[My first visit to Banagram Ashram]
Many people may wonder why there is not the name of ‘Jagu Ma'(Jagadishwari, the sister of Murari maharaj) in the celibate’s list ! Then Jagudi had not come either. May be she used to go to the Ashram, but she did not live permanently then. Within a year or two, when the first kitchen(earthen) of the Banagram Ashram was built – I had seen Jagudi to take charge of the kitchen since then. That earthen kitchen (asbestos roof) was made at the eastern side of the Guru Maharaj’s kuthia (where sitting takes place now) i.e opposite side of the road which led to the Sadhana Bhaban ( The road is still now). Then a tubewell was set up and a mango tree was planted there. And there was a yard in the south side of the kitchen.This yard was neat and clean. Beside this yard, there was the muddy road which led to the Beltala i.e Samadhi Mandir now (The road is still now – then muddy, now concrete). Then, everyone would have sat there(in the yard) and used to eat. However, in the rainy season, the lunch or dinner had to be eaten inside the ‘chala’ of the kitchen, because there was no shed on the yard ground. Many times it happened that when we had to sit down to eat in the ‘chala’, we got wet during the rainy season or sometimes our back side got wet due to rain while eating .
Then I would see Reena ( Batu khuro’s daughter)from samanti wearing a white dress and taking care of the kitchen (before Jaguma and later with Jaguma). I used to think, this girl might also be a celibate but actually she was not. She used to walk through the field everyday to reach Banagram Ashram in the morning and return to Samanti village(about 3 km distance) just before dusk. In that new kitchen, a ‘shed’ was later set up to the east – where two large ovens were dug for cooking with the wooden fuels. At this time Gobindada of Malatipur near Dhatrigram took charge of cooking.His story can be told later.
Now let’s come back to that very incident when I was talking to Nagen at the floor of that banyan tree.
Nagen said – “I don’t know if Baba Thakur (Guru Maharaj) is God himself or not but I can say–He is a great Yogi – great man.” I said – “How did you understand that?” He told – “I have found evidence of this in various incidents ! I have been watching him since the day He first came to Banagram. The day He danced to the beat of dhak(a kind of musical instrument) all over the village of Banagram with ‘Buroma'(Ganguli’s Mother), I was also dancing next to Him that day. What a dance it was ! It seemed as if lord Shiva himself was dancing ! Nothing could stop him — The drummers were tired – they were not able to play it anymore. But he was not tired ! That day, all the villagers realized that He was not an ordinary man! ”
—- ” Did you understand that just by watching the dance or did you see something else? ” again I asked.
Nagen said – “Didn’t I see? How many things happened with me ! Once in the rainy season, while staying at Bamun bari (Mukherjeeji’s house) in the evening, it was raining heavily . After a long time ,it stopped to rain. Then after passing through the Kali temple and going down the road towards the Ashram, from where the Hari’s houses (the houses on the right side of the road – their title was Hazra, that’s why the villagers called them ‘Hari’) started, there was a knee-high mud, due to rain. And the mud was so sticky that it was difficult to get out if the foot got in ! So – that day along with Baba Thakur (Guru Maharaj), I left Bamun bari and took that path after it stopped to rain. I didn’t have shoes on my feet but Baba Thakur had. Going to that muddy road – I thought, may be this time He will take off His shoes. But, He did not slip over the mud in spite of wearing the shoes and passed through in a strange way !
Somehow I managed to run through the mud and grabbed Guru Maharaj. That place was quite high, that’s why I was able to run and grab Him. I went to Him and saw that there was no mud in His shoes ! I was astonished and said, ‘Baba! How’s that possible? I was hardly able getting my feet out of the mud, so why didn’t your shoes get a little bit of mud !!! ??’
Guru Maharaj said __ ‘Oh, well ! You have noticed it? In fact, there is a yoga-way to do it. If you learn it, you can do it too !’
After saying this, Nagen stopped for a moment, after then he began to say again, “That day I realized that Guru Maharaj was an absolute yogi, a great man !!”
____ “But how can be decided by anyone, just looking at that one or two incidents ??” – I asked.
Nagen kept saying again, “No…no, why will one or two incidents be ! All His works are full of miracles !! His every step, demeanor, action is all superhuman like!!! ”
Nagen, the young villager, was saying these things to me and I was listening to all that – like, I was swallowing it whole !! That lonely night ___it seemed as if the whole world has fallen asleep – Only the two of us are whispering ! Sometimes I thought that if He (Guruji) is really listening to us – from his room, from the depths of his sleep?? It seemed like it would be nice if he could really hear ! Let Him know that I am doing so much research on Him ___ Let Him know that I am no longer so skeptical, let Him know that I am also almost a devotee of Him.
____ However, I asked Nagen the same thing again i.e I told him to say something more. Nagen’s energy level was extreme!! He was not being bothered. So he started saying again __ “Once Guruji said to me_Nagen, have you ever seen a ‘Pretjoni’ (ghost)? I said, ‘no’. He said, ‘Do you want to see?’ I said that __ if you show – then why not??
That evening at Bamun bari (Mukherjee’s house) also Guru Maharaj told various ghost stories. The next evening when I was returning from Jabuidanga__ After passing through the Shantikanan Ashram(an orphanage), I saw a bush on the bank of the pond and I was thinking about to sit down to defecate ! At the time of doing this I heard a scary sound ‘u-hu-hu-hu’. That time my toilet was beyond my head hearing this creepy sound and I jumped up. I rolled up my pants and ran away’.(Later Guru Maharaj showed Nagen a real ghost. Then the ‘Charaibeti’ mud house was already built. That story will be told another day).[to be continued..]
[Translated by Rajarsi Basak,a student of class Ten of Dhatrigram and corrected by Ramprasad, a former student of Banagram Ashram.]
Many people may wonder why there is not the name of ‘Jagu Ma'(Jagadishwari, the sister of Murari maharaj) in the celibate’s list ! Then Jagudi had not come either. May be she used to go to the Ashram, but she did not live permanently then. Within a year or two, when the first kitchen(earthen) of the Banagram Ashram was built – I had seen Jagudi to take charge of the kitchen since then. That earthen kitchen (asbestos roof) was made at the eastern side of the Guru Maharaj’s kuthia (where sitting takes place now) i.e opposite side of the road which led to the Sadhana Bhaban ( The road is still now). Then a tubewell was set up and a mango tree was planted there. And there was a yard in the south side of the kitchen.This yard was neat and clean. Beside this yard, there was the muddy road which led to the Beltala i.e Samadhi Mandir now (The road is still now – then muddy, now concrete). Then, everyone would have sat there(in the yard) and used to eat. However, in the rainy season, the lunch or dinner had to be eaten inside the ‘chala’ of the kitchen, because there was no shed on the yard ground. Many times it happened that when we had to sit down to eat in the ‘chala’, we got wet during the rainy season or sometimes our back side got wet due to rain while eating .
Then I would see Reena ( Batu khuro’s daughter)from samanti wearing a white dress and taking care of the kitchen (before Jaguma and later with Jaguma). I used to think, this girl might also be a celibate but actually she was not. She used to walk through the field everyday to reach Banagram Ashram in the morning and return to Samanti village(about 3 km distance) just before dusk. In that new kitchen, a ‘shed’ was later set up to the east – where two large ovens were dug for cooking with the wooden fuels. At this time Gobindada of Malatipur near Dhatrigram took charge of cooking.His story can be told later.
Now let’s come back to that very incident when I was talking to Nagen at the floor of that banyan tree.
Nagen said – “I don’t know if Baba Thakur (Guru Maharaj) is God himself or not but I can say–He is a great Yogi – great man.” I said – “How did you understand that?” He told – “I have found evidence of this in various incidents ! I have been watching him since the day He first came to Banagram. The day He danced to the beat of dhak(a kind of musical instrument) all over the village of Banagram with ‘Buroma'(Ganguli’s Mother), I was also dancing next to Him that day. What a dance it was ! It seemed as if lord Shiva himself was dancing ! Nothing could stop him — The drummers were tired – they were not able to play it anymore. But he was not tired ! That day, all the villagers realized that He was not an ordinary man! ”
—- ” Did you understand that just by watching the dance or did you see something else? ” again I asked.
Nagen said – “Didn’t I see? How many things happened with me ! Once in the rainy season, while staying at Bamun bari (Mukherjeeji’s house) in the evening, it was raining heavily . After a long time ,it stopped to rain. Then after passing through the Kali temple and going down the road towards the Ashram, from where the Hari’s houses (the houses on the right side of the road – their title was Hazra, that’s why the villagers called them ‘Hari’) started, there was a knee-high mud, due to rain. And the mud was so sticky that it was difficult to get out if the foot got in ! So – that day along with Baba Thakur (Guru Maharaj), I left Bamun bari and took that path after it stopped to rain. I didn’t have shoes on my feet but Baba Thakur had. Going to that muddy road – I thought, may be this time He will take off His shoes. But, He did not slip over the mud in spite of wearing the shoes and passed through in a strange way !
Somehow I managed to run through the mud and grabbed Guru Maharaj. That place was quite high, that’s why I was able to run and grab Him. I went to Him and saw that there was no mud in His shoes ! I was astonished and said, ‘Baba! How’s that possible? I was hardly able getting my feet out of the mud, so why didn’t your shoes get a little bit of mud !!! ??’
Guru Maharaj said __ ‘Oh, well ! You have noticed it? In fact, there is a yoga-way to do it. If you learn it, you can do it too !’
After saying this, Nagen stopped for a moment, after then he began to say again, “That day I realized that Guru Maharaj was an absolute yogi, a great man !!”
____ “But how can be decided by anyone, just looking at that one or two incidents ??” – I asked.
Nagen kept saying again, “No…no, why will one or two incidents be ! All His works are full of miracles !! His every step, demeanor, action is all superhuman like!!! ”
Nagen, the young villager, was saying these things to me and I was listening to all that – like, I was swallowing it whole !! That lonely night ___it seemed as if the whole world has fallen asleep – Only the two of us are whispering ! Sometimes I thought that if He (Guruji) is really listening to us – from his room, from the depths of his sleep?? It seemed like it would be nice if he could really hear ! Let Him know that I am doing so much research on Him ___ Let Him know that I am no longer so skeptical, let Him know that I am also almost a devotee of Him.
____ However, I asked Nagen the same thing again i.e I told him to say something more. Nagen’s energy level was extreme!! He was not being bothered. So he started saying again __ “Once Guruji said to me_Nagen, have you ever seen a ‘Pretjoni’ (ghost)? I said, ‘no’. He said, ‘Do you want to see?’ I said that __ if you show – then why not??
That evening at Bamun bari (Mukherjee’s house) also Guru Maharaj told various ghost stories. The next evening when I was returning from Jabuidanga__ After passing through the Shantikanan Ashram(an orphanage), I saw a bush on the bank of the pond and I was thinking about to sit down to defecate ! At the time of doing this I heard a scary sound ‘u-hu-hu-hu’. That time my toilet was beyond my head hearing this creepy sound and I jumped up. I rolled up my pants and ran away’.(Later Guru Maharaj showed Nagen a real ghost. Then the ‘Charaibeti’ mud house was already built. That story will be told another day).[to be continued..]
[Translated by Rajarsi Basak,a student of class Ten of Dhatrigram and corrected by Ramprasad, a former student of Banagram Ashram.]