a low caste. We cannot come near to you." Prabhat stood up and, moving towards them, gestured for them to sit on the veranda. Then he sat down and ate the sweets. The women beamed with happiness. "Is your health alright and is everything well with your families?" Prabhat inquired. "You see, the caste system is immoral. We are all equal. Never think of yourself as inferior to anyone. If you ever need financial help for the education of your children, don't hesitate to come to me. I will help you." As he was talking with the women, his mother stepped out onto the veranda, paused for a moment but then went back into the house. She waited until the women had left and then, grabbing hold of Prabhat by the ear, she pulled him into the bathroom. Pouring a bottle of sacred Ganges water into a bucket filled with water she instructed Prabhat to wash with the sanctified water in order to purify himself. Then she took some cow dung, mixed it with

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water to a paste and went out onto the veranda, where she smeared it on the spot where the women had sat. Prabhat’s mother believed that this would purify the place which had been touched by the low caste women. Prabhat did as he was told, but when his mother called him for lunch he refused to eat. When she asked him why, he told her that he intended to remove casteism from society. "That is impossible," His mother protested. "The caste system is given by God; it is in the holy scriptures. Up till now nobody has been able to remove it, although there have been great personalities in this world who have tried. What makes you think you will succeed?" "You will see. One day your Prabhat will do something to remove the caste system from society." By tradition, Prabhat’s family had a Brahmin priest. Years later, the son of the priest was keen to practice meditation and one acarya initiated him and he accepted Prabhat as his guru. The Brahmin’s son, according to custom, should have been Prabhat’s priest. Now however, instead of being Prabhat’s priest, he had become his disciple. He started to call Prabhat "Baba," which is an endearing way of addressing one’s spiritual master. One day the priest’s son, in a humble and polite manner, asked Prabhat to allow him to eat the food which was left on Prabhat’s plate, for he considered that this had been made holy by the touch of his guru. Prabhat turned to his mother with a smile, "Is this not blasphemy in traditional Hinduism, that a so-called higher caste Brahmin takes food from my plate?" His mother nodded with a smile. "Do you remember the vow I made many years ago?" "Yes, Bubu, I remember. You were right about the caste system; now I can see it is on its way out."

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The Madman

Prabhat’s house was on Keshavpur main road, but it did not have much traffic or many people in those days. It was Prabhat’s habit to sit in an easy chair in front of his house in the evening and read the newspaper. On the veranda of the opposite house, a so-called madman often sat. No one knew who he was or where he came from. He wore rags and had an unkempt beard and wild hair. He appeared to have no concern for the world around him. The children used to make fun of him and sometimes threw stones at him, but he in turn never harmed anyone. One day, two boys were returning from school when they saw a few other boys playing cards on the veranda of the house opposite to Prabhat’s. "Hey, let’s join them!" One of the boys said. "No, I don’t want to!" But the other boy had gone and was already playing. "Come on!" His friend urged him. "Just wait for a few minutes!" In this way they argued back and forth. Suddenly the madman who was sitting nearby laughed loudly and said, "How foolish the people of this town are! The Lord has come on this planet, to this very town and is living like an ordinary person! The foolish people of the town don’t even know him! They're wasting their time in useless things, like playing cards! How foolish they are! And yet they call me mad!" Saying that, he started to laugh loudly. The boys did not understand what he was talking about. They thought he was just talking nonsense.

Many years later, the boy who had not been interested in the card game was initiated into meditation by Prabhat and gradually came to know Prabhat’s true personality. He then realized that the so-called madman was not mad at all, but rather that he was a very evolved person who had come to know, through his insight, who Prabhat was. That so-called madman had long since disappeared. Who he was will remain a mystery forever.

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Music from the Forest

Prabhat’s love for his daily walks into the secluded hills, quiet and beautiful, stayed with him throughout his life. It was as if his aesthetic leaning found expression in this environment. The following adapted story is according to Prabhat’s own mysterious narration in his later years:

Late one evening Prabhat was up in the hills, waiting for his friend Prasenjit to arrive. They used to go to the hills together, where they would practise music on Prasenjit’s esraj. Usually Prasenjit would arrive first and Prabhat would come later.

‘And there it is again, that intoxicating melody, that rapturous sound, floating over the forest of sal and palash trees,’ Prabhat thought to himself on hearing the music of an unfamiliar instrument coming from the distant hills. Every evening, when they played the esraj, they could hear this music, drifting melodiously from somewhere in the hills and mingling with their own tunes. ‘As Prasenjit has not yet arrived, I’ll go and look for that mysterious musician,’ Prabhat thought to himself. The moon was out and everything was clearly visible when Prabhat started to climb the hill, which led to a huge, uneven plateau filled with pebbles and broken stones and a catechu jungle. A few jackals sitting under a plum tree eating plums, fled when they saw him coming. A little further on, he saw a group of hyenas sitting quietly; when they saw him they first tried to guess whether he was their friend or foe. After they saw that he wasn’t moving in their direction they continued sitting where they were. A deer appeared, running swiftly from north to south. Perhaps a tiger had been chasing it?

Prabhat went on and on and on. The melody came in waves, sometimes clear and sometimes faint, sometimes close and sometimes far, far away. Everything was glittering in the moonlight. Prabhat kept on towards the sound. He was now in the palash jungle, and as though lit by fire, the flowers were in bloom, red and orange. In the middle of the jungle, where the trees were sparse, Prabhat saw a young man of about his own age, seated on a mound. His body was like a motion picture, a play of light and shadow and his face was bright. He was wearing earrings and shining bangles and with his hands he played a stringed instrument as though inspired. When Prabhat approached, the young man stopped playing, stood up and said to him in Sanskrit, "I’ve been waiting for you, for many days now." "Yes, I’ve often heard you play," Prabhat replied. "What is that instrument you’re playing?" "It’s an ancient viina. About seven thousand years ago this was the only musical instrument in the world. When Shiva first formalised the study of musical

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notes, it was with this instrument, the viina. But you must know how long ago that was?" "That was 7,500 years ago," Prabhat replied. "Yes, you’re right, and I’ve been playing this viina for the last 7,500 years. For a long time I’ve had the desire to play for you. The viina is a simple stringed instrument. You must have heard its harmonies?" "Certainly," Prabhat replied. "Over time," he continued, "the viina evolved into different instruments, like the sitar, esraj, tamboura, violin and so many others. The type of viina that I am holding has not been in use for nearly six thousand years. I wanted to play it for you, so I’ve been sitting here, day after day, night after night, playing it. I haven’t slept, but neither my body nor my mind has become tired. I am a sound vibration, the musical modulation in the minds of human beings." "I wasn’t able to hear the entire melody of the piece you were playing," Prabhat said. "Would you please play it once more?" "Why just once? I’ll play it a hundred times! The only reason I came to this forest was to play for you." He started to play. His fingers were amazing, the way they danced over the strings. When he had stopped Prabhat asked him, "Was that the very ancient sindhubhaeravii melody that has now disappeared?"

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"You are quite correct. That was sindhubhaeravii" "Now I must go," said Prabhat. "Then I’ll accompany you to the edge of the mountains," replied the young man. Prabhat started on his return journey with that extraordinary genius by his side. After a while he stopped and asked the viina player, "There are luminous bodies who cultivate music and are called gandharvas. Other luminous bodies cultivate various things in subtler spheres and are called vidyadhara and then also there are those who are attracted to beauty and are called kinnara. Which of the three are you?" The musician kept quiet. His luminous face and body glittered even brighter as he smiled, but he remained silent. They kept on walking. "Where do you live? Do you live in this flowering forest?" "I don’t live in the forest, I live in the mind. I’ve been living in your mind for these past seven thousand years." They reached the end of the plateau. Prabhat looked at the luminous being and saw that his body was slowly dissolving into the moonlight. At that moment Prabhat could hear the sound of music floating above the flowering forest trees and he saw a wisp of cloud drifting across the sky.

The next evening, Prabhat went back to the hill and as he was waiting for Prasenjit, he heard the same mystical music floating on the air. Prasenjit arrived with his esraj in his hand.

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"What happened to you? Yesterday you didn’t come and today you are late. This isn’t like you." Prabhat said in a half-laughing, half-annoyed tone of voice. "You really upset me yesterday," Prasenjit replied. "I thought perhaps that you might drop by our house today, knowing how much you had upset me, so I waited for you. That’s why I’m late today." "What did I do to upset you yesterday? Please tell me?" Prabhat smiled a little. "Is it a laughing matter to cause pain to another person?" Prasenjit replied. "Sorry. I’ll ask in all seriousness. What did I do to upset you?" "Look, you came to my house yesterday just when I was leaving with the esraj to come here." Prabhat was astonished but kept quiet. "Why aren’t you saying anything?" Prasenjit asked. "Go on; tell me what you have to say," Prabhat responded, "List your complaints." "You came into my house but you wouldn’t sit down, not on the sofa, or on a chair, nor even on a mat. Is that polite, I ask you, to remain standing like that when you visit someone’s home?" Prabhat still was silent. "So you still have nothing to say? No answer at all. What’s going on with you?" Still Prabhat was silent. "And then you picked up the esraj and started playing an unknown melody. I asked you its name many times but you wouldn’t answer. If you had told me while you were playing, perhaps I could have learnt it. But you told me much later, when I couldn’t remember what I’d heard." "Do you remember the name that I told you?" Prabhat asked. "Of course I can remember. You told me it was sindhubhaeravii, and that it was a 7,000 year old melody which had become lost, mingled with the moonlight and dispersed into the unknown." "And what else made you get upset?" "Well, then you left so suddenly, as if you had become lost in the moonlight. I looked everywhere but I couldn’t find you. I could only hear a vague melody floating in the air. And then it started to rain. Didn’t you get wet while you were walking home?" "No, I didn’t," replied Prabhat dumbfounded. He had no explanation. That evening they listened to hear those melodies from the flowering forest, but there were none. They wondered where that unknown player had gone. But then, on their way down from the hills, distant strains of some ancient melody floated to them from hidden corners of the flowering forest. "Melodies are never lost, they only float in the invisible space waiting to be revived," Prabhat remarked to Prasenjit.

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The Working Years

When Prabhat Rainjan was nineteen years old, he passed the College final examinations with high marks. His mother wanted him to continue studying but Prabhat decided to return home from the big city. He thought, as he was the eldest boy in his family, that he should get a job to help support them financially.

He applied for a position at the accounts department of the railway workshop where his father had worked. In those days, the railway workshop at Jamalpur was the largest in Asia and was a training centre for railway engineers from all over Asia. Prabhat’s application was accepted and he started work as a clerk in the accounts section.

The men in Prabhat’s office hardly noticed him at first, as he was just a young teenager amongst them. He was short and slender with thick black-rimmed glasses and had a quiet and sober demeanour, so he did not attract much attention. Most of the men he was working with had worked with his father, and many of them had benefited from his father’s homeopathic remedies, and so they were happy to welcome their former colleague’s son who was addressed from then onwards as Prabhatda.

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Integrity at Work

Prabhatda’s co-workers soon noticed that he was extremely systematic, disciplined and had a deep-rooted respect for the rules and regulations. He prepared a daily schedule and plan of action, and set out to accomplish everything on his list before the day’s end. He was uncommonly punctual and reached the office exactly at ten o’clock in the morning and left at five each afternoon. His excellent habits were appreciated by his office colleagues and supervisors.

At home after work, Prabhatda did his evening chores, spent time in meditation and yoga, as he did every morning. Between his evening meditation and dinner he used to go for an evening walk invariably from his early years. At the end of the month, he would hand his full salary over to his mother. She then gave him a small allowance for his personal expenses. He showed his respect to his mother in many ways. He always asked her for permission before going out for his regular evening walks in the hills, and on his return in the evening, he would massage her feet before she went to bed.

On the way to the hills he used to call in at the National Institute library, which had an excellent collection of the current newspapers and learned journals of the day. He would glance over the headlines and in few minutes he seemed to have read all the news. Occasionally, the library was the meeting place for his companions, and from there they would stroll together to the great field on the outskirts of town.

During this time, when Prabhatda worked in the railway workshop, the railway allocated large sums of money to the many big hospitals, mechanical workshops and educational institutes that it had established. As some dishonest officials had misappropriated these funds, and Prabhat Rainjan’s honesty was well known in the office, he was chosen to investigate how the money had been embezzled. And sure enough, Prabhatda, with his uncanny intuition, was able to ask the clerks for the very files and cashbooks where irregularities were to be found. He knew which registers to search and what questions to ask. He was able to uncover which funds had been misused and stolen, much to the dismay of those responsible. He formed an inspection team, selecting the most honest and impartial employees, and imposing certain rules upon them. They had to stay in the railway’s guesthouses and could not accept a private invitation for meals or stay at a private house. He knew that these were the ways which were used to win

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over inspectors: to feed the inspectors delicious food and to give them all kinds of comforts, so that they would lose their moral courage and thus be unable to expose wrongdoing. Once, two team members went to inspect a hospital. They were tempted by an invitation to a sumptuous meal given by the local officials. As soon as Prabhatda heard that they had accepted the invitation, he had the men recalled and replaced.

Although Prabhatda was very popular with most of his colleagues, there were some who were jealous of him. They tried to obstruct him in whatever way they could. One of his supervisors, who was envious because of the rapport Prabhatda had with his colleagues, planned to have Prabhatda transferred from Jamalpur. He even went so far as to see his superiors at the head office in Kolkata and complain about Prabhatda. Finally he managed to get a transfer order for Prabhatda. Excited by his success, he eagerly sent off a telegram to Prabhatda from the capital. The message informed Prabhatda that he should get ready to be transferred within a few days. Those who were very fond of his joyful presence in the office were upset to hear this news. However Prabhatda remained cool, and told them, "Wait a little – just see who transfers whom!" Indeed Prabhatda received official transfer orders. He took a few days off and during this time two more telegrams came from the head office in Kolkata. One telegram stated that the transfer of Prabhat Rainjan Sarkar had been cancelled. The other one said that the supervisor, who had plotted against Prabhatda, was to be transferred to another place. And so Prabhatda was back to work as usual. The supervisor came to him distraught, now seeking help, "Mr. Sarkar! Your transfer order is cancelled, but what about mine?" Without lifting his eyes from the files, Prabhatda said, "What can I do about that?"

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In the Shadow of War

When Prabhatda started work, the Second World War was raging and tension was high. The war was foremost on everybody’s mind, and in the office, everyone was anxious to know the latest news. The news media censored any news that was negative of British interests, so it was impossible to get accurate information. During the lunch hour and break times, the employees would get together to discuss the progress of the conflict, and catch up on the latest news from the battlefront. They discussed how the war might impact on India’s future. When Prabhatda joined in the conversation, his colleagues noticed that he would often narrate recent events from the battlefield or the political front in vivid detail. It was almost as if he had seen everything himself. Prabhatda was able to perceive events in distant lands and would accurately convey the latest position of the war in full detail. His colleagues marvelled at this. They asked him how he knew all the latest news, but he simply smiled and changed the subject. Even though he was so young, he could make an astute analysis of the political ramifications of the war and have such extensive knowledge of military procedure, strategy and history.

In view of the volatile political situation in India, the British government had issued a circular, instructing all railway employees that they could undergo voluntary military training for a small pay. Prabhatda was then 20 years old and he spent a few months in two different camps where the training was given. After they had attended the training, the railway employees wore their military uniforms to work until the end of the war. Prabhatda wore his uniform only on days when they were required to attend the parade in the evening after work.

During an inspection at one of the training camps, an officer noticed that Prabhatda, instead of being serious, had a pleasant grin on his face, and remarked to him, "Sarkar, wipe that grin off your face!" to which Prabhatda replied, "Sir, this is my natural expression."

Prabhatda was quickly promoted and put in charge of a small platoon. The cadets under him soon developed a strong sense of loyalty for their young platoon leader. During one of the training exercises, an officer who had come for inspection, went right ahead, even though Prabhatda was not there. When Prabhatda returned, he rebuked the officer for having conducted the inspection in his absence and they had an altercation. One of Prabhatda's men, on hearing the raised voices, came out of the barracks with a loaded gun. He saluted Prabhatda and asked him in which direction he wanted him to shoot. The officer beat an immediate retreat.

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On another occasion, several of Prabhatda’s men complained to him about one of their comrades who kept a tin with a tight lid with biscuits and other delicacies that he had got from home, but that he never shared with his fellow cadets. Prabhatda listened to their complaints and promised to deal with it. One evening he called two of the young men who had complained and instructed them, "After dinner sneak into the tent from the rear. I will give a signal by coughing and then you make some sounds like an animal in the tent. When I give another cough, leave the tent through the rear." That evening after dinner Prabhatda invited the greedy comrade to go for a walk. As they were walking he gave the signal, a loud cough. Within moments they heard strange sounds coming from the tent. His companion halted suddenly. "Prabhatda, did you hear that?" "Yes. It sounds like a wild animal has got into the tent. It must be sniffing around. Do you keep any food in your tent, biscuits or anything?" "Well, yes …" "That is the problem then. It must be trying to get at the food. Get a bamboo stick, quickly!" While the cadet was getting the stick, Prabhatda coughed again and the sounds ceased. "I can’t hear anything now," Prabhatda said. "Let's have a look." Cautiously the two of them entered the tent. They saw signs of a disturbance inside. "Just as I feared," Prabhatda said. "It was trying to get into your box." "Oh no, the box is open and must be contaminated now by the licking of some wild animal, what shall I do? It might come back while I'm sleeping!" "I suggest you give all the food to your companions who are not aware of the contamination." The cadet followed Prabhatda’s advice and that evening his comrades were able to enjoy his unplanned generosity.

  On the subject of war, Prabhatda said, "War is the blackest spot on the human character. War is based on hatred. Our ancestors engaged in useless wars. Our forefathers committed grave mistakes by encouraging war. We should never commit the same mistakes in the future. We should learn from the past and teach our children also to avoid the evil of war. Those who engaged in war did not realise the glory of humanity." He looked around at his colleagues. "What do human beings want, darkness or light?" Someone quickly replied, "Light!"

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Tea Breaks

During their tea breaks, the accounting office staff would discuss many subjects, both light and serious, to relieve the monotony of office life. Prabhatda never participated in any light-hearted discussions. Knowing his nature, his colleagues avoided such topics in his presence.

When it was time for a snack, or lunch, Prabhatda did not leave the office to eat in the workshop canteen. He brought his food with him from home in a steel lunch box. He had his snack and talked with his colleagues until it was time to go back to work. Many of his colleagues would come close to his desk because they enjoyed listening to him. Soon his desk became a meeting point during lunch hour and break times. Very easily and appropriately, Prabhatda was able to answer all the questions his colleagues could put before him, as though he had deep knowledge of all the subjects. For example, when someone asked him about music, he was able to explain the origins of music in minute detail. His colleagues found it a pleasure to listen to him. Prabhatda often asked them questions too, but they could not reply. Then he answered his own questions. Sometimes he started the conversation on lesser known topics, such as classical literature, linguistics, applied sciences, mysticism and philosophy. He also taught his colleagues how to frame intelligent and probing questions so as to draw out the inner workings of a person’s mind. He was like an experienced journalist.

Sometimes during the tea break the men read the newspaper. While they were still reading the headlines, Prabhatda had finished reading the whole article. He would test their memory by asking one of them to remember an article that they had read a few days earlier. Usually the person would be unable to recall anything. Then Prabhatda would say, "Touch my finger!" And amazingly, that person would then remember the entire article and be able to narrate it. "How did you do that?" the man would ask. "The people of this world are all linked together and knowledge can be transmitted between them," Prabhatda explained.

One day, during tea break, a colleague came to Prabhatda with a heavy heart. "Prabhatda, I'm very disappointed. I've failed the stenography exam." Prabhatda advised him to sit for the exam again.

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"But, why should I sit for the exam again when I have just failed it?" he wondered. Prabhatda smiled as if he knew something. "But if you say that I will get through, then I will try again," he decided. "You will pass this time," assured Prabhatda. "Before the exam, meet me here with a red rose." The man did as he was told and he was the only successful person in the exam.

One day a high official of the Railway Board came for a meeting. Many stenographers went to record the speeches, including the man who had retaken his exam. Even though he took careful and extensive notes, he felt that he had missed something but didn’t know what. So he went to Prabhatda again before submitting his notes. Immediately, on seeing him, Prabhatda asked, "Have you forgotten some points and come to ask me?" Without waiting for a reply he dictated all that the man had missed.

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One morning, Badal came running to his uncle Shiva Shankar and told him that his son had been up all night crying. The boy had dreamed that his father had been in the hospital and had died. Shaken by this, Badal's wife asked him to go to his uncle and that they together request Prabhatda about the meaning of the dream. Badal was not happy with the idea; he was still uneasy about Prabhatda's reputation and his uncle's unabashed devotion for him, but he did as his wife requested. They approached Prabhatda during the break and explained the problem. Prabhatda then asked Badal to hold the little finger of his right hand. Prabhatda started describing the boy, "Does the boy often rub his legs together? When he was an infant, did you use to put him on a cot during the day in Krishnagar with a photo of Vivekananda near his head? Did he use to stare at the photo? Was the boy's nickname 'Bile'?" When Badal answered yes to all these questions, Prabhatda said, "Whenever anybody touches the little finger of my right hand, I see the facts as if I were watching a film; if they touch my right toe, I see them in the form of separate pictures. In his last life your boy was the son of a Christian priest. He was at his father’s bedside in the hospital when his father died. The boy later died himself at the age of 18 and took birth in your family. What he saw in the dream were images from his previous life. You and your wife don’t need to worry. The boy has good samskaras (karma)." Badal didn't know what to make of what Prabhatda said, but he felt relieved nonetheless, and over time his colleagues noticed a remarkable change in him. His character improved considerably and he soon became a faithful admirer of Prabhatda. When he was later transferred out of Jamalpur, a farewell party was organized for him in the office. One of his colleagues brought a beautiful garland for him, but when he was about to be garlanded, he refused to accept it. "I have already mentally offered this garland to Prabhatda," he said, "please kindly offer it to him." Prabhatda accepted it but then handed it to Badal with these words, "Keep this garland in your house and treat it with regard. Whenever you go out to work, look at it before you leave."Badal took the garland home and kept it in a box wrapped in a red silk cloth. In the coming years he would look at it every day before leaving for work, and he would attribute his good fortune in life to Prabhatda's blessing.

An unemployed man was becoming really desperate because he was unable to find a job. His friend, who worked at the railway office, told him to come to the office during lunch hour to see Prabhatda. The man asked Prabhatda if he could look at his palm to see when he might find a job. "I don’t need to see your palm. All I need is to see is the lines on your

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forehead," said Prabhatda and he looked at the man fixedly for a few moments. Then he told him the date on which he would find employment. The man thanked him, and, continuing his search for a job, he forgot all about the forecast until the day that he received a letter of appointment for a job. He remembered Prabhatda’s prediction and realized that the letter had arrived on the exact date as Prabhatda had said. He rushed out to tell his friend that Prabhatda’s prediction had come true.

On another occasion, one of Prabhatda’s colleagues had a friend who was getting old and was deeply worried because he had not found a husband for his daughter. In his desperation he agreed to humble himself and ask for Prabhatda’s help. Prabhatda's reply was short and to the point. "This is a simple matter," he said. “The groom is sitting just in front of you in this office." Prabhatda pointed to a young clerk, who was sitting at a desk in a different part of the room, attending to his work. "Go and see his parents and your desire will be fulfilled," Prabhatda instructed him. The man did as Prabhatda suggested. He asked the young man for his parent’s address, and when he visited them, he found that the family had just begun to look for a bride for their son. The negotiations went smoothly and the marriage was soon arranged.

Eventually, Prabhatda’s reputation for palm reading spread beyond his workplace and throughout the whole town. It was said that whatever he predicted came true. He was thought of as a great scholar and a very knowledgeable person. He was known to be good at astrology, an expert in astronomy and to have an extraordinary knowledge in all branches of science and the arts.

One man heard about Prabhatda through Prabhatda’s brother-in-law. The man was in financial difficulties with his business and felt very depressed. He decided to meet Prabhatda and confide in him about his problem. Although Prabhatda was much younger than him, he found that he was gentle, steady and self-possessed. He was firm and self-confident in his words and conduct. "How long will this financial crisis continue?" he asked him. "This is the biggest financial crisis of your life. After this, you will not experience such severe difficulties again." They talked over the problem and before he left the man asked, "When can I meet you again?" "We shall meet again in a year’s time," replied Prabhatda. A year had passed and the man had not seen Prabhatda since that first meeting. He had completely forgotten Prabhatda’s words. By chance he met Prabhatda again when he came to visit Prabhatda’s sister and her husband. Prabhatda greeted him happily and said, "How are you? Do you remember that you came to see me a year ago?" The man checked his diary and found that it was exactly a year since they had met.

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Life at Home

Prabhatda’s family was well aware of his unusual abilities, and for his younger siblings it was simply a normal part of their lives. One day as the children were eating their breakfast at the kitchen table, suddenly the cat jumped on the table. "Do you want to see some magic?" Prabhatda asked his younger siblings. He made a small movement of his hand, and the cat froze, as if it had been turned into a living statue. The children crowded forward to have a closer look. They touched it and made all kinds of sounds, but it remained still. Just then Prabhatda’s mother came into the kitchen and saw what was happening. She immediately rebuked him. "Leave the cat alone, Prabhat, otherwise it might die." Prabhatda moved his hand again, and the cat started breathing. It jumped off the table and ran away. Prabhatda’s mother returned to her morning chores, mildly annoyed, but otherwise going about her day as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened.The other children were all convinced that their elder brother knew all kinds of magic and, as their mother had often told them, he knew everything.

After his father died, Prabhatda was considerate towards his younger brothers and sister. When he went out he would always bring home sweets, or something else for them. Often he would forego his own share in order to give something extra to his younger brothers and sister. Prabhatda was very fatherly towards them.

One day, his younger brother Himanshu asked him, "As you know everything, can you teach me your secret? I would love to know everything too." Prabhatda frowned, "It's not good to know everything," he said, "not good at all. You wouldn’t like it. There is a reason why Providence doesn't allow this." And that was the end of his younger brother’s quest to know everything.

A couple of days later they were sitting at the kitchen table with their cousin Ajit, who was recovering from weakness after a sickness at their house. Prabhatda’s younger sister Bijli was serving them a snack. Her mother was observing her, and found her to be lacking in household skills. "You are going to be married soon and you still haven’t learnt how to serve at the table properly, not to mention cooking! What will your husband think?" Prabhatda defended his sister until his mother fell quiet and left her daughter in peace. "There is no need for her to master such domestic chores," Prabhatda told Ajit, once they were alone again at the table. "The marriage that my mother is busy arranging for my sister will never take place."

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"Prabhatda, it must be wonderful to know what is going to happen in the future," Ajits exclaimed, shaking his head and marvelling at his cousin’s unique abilities. "Not at all," Prabhatda told him. "It is not a blessing; if anything, it is a curse. You see, my sister is destined for a short life. She will not live to see her marriage day. That's why I wish that she be left in peace, so that she does not face unnecessary trouble in her final days. Just think of that! Whenever I see her I am reminded that her death is fast approaching. You may see a healthy young woman, but I see her future. Just imagine how difficult it would be for someone to act naturally, or be at ease with their friends or family, if they knew that someone close to them was about to die. There is a good reason why Providence has arranged that human beings should not know what is to happen in the future." Several months later Prabhatda asked his younger brother to accompany him to Kolkata for a few days of work duty. When the two brothers returned home, four or five days later, they found the entire family in mourning. Their carefree sister Bijli who had been bedridden had died the previous day of a disease that had shown no signs when they had set off for the city a few days before.

One day Prabhatda’s brother approached him about Bubai, the son of a widow, who had become involved in bad company and was neglecting his studies. "His mother is extremely concerned," he said, "And she has asked me to help her by talking to you on her behalf. Can you help?""Bubai is fair, tall and lean with a broad chest, small eyes and a comparatively small head. Though he has some bad habits he has some good qualities as well." Prabhatda narrated a clear description of the youth, although he had never met him. "I suggest that you remind his mother of his good characteristics and give her some encouragement," he continued. "Tell her not to be anxious about her son. Soon he will change completely. Right at this moment, he is experiencing a type of psychic spasm. This will be imprinted on his mind for a long time to come." The next day Prabhatda’s brother went to see the widow to re-assure her. Out of curiosity he asked Bubai, "Did anything unusual happen to you yesterday?" "Yes," he looked surprised at the question. "Yesterday afternoon I was studying and my mind had a sudden jerk, and I was lost in a dream world for a short while."

Years later, when the widow met Prabhatda, she said emotionally, "You saved my son from his bad habits and he started to live in a righteous way. He is now employed in a steady job and we are a happy family."

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Healing with a Red Rose

The wife of one of Prabhatda’s colleagues was very ill and was admitted to the hospital. The doctors tried everything to help her, but her condition deteriorated daily. Although the doctors at the hospital had done everything they could, she was still very ill, and so they advised that she should be admitted to a specialist hospital. In desperation her husband went to see Prabhatda. "Will you follow the doctors’ advice?" he asked the man. "We can’t afford to take her to the specialist hospital," confessed the man sadly. "Do you want me to help you?" asked Prabhatda, and then continued without waiting for a reply, "Bring me a red rose from the garden." With hopeful anticipation the colleague brought a rose to Prabhatda, who held the flower in his hands, and then gave it back to him, saying, "You should touch the body of the patient with the flower." The happy man cycled to the market, where he bought an amulet in which he placed the rose and gave it to his wife to wear. Within a few hours her condition began to improve. The doctors were amazed and sought an explanation. The man told them, "That red rose came from a great spiritual person." "It’s certainly this, and not our treatment, which is responsible for her improved condition," the doctors admitted. The woman fully recovered from her illness.

Another worried colleague, coming one day to Prabhatda, told him, "My wife has fallen seriously ill and none of the medicines the doctors have prescribed has made any difference. How can she be cured?" Prabhatda closed his eyes for a few moments and then told his colleague to bring him a certain red flower. The man brought the flower and Prabhatda told him to keep the flower by his wife’s bed. "She will recover within forty-eight hours," Prabhatda assured him. When his wife had recovered, as Prabhatda had predicted, he spread the story around the office, which only added to Prabhatda’s growing reputation.

Prabhatda’s colleague, Shiva Shankar, came to see him one day to ask for help. One of his friends was suffering from severe stomach problems. The sick man had been to several doctors in Jamalpur, but their treatment had not given him any relief. Prabhatda closed his eyes for a moment and said, "Your friend is suffering from intestinal tuberculosis and will not survive much longer." "Prabhatda, please do something! Help him. He has a wife and children. If he dies, what will happen to them?"

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Prabhatda appeared unmoved. "His disease is too far gone," he said. "There’s nothing I can do for him." In the meantime, the man was diagnosed by a doctor in Burdwan, who suggested an operation, although it would be very risky. Again Shiva Shankar went to Prabhatda to plead for help with his friend’s illness. "Look, Shiva Shankar," Prabhatda said, "I know Tapan. He’s a communist and has no faith in me, so whatever help I can give him will have no effect." However, Shiva Shankar was not deterred and after repeated requests, Prabhatda finally agreed to help. "Bring me a red flower," he directed Shiva Shankar. When he brought the flower, Prabhatda touched it and handed it back to him. "Give it to Tapan’s wife and tell her to tie it around her wrist and that a monk gave you the flower. Under no circumstances let them know that it came from me. If Tapan hears my name then he will respond negatively, and my treatment won’t work." Shiva Shankar brought the flower to Tapan’s wife and she tied it to her wrist. The operation was successful and there was no reoccurrence of the disease. Neither Tapan nor his wife ever learnt the true story of who had given that red flower.

One day, on his way to the office, Prabhatda noticed that a labourer was sitting with a pained expression on his face. Prabhatda asked him, "Aren’t you feeling well today?" "I want to work, Sir," the labourer told him, "but I can’t. I think I’d better go home and get some treatment, or if you could give me something for the pain, I’d be much obliged." "I’m not a doctor," Prabhatda said. "Babuji, if you may know of something that will help me, please tell me." The labourer repeated his request. Prabhatda went to the workshop gardens, where he plucked a plant and gave it to the labourer. He carefully explained how to make a simple medicinal preparation from the leaves. The next day the labourer was back at work, fully recovered. He told his fellow workmen that Prabhatda knew many medicinal remedies.

Thereafter other workers asked for Prabhatda’s advice for their medical problems. Although Prabhatda was not a homeopath like his father, he used to prescribe herbal or naturopathic treatments for his office colleagues.

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One of Prabhatda’s colleagues, Dr. Gunadhar Patra was a practicing homeopath and a student of natural remedies. He took the opportunity of his close proximity to Prabhatda to question him about remedies for different diseases, many of which he then began using in his own practice. One day he asked Prabhatda to take him into the hills near the Kali temple to show him some of the medicinal plants that Prabhatda had recommended. Prabhatda agreed and they went up into the hills, where Prabhatda showed him where the many medicinal herbs could be found. As they were walking back, they passed a crowd of women gathered outside a house. "Why are those women gathered here?" Prabhatda asked. His colleague went to enquire, and reported back to Prabhatda, "They told me that a boy who lives in this house is sick. He has been fainting, vomiting and having fits. They are worried that it might be epilepsy." "I’ll go and see the boy," Prabhatda said, and went into the house, where he questioned the family about the boy’s symptoms. He listened attentively as they told him, and then he waved his hand over the boy’s body. "You can all leave now. The boy will be alright," he announced to the neighbours. His friend, thought, ‘how could that boy be cured without any medicine or other treatment?’ The next morning, he went to collect drinking water from a spring which was close to the boy’s home, so on his way back he called in to find out how the boy was. The parents told him that their son was well. He had been completely cured the previous day when the man with glasses had waved his hand over him. The young homeopath doctor suspected that Prabhatda must have used some kind of mantra to cure the boy. He wanted to learn it, and so he went to ask Prabhatda, "How did you cure that boy yesterday? I would like you to teach me the method."

Prabhatda appeared surprised at his friend’s question, as though he didn’t remember the incident.

"But you must remember when we were coming down from the Kali hills we went into that house where the boy was sick." "Ah yes," Prabhatda remembered, "There was no mantra involved. One can also cure by touch. You are a doctor and one day you will also be able to cure your patients by touch," Prabhatda assured him. His friend was amazed and in

respect he bent and touched Prabhatda’s feet, according to Indian custom.

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The wife of Prabhatda’s co-worker had had a fall and injured herself. She was admitted to a good hospital, yet even though she was treated by the best doctors, her condition deteriorated. Her husband felt that her life was slipping away, and unable to bear the sight of his wife dying, he left the hospital. Thinking of Prabhatda, he went to the big field where they used to stroll together. Hardly had he arrived at the field when he felt a hand on his shoulder and heard a voice say, ‘Now, where are you going? Go back. You have to give blood.’ He turned around but found nobody there. However, he recognized the voice – it was Prabhatda’s. He went back to the hospital, although he did not expect his wife to recover. When he reached the hospital one of the doctors was asking for blood to be given to his ailing wife. Many of his friends and relatives were there, and they were ready to give blood, but their blood group did not match his wife’s. "Let’s test your blood." The doctors told him. "I know my blood group; it’s in the hospital records, as I have often donated blood as a service to society. Unfortunately it doesn’t match my wife’s." "Nevertheless, let’s test it again," insisted the doctors. To his great surprise his blood group was found to be the same as his wife’s. He was astonished and dumbfounded. "But this is absolutely impossible!" he exclaimed. He fell silent and knew that Prabhatda had something to do with this. Could it be possible that he had changed his blood type? What had happened was surely a mystery. His wife survived and soon became well again.

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Magic Mirror

"Prabhatda has a magic mirror!" This rumour was whispered around the neighbourhood. Apparently, the magic mirror had the ability to show things that were happening in distant places. Friends and relatives would appear in a scene in the mirror. And so, if you were worried or fearful about what was happening to your loved ones, even in far distant places, then you could ask the magic mirror about them and they would appear.

Actually, it was not a mirror, but a pane of glass. Prabhatda had asked his younger brother Manas to paint it black on one side. This made the glass have a reflective quality and it looked a bit like a mirror. Whenever Prabhatda wanted to use it, he got his younger brother to fetch the mirror and set it up.

Once, the wife of Prabhatda’s high school Sanskrit teacher came to visit his mother to share the sorrow she was feeling on her mother’s death. The lady was inconsolable because she had not been with her mother, who had lived in a far away village, when she had died. She came every day and sat near Prabhatda’s mother, weeping and sighing, "If only I could see my mother, even once, I would be relieved of all my grief and attain some peace of mind." Prabhatda had overheard their conversations and had drawn his mother aside to ask her, "Do you think that she really will attain peace of mind if she sees her mother?" "Yes, I do," answered his mother. "I can show her her mother, provided she doesn’t get frightened or mention this incident to anybody." "Wait, I will ask her," his mother replied, believing that Prabhatda, being the extraordinary son that he was, could possibly do that. His ability to do strange things no longer surprised her. She really pitied her friend, and felt that if Prabhatda could do as he said, then surely her friend would attain some peace of mind. And so Prabhatda’s mother told her friend that her son could arrange it, and she happily agreed to the proposal.

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Prabhatda instructed his younger brother to get the room ready and he brought in the glass and set it up, placing a lighted candle in front of the mirror. "Please come into this room." Prabhatda requested the lady. "Now, please concentrate on the mirror." The lady gazed at the candle and its reflection on the glass. Soon she saw her mother sitting in a boat. The scene was sufficiently clear and she felt that her eyes were not deceiving her. For a while she kept on looking until she was quite satisfied. Thus her mental anguish ended. Afterwards she thanked Prabhatda and told him that now she could rest and have peace of mind. She knew that her mother was safe and continuing on her journey.

On another occasion a woman came to Prabhatda and cried and cried about her worries for her beloved son who was far away in Bombay working for his livelihood. She had not received a letter from him for several weeks. The woman wanted to know if her son was well, if he was doing well in his work, if he was behaving properly and if he was missing his dear family back home.Prabhatda finally agreed to help by using his magic mirror. Soon after taking a seat, as requested, she saw her son in the mirror. He looked very well and was lying resting in his room. His mother was instantly relieved of her worries and went home very happily.

Eventually Prabhatda’s mother became worried that such sessions would affect her son’s health. Indeed, after one such session, Prabhatda immediately became very sick. This time his mother lost her patience. Taking matters into her own hands she went to his room, grabbed the magic mirror and smashed it to pieces. And so the story of the magic mirror ended. Prabhatda respected his mother’s wishes and never used this method again.

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Giving Advice

Over the years the scope of Prabhatda’s counselling activities widened. Colleagues and neighbours approached Prabhatda for advice on everyday matters that required little or no knowledge of astrology, palmistry or of use of his supernatural abilities.

There was a man called Rameshvar Jha who was unable to afford the costly funeral rites for his father, who had recently passed away. As per Hindu tradition a Brahmin priest was needed to conduct very elaborate rituals to send his father’s soul to heaven. However, the priest was going to charge fifty gold coins for his services. This was far more than the man could afford. But his mother and other family members were putting tremendous pressure on him to pay it, so in his desperation he went to see Prabhatda. "There is no heaven or hell, so even if you give the priest five thousand gold coins he won’t be able to send your father’s soul to heaven. The concept of heaven and hell is a dogmatic belief, created by certain people to exploit those who, out of fear, believe in it. We actually experience heaven and hell in this very world according to the consequences of our good or bad actions. And death is like a deep sleep, after which we are reborn." "Yes, I agree with you, but how can I convince my mother and my relatives of this? They will give me no peace if I don’t perform the rites according to the scriptures." Prabhatda understood his predicament and with a mischievous smile he suggested to the man that he ask the priest how far he could send his father’s soul to heaven for a reduced fee. The man took this advice and the next day came back to report excitedly to Prabhatda, that the priest had agreed to reduce his fee to thirty gold coins. This fee would send his father’s soul to the gates of heaven, but then he would have to open the heavy gates himself to be able to go in. "Well done," Prabhatda chuckled. "Now go and ask the priest how far he can send your father if you pay him in silver." The next day the man reported that the priest had to calculate hard but he finally agreed to send his father to the steps of heaven for one hundred silver coins. From there he would have to climb the long, winding steps himself to reach the gate. "Very well,"said Prabhatda and asked him, "Can you afford one hundred silver coins?" "No, Prabhatda. I have a very large family. I don’t want them to suffer unnecessarily." "How much can you afford then?" "I suppose I could afford thirty silver coins," he said.

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"Then go back and talk to the priest. Ask him how far he can send your father for thirty silver coins." The next day the man came to Prabhada’s office in a happy mood. "The priest was quite annoyed," he told Prabhatda, "but after long calculations he told me that for thirty silver coins he could send my father three miles from heaven." Prabhatda laughed. "Very good! Tell the priest that your father was a healthy man who used to walk four or five miles every morning so he would have no difficulty in covering the three miles to heaven during his morning walk."

There was one family who used to consult Prabhatda for all their family problems, big or small. One day the lady of the house went to Prabhatda and said that the neighbour on the second floor kept throwing rubbish down onto the first floor where they lived. Their clothes, which were hung out to dry would get dirty, and not only this, the neighbour’s children annoyed and bullied her own children. Prabhatda told her to prepare some nice sweets to give to the family for the coming holiday. The lady of the house did just that. She made some nice sweets and

sent her son with them up to the neighbour. The oldest daughter opened the door and chased the boy away but the lady of the

house below didn’t give up and sent her daughter with the sweets. The daughter asked for the mother of the family

and presented the sweets to her. She accepted them and after that there were no more problems.

A Bengali officer came to see Prabhatda because he was upset by the news that his British wife in England,

who was supposed to join him soon in Jamalpur, had fallen seriously ill. The doctors had told her that she

needed a major operation. Prabhatda reassured the officer and said, "There’s no need to worry and there’s no need for a

major operation. A simple operation will do and then she’ll be well." The man was greatly relieved to hear this. Some months later the officer’s wife arrived in Jamalpur. One day her husband showed her a photo with Prabhatda in it. When his wife saw Prabhatda she exclaimed in surprise, "Why, this is the very doctor who advised the other doctors that I needed only a simple procedure and not a major operation. Thanks to his advice I was saved!" Her husband was amazed. He knew that Prabhatda had not taken leave to go to England, nor was he a doctor. He realized that Prabhatda was a great yogi who hid behind the appearance of an ordinary person. Shortly after they visited Prabhatda at his house and the lady thanked him for his help.

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Visits to Bamunpara

From time to time Prabhatda’s family visited their ancestral home in Bamunpara. His grandmother was very happy to see her grandchildren. The other relatives were happy too and came over as soon as they heard that the family had arrived.

Anil, a younger cousin, peeped into the room where Prabhatda was, but hesitated to go in. He looked at his grandmother and asked, with a silent gesture, whether he could enter. "Bubu is sitting in meditation. He practices meditation and contemplation for long periods. The last time he was here, out of curiosity, I peeped inside the room through the window and saw him levitating! His body was floating a little above the ground. I became frightened and closed the window. It’s better not to disturb him while he is meditating, he should be out soon," she said. When Prabhatda came out of the room a little later, he was pleased to see Anil and embraced him warmly. Anil liked his effusive, good natured cousin who would mingle freely with everyone. At that time, two highly educated gentlemen lived in the village. Although the men were older than Prabhatda, they enjoyed having discussions with him on various topics. The youngsters listened in on their conversation with great fascination, as they delved into philosophy, literature, history, ethics, sociology or other topics. Prabhatda’s knowledge and opinions on so many subjects caused everyone’s mind to be stimulated. He would lucidly explain, and quote from Sanskrit verses and various scriptures. He spoke effortlessly on the gradual development of Bengali literature and described the step-by-step evolution of the numerous languages derived from Sanskrit. He could speak many languages fluently. It seemed as though he had crammed all the Vedas, the Vedanta, the Puranas and the Tantras into his brain. Whatever they asked him, Prabhatda could give clear and precise replies.

Naresh Ghosh was five years younger than Prabhatda and used to constantly trail after him when he came to Bamunpara. He would accompany Prabhatda as he went from door to door like an inquisitive archaeological researcher, collecting old books and manuscripts. Naresh would later say about Prabhatda: "People said that Bubuda could read palms very well. I watched him; he never read a palm! He would ask the person to stand straight and then look intently at him from head to toe. It was as if he was taking an x-ray. Then, without hesitation, he would speak rapidly

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about that person. It is difficult for me to understand how he could enter into a person’s body and mind so completely."

One day Prabhatda was sitting with Gopi Babu, who was telling him about a yogi named Bamakhepa. "I am convinced that this yogi has great spiritual powers," he said. "One day Bamakhepa was on a train, and because he didn’t have a ticket, the ticket collector asked him to get off. However, when he had got off, the whistle blew, the driver started the engine, but the train didn’t move. One passenger said, ‘You have put a great yogi off the train. The train won’t move until he is allowed back on.’ So they had no choice but to let him back on the train. As soon as he was back on the train, it started to move." "One needs spiritual power to do this, no doubt," Prabhatda said,"But it is not a very high class of spiritual power. It doesn’t mean that he is a great yogi." Gopi Babu was surprised and asked him curiously. "Could you do it?" Prabhatda avoided an answer and asked, "When are you going back to Kolkata?" `"Tomorrow," Gopi replied. "Good. I’m also going back tomorrow. We can travel together."The next day, Gopi Babu stopped at Prabhatda’s house on his way to the station. "I’m not quite ready," Prabhatda said when he saw him. "Anyway, we have plenty of time. There’s no hurry." "Prabhatda, I have urgent work in Kolkata. I can’t afford to miss the train." "Then you go ahead, I’ll follow soon." Gopi Babu rushed to the station, bought his ticket and hurried to board the train, which was ready for departure. Then Gopi saw Prabhatda in the distance walking to the station at a leisurely pace. He shouted, "Hurry, the train is about to leave!" But Prabhatda didn’t quicken his pace. The train whistle blew, but Prabhatda continued to stroll calmly towards the station as if he had all the time in the world. He went leisurely up to the counter and bought his ticket. The whistle blew again but the train still didn’t move. It was only when Prabhatda had got into the train and had sat down on a seat next to Gopi Babu, that it started to move. Gopi was not sure what to think and looked at Prabhatda doubtfully but didn’t say anything. When the train arrived at Bandel, where it usually stopped for quite a while, Gopi said, "I’m going to get a cup of tea," and he got up with the other passengers to go and get a cup of tea from the platform tea stall. "You’d better not get out of the train," Prabhatda said. "Today it will stop here for only a couple of minutes." "No!" Gopi said. "It always stops in Bandel for at least twenty minutes."Gopi didn’t listen to Prabhatda, got off, and ordered his tea. However, while he was waiting at the tea stall, the train whistle blew and the train started to move. He had to run, and jump on the moving train without his tea. "Why didn’t the strain stop as usual?" he gasped at Prabhatda, who was all smiles. "The train is late; it was delayed at Shaktigarh station where we got on. Now it’s catching up."

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Early Disciples

Pranay had just started working in the same office as Prabhatda. He was short, slender and intelligent. He was twenty-two and Prabhat was three years older than him. Pranay’s desk was opposite to Prabhat’s and he noticed during the lunch break that a crowd gathered around Prabhat’s desk. Surprised and curious he asked the person next to him, "What’s going on?" "Don’t you know?" His co-worker replied in a hushed tone, "Prabhatda is a great scholar. He can read your palm and tell your future." Although Pranay was sceptical of fortune telling, he was also curious and so went closer to see what was going on. He hesitated but then asked, "Would you read my palm too?" Prabhatda touched his hand and Pranay felt a pleasant sensation pass through his body, almost like a mild electric shock. Although Prabhatda had seen his palm, he said nothing, and turned to speak to someone else. Pranay was offended, and over the next few days he worried what it was that Prabhatda might have seen in his hand, but not divulged. Finally he asked Prabhatda, "Was there something you saw in my hand that you didn’t want to tell me about?" Prabhatda’s mood was grave. "Do you really want to know?" "Yes, please." "As you wish. Meet me at the library at 7.30 this evening. I can tell you then." When Pranay arrived at the National library he saw that Prabhatda was flipping through the pages of an English newspaper. Prabhatda said, "Shall we go for a walk?" They walked together in the cool evening breeze towards the fields outside of town. Prabhatda began by talking about the history of Pranay’s birthplace but then went on to different subjects – geography, language, culture, botany, astronomy – moving effortlessly from one topic to another like a flowing stream. The more Pranay listened, the more the depth of Prabhatda’s knowledge amazed him. It was no wonder that his colleague had called him a great scholar. However, Prabhatda did not touch upon what he had seen in Pranay’s palm. At first Pranay was too polite to interrupt, but then he blurted out impatiently, "Actually I’d really like to know what you saw in my palm." Prabhatda stopped walking and fixed his gaze on Pranay, "Do you really want to know?" "Of course I do. That’s why I came this evening." "Very well then! Tell me, what is the aim of your life?" "Be happy, make merry and live like the British and Americans," Pranay said.

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Prabhatda laughed out loud. "Your thinking is defective, Pranay. If you continue on this path, I can see that you are headed towards a great abyss, into which you will fall." Pranay felt frightened. "Is there anything I can do to prevent it?" "Let me think about it. Why don’t you meet me again tomorrow evening at the same time?" They met again at the Tiger’s Grave the next evening and for many more evenings after that. Pranay enjoyed being with his charming and eloquent companion. He loved to listen to all the topics but felt a great resistance towards the subject of spirituality. He had a scientific bent of mind and felt that spirituality was not rational thinking, just superstitions.

Yama and Niyama

Yama - Principles of living in harmony with others:

1. Ahim’sa - Non-harming – Not to harm others by thought, word or action. 2. Satya - Benevolent Truth – Right use of words for the welfare of others. 3. Asteya - Non-stealing – Not to take from others in thought or action or give them less than they deserve. 4. Brahmacarya - Universal Love – To see the unity of all things.5. Aparigraha - Moderation – Not to overindulge. Live a sustainable and good life.

Niyama - Principles of living in harmony with oneself:

1. Shaoca - Purity – To keep purity of body, mind and environment.2. Santosa - Contentment – To live in peace every moment. 3. Tapha - Sacrifice – To make personal efforts to help others in need.4. Svadhyaya - Proper Study – To study and take guidance from inspiring books and people. 5. Iishvara Pranidhana - Cosmic Shelter – To take shelter in the Supreme Cosmic Consciousness.

One day when Pranay was sitting at his desk, quite confused with thinking about God and the world, Prabhatda came by and asked him, "What’s the matter?" Without waiting for an answer, he touched Pranay’s forehead lightly and Pranay felt that a flash of lightning had illuminated his whole mind and being. He felt that his worries were melting away and giving space to a new feeling of overwhelming love. For a while he was transported to a world

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of bliss and he was not aware of his surroundings. When he came back to his senses, Prabhatda was not close by but sitting in his seat. He slowly got up and with unsteady steps, went to Prabhatda and humbly touched his feet and said "Prabhatda, please teach me. You are my spiritual master." That evening Prabhatda initiated Pranay into the practice of tantric meditation and told him to practice twice a day. He also gave him some specific yoga postures to do and told him to eat only sentient food. During his initiation Pranay felt an even greater indescribable vibration coming from Prabhatda, much more than when he had touched his forehead in the office. He was so deeply moved by the day’s powerful experiences that he was unable to sleep that night. He kept wondering what kind of a person Prabhatda was, that he could do such things. The next morning at the office, Prabhatda said to him, "Let’s go to the field again this evening. I have something else to teach you." That night, when they reached a lamppost at the edge of the field, Prabhatda took out a piece of paper from his pocket. "These are the ten moral principles of yoga, that you must follow very strictly." Pranay read what Prabhatda had written. "These rules are for yogis in the forest. It's not possible to follow all of them in modern society.""What are you saying!" Prabhatda raised his finger and said in a commanding voice, "You will have to follow them! You will have to follow them!" "Okay, Prabhatda, okay! I promise. I will do as you say." When they reached the Tiger’s Grave, Prabhatda's voice was soft again, "I think you didn’t sleep last night, you look tired." "You're right, Prabhatda. I couldn’t sleep at all." "Come, put your head on my lap and rest for a while." Pranay lay down on the grave with his head on Prabhatda’s lap and quickly fell asleep. It was after midnight when he woke up to the sound of Prabhatda’s voice. "It’s time to go back." Many years later Pranay said that in his whole life he had never had such a restful sleep as he had experienced that evening on the Tiger’s Grave with his head in his spiritual master’s lap.

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One day Haraprasad, who worked in another department, was in the accounts department, talking to a friend who worked there, when Prabhatda called him over to his desk. Although Haraprasad knew who Prabhatda was, he had never spoken to him. Prabhatad asked Haraprasad about his roommate who hadn’t come to work that day. While talking, Prabhatda was staring intently at Haraprasad’s forehead. Aware of Prabhatda’s reputation, Haraprasad asked, "What can you see?""Anyhow, whatever is past is past. Better not to think about it." Haraprasad felt very uneasy. "No, please, tell me." "You are preoccupied with three things in your life," Prabhatda said. "I will tell you the first two, but the third I'll only disclose at a later date." Prabhatda described with uncanny accuracy two of Haraprasad’s three main concerns in life. Then he shocked him by declaring that Haraprasad was destined to have a short life span, and that the date marked for his death was fast approaching. Haraprasad was too unnerved to say anything in reply. "Don’t worry about it," Prabhat continued, as if what he was saying were the most natural thing in the world."Now that you have met me, this can be changed. I'll take care of it. Come and meet me at the Tiger’s Grave one month from today, in the evening around eight o’clock. We'll talk about it then." Haraprasad was badly shaken, thinking that he would die soon. He told his friends, who said that he shouldn’t believe anything that Prabhatda said. They urged him to go home to his parents for a while. He followed his friends’ advice and kept away from Prabhatda. But exactly one month later he went to the National library by chance, where he saw Prabhatda sitting at a table reading the newspaper. Immediately he remembered the prophecy and fears of death stirred up in him. He tried to put the thoughts out of his mind, but became anxious, and wanting to avoid another encounter with Prabhatda, left hurriedly, hoping that Prabhatda had not noticed him. Lost in thought, he walked without paying attention to where he was going. After a while he was startled by a voice calling to him from the Tiger’s Grave. "Haraprasad, don't you remember? A month ago I told you to meet me on this night, at this time and in this place." Uneasy but resigned, Haraprasad came closer and followed Prabhatda to the spot between the three palm trees. Prabhatda removed his shoes before entering the grassy triangle, so Haraprasad did the same. "In this place a yogi achieved enlightenment, and many other saints have come here to meditate," said Prabhatda. "Now tell me, why do you have such a strong desire to do spiritual practices? This is one concern that you've had for some time now." Haraprasad had not shared this thought with anyone. He had, in fact, begun to practice, in secret, some yogic techniques that he had learned from a book.

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"Yogic practices should be done with a proper guide." Prabhatda cautioned him. "What about my short life expectancy?" Haraprasad aired his deepest worry. "That is your destiny, but it can be changed." "How? What can I do?" He reached down and grabbed hold of Prabhatda’s feet in the traditional Indian gesture of respect for one’s elders and teachers. "You will have to practice the meditation I teach you, do asanas according to my instructions and give up non-vegetarian food." Haraprasad readily agreed and Prabhatda initiated him. Within a few minutes Haraprasad entered into such a state of bliss that he lost all sense of time and place.

Prabhatda went with him to his boarding house, where his roommates were asleep. They had left out some dinner for him, but he had no appetite. After Prabhatda had left, he went up to the roof and stayed there for the rest of the night, sometimes meditating, sometimes staring into the night sky, in an elated blissful state.

In the morning he was still lost in a daze. He didn’t feel like talking or eating. His roommates didn’t know what to make of his strange behavior. They were afraid that he might be ill. Days passed, but his condition did not improve.

Prabhatda came to visit his new disciple. They went up onto the roof to talk and Prabhatda asked him if he was experiencing any difficulties with his new practices. "No, no difficulties, only bliss."

Gradually he came back to normalcy but an overwhelming blissful feeling stayed with him. He spent a lot of time with Prabhatda, going on walks in the countryside. His roommates were convinced that Prabhatda had put a spell on their companion. One of them, Sadhan, vowed to catch Prabhatda alone and frighten him with a dagger so that he would never bother Haraprasad again. He slipped a dagger into his pocket and waited for Prabhatda near the spring. He knew that Prabhatda would pass by on his way to the field. But when Prabhatda came in sight, he called out to Sadhan by name, although they had never talked before.

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"Sadhan, come, let’s walk together." As they headed for the field, Prabhatda talked about each of Sadhan’s family members by name, back to his great grandparents. He chatted about Sadhan’s native village and the dialect spoken there. On hearing Prabhatda speak so charmingly about the personal details of his life, Sadhan was stunned, but then he thought that he might be falling under the spell of Prabhatda’s personality. They reached the Tiger’s Grave and sat down. "Why don’t you take that dagger out of your pocket?" suggested Prabhatda. Sadhan blushed, and with trembling hands he took the dagger from his pocket. "Put it down on the grave." Sadhan obeyed and laid it on the grave beside him. "You and your friends don’t understand. There's nothing wrong with Haraprasad. I've taught him meditation, that’s all. You would do well to practice it yourself." Prabhatda went on to explain the benefits of meditation, until Sadhan was inspired and requested Prabhatda to teach him. He too felt blissful feelings, as Haraprasad had experienced. When he reached his boarding house, his companions, who had been waiting anxiously for his return, found him completely changed. From then on he and Haraprasad often meditated together and accompanied Prabhatda on his evening walks. Their roommates gave up their efforts and left the two friends to their strange new life.

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Beginning of Baba’s Mission

Prabhatda worked for twenty-five years at the Railway accounts office. During the first several years he was open, easily accessible and generous to friends, colleagues and all who enjoyed his unlimited knowledge or needed advice in some way. Many had the chance to accompany him from time to time on his regular evening walks.

From among these close associates at the railway office he chose those who had a predisposition for spirituality, took them aside, and initiated them into the practice of meditation. Gradually he gave these aspirants most of his attention, and it was they who accompanied him on walks from then onward. He made it a rule that if they saw him with somebody else, whether at home or in the field, they should turn back and come to see him at another time. In this way he maintained his anonymity as a spiritual master. The number of disciples continued to mount, but they did not know who the others were. Nevertheless some started to notice changes in their fellow workers: some became strict vegetarians, others frequented solitary places.

For the majority of people, Prabhatda remained the railway employee who knew astrology and who sometimes would tell people their futures. Yet for others he became their spiritual teacher, whom they loved and who loved them dearly.Those who got initiated experienced deep blissful states in their meditation. They also observed how Prabhatda would go into a trance when meditating. For them Prabhatda was the embodiment of bliss, he had the ability to remain in bliss and also make others experience such elevated states of mind. Eventually, according to the traditional form of address for one’s spiritual master, the initiates started calling him "Baba" in private. Yet somehow the word went around. One of Baba’s classmates, Dr. Sachinandan Mandal heard about him and decided to seek out his old classmate and learn from him. But when he met Baba and told him that he had heard of his greatness and that he too wanted to learn, Baba rebuffed him, "Nonsense, those people are making up stories. I don’t know anything." Baba’s classmate, however, was not so easily deterred. He continued to pursue him whenever he saw him. Eventually Baba told him that if he were really interested he could give him the address of a tantrik in a town nearby who could teach him. But his classmate was adamant. He insisted that he would only learn from Baba himself. Baba told him to read the books of Ramakrishna, and finally a couple of months later he handed him a handwritten piece of paper with the ten moral principles in it and told him to start practicing them. A few days later Baba called him to his house and initiated him.

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First Gathering

For over 15 years, very discretely, Baba continued to gather around him a group of disciples to whom he taught meditation and yoga techniques, moral principles and a universal humanistic outlook on life. Then, towards the end of 1954, Baba invited each of his disciples to meet on a Sunday at the Rampur Colony, where his brother Kannaida had been allotted a living quarter that he did not use. When the disciples arrived, Baba introduced everybody to each other. Many, especially those from Jamalpur, were surprised to see friends, colleagues and acquaintances gathered there. Several had known each other for years without having any idea that they had also been initiated by Baba. After the introductions, Baba took his seat in the front of the room and gave a discourse on the purpose of spiritual practice. Then he called Pranay and asked him to sit in front of him in full lotus posture. "Close your eyes and concentrate your mind at your meditation cakra," then he addressed the spiritual force in Pranay to rise up, cakra by cakra, saying, "O kundalini, I, Yogeshvar Anandamurti order you to rise." Pranay’s body was trembling and then it gradually subsided. His spine became rigidly erect and his head arched backwards. Then he fell backwards, his legs still bound in the full lotus position. Pranay became absolutely still and his face shone with a glow of immense peace. While Pranay remained absorbed in this state of ecstasy, Baba smiled and looked towards the awestruck gathering. "He is now in a state of mind where he feels oneness with Supreme Consciousness. This is the goal of meditation. By regular practice of meditation, with diligence, determination and intense concentration, you too will be able to experience such a feeling." Pranay came back to his normal consciousness after an hour, with tears in his eyes. He was in a state of immense bliss. Those who witnessed this were still in awe over the demonstration. As they were leaving the gathering they whispered and silently talked and wondered about their matchless experience that evening.

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Death Demonstration

The disciples met again the following Sunday. The word spread quickly about Baba’s last demonstration and they were eager to witness what Baba would do next. That Sunday morning, Virendra Kumar Asthana from Bhagalpur came to meet Baba. He sat with Baba and asked questions that Baba patiently answered. While they were talking, a young man appeared in the doorway. "Good-for-nothing chap! How dare you show your face here! Go away! I don't want to see you anymore." Baba immediately started scolding him. Virendra was shocked. He never imagined Baba could be in such a mood. The young man, however, didn't heed Baba's words. He caught hold of Baba's feet and started pleading with him. "Forgive me, Baba, I couldn't help it. Please forgive me!" Baba's tone softened. "You have committed a grave error," he said. "Are you ready to accept punishment for what you've done?" "Yes Baba, whatever you decide," the man replied, with great relief. "Virendra, go get one of your shoes and bring it here."Bewildered, Virendra jumped up to fetch one of his shoes and brought it to Baba. Baba then ordered the young man, "Now, lick the sole of the shoe!" This is considered an extreme humiliation in Indian culture, and Virendra became even more shocked. But as the man was about to lick the shoe, Baba stopped him and softly said, "You can go now, but come for the gathering this evening." Then Baba picked up his conversation with Virendra as if nothing much had happened.

Late that afternoon many disciples gathered at Rampur Colony. The room was so tightly packed that they could hardly move. Baba made his way to the empty cot and sat down. Somebody sang a devotional song and then Baba began to talk about life and death. He said, "Most people are afraid of death, because they think that death is a very painful experience but death is a natural process, as natural as deep sleep." At this point Baba asked the two dozen disciples, "Would you like to see a demonstration on this subject? Will you be afraid?" When they assured him they would not, he called Krishna Chandra Pal, or Kestopal, as he was commonly called, to the front of the room and asked him to sit in lotus posture and close his eyes. Virendra recognized him as the young man whom Baba had disciplined so sternly that morning. "Concentrate your mind in your meditation cakra," Baba said in a firm and solemn tone of voice. Then Baba withdrew all the vital energy step by step from his body. Kestopal's breathing became deeper and then heavier; he started gasping for air. Murmurs of concern went through the assembly.

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Then Kestopal fell over on his back. Several of the onlookers gasped. All movement in Kestopal's body ceased. His head tilted slightly to one side. Baba asked Dr. Sachinandan Mandal to come forward and examine him. "Is he dead or alive?" Baba asked in a calm, seemingly unconcerned tone of voice. The doctor examined him for a minute or two while the tension in the room increased. "Baba, I can’t find any vital signs; he has no heartbeat, no pulse." Baba looked around the room for a few moments. Signs of apprehension were visible in the faces of nearly everyone present. "He is clinically dead," Baba said. He paused for a dramatic moment or two. "But actually he's not dead. Vital energy is still present in the spinal column in a suspended state." Then Baba raised his finger and ordered the vital energy to leave the body. Kestopal's head tilted even more to the side and his mouth opened slightly. "Now he is dead," Baba said with an air of finality. Murmurs of alarm passed among the disciples. Some became worried about what would happen to them when the police found out. Others were wondering what miracle maker Baba was, to be able to do such a thing. A few with firm trust in Baba were quietly enjoying the drama. Rasamay was terrified. Kestopal had just got married only a few days ago and he with his newlywed wife were staying with him while they were in Jamalpur. How could he tell her that she was a widow, that Kestopal's guru had taken her husband’s life? Baba went to the next room and told them, "In the meantime, keep watch over Kestopal and make sure that no insects enter his body." After some time Baba came back. He touched the top of Krestopal's head and his body started to stir. A collective sigh of relief passed through the crowd. "Open your eyes," Baba said. Kestopal opened his eyes. "Who are you?" Baba asked. To everyone's surprise he gave a completely different name. "Why are you here?" Baba asked. "Because you asked me to come and protect this body." "Very well," Baba continued. "Then as long as you are here you should do something for us. Take your mind to the moon." "I am there." "What do you see?” "Arid plains and mountains. There is moisture in the soil." "Yes, there is water on the moon. Now go below the surface of the Moon. What do you see?" "Baba, I see deposits of gold in the soil." "Now take your mind to Mars. Is there any sign of life?" "Yes." "What kind of life?" "Unicellular life." "Now take your mind to the star Ashvini. Does life exist there?"

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"Yes." "What kind of life?" "Human life." "Does this human life bear any resemblance to human life on earth?" "No, Baba. They have a different physical structure." "What is the spiritual standard of that civilization?" "They are far more advanced than human beings on Earth. Their young children are initiated into advanced processes of meditation." "I see. Now take your mind to Tibet." Baba gave him instructions to go to a certain cave in the Himalayas near Limpopo. "What do you see there?" "Baba there is a yogi with long hair meditating in the cave." "Can you recognize him?" "Yes, Baba, it is Subhash Chandra Bose."

"Good. Now take your mind to the Kremlin. What do you see?" "Baba, I see Malenkov sitting alone." "Now enter his mind and see what he is thinking." "Baba, he is thinking to wage war to spread communism." Baba's voice suddenly hardened. "Tell Malenkov that if he does anything to disturb the cause of world peace he will meet the same fate that Stalin met." Then Baba asked that mind to leave and the body was lifeless again. Baba looked around the room, "Now I will bring Kestopal's mind back to his body, but you should not tell him what happened. When Kestopal regains consciousness he will assume that he had been asleep. However, he will feel very tired and disoriented, much more than usual because the circulation of the blood was stopped. I will ask someone to massage him. This will help him to recuperate faster." Baba raised one hand and began tracing small circles with an outstretched finger. "Wherever you might be in the great void, come now to this earth. Come down to India. Come to the state of Bihar. Come to the city of Jamalpur. Enter into the quarters number 339 EF, Rampur Colony and enter this body." One by one, Baba ordered the vital energies back into the body. As everyone watched in suspense they saw a little movement in Kestopal's hands. Then his feet stirred slightly. Finally, after a couple of minutes, he opened his eyes again. Baba chanted some mantras in Sanskrit and moments later Kestopal was able to sit up.

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"Kestopal," he said, "you look out of sorts. What happened?" "I'm sorry, Baba. I must have fallen asleep. I feel so tired." Baba instructed two people to give him a massage and told another to prepare a cup of hot milk for him. Virendra Asthana was as amazed as everyone else by the events of that day, but he had a burning curiosity to find out why Baba had scolded Kestopal so mercilessly that morning. The next chance he had, when he was alone with Baba, he posed this question. "That boy!" Baba replied. "When I initiated him I told him not to get married. I knew that he would have a short life; for that reason I forbade him to marry. You know very well the position of widows in this country. It's pitiful. They are expected never to remarry, to retire from society and go into seclusion, even if they are very young. They are often mistreated by their deceased husband's family. If Kesto got married, then an innocent girl would soon be widowed and forced to undergo needless suffering. I didn't want to see that happen. But he went ahead and disobeyed my orders. What could I do? He's my disciple. He had an unresolved fate to die at a young age and he had to go through that, so I did the death demonstration. Now that effect has been served and he can live a long life."

The disciples could not hold their tongues for long. Eventually, one by one, they approached Kestopal and asked him if he knew what had happened to him that evening? "Yes, I fell asleep while I was supposed to be meditating." "No, Baba demonstrated death on you! You were dead. We all saw it." Since the secret was out, the next time Asthana met Kestopal, he said what Baba had told him. "Yes, it's true," Kestopal replied. "I went to my native village on holiday to visit my parents. Without my knowledge they had made preparations for my marriage. They had chosen a bride from a neighbouring village, fixed the date and invited the guests. I tried to protest and tell them that my guru had forbidden me to marry but there was nothing I could do. The pressure from my family was so intense that in the end I gave in. When I arrived back in Jamalpur, I left my wife at the station and went straightaway to Baba to apologize and explain what had happened. But as you saw, he already knew. He knows everything." Asthana also told him that Baba had said that he would now have a long life, which later came true.

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Ananda Marga

In the gatherings that followed, Baba often repeated that all human beings belong to one cosmic family, with equal rights and potentialities. The purpose of human life is to realize this oneness with the Supreme and to serve all creation, he would say. He explained that the human mind can grow and attain total inner happiness. He let some disciples directly experience different states of mind during astounding demonstrations. "There is nothing supernatural in this universe," he told them. "Everything is natural. It's only that some things are unusual and rare so we take them to be supernatural." Progressive people felt very attracted to his rational thoughts and humanistic ideas. They could soon feel the beneficial effects of their meditation and yoga after they had practiced regularly for a while.

One evening, Baba was walking with Pranay and a few others in the hills, when out of the blue he turned to them and said, "Now many people will start to come. We'll need an organization to receive them." Baba suggested having a meeting to draft a constitution to be used for the legal registration. They decided to use the Christmas holidays for this purpose. Baba’s brothers remembered that when they were young, Baba had told them that through an organisation he intended to open various service projects, such as schools, children's homes, medical clinics, and so on.

On the New Year of 1955, the organisation was formed. Everyone insisted that Baba be the president, over his own objections. He then selected the office bearers. Pranay was appointed as general secretary. Baba suggested the name of the new organisation to be Ananda Marga. He explained, Ananda is the Sanskrit word for infinite happiness or bliss. It is the goal of every living being. Marga is the path that leads to that goal. Thus Ananda Marga is the path of bliss. Those who follow this path are called Ananda Margis.” Baba declared the motto of Ananda Marga to be Atma moks’artham, jagat hitayaca - Self-realization and service to the world. He advised that they get together in their respective towns every week for collective meditation or Dharmacakra, the circle of spirituality. He also taught them ancient 12,000 year- old Sanskrit chants to begin and end the meditation.

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Let us move together, let us sing together, let us come to know our minds together. Let us share like sages of the past so that all people together may enjoy the universe. Unite our intentions. Let our hearts be inseparable. Let our minds be as one mind, as we, to truly know one another, become one.

One Sunday, Baba called everyone from Jamalpur and other places for a large spiritual conference which he called Dharma Mahacakra or Great Circle of Spirituality. At this first Dharma Mahacakra he gave a formal discourse on the subject of "The gradual evolution of society." He elaborated on the spirit of Ananda Marga – the spiritual elevation of the individual combined with inevitable social change. With the founding of the organisation Baba began the mission that he had planned in his childhood.

On a field walk he told Chandranth, "When this mission goes outside India it will spread very rapidly." Chandranath was surprised. 'Here we are', he thought, 'a handful of disciples in a small town in India and already Baba is talking of spreading to foreign countries!' Baba went on to say, "One day there will be Dharmacakra in New York, Roma and Moskva." "How is this possible, Baba? Westerners are crude. They're not spiritually-minded like Indians." Chandranath objected. "No, you're wrong," Baba replied. "The majority of Westerners are dynamic. They have courage, confidence and an active, energetic nature. Look at Western society and you'll see that those qualities stand out. When they take up spirituality they will make rapid progress."

In the evenings at the Tiger’s Grave, Baba gave a series of informal talks on philosophy, which were noted down and became his first book, Ananda Marga Elementary Philosophy. Other books followed in a similar way. In a few months the Ananda Margis opened their first service projects, a food co-op, free medical clinics and started feeding the poor. After two years they acquired a plot of land and built the first ashram, which became their office and meeting place. Baba trained Pranay to be the first acarya or meditation teacher, to act as his representative in giving initiations, as many people had started coming and it was not possible for Baba to initiate them all. Soon another five persons, including a woman, also became acaryas. Baba instructed them all that they should not disclose the name and address of the president and guru of Ananda Marga to the public.

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Why Follow Morality?

Baba was sitting with some disciples on the Tiger's Grave. He turned to Vishvanath and said, "The other day you said that many more people would join Ananda Marga if they didn't have to follow Yama and Niyama and if there weren't so many rules making it difficult to meet me." "Yes, Baba, these were the concerns I brought up." Vishvanath nodded. "The reason why I don't disclose myself in public is that if too many people know me for who I am then it will make it difficult for me to do my regular work." Baba started to explain. "As to the rules of following the moral principles of Yama and Niyama, these rules help a person to become a true human being. If I remove Yama and Niyama then millions of people in India might join, but what good would it do? What the world needs are real human beings, not a new religion. Do you know what happens to people when they don't follow Yama and Niyama?" Vishvanath remained silent and before he could say anything, Baba touched him between the eyebrows and asked, "Describe what you are seeing now!" "Baba, I see a market area, a road with shops on both sides." "Look a little further." "Down the road I can see a temple." "Look closer. Do you recognize the area?" "Yes, now I recognize it. It's the main temple in Varanasi." "What else can you see?" "Outside the temple there are a lot of people standing in a queue. They appear to be beggars." "Do you see a leper sitting in the midst of them?" "Yes, Baba." "He was an Englishman in his previous life. Do you know why he became a beggar in this life? He didn't follow Yama and Niyama. Look again and describe what you see." Again Baba pressed his thumb to Vishvanath's forehead, who continued. "I see a well-dressed man in black robes and a powdered wig sitting in a courtroom during a trial." "Yes, he was a judge in England in his past life," Baba continued. "But he was a corrupt judge who accepted bribes and put innocent people in jail. Now he is a leprous beggar as a consequence of his actions. So, do you still want me to relax the restrictions of Yama and Niyama? We need a just society, and that's impossible without Yama and Niyama. The emphasis has to be on quality not quantity."

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One evening, Harinder was walking with Baba towards the Tiger's Grave. Harinder had a job at the government electricity office. As they were walking Baba turned to him and said, "Now you have also started taking bribes."Harinder was startled. “But Baba, I don't remember ever taking a bribe, ever.” Baba gave him a slight smile. "You were able to resist a bribe of 200 rupees but accepted two chum chum sweets, which cost four annas, and a cup of tea, which is two annas - in total six annas." Immediately a scene flashed in Harinder's mind. A businessman had come to his office with an application for a high power connection for his new rice mill. The businessman offered him 200 rupees as bribe so he would speed up the approval process. Harinder gave him a good scolding for attempting to bribe him. Months later he happened to pass the same businessman standing in front of his newly opened mill. The man invited him inside to see the mill, and Harinder, remembered the scolding he had given him, felt some sympathy and agreed to have a quick look at the setup. As he was leaving, the man's mother offered him a cup of tea and some chum chums. Initially he refused, but the woman insisted and finally Harinder relented. Baba said, "This was also a kind of bribe, Harinder. His mother addressed you as 'son' and practically forced the sweets on you. But do you know what that businessman was thinking in the meantime? He was thinking: this man didn't accept my bribe, but he is taking sweets from my mother; this will make him feel obliged to me. In the future I will always have some work connected with the electric office, and then he may help me when I need him."

On another occasion, a rich businessman named Hanuman Prasad went for his first walk with Baba, along with a couple of others. When they reached the Tiger's Grave, Baba asked Hanuman Prasad where he was from and what he did for a living. He told Baba that he worked for a printing press in Gorakhpur and that he hoped to use his ties with the printing press to help Ananda Marga, and of course that he wanted to find the path to enlightenment. "It's good that you publish books that help people learn about righteousness," Baba said. But as the conversation continued Baba started asking more and more pointed questions as to whether he actually followed the tenets of the Gita, quoting one of the Gita's famous verses referring to promoting the welfare of society and other living beings. Hanuman Prasad grew more and more uncomfortable under Baba's scrutiny, yet Baba began to reveal examples of his misconduct, telling the date and place of his misdeeds for all to hear. "You are an imposter." Baba said in a scathing tone. "You cheat people out of their money, while you hide behind a veil of righteousness. With such despicable conduct enlightenment is far beyond your reach."

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Baba turned to one disciple. "You brought him here! Were you thinking that if this man donated some of his wealth it would benefit the mission? You shouldn't mix business with spirituality. What can such a man give the mission, when the elements provide everything it needs? Just look at the hills!"Baba pointed to the eastern hills. All turned their heads and saw the hills transformed into gold, shining brilliantly under the night sky. Baba started berating Hanuman. "Do you know whose hills these are? These are Baba's hills! Do you think you can purchase me with your money? Do you think you can purchase spirituality?" When Hanuman Prasad started weeping and begging Baba's forgiveness, Baba softened his tone. "Will you give me a promise that from now on you will follow the principles of Yama and Niyama with all strictness?" "Yes, Baba." "Very well then, practice your meditation sincerely and follow Yama and Niyama. If you can do that, you will get everything you're hoping for."

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During one of the Sunday gatherings, Baba called a young student to come near. He came and sat in front of Baba. After asking him a question or two about his studies, Baba said, "At night you go to your cupboard and take out a bottle. You have a drink and then you hide it in the cupboard again. Then you feel drowsy and neglect your studies. Tell me, what's in that bottle that you're drinking from every night?" The boy hung his head. "Tell me, tell!" Baba said, but still the boy didn't answer. Then Baba started scolding him in front of everyone. "This boy secretly keeps wine in his hostel cupboard and drinks it at night when he thinks no one is looking. Your secret is out! Whenever you do some action, my two eyes are watching you. Do you think what you're doing is right? You're falling behind in your studies and misusing and abusing your parent's money. What if some other boy sees you and starts copying your bad behaviour? Is this how you follow Yama and Niyama?" Baba leaned forward and touched him between the eyebrows. The boy closed his eyes, arched backwards and fell senseless to the ground. "By stimulating his cakra, his pineal gland secreted a hormone which made him go into a deep trance. This hormonal secretion of the pineal gland is described as divine intoxication. After some minutes he will return to his senses and you will see that his eyes are red, as if he were drunk, but this has nothing to do with wine; it is a divine intoxication." After fifteen to twenty minutes the boy came out of his trance and everyone could see that his eyes were swollen and reddish. "How did you enjoy this kind of intoxication?" Baba asked. "Which do you find more enjoyable, this or drinking wine?" "Baba," the boy replied, "this is a thousand times better than wine." "Yes, when a person drinks wine they lose their senses; their mind becomes crude and blind. But when one goes into ecstasy, one becomes refreshed and illuminated." The boy promised not to drink again. Baba told him, "Do more meditation and you will be able to enjoy the hormone secretion from the pineal gland. This will improve your concentration and help you with your studies. Don't waste any more of your father's money on wine. Remember, for bliss you don't have to spend a single penny."

Throughout his life, Baba continued to rectify the disciples’ morality and conduct although mostly he would do this during what was called Personal Contact or PC. Each disciple got the chance to see Baba once for such an encounter.

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When You Call Me I Come

While Baba continued in the role of guru to his disciples, at home he lived the life of a dutiful son and a good neighbour. He was of a middle-class family who could not afford undue luxuries. He shared a room with his brother Sudanshu. The room had two beds, a small bench that was also used as a table, a small bookshelf, and a few hangers for their clothes, nothing more. He wore his sandals until a hole appeared in the sole and then he would take them to a cobbler to get them resoled, rather than buy new ones. Unlike traditional Indian gurus, he would not accept gifts from his disciples, neither food nor clothes, nor even flowers. He followed his own teaching that true wealth is mental and spiritual, and that attachment to physical possessions, more often than not, proves harmful to the elevation of the human spirit. Baba gave more importance to the ideals and principles of his mission than to himself as a person. He said, "If you want to know me, merge yourself in my mission." Under his guidance the acaryas and disciples kept busy organizing regular lectures and small conferences in villages and towns, ever widening the circle from the ashram in Jamalpur. More and more people came to the Dharma Mahacakras in different places, where Baba addressed the gathering.

Ordinarily, men and women, young and old, were all children before Baba, who was as the father of all. One day a little girl asked him, "Baba, my grandparents call you Baba, my parents also call you Baba. I too call you Baba. How can you be Baba to all?" Baba replied to her in her own language, "Little girl, have you seen Uncle Moon? Your grandparents call him Uncle Moon, your parents also call him Uncle Moon. For you too he’s Uncle Moon. Similarly I am Baba for all." Even though Baba was for all, he reserved a special corner of his heart for children.

Sujata was the five year old daughter of a family that could not go to attend the big gathering. Sujata was very disappointed, and demanded, "Dad, if we can't go there, then please go and bring Baba back here. I want to see Baba!" Her mother tried to explain that her father had important work and that he couldn't bring Baba to their house, "Another time he will surely bring Baba here," she said. Sujata was not so easily pacified. "Why can't you bring Baba here? I want to see him. Why can't he come to our house?" Nothing would set her at peace.

After the program was over, Baba was returning to Jamalpur by car. During the trip, he kept asking repeatedly for water, far more than he normally did. Before long, they ran out of drinking water but Baba was still thirsty. "Baba, there's no more water," Pranay said. "I'm sorry. As soon as we find a good place to stop, I'll try to find some good drinking water."

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They traveled on without finding a suitable place to stop. Then Baba told to Pranay to stop the car at some Margi’s house where he could get a drink. Pranay consulted with the others in the car and one of them knew the address of a Margi family nearby, so they turned off the road. When they reached the house, the family looked out and was surprised to find Baba in the car parked in front of their gate. Pranay asked for some water for Baba. They happily brought him a cool glass of water. "I will drink a little later. First I want to see Sujata," he said. A few moments later, Sujata came running to see Baba. He patted her on the head and said, "So, Sujata, are you happy now? Your Baba has come."

Once, Ananda Kishore arrived at the ashram with his eleven year-old daughter. Ananda Kishore went to meditate and asked his daughter to wait for him. Mona started singing devotional songs for Baba from her heart, dancing in her natural way as she sang. Everyone hearing her was enchanted; they didn’t even notice that Baba had come and sat down, with his eyes half closed, listening in rapture to Mona’s singing. In the heat of the midday sun Baba had rushed to the jagrti. He told everyone that he could not bear to stay away when this little girl was calling him so devotedly.

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As You Think, So You Become

Dasharath was a quiet high school teacher and later headmaster in Jamalpur, whom everyone respected for his honesty and simplicity. He used to get up each morning at 3:30 to sit for three hours of meditation before beginning the day's activities. He maintained this practice for the rest of his life. He played the roles of family man and educator to perfection, always keeping his life as a yogi a private matter. The first time he met Baba, Baba told him that he would be a saint on the inside and a gentleman on the outside.

Baba chose to perform his spiritual demonstrations almost exclusively on Dasharath. Through these demonstrations Baba taught many lessons about the functions of the human mind, and how thoughts lead to actions and form reactions. He let Dasharath see waves of different colours radiating from people's heads. Dasharath said he could see people’s auras and thoughts with his open eyes in the same way that he saw their clothes. Too many people had dark colours swirling in their aura, a reflection of their negative mind and weak character. He saw greenish waves around the head of an intellectual person. Then he saw a black wave coming from the right side of a person’s head and face, and white ones from the left side. Baba commented to this, "The man is very good within but his exterior is rough. The white waves show his inner, sentient nature and the black ones his superficial ways." Once he saw the blackish waves of a young boy's mind before his Personal Contact with Baba, and then afterwards, the waves were mixed with streaks of white.

On another occasion a young man from a well-to-do family came to Jamalpur for the first time. In a gathering, Baba asked Dasharath to see the young man's past life. "Baba, I see a dense forest. In the middle of the forest there's a yogi sitting and meditating." "Now move ahead a few years. What do you see?" "I see a dead body covered with a white cloth." "Yes, this boy was a spiritual person who regularly repeated God’s name in his previous life. He was good but he had a strong desire for material enjoyments. He hoped that he would be born into a rich family in his next life. A snake bit him, he died, and due to his desire he was reborn in a merchant’s family." Baba turned his attention to the boy. "Are you afraid of snakes?"

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"Yes, Baba," the boy said. "I've had a terrible fear of snakes ever since I was a child. Even now I can’t bear the thought of them." "Do your meditation sincerely and that fear will gradually vanish."

Manohar Lal came to visit Baba in Jamalpur. He was proud of his intelligence. He bragged to his friends that he must have been an advanced yogi in his previous life to merit such a powerful guru in this life. During a gathering Baba called him to the front of the room. He sat down next to Dasharath, excited by the thought that Baba might be about to show him his past life. Sure enough, Baba asked Dasharath to peer into his mind and see who he had been in his previous life. "Baba, I see a pond outside a small village in rural India. A yogi is approaching the pond and preparing to bathe. He is taking off his clothes, now he is wading into the water and chanting God’s name softly." Manohar felt a sense of anticipation. "He is swishing his hands in the water, still chanting." "Yes, what more?" Baba asked. "I see an old fish approaching the saint. The fish seems to be dying. It is barely able to move. It is just at the side of the yogi." Dasharath remained quiet for a few moments. "Ah, the yogi's hand touched the fish and just at that moment the fish rolled over and went still, floating up to the surface of the pond." "Now, tell me, who was this boy in his past life?" "He was that fish, Baba." "Yes," Baba said in his slow voice. "He was a fish in his past life. At the very moment that the fish died, its body came in contact with the hand of that saint. The spiritual vibration emanating from him caused the fish to undergo a leap in evolution." Manohar returned to his friends, rather embarrassed. But after a few years had passed he would enjoy telling the story and making fun of his own arrogance.

Chandra Shekar also had a feeling that he must have been either a great person or a king in his previous life. In Baba’s presence he felt a clash going on in his mind between the desire to surrender and his ego. Suddenly Baba's mood became grave and he said, "He is full of ego." Everyone looked around to see whom Baba was speaking about. Baba asked Chandra Shekar to stand in front of everyone. Then he asked Dasharath to see his past lives. Dasharath stared at him, "I can see the flesh on his body without the skin. Now I can see just his skeleton without the flesh."

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Then Dasharath saw a large meadow; there was a tree and under the tree someone was sitting. Then Dasharath said that he could see an eagle flying in the sky. Baba asked him, "Is there something in the eagle's claws?" Dasharath said that the eagle was indeed carrying something in its claws. Then Baba continued, "Chanda Shekar was that eagle in his last life in some jungle of Brazil. The man under the tree was an engineer from a survey party. He got lost and became very hungry. He was thinking that he was going to starve to death. Just then, that eagle was flying overhead with a loaf of bread in its claws. As it flew over the tree it dropped a piece of bread, which landed in front of that man. When he saw the bread he was overjoyed. He immediately thought that the food had appeared through the grace of God. When he looked up he saw the eagle so he prayed to God to do something good for that eagle. He was a very pious person and due to his blessing that eagle became Chandra Shekar in this life." Chandra Shekar’s vanity got powdered down but Baba said, "Do your meditation and try to become great. Don’t think about your last life, because that would make you regress. Look forward and continue moving further and further towards your goal."

One day, as some disciples were on a field walk with Baba, they took the main bridge over the railway tracks and soon reached an old church. At that moment a black dog appeared. "Ramasvarath," Baba said, "Stay between me and the dog. Don’t, under any circumstances, let it touch my body." Ramasvarath did as he was told, fending off the dog whenever it tried to come close to Baba. When they reached the Tiger's Grave, the dog jumped onto the tomb where they sat. "Shoo it off," Baba said, motioning with his hand. Ramasvarath pushed it off the grave, and the dog sat on the ground, a few paces away. "Do you know this dog?" Baba asked. "No, Baba." "He was a human being in his past life. He used to pose as a religious man but actually he was a man of bad character. He committed some very serious misdeeds. This animal body is his punishment for those misdeeds. If he were able to touch me, then he would die immediately and get a human body in his next life. I can’t allow that. He must still undergo four more years of punishment, according to cosmic law." A little while later Baba added, "Despite having a dog's body, he still has a human mind. That’s how he was able to recognize me. He also recognized Dasharath, since he was Dasharath’s relative in that past life. Whenever Dasharath and I go out walking, he comes." "But Dasharath isn't with us today," Ramasvarath pointed out.

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"He's coming down the road – go and see. The dog won’t move." Ramasvarath got up and started walking towards the road. After a couple of minutes he saw Dasharath approaching. The Margis pleaded with Baba to release the dog from its bondage. Baba argued that it would not be proper, yet after a short time Baba relented. He closed his eyes for a few moments. Suddenly the dog, which had been sitting nearby, stood up and keeled over, dead.

In yet another gathering Baba severely scolded a police officer for victimizing an innocent person. Baba rebuked him, "If you act like an animal, then perhaps I should give you the body of an animal!" The officer started shaking visibly for all to see. Afterwards, a number of disciples became scared that Baba might actually transform them into an animal.

They were walking towards the Tiger’s Grave. Baba turned to Dasharath and asked, "Now, tell me which life this little boy would get if he dies at this time?” A look of shock suddenly appeared on Kamalesh’s face. "Don't worry," Baba said. "I'm not saying that you're going to die now. I'm only asking Dasharath to see what type of body you would get if you were to die now." Dasharath looked at the boy for a few moments and said, "Baba, if he died now he would get the body of a scorpion." Baba turned to Kamalesh with a grave look on his face. "What sort of activities are you involved in that would cause you to have a body of a scorpion? Tell me." Kamalesh kept silent. When he didn't answer, Baba changed the subject and began conversing with the other disciples who were accompanying him. The next day Baba called Kamalesh into his room and projected onto the wall his dark mind that could cause him to become a scorpion. On seeing this, Kamelesh cried like a baby. Baba said to him, "Don't worry anymore about what you've done. The reactions to those actions of yours are finished. Forget your past and look to the future. From this moment onwards, live your life like a true human being!"

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Divine Help

Close to Ramachandra's house was his working place. He was the manager of a tea company’s sales depot. One day he took his five-year-old son along with him to the depot. The boy played nearby with some children from the neighbourhood. Ramachandra needed to go to the market on an errand. Seeing his son engrossed in play, he took a rickshaw and left him behind without explaining where he was going, knowing the boy could go home on his own at any time if he wanted to. But when the boy saw his father leaving in a rickshaw he started to run after him as fast as his little legs could carry him. He couldn't catch up with the rickshaw and his gasping, panting, crying voice couldn't reach his father. In the crowd of rickshaws he completely lost his father’s trail. Confused and distraught, he wandered through the closed railway crossing and stood, lost, on the train tracks. Suddenly a traffic policeman at a nearby intersection realized that a train was backing down the track. He also saw the child sobbing as he stood in the middle of the track, totally oblivious to what was happening around him. The constable did not have enough time to run up to the child and save him, nor was there any way to stop the train. There were no bystanders to whom he could call out to save the child. He stood there helplessly, averting his gaze. After a moment he turned to look. He was dumbstruck to see a gentleman dressed in dazzling white, leading the child to him by his finger.

"He is the son of Ramachandra Gope," said the gentleman to the

still staring constable, and also told him in which area the boy lived. Before the policeman could make any enquiries about

how he had saved the boy so miraculously, the gentleman

had melted into the crowd. The constable made arrangements for the boy to be brought home and went to see the family himself the

next day. As he was narrating the incident he noticed a

photo in the house and said, "This is the gentleman who

saved your boy yesterday." It was Baba’s photo on

the wall.

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Baba and Pranay were in the waiting room at Buxor station. They were about to catch the train to Ara, where Dharma Mahacakra would be held. A couple walked in with their little boy. Baba called the boy over and asked him his name but the boy remained silent. Again Baba affectionately repeated his question, but the boy still didn't answer. Baba asked him several more questions but the boy didn't reply to any of them. Finally Baba turned to the mother, who by this time had tears in her eyes, and said, "What's the matter with your boy? Why isn't he answering?" "I'm sorry, Sir,” the mother replied, "My son has been dumb since birth. He's not able to speak." Baba shook his head slowly. "No, no, this cannot be. Such a bright, good-looking child - how can it be? Surely he can speak." Baba reached out and gently touched the boy’s throat. In a cajoling tone of voice, he said, "Now, speak to me, speak! You're not dumb. You can speak, I know you can. Go ahead and say something to me." To everyone's surprise the boy began talking. The parents began to cry and fell at Baba's feet. Baba gave them his blessing and then began conversing with Pranay until their train arrived a few minutes later.

Lakshmi Prasad Nayak was eighteen when he came to see Baba, who asked him, "Do you remember when you were a child; you were riding in the back of an open truck with some friends on the way to the market? You climbed up on top of the cab and turned around to tell Vaekuntha and Shankar to climb up with you. Just as you leaned down to give Vaekuntha your hand, the truck passed under the overhanging branches of a mango tree. You narrowly missed being hit by a thick branch, which was less than two feet above the cab. When you saw the branch after passing it by, you realized that if you had not leaned down at that moment, you would have been struck by the branch and instantly killed. Do you remember?" "Yes, Baba," Lakshmi Prasad replied, reliving once again the trauma of that day, long since forgotten. "You were so shaken that day that you remembered God with great intensity and thanked him for saving your life. Then you went home and sobbingly told your mother, and she forbade you to ever ride on trucks again."Lakshmi Prasad clung to Baba tightly and cried, the emotions pouring out of him like a river. "You see," Baba said, "God is always with you. He has been watching over you since your childhood. Now tell me, to whom does your body belong - your legs, your hands, your eyes?" "To God." "Yes. And since they all belong to Him, use them for the service of His creation. God has given you your life. Use it to serve all."In the course of time Lakshmi Prasad dedicated his life as an Ananda Marga monk.

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Ratneshvar was already initiated but he was still the leader of his former caste group in his native village. His caste had been in conflict with the other caste group of the village for several years. One evening, some of the leaders from the other group came to him late at night and wanted him to attend a mediation session on the other side of the village. He was hesitating to go so late at night but finally he submitted to the pressure. While he was walking there, a snake crossed his path and raised its hood to face him. He backed off and tried to pass to the side of it, but the snake moved again to block his way. Again he backed off and chose another path, but again the snake reared up in front of him. When the snake appeared for a fifth time he was ready with a large stone. Just as he was about to throw the stone, the snake slithered into the brush and didn't appear again. The next time Ratneshvar came to the ashram in Jamalpur, Baba started scolding him. "Haven't I told you not to get involved in village politics? Even when somebody comes and tries to hinder you, you don't stop. Isn't it so? Didn't someone try to stop you, repeatedly?" Ratneshvar bowed his head; he realized Baba had sent the snake to warn him. "And still you didn't pay heed. Are you ready to take punishment for your actions?" Baba asked Ratneshvar to do forty knee bends in front of everybody.

Once, a woman lost her young son to a fatal childhood disease. She used to visit Jamalpur for mental solace. Seeing her being overcome by her lingering emotions, another woman requested Baba to tell how her son was. Baba consoled the grieving mother for a few minutes and then turned to Dasharath, "See if her son has already been reborn." Dasharath concentrated his mind and began narrating, "He has taken birth in a well-to-do family of Gowahati in Assam." He was about to say the name of the family when Baba stopped him. "It will create too much tension in her mind," Baba said, "if she thinks that she can locate her son. Now enter the baby's mind and see whether there is any awareness or anguish over his separation from his previous mother.""No, Baba," Dasharath replied. "The baby's very happy in his new family. He's receiving a lot of love and affection." "Now look into the baby's future. What do you see?" "Baba, the baby's future is very bright." "Good. Now go deep into the baby’s mind and see whether or not he would like to go back to his previous mother, were it somehow possible."

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"Baba, the baby doesn't want to be disturbed. He's happy where he is and doesn't want to leave." When the demonstration was finished, the woman found that the anguish she had been harbouring for so long had dissipated. In fact, she felt relieved to hear that her son now had a happy, new life in which he could continue his spiritual journey. Baba concluded, "Human relationships can be compared to a railway journey. At every station new passengers board the train and some of the old ones get off. It is natural that we befriend the ones that get on and develop a sense of warmth and affection for them. But do we shed tears when they get down at their respective destinations? No, not at all. The same applies to all family relationships. As long as we are together we love each other and honour our duties towards each other. But once the tie is broken we should not give way to grief and despair. All such relationships are temporary. The only lasting relationship is with the Supreme."

Sumati had to stay at home with her two small children and could not attend to her husband, who was sick in hospital. Baba had assured her husband that he would become well. Meanwhile, Sumati noticed at nightfall on the day her husband was admitted to the hospital, that two huge, ferocious-looking black dogs had appeared in front of the property. They roamed around the house as if they were on guard duty. At the slightest sound they began growling and barking fiercely. This eased her apprehensions about being alone in the house with her children in a relatively unsafe area. In the morning she gave the dogs some milk and bread. After that, they never left the premises, not even for a moment. Her husband had to stay in hospital for forty days. After this, she went to accompany him back home and told him the story about the two black guard dogs. When they arrived at the house, she called for the dogs to show her husband, but the dogs were no longer there. The dogs were never seen again. Sumati and her husband were thankful how Baba had helped them.

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Testing the Guru

Kamal was young and had just been initiated. He wanted to test Baba to see if he was truly the realized soul that everyone claimed he was. One evening they were sitting with Baba on the Tiger's Grave. Out of the blue, Baba asked the two other disciples to go on an errand. Kamal was now alone with Baba and thought that it would be the perfect moment to test him. ‘If he actually is a realized guru, then he should give me the realization of the presence of God. And if he is really omniscient, there is no need for me to say anything; he should simply read my mind,’ he thought. They sat in silence. Then Baba asked, "Kamal, what do you think would happen to a person who suddenly found himself with a million rupees in his hand?" After a moment's thought, Kamal said, "Baba, he would probably go mad or even possibly die from the shock." "Do you think that if God were present, he would be worth much more than a million rupees?" "Baba, he would be so much more worth than billions of rupees." "I see. Now think about this: if an unprepared person suddenly got the realization of God, what would be his mental condition? He would become disturbed; he would go mad. I don't want anyone to go mad. For this reason I don't give that realization to those who are in the preliminary stages of their spiritual journey. Do more and more meditation and then you will have your realization." Kamal was all smiles, Baba had passed his test.

Tej Karan came to visit Baba in Jamalpur and waited there for a week, hoping to witness a miracle by Baba. Nothing happened. He wrote to his friend that he was going to give it one more day. If he did not see a miracle, he would not accept Baba as a divine guru and would return home. Next day at the gathering, Baba looked in his direction and said, "Somebody is planning to leave today. Before he leaves he wants to see a miracle. However, in order to see a miracle one has to become miraculous oneself." Baba fixed his gaze directly on Tej Karan. "You have done nothing in your life to deserve seeing a miracle. Still, I am going to show you one. Come here." He came to the front of the room and sat in front of Baba, who touched him between the eyebrows. Immediately he cried out, flung up his arms and fell back in a state of trance for many hours. After that he kept on singing and crying and feeling a blissful current pass through him. It gradually decreased until he became normal. He realized that Baba was one with Supreme Consciousness.

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One night, Ramachandra had to wait for his connecting train until the morning. He found an empty bench at the station and hoped to get some rest. It was a hot summer night; he changed into a pair of shorts and undershirt and placed his folded trousers and shirt on top of his suitcase below the bench. He told Baba mentally that he was too sleepy to stay awake so could he please watch over his luggage while he was resting. Soon he was fast asleep. When he woke up in the morning, however, his luggage and his clothes were gone - his money as well, which had been in his wallet inside the suitcase. He got angry with Baba. ‘Baba, I entrusted you to guard my belongings but everything is gone! How am I going to get home in my shorts and with no money?’ He dropped his head into his hands, blaming Baba and wondering what he was going to do next. Just then an elderly man stopped in front of the bench and addressed him. "Why are you blaming your guru for your own carelessness? That's not right! Anyhow, if you run to the bus stand right now you'll find the man who stole your luggage." The man turned and walked away. Ramachandra jumped up and rushed to the bus stand. There he saw a man carrying his suitcase. He ran after him, shouting. The thief started to run but fortunately dropped the luggage. The next time Ramachandra came to Jamalpur, Baba talked about how fond the disciples are of testing the guru, "They will go so far as to ask him to guard their luggage, so that they can sleep on a railway platform." Looking at Ramachandra, he smiled.

Renu was a little girl of five. She used to trap all kinds of insects in a box. Her mother rebuked her, "This is not nice. Baba will scold you and he will be very angry with you." She thought, ‘How could Baba know? I am here in my town and Baba is there in Jamalpur. They say that Baba knows everything but I am not sure.’ She decided to test Baba. She went to the farm and picked some custard apples and hid them in a rice bag. She thought, if Baba really knew everything, he would tell her what she had done. A few days later she went with her family to Jamalpur to see Baba. On the first two days Baba sat with everyone and talked on many topics. She waited but Baba did not mention anything of her mischief. She thought, ‘Baba is just an ordinary man; he doesn’t know what I did because he didn't mention anything to me.’ At that moment Baba asked, "Where's that little girl?" Baba called for Renu but she did not dare to go in front of Baba. She was feeling very shy. Her aunt said, "Hey, Baba is calling you. Go and sit with him!" Then she went to the front of the hall where Baba was sitting. Baba had her sit on his lap and hugged her and then said to everyone, "You know, this little girl is trying to test Baba. She was thinking that Baba doesn't know what she did. She hid lots of custard apples in a sack of rice to test me." Everyone laughed to their heart's content.

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One Big FamilyOne Big Family

Baba explained that the nature of human beings is to live together in groups. They enjoy each other’s company and they depend on each other for many conveniences. In our personal life we are free to think, worship and study but in our collective life we need to care for all, including the environment that sustains us. He explained that humanity should live like a joint family where everyone enjoys proper care, has food to eat, a house to live in, medical care and education. Planet earth, with all its material resources, is the inheritance of all creatures that inhabit it: plants and animals and all human beings. Individuals must not selfishly destroy or exploit nature and cause ecological imbalance. They must not hoard wealth as it may deprive others of their needs for survival. Everything should be utilized wisely and justly for the welfare of all. Such radical thoughts for the good and happiness of all Baba called PROUT, which he explained, stood for the ‘Progressive Utilization Theory'. He gave many talks on the defects of society and these were compiled into a book called ‘Problem of the Day’, which he dedicated to Subhash Chandra Bose.

The simple, ordinary spiritual aspirants that had gathered around Baba were wondering how such an ideal society in the spirit of PROUT could ever be established. They were well aware of the huge problems, sufferings and injustices in society.

One full moon evening, as a few of them were sitting on the Tigers Grave with Baba, they were discussing this new social philosophy. Vaedyanath burst out in doubt, "Will it be really possible to establish such a moral society one day?" "It will happen, as long as you all work selflessly towards that end." Baba assured him. His mind was still full of doubts. Baba understood this and told him to sit directly in front of him and start meditating. Vaedyanath did as he was instructed. After some minutes had passed, Baba asked him to open his eyes."Look at the moon and describe what you see." "Baba, it's the sun!" he exclaimed, astonished to see the sun blazing in the night sky. "No, you're mistaken. Look again." He looked again and saw the sun blazing even brighter, illuminating the sky as if it were midday instead of midnight. "No," Baba insisted once again. "You're mistaking the moon for the sun. Here's the sun."

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Baba raised his hand and Vaedyanath saw the sun shining in Baba's palm, even brighter than what he had seen in the sky. He began to lose consciousness of his surroundings. He saw the entire solar system revolving around the sun, planet by planet, with the galaxy as a backdrop. While he was lost in this ecstatic vision, he heard Baba's voice echoing through the heavens. "Do you know what will happen if I displace the sun? All the planets will crash and be destroyed. The balance of the universe will be lost. Do you want me to do that demonstration?" "No, Baba, no," Vaedyanath cried, suddenly overcome by fear. At that moment the vision started to recede. When he regained consciousness of his surroundings, Baba put down his hand. The other Margis were looking on, speechless. That was the end of Vaedyanath's doubts about his guru. A few days later Baba initiated him into a special meditation called Kapalik, which carries the spirit of serving all creation.

It was the era in India when the Communist party was united and very strong. On a field walk one day, a disciple asked Baba if it was possible for PROUT to counter the massive influence of communists. Baba did not answer. After a while they stopped walking. Baba sat down and asked for a glass of water. After drinking, he dropped the glass on a rock. The glass rolled down without breaking but the rock cracked and broke into pieces! While getting up Baba just said, "If it is the will of the Supreme, anything can happen."

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Ananda Nagar

One day, on the way back from a programme, Baba was on a train passing through a landscape of arid rolling hills. Baba pointed out the window and started saying to his companions, "The ancient name for this area is Rarh. It has a great spiritual and cultural heritage. For many, many centuries this land has been home to some of India’s greatest saints or tantriks. Many achieved liberation here, far from the eyes of so-called civilization." Baba went on, "Today the inhabitants of Rarh are among the poorest in India, mostly illiterate. The majority of them eke out a meagre existence through subsistence farming. In recent years the area has suffered from extensive deforestation as the poor villagers found themselves forced to cut down the few remaining trees for fuel, further eroding the already rocky soil. This would be the ideal place to build a model community and the global headquarters of Ananda Marga. Here is a great need for schools, clinics and agricultural and economic development." "But Baba, we don't have the money, even if we find some land." Someone wondered how such a stony wilderness could be suitable. "No great cause will suffer for want of money," Baba replied. "There are people who are eagerly waiting to donate land and money for such a cause."

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Baba gave a hint to Pranay, and after some time, along with two friends, he went to visit an old royal family from that area. The raja just so happened to have recently dreamt that some saintly people would visit to ask for some land.

Pranay explained who they were to the rani and raja, and that they wanted to build children's homes, schools, a hospital and other social service projects. The raja was convinced that these were the people he had been waiting for."The land has no commercial value, nor is it rich agricultural land, but it is right in the midst of the people who most need such humanitarian projects," explained the raja, and he was happy to donate over 500 acres of barren, rocky hills.

Baba gave the new land its name: Ananda Nagar, the city of bliss. Soon plans for a large-scale rural development project got underway. A doctor shifted his medical clinic there and other volunteers soon followed. When they arrived they found a jungle of thickets with stony hills, a land filled with snakes, scorpions and unbroken solitude. Nothing was available in the local villages except eggplants and a poor grade of rice, adulterated with stones. After several months of work, a small group of volunteers went to Jamalpur to see Baba. They asked Baba what Ananda Nagar would be like in the future, unable to visualize that desolate area as a teeming development project and the future headquarters of Ananda Marga. Baba asked a volunteer to come forward and close his eyes. He told him, "Now you will see Ananda Nagar as it will be in the future."

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He began describing a busy place with numerous projects, beautiful gardens and many buses and trains connecting it to the outside world. They were satisfied that they wouldn't be stranded in the middle of the jungle forever!

A nearby village was called Citmukh and Baba explained, "It means ‘people whose faces shine with consciousness’. This area is highly spiritually vibrated. It was home to the earliest practitioners of meditation on the planet. Many saints of different traditions have attained enlightenment here in different spots. The places they chose for their meditation have become tantra piths or seats of Tantra, the ancient science of yoga and meditation." There were over seventy such spots that the indigenous people knew very well. They said the vibrations left by a realized saint at the place would be felt by future meditators even centuries afterwards. In later days on a field walk Baba pointed out a cave with cave paintings of the nine cakras that he said dated back to over 10,000 years.

Although the volunteers faced challenges at Ananda Nagar, they came to love it as an ideal place to do meditation. One challenge was the many snakes that lived there. Every year several villagers in the surrounding areas would die from venomous snakebites. The volunteers even found snakes in their beds when they retired for the night and on their mosquito nets when they awoke in the morning. Baba assured them, "From now on the snakes at Ananda Nagar will not bite anyone. Only, do not harm them, or else they may bite. But even then you will not die from it." And so from that day onwards there were no cases of snakebite within the boundaries of Ananda Nagar, though the snakes continued to be their constant companions for some years more until the development of the project and the influx of people gradually made them migrate to less populated areas. There continued to be occasional cases of snakebite among the villagers, but they would immediately bring the patient to the Ananda Nagar hospital, and none of them died.

A few years later a police outpost was erected near Ananda Nagar and the police began behaving roughly with the volunteers and the students. After two months, there were so many cases of snakebite in their camp that they packed up and left. Before they left, the local villagers pointed out to them that there were so many volunteers and students of different ages at Ananda Nagar, yet none of them had ever been bitten by a snake. "You must have some bad intention," they said, "that is why God is punishing you."

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The Best for You

Baba’s elder sister, who was married and lived in Kolkata, found a girl she thought would be suitable to marry her younger brother. Baba was told to take the train to Kolkata and was married in a modest civil ceremony to a young girl called Uma. On their return to Jamalpur there was a wedding reception at the ashram. It was a sudden surprise to many, yet Baba’s way of life continued as before. Pratima was a lively and beautiful girl. One day she came from Kolkata with her father to visit her sister Nilima in Jamalpur. She was going to take part in a dance performance. Her father, a film director and writer had trained her in dance and music since her early childhood. Her sister took her to her friend’s house for the rehearsal. Baba happened to drop in to watch the rehearsal. Pratima noticed Baba passing time with his friends telling humorous stories and laughing. After the rehearsal Pratima went home with her sister. Late in the evening a messenger arrived at the door with a note for her father. Without telling Pratima that it was a marriage proposal for her, her father left the house. The proposal came from Prabhat Sarkar and the prospective groom was Pranay Kumar Chatterjee, a good friend of Pratima's brother-in-law. Pratima’s father met with Baba and immediately agreed to the proposal without even consulting his wife or his mother in Kolkata. The next day Pranay's mother dropped by to see the girl that Baba had selected for her son to marry. She talked with Pratima and was suitably impressed with her. Pratima had no idea what was happening. Baba informed Pranay through a Margi’s nephew, Sukumar, that the time had come for him to get married. Pranay was shocked. He had no intention of getting married but he soon realized he could not go against his guru's orders. Sukumar took Pranay to meet Pratima's father. "I accept the proposal to marry your daughter,"Pranay said, "but on one condition: the marriage has to be celebrated within 24 hours, otherwise the marriage is off." He thought that in this way he could escape the marriage because no sensible person could agree to such a condition, and he would not be violating his guru's order. Much to Pranay's dismay, however, Pratima's father agreed to his condition. Just then Pratima and her sister arrived home. Her father requested her to sing a couple of songs for his guests. Pranay listened with his eyes closed and avoided looking at Pratima. The next morning a rickshaw rolled through the nearby streets with a drummer and a boy passing out leaflets. The leaflets announced that there would be a marriage that evening in the Ananda Marga ashram. Everyone in the neighborhood was invited. When the rickshaw pulled up in front of Nilima’s house, Pratima ran

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outside to see what was going on. She read the leaflet and asked, "Who is getting married?" Her brother-in-law finally said, "You are the bride!" "What! I can’t believe this!" She was stunned. When her father came home in the afternoon from overseeing the marriage preparations, she dried her tears, accepted her fate and resigned herself, trusting that her father had acted in her best interests. Baba oversaw the preparations in the ashram. He had bought a new sari for Pratima and a new kurta for Pranay to wear during the wedding. He also sent telegrams to invite the Margis living outside Jamalpur. Pratima arrived at the ashram in the early evening. She was welcomed with garlands and the trumpeting of conch shells. Uma Sarkar, Baba’s wife, took her hand and led her to the tiger skin where she was to sit during the ceremony and then sat down beside her. Pratima still did not know whom she was going to marry. The groom had to be pointed out to her. She was surprised to see the same man who had kept his eyes closed and avoided her the previous evening.

As the final preparations were being made, Pranay looked at his watch and saw that the 24 hour condition had been reached. He went to Baba’s room and told him that the 24 hours was up, so now he would not marry. Baba roared at him to go back and sit for his wedding and so his last glimmer of hope went out. After the ceremony the new couple went to Baba's room, garlanded him and received his blessing. A reception followed, after which it was announced that the couple would conduct a Hindu ceremony in the traditional Bihari fashion in the house of Pratima's sister, followed by a British-style ceremony. All were invited and the festivities lasted well into the next day. That evening Pranay and Pratima went alone with Baba on field walk. When they reached the Tiger's Grave, Pranay expressed his frustration. He fought with both Baba and his new bride. Baba defended Pratima. She could feel Baba's power for the first time that night, enveloping her on all sides. Pranay left her there with Baba and did not return to his house that night, instead, he went to the empty ashram. Just before dawn he finally went home. Pratima was asleep. A few minutes later there was a knock at the door. When he opened it, he was surprised to see Baba standing there. Bleary-eyed and still tearful, he touched Baba's feet and invited him in. "Pranay," Baba said, "I have come to initiate Pratima. Tell her to take a shower, put on new clothes and get ready." When the initiation was over, Pratima requested Baba to give her a new name.

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"Why?" he asked. “All my life people have been teasing me about my name, which means ‘image’." "But Pratima is such a beautiful name." Baba began reciting a poem of Dvijendra Lal, a mystic poet of Bengal: How can I worship you with an image? Your image is this vast universe. How can I build a temple for you? The boundless sky is your temple. Your image is the planets, the stars and the sun, the oceans, the springs, the mountains and forests...Then he smiled and changed her name to Pramila.

A few days later Baba returned to their house to give Pramila her second lesson. When he asked her how she was finding her meditation, she said, "Baba I don't understand this meditation. I'm not used to sitting like this. Moreover, there is nothing in front of me - no idol or image. I don't know whom to worship. I am trying, but it is difficult. And I have to tell you, if I don't like it, then I'm going to give it up, and I'll tell everyone it’s a fraud." Baba smiled. "Don't you see anything when you meditate?" "No." "I'll show you, then." Baba reached out and touched her forehead. Pramila suddenly felt her body growing light. She lost consciousness and entered into a state of trance. Two hours passed before her consciousness returned. She was still sitting in meditation posture, her mind inundated by bliss. Baba was still sitting in front of her. "How do you feel now, Pramila?" She smiled sheepishly. "Very nice, Baba. I think I'll continue to do this meditation." Over the next few months Baba gave her the rest of her lessons personally, and the following year he began teaching her the lessons of kapalik meditation.

Time passed, Pramila thought that her family life was not what she had expected. Pranay, her husband not only had a full-time job in the railway workshop, but he spent virtually every free hour attending to his duties as the general secretary of Ananda Marga. Would she ever enjoy a normal family life with children, a nice house and a husband with whom she could share her life? One afternoon she was feeling very depressed. The thought crossed her mind that it might be better to end her life rather than continue like this for the rest of her days. That moment there was a knock at her door. She went to open it and was astounded to find Baba there. She invited him inside and hurried to get some water. Baba took a seat at the table and asked her to sit down too."How are you, Pramila?" Baba asked. Pramila started crying. She told Baba how difficult her life had become, always alone, without the hope of ever having children or a proper place to live."No, Pramila. You shouldn't think like this. Suicide is not the answer. You have

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no reason to despair. You will have children and a house and a wonderful family life." Baba began describing a charming two-story house facing a small residential street, with a lovely pond, flowers and shady trees at the back. "You see, Pramila, when you want to look out at the world you can go to the front of the house and see your neighbors walking by. But if you want to be alone, you can sit on your back veranda, look at the flowers and enjoy the solitude of nature. Don’t you like flowers?" As Baba talked, Pramila started seeing the house in front of her as if she were watching a film. She slipped into a blissful trance. Baba started describing her children, two boys and a girl, and she saw the first boy with her inner eyes in that house. Her normal consciousness only returned when she heard Pranay calling her, "Pramila, what are you doing, asleep at the table?" Pramila looked around for Baba and was startled to see that she was alone in the house with Pranay. She began telling Pranay how Baba had come and shown her their future house and their three children. "Baba? Here? Visiting you alone in the middle of the afternoon? You fell asleep and had a dream!" Pramila, however, was adamant that it had not been a dream. "Gurudeva was here. We are going to have a two-story house with a pond in the back and three children. Mark my words." Pramila got up and began preparing Pranay's dinner. The despair that had been growing over the past few months was gone and would never return. Baba had shown her their future.

The following year Baba taught Pramila the rest of the lessons of kapalik meditation. She would become one of only three people who were known to have been taught the fourth and final lesson by Baba. Years later, she revealed just a little of this practice but not before asking Baba mentally. Sometimes Baba showed himself as Shiva or Krsna and sometimes as himself. Sometimes he showed himself as a great practitioner of Tantra. When they moved to Kolkata, she looked for her dream house and found it. She told Pranay, "This is our house, the one Gurudeva showed me." "There is no way I can get together enough money to buy this house." Pranay replied. Pramila was undeterred. She continued to visit the house, struggled and eventually worked out a deal with the owner. She would have three children, two boys and a girl, just as in her vision that Baba had shown her.

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Wholetimers

One day Baba said to Pranay, "You see, the organisation is beginning to grow very fast now. It won’t be possible for family people to do the necessary work that will be required. We need some people who can dedicate themselves full-time. Find suitable young unmarried people since this will be an order of celibates." The first person to dedicate his life was named Satyananda by Baba. He passed the rules and observances that Baba set for him and finally took the vows of being an avadhuta or yogic monk. He designed a tunic and lungi of saffron colour with a turban, which Baba approved to be the uniform. From then onward Baba assigned him to train the future avadhutas. In a short time many young people were inspired to become 'wholetimers', as they were also called. One young man felt hesitant and expressed to Baba, "Baba, I need to meditate and realise something first before I can represent you." "By the time you attain self-realization many will die. Will you teach their ghosts?" "Baba, I have so many weaknesses. How can I teach people unless I go and develop myself?" "Do the work and you will see that everything is set right, as if you were just an instrument being used to implement it. Go and do it and you will see it will be possible. Your duty is to do; it is my headache to solve your problems. Work fearlessly and the invisible power of the Lord will be with you."

Those who wanted to become an acarya had to pass an exam with Baba. Once, such a candidate came for his exam. Instead of asking theoretical questions about the philosophy Baba took him for a field walk. They climbed up into the hills, where Baba sat on a large stone and told him, "Go to the top of that hillock over there and jump down. Don't worry, you won't get hurt." The youngster did not hesitate, went to the cliff, shouted "Baba" and he jumped. He landed in a small patch of mud. Except for getting his clothes dirty, he was fine. As Baba was helping him to get out, he said, "Your acarya exam is now over. You passed."

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Kiran and Kishan became wholetimers. They were the closest of friends, and their friendship had become a topic of conversation among the other wholetimers. Both had been initiated at the same time in Jammu. Both had decided to go to training at the same time, and when they finished training they had requested Baba to assign them to the same place. Baba, as one might have expected, posted them in different areas, but whenever they returned to Jamalpur for reporting sessions, they would spend all their free time together. Once, in a gathering, Baba told of an event, "There were two corpses on a pyre in a cremation ground on the banks of the Padma River in East Bengal. They were the bodies of two handsome young men. They were brothers and died together. They had gone to bathe in the river. One of them ventured out too far and got caught by the current. He began to drown. His brother attempted to save him, but he was also caught by the current, and both of them drowned. They were well-loved in their community and there was a great outpouring of grief when the news became known." Then Baba asked Dasharath, "Who were those two young boys?"Dasharat pointed to Kiran and Kishan. "Yes," Baba said, "in that life they were born into a prosperous family of East Bengal. Due to their unfulfilled karma the two of them have met again and become inseparable friends. Even though they have become wholetimers, they still long for each other's affection, just as they did in their previous life, right up until their final breath."

Through this new cadre of wholetimers the organisation was in the process of spreading to every corner of India, and in coming years, throughout the world. Baba now began spending more and more time with his monastic disciples, encouraging and guiding them, and delegating to them much of the responsibility for implementing social service programmes. Hundreds of schools were established, children homes, medical clinics, free and cheap kitchens, and relief activities during calamities.

There was a need to strengthen women and care for their welfare in society, so Baba decided to form an order of yogic nuns to take up this work. Vimala was an educated lady from Bombay. Her children were grown up and she devoted her time to spirituality, which she had been practicing throughout her life. One day she was visiting the holy places in Rishikesh and met the lady saint Anandamayi Ma, who told her that her guru would come to her very soon. Not long after that she was initiated by an acarya and saw Baba in a dream. Soon after that Baba called her to Jamalpur, and together with

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another young girl they received training and became the first yogic nuns. Ananda Bharati and Ananda Giita, as they were now called, set up the headquarters of the Women’s Welfare Department of Ananda Marga in Varanasi. There they were instructed by Baba to train female wholetimers and manage schools and children homes. The yogic nuns were called as "Didi" and the monks as "Dada".

Another young girl of seventeen soon joined them. She was from rural West Bengal. She was sitting on the banks of the river one day after her father had passed away, when a woman conveyed a message to her from a Dada who wanted to meet her. She went to see him at the Ananda Marga school and received initiation. Not long after this she boarded a train to Varanasi to enter the training. The Didis thought that she was too young and wanted to send her back home but Baba told them to check her body for a sign. They found she had a birthmark shaped like a trishula or trident, which is a tantric symbol. With this hint from Baba they accepted her for the training.

A year came that brought a great draught which seriously affected many people. Baba urged everyone to swiftly organise relief activities. Someone suggested to Baba that first they should collect sufficient funds, at least a few hundred thousand rupees, along with supplies like food and clothes. Baba said, "That is precisely what you should not do. First start the relief work. Money and supplies will follow. Send a team to the worst affected areas without any delay. You should be the first to arrive."

With this principle and Baba’s direct guidance the wholetimers tirelessly worked and brought a new wave in India, infused with spiritual vitality and social dynamism.

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The Coconut Story

Vijay Kumar was in his twenties. He was educated, from a well-known family, and manager of a business. The rumor went around in town that he was an elevated soul. People said that when he fasted during Durga Puja festival, the goddess Durga would appear before him in white robes and give him instructions that he would follow for the rest of the year. Family Acarya Kshitish paid him a visit and Vijay Kumar told about his life, "My mother was childless for a long time. She didn’t think she could ever have a child. Then one night she dreamed that she saw a great yogi sitting in a shrine. When she approached the yogi, he blessed her and offered her a coconut. He told her that after she ate the coconut she would conceive a child and her child would become a great saint. Soon after this dream, my mother became pregnant and she held on to the conviction that her baby would become a saint. My father was an astrologer, and when I was born, he cast my horoscope and he also predicted that I would become a yogi. Even some of his astrologer friends came to the same conclusion. Ever since I was a young child, I've been devoted to spiritual life and spiritual practices." Acarya Kshitish initiated Vijay Kumar into meditation. After practicing meditation for a few days he went to see him, saying that he was facing a certain problem in his meditation. "Every time I meditate I have the same vision. A beautiful olive-skinned hand appears, wearing a gold ring with a pearl inset on the middle finger. The hand is holding a lighted cigarette which it brings to my mouth, but when I try to take a puff the hand vanishes. Then it appears again and again. Every time I meditate the same vision disturbs me. Since this started I don’t feel like smoking anymore. Can you explain this?" "Do you think you would be able to recognize this hand if you saw it in real life, especially if it had the same ring on it?" Acarya Kshitish asked, sure that the hand Vijay had seen was Baba's. "Certainly. I've seen it so many times by now." "If you want to see that hand, then you must go to Jamalpur and visit our ashram there." Vijay answered, without any hesitation. "I'm ready to do that if it will solve this mystery." Vijay took the train to Jamalpur and stayed for one month, although he was scheduled to return within a few days. When he came back, he went straight to Acarya Kshitish. The once proud and elegantly dressed business man, who generally wore the finest tailored suits, was now dressed in a simple white cotton kurta and trousers and had a humble expression. He leaned down and touched his acarya’s feet. "That day you came to my house was the turning point of my life. With your help I was able to meet my guru. In fact I have decided

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to leave everything and dedicate my life to spirituality and service." Vijay made arrangements to leave his worldly occupation and join the order of monks, and left for Jamalpur again.

On one occasion, in Vijay’s presence, Baba narrated this story, "Three hundred years ago, on the outskirts of the town of Rewa, there was a great yogi, a realized soul, who lived in an ashram with his disciples. One of his disciples was a young man from a wealthy royal family, who had come to the ashram at an early age, leaving behind his comfortable life to dedicate himself to the spiritual path. This boy was a highly elevated soul with a pure mind, who had almost no material desires other than a weakness for sweet fruits. One day the guru called him to his room to tell him that he would be out of the ashram for a few days, and that he was leaving him in charge of the ashram. He told him to make sure that he didn't violate any of the ashram rules while he was gone. The boy promised and the master left for his trip. While he was gone, the queen of Rewa paid a visit to the ashram, as was the habit in those days among royal families. During her visit she became attracted by the spiritual aura of the boy. Being childless herself, she had the desire to adopt him and make him her heir. When she conveyed her feelings to the boy, he disappointed her by replying, 'Mother, I was born into a royal family. I have left everything behind to come and learn meditation at the feet of my guru. As he is happy with me, he is teaching me. Please, don't ask me to go back to what I have left behind.' The queen was saddened by his answer, but she accepted his decision. As a parting gift, she offered him some gold and silver ornaments for the support of the ashram. It was a strict rule, however, that the disciples could not accept anything from outside without the permission of the guru. He explained to her why he could not accept her offer. ‘You see,' she said, after listening to his explanation, 'I am like a mother to you. If your mother offers you something you should accept it. If you cannot accept the ornaments, then at least accept a coconut from me.' The boy didn’t want to offend her any more than he already had; furthermore, he had a weakness for coconuts. It is only a coconut, he thought, so he accepted it. He ate some of the coconut and saved the rest. The next day the guru returned. As soon as he entered the ashram, he called the young disciple to his room. In an angry tone of voice he told him, 'It is a rule in this ashram that no disciple can accept anything without my permission. And you have violated this rule, just for the sake of a coconut! How can you think you are fit to learn yoga from me if you cannot follow these simple rules?' The boy left his master, feeling distraught and depressed. For a long time, the thought of his mistake haunted his mind. Shortly after this he fell ill and died. Due to his mistake, and the force of his thoughts in his mind, he had to take birth in his next life as a coconut palm, and he remained in that body for nearly three hundred years." After Baba had finished telling this story, he asked Vijay, "Now, tell me, Vijay, is there any connection between your birth and a coconut?"

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"Yes, Baba." Vijay replied, realizing that Baba was telling the events of his past life. Then Baba looked at him gently and said, "Tell me, Vijay, what do you want?" He kept silent and Baba asked the same question again. Then he prostrated at Baba’s feet and softly said, "Baba, I don't want anything. Just give me the strength to serve your mission until I die. I don't want anything else."Baba sat up, leaned over and touched Vijay on his forehead. Vijay fell into a blissful trance for several hours. Someone who was also present asked Baba, "Why did the young disciple in the story have to suffer such a great punishment for such a little offence?""For him it was not a small offense," Baba said. "The higher one climbs on the ladder of spirituality, the greater the repercussions for any fault. That disciple was a great yogi who went against the instructions of his guru, so accordingly he was given a severe punishment."

In a Margi family there was a boy of four years. The parents noticed the boy had strange dreams and sat every morning and evening for meditation. He was dancing Tandava, the dance of Lord Shiva although the family had not taught him. So the family wrote a letter and invited a dada to come and initiate the boy properly, so that he could learn the correct method of meditation. A couple of weeks later one Dada came and started talking to the boy. The boy said that he had a dream and Baba taught him how to do meditation. Dada asked him to describe exactly what Baba taught him. The boy described accurately the methods for first, second, and sixth lessons. Dada told him, "No, I can't initiate you; you have already been initiated." Months later Baba explained to Dada that this boy, in his previous life, had been a very good and very strong disciple, but he had met with an unfortunate accident when he was in his late twenties and he had died. So again just through the strength of his karma, he was reborn into a Margi family and was starting his sadhana from where he left in his previous life. Baba also disclosed the name of the man that had died and was reborn again in this body whom Dada had known before. But he asked Dada not to tell the family or the boy, or ever to mention it to anyone because it would disturb the boy's growth if he knew.

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Guru and Disciple

Anukul decided that he wanted to find his spiritual master. He visited a number of different teachers in his search. Finally one day he found a guru who impressed him. He had prepared four burning questions he had in his mind, hoping to get a satisfactory answer. The guru asked, "Are you testing me?" and refused to initiate him. Anukul then found a highly respected guru called Anukul Thakkur. He was accepted as a carpenter's apprentice. One day the guru asked Anukul to do the drumming at a gathering of spiritual chanting but Anukul refused, saying, "I don’t know how to play." The guru said, "Don’t try to fool me. I know you're an expert." Anukul played well because it was true that he was an expert. At this festivity Anukul was attracted to the daughter of the house and in time the guru made arrangements for him to marry that girl. Anukul was happy and finally dared to ask the guru for initiation but the guru refused and said, "Don’t worry. You will be initiated by a sadguru, a guru of the highest order." "But how can I find him?" asked Anukul. "You don't need to do anything. The sadguru will find you. Whenever the disciple is ready the sadguru appears." Anukula kept insisting on knowing the name of the sadguru. The yogi relented and gave him a hint, "His name starts with 'A'." Meanwhile, Anukul settled down as a homeopathic doctor, still keeping his hopes alive to meet his guru one day. One early morning he was sitting in a contemplative mood, when there was a knock at his door. He opened it to find a young man dressed in orange and white. The yogi asked him if he was Dr. Anukul Ray. When he answered affirmatively, the youth said, with an air of authority, "My guru sent me to initiate you." "Your guru?" Anukul asked, suddenly hopeful, "may I know his name?""His name is Shrii Shrii Anandamurti," said the young monk, "and by the way, he sent with me the answers to your four questions." He handed him a piece of paper on which were the answers to his four questions. Anukul was deeply touched and happily took initiation.

About three years later it so happened that the wholetimer who had initiated Anukul was assigned to the northeast states. One day he came to Jamalpur for reporting. While presenting his work in his area, Baba inquired about the welfare of a person there. "Baba, he's fine." "Fine, you say! Don’t you know that he's come down with malaria? Don’t you know how serious his condition is? The local guardians aren't taking proper care of him, and he is blaming me mentally. He's complaining that even I don’t look after him. Return immediately to Guwahati and make proper arrangements for his treatment.

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As soon as you've done that, go straight to Karimganj. Don’t waste even a single second. On your way to Karimganj, get down at Badarpur station. You will see a train on the opposite track, the Barrack Valley Express. On that train you will find Dr. Anukul Ray. Ask him to get off that train immediately and take him along with you to Karimganj." Baba gave his instructions with such firmness that he did not dare ask any questions. He left immediately for the railway station and took the first train. It was a long two-day trip. He thought back to the day when Baba had called him aside and said, ‘Go to Karimganj, there is a good man whom I want you to initiate. His name is Dr. Anukul Ray. He has been searching for a guru for a long time, but he hasn’t yet found a suitable master. This is his address. He will have four questions, note down the questions and the answers…’ When he arrived in Guwahati, he found that Paresh had indeed come down with malaria and was in bad shape. He called the local Margis and informed them of Baba's displeasure. Duly chastised, the Margis arranged for Paresh to be hospitalized and made a list of who would take turns remaining in the hospital with him. As soon as that was taken care of, Dada got on the train to Karimganj, despite having not slept much for nearly two days while travelling in a crowded, unreserved compartment. When the train stopped at Badarpur station, he got down and found the Barrack Valley Express standing on the opposite track, just as Baba had said it would be. Hurriedly, he entered and quickly went from one end to the other and back again without finding Anukul. Finally, on the third pass, he heard a familiar voice call out to him, "Dada, what are you doing here?" "Anukul-da, there you are! Come on, get down from the train. You have to come with me to Karimganj right this moment!" "Karimganj? Why? I have some important work to take care of. I can't go to Karimganj now." "Don't ask me why. I'll answer your questions later. Right now we have to get off this train and get on the train for Karimganj before it leaves. Where's your luggage?" Dada grabbed his luggage and pulled the annoyed doctor off the train. Once they were safely on their way to Karimganj, Dada related Baba's instructions to him. Anukula realized that if Baba had given an order, it was best not to question it.

The next morning the daily papers announced the tragic derailment of that train that Dr. Anukul had been on. It had fallen into a gorge and a large number of passengers had been killed, including most of the people in his coach.

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Tantric Meditation

In India the most popular spiritual figure is Shiva, the father of Tantra and yoga. The tantric yogis of Shiva are known to be mysterious and fearsome. People say that they frequent the forests and cremation grounds, that they possess strange, supernatural powers, and practice secret occult rites that involve skulls. The mystery of the supernatural that surrounded such practices made it normal for common people to be afraid of tantriks in general, and just as natural for the younger ones to be interested in their practices.The real tantriks surrender their ego, develop their minds and serve the world. But there are also tantriks who are black magicians. Secret practices had been cultivated for several thousands of years, often for the purpose of developing occult powers for personal gain, or even to harm their enemies.

Once there was a man called Aniruddha Mukhya who was aware of tantriks and had great fear of them. He was a successful contractor and openly admitted that he drank wine daily and had lots of other vices. He got initiated and when he went to see Baba for the first time, Baba recited a detailed list of all his bad habits and told him that he should give them up immediately. Aniruddha was worried that he might become hypnotized by Baba, whom he considered a mighty tantrik. Almost against his will he kept coming to meet Baba, and within a month he had given up meat, alcohol and going to see dancing girls. On his first field walk Baba asked him, "Do you want to see something?" "If you want to show me, then show me." Aniruddha replied to Baba. "Will you be afraid?" Baba asked him. "No, I'm ready," replied Aniruddha. "Close your eyes and don’t open them till I say you can." Then he turned on his flashlight and told him, "Now you can open your eyes. What can you see?" There was a person standing there, about seven feet tall! Baba revolved his flashlight and the person started growing until he was about thirty feet tall, as high as a palm tree. Aniruddha got frightened, totally terrified, he bent down and caught Baba’s feet and said, "I'll give you 100,000 rupees – please spare me! Will you turn me into a palm tree as well?" The tall figure laughed like a giant when he overheard what Aniruddha just said. Baba calmed him down, "Don’t worry, I won’t kill you or make you

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a palm tree." Then Baba made the person shrink to normal size and called him to come over. Baba and the man were smiling. "Don’t worry," Baba said, "he is Kalikananda." Then he told him to go and the fellow disappeared suddenly.

Baba knew the secrets of Avidya Tantra, the science of black magic, as well as Vidya Tantra, the true spiritual science. He had started to teach kapalik, a tantric meditation, to a few selected disciples. The main idea of this meditation was to overcome fear. Those who practice kapalik meditation grow very strong mentally and physically. Their mental power lies at the third eye cakra and their physical power at the heart cakra but they are not allowed to use these powers except in extreme circumstances for service only, and with the permission of their Tantra Guru. But Baba did not teach black Tantra to anybody; however he taught the disciples how to deal with black magicians, should they come face to face with one.

Basant was one of the first to learn this kapalik meditation, which he had to perform alone at the new moon, after midnight, in a lonely place in nature. It so happened that soon after he learnt this kapalik meditation he heard stories from his neighbours about strange sounds coming from the cremation ground at night. They heard babies crying, strange animal cries, and other unusual and frightening sounds. Basant thought that it might be the work of some black tantrik and decided to go to the cremation ground at night to practice his kapalik meditation. And sure enough, there was a black tantrik. When he noticed that Basant had started meditating there, he began using his techniques to frighten him away. Basant, however, continued, steadfast in his meditation, protected by the spiritual barrier that encircled him, part of the first lesson of kapalik. When the terrifying noises and flying objects did not have any effect, the black tantrik finally resorted to a direct attack with special mantras designed to inflict harm on a person through the concentrated application of psychic force. Basant repelled the attack with his mantra, causing a boomerang effect that knocked the black tantrik to the ground, after which he immediately ran away.

The next day the black tantrik, whose name was Sudhanshu, showed up at Basant’s house. He wanted to know the name of Basant's guru, who had been able to repel his most ferocious attack with ease. After hearing about Baba, Sudhanshu became eager to take initiation. Basant made the arrangements and brought him to Jamalpur. When Sudhanshu was ushered into Baba's room for Personal Contact, Baba grabbed him by the ear and started scolding him for misusing his powers and attacking one of his disciples. After extracting a promise from him to stop his black practice, Baba let him know that he was withdrawing the powers he had attained. "You will no longer need them," Baba said. "From now on you will

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be a practitioner of white Tantra." In the tantric tradition, gurus often test their disciples before initiating them into kapalik meditation. These tests were to help them master their mental weaknesses.

One night, an acarya was doing his first kapalik meditation in the forest after midnight. Suddenly he heard a soft ‘ooohhh, ooohhh’ sound. He thought it must be an owl, and continued his meditation. Again that ‘oohhh’ sound came, but this time it was louder. He decided not to pay any attention. The sound continued and became very loud. Now he became frightened, thinking that maybe a wild animal was close by but still continued his meditation. The sound stopped. Then suddenly, the sound ‘ooohhh!’ was very loud right behind him. He opened his eyes in sheer panic, and looked everywhere around him but he couldn’t see anything. Again, there was silence. By then his mind was totally disturbed. He was terrified by this strange noise, thinking that surely an animal was lurking near, ready to pounce on him and eat him up, any minute now. Then again a terrifying loud ‘ooohhh’ sounded near his ear. He jumped up and ran like lightning, blind in the dark. All of a sudden a black dog was in front of him; he screamed and fell over the dog. He felt a tap on his shoulder, jumped up again and saw a dark figure saying, "I am Kalikananda. I was just testing you. Go back and do your meditation." Kalikananda, the first initiate and great tantrik was carrying out Baba’s request to test the new kapalik meditator.

A Dada or wholetimer monk, was running a school and children’s home in a remote tribal area. On the new moon night he went outside into the nearby stony hills for his kapalik meditation. As he meditated he could hear sounds of breaking twigs as if something was approaching. He interrupted his meditation and opened his eyes. There was a tiger not far from him, lying on the ground. He closed his eyes again quickly, thinking that he had no chance at all now

– he could not run away. All he could do is try to complete his meditation and surrender his life to God. He continued with full concentration. When he had finished, he opened his eyes - the tiger was no longer

there.

Dilip was still in his teens when

Baba asked him to meet him at the Tiger’s

Grave late at night. He was

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there at about 11.30 or 12 midnight but there was no trace of Baba. Then Baba appeared suddenly from out of nowhere. "I'm sorry I'm late," he apologized. "I've forgotten something, could you fetch it for me?" "Certainly," Dilip said, "I will try my best." "I left a box of matches near the door of Kali temple at the top of Kalipahar." As agreed, Diliip started towards the hill. It was pitch dark and Dilip had to climb the mountain without a torch. Nobody would normally dare to visit the Kali temple at this time, as the wild animals of the jungle reigned the area at night. It took him about an hour but he did it, realising that this was a test to overcome his fear. On another night Baba gave him the test of overcoming shame. He asked Dilip, "Could you bring me a cup of tea?" There was a tea stall near the railway line about ten minutes away and Dilip agreed. But Baba put a condition: he had to go totally naked. Dilip hesitated at first. Then he thought that there was no question of disobeying since he had accepted Baba as his guru. On the way he passed many people but none of them even gave him a second glance. He went to the shop, bought the tea and brought it for Baba. Neither the shop keeper nor anyone else said anything or looked at him out of the ordinary. It was as if no one could see that he was naked. Another time Baba asked him to run a round of the field with his shoes in his mouth. Dilip did it without any hesitation. When he returned to the Tiger’s Grave Baba said, "I have kept some good food for you." He pointed to a dead body in an advanced state of decomposition lying on the ground in front of the grave. He scooped out some flesh from its belly and asked Dilip to eat it. Dilip felt that he would not be able to do this but Baba said, "You have to give up all feelings of revulsion. Close your eyes and repeat your mantra and eat it."Dilip did it and it tasted very sweet. When he opened his eyes the dead body was not there anymore.

Baba clarified that these were Avidya tests to overcome propensities such as hatred, shame and revulsion which are very strong and difficult to overcome. He also gave an explanation about the dead body, whose appearance he could create out of some sugar candy that he would carry with him. To transform material objects into another form was the art of Avidya Tantra. However, most of the time, Baba used normal tests for aspirants of kapalik meditation. Such a test would be, for example, to start a school in a certain place.

Once, two kapalik meditators went into the hills to do meditation. They sat in separate spots out of sight of each other. Suddenly they were startled out of their concentration. They saw a ball of fire whirling in a big circle at high speed above their heads. They were scared and closed their eyes and somehow they finished their meditation. On their way home they confirmed that they had both seen the ball of fire.

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The next day one of the Dadas went to visit a doctor, who asked him, "What happened last night during your meditation?" Dada was very surprised and asked, "How do you know that something happened?" The doctor said, "Last night after midnight, two robbers were taken to the hospital with heavy bruises, and one had suffered a heart attack due to fear. One of the robbers said that they had noticed two yogis walking in the night, wearing shining watches and carrying shoulder bags. They thought that they must have money and other valuables, so they followed them. When they approached them with the intention of beating them and running away with their valuables, suddenly a ball of fire started to whirl at great speed, chasing them away. They ran for their lives as fast as they could, tumbling and falling down the hill." The wholetimers were wondering what that ball of fire was, and the next time they saw Baba they asked him. "Do you really want to know what that ball of fire was?" "Yes Baba." Then Baba smilingly told them: Shiva's son Bhaerava and daughter Bhaeravii were the first to learn kapalika meditation. Shiva used to take them to the jungle at the dead of the darkest night of the month. Shiva used to wait while his children were doing their meditation. Kali, Shiva's wife, often became very worried about the safety of her children because in those jungles lived wild, ferocious animals and bandits. One night, Kali could no longer contain her anxiety and rushed towards the place she knew where her children and Shiva were. She could not see much and stumbled on Shiva, who was sitting at the end of the trail. Shiva asked, ‘Who are you?’ Kali was embarrassed and in wondering whether she should say ‘I'm Kali or pretend to be Bhaeravii, what came out of her mouth was ‘Kaoverii’. Shiva laughed and told her that he didn't know anyone by that name. Then Shiva told her, "You are a mother, I understand you are concerned for the safety of your children. To alleviate your fear, I will release a force that from this moment onwards will protect kapalikas from any dangers forever, and I will call this force Kaoverii."

One evening, three people were accompanying Baba on field walk. They crossed the railway bridge when they noticed a man in tattered clothes, yet with a radiant face, standing by the roadside. He looked at Baba and smiled. Baba smiled in return as if they had known each other for a long time. Baba signalled him to follow and walked ahead with him, leaving the others far behind. Baba sat with him on the Tiger’s Grave and asked the others to sit under the three tall palm trees. After an hour or so, Baba called the three companions to come over to the Tiger’s Grave. They noticed the stranger lying on his back on the ground.

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There was no movement in his body, but his face looked abnormally bright. "Don't touch him; he's deep in bliss." They were surprised. They had taken him to be an ordinary man of the streets, yet now here he was, enjoying the ecstatic experience of the highest achievement a spiritual aspirant can attain. Some time afterwards, it started drizzling and Baba directed them to rush to take cover under the banyan tree. Baba opened his umbrella and sat near the man. He touched his forehead and whispered something. Slowly the man sat up with Baba’s help. The drizzling had almost stopped and everyone came over to the Tiger’s Grave. They made room for the man but he remained on the ground near Baba's feet, fixing his gaze on Baba. Baba smiled at the others and simply said, "He is also your brother."

About a month later, on another evening field walk, Baba stopped all of a sudden and raised his hands in the namaskar greeting. He became a little serious and they continued walking slowly and silently. After a few minutes Baba asked, "Do you remember the man who came to me one evening and went into a deep trance for a long time? The one you were curious to know about?" "Yes Baba." "He is free. He left his physical body a few minutes ago. He was a great Yogi and tantrik." Baba looked rather moved.

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My Friend the Rhinoceros

It was the afternoon of a Dharma Mahacakra in a small village of Ambagan in the northeastern state of Assam. Baba wanted to go to the Lau Khowa reserve forest nearby where there were elephants and rhinoceros in their own wild habitat. A wholetimer arranged for a car and set off with Baba and three local people. As they neared the forest, Baba told them to take the road that passed through the middle of the jungle. That road was a straight path off the main road going through the densest part of the forest. The three young men started to grow apprehensive, uncomfortably aware of the possible consequences of running into an adult elephant or rhinoceros in the middle of the wilderness. As the twilight shadows deepened, they quietly suggested to Dada that he turn back. Dada, however, paid no attention to them. He knew better than to suggest such a thing to Baba after having received direct instructions from him. A short way ahead, their fears were confirmed. One of them spotted a rhinoceros with her calf about a hundred yards up the road. He cried out a warning. Dada looked back at Baba. Seeing Baba smile, he continued onwards at a careful pace, while the three men began to sweat profusely, well aware of the danger that the rhinoceros might attack them in order to protect her calf.When they were about ten to fifteen yards away from the rhinoceros and her calf, Baba called out for Dada to stop the jeep. Baba got out and started walking towards the animals; the four disciples trailed cautiously behind. He walked up to the mother rhinoceros and started stroking her callused back, while her confused calf moved from one side of her to the other. After a minute or two, he began stroking the calf. The calf’s mother looked on silently without making the slightest movement. Finally, Baba began to whisper something in the mother rhino's ear in a language none of them could understand. Emboldened by Baba's example and the seeming tameness of this otherwise imposing animal, the four disciples also patted her and her calf. By this time it was starting to grow quite dark. Baba asked Dada to turn the jeep around so they could leave. As he was doing so, the headlights fell on the rhinoceros. They were astonished to see tears falling from her eyes. On the way back to Ambagan, one of them asked Baba why the mother rhinoceros had acted so docilely in his presence. "You are little children," Baba said. "You will understand it when you grow up." Another one mentioned the rhinoceros' tears and asked why she seemed to be crying. "She was crying because she was remembering her past life," Baba said. "In her past life she was a human being. She was my friend."

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Personal Contact

Shiva Trivedi was accompanying Baba from his home to the office, when he noticed a swelling on Baba's hand. When he voiced his concern, Baba explained that he had found it necessary to punish a person during Personal Contact, who had committed a murder. He had found it necessary to be very severe with that person. Then Shiva remembered a couple of days earlier, when Baba had dragged a young man out of the room by his hair and told him in front of everyone that if he, Baba had been a judge he would have sentenced him to hang. Shiva suggested to Baba that he use a stick for such people, in order to save his hands. Baba approved his suggestion and a small stick was brought for that purpose. From then on, Baba kept the stick under his pillow whenever he gave Personal Contact. He would still use other forms of punishment, but the stick soon became his favourite medium for removing sins of his more wayward disciples. Soon it would become so famous among the Margis that they even gave it a name – dukhaharan. It meant ‘that which steals one’s sorrow’. Even Baba called it by that name sometimes. By giving punishment with it Baba was taking away their sins without them knowing. The punishment he gave them was only a small fraction of what they would have to undergo otherwise through natural process. Baba was taking away a huge load of their sins for which they would have to suffer hundreds of times more. By the time Baba started giving Personal Contact, his strictness with his disciples’ faults and his readiness to punish them for their misdeeds was often discussed amongst them. Baba was well aware of this.

One Sunday morning Baba was tending to the small garden in his Rampur colony quarters. This was a regular part of his daily routine throughout the years he lived in Jamalpur. While he was clearing the soil for some new seedlings, a young man who was walking along the road, stopped and asked him if he knew the way to the Ananda Marga ashram. Baba gave him directions and then asked him why he wanted to go there. The young man explained that he was going to meet his guru. He then politely invited Baba to come as well and take advantage of the opportunity to learn meditation. "Oh no," Baba told him, "I'd be afraid to go there. We've heard stories about Ananda Marga and its guru." "What kind of stories?" "We've heard that the guru punishes his disciples. I've heard from the neighbours that he can be very severe with them. I wouldn't have the courage to go in front of him."

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"I'm sure he only punishes people who really deserve it," the boy replied, signs of worry starting to creep into his face. "Maybe, but are you sure you really want to go there?" Baba asked. "There's still time to turn back." "I'm sure." The boy thanked him for the directions and headed down the route that Baba had pointed out. Later that day the new initiate, who had not yet seen a photo of Baba, in keeping with the rules prevalent at the time, was ushered into Baba's room for Personal Contact. He was stunned to see the same person who had given him directions that morning. Baba, on the other hand, was laughing. "You see! You're braver than I am. You came knowing that you might be punished, whereas I might not have come, had I been in your shoes."

During a Dharmamahacakra in Saharsa, Baba stayed in a Margi’s house. It was breakfast time, but when Baba was brought his breakfast he refused to eat. The Margis immediately became worried that they had committed some mistake. Cautiously they asked Baba if they had done anything wrong. "No,” he told them,"you haven't done anything wrong, but someone else has." Baba told them to call a certain boy to his room. Finally they found the young man sleeping behind the stage. They brought him to Baba along with his acarya. "How did you come here?" Baba asked him. "By train, Baba." "I know, but how did you come?" "By train." "That is not what I am asking. Did you buy a ticket?" "Yes, Baba." "And where did you get the money for this ticket?" This time the young man did not answer, but his fear was visible for all to see. "Nothing to say, eh? Then I will tell the story of how you got this money." Baba looked at the Margis and pointed to the young man. "This boy has committed a crime. He stole that money from the pocket of a carpenter - sixty-two rupees. It was the man's monthly earnings and he was on his way to buy provisions for his family. After he noticed that the money was gone, he became so distraught that he began saying that there is no God in this universe, no divine justice, that he was going to commit suicide because he was a poor man and could not survive without that money. Now I am responsible, since it is my devotee who stole his money." Baba called the young man’s acarya and started scolding him for initiating the boy without having properly evaluated his conduct. Then he told the young man to touch the feet of everyone present and leave. When he was going out

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the door, Baba called him back. "I want you to return that money to the person you stole it from." The young man was crying now. "But Baba, how can I do that? I don’t know who he is or where he lives." "You won't get off so easily. Ask someone here to run to the post office and bring back a money order form." A few minutes later someone returned with the form. Baba took out his pen and wrote the name and address of the carpenter on it. He handed it to the boy. "Now go to the post office with your acarya and send the money. Write on the back of the money order that you'd stolen this money from him and now you're returning it." When they had gone, Baba told the Margis, "Actually, he is a sincere devotee. When I conducted his Personal Conduct, I took an oath from him not to pick any more pockets. Up until now he had kept his oath, but when he heard that Baba was coming here he decided to pick one last pocket so that he could see me. So you see, it is my responsibility."

Rajendra, a young student, had still many doubts about Baba. During his Personal Contact Baba said to him, "At such a young age you have committed so many sins! Why did you do such things? Explain yourself!" Rajendra thought that this was something that gurus generally tell their disciples, so he denied everything and said, "I didn’t commit any sins." Baba then said, "Try to remember correctly." "I haven't done anything wrong," Rajendra insisted. Baba became angry. "You still deny it? Look behind you!" Rajendra turned to look, and there on the wall behind him, he saw one of his sinful actions being played out like the reel of a film. He turned away out of shame and hung his head. "Now do you remember?" "Yes, Baba," He said. "I remember." "This is not all, my boy," Baba continued. "You have committed many sins far more serious than this." Then Rajendra thought that maybe Baba might have hypnotized him, so again he denied that he had committed any other sins. Baba commanded him to turn back and look at the wall again. He saw another sinful act from his life projected on the wall, just like before. Then Baba started to show him one shameful scene after another. They were incidents that only he knew about. While he was watching them Baba was scolding him, "You sinner, was it not you who did it? Sometimes Rajendra felt ashamed and hid his head in his hands. Rajendra knew then that Baba had miraculous powers, but he thought that it must be because he was a powerful tantrik. Baba asked him, "Have you understood?"

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Rajendra, still obstinate, said, "I don’t understand." Then Baba asked him to sit in meditation. He had meditated for a few minutes when he heard Baba saying, "Open your eyes." When he opened his eyes, he I could see neither Baba, nor the cot on which he sat, nor the walls, nor the room itself. All he could see was an overpowering effulgence in all directions. Nothing else was visible. Then he became senseless. When he came to his senses his head was on Baba's lap and Baba was patting him affectionately. Baba made him promise not to do such mistakes again, to be an ideal person and do only good work for the society. Then he blessed him. He felt so much love and bliss from Baba. He thought that if his parents came to know about even some of his dark past they would hate him. But Baba, though he knew everything, gave him more love than he had ever experienced in his life. He thought, ‘Only a God can love a sinner like me as much as Baba loves me.’

A poor farmer wished to have Personal Contact with Baba. He managed his train fare by selling some household utensils. During Personal Contact he sadly expressed that unfortunately he may not be able to see Baba again. "It is not necessary for you to come, rather, whenever you wish, I shall come to see you!" Baba assured him and the man was very happy.  Sometime later, Baba asked his acarya how that poor farmer was. He didn't know, since he hadn't gone to that area for a long time. On Baba’s advice he went to visit the old farmer. He found that the man was very busy with his daily toil from early morning until he was tired in the evening. He felt pity for him and his hard life. In the evening they sat for meditation before sleeping. After a while the acarya had finished, and found the farmer still sitting very straight, with a blissful expression on his face. The acarya got inspired to meditate some more. When he again opened his eyes, he saw the old farmer still in the same posture. However, the acarya went to sleep. In the morning, when he woke up, he saw the man still sitting in bliss. Slowly, at dawn the farmer came back to his senses, to start the new day with a short meditation. When the acarya asked him what happened, the farmer replied, "The same thing as every day: I sit for meditation, and just wish to see Baba. I call him to come. Then I see white light approaching, and in it there is Baba. I become very happy and soon forget myself and everything. And in the morning I am back to my senses again and have to go for my work."

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Visiting Baba in Jamalpur

A young student came to stay at the ashram in Jamalpur for a few days. One morning he woke up somewhat late by ashram standards. A family who came to do early meditation at the ashram were getting ready for a breakfast of fresh puris, yoghurt, beaten rice, singharas, and warm jilebis, a Bihari sweet especially popular on cold winter mornings. They invited Asim to come and join them for breakfast. "I haven't done meditation yet." Asim said. "It will be cold by then. Have some breakfast and then go and meditate," the man of the family said. His advice seemed reasonable to Asim and the food very attractive, so Asim joined them for breakfast. When he had finished, he went to the well to wash his clothes and have a bath before sitting for meditation. Just then Baba entered the ashram gate in a lungi and banian, rather than his usual dhoti and kurta, with an umbrella in his hand. It was not yet seven thirty, well before Baba’s usual time to come to the ashram. As Baba passed by the well on the way to his room, Asim could see that he was in a serious mood. Baba called everyone who was staying in the ashram to his room, some ten or fifteen people, and asked them how they were, if they had meditated and taken breakfast. Some had eaten, some had not, but everyone had done their meditation, except one. Without looking at Asim, who was sitting in a corner, Baba pointed to him and said, "Ask this boy if he has done his meditation or not. He has not meditated but he has already had his breakfast." Then he looked at Asim. "Did I make this ashram for goats or for human beings? How is it you feel hungry so early in the morning before you have even meditated?" "Baba, I'm sorry. I will fast the whole day." "No, no," Baba said, softening his tone. "You can't fast. If you don't eat, then how can I eat?" "Baba, please give me punishment." "Very well. Rub your nose on the ground in front of everyone." Asim rubbed his nose so hard that it started bleeding. "Why did you rub your nose so hard?" Baba asked. Then he told him to run into the garden and pick some leaves from a certain plant and apply them to his nose. Asim did so and felt immediate relief from the pain. He returned to Baba's room and again insisted on fasting. "Don't fast," Baba said, smiling now, "but promise me you won't ever do it again. Because of you I wasn't able to finish my work at home in peace. I had to rush here at this early hour."

Baba was sitting on the Tiger's Grave with four devotees. He turned his attention to one young boy.

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"Do you repent for your wrong deeds?" he asked. The boy insisted that he hadn't committed any misdeeds. Baba's mood turned grave. "Who brought him here?" Pashupati folded his hands to his chest and said in a humble voice that he had brought him. "Why did you bring him?" Baba asked. "What is the reason?" Pashupati remained silent. Baba turned his attention back to the boy and started recounting his misdeeds, including the date, time and place of each. After Baba had described four or five sordid incidents, the boy fell to the ground in front of Baba, feeling remorse. Baba was silent for a minute or two. Then he asked the boy to sit in front of him. Baba extended his legs. "Press my feet against your chest." The boy did so. After a few moments Baba asked, "Has your chest pain gone?" "Yes, Baba," the boy replied, tears streaming down his face. Baba turned to the others, "Both of this boy's lungs were filled with water. He was in the third stage of tuberculosis and his doctors had given up hope. At this point he met his acarya, who told him that if he learned meditation and went to Baba, Baba could cure him. He has come here hoping to get his TB cured, but he has been trying to hide the fact from me." Baba looked at the boy. "Isn't it so?" "Yes, Baba," the boy replied, sobbing even more loudly. "How many chapattis did you eat the night before last? You have forgotten but I remember. I know each and every pore of your body. And you are trying to hide from me?" The boy continued weeping. Then Baba softened his tone and patted him on his back. "Your TB is cured now. Tell your doctor that you don't have any more problems. From now on you are a new man. Forget the past. Look ahead only and promise that from today on you will be a new and ideal person and serve the society." The boy promised and Baba blessed him. "No one should waste time thinking about the past. Look towards the Lord and move ahead. You will reach your goal."

A boy was going home one day when a poisonous snake crossed his path. Frightened, he called out “Baba!” and saw the snake turning away. Overcome by inborn instinct the boy took the bamboo staff he was carrying and leaped after the snake and beat it until it died. A few days later at the asharm Baba called him over and started scolding him. "Why did you kill that snake when you were walking home the other day? You took my name and it turned away. Why did you have to be so cruel? By beating him you were beating me. Just look." Baba lifted his shirt and exposed several welts on his back.

A young man began thinking of himself as a great yogi with budding spiritual powers. One winter evening he went to see Baba in the ashram but no one was there, so he lay down in the hall and went to sleep. When he woke up early in the morning he saw Baba through the window. He was coming in

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through the gate. He quickly dressed. By that time, Baba was standing on the veranda, reading the notice board. He prostrated in front of Baba and as he was about to get up, Baba touched his body and he fell down to the ground, unconscious. When he came to his senses, Baba was standing over him and smiling. He asked, "Baba, what have you done to me? Did you want to kill me?" "You have developed some pride in your spiritual power, and I have come to put an end to this pride." The young man tried to get up but his body was extremely sluggish, none of his limbs were working. "Get up!" Baba said. He tried several times but he couldn’t do it. His body had become totally inactive. Baba then went into his room and from time to time called him to try and get up. The young man shouted back, "How can I get up in this condition?" "Keep trying!" Baba called. Finally, after many attempts, he was able to get up and go to Baba’s room. "Now is your pride in your power finished or not?" "Yes, Baba, it is finished." "Whose power is it?" "It is all your power, Baba!"

During a gathering, Baba said, "Let a little girl come forward."A local full-time volunteer sister came and stood before Baba. Baba directed her, "Concentrate on your crown cakra. Now smell your wrist What do you smell?" "A sweet aroma, Baba." "Now I will take away the wave," said Baba. "Put your arm down and raise it back up. Now, tell me what do you smell on your wrist." "The smell is very faint, Baba." "Put your arm down again, raise it up. What do you smell?" "Nothing, Baba." "Now try again. What do you smell?" "I smell something pungent." "That's very strange," Baba said, laughing, and then he said, "You have a weak liver. A few years ago you ate dried fish with old, fermented rice which damaged your liver. Is this correct? Well, don't worry. I've just cured your liver. It's functioning better now. Do you feel a little warmer in your body?" "Yes, Baba." "That's because your liver is getting stronger." Baba was speaking very affectionately.

Jaidhari from Motihari was visiting the ashram. At that time, the ashram did not have a flush toilet, but rather a service toilet that required frequent cleaning. It so happened that the person who did the regular cleaning was absent for several days and the toilet reached an appalling state. Jaidhari, coming from a middle-class family, thought it deplorable that such a situation should exist in the place where his guru came every day to meet the devotees.

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Without asking, he took it upon himself to clean the toilet. Afterwards he took a bath at the well and changed his clothes, but he was unable to shake the conviction that some of the foul odour still clung to his body. He sniffed his right hand and then his left, sure that he had not yet got rid of it, which made him feel very uncomfortable. At dusk Baba showed up at the ashram unexpectedly. The ashram manager started running and shouting, "Baba has come, Baba has come!" After greeting Baba, he told him that he would make immediate arrangements for a gathering. "No," Baba told him. "I won't sit for a gathering today. But please call Jaidhari and tell him I want to speak to him." Jaidhari, who was meditating in Baba’s room at the time, came running as soon as he was called. Baba asked him to extend his hands. He took Jaidhari’s hands in his own and started smelling them. "Jaidhari, what a beautiful fragrance is coming from your hands," he said.Jaidhari recoiled in embarrassment, thinking that Baba was teasing him for the bad smell, but Baba immediately said, "No, no, it's true Jaidhari. Smell your right hand." Jaidhari smelled his right hand and was stunned to discover a wonderful fragrance coming from it. "Now smell your left hand." He smelled his left hand and discovered a different, indescribably beautiful fragrance there. "In fact," Baba continued, "it seems that wonderful fragrances are coming from every part of your body." Jaidhari smelled other parts of his body and in each he discovered a different, fragrance. He felt exalted by a growing sense of ecstasy. Baba patted his cheek and said, "Good actions always bear good results." Then Baba left the jagriti to continue on his normal field walk.

Rajnath was a college student. He was on his first field walk with Baba, in a group accompanying Baba from his house to the Tiger’s Grave. Baba began walking with his habitual good speed, and everyone had difficulty keeping up, sometimes losing sight of him in the dark. When this happened Baba would stop briefly and call out for them. When they came to the narrow overpass bridge, they had fallen behind again. They began talking about the fragrance

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coming from Baba. When they caught up again, Baba said, "What conspiracy were you hatching back there?" They told him about the scent they noticed coming from him. "I don't use any scent," Baba said. "It must be coming from you." "No, Baba, it's coming from you." "Then, tell me what kind of fragrance do you smell." Each of them ventured a guess, but no one could correctly identify the scent. "If you want to know what fragrance it is, then you have to ask the youngest member of the group." Baba motioned to Rajnath to step forward. "I will put my finger on your crown cakra. After ten seconds you will see a bud, but you will not recognize the flower. After fifteen seconds it will begin to blossom, and after forty-five seconds you will be able to name it. As soon as you identify the flower I will remove my finger. If I keep my finger there any longer, then your attention will become diverted, so I will only give you forty-five seconds."Still standing on the railway bridge, Baba put his finger on Rajanth’s head; immediately he saw a bud appear. Gradually the bud started to blossom until it became a fully blooming flower. Then Baba asked him to name the flower. "A lotus, Baba." "What color?" "White." "Yes. I am very fond of the white lotus. The fragrance you smell is the scent of the white lotus in full bloom. I like it very much. When you learn the process of dhyana, then you will understand the significance of the white lotus." They resumed walking; Baba talked about the botanical characteristics and history of the white lotus. The scent continued for several hours.

A student from Muzaffarpur named Arun arrived in Jamalpur for his first meeting with Baba. That evening Baba called everybody into the room. It was quite dark, nearing the time of new moon, and Baba was in a jovial mood. He asked Dasharath, "Do you want to see God?" "Yes Baba." Baba pointed towards the open window and told Dasharath, "See God in the sky." "Yes, Baba, I can see," Dasharath replied. Then Baba told him in succession to see God in the room, in his shoe and in the glasses that Arun was wearing.

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Each time Dasharath replied that he saw the Divine Presence there. "God is everywhere and you have seen Him," Baba said. "Some people think that God dwells in the seventh heaven. Now that you have seen Him, you know that He dwells not only in the farthest sky, but that He is everywhere, in each and everything. Now I will bring the nucleus of this cosmos to this room and you will hear the sound aum resonating here." After a short pause, Baba asked Dasharath if he was hearing the sound. "Yes, Baba, it is very loud." "You will continue to hear this sound all through the night," Baba said. Then Baba pointed towards the open doorway. "Many luminous bodies have entered the room and are congregating there. Look. Can you see them?" "Yes, Baba. There are many of them." Then Baba pointed to one Margi sitting to the side of his cot. "Gaze at hismental plate and see if there is any stain in his mind." "Baba," Dasharath exclaimed, "his meditation is so good that there is no stain at all in his mind." Baba turned towards the Margi and said," Very good, very good, go ahead with your meditation, with all sincerity and effort, and you will be successful."For nearly two hours Baba continued performing similar demonstrations.

Finally Arun was chosen along with Dasharath and several others to accompany Baba to his house. After Baba entered his gate, Arun went up to Dasharath, burning with curiosity, and asked him what he had seen during the demonstration. Dasharath broke into a broad smile, like an innocent child. "Wherever Baba pointed, I saw a soothing, milky-white light – in the sky, in Baba's shoe, in the room, in your glasses. I saw the entire world enveloped in that beautiful effulgence. It was everywhere."

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One Sunday there were a lot of people at the ashram. Many had come that day from nearby areas. There were several well dressed officers among them. There was also a boy of about 12 years who was dressed in very shabby clothes. He was standing near the entrance door and people thought that he was an urchin from the neighbourhood and tried to chase him away. Somehow he managed to dodge them all. After the personal audiences with Baba were over, he called everyone into the room for addressing the general crowd. All came in and filled the room. The boy was standing hesitantly at a distance in some corner outside. After everyone took their seats, Baba asked his personal assistant Abedanandaji to go and fetch that young boy from the outside. In a short while Abedanandaji entered with the boy, who was very hesitant-looking. Baba invited him, "Come closer." As soon as he did Baba lifted him with both hands onto his lap. The boy was completely flustered by this sudden happening and was feeling very hesitant and shy.

Everyone was surprised and curious about the boy whom a little while back they had tried to drive away. Baba talked to him in a very sweet voice and made him feel comfortable. Then in a mildly joking tone Baba asked him, "What did you bring for me?" The boy was extremely shy and was not able to say anything. Baba kept asking and when there was no reply, Baba said, "I am very hungry." Then Baba put his hand into the boy’s trouser pocket and took out something wrapped in a piece of paper. He opened it and there was a small laddu in it. Baba ate a bit of it and appreciated the taste very much. The rest of the laddu Baba put into the mouth of the boy, who was in tears by then. The boy embraced Baba with both arms and Baba also held him very close. Then Baba asked the boy to sit on the ground and started narrating about him: he was a spiritual disciple from a far off remote village of Munghyr district and mentioned the name of the village. He was from a very poor family. For almost two years he has been saving every paisa that he could to arrange sufficient money to come to Jamalpur and back. With a little amount that was left he had bought the laddu for Baba. But when he came to the Jagrti and saw all the well-dressed people around he felt inferior to them. The Margis' attempt to drive him away only further added to that. Then Baba instructed Abedanandaji to arrange a meal for him and reimburse all that the boy had spent.

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A Special Blessing

An ordinary boy of about nine years, in ragged clothes, used to stand at a particular street light post each time Baba walked by on his field walk. He would simply stand there with folded hands. This happened continuously for five days. On the fifth day Baba walked towards the boy. First Baba caught his folded hands and then put his hand on the boy's shoulder and said, "Come with me."   Baba and the boy walked side by side and the other companions followed them. Reaching the ashram, Baba and the boy went straight into Baba’s room and Baba let the boy sit on his cot. Baba instructed someone to get half a kilo of the best sweets. When the sweets arrived, Baba fed the boy with his own hand. Then he blessed the boy: "Go – eat, drink, play and be happy."

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Departing from Jamalpur

The sleepy but charming little town of Jamalpur thus witnessed many wonderful events almost silently, like a gentle breeze sweeping by. Baba started a spiritual wave while working at his job at the railways. Towards the end he took leave for longer periods in order to carry out his Ananda Marga work of visiting places all over India. In 1966, he resigned officially, finally leaving Jamalpur. He moved to Ananda Nagar where the new headquarters of Ananda Marga was slowly getting established. Baba went to his office to take leave of his co-workers who loved him so dearly. He told them, "Though I am leaving physically, we will never be separated. Whenever you need me, wherever you might be, don’t hesitate to come to me."

Departing from JamalpurDeparting from Jamalpur

The sleepy but charming little town of Jamalpur thus witnessed many The sleepy but charming little town of Jamalpur thus witnessed many

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There was a Dharma Mahacakra in Jamalpur and thousands of people came to congregate there. Baba took many newcomers to Jamalpur on a last field walk and showed them the places of his childhood and later years. He gave a talk on the divine nature of human beings that evening, which was the essence of his mission. The next morning he took leave of his tearful family. He addressed the big crowd that had gathered at the ashram to say good bye and didn’t want him to go. He took a promise from them to work for the mission and said, "I am always with you and I shall be back." At the edge of the town he stepped out of the car and bid a final namaskar to Jamalpur the town and its people that were blessed to have him for two-thirds of his lifetime.

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Red Bicycle

Many many years later when Baba had already left this world, the house of Ajay Singh of Luknow was as usual filled with spiritual chanting, meditating and reminisces of Baba. Overhearing the stories, the little boy of the family stubbornly insisted on meeting Baba. He began to cry and throw a tantrum. No one could reason with him and finally they consoled him by saying that Baba lived in Jamalpur and if they ever went there they would take him to meet Baba. The child then became calm. Many months passed and finally the family paid a visit to Jamalpur. They went to the ashram, the little boy along with them. Inside the jagrti the boy’s earlier insistence to see Baba overcame him and he started crying and screaming again. The parents were in trouble once more. To pacify him they said that Baba could not be seen unless one cries for him with one’s whole heart. The child began to cry more and more, and continued all through their return journey to Lucknow. When they reached Lucknow, the child said, "Daddy, you lied to me! I cried so much and called out to him so much, but he still didn't come."

His father, trying to get out of a tricky situation, said, "You still haven't called out to him from the bottom of your heart." That night, the child went to bed sobbing, "Baba, Baba!" – crying himself to sleep.

The next morning he told everyone the extraordinary tale of how he met Baba, and how Baba showered him with so much affection. He also said that Baba asked him what he wanted. He asked for a red bicycle and Baba said that he would soon receive such a bicycle.

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Under Baba’s Protection

A young boy was meditating, as he had to wait for the train at a train station. There was also an avidya tantrik waiting there. When the boy finished meditation, the avidya tantrik approached him and began to try to convince him of the benefits of avidya tantra. The boy told him firmly that he already had a great guru. The avidya tantrik felt insulted, and his anger grew all through the train journey. By the time he had reached his destination he had resolved to harm the boy. That evening, he sat in concentration and directed his mental power toward the boy, who was many miles away, sleeping on his bed. The avidya tantrik could see him, but his mental force could not touch the boy - it was as if a shield surrounded him. Then he noticed that at each of the four corners of the bed stood the beautiful figure of a person wearing spectacles. Again he tried to strike at the boy with his mind but failed. Then he understood that this boy was protected by a great power. He was intrigued and humbled.

The following day the avidya tantrik visited the boy´s home, told him of the previous night´s events and begged his forgiveness. The boy asked him to describe in detail the figure which was protecting him. The boy listened to the description, then he told the avidya tantrik, "This is my guru, Baba."

The mystery continues ...

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Avadhutika Anandarama (also known as Didi) is Hungarian born from Slovenia. She was initiated into the meditation of Shrii Shrii Anandamurti in the early seventies when she was a teenager studying education in Berlin, Germany. Soon after that she joined the order of yogic nuns of Ananda Marga and was trained in India. Since that time she has been teaching meditation and yogic lifestyle in many parts of the world. In addition Didi Anandarama has started schools and educational projects in North and Central America, South East Asia, Europe and the Middle East. Since the year 2000 she has been working as a global coordinator in the Neohumanist Education network www.nhe.gurukul.edu which compromises over 1000 schools and children homes worldwide. In 2004 in Croatia, Didi Anandarama initiated the “My First Book” competition for children to write their own story and Illustrate it.  It has become very popular in Croatia where it is known as “Moja Prva Knjiga”, and is now also taking place in Cyprus, Lebanon and Bali. Children write and illustrate their own original stories under any of the following themes: “Love and Care for Nature”, “Children’s Rights”, “The Power of Friendship”, “Life in Peace” and any other story of their creative imagination and fantasy. Prior to this current publishing of Who Can Ride the Tiger, Didi Anandarama has edited and published several educational and children’s books including Neohumanist Education Documentary, Foundations of Neohumanist Education, I Love Yoga, Fairy’s Flowers, Honey Bee and Red Lotus and The Golden Lotus of the Blue Sea.  These books can be found for sale through Ananda Marga Gurukula.

http://gurukul.edu/publication/neohumanist-education/

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“With delicate and charming illustrations as the backdrop, the wondrous stories of the life of P. R. Sarkar unfold.  I laughed and I cried.  For the believer, this book is a blessing.   For those who want to believe, it’s a magical journey.   And for those who cannot believe, it’s the very mystery P. R. Sarkar warned us his life story would be.”

Eric JacobsonDirector of the Progressive School, Long Island, New York, USA

ISBN 978-81-7252-346-6  

WhoCanRideThe

Tiger?Stories ofBaba’s Life

Avadhutika Anandarama Illustrated by Avadhutika Ananda Carushila

Who Can Ride The Tiger? Stories of Baba’s Life