Evolution of Love 2

Change of state

1942
After a month at Kashi and a fortnight at Vindhyachal MA went to Allahabad to attend the Puma­Kumbh. She was there for a few hours and did not care to take a dip even though she went to the confluence of three rivers. She went to Pundari vil­lage, 36 miles off Etawah, where the local landlord Navratan Singh had a deity of Radha-Krishna installed in her presence. There she stayed for two weeks to bless the devotees. Navratan received her special grace when MA gifted him her bed roll while depart­ing.
She made a trip to Lucknow. While returning on Magh 28, she received, at the railway station, the news of the death of Jamnalal Bajaj. He used to be a child in MA’s presence. When Gurupriya lamented his death, MA said, ‘Who goes way- who else is that arrives? What is the distinction between life and death. One who passes away, in fact, merges into the One who is ever-existent”.
She moved to Jhansi to respond to the call of a little girl, daughter of the Manager of local Imperial Bank, Beharilal, an ardent devotee. While there, she composed a verse impromptu as an answer to a devotee’s letter:
Leave aside every other thought
Just say Hari Hari
Have faith in Him
And cross the sea of world.
On Falgun 3, MA moved from Jliansi to Lalitpur, 56 miles away where a tent had been pitched for her stay. The next morning she was taken ill with a weak heart and pain all over the body. But she had the power to get well all by herself. As she suddenly sat up and started chanting mantras, visible changes came over her body. She set out again the very next day to reach Nagpur via Tarsi. The following day MA left for Wardha. On the way, she stopped at Gopuri to be with the family of the late Jamnalal Bajaj to console his widow, Janaki Bai and son Kamalnain Bajaj.
She said, “Whatever happens should be accepted as good. If one can develop this attitude one would not suffer. It is the desire which is painful and causes repeated cycles of birth and death.” It was revealed that before his death Jamnalal had spun yam himself to weave a pair of dresses (Sari) for MA. She told the family members, “There is no death of the soul. Can anyone knife through water and divide it into two parts? Death is just a change of state. Everything remains as it was.” There was recitation from the Ramayana wish­ing peace for the departed soul. MA’s advice to the assembled ladies was that in this world where one had to split oneself into two, there would be suffering. But if one can concentrate on the Supreme Being, who is indivisible, one can achieve peace of mind.
MA was an invitee to the Sevagram Ashram of Mahatma Gandhi. Dr. Rajendra Prasad and Acharya Vinóba Bhave came to have her darshan. Vinobhaji repeatedly said that Gandhiji was very eager to meet MA.
MA and her followers, Gurupriya, Parmananda Swami,Hanram Joshi, Dr. Rajendra Prasad and Janaki Bai were taken to Sevagram by Kamalnain. Gandhiji greeted her and addressed her as ‘Mataji’ and MA reciprocated by addressing him as ‘Pitaji’. Mahatmaji took her in his arms like a little child and she turned into one hiding her face in his chest. Gandhiji’s first words were “Perhaps you know that it was I who sent Jamnalal to you. He came back and told me that he got the peace of mind from you which I failed to give him”
Mentioning Kamala Nehru’s devotion to MA, Gandhiji told those present that Kamala used to treat her as her Guru. MA immediately protested: “Pitaji, I cannot be a Guru to anyone. I am just a little girl.”
The two spent the, whole day like a little daugh­ter meeting her father after a long time. Gandhiji would not leave her. Even at night the two slept in adjacent beds. At night, Kasturba came once to pay her homage to MA and said, “This is my great fortune that I have got your darshan.” Gandhiji asked her to stay back in Sevagram for at least two days. But MA in her own mood decided to leave the next day.
She went to Sagar via Nagpur and from there to a Dharamshala on the banks of the river Vyas.
After spending a fortnight, she moved to Barman Ghat, 65 miles away and then to Ramghat, another mile away. The place was inside a forest and by the Narmada river - a secluded spot marked by silence. Even there the visitors came in their numbers to have a darshan. She moved again to Kashi via Jhansi, then to Vindhyachal and from there on to Delhi and Dehradun. From Kishanpur ashram, she moved to the ashram at Raipur where she stayed for some time. Her birth anniversary was celebrated at Raipur that year.
On Baishakh 22, she set out for Bhimtal where one day she experienced travelling in an ethereal form to be with Shri Aurobindo. After some time she moved to Nainital where, one-day, during a Kirtan, she sud­denly found that the congregation comprised a myriad Krishnas. There was just one image of Krishna but in her eyes all participants had turned into living Krishnas. A similar thing happened in a gathering singing the glory of Ram. In her eyes, all those present had been transformed into Ram. Speaking about high signifi­cance of Nam Kirtan, MA said one day “It is not being suggested that you leave everything behind and run away. Be with the world and its various demands, but keep a fire burning - the fire of His name. If He chooses to bless you, then this fire will burn all impu­rities and lead your pure soul unto Him. Live your life in this world but keep Him along.”
She moved again to Delhi, Dehradun, Donga, Meerut, Hardwar and back to Raipur near Dehradun. The Guru Pumnima and the Jhoolan Purnima were celebrated at Raipur. One of her close associates, Kanai, niece of Neeraj, passed away at Raipur Ashram. MA had another experience of travelling in an ethereal form to be with Gandhiji.
The annual Durga and Laxmi Pujas were held at Raipur that year. She had occasional spells of divine reaction, when certain Kriyas would be mani­fest in her body, she would chant mantras and hymns and the body will move into yogic postures. On Agrahayan 8th, she left Raipur for Solan. A week after she moved to Swaimadhopur via Delhi where she spent 10 days. She spent another 18 days at Pundari village in Mainpuri.