Sunday, March 23, 2008

Mālatī's harvest


These are some of Mālati's experiences during her first visit to Sādhu Bābā's āshram last February:

Rādhe Rādhe
Sādhu Bābā's Nectar
At your discretion you can add these to Śrī Bābā's bio. There are narrations here that are suitable only for the family as they are far-out!. I like Kumkum’s story very much, maybe you would like to share a few of these to your blog readers.

From Kumkum daThis is about the link between the disciple and the guru.
He was a very young man then. One of his duties in the ashram was to water the plants. Bābā told him to turn off the electric generator after watering the plants. (The water was coming from the tank which supply came from the ground electrically pumped in ). It was already dark when he finished watering. That time there was no wall separating Bhajan āshram and Bābā's āshram and the generator was actually in the land now a part of Bhajanāshram’s ground. Around the generator was a deep ditch, so he had to stretch his arm fully to reach the generator’s switch. When he did that he thought that he was sort of electrocuted. So he called out-loud “ Bābā, Bābā “ as a last ditch call for help. When he came back to consciousness he was lying on the ground. Stunned, he went back to his room in the ashram. When all this happened Bābā was in another temple giving a lecture. Later on, Bābā arrived and from the āshram gate Bābā loudly called out to him and said “what happened to you Kumkum? I was giving lecture and you disturbed me; my body shook when you called for me! Kumkum was shocked. Then Bābā told him that, that’s what guru-disciple link was all about. Kumkum gave prostrated obeisances to Śrī Bābā and knew that Bābā saved his life. That moment he realized that the link between the guru and disciple transcended the physical.

From a male devotee whose name I forgot. Maybe you know him. He’s in his 40s and wears glasses.

1. This happened when he was still very young, about 25 years ago. Sādhu Bābā asked him to accompany him to Kolkata. Though the train would depart at 11.45 , they were still in the ashram at around 12. Sri Bābā didn’nt seem to be bothered. So the devotee was wondering if they will make it. When they arrived at Navadwip station , the train was grounded and the mechanic was seemingly fixing something as the driver was revving up the engine. Still, the train wouldn't move. Then Bābā tapped the front of the carriage and said in his loud, husky voice “Go ! Off you go!”. And guess what , the train was fixed and off they went.

2. This one is far-out ! He was still a very young devotee then. The place where the āshram is now was once a forest. Bābā would from time to time play his sitar. In complete rapture, Bābā would sway his body and sitar, back and forth, while in complete rapturous emotion. Just then a big snake came up to him and kept steady for a while as if listening intently to Bābā's music. Then the snake copied Bābā's movement too. As if snakes are Bābā's friends.

3. This one is confidential.
It was Siva Ratri. This same devotee was with other devotees. Baba told them that they were going to the ganga to get some water to use for archana. When they were there, Sādhu Bābā told them that they can do puja now to Shiva. They didn’t understand what Sādhu Bābā meant because they were no Siva lingams there. Then they quickly “saw” Sādhu Bābā on a lotus position seemingly floating above the water. The devotee said to me that “there and then I realized who Sādhu Bābā was”.

From Nomita:
When the man that installed the water tank in the āshram suggested to Bābā that he should put his name on the water tank so people will notice the ashram from afar, Bābā cut him by saying, “why don’t you put your name there instead?”

Malati’s comment:
"Sādhu Bābā is not after fame. Even now His āshram doesn’t have a sign anywhere. Actually when I arrived at the ashram on a taxi at around 6 AM it was still very dark and the gate was closed so the driver and myself weren’t sure if we were at the right ashram because there were no signs or anything to indicate it was Nikunja Gopal Goswami’s ashram. We had to call out at the top of our voices if we were at the right place.

Bābā is after quality before quantity. Bābā is after sincerity than showing off. When a rich supporter gave him a wad of cash Bābā set it on fire. But when a very poor person gave him a coin he’d put it on his head and made a dancing motion. This was seconded by this boy from a very poor family, who translated for Nomita, who saw it happen when his parents gave Bābā a coin.

From Tulsi:
1 Bābā had mentioned a few times that after his passing He will be inside the Śiva lingam in the āshram. This lingam gets worship each time Madan Gopāl gets worshiped.

2 Once, a snake slithered to the direction of Sādhu Bābā's feet while giving a lecture and licked his toe. Everyone was afraid that the snake might bite Bābā and kill him. After doing that the snake glided away quietly. As if Bābā can communicate with snakes. Tulsi witness this when she was still very young, when the ashram was still like a forest. Bābā told them not to tell this to anyone because they will not believe these things.

3 Bābā had always said that his presence will always be felt in the ashram.

Jaya Śrī Radhe
Jaya Śrī Krishna
Malati dasi

New Sādhu Bābā material quoted in my blog on Shiva Rātri is already added to Sādhu Bābā's bio on http://www.madangopal.com/ and this has now been added too, to pages 17, 18, 26, 27, 30 and 45.

1 comment:

  1. ! Thank you, Malati.

    I like the one about burning the wad of money. :-D

    ReplyDelete