BHAGAVAN

Inspired by the poem ‘ To an Early Violet’ of Swami Vivekananda, and later Sri Ramakrishna, it was not long before Bhagavan met His Guru, Swami Pabitrananda at Ramakrishna Tapovan in Janai, near Kolkata. Swami Pabitrananda was the disciple of Swami Krishnananda, who was in turn initiated by Mother Sarada, the holy consort of Sri Ramakrishna. Employed as He was by the railways in Guwahati, Assam, Bhagavan was not fortunate enough to be able to sit at the feet of His Master and listen to his words. Judging the sharpness of His intellect, however, Swami Pabitrananda started giving discourses on Vedanta to Bhagavan through letters. Bhagavan immersed Himself into the depths of these letters, that contained the essence of the highest of philosophies, Advaita Vedanta(Non Dualism). The letters were later formed into a book called ‘Vedanta Sadhana’ by the International Vedanta Society, and further translated into English, under the name ‘Path To Realization’.

Apart from work, Bhagavan invested all His time and energy in the contemplation of the letters His Master would write to Him. Such was His thirst for the subject, that He would visit the local post office at least once every day to enquire of any letter which may have arrived from His Master, more often than not irritating the post master who wouldn’t understand why someone would come all the way to the post office when all letters would be duly delivered to their respective addresses! Such was His seriousness, that all it took Him was a suggestive letter from His master, in which he had indirectly pointed out that name and fame were barriers to the attainment of Truth, to give up His reputation as a theatre personality, once and forever. (Bhagavan was then a popular director and theatre artist, drawing crowds of thousands, who would gather to watch Him enact His famous plays). Bhagavan would wake up at 2 in the morning everyday to meditate. His process of meditation was that of nipping His thoughts at the very source of their formation with the help of a second thought. This process, which came naturally to Him, is deemed fit only for highly advanced practitioners of meditation. Finally, Bhagavan decided that He wanted to take seven days of casual leave from office, for the sole purpose of His Sadhana. Such was the strength of His will, that these seven days were all He was going to allow Himself to discover the ultimate Truth of existence! And by virtue of His pure intellect and intense love for His Master, Bhagavan attained the highest state of consciousness – The Nirvikalpa Samadhi, on the very third day of his seven days sabbatical. It was the 15 th of December, 1984, which also happened to be the birth anniversary of Holy Mother Sarada, that year. Of His experience Bhagavan wrote in His diary as follows, “As I was gazing at the mind, suddenly both my mind and body vanished. What remained was pure realization- the witness, Consciousness. There was a feeling of pure Bliss. After a while, coming back to my earthly plane, I realized the significance of Sri Thakur’s words- Once a tadpole sheds its tail and becomes a frog it can live either on land or in water.” In the year 1988, the descendence of Mahabhava transformed Bhagavan into a spiritual dynamo, vouchsafing unto Him, the ability to liberate anyone by a mere wish or touch! The International Vedanta Society was formed soon afterwards.

Inspired early on in His life by the ideals of Sri Ramakrishna and Swami Vivekananda, Bhagavan has worked inhumanly hard, twenty four hours a day for the last thirty years, to bring to fruition Swami Vivekananda’s dream- that the knowledge of Vedanta, confined so far within the woods and forests of India, be spread amongst the masses, all over the world. The International Vedanta Society was formed with the objective of providing such a platform where Vedanta could not just be learnt but also realized. Bhagavan meant it to be a society, where no difference whatsoever shall persist between His monastic disciples and householder devotees. This still remains an extraordinary characteristic of the IVS. The free intermingling of different lifestyles, races, colours, castes, and genders, with the sole objective of the realization of God held firmly in mind, has added a rich variety and unique flavour to the practice of Spirituality and religion. Ashrams have been established in different parts of India such as Varanasi, Guwahati, Bongaigaon, Kolkata and many more. The organization has also spread wings around the world, in countries like Spain, Holland and Malaysia.

After his initial visit in 2011, in response to the sincere prayers of His devotees living overseas, Bhagavan, for a second time set foot in Europe on the 24th of August, 2015. Hundreds of well-wishers from across the world had gathered in Netherlands waiting in anticipation to greet their Lord. Spain, Germany, Switzerland and Italy were the other places that Bhagavan visited. Devotees were swept away by a tsunami of love, and many of them entered the realm of spiritual experience by the grace of Bhagavan. The event was widely publicized by local dailies and T.V channels of the respective regions, where Bhagavan was hailed as the “ New-age Jesus Christ”. This tour not only forms a landmark in the history of IVS, but also marks a milestone in the civilization of the whole of India.