FOREST FEAST AND THE FESTIVAL OF
DURGA AGAIN
1.
Morton School. It is evening. M. is seated in a chair on the roof facing north. The devotees are sitting in the front on benches on three sides the Younger Jiten, the Younger Ramesh and so on.
Today it is 3rd October, 1924, 17th of Ashwin, 1331 (B.Y.), Friday, the 5th day of the bright fortnight, 23 Dandas/48 Palas, to be followed by Shashthi.
Devi Paksha. Today it is the Mother’s Shashthi Puja. M. is happy like a child on the coming of the Mother. His eyes are brimming with joy, his face so joyful!
As soon as the light is brought in, M. meditates. After a while, he sends Vinay to Kali Singh’s street to have the darshan of the idol and the puja of the Vilva Shashthi. As soon as the big drum is sounded, a wave of joy begins to play in M.’s mind. After a while, M. stands up. He is to go with the Doctor in his car to have the darshan of Shashthi Bodhan. Some of the bhaktas keep sitting while others leave for the darshan of the idol.
It is 9 p.m. M. has returned. He is seated in the eastern part of the veranda on the second level on a bench towards north-east, facing south. The Doctor and Amrit are seated on a southern bench facing north, while the Younger Jiten, Jagabandhu and others are seated on a bench to the west of the door, facing south.
M. remains silent for a while. Thereafter, he resumes his talk.
M. (to the devotees) This very Mother (Durga) used to assume a form and always talk to Thakur in Dakshineswar. Thakur prayed for a bhakta (M.) one day, ‘Mother, please show this world-bewitching form to him at least once.’
"This mother is the Mother of the universe Brahmashakti. She is the object of Gayatri. Today, the idol of this very Mother is being worshipped in every house. She is the same as the Mother Bhavatarini of Dakshineswar. And then, she has come as a human being as our Holy Mother (Sri Sarada Devi).
"Oh, what lilas did Thakur enact with the Mother of the Universe in Dakshineswar! How much fun, how much reverence, pride and joy then!
"Sometimes he said that he was the incarnation of Adya Shakti (Primordial Force). Who can understand this mystery? He was himself the Mother as well as the son. She, who is the Mother is also the son. And then, he himself said, ‘Brahman and Shakti (Power) are indivisible.’ This riddle cannot be solved without it being revealed. Brahman, Shakti, avatara and bhakta all the four are one, one in four. They, however, are separate during the lila.
"Dakshineswar is the field of his lila. Why does man not go there? There is no place like that in the world today. The greatest of all pilgrimages! Every grain of dust there is holy the path, the ghat all holy. The trees and the creepers are holy the house, the building, the men holy. The whole environment is holy. With the holy divine advent of the Lord, all these are awake, alive; all holy and illumined.
"These who go there get the influence of these living harmonic atoms on their mind. The sum of these atoms is the mind subtle atoms. The body above it is the karana sharira the causal body. This is yet formed by the atoms more subtle, more holy, more permanent compared to it. Thakur used to call it bhagavati-tanu. This very bhagavati-tanu wakes up by the contact of the holy, powerful, divine atoms. The Dakshineswar temple is all full of this rare unearthly matter, and till another avatara comes, it remains the king of all places of pilgrimage."
M. thinks for a long time. Then, he again showers the Kathamrita.
M. (to the devotees) But when you go there, you should think over it deeply. Otherwise, the traditional reverence for it is lost. What happened the other day is coming to my mind. I was guilty of a big mistake.
"If you want to celebrate a joyous festival there, you have first to take the consent of Ramalal Dada. You have to please him with devotion, faith and food the guru’s son, as he is. He is the son of Thakur’s middle brother Rameswar. Moreover, he is Thakur’s attendant. Besides, he continues to be the chief priest of the Mother Bhavatarini till today.
"Then you must render service to Thakur’s sadhus. You should invite the sadhus of the Math, Udbodhan, Advaita Ashrama and so on.
"How ashamed of myself I was at the time of meals on that day! Ramalal Dada was sitting that day close-by. Even so, I was able to do a little by worshipping him with fruit, sweets, food-grain etc. and sweet words. Pleasing him is the main thing.
"Such is this business of rituals. If one has to feed the Devi, one should first feed the devotees in Her retinue. Haven’t you seen during Durga Puja? They first feed the mouse, the owl, the peacock and the ghosts and then they feed the Devi.
"If you wish to celebrate anything in Dakshineswar, you must first consult them. Leaving them out is like performing a yajna without Shiva.
"It you wish to do anything there, if you are arranging a feast, you must tell them first. You have satisfy them first."
Amrit Then we have committed a big mistake this time. Besides, we know nothing.
Dr. Bakshi We had no programme to hold it in that way. It just happened.
Mohan Then you did not tell us everything. Then you said that by cooking and eating there, every article of that place goes into the memory by knowing them better and by seeing them again and again. From memory, they go into the mind. So, it was that we arranged that forest feast.
Antevasi Suppose I go, cook and eat food there at this time, shall I have to follow the same conduct?
M. No, not then. It you consult them and then arrange anything big, you have to do like that. Two of you may go, cook and eat. If you have to consult them or if you wish to celebrate, then you have to do like that.
M. rises. Going to the staircase, he stands and begins to praise a bhakta. He lives in Dakshineswar by begging.
M. (to the devotees) He is a lucky person. Besides, to live in such a place!
Antevasi and the Younger Jiten He has been doing so since his birth.
M. Wait a bit. He will defeat you all. He is memorising the Veda. How many people do so after their B.A., M.A. and reading a little?
A Young Man Why should we read the Veda? We have heard such easy words of Thakur which is all the essence of the Vedas.
M. (laughing) Well, well, there is no need to raise this topic now.
10 p.m. The bhaktas offers pranam and depart.
2.
Belur Math, the Durga festival. It is Mahashtami today. M. has come to the Math to have darshan of the Mother and to worship Her. Today, it is 5th October, 1924. As instructed by M., the devotees of the Morton School are to live in the Belur Math from the 4th to the 7th October to celebrate the puja. Living with the sadhus, they are rendering service to the Mother day and night.
A mandap has been constructed with the Hogla plant in the middle of Thakur temple and the Math building. The inside of the mandap has been decorated with multi-coloured cloth. Mother Durga has her idol made of clay. The Mother sits facing south in the mandap with Lakshmi, Sarasvati, Kartik and Ganesha. In front of the image a brahmachari is offering worship. And an experienced sannyasin seated beside him, is acting as the tantra-dharaka. He is directing the priest in his puja and reads the mantras etc. The priest offers incense, flower, dhup, dip (earthen lamp) and other articles of the ritual along with his mantras to the Mother and Her retinue. In between, one hears the sounds of the conch-shell, gong and so on. Not far the musicians are playing on the shehnayi and the drum. The whole atmosphere of the Math is filled with the fragrance of the burning incense and the music of the instruments.
It is Mahashtami today. So, there is a big crowd. The devotees are coming in groups in their best dresses. At places they are singing loudly to please the Mother. For these days, the kitchen of the Math is open to public.
Sitting in the south-eastern corner of the mandap, M. has darshan of the deity and Her puja. After a while, he goes around the Math with many bhaktas. He offers pranam and has darshan first in Thakur’s temple and then one by one, of Swami Vivekananda’s room, Swami Brahmananda’s shrine, the Holy Mother’s shrine and Swami Vivekananda’s shrine. Now he is again in the Holy Mother’s shrine.
Here, Miss McLeod, the unique loving brahmacharini lady from America, comes and joins M. Many sadhus and devotees have assembled already. M. sits on his haunches facing north in front of the Mother’s temple near the grove of Devadarus. Miss McLeod takes her seat in front of M., facing south. Some of the sadhus and bhaktas sit there, some stand there and have darshan of the great spiritual man. M. talks happily on many topics with brahmacharini McLeod. All of a sudden, M. offers pranam to Miss McLeod by prostrating on the ground. Feeling so much embarrassed, Miss McLeod asking his pardon in a loud pleading tone says humbly, ‘O! O! What do you do, Mr. M? You are Sri Ramakrishna’s son.’
M. says reverentially in a calm voice, "The Mother of the universe, who is being worshipped in the image over there, the very same Mother, I am worshipping here in this human form. The same blissful Mother is flowing before us the Ganga. And here again, She is in the temple as the Holy Mother. You are the guardian-angle of us all."
A bhakta says to himself: Why has this spiritual man offered his pranam by lying on the ground to Miss McLeod who is but a disciple? Undoubtedly, it is for our training. Not realising her real self, we do not show proper regard to her. We cannot give her due respect. M. comes to know of it from our conduct and talk. So, perhaps, he forces us to see and tells us without speaking, ‘She is a goddess, not a human being.’
Reason? He always says to the devotees, "These ladies are none else but the love-lorn cow-herdesses of Lord Krishna of Braja narrated in the Bhagavata. Only, they have taken birth some eight or ten thousand miles away. Forsaking their native land, their near and dear ones, their comfort, they have come to live in the Math inflicted with malaria for no other reason than to beg for divine love." And he adds, "Thakur has kept them in the Math to be the guardian deity of Swamiji’s work." How much trouble the gurus have to bear for the training of their disciples! This conduct of M. is the manifestation of dharma to train by conduct, to live Vedanta.
The devotees from the Morton School have been spending their nights in the veranda of guest-house for the past few days. The Younger Jiten, Shachi and Jagabandhu are continuously spending their night there. Vinay, Ramesh, Manoranjan, Balai, the Younger Nalini and others sometimes spend their night here. The puja was celebrated for three days. And this time, the immersion ceremony has been performed at the ghat, not by boat.
M. is sitting on his bed facing south in his room on the fourth level. In front of him are seated a famous doctor from Dhaka along with two companions. They have their homes in Mymensingh.
It is 8th October, the 11th day of the bright fortnight today. 9 a.m. The Younger Jiten, Shachi and Jagabandhu have returned from the Math. They touch M.’s feet to offer their salutation. Today M. has not stopped them. Ordinarily, M. does not permit this way of salutation.
The next day, many sadhus and bhaktas are coming to offer their Vijaya pranams. Shachi, Jagabandhu and the Younger Jiten had placed their seats in the western room on the second level during the puja holidays. They take their prasad (meal) in this very room after having cooked it here and offering it to Thakur. The sadhus and bhaktas first come here and sit for a while, then they meet M.
Next day, 10th October. This day too, sadhus and bhaktas are coming for the darshan of and pranam to M., throughout the day. It is four in the evening. Close to M. are seated Swamis Dayananda, Vireshwarananda and Omkarananda. After sometime arrives Swami Samvidananda.
It is 7 p.m. now. Jagabandhu offers his pranam to M. and leaves for the Howrah Railway Station. He is accompanied by the Younger Jiten and Vinay. Having received M.’s blessings, they are going for the darshan of Sri Kashi as desired by M.
M. is sitting in the room on the second level. He asks Jiten why he has risen so early. Jiten replies, "Vinay and I are going to see off Jagabandhu at the station." M. says, "Then you may go. There isn’t much time."
Jagabandhu leaves by the Banaras Express. It is 8 p.m. now. M. has asked him to send him a description of the pilgrimage and the tapasya from time to time on a postcard. That, he said would by very beneficial to him. He and others would be able to have the whole darshan while sitting here itself. That many others are benefited, when a person undertakes pilgrimage and tapasya has been taught by Thakur. It is this skill that has been taught by Thakur.
The pilgrim seated in the train says to himself, "My body is going to Kashi, the king of pilgrimages. The upper part of the mind is absorbed in the joy of the darshan of Kashi. But I see, that the lower part is tied to M. The last message of M., that he wants a description of the holy place and tapasya from time to time is resounding in my ears."
10th October 1924, Friday,
The 12th day of the bright fortnight,
24 Ashwin, 1331 (B.Y.)