Janma karma cha me divyam paraman yo vetti tatvataha
Many of us had the divine opportunity of being with Gurudev. Some of us may not have seen him but only heard from others. While celebrating his birth centenary let us try to know him better. His life was beautiful and special.
He was born on a full moon day 100 years ago and left on a new moon day. He was born in India close to the river Ganges and the Bay of Bengal. He ended his life in the West also not far from the ocean. His physical remains after the mahasamadhi also rested close to the ocean. Name given by the parents was Rabi. Rabi means the Sun. Just like the Sun rising in the East and setting in the West, he took birth in India, radiated his love and knowledge all across the world and he set in the West.
To understand him better we should go back a hundred years to rural conservative remote village in West Bengal and know about his parents. This year in the month of May I had the opportunity to visit his birthplace where he was born 100 years ago in a rich aristocratic family. Hearing about it from him I had some imagination of what it might look like. It was thrilling to see the pictures of the house as it looked then and the remains of the inner and the outer house as it is today.
Gurudev's father was of a highly spiritual, cultured family of priest class and was himself a guru. He was a man of many talents knowing ayurveda, homeopathy, allopathy, astrology and law. He was a landlord, tall and well built physically and mentally he was calculative but also generous in a calculated way. He was a little short tempered and a strict disciplinarian.
With his knowledge of astrology Haripada knew the future of his children. He taught all of them Hindu ritualistic worship and also basic astrology in a simple way.
He also knew that Rabi would be a monk and a world teacher and raised him with special spiritual training. Though he did not know English he encouraged the children to converse in English. He personally helped Ravi to be a good public speaker and did not hesitate to point out mistakes.
The father was Ravi's first guru. The 11 year old Rabi after his thread ceremony insisted that the father should also initiate him into the traditional family mantra on the same day. As a child in his own special way Rabi helped the father to over come some of his shortcomings. The father later admitted to him "I have seen both my positive and negatives in my other children but in you I see only my good qualities and not a single weakness."
When Rabi decided to embrace monk hood there was a big commotion in the family and some of the family members even called him an escapist and it was the father who stood by him and answered the others. The father and son greatly influenced each other and learnt from each other.
Later in life when he realized the knowledge and spiritual heights the son achieved, though himself a guru, the father did not hesitate to become the disciple of the son and got initiated into Kriya. A sincere seeker, he practiced and progressed rapidly. On his deathbed the father requested the son to give him the 4th kriya. Haripada also knew when he would die and entrusted the wife to the care of the monk son.
When his father died Gurudev was meditating in Shriyukteswar temple and he could see a light coming towards him and knew that his father was no more. This was the father.
Let us look at the mother. Before the birth of this divine child the simple, god loving compassionate mother Nabin kali, was taking a bath in a pond in their back yard. She felt something and found that some tulsi leaves were stuck in her navel. When she mentioned this husband predicted she would give birth to a spiritual child. Gurdev described his mother as a beautiful rose with a tender soft body and heart of a very charitable nature. Gurudev inherited all these from the mother and was also like that.
Mother of eleven children she trained them well and often could correct them with just a look.
After the father died, the mother was heart broken and Gurudev went to comfort her and brought her back to the ashram with him. He kept her next to his room. Kind hearted as she was she persuaded him to invite poor widows to the ashram once or twice a month to give them some food and clothes. Later she requested the son to have a satsang for them for an hour when he would read to them from scriptures. Gurudev never said no to his mother and took great care of her and nursed her. He fulfilled what his father predicted.
Father and mother have a great role to play in our lives. They contribute a lot to the future of the child. It is a great blessing to be born into a spiritual family with such values.