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Swami
Ashokanandaji Maharaj
Shri Ramakrishna
Mahasamelan Ashram
Nagadandi, Achchabal, Anantnag
Tehsil, Kashmir
Manmohan Dhar, New Delhi
In
the early thirties, Kashmir was visited by a large number of well educated young
sanyasins, mostly belonging to the Shri Ramakrishna Mission, from various parts
of India. Local intellectuals, interacting with them, were impressed by their
deep knowledge of the Vedas, Vedanta and the Gita and their spirit of
renunciation. Kashmiri intellectuals, elite and the laity, had already got
glimpses of the vision that Swami Vivekananda had woven for the whole world and
of the panaroma, depth and range of the spiritual, cultural and catholic
heritage of India.
On the 11th of September 1893, Swami
Vivekananda spoke as follows at the Parliament of World's religions in Chicago,
USA-
The present convention, which is one of the
most august assemblies ever held, is in itself a vindication, a declaration to
the world of the wonderful doctrine preached in the Gita :
"Whosoever comes to ME, through
whatsoever form, I reach him; all men are struggling through paths which in the
end lead to ME"
"Sectarianism, bigotry, and its
horrible descendant, fanaticism, have long possessed this earth. They have
filled this earth with violence, drenched it often and often with human blood,
destroyed civilisations and sent whole nations to despair..."
(A retaste of the gruesome tragedy was
experienced on the 11th September 2001 in New-York, after 108 years. If causes
persist, effects persist too)
In his concluding speech on the 27th of
September 1893 Swami Vivekananda thundered and declared as follows-
"...if anybody dreams of the
exclusive survival of his own religion and the destruction of others, I pity him
from the bottom of my heart, and point out to him that upon the banner of every
religion will soon be written, in-spite of resistance : `Help and not Fight',
`Assimilation and not Destruction', `Harmony and Peace and not
Dissention'."
All this and other writings of Swami Vivekananda
had made deep inroads in the mental make up of the intellectuals of Kashmir and
they were, therefore, always on the look out for some-one amongst the visiting
monks to the state, who would disseminate, at-least to some extent, the
spiritual aura, effulgence and dynamism of Swami Vivekananda's personality.
With this rather detailed background, it would
perhaps be pertinent to present a pen picture of a saint who appeared to be in
the most ancient mould of sanyasins, who struck one as descending straight from
the heights of Himalayas, naked save a loin cloth, lost in the awareness of the
innermost self, exuding in his eyes ecstasy and bliss which was totally
irresistible.
"few understand the power of thought.
If a man goes into a cave. Shuts himself in, and thinks really one great
thought, ...that thought will permeate the walls of that cave, vibrate through
space, and at last permeate the whole human race. Such is the power of
thought..."
The thoughtful silence of this young sanyasin
was eloquent, speaking and hypnotic and his smile was soothing, full of love and
compassion.
He was spotted, in Kathleshwar temple, at
Zaindar Mohalla, Srinagar, Kashmir. The temple had broken dome and, therefore,
was open to vagaries of weather. A makeshift tent was made of bushels of grass,
inside the temple, where he was found resting his head on the `pranali'
of, the `Shiva linga', lost in deep meditation.
When disturbed by cautious and respectful
intrusion, he came down to the level of normal awareness, but still the hangover
of divine intoxication was apparent in his blissful smile and his eyes, both
giving impression of embers of spiritual fire burning within him. He commanded
awe, affection and instant devotion. The word went round and men, women and
children came to bask in his celestial presence.
Meanwhile, winter started setting in, but he did
not light any log fires, as was wont with `Naga' sadhus, who used to visit
Kashmir on their pilgrimage to the holy cave of Amarnath. He stayed on in
Kashmir and started moving to the hills at short intervals, in sun-shine, rain
and snow. For reasons best known to him his favourite haunt was Naran-Nag,
beyond Wangat, which is situated on the road to Sonamarg. Near Wangat he made
contact with a Muslim mystic by the name of Sobur Sheikh. Between them, they
used to communicate by exchanging (naswar) snuff powder. Being a
predominantly Muslim area, he picked up a smattering of the Kashmiri language,
which he spoke with a sweet Bengali accent. As time went by, he made deep
inroads into the hearts of the local Muslims.
Although, at first with respectful and awesome
caution, yet drawn to him by Irresistible attraction, local people of all
grades, of all communities of varying intellectual attainment, men, women and
children gathered round him to sit in silence in his presence, to breathe and to
feel the subtle waves of peace and spiritual elation, un-aided by words,
speeches or discourses; yet at times words fell softly and sweetly from his
mouth. They conveyed more than their meaning. A look, a touch, a smile was
enough recompense after days of waiting or miles of trekking to sit in his
soul-elevating presence. Such was the power of his love.
His movements were as unpredictable as of that
wind, as he moved bare-footed, from high mountains to the far corners of the
length and breadth of the valley, in sunshine, rain or snow. I have seen snow
collecting on his bare shoulders. He wore no clothes, as stated earlier, but
carried only two possessions : His `Kashkole' a handy container made from the
hard cover of a pumpkin, used as a begging bowl, normally carried by `Naga'
sadhus and a small bottle of snuff (naswar). One day when he left to go
to the mountains he forgot to carry his `Kashkol'. After traversing a short
distance he suddenly found that he had no `Kashkol' in his hand and retraced his
steps to pick his major possession. Then, while crossing the nearby bridge on
the river Jhelum, he could not reconcile with his attachment for his `Kashkol'
and dropped it into the river, never to carry it again.
Writes Swami Vivekananda, in his small pamphlet
`My Master'
"...in India, even an emperor on the
throne wants to trace his descent from some beggar-sage in the forest, from a
man who wore the bark of a tree, lived upon the fruits of the forest and
communed with GOD. That is the type of descent we want, and so long as holiness
is supremely venerated, India cannot die."
It was not surprising, therefore, that doors
were flung wide open for him and with open hearts, he was sought for and
received in every home. Considering what Swami Vivekananda has said, it appeared
as if he had come to Kashmir straight from the Vedic Age.
Such was Swami Ashokanandaji Maharaj for about
twelve or thirteen years. During these year of silent communication, he gave
stray hints of his mission and his, childlike, unconditional and complete
devotion to Shri Ramakrishna Parmahansa. These were the years during which he
prepared the ground in Kashmir in which to plant the seed of the deepest,
subtlest and pristine message of Shri Ramakrishna and the ideal of Divine
Motherhood. Pictures of Shri Ramakrishna, Ma Sharada and Swami Vivekananda
found their place, for daily worship, in the shrines in the homes of the
devotees of Swami Ashokananda Ji. In small gatherings, particularly of
youngsters, English version of the Gospel of Shri Ramakrishna was read. I, along
with other young boys, to name a few : Manakakji Tarozdar, Trilokinathji
Tarozdar and others, used to go into raptures of Divine fervour while reading
the gospel. We would feel we were part of the crowd at Dakhineshwar and felt
recreation of the same atmosphere in Swamijis presence, after a span of nearly
80 years.
Devotional and classical, vocal and instrumental
music, was played in his presence. I still remember the classical songs sung by
Babaji Rao, in ragas :
`Bihag', `Kidar', `Shankara', `Malhar', `Bhairao',
`Kamod' etc. Shri. Jialal Kharoo's
Dilruba and Sitar playing became a daily feature and so did of my uncle,
Vidhlalji Dhar and of Swaroop Nath ji Tarozdar's, with tabla accompaniment by
Harinath ji Tarozdar's. Professor Kanjilal of Sri Pratap college, used to play
Sitar in masterly depth and range. One got surcharged with divine fervour and
lost in its ecstacy. One lost the count of people who got the privilege of
sitting in his silent, smiling and spiritual presence. No discussions appeared
appropriate. All that one needed was to be in tune, mind, heart and soul.
Looking
back, I now feel, that Divine Shakhti, in her own
mysterious way was working on Her own plans. Shri
Harinath Tarozdar, an unflinching devotee of Swamiji,
traveled all over the valley, to locate a place
where a thatched mud hut could be built for a brief
sojourn and rest for Swamiji Maharaj. In the lap of
the mountains, amidst dense forests, with a small
perennial fresh water spring tucked in, in an
obscure corner; a place was found at Nagadandi, near
Achchabal Mogul gardens and acquired a most
beautiful mud hut with thatched roof and an `L'
shaped narrow verandah on the east and south side,
was built.
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Swami Ashokanandaji Maharaj
Photographed by Manmohan Dhar in
Calcutta in 1965
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Vivekanand Kendra, Nagadandi, Achchabal,
Anantnag, Kashmir, India
I have
seen about a 12 ft. long snake, with skin of a
beautiful pattern resting full length on the eastern
side of the verandah. Seeing me it crawled into the
gap in the mud plaster of the 2 ft. high railing. I
never saw it again and took no notice of it. Swamiji
Maharaj used to sit in the south-west corner of the
same verandah. Right in front of him, on the front
wall, was a foot long and beautiful likeness of
Jesus Christ on the cross, in three dimensions.
Devotees, of all communities, rich and poor, used to
sit in front of Swamiji, on the south side verandah.
It was not unusual to see Swamiji, playing sitar,
sitting in the south-west corner of the verandah.
His sitar playing, in classical ragas, transported
the spiritual ambience of the forest surroundings to
a higher plane of awareness of peace and fullness.
Discharge
from the perennial spring, miraculously increased.
On the down stream side two ponds, on two different
levels, were built by devotees, with three
picturesque water falls, delivering water from the
upper pond to the lower one. Flowers were planted. A
small temple was built, with likeness of Shri
Ramakrishna, Sharda ma and Swami Vivekananda placed
on the shrine. Swamiji Maharaj used to sit, in the
open air, reclining on a stone sleeper which was
supported on a pine tree. Visitors to Swamiji, in
the salubrious and forest surroundings, presented a
setting straight from the Vedic age. Evening and
morning worship was conducted in the temple.
Gradually, the whole set up assumed the semblance of
an ashram and Swamiji Maharaj gave in the
name of.
Shri
Ramakrishna Mahasamelan Ashram
All
this was not planned, but happened by Divine
Dispensation, a mystery that can only be
explained by the following expressions of Swami
Vivekananda Ji Maharaj :
Describing
Kashmir, Swamiji wrote to Srimati Indumati Mitra
sometime in September 1897 :
"This
Kashmir is a veritable heaven on Earth. No where
else in the World is such a country as this.
Mountains and rivers, trees and plants, men and
women, beasts and birds-all vie with one another for
excellence. I feel a pang at heart not to have
visited it so long..."
On the
1st October, 1897 he wrote to Sister
Nivedita :
"I
shall not try to describe Kashmir to you. Suffice it
to say, I never felt sorry to leave any country
except this paradise on Earth; and I am trying my
best, if I can, to influence the Raja in starting a
centre here. So much to do here and the material so
hopeful..."
And
again on 3rd November, 1897 Swamiji wrote to Sister
Nivedita :
`I
have been here (Jammu) for fifteen days to get some
land in Kashmir from the Maharaja. I intend to go to
Kashmir next summer I am here and start some work
here'.
But why
was Swami Vivekanandaji Maharaj so keen to set up an
ashram in Kashmir? Answer to this question is not
within the capacity of a normal intellect to find.
Could it be because Shri Ramakrishna said his next
incarnation would be in the North-West.
Over
the centuries Kashmir has been the cradle of
cultures. Buddhism came here and the World got `Mahayan'
Buddhism. Kashmir Shaivism is the pinnacle of Indian
philosophy discounting the belief that this world is
false. Shankracharya came to Kashmir with the glow
and fire of `Aham Brahma', but latter he
wrote `Saundarya Lahiri' in praise of the Goddess
Tripurasundari, and in one of the Shankracharya
Ashrams the image of Goddess Shardha is being
worshiped. This Murti was brought from Sharda peeth,
in Kashmir, now in Pakistan. According to extensive
research carried out by German and other authors,
from the Christendom itself, Jesus Christ is
believed to have been in Kashmir before and after
crucifixion. There is a mosque right in the heart of
Srinagar, the summer capital of J & K state,
where Jesus is supposed to have been buried. Sufism
and Kashmiriat are an amalgam of Hinduism, Buddhism
and Islam. Over the millenniums Kashmir is and has
been special on many counts apart from its geography
and unparalleled natural beauty.
Swamiji's
remarks, therefore, have indeed a Divine import and
cannot be considered as random or casual.
Swami
Vivekananda could not visit Kashmir again and thus
his wish to set up an Ashram in Kashmir, where `he
had "found", so much to do and the
material so hopeful'; remained an unfulfilled
dream. He had the vision of Maha Kali at Khir
Bhavani, where he was inspired to write his famous
poem, `Kali the Mother'
It was
at Achchabal that he `suddenly decided to go to
Amarnath' writes sister Nivedita. As he entered the
cave, reports Sister Nivedita, it seemed to him as
if he saw Shiva made visible before him. He said
afterwards to sister Nivedita that in the brief
moments he had received from Shiva the gift of Amar-not
to die until he himself had willed it. His dream,
however, though unfulfilled during his lifetime, was
already registered in the cosmic time to be made a
reality, under a divine dictate, by a source
intimately, divinely and equally connected with Shri
Ramakrishna.
In
the divine scheme Kashmir, it appears, has had a
role to play. And to appreciate the sudden
appearance of Swami Ashokananda ji in Kashmir, in
the above context, the following spiritual link and
mystery appears relevant and self-explanatory.
Swami
Ashokananda ji was the disciple of Swami
Satchitananda ji Maharaj from East Bengal, who was
initiated and given sanyas by Holy Mother, Ma Sharda.
Their commitment to Shri Ramakrishna ideology was
total. They operated outside Shri Ramakrishna
Mission organisation, as do many others. The
emphasis, however, has been on man building
and the propagation of Divine Motherhood.
Cosmic forces got to work to fulfill the celestial
dream of Swami Vivekanandaji.
He,
Swami Ashokananda ji, was also from East Bengal, and
was born in a Mukherji family, on Friday, the 10th
of February, 1911. His premonistic name was
Deenabandhu Mukherji. His school mate was Shri
Chandi Prashad Mukherji, an eminent Chartered
Accountant and for several years President of the
Institution of Chartered Accountants, India.
Mr. C.
P. Mukherjee, particularly referred to his childhood
and stated that right from his birth Deenabandhu
gave the impression of being an outsider, very
intelligent but lost in a world of his own.
Naturally, his brother was totally disgusted with
him and did not spare the rod and at the age of 8
(eight years) he sought shelter in the ashram of
Swami Satchitananda ji Maharaj, who, as mentioned
earlier, was an initiated disciple of the Holy
Mother, Sharda Ma, spiritual consort of Shri
Ramakrishna. He had to undergo severe regimen of
spiritual discipline, which he did with utmost
dedication and total surrender to Lord Shri
Ramakrishna and ma Sharda. During, his stay at the
Ashram, he was given sanyas and the monastic name of
Swami Ashokananda.
His
Guru Maharaj held him in very high regard and made
no secret of the heights of spiritual excellence he
had achieved. Swamiji Maharaj knew of absolutely no
compromises in the spiritual path. One had to be
perfect in his resolve, in his pursuit and in
sadhana. One had to, he would say, combine the
qualities of a prince and a sadhak of total
surrender to his Ishta. He was at the ashram, from
what we have been able to gather from stray hints
thrown by him, during conversations; for about eight
or ten years, with his Guru Maharaj. Later, he was
sent by Guru Maharaj to Uttar Kashi for further
sadhna. During his travels in the Himalayas, his
body, mind, heart and Atma were tuned to a very high
degree of spiritual fervour and he was allotted a
hut near Gita Ashram, next to Swami Shivananda ji
Maharaj, who later on founded the `Divine Life
Society'. Ashokanandaji settled to a strict regimen
of meditation and established continued presence of
Shri Ramakrishna, Holy Mother and Ma Kali in him. He
had visions and many experiences of conversation
with Shri Thakur (Shri Ramakrishna). Some of these,
recounted by him to me, are of deep spiritual and
Universal import.
His
Guru Maharaj, however, had plans for him. When he
attained the age of twenty two or twenty three, he
was ordered by his Guru Maharaj to go to Kashmir,
shed his clothes, live there braving sunshine, rain
and snow, without any external aid, or use of any of
his Yogic powers to face the vagaries of weather and
establish the presence of Shri Ramakrishna, Sharda
Ma and Swami Vivekananda and their pristine message,
in Kashmir more by example than discourse. His
primary emphasis was on `Divine Motherhood'.This
we came to know, gradually, in the fifties.
He
landed in Kashmir in 1933 or 1934. He was spotted in
Kathleshwar Mandir in early 1933 or 1934 and
straight away found his way into the hearts of young
and old, men and women and was, looked after well,
as it were, like a child. His mere presence was
peace, joy and unalloyed love. Words would limit the
impact of his almost divine presence. The impact of
beauty is instant, as that of the smile of a child,
of a beautiful face. How much more then of a person
whose presence reflects God within. Are words
necessary? Isn't feeling enough. Such was Swamiji
Maharaj, when he descended on Kashmir, as if from
above.
He did
not lay his hands on books yet the depth of his
knowledge of Vedas, shastaras etc., about which he
spoke rarely, was uncanny. His whole personality
was, as it were, wrapped in mystery.
His
love had and, I am fully aware now, a perennial
quality. His life, his sojourn in Kashmir, where he
attained Mahasamadhi on the 19th of December 1971;
and even the establishment of an ashram at Nagadandi,
is a mystery. During the turmoil of the last
thirteen years the ashram has been visited and
revered by Muslims, in large numbers. There is ample
evidence at Nagadandi that there are no dividing
lines between various religions and that all hands
stretch themselves in prayer to the One And Only
Almighty, in Divine and sincere human love and
aspiration.
The
following dream of Swami Vivekananda, who was an
integral part of the combined personalities of Shri
Ramakrishna and Ma Sharda, that vibrated through
every nerve and heart beat of our Swami Ashokananda
ji Maharaj and in whose name he established the
Ashram.
Shri
Ramakrishna Mahasamelan Ashram
was being divinely ordained to be fulfilled. Is Nagadandi
Ashram going to grow mysteriously enough, in
Kashmir, where the prophetic words and the following
dream of Swami Vivekananda are going to blossom into
reality?
"We
want to lead mankind to the place where there is
neither the Vedas, nor the Bible, nor the Koran, yet
this has to be done by harmonising the Vedas, the
Bible and the Koran".
Mankind
ought to be taught that religions are but the varied
expressions of The Religion, which is Oneness, so
that each may choose the path that suits him best.
Kashmir's
geography, its place in the cultural mosaic of
India, the relevance of the Indian values in the
survival of the human race, the emergence of
religious fanaticism, in pushing the world
civilisations to rid the world, by their joint will,
of the conflict slammed on humanity in the name of
God and the clarion call of Swami Vivekananda on the
27th September, 1893 at the parliament of
religions held in Chicago USA, all these lead us to
see a Divine Hand in the shape of things to come.
Jai
Shri thakur, jai ma sharda
jai swami
Vivekanandaji maharaj
jai guru !
11th May, 2002
This
article is an excerpt from the book, "Swami
Ashokanandaji Maharaj : His Divine Message", by
Shri Manmohan Dhar.
The
author is a techno-expert of international repute,
previous Editor of the Vitasta and a founder member
of Kashmir Sabha, Kolkata.
Mailing
Address : C-56, Kailash Apartments, Lala Lajpat Rai
Marg, New Delhi-110 048, India
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