Evolution of love

JAI MAA

During her stay of a few days at Varanasi, MA conducted Nam-Kirtan with the devotees. The chant­ing of “Hare Krishna - Hare Krishna - Krishna-Krishna Hare Hare - Hare Rama Hare Rama - Rama Rama -Hare Hare” in her melodious voice would bring heav­enly bliss to all listeners. MA had a special love for Nam-Kirtan, chanting of God’s name. She would do it herself and asked her devotees to take to Nam Kirtan. In her own words, “Nam-kirtan purifies a place and its environment, one who chants would surely become pure himself, purifying the listeners also in the process.”
Ma and a number of her close devotees reached Tarapeeth to stay at Sidhashram. Bholanath spread his tiger-skin mat to take shelter in the portico of the temple of Goddess Tara.
1936 (January to June)
At Tarapeeth, Bhaiji and Gurupriya became spiri­tual brother -and sister under MA’s command. The two were sent to Chittagong on a mission.
After a gap of four years, MA came back to Dacca sending the devotees there rapturous in de­light. At Paruldeah, she attended the inauguration of Radha-Krishna temple at the place of Rai Bahadur Jogesh Ghosh. After two years, she paid a visit to Jatish Chandra Guha in Calcutta but stayed at the Dharamshala at Kalighat as she had stopped being a guest of anybody with worldly attachment.
From Calcutta she went to Tarapeeth again where she stayed at Sidhashram. Hindus and Mus­lims alike thronged to have a darshan of ‘MA of Dacca’ as wanders around in the open field. She would mix with Muslim families, choosing to become a daughter of the head of a family. She would go to a mosque. She would adorn flower ornaments to become Krishna or Ram, either sporting a flute or a bow made of flowers. At her bidding, a place for Yagna and a hut ‘were built at Tarapeeth. MA formally conducted the sacred-thread wearing ceremony for Gurupriya and Marani on Magh 19, 1342. Marani was married to Kulada’s son on Magh 24, 1342 at Tarapeeth, Marani having been adopted by Bholanath as his daughter.
The day after the marriage, MA and her devo­tees left Tarapeeth on a moonlit night in a procession of bullock-carts, singing Kirtan on the way to Srirampur via Rampurhat. Leaving Srirampur the next day, she went to Nabadweep, Berhampore and places adjoin­ing Murshidabad. After a week in Berhampore, she went to Vindhyachal with halts at Jamshedpur and Bettiah.
The Yagnashala at Vindhyachal was conse­crated on the Dol-Poornima Day in Falgun 1342.
From Vindhyachal to Dehradun again, then to Solan, Vrindaban, Jaipur, and Delhi, back to Dehradun at Krishna Ashram - thus she moved. Within days, she went to Raipur, a little away from Dehradun, and a place of liking. Moving in and around Dehradun in this manner, she went to Kishanpur, where a new Ashram was formally declared open in the night of Baishakh 26,1343 during a Yagna to coincide with MA’s birth­day.
However, she would not stay at one place for long. She went to Solan to bless the devotee, Durga Singh, Raja of Solan, who was given a new name “Yogiraja”. MA stayed at Radha-Krishna temple where the Raja and Rani were at her service.
After a fortnight, she was at Simla, staying at the Kalibari. It was difficult to control the enthusiasm of the devotees, the residents and the hill-folks alike. They would surround her till late at night.
A devotee from Punjab asked, “How would a family man do his Sadhana?”
She said: “Serving others and chanting of mantras would do”.
Asked why people get distracted while chanting God’s name, she said, “The fault lies with you, there must be something wrong in the way you conduct yourself. The distraction may be caused by something you see, somebody you meet, something you discuss, without you being ever aware of it. So, if one chooses this path, one should shun company and seek solitude to concentrate. In the beginning, one should be careful to ensure that nothing comes in the way of directing one’s mind towards God. Be with men of virtue, talk of virtuous ways. Being with men of virtue or reading their life’s story would help purify your mind and direct your thoughts towards Him”.
A female devotee asked, “How does one attain mental composure?”
MA advised: “Try to keep your body still for a long time, the longer you do so the greater will be your composure”.
Once defining the state of Samadhi she said: ‘the end of the road of all moods and actions is Samadhi.’
Citing the example of a Sadhu who was steadfast in his belief in the Guru, and who simply recited ‘Gopianandan’ and ‘Ghantanandan’,
MA said, “Single-minded devotion and undiluted belief are the way to God”.
What is Dunia, the world?
She used a pun in Bengali to say: “The world is a place which consists of two (Dui Niya­ comprising two). Try to get rid of the obsession with the two and adhere to one and only One”.
In a devastating remark on the definition of the mundane world (Sansar), she said one day “The phe­nomenon whose substance (Sar) is a joker (Song-clown in Bengali) is called the Sansar”. On the con­cept of Atma and ParamAtma Ma said:
“Look, it is like a tree and its shadow; if you intently look at the tree only then you will not see the shadow. When your goal is absolute then you will find that there is just one self; the shadow is that of the tree and nothing else”.