Navarathri Programme -8-10-2010

Reminiscences

A gentleman came and stayed at Gondavale to acquire love for God. Two months passed well. Then one day there was an altercation with the priest on a trivial matter and he had to listen to very bitter words. Thinking that he had been needlessly insulted, and that there was no point in continuing to stay there, he decided to leave Gondavale and return to his village. He went to ShriMaharaj in order to apprise him of his intention. As soon as he saw him, ShriMaharaj said, "One plants a variety of flower - plants. There are many types amongst them such as marigolds, daffodils, zinnias, roses. Plants like a rose plant being of importance amongst them, one feeds it the best dung- manure. What if the rose plant were to complain why it alone was being fed the nauseous ma­nure ? Attainment of love for God is valuable like a rose plant If one wants it to bear the flower of love, then pride and ego have to be destroyed, for which the manure of insults has to be fed. This is the dung-manure So if an occasion arises to face an insult, swallow it, taking it to be an occurrence of God's grace. Nama helps one do it. The gentleman was convinced by the reasoning, and cancelled his plan to leave.

Reminiscences

While talking with ShriMaharaj, Chintubuwa once said, ''Maharaj, I want to ask you for favours.' ShriMaharaj said, 'Go ahead. If Rama wills, can there be anything difficult for Him ?' Chintubuwa said, 'Firstly, my death should take place in Gondavale; and secondly, that every year a thousand persons be dined on the day of my death.*' The intention in asking for this was, to ensure that his descendants should remain accordingly wealthy. On hear­ing the request ShriMaharaj said, 'Rama will grant your wish !'

Chintubuwa's end came in Gondavale seven years af­ter ShriMaharaj cast off his body. That year had an intercalary month** of Margashirsha. He died on the tenth day of the dark fortnight of the month. As this was an intercalary month, there was no interruption in the cel­ebrations of Shri Maharaj's death anniversary on the same day of Margashirsha; and from then onwards Chintubuwa's death anniversary fell every year on the day of celebrations of ShriMaharaj's death anniversary, and dining of over a thousand people would positively take place on that day.

* day of death every year -   shraddhatithi ,  the death anniversary of a person when a ceremony is observed by his descendants, offering gifts and food made to relations and Brahmins.

**intercalary month - adhikamaas - an intercalary month formed of the aggregate days omitted in reckoning the lunar year. (Thus every three years, the lunar calendar is brought up with the solar.)

Reminiscences

While talking about death- at- will, ShriMaharaj said, "One who says that he will abandon his body only when he wills, disregarding the natural order, is not an ichchhamarani. * Only a person who has merged his will with God's should be called ichchhamarani. Whenever God sends for him, looking upon that as also his own wish, he gladly abandons the body. In truth, he has com­pletely parted from his body at the very moment his con­sciousness of his body has completely vanished. This is exactly what TukaramMaharaj describes in the line 'With mine own eyes have I seen my death.' When conscious­ness of one's body has disappeared, he is left with no attachment for the body. That is, he becomes an Ichchhamarani. This is accomplished by nama."

*Ichchhamarani - One who can die only when he wills it.

Reminiscences

A gentleman in the dairy business asked, 'What should be the proportion between wordly business and sadhana for the attainment of God ?' ShriMaharaj said in reply, "When milking, you take a little water in the milk - pot to wet the teats. After milking is done you pour the milk in all the milk pots into a large vessel. To remove the milk remaining in every milk pot, you rinse it with a little water. It is proper to maintain a similar proportion of business of life to Sadhana for attainment of God.

Reminiscences

A doctor explained his problem to ShriMaharaj thus : "Sometimes a patient, on reading an advertisement or on the advice of his relatives, demands, by himself, 'Doctor, give me this medicine or injection.' It is not possible to decide upon the action without a proper examination of the patient. Quite often it is also not advisable to pre­scribe the particular medicine he asks for. What should one do  under these circumstances  ?" Upon this ShriMaharaj said, "There are three reasons why a pa­tient recovers. One, the coming to an end of the effect of what he was destined to suffer; two, the effect of the medi­cine; and three, the faith the patient has in the doctor and the medicine. Of these, no one knows what he was destined to suffer. As regards faith, the patient generally comes with it. It is not correct for one  pointlessly to of­fend or disregard it. What is left is the property of the . medicine. If it appears to be clearly harmful, refuse to give that medicine. If there is not going to do any harm, do as the patient desires. It is not impossible that his faith itself may bring about recovery. But tell me, what is the proportion of such patients ?" The doctor said that such persons are about five to ten per cent of his patients. Smiling a little, ShriMaharaj said, "You are fed up with only this much ! Then what should I do ? Amongst the persons coming to me, this proportion is exactly the re­verse. Ninety to ninety- five per cent persons bring with them a worldly wish or problem, and expect that I should confirm what they have in their mind. Now what I do is that I first tell them what I honestly feel they should do. But if it seems that someone is doggedly holding on to his opinion or wish, then I am compelled to say, vaguely, "Try doing that'. It is obvious that his destiny is dragging him. Realizing that all this is a display of God's doings and the illusory world, I do not let my mind be affected by either joy or sorrow."

Sri Brahmananda Maharaj's Aradhana (7-10-2010), in Chinthamani

ಚಿಂತಾಮಣಿಯ ಶ್ರೀ ಬ್ರಹ್ಮಚೈತನ್ಯ ಶ್ರೀ ರಾಮ ಮಂದಿರದಲ್ಲಿ ಶ್ರೀ ಬ್ರಹ್ಮಾನಂದ ಮಹಾರಾಜರ ಆರಾಧನೆ ಪ್ರಾತಃಕಾಲ ೫-೩೦ ಕ್ಕೆ ಕಾಕದಾರತಿ ಯಿಂದ ಪ್ರಾರಂಭವಾಗಿ ವಿಶೇಷ ಪೂಜಾದಿಗಲೊಡನೆ ಜರುಗಿತು. ಸಂಜೆ ಶ್ರೀ ಜಿ.ಹೆಚ್. ವೆಂಕಟೇಶ್ ಮೂರ್ತಿ ರವರಿಂದ ಶ್ರೀ ಬ್ರಹ್ಮಾನಂದ ಮಹಾರಾಜರನ್ನು ಕುರಿತು ಉಪನ್ಯಾಸ ಜರುಗಿತು. ಶ್ರೀ ಬ್ರಹ್ಮಾನಂದರು ರಚಿಸಿದ ಹಲವು ಭಜನೆಗಳನ್ನು ಹೇಳಿದರು.