[The story of Bhonteda…]
I shall end the story of Bhonteda today. But one point struck in my mind to tell the story of Bhonteda.It is how much torture a bhagaban tolerates in his life! All the devotees are not pure minded. There are regal and lazy devotees also. In this context, I can remember Nimaida of Makra. Once one Monday of the Bengali month ‘Shraban’, Nimaida brought a jar filled with the water of the holy river ‘Ganges’ to pour it on the head of Guru Maharaj thinking him Lord ‘Shib’ ! Guruji was then in the sitting. Nimaida asked Guruji to come down from his seat and then he wished he will pour the Ganges water on the head of Guruji ! At first, we all present in the sitting thought the matter casually. But we noticed the more Guruji requested him not to do so the more Nimaida became aggressive. Guru Maharaj told Nimaida – ” Hey Nimai, you wish to make me happy. Is it so? Ok, I bless you. Now, take the jar off from your head, change your dress and go to the kitchen to eat something or you wash my feet with the water of Ganges.But, alas! Nimaida paid no attention to Guruji’s words. He must pour the Ganges water on Guruji’s head ! At last, Murari Maharaj and some devotees took Nimaida to the office forcibly.
Again we come back to the story of Bhonteda. One day Bhonteda said to us, ” Hey, all of you have been initiated by Guru Maharaj but what you have done taking initiation from him? I am not like yours. I strickly practice teachings taken from my Gurudeb Swami Paramananda.You will get spiritual treasure automatically if you strictly practice the teachings which Guru Maharaj gave you during initiation. Guruji has given me ‘Brahma Yoni Mudra’. ‘Brahma Yoni Mudra’ – Have you understood? It means to shut the nine holes of your body. Wait, I am showing this to you” – saying so, he sat on the bedstead quickly and sat in ‘Gomukhasan’ lifting his clothes. Then he said- “Look, I shut the anus hole with my left ankle. After this I shut the penis hole with the help of my right leg and I shut the two ear holes with the two thumb fingers, the two eyes with the two index fingers , the two nostrils with the two middle fingers and the mouth with my pinky fingers, simultaneously also. It was done! This time I inhaled ‘pran bayu’ from my navel forcibly but I shall exhale not at all ! Now you see, bayu wiil go in which direction? If bayu does not get its way it will manage its route opening the ‘Sushumna path’, absolutely ! Then, did you all Understand? I practice it every night and after some time, I can hear a peculiar sound ! It is like the hissing sound of a snake !!” What a funny man Bhonteda was!
Behold, our Guru was Swami Paramananda.The name means “Param Ananda” i.e. Absolute bliss. “I’m here(this world) to get enjoyment and to give it to others,”__ He used to say. He always tried to uplift the consciousness of man. But He knew that even if the outer look of a common man showed good but the inside was burning in grievance. People can’t laugh openly, they forget to rejoice____So, He wanted the people to be happy as long as they were sitting in front of Him. Very often He would choose some of people from sitting and let them tell various funny stories (Bhonteda, Nagen, Banerjee Babu of Durgapur etc). Nagen (Nagendranath Mandal of Banagram) was the best in this regard ! Nagen’s performance will come back again and again because he has a lot of experiences with Guru Maharaj.
Now we shall come back to the rest of the story of Bhonteda. Bhonteda took initiation from Guruji and began to practice His teachings heartily .As a result of that there would be Kulakundalini’s action inside Bhonteda’s body that time . He told us about his the then condition ! He told that when the wind(pran-apan bayu) came out after doing ‘Kumbhok’, it would sound like the ‘hissing’ sound of a snake ! However, off and on when Bhonteda would go to the ashram a little early in the morning, Guru Maharaj would remind him of some incidents of his earlier life and ask him to tell those incidents to everyone present there. Bhonteda would have agreed to Guru Maharaj. He would jump up and started talking.
[Conversation between Guru Maharaj and Bhonteda would be like that______]
____ Bhonte! Did you do “left(communist) politics” during the United Front and looted the landlord’s house to distribute foodgrains to the poors? Then tell everyone about that incident!
___ (Bhonteda Stands up) Yes, I was then the leader of Memari Area Action Squad of left front ! My name was at the top of the police register ! A ‘warrant’ came out about my name “THE MOST WANTED & DANGEROUS PERSON OF MEMARI P. S.”
___ Yes all right. Now tell the real story.
___ That time at one of my calls, two or four hundred Santals or members of our party would come to my side. We decided that the rice would be looted from the richest house in our area and distributed to the destitutes.
The action took place the very next day. We were ready, they(members of the rich families) were also ready after getting the news ! I was in the leading front among us in this operation, with a tin shield and a halberd in my hand and a few hundred armed forces with axes, swords, bows and arrows etc. behind me ! In one order of me a large number of arrows would be thrown away !
At half past seven in the morning ___ we were crawling forward, suddenly a shot was fired at my tin shield and it sounded like “thang” ! After then bullets were fired continuously one after another for some time ! They(the members of the rich families) had two or three guns. At first we retreated a little then.As soon as the sound of gunfire from their side subsided, we entered the house from all around crossing the wall, sounding “ha_re_re_re”!! At the very first time I saw the eldest son of the house standing in front of me, with a gun in his hand, and trembling in fear ! I snatched his gun and hit him on the head with the opposite side of the gun ! He fell down with one hit. Then with the reverse side of an axe, I struck several blows on his knees ! The knee was broken sounding like “motas”!! Then I grabbed the leg and turned it upside down and saw it swaying !
– In this situation you test this and see if it is broken???
_____ Yes, why not ?? Snakes and rich people shouldn’t be believed ! Then my men tied up everyone in the house and looted all the rice. I gave all the people a sack of rice!
Bhonteda was describing the incident in such a way that everyone present was surprised ! All of them were smiling and Guru Maharaj himself was enjoying this with a smile by pressing his finger on his face !
Is it a less matter of giving joy to God himself (Swami Paramananda)! I pay my respects to those people who gave that Great Man a little bit of enjoyment !
[Translated by Rajarsi Basak, a student of class Ten of Dhatrigram and corrected by Ramprasad, a former student of Banagram Ashram.]
I shall end the story of Bhonteda today. But one point struck in my mind to tell the story of Bhonteda.It is how much torture a bhagaban tolerates in his life! All the devotees are not pure minded. There are regal and lazy devotees also. In this context, I can remember Nimaida of Makra. Once one Monday of the Bengali month ‘Shraban’, Nimaida brought a jar filled with the water of the holy river ‘Ganges’ to pour it on the head of Guru Maharaj thinking him Lord ‘Shib’ ! Guruji was then in the sitting. Nimaida asked Guruji to come down from his seat and then he wished he will pour the Ganges water on the head of Guruji ! At first, we all present in the sitting thought the matter casually. But we noticed the more Guruji requested him not to do so the more Nimaida became aggressive. Guru Maharaj told Nimaida – ” Hey Nimai, you wish to make me happy. Is it so? Ok, I bless you. Now, take the jar off from your head, change your dress and go to the kitchen to eat something or you wash my feet with the water of Ganges.But, alas! Nimaida paid no attention to Guruji’s words. He must pour the Ganges water on Guruji’s head ! At last, Murari Maharaj and some devotees took Nimaida to the office forcibly.
Again we come back to the story of Bhonteda. One day Bhonteda said to us, ” Hey, all of you have been initiated by Guru Maharaj but what you have done taking initiation from him? I am not like yours. I strickly practice teachings taken from my Gurudeb Swami Paramananda.You will get spiritual treasure automatically if you strictly practice the teachings which Guru Maharaj gave you during initiation. Guruji has given me ‘Brahma Yoni Mudra’. ‘Brahma Yoni Mudra’ – Have you understood? It means to shut the nine holes of your body. Wait, I am showing this to you” – saying so, he sat on the bedstead quickly and sat in ‘Gomukhasan’ lifting his clothes. Then he said- “Look, I shut the anus hole with my left ankle. After this I shut the penis hole with the help of my right leg and I shut the two ear holes with the two thumb fingers, the two eyes with the two index fingers , the two nostrils with the two middle fingers and the mouth with my pinky fingers, simultaneously also. It was done! This time I inhaled ‘pran bayu’ from my navel forcibly but I shall exhale not at all ! Now you see, bayu wiil go in which direction? If bayu does not get its way it will manage its route opening the ‘Sushumna path’, absolutely ! Then, did you all Understand? I practice it every night and after some time, I can hear a peculiar sound ! It is like the hissing sound of a snake !!” What a funny man Bhonteda was!
Behold, our Guru was Swami Paramananda.The name means “Param Ananda” i.e. Absolute bliss. “I’m here(this world) to get enjoyment and to give it to others,”__ He used to say. He always tried to uplift the consciousness of man. But He knew that even if the outer look of a common man showed good but the inside was burning in grievance. People can’t laugh openly, they forget to rejoice____So, He wanted the people to be happy as long as they were sitting in front of Him. Very often He would choose some of people from sitting and let them tell various funny stories (Bhonteda, Nagen, Banerjee Babu of Durgapur etc). Nagen (Nagendranath Mandal of Banagram) was the best in this regard ! Nagen’s performance will come back again and again because he has a lot of experiences with Guru Maharaj.
Now we shall come back to the rest of the story of Bhonteda. Bhonteda took initiation from Guruji and began to practice His teachings heartily .As a result of that there would be Kulakundalini’s action inside Bhonteda’s body that time . He told us about his the then condition ! He told that when the wind(pran-apan bayu) came out after doing ‘Kumbhok’, it would sound like the ‘hissing’ sound of a snake ! However, off and on when Bhonteda would go to the ashram a little early in the morning, Guru Maharaj would remind him of some incidents of his earlier life and ask him to tell those incidents to everyone present there. Bhonteda would have agreed to Guru Maharaj. He would jump up and started talking.
[Conversation between Guru Maharaj and Bhonteda would be like that______]
____ Bhonte! Did you do “left(communist) politics” during the United Front and looted the landlord’s house to distribute foodgrains to the poors? Then tell everyone about that incident!
___ (Bhonteda Stands up) Yes, I was then the leader of Memari Area Action Squad of left front ! My name was at the top of the police register ! A ‘warrant’ came out about my name “THE MOST WANTED & DANGEROUS PERSON OF MEMARI P. S.”
___ Yes all right. Now tell the real story.
___ That time at one of my calls, two or four hundred Santals or members of our party would come to my side. We decided that the rice would be looted from the richest house in our area and distributed to the destitutes.
The action took place the very next day. We were ready, they(members of the rich families) were also ready after getting the news ! I was in the leading front among us in this operation, with a tin shield and a halberd in my hand and a few hundred armed forces with axes, swords, bows and arrows etc. behind me ! In one order of me a large number of arrows would be thrown away !
At half past seven in the morning ___ we were crawling forward, suddenly a shot was fired at my tin shield and it sounded like “thang” ! After then bullets were fired continuously one after another for some time ! They(the members of the rich families) had two or three guns. At first we retreated a little then.As soon as the sound of gunfire from their side subsided, we entered the house from all around crossing the wall, sounding “ha_re_re_re”!! At the very first time I saw the eldest son of the house standing in front of me, with a gun in his hand, and trembling in fear ! I snatched his gun and hit him on the head with the opposite side of the gun ! He fell down with one hit. Then with the reverse side of an axe, I struck several blows on his knees ! The knee was broken sounding like “motas”!! Then I grabbed the leg and turned it upside down and saw it swaying !
– In this situation you test this and see if it is broken???
_____ Yes, why not ?? Snakes and rich people shouldn’t be believed ! Then my men tied up everyone in the house and looted all the rice. I gave all the people a sack of rice!
Bhonteda was describing the incident in such a way that everyone present was surprised ! All of them were smiling and Guru Maharaj himself was enjoying this with a smile by pressing his finger on his face !
Is it a less matter of giving joy to God himself (Swami Paramananda)! I pay my respects to those people who gave that Great Man a little bit of enjoyment !
[Translated by Rajarsi Basak, a student of class Ten of Dhatrigram and corrected by Ramprasad, a former student of Banagram Ashram.]