Bhagavan Nityananda

  

"Nityananda: In Divine Presence."

Introduction

In Nityananda's awe-inspiring presence was the heart of a compassionate mother. Already a full-fledged master in his teens and twenties, he may have been speaking of himself when he compared sadhus, or seekers of truth, to the jackfruit, whose forbidding exterior yields a honeyed sweetness when opened. From his earliest known days to the final ones in Ganeshpuri, his presence provided a sense of security for the poor and those in distress. It also gave hope to spiritual aspirants. People from all walks of life came for his blessing--yogis and renunciates, scholars and artists, politicians and civil servants, other saints and spiritual teachers. They were rich and poor, strong and sick; they came from all over India and the rest of the world.

Much about Nityananda's life remains unclear. Stories abound that put him in different places at the same time, resulting in considerable confusion about his true age or background. Not unexpectedly, his devotees listened carefully for clues or details because occasionally in casual conversation Nityananda would touch upon some incident from his past. However, he always cut short attempts to obtain details and admonished those who persisted. Some recall him making passing references to visiting Ceylon and Singapore while others say he displayed an intimate knowledge of the Himalayan region. It is said he spoke of being in Madras in 1902 when Swami Vivekananda attained samadhi.
Even his name holds a mystery. Stories of his childhood relate that his adoptive mother called him Ram. "Nityananda" means "eternal bliss" and was used to describe the state of mind he inspired. To a devotee who sat before him ecstatically repeating "nityanand, nityanand" as a mantra, he said, "It is not a name--it is a state!" In fact, early devotees called him swami, master, or sadhu while the name Nityananda was attached to him only in later years.

Clearly, a literary portrait of one such as Nityananda requires both an enormous canvas and an adept artist. Such a painting has yet to appear. Of the hundreds of thousands of people who came for his blessing, few recorded their experiences. Furthermore, Nityananda had no gospel and promoted no particular readings or spiritual practice (sadhana). The advice he gave to one person was not necessarily what he gave to another. he simply urged all devotees to cultivate a pure mind and an intense desire for liberation (shuddha bhavana and shraddha).

Nityananda's self-abnegation was complete. he wore nothing but a loincloth, and sometimes not even that. During his time in South Kanara, he only ate if food was brought to him. He had a total disregard for the physical elements including his nightly resting place. Unusual phenomena surrounded him naturally, including instances of actual healing. Yet he was never motivated by a desire for publicity and frowned on devotees who attributed to him experiences that we might describe as miracles. When pressed, he would call it the greatness of the location or the faith of the devout. "Everything that happens, happens automatically by the will of God," he would say.

A spiritual powerhouse, he desired only that people develop their powers to receive what he was capable of transmitting. "While the ocean has plenty of water, it is the size of the container you bring to it that determines how much you collect." Embodying what is ideal and pure, he would say, "One who sees this one once will not forget," implying that the seed of spiritual consciousness sown by his darshan would sprout in due course when correctly cultivated. He denied having an earthly guru or a particular spiritual practice. He adopted no disciples and never intended to establish an organization--although his devotees, most of them common householders, were legion. his silent, unseen mission was to offer relief to suffering humanity, whether people came or not, and to transmit a greater consciousness to those who sought higher values. Grace emanated from his being and from his silent companionship. A lone glimpse of his personality could shatter the ego of the proud and evoke the hope and aspirations of the genuine seeker.

Those who sought him out for material success benefited while the few who came out of pure devotion found their spiritual evolution accelerated with little or no effort on their parts. Nityananda accomplished this by becoming an obsession, if I can express it that way--a divine obsession. While living in the everyday world, devotees imbibed the spirit of the Bhagavad Gita and were gradually processed from within. They had to do very little. Seekers and other pilgrims benefited both through the arousal of their spiritual consciousness and by capably meeting life's challenges with his help. he converted their very breath into consciousness, bringing a gradual inner ripening, which in turn led to a restless longing for the Divine and a dispassion for worldly things. All this occurred without affecting the day-to-day efficiency in their chosen fields of endeavor. This is how Nityananda's grace silently worked.

His mighty spiritual force filled the South Kanara district for a few years and then moved on the Kanhangad, Gokarn, and Vajreshwari. Later he settled at Ganeshpuri, nestled at the foot of the majestic Mandakini Mountain amidst blue hills, green fields, hot springs, and the Bhimeshwar shrime. perhaps Nityananda chose this spot to revive the holiness of this ancient spiritual center.

 

Nityananda used to say that the true reward for genuine devotion (bhakti) was a still greater dose of pure desireless devotion--not material prosperity or social success. He played and still plays the role of the eternal Krishna as Gopala, tending his allegorical herd of devotees. he guides and watches them at pasture during their earthly sojourn, helps them onward, then brings them home safely as the evening closes on their lives, either to rest permanently in liberation (mukti) if they have advanced enough or to start afresh by leading them to another morning of birth in a continual process of evolution. Nityananda was capable of granting all kinds of wishes but said only one thing was really worth the effort. "One must seek the shortest route and fastest means to get back home--to turn one's inner spark into a blaze and then to merge and identify with that greater fire which ignited the spark."

The Early Years 1900-1915

 

Nityananda said it didn't matter how or where his human form came into being, that only idle curiosity prompted such useless enquiries. Nevertheless, stories gathered over the years by his devotees present a plausible picture about his birth and boyhood--even though facts often vie for veracity.

At the turn of the century, perhaps late November or early December, light from the setting sun slanted through an area of the dense jungle. On a cashew tree two crows cawed loudly to attract an elderly matriarch of the untouchable caste collecting firewood.

Curious, she followed the ruckus--and under a bush discovered a baby boy with skin the color of ripe wheat carefully wrapped in a white cloth. Now, the old woman already had a large family but remembered that Unniamma'a mother wanted to adopt a child for her barren daughter. So she dutifully picked up the infant and took him home.

The following morning she proceeded straight to the village of Uniamma's mother, who accepted the baby with great joy. To seal the bargain, Unniama's mother gave the old woman ten pounds of rice and then hurried to Pantalayini near Calicut, in an area known as Koilande. There her daughter worked in the neighboring temples as well as in the household of Ishwar Iyer, a respected lawyer. Unniamma gratefully adopted the baby and named him Ram.

At about eighteen months of age, Ram developed liver troubles. And even though Mr. Iyer hired for him the best ayurvedic practitioner, the baby's condition worsened. He grew thin and his stomach became distended. Because he often cried through the night, Unniamma's landlord finally demanded that she get rid of him. Too agitated to go to work the next day, she instead took her ailing son out for some fresh air. As she walked, she suddenly saw a tall dark-skinned stranger carrying a large satchel. The distraught mother, thinking he was a physician, approached and begged him to help her child. As if expecting her, he removed a packet from his bag and instructed her to mix its contents with the flesh of a freshly killed crow fried in clarified butter (ghee). She should then administer a small dose to Ram each morning before he had eaten. Also, she should rub Ram's skin with the crow's blood. At this very moment, a toddy tapper* walked by and handed her the crow he carried in his right hand. Astonished, she looked up to thank the two men--but they had vanished.

*Sap from the toddy palm is collected by toddy tappers for making a fermented beverage called arrack.
Unniamma started the prescribed treatment at once, and the child recovered in a short time. The crow's blood, however, permanently turned his skin a dark blue hue. Years later when questioned about any aspect of his background, Nityananda often quipped that a crow came and a crow left. He also said that his skin was not black but blue-black (Krishnavarna).

A devout man, Mr. Iyer worshipped the Sun deity Bharga--and he loved Ram, for whom he felt a strong mystical attraction. When Unniamma died, the kindly man brought the six-year-old into his household and proceeded to take him everywhere. This included the famous Krishna temple at Guruvayur where, alone together, Ram revealed an esoteric understanding that both astounded the older man and satisfied his spiritual hunger. A famous astrologer told him the child was an incarnate personality and that he was blessed to have him as ward and companion. This caused talk among colleagues and friends who were shocked to see the respected Brahmin's attachment to the lower caste boy.

The young Ram was mischievous and loved to pull pranks, and his foster father asked friends and servants to keep an eye on him. for instance, he would dive into a neighboring temple's water tank, stay under water for a long time, and then run off dripping water everywhere. he would also get up by four in the morning and insist that other household members do likewise, taking their baths and applying sacred ash to their foreheads. he refused to attend school but agreed to learn subjects like Malayalam, English, Sanskrit, and arithmetic from Mr. Iyer.

One story tells of Ram tricking a local snake-charmer who ran a dishonest money-making operation. Under cover of darkness his cohorts would release several cobras into the compound of a selected household. The snake-charmer would then appear the following morning to offer his assistance. Calling the snakes, he would depart with both the reptiles and his fee. However, trying the scheme one day on Mr. Iyer--the snakes would not heed their call. The baffled snake-charmer soon noticed Ram in the background giggling. he had rendered the trickster's mantra ineffective. The boy then let him collect his snakes with the warning never to bother the Iyer household again.

 

When Ram was around ten years old, Mr. Iyer decided to take him on a pilgrimage to the city of Benares and other holy places. As usual the two traveled alone together. On this trip the boy reportedly granted to his companion many divine visions. Along the way Ram took leave of his tearful foster father, promising to see him again. Exactly where the young Master went, nobody knows. However, it is thought that he traveled the northern regions, for some sources indicate his renown in the himalayas as a great kundalini yogi. Six years later Ram returned. Having had the boy in thoughts for days and realizing that he had really come, Mr. Iyer ecstatically repeat nityananda, nityananda! Eternal bliss! And this, of course, became the Master's popular name.

Note that Nityananda was away from Ishwar Iyer from the ages of 10 to 16 years of age. By the time he returned at 16, he was known in the entire Himilayan region as a kundalini Mahayogi.
Shortly thereafter Mr. Iyer performed his youngest daughter's marriage ceremony at the temple in Guruvayur. There, the entire family felt the deity's presence in Nityananda. The youth then took his foster father to receive the darshan of Ananteshwar and Lord Krishna in Udipi. (Later Nityananda would indicate to devotees his previous association with the ancient Ananteshwar temple by remarking that he had been present when it was built some 400 years earlier). Mr. Iyer soon fell gravely ill and, resting in Nityananda's lap, asked to see Bharga, the divine object of his lifelong worship. The young Master granted his wish and Mr. Iyer died. To express his love and gratitude before he died, the man bequeathed some assets to his adopted son. The young Nityananda refused the gift.
So ends the chapter entitled "The Early Years."

South Kanara. 1915-1936

 

After performing last rites for his foster father, the young Nityananda took off again, this time to wander South India and beyond. Over the years devotees heard him mention stowing away on a cargo ship, probably boarding in Madras, to work as a stoker boy and sailing to Ceylon, Rangoon, and Singapore. he spoke of being a laborer on a Burmese rubber plantation and some people think he visited Japan

He once laughingly recounted an incident during the First World War when, as an army conscript, he was declared medically unfit because the doctor could not find his heartbeat or pulse. He is said to have been in Madras when Swami Vivekananda left India in 1896 and again when he died in 1902. In the mid-1950s, when asked if he would travel abroad like certain other Indian swamis, he answered, "One only has to go if unable to see places or deal with people from here."

The following is one of the few authenticated stories from this time period. The scene is Palani Temple where Lord Subramanya, a brother of Lord Ganesh in Hindu mythology, is the presiding deity. We must visualize Nityananda in those days looking like an eccentric wanderer, his wire-thin body healthy and glowing. Late one morning he was ascending the last few steps to the shrine when the attendant priest, having just locked the doors after morning worship, was descending. Nityananda asked him to re-open the doors and wave a ritual light and incense (arati) before the deity. Astonished that a vagrant would dare make such a request, the priest curtly told Nityananda that the time for morning worship was over.
Nityananda continued on. The priest, expecting him to walk around the shrine and worship at the Muslim altar in the back, was not concerned until he heard the temple bells ringing. Turning, he was astonished to see the doors open, Nityananda sitting in the deity's place, and arati being waved before him by invisible hands. The vision vanished at once and Nityananda left the shrine to stand on one leg for some time, steadily gazing upward. Coins poured at his feet, offered, some say, by pilgrims, while others say by an unseen source. In any case, he was accorded all the honors of a Master. When the surrounding pilgrims begged him to stay, he refused and instructed them to use the money to provide a daily meal of rice porridge to visiting renunciates. It was later learned that local sanyasis had been praying for this very thing.

Leaving the Pantalayani area, the young master encountered an errant gang of youths in Cannanore. One of them wrapped a kerosene-soaked rag on the Master's left hand and set it ablaze. Nityananda didn't resist physically but instead transferred the burning sensation to the one who had attacked him. Crying out in pain, the unexpected victim begged for mercy. As Nityananda extinguished the fire on his own hand, the sensation in the other's subsided. Years later, he explained to devotees:

"Those with inner wisdom (jnanis) do not go in for miracles. However, this does not mean that a burning rag tied to their hands does not hurt. They suffer like anyone else but have the capacity to detach their minds completely from the nerve centers. In this way they might remember the pain only once or twice a day."

At some point the young Nityananda began appearing regularly around Mangalore and other parts of South kanara. Again, extant stories make a clear chronology impossible.

 
Now approaching his early twenties and wearing only a loincloth and often not even that, he lived a life of great simplicity in the region's rocks, caves, and forests. It was a familiar sight to see him standing stiffly in a tree before the local Mahakali temple at Kaup. People would gather below his tree, mingling without regard for caste or creed, and the Master would shower them with leaves that recipients prized for their healing power. One day, after the crowd dispersed, a blind man stayed behind and begged for help, explaining the burden he was to his family. After a while, saying nothing, Nityananda climbed down and rubbed the man's eyes with leaves from the tree. The man arose next morning to find his sight restored.

Another time, in Manjeshwar, there was a man whose mother suffered from a painful lump in her leg. When medicines brought no relief, he went to Nityananda, who was standing as usual in a tree. He said, "This one knows and is there." The son, however, did not understand. He went home and returned with his mother in a carriage--but the Master had vanished. After searching in vain, they went home to find him descending from their attic. He silently massaged the astonished woman's leg for several minutes and then departed. The mother recovered completely.

Yet another story tells of a widow who brought her six year old daughter. Nityananda said, "But the child has been blind from birth. Why do you insist I change this? Let the child say what she wants." The child then said, "I would like to see my mother once." The Master said nothing. After a while he asked them to leave. It was the mother's custom to first bathe the child, put her in a safe spot, and them perform her own ablutions. That day, as she returned, her daughter jumped up and shouted that she saw her. Their joy lasted only minutes before the blindness returned. It seems Nityananda chose not to interfere with the child's destiny.

One morning on a busy road near a village that some say was Panambur, the Master strode along at his usual rapid pace. Coming upon a pregnant woman, he stopped suddenly and squeezed her breasts. The woman did not resist but when outraged people began rushing toward him, Nityananda continued walking. he quickly outdistanced them, shouting that this time the child would live. The woman hurriedly told onlookers that her three previous children had died after their first breast feeding. Shortly thereafter, her baby was bom and survived. A village delegation was org

anized to thank him and the story spread.

This time Nityananda's unconventional behavior became clarified after the fact, but it was not always the case. For example, prior to 1920 he was often seen in the early morning hours waiting for a cow to pass. Following it, he would catch the droppings and swallow them before they touched the ground. Another story says he came to the flooded Pavanje River during the monsoon season. When the boatman refused to ferry him, the Master simply walked across. When in 1953 someone asked him to explain the river incident, he said: "True, the Pavanje River was in flood when this one walked across and the boatman would not venture out. But there was no motive-- it was just the mood of the moment. The only meaning was that the boatman was deprived of his half anna.

 
One must live in the world like common men. Once established in infinite Consciousness, one becomes silent and, knowing all, goes about as if knowing nothing. Although he may be doing many things in several places, he outwardly appears as if he is simply a witness of life—like a spectator at the cinema. He is unaffected by events, whether pleasant or unpleasant. The ability to forget everything and remain detached is the highest state possible."*
*Never forget this second paragraph: It is read here every day; it is not just a statement, it is the way to live life.

Nityananda was indifferent to social conventions, often going naked in the early days. When some people objected and reported the matter, he was taken before a local magistrate. As always, a crowd followed. When ordered to wear a loincloth, the Master reportedly replied, "To cover which with what?" The magistrate then instructed a policeman to tie a loincloth around him--but it wouldn't stay tied. Finally, in exasperation the magistrate ordered a tailor to secure it with needle and thread. The tailor was also a devotee and pleaded with Nityananda to let it stay in place. He complied, it remained, and thereafter a loincloth was his usual article of clothing.

Nityananda passed most of the time around 1915 on the beach at Kanhangad, lying on the hot sand and gazing at the sun. A devotee who as a boy often accompanied his father to the town said, years later, that it was impossible to approach Nityananda in the afternoons. The intense heat discouraged everybody from walking on the sand. Sometimes he sat from morning until evening on the blazing hot rock where his first temple would be built in 1963.*
*This was the first temple built in his honor after his mahasamadhi in 1961.

Discovery in Udipi: Part I 1918

 

By 1918, the tiny village of Udipi was already a well-known center of pilgrimage. Here people could visit the Krishna temple, the birthplace of the third great teacher Madhvacharya, athe ancient Ananteshwar temple, and the area called Ajjara Kadu (or "Grandfather's Wood").

Two friends strolled together here every evening, always ending their walk by circling the two temples. Once, passing the Krishna temple, they were drawn to a thin young man who stood among the sanyasis in the outer corridor. At that moment the youth turned to face the wall and refused to be acknowledged. The friends both agreed that this was an uncommon holy man. Several days later they came upon him, this time at an entrance to the temple. Seeing them, Nityananda began to laugh uncontrollably. He did so for a prolonged period, and in a way that Mr. Bhat later said seemed to come from the depths of his being.

Weeks passed before they saw him again, this time sitting by himself outside the ancient Ananteshwar temple. Dr. Kombarbail caught hold of both his hands and asked him who he was and where he came from. He addressed him in Hindi, Kanarese, and English in quick succession. Nityananda had apparently been observing silence for some time because it took great effort for him to speak--but he did so in fluent English, Hindi, and Konkani, which was the local language. He ended by repeating, "Nityananda, nityananda!" The two men realized he referred to his blissful state and this is why devotees from those early days called him "Sadhu" (holy man) or "Swami."

Mr. Bhat, having performed his father's anniversary ceremony that morning, invited the sadhu to his house for a special meal. To his delight, the Master readily accepted and ate his food from a plantain leaf and discarded the leaf himself. This was the last time he was observed to eat with his own hands. Subsequently, he ate only when fed by devotees. Even water he allowed devotees to pour into his mouth, indicating after a few swallows that he was satisfied.[Mr. Bhat and Dr. Kombarbail became life-long devotees.]

Nityananda stayed in Udipi for a time, often visiting Mangalore and Kaup, but he stayed nowhere for long. Mrs. T. Sitabai, Captain Hatengdi's primary source concerning these days, felt the young Master was pulled mystically by devotees thinking of him or experiencing some stress. She said Nityananda would often leave Udipi abruptly without indicating his destination and then reappear some time later. For instance, one afternoon at half past three, he suddenly stood up and said he would return soon. And in fact, by five o'clock he was back. No one inquired nor did he indicate where he had been. Two days later a devotee arrived from Mangalore to say how in the early afternoon of that particular day his fellow devotees were longing to see him. Within minutes, he appeared. As on other occasions, no one asked how he covered the fifty-odd miles to the seaport town. They were content knowing that, when needed, Nityananda often came.

Mrs. Krishnabai, an early devotee, describes a similar incident. It was to be Nityananda's first visit to her house in Mangalore--but when he arrived, he immediately turned and walked away with his usual speed. a crowd watched as Mrs. Krishnabai's husband and a friend tried to stop him physically. However, the sadhu easily swept both men along with him for a quarter mile before suddenly saying "She stopped me," and agreeing to return. it seemed that Mrs. Krishnabai's anguish was too great for him to ignore.

In the beginning, to keep him from the Krishna temple, street urchins in Udipi pelted the young Nityananda with stones. Oddly, those finding their mark were transformed into jewels (or sweets, according to similar stories from Kanhangad). But those who scrambled to retrieve such treasures found only stones. When, after several days of this phenomenon, a pile of stones appeared at the feet of Krishna's temple statue, the matter was reported to the elderly swami in charge. Recognizing that Nityananda was no ordinary sadhu, he at once ordered everyone to treat him with respect.
Throughout his life, Nityananda was a friend of beggars, the lowest castes, and the poor. He would let the money left at his feet by devotees accumulate and then order a feast for the poor, insisting on the best ingredients. Even when resources were scarce, food was still miraculously abundant. This became a regular event wherever he wandered, and in later years he only accepted invitations from hosts willing to feed the needy. The Master himself liked to dish up regional specialties for his guests with his two huge hands-like Mangalore's iddlies cooked in jackfruit leaves. To this day in Ganeshpuri, feeding the local poor children (known as Bal Bhojan in India) still occurs in Nityananda's name.

 

Among those who sought his company in Udipi was a wealthy landlord's only son. The father, however, considered the Master to be a dangerous eccentric and became alarmed when the schoolboy began giving money to help feed the poor. He decided to hire two assassins to kill Nityananda, a practice not uncommon for people of means in those days. In this instance, because of his intended victim's frequent disappearances, the father thought the abduction would go unnoticed.

One afternoon, while sitting on a veranda, the Master suddenly smiled, stood up, and disappeared down the lane. His devotees quickly followed--and found him held by one man and about to be stabbed by another. They overpowered the assassins, attracted the police, and only then noticed that the man who had wielded the knife was in excruciating pain, his arm frozen in its attack position. At Nityananda's touch, the man's arm dropped painlessly to his side.

As the assailants were taken to jail, the protesting Nityananda followed and requested their release. The police refused. He then sat down and remained there for three days without food or water while his devotees negotiated with officials. Eventually, the prisoners were released. It is said that they became devotees of the Master and that even the local officials developed a high regard for the eccentric sadhu.

Discovery in Udipi: Part 2

Late one night, a devotee was told by alarmed women of his household that Nityananda was running a high temperature. However, the sadhu refused to leave his refuge, the filthy cattle shed, repeating, "The medicine is here." Thinking him delirious, the host pleaded with his guest until he finally agreed to move to the veranda.

Hurrying to the only chemist in Udipi, the devotee returned with a bottle of reddish- brown mixture for his fever. Nityananda shook the bottle, handed it back, and said, "What is this? Look at it." Removing the cork, the devotee found to his consternation that the liquid had changed color and now smelled like urine. The Master laughed and said it was no better than what was in the cattle shed.

This was the monsoon season when people customarily collected rainwater in drums placed below the eaves of their houses. The night of his fever, Nityananda suddenly began to gulp down the rainwater in his host's drum. Witnesses could not believe the amount of water he drank. When he finished, he turned and said, "The fever is gone." And it was.

Indian families used to perform a special ceremony six days after a birth to honor the goddess of destiny, who was thought to write the newborn's future that night. On one occasion, and six days after a devotee's wife had given birth, Nityananda entered her room, swallowed the dried umbilical cord, and left. When questioned about his behavior, he replied that this particular family had lost many children in infancy but that the new baby would survive.

Sometimes Nityananda humorously acted out a charade to describe an upcoming visitor. One morning he slung an empty shopping bag over his left shoulder, bending slightly from the weight; in his right hand he pretended to carry something light. He then walked up and down the room before suddenly taking off for a neighbor's house. Following, perplexed devotees saw a man pacing the street looking for someone. he carried a heavy bag on his left shoulder and a water container in his right hand. By now the Master was sitting on his neighbor's veranda. Approaching the steps, the stranger stopped and they gazed silently at one another for a long time. Finally the Master stood up and the man walked away.
The man remained in the area for a while. When devotees asked about the encounter, he described himself as a Krishna devotee from Uttar Pradesh. Having had a vision that Krishna was present in living form in Udipi, he traveled to the village, where he felt drawn vibrationally to that particular neighborhood. Unsure of the exact house, he had wandered around for some time before Nityananda appeared. He added, "I said nothing to him because with one look I knew why I was there. Tomorrow I will leave blissfully happy having received darshan of Krishna."

Wistfully, Mrs. Sitabai related an event that happened when she was both a new devotee and newly married. One day Nityananda picked up a coconut and offered it to her. Now, it is rare and auspicious to receive a coconut from a holy person. Moreover, it is thought to keep widowhood at bay, and a married woman would traditionally extend the skirt of her sari with both hands to receive it. But the young Mrs. Sitabai hesitated. She considered her high-caste birth and whether it was acceptable for her to receive such a thing from a casteless sadhu. He waited patiently for several minutes and when she did not accept the offering, the threw it away--perhaps deciding that her fate held too strong a pull on her. Three months later, her husband died. And she would always wonder whether she might have been spared widowhood had her faith been stronger.

 
In the early twenties, Nityananda frequently visited Mrs. Krishnabai's Mangalore residence, which included several small rental houses. In those days residents used a row of simple lavatories situated at the edge of the compound. Each morning municipal workers would arrive with a cart to collect the night soil and take it away.

We know that Nityananda's eating habits were as unpredictable as his movements. Only partaking of food and water that was fed to him, he would appear unexpectedly at Mrs. Krishnabai's door looking hopeful. Sometimes the family had already eaten and there might only be a few morsels of rice to put in his mouth. But this always seemed to satisfy him.

One morning, however, compound residents were horrified to see the Master by the lavatories sitting among piles of night soil. Always an early riser, he appeared to have collected the matter with his own hands and formed the mounds, covering himself from head to toe in the process. He held a bamboo scale in his hand and when anyone passed, he said, "Bombay halwa [Halwa is an Indian sweet confection]. Very tasty! Would you like some?" Then he would raise the scale as if to weigh out the desired quantity. He sat there all day, embarrassing everyone, even taking his afternoon nap there. When Mrs. Krisnabai finally approached, he said, "You feed me, don't you? But would you also feed me this?" Abashed, she turned away.

That evening Mrs. Krishnabai was afraid he would drop by the hose without washing. She asked two of the assembled devotees to wait at the door to prevent him from bringing the filth inside. And promptly at seven o'clock, he appeared at the back door. In those days he could be prevailed upon, at least in some matters, and the two devotees ended up taking him to the baths for a thorough scrubbing. Later, sitting with his devotees, Nityananda held out his palm and asked if they could smell the "fine Parisian perfume." He never explained the meaning of the day's events--and they never asked.

The next morning Mrs. Krishnabai found all the compound's residents lined up before the Master asking his pardon. Drawing one of them aside, she inquired what had happened. The man explained: Earlier that week while discussing how Nityananda only at food fed to him, someone had joked about offering him night soil. He went on, "We now realize how wrong we were and that such a Master can find nourishment in anything--even filth. Therefore we seek his forgiveness."

 

The Mangalore Days of Rail Travel
1923-1933

Nityananda loved trains. He traveled frequently by rail and even established his Kanhangad ashram beside the tracks in 1925. When he was in Mangalore he would settle into one of the empty boxcars shunted aside at the station, and here devotees could find him.

One afternoon Mrs. Krishnabai, learning of his arrival, hurried off to receive darshan. She quickly returned home to greet a relative who had come for a visit. A sanyasi, he asked her to take him to see Nityananda the next day. Later, as they stepped down from the boxcar, Mrs. Krishnabai turned to the Master and said, "I came yesterday in such a hurry, never dreaming that I would also be able to return today." But Nityananda replied, "Who are you to decide?"

He often rode the trains between Mangalore and Kanhangad. Once a railroad official who was new to the route ordered him to disembark for not having a ticket. As he made no sign to obey, the official forcibly removed him at Manjeshwar. Submitting to the rough handling, Nityananda proceeded to make himself comfortable on a station bench. But when its departure time came--the train didn't move. Minutes ticked by and people waited expectantly. Finally, come passengers told the official that is was unwise to treat this particular sadhu so harshly. Devotees then took Nityananda on board and the train began moving. When it reached Kanhangad, however, it went past the station and stopped where his ashram currently stands. The Master descended wearing around his neck a garland made of hundreds of tickets. He handed the garland to the same official, asking him to take as many as he wanted. 

Shamefaced, the man said it would not happen again. Nityananda then jumped the small ditch and strode off toward the jungle. Again the train would not move, and devotees ran after him for help. He retraced his steps, slapped the engine, and told it to get going. And the train did, going in reverse back to the station it had bypassed earlier.

Probably due to such incidents, Nityananda had free run of the trains. Engineers welcomed him into their engine cars and even blew a saluting whistle when passing his ashram, a custom still followed today. It is said that throughout the late 1920's the Master always had a punched ticket attached to the string of his loincloth.

Swami Chidananda of Rishikesh recalled that, as a child traveling south by train from Mangalore, he once noticed a commotion at a wayside station. Peering out the window, he watched a reed-thin Nityananda toss biscuits and sweets from a vendor's tray to a crowd of delighted children. Then, giving the pleased vendor a currency note from his loincloth, he climbed into the engine car as the departing whistle blew.

Udipi residents watched him catch cow droppings to put on his head. Then, whistling like a locomotive, he would chug away down the road like a child.

And he used a railroad analogy in his last public talk. This was on Guru Purnima, July 27, 1961, twelve days before his passing. He addressed the assembled devotees at some length, talking about the energy required to pull a train up a hill and of a spiritual seeker's need to stay firmly on the proverbial tracks.
Nityananda traveled constantly between Mangalore, Kanhangad, Udipi, Akroli and other villages. His appearances, generally unexpected, seemed magical. One day, thinking him in Mangolore, six or seven Udipi devotees decided to pay a social call on a neighboring village. Approaching a wooded area along the way, they were astonished to see the Master sitting under a tree. The devotees immediately changed their plans and decided to spend the evening there with him. When Nityananda shouted at them to keep their distance, they sat down some twenty feet away. They could hear him talking and, as their eyes adjusted to the gloom, they saw a cobra coiled at his side. It was to the snake that the Master spoke in Konkani, and it seemed to nod in the affirmative. The only words the devotees could clearly distinguish were, "Are you three comfortable?" and they inferred that there were two other snakes nearby. After a while, Nityananda patted the cobra on its hood and watched it disappear.

 

As witnessed, Nityananda's behavior could be difficult to interpret. While a person might think that he or she had been forced to undergo a minor difficulty, later reflection would indicate that something more serious had been miraculously averted. Many devotees experienced this as we see in the following story.

The young Master often visited the home of a devoted Mangalore woman. Once he told her married daughter, "She is this one's mother; yours is here," indicating himself. One evening Nityananda walked into the kitchen as the devotee was cooking over the mud hearth. He pulled out a burning piece of firewood, hit her over the head with it, and quickly left. Her children were outraged but the mother advised patience, and an explanation was neither sought nor provided. Twelve months later, while casting the family's horoscope, an astrologer from Kerala expressed his astonishment at finding the lady of the house alive. He said his calculations showed that she should have died the previous year. That was when her family realized that the Master's blow had changed his devotee's destiny.

Mrs. Lakshmibai was a young, widowed domestic in the employ of Tulsiamma, a well- known devotee. The young servant was devoted to Nityananda as well. One day she was asked to prepare the evening meal early because Tulsiamma hoped to bring Nityananda home to dinner. Now, Mrs. Lakshmibai had always nursed an intense desire to feed him with her own hands, having watched other devotees do so. Overcoming her shyness, she asked if she might accompany her mistress in case the Master refused their offer. But like Cinderella, she was told to stay home and make the house ready. so saying, Tulsiamma left.

Finishing her preparations, Mrs. Lakshmibai went outside to gather fresh plantain leaves for serving the food. Still musing over her disappointment, she slowly cut a leaf and heard an unexpected rustle in the tree above. Nityananda climbed down, asked if the meal was ready, and proceeded her to the house. The overjoyed servant ran to wash her hands and began to feed the Master. At that moment Tulsiamma returned. Her words "I couldn't find him" were rapidly followed by her amazed laughter at finding the Master already enjoying dinner at her house.

Appayya Alva was a prosperous South Kanara landlord renowned and sometimes feared for his ability to materialize objects through the strength of mantra. This powerful mantravadi, with a wave of his hands, could produce foreign cigarettes, exotic fruits, or flowers by the armful. However, when they materialized in one place, they disappeared elsewhere--often from the Car Street flower market in Mangalore where attendants would suddenly wail, "my flowers are gone!" And so it was that many people suffered from his exhibitions. Alva was also a vain and arrogant man. One time, when his presence at a concert went unrecognized, he caused the singer to temporarily lose his voice.

Eventually Alva encountered Nityananda. One May day in 1923 Mr. M.A.K. Rao, an esteemed Manjeshwar citizen, was celebrating a niece's wedding. At Mr. Rao's insistence, Nityananda was invited and seated in a place of honor. It was while the soon-to-marry couple placed garlands around the Master's neck that Alva made his entrance. He immediately belittled the host for honoring the young sadhu as if he were a divine being and boasted that he would prove his point. Reciting a mantra, he then rolled a tobacco leaf between his hands and forced it into the Master's mouth. Nityananda chewed and swallowed the leaf as if it had been offered by a devotee. As people watched, he perspired slightly--but Alva suddenly sank to the ground mortally ill. He died three days later in the Government Wenlock Hospital.

Twenty years later Nityananda was asked about this incident. he played down the connection between the tobacco leaf and Alva's death, saying that the man had misused his considerable mantric powers to bring suffering to the poor and misery to the weak. He said that divine forces had stopped the abuse and he called the tobacco leaf insignificant. He then revealed that, before dying, Alva asked to see Nityananda but his family refused to send for him.

 

In 1923, at the height of the monsoon season, Nityananda walked through the marketplace in Bantwal. By this time he was a known figure in the district, recognized by devotees and skeptics alike. As it was raining heavily, he entered a shop and stood in the corner with the servants and porters. The shopkeepers ordered him to leave, taunting him about his great powers. When Nityananda asked to stay, they laughed and splashed him with water. Only then did he walk away, sadly saying, "It seems God has decided that only Mother Ganga [Nityananda's reference to Mother Ganga was the Ganges river]. can wash away the sins here." The shopkeepers retorted, "Let her come. That way we can perform our ablutions without going to her banks!"

Even as they spoke, the swollen Netravati River rumbled and began to swallow the village. It was one of the worst floods in South Kanara, and Bantwal was destroyed. A span of the Ullal railroad bridge was damaged so badly that train service was disrupted for months. People still talk about Nityananda pulling many poor victims from the swirling waters.

Perhaps the most extraordinary incident of this period occurred in a devotee's house in Falnir just before sunset. While they sat before him in meditation, those present were suddenly disturbed by a blinding flash of light on the wall behind Nityananda. They opened their eyes to find him motionless on his knees in a yoga posture (veera- padmasana) with his eyes closed. Afraid to touch him, they lit lamps and tried to see if he still breathed. Finding no signs of life, they decided that he had taken mahasamadhi and invited people to come for their last darshan. Most devotees soon returned to their homes, some sad and disappointed that the young sadhu left them, some hopeful that he would return, and some thinking that he had overdone his breathing exercise. Mrs. Krisnabai was one of the few who stayed behind, maintaining a vigil throughout the night and following day. That afternoon Nityananda suddenly moved. He stretched his limbs and was immediately helped to a bed. He wore a strange look and recognized no one for quite  some time. After questioning, he admitted that he had gone for good--but five divine beings persuaded him to return, saying that it was too soon. During his remaining years, the Master never spoke of it again.

Kanhangad's Rock Ashram
1925-1936

Before leaving South Kanara, around 1925 Nityananda began spending long periods in Kanhangad. Initially he chose the jungle area called Guruvana for his rock ashram. [Devotees believe Nityananda was found abandoned here as an infant. Guruvana lies several miles from a second temple that was dedicated to Nityananda in 1966.] Evidence indicates that he inhabited a certain jungle cave where he had discovered a skeleton seated in a lotus position, surrounded by pots and other personal effects.
Nityananda is said to have disposed of it in an unknown manner. This story came from an elderly woman in Kerala who fed Nityananda during this time. She also said that at the rear of the cave was once an entrance, now blocked off, to a hall that could seat several hundred people. Nityananda often said that beyond the hill in Guruvana were many saints in samadhi. Some people believe he was associated with this particular spot in a previous incarnation and the skeleton was either his own or of someone he knew.

Regardless, it was here that Nityananda struck a rock from which spring water has flowed ever since. Nearby he placed eight stone balls thought to represent the occult powers achieved through yogic discipline (siddhis) and a tank to collect the spring water. When B.H. Mehta built the temple in 1966 he added a spout, called Papanashini Ganga, for the water to pass through. For many years Swami Janananda tended the area, converting the jungle into a spiritual paradise. He rebuilt the tank as a well, constructed a road to the temple, and replaced the stone balls with eight stone linga-like structures. he also made a small shrine for Malbir, the area's protecting spirit.

 

Nityananda's work on the Kanhangad fort started around 1927. First he built a road, still used, from the traveler's bungalow up to the rock temple and ashram. he then began clearing the jungle growth that overran the dilapidated compound. Historically the site belonged to a long lineage of chieftains. At one time it was in the hands of the Tulu dynasty who ruled from Mangalore to Kanhangad. Nityananda began the project to the consternation of local authorities who pestered him with questions about his activities and whether he had permission. The Master always responded that he was clearing the jungle for their future offices, a prediction that eventually came to pass.

Once the fort was cleared of overgrowth, Nityananda turned his attention to the rock itself, which is where the temple erected to him in 1963 now stands. he wanted caves hewn from the rock and, without engineers or blueprints, directed everything down to the most minute detail. The task was formidable. Using no equipment, workers carved out the caves by hand. Within three years some forty caves stood ready, properly cemented and plastered inside and out. Most were large enough for a person to sit and rest. There were six entrances; three faced east and three faced west, resulting in continuous light in the passages from sunrise to sunset.

With work proceeding on the interior of the compound, Nityananda often worked on the exterior. He made the steps and lingas with his own hands. Following a visit to the caves in 1945, Captain Hatengdi asked him about their symbolism. He replied that they represented the brain and its six passages. At one point a well was dug within the cave complex, but Nityananda later ordered it closed. Today an outside well is the current asram's main water source.

Local laborers received their pay at the end of each day. Swami Janananda recalled that the foreman usually collected the money from beneath a tree. But sometimes the workers filed past Nityananda. Opening and then closing his empty fist, he would drop the exact wages into each recipient's hand.
One day a delegation of local authorities arrived and asked him about the source of these wages. Without a word, Nityananda led them to the waterlogged field beside the rock, dived in, and emerged with a bagful of currency. He told the astonished men that a crocodile in the depths always supplied the amount he needed. He then added that they were free to find it themselves; otherwise he offered to bring up the beast for them to see.

Feeling that they had been ridiculed by this yogi in a loincloth, the angry delegates immediately reported the unauthorized construction. They told Mr. Gawne, the British tax official in South Kanara, that a crazy sanyasi was paying workers with money from unknown and mysterious sources. It seemed that Mr. Gawne had heard of Nityananda's remarkable activities in Mangalore and decided to see for himself. Arriving at the Kanhangad railway station, he proceeded on horseback accompanied by his dog along the road built by the Master. Reaching the rock compound, he stopped and looked around. Nityananda was in a cave below the ruins on the fort's south side. here, the dog soon discovered him and started to bark.

He emerged from the cave and Mr. Gawne, still on horseback, asked him why he was doing all this work and for whom. Nityananda replied in English, "Not for this one (meaning himself). If you want it, you may have it." As the words were uttered, a change came over the British official. Turning, he ordered the local authorities to leave Nityananda alone and allow him free rein of the site. He added that the source of funds was of no concern as long as no one complained of being swindled or robbed. Imagine his surprise when, riding his horse back to the station, he saw the words "Gawne Road" on the newly erected road sign.

One cloudy day in the monsoon season, Nityananda was stretched out on the rock. Suddenly, a man approached and demanded to have God revealed to him. The Master told him to go away. When the man became more bombastic, Nityananda grabbed his umbrella and pointed it at the man's toe. Devotees said that the man's dormant kundalini energy, rendered active, must have suddenly risen up his spine to the brahmarandra chakra at the top of his head. Anyway, the man screamed and fainted. Reviving, he stumbled to the government hospital for treatment. The doctor in charge reported Nityananda to the police as crazy and possibly dangerous. The police promptly took him before the local magistrate. When Nityananda declared that "This one did nothing,'' the magistrate asked whether there were witnesses. The Master pointed at the four pillars in the hall and was ordered to jail for insolence.

Soon the prisoner announced his need to urinate. Given a receptacle, he rapidly filled it. Another was supplied, which he again filled to the brim. A water jug was offered next. When it overflowed, the constable hurried off the find the magistrate, who agreed to release this mysterious person.

Meanwhile, the interfering doctor from the hospital went home to discover his wife dancing naked around the house in an apparent state of insanity. The alarmed man rushed first to the police station where, hearing of Nityananda's release, he proceeded to the rock ashram. Begging forgiveness, he was waved away by the Master and returned home to find his wife in her normal state.

In these early days Swami Janananda noted other unusual occurrences around Nityananda,. Often, for instance, he would emerge from the water tank following his morning bath with his body and loincloth completely dry. He was also seen waking in the rain without getting wet.

One evening the Master asked for a bottle of arrack, the local fermented beverage. Drinking it, he asked for seven more bottles and finished them in quick succession. Mr. Veera from Kumbla, a heavy drinker himself, could not believe his eyes and asked Nityananda why he did this. He relied that is was for the spirit haunting the rock who, now satisfied, would harm no one in the future.

Visitors to the temple today can still see a small stone in front. During worship, the arathi is waved before this stone as well as before Nityananda's statue, It is said that a powerful spirit once inhabited the site. Older Kanhangad residents remember being told as children that those passing the stone without pouring arrack on it would suffer some illness.

About a kilometer north of the rock ashram is an area called Kushalnagar. Here in 1931 the Master built a round table out of stone and called it the ''Round Table Conference." He would sit at his table and speak of various world issues, relating first the views of other world leaders and then those of Gandhi. Now, at this very time there happened to be an international conference taking place in London. Skeptics among the Master's listeners who checked the newspaper accounts of the ''real'' Round Table Conference were amazed to find that they coincided exactly with Nityananda's words.

As work on the Kanhangad caves neared completion in 1933, Nityananda once again embarked on a period of frequent and often unpredictable travel. Sallying forth from Kanhangad and Ganeshpuri, he might appear in Vajreshwari, Gokarn, Kanheri, Bombay, or anywhere.

 

One day as he sat under a tree near the rock caves, three local Muslims arrived to stand reverently before him. As he had many Muslim devotees, this was not surprising. Having just returned from their Haj pilgrimage to Mecca, they were asked by the Master what they had seen there. They replied, "We saw you there, Swamiji, and have come to pay homage." Nityananda turned his face with a faint smile on his lips.

Similarly, he was seen in many places around Bombay. Achutamama, a devotee from udipi, tells how the Master asked him to dig a small grave-like pit in the sands of Chowpati and bury him in it. Alarmed, the man then watched as people unwittingly walked over the spot. After about thirty minutes, Nityananda sprang from the sand and asked his companion to take him home. This happened several times until one day he requested a much deeper pit. When he did not crawl out at the usual time, Achutamama grew anxious but continued to wait. Finally, three hours later Nityananda emerged and casually explained that he had had business in Delhi.

He was a regular visitor to Mrs. Muktabai's Bombay home at this time. Once she and her mother went to the town of Nasik along the Godavari River for a change of climate. While they were away, Nityananda insisted on managing the house for his devotee's husband and attending to the household chores himself.

In 1934 or 1935 he reportedly moved to Akroli near Vajreshwari. Here he repaired the hot spring tanks and the nearby Nath temple. He also built a charity hostel across from the Vajreshwari temple and supervised the construction of a well that is still the site's primary water source. As usual, his followers discovered his whereabouts. One of these faithful was Sitarama Shenoy whom Nityananda asked to open a restaurant across from the Vajreshwari temple.

Others found the Master without even looking. A story goes that Mrs. Muktabai and several Bombay devotees had gathered for a picnic near Vajreshwari. As they ate they spoke of Nityananda, lamenting the fact that three years had passed since they had seen him. At that moment a dark figure emerged from the jungle at the base of Mandakini Mountain and approached the ecstatic group.

In 1957, Mr. Krishnamurthy, a journalist and biographer, wrote the following: ''Two decades ago Nityananda lived for years in a tree in the heart of the Vajreshwari jungle. Once a young man asked him, "Man cannot do the impossible but a yogi can. Won't you awaken the kundalini in me?" Moved by his earnestness, Nityananda touched his spinal cord and, in a split second, the seeker experienced the dynamic charge of the kundalini. The confines of mortal hope blended with the divine light. He felt as if a magnesium wire burned in his head and unfolded a mystery and a wordless music.''

''When kundalini returns to its spiritual cave, the light is extinguished and the flute broken. Only when one puts the eyes of logic and reason to sleep, can one grasp reality's mysterious flash. For an intellectual understanding of kundalini, we can read books. But in our very own day we have Nityananda as a living emblem of the kundalini process. To him, it is not a mental trap. It is action."

"From the moment Nityananda opens the first window of our consciousness, we no longer feel bound by time. Indeed, his greatness lies in time's annihilation. The past becomes a memory. We cease to reach toward future passions. We live in the intuition of the moment. This transforms us from invalid to knower!"

Ganeshpuri--The Beginning 1936

Nityananda arrived in Ganeshpuri one morning in 1936. Some people think he came at the goddess Vajreshwari's bidding. We know he did tell Kanhangad devotees of his intention to visit the Bhimeshwar temple, but he said nothing of moving there. In those days Ganeshpuri was surrounded by a dense jungle inhabited by tigers and other wild animals. Access to the temple was via a footpath over a hill known as Mandakini. The area's only other inhabitants lived on the west side of the hill at a sanatorium. There, a doctor had diverted sulfur water from the natural hot springs into specially constructed therapeutic baths for his patients.

When Nityananda reached the Bhimeshwar temple that morning, he was wrapped in a checkered blanket. Thinking him a Muslim, the attending priest's young wife Gangubai refused to let him enter the Hindu shrine. The Master said nothing and retraced his steps to sit by an old well overgrown with vegetation and full of stones. [When the well was later cleared, these stones were touted for their healing power and eagerly collected by ayurvedic physicians.] Late that afternoon a Vajreshwari devotee arrived and found him still seated by the well. hearing the tale, the devotee hastened to rectify the mistake. Apologies were immediately offered and soon a temporary structure was built for Nityananda on the temple's west side. It was small, with barely enough room for him to crawl inside and rest.

Before the door stood an ancient pipal tree that was home to many snakes. As he had done with the cobras in Kanhangad, Nityananda issued vibrational orders and they disappeared into the jungle--except for one. The oldest cobra would not leave, preferring death at the Master's hands. The story goes that one day he instructed devotees to stay away and some time later announced that the old snake's wish had been granted. He then ordered villagers to cut down the enormous tree that was now festooned with sacred thread and sprinkled with the red kumkum powder used in Indian rituals.

As word spread of Nityananda's arrival, villagers from surrounding areas began gathering around his hut in the evenings. A large pot of rice porridge, of which the Master would partake, always stood ready for them. Devotees were soon flocking to Ganeshpuri as well. To accommodate them, a building was constructed east of the hot spring water tanks.

At first, due to a lack of potable water, visitors only stayed the day. However, once the old well was refurbished, sulfur water was used for everything. One particularly hot afternoon the Master offered a plate of rice with spicy pickle sauce to a visiting devotee. It so happened that the woman found sulfur water distasteful and declined the food, knowing she would crave something to drink afterward. Nityananda again held out the plate to her, saying, "Don't be concerned. You will drink rain water." Venturing a look at the blue sky, she still ate nothing. Within minutes, however, a solitary cloud appeared overhead and rain poured down. The Master said, "Go and get your water," and she jumped up and collected rainwater for both of them.

Within a short period of time, three rooms were added to the temple's south side to form a compound. Today this is called the "old ashram." Nityananda's room with its small cement porch stood in the middle. There were two adjoining rooms that were fully enclosed, one on each side. But the walls of his room only rose seven feet and had a knee-high sliding panel for a door. The dirt yard in front was paved in 1943. Until then he saw devotees in either the building near the bathing tanks or the temple quadrangle.

The only route to the ashram was a winding footpath through the jungle. To reach this path, visitors had to use the neighboring sanatorium's private road. Soon the caretakers there, disgruntled at devotees getting off the bus at the sanatorium gate, began charging them a fee to use the path. This practice continued until, one day, words and blows were exchanged.

Hearing of the incident, Nityananda asked nearby villagers to recruit fifty laborers. The next morning, with the Master working alongside them, they began to clear trees and build a proper road from the ashram to the bus route, which incidentally still conveys regional buses to Ganeshpuri. At the time, however, the district's British magistrate and forest officer received complaints about the unauthorized project. They asked the local forest ranger, who happened to be a devotee, for a complete report. 

Fearing the worst, and at Nityananda's insistence, the man complied. He described the new road as a public service and stressed the growing influx of devotees needing access to both the ashram and the Bhimeshwar temple. Finally, he concluded that the district benefited considerably from the Master's efforts and that he really should have undertaken the project himself.

The curious British officials drove to Ganeshpuri after reading the report. Parking well beyond where the Bhadrakali temple now stands, they approached the ashram as Nityananda sat watching them. Suddenly he turned his back to them and they returned to their car. The magistrate later admitted to subordinates that, while rarely moved by charitable thoughts, upon witnessing how this simple yogi worked to help the local poor, he decided to take no further action.

 

The Old Ashram: Part I
1936-1950

One afternoon a visitor took leave of Nityananda, planning to take the footpath through the woods to the Vajreshwari temple. As he walked off, the Master told him not to look back until he reached the temple. Along the way he encountered a cobra in his path but, following the directive, did not turn around. Instead, he waited for the snake to leave. Continuing, he soon heard someone whispering behind him. Once more, controlling his curiosity, he did not look back until he was within sight of the temple. Then, unable to stand the mystery, he turned and saw a gigantic figure with folded arms standing in the river repeating a mantra--which was what he had heard. Quite shaken, he managed to reach the temple where he remained in a dazed state and had to be hospitalized. It took two months for him to fully recover his senses.

There are many such examples of Nityananda's watchfulness. For instance, he always advised devotees not to venture out alone at night. One time, however, Mrs. Muktabai rose after midnight and went to the hot spring tanks to bathe. As she entered, she saw two uncommonly handsome youths run away and disappear inside the temple. She hurriedly returned to the ashram to tell Nityananda, who admonished her for disobeying his instructions. She apologized and then asked about the young men. He replied that they were sanatkumars, two of Lord Brahma's four sons born of his mind alone.

In 1965 some of the older devotees told Captain Hatengdi that the young Master often used the phrase "tortoise drishti" (or sight) when speaking of his constant mindfulness of their welfare and development. He told them to consider how a mother bird's physical warmth hatches her eggs. In contrast, a mother tortoise climbs onto the beach, lays her eggs, covers them, and returns to the sea, all the while mindful of her eggs. It is her constancy of thought that makes them hatch.

On another occasion, a devotee performing an act of service (seva) around the ashram was told to stop at midnight. He did so and then went off to bathe before retiring. En route, he saw an enormous muddy footprint near the statue of Shiva's bull. Though a man of courage, the devotee was shaken by the sight and rushed inside. There the Master waited and immediately asked, "Did you bow before the footprint?" And he quickly returned to do so.

Nityananda said that through time, sages had often frequented the grounds of the old ashram and he considered the hot springs water there to be holy (koti teertha). This phrase indicates the waters that saints have bathed in or meditated near. In Ganeshpuri the Master always asked even his oldest devotees to, upon arrival, first bathe in the kunds.

Throughout the uncertain light of early morning Nityananda would maintain a vigil until all the devotees returned from bathing. Once, coming from an early bath, Madhumama, a long-time devotee who sometimes cooked for the Master, encountered him at the ashram entrance. he asked the devotee, "Did you see it?" and pointed to a tiger sitting under a mango tree only twenty yards away. Clearly, the Master was standing guard.

Rajgopal Bhat, a regular visitor for two decades, spoke of a similar incident. In 1949 he brought his family to Bombay for the first time and, on finding no accommodations, was told by Nityananda to stay with a certain Mr. Gandhi in Ganeshpuri. Rising the next morning for a three o'clock visit to the hot springs, he felt himself followed and noticed a faint light behind him. Remembering the Master's perennial advice, he did not look back but continued walking. When he reached the present site of the Bhadrakali temple, the uncertain feeling disappeared. He took his bath and forgot the incident. In the evening Mr. Gandhi visited the ashram. Nityananda told him a tiger had followed Mr. Bhat that morning but his faith in the Master had protected him.

According to another story, Bhagawan Mistry, who handled the ashram's construction work, ran in one evening in obvious agony, shouting that a cobra had bitten him. Nityananda calmly told him to sit down. He asked someone to bring him the snake balm, instructed the bewildered Mistry to rub it on the Master's leg at the spot corresponding to his own wound, and told him to go to sleep. The devotee awoke the next morning fully recovered.

An even more dramatic intervention is related in this story from Dr. Deodhar about Sitarama Shenoy, a Mangalore devotee mentioned earlier in the book. After suffering a severe heart attack, he was taken by his family directly from the hospital to Ganeshpuri. His doctors vehemently protested this action. 

Arriving in the village, Sitarama was helped from the car and placed on the ground before Nityananda, who proceeded to take his hand and drag him to the river. There Nityananda splashed water on the ailing man's face, telling him that he was fine and could walk back on his own. And so he did, completely recovered. Shortly thereafter, to his doctor's astonishment and at Nityananda's bidding, he opened the restaurant across from the Vajreshwari temple and worked there until his death in 1954. The restaurant is still maintained by his family.

One afternoon Nityananda announced that Narayan Maharaj of Khedgaon was coming. Seeing Achutamama's skepticism, he insisted that the celebrated teacher was in Vajreshwari en route to the ashram. Five minutes later, they heard a car stop to deposit the maharaj, who went directly to the hot springs. Following his ablutions, he approached Nityananda and asked him to cure his skin disorder. But the Master replied, "Inside you are pure. Why bother with the outside?" And the maharaj went away. That evening Nityananda spoke: "Everything was ready for him--the bed made and his head about to touch the pillow. But instead he got up and left." Referring to the spiritual stage previously reached by the maharaj, the Master told devotees that datta devata siddhi only lasted fourteen years and required a renewed effort at that point. In contrast, the attainment of divine wisdom carried no such limitation. Jnana, he said, was infinite.

A man destined to be a longtime devotee made his first visit to Ganeshpuri in 1938. Most people came by bus but, after winning the Goa lottery, Golikeri Lakshman Rao was a rich man. he hired a taxi for the trip and arrived bearing a fruit basket. Nityananda accepted him as well as the fruit. After several visits, he asked Rao to come on a particular date and accompany him on a pilgrimage (teerthayatra). As Rao arrived that day, again in a taxi, the villagers fell at Nityananda's feet, pleading with him not to leave. He told them to fall at Rao's feet instead--and they did, much to the devotee's embarrassment. Nityananda motioned for Rao to acknowledge them, and they set off on their journey.

At the train station, over his companion's protests, Nityananda insisted on third-class tickets. And in Poona, their first stop, Nityananda took a hotel room with a bed for Rao-- and a space on the floor for himself and a cloth (chadder) for a blanket. The next day they went to Alandi. Here Nityananda encouraged the devotee to follow his usual manner of worship, and so Rao proceeded to the river Jnaneshwar. Meanwhile, the Master stood for several seconds with his hands at his sides in each corner of the shrine, and then left.

The next stop was to be Pandarpur. But Rao suffered a malaria attack in the night and asked Nityananda's permission to return to Bombay. He made no objection but asked Rao to leave his chaddar for him. Protesting, Rao said he would gladly buy the Master a new one but, again overruled, he sadly departed.

 Nityananda traveled on to Pandarpur and other places before returning to Bombay. For several months in early 1939 he lived in the Kanheri caves at Borivli. Adjoining his cave was another where a guru lectured daily on Vedantic philosophy.

 

Focusing on the inconsequential and transitory aspect of the human body, he loudly exhorted his disciples to ignore its many attractions and afflictions. As fate had it, one day the guru was bitten by a snake. The resulting agony was expressed visibly and, as usual, quite vocally on his part. His distressed disciples asked Nityananada to help. While we know his mercy was boundless, the master nevertheless chuckled and asked if they had already forgotten their guru's words to ignore the body's physical aspects. Then he directed them to splash water from the nearby pond onto the wound. This done, their guru recovered--and immediately came to bow at Nityananda's feet.

Another of the Kanheri caves was occupied by a sanyasi who was a Mahakala worshipper. Following his daily worship he would bring the ritual light and incense (arathi) he had waved before his personal shrine and wave it before Nityananda. Taking no notice, the Master told devotees that it was just a sign of the sanyasi's deep devotion.

As always, devotees found Nityananda, and this time they flocked to Kanheri. One was the deeply attached Mrs. Muktabai. She related that one time, in her haste to arrive, she lost her way. Her anxiety grew until an asthmatic old man suddenly appeared and offered to show her the way. As they neared the ashram, he began to lag behind her and at the entrance was nowhere to be seen. Nityananda refused to discuss the incident and reprimanded her soundly for traveling at that hour in such a dangerous region.
Prior to his return to Ganeshpuri, Nityananda told devotees not to come to Kanheri only to see him. he urged them to visit the rock caves built by yogis and sanyasis centuries earlier and marvel at their arrangements for collecting and storing water.

Nityananda returned to Ganeshpuri in 1939, and Rao immediately came to see him. But again, he suffered an attack of malaria. In a fever-induced delirium, he admitted that as a youth he had once received sandwiches from the Muslim sage Baba Jan, which he had thoughtlessly discarded. Hearing the story, the Master shook the ailing man and asked him to repeat it. After listening to it again, he went to the pantry, opened several tins of food, and mixed the contents together on a piece of newspaper. he then carried the huge serving to Rao and ordered him to eat it. The sick devotee did so and immediately fell asleep. he awoke fully recovered, realizing that he had finally atoned for the insult of throwing away a saint's prasad.

The Old Ashram: Part II

 1936-1950

 In 1941 Swami Janananda traveled to Ganeshpuri to seek Nityananda's guidance on some financial and construction issues regarding the Kanhangad ashram. On his arrival, and prior to speaking to the Master, he was told to sit down. Within minutes a taxi drove up, a rare occurrence in the days, and Nityananda left, saying he would soon return. And he did--twenty-four hours later in the same taxi. Then, glancing at Swami Janananda, he said, "Go home. Everything is taken care of."

Without a word, Swami Janananda made the return trip, one that involved the usual number of trains and buses. Reaching the ashram, he heard that Nityananda had been there earlier with money and instructions. Let me add that even with today's improved transportation conditions and utilizing the new Netravati Bridge, it is impossible to complete a round trip between Bombay and Kanhangad by taxi in twenty-four hours...

Nityananda was never interested in attracting disciples or organizing an ashram. He was egoless in both words and actions. When pressed, he would say, "This one is not flattered when important people come or sad when devotees leave."

 

Students of other spiritual teachers sometimes came to Ganeshpuri, but the Master always steered them back to their own ashrams. he would tell them that their gurus were quite capable of solving their problems and that it was inappropriate as well as disrespectful to change loyalty on a temporary basis. One morning, as devotees of Shirdi Sai Baba filed before him, Nityananda was heard to shout, "Go back to Shirdi! Does the old man there sit differently than this one does here?"

A similar situation involved the affluent Bhiwandiwalla brothers, then devotees of Narayan Maharaj. When they first learned that Nityananda was in Ganeshpui, they set off to see him. But when they arrived, Nityananda shouted, "Go back to your guru!" and refused to speak to them. The brothers nevertheless continued to come. It was only when Narayan Maharaj died that the Master finally addressed them and accepted their devotion.

There was once a devotee who had lost a flourishing business prior to the Second World War. On his first visit to Ganeshpuri, he kept hearing Nityananda repeat the word "junk" and, try as he might, could not stop thinking about it. When the man returned home, the word still rang in his ears and he went for a walk. Lo and behold, he came upon an auction selling discarded odds and ends to the highest bidder. Without hesitation he bought the entire lot and soon sold it at a profit. Within months he was on his way toward recouping his earlier losses. Within the ashram he was called Raddiwalla, or "the head of junk."
Raddiwalla became a frequent visitor to Ganeshpuri, often bringing his entire family. Always anxious to have Nityananda touch him, he sometimes took the liberty of placing the Master's hand on the head of a relative he wished to have blessed. This annoyed some of the older devotees who had been around since the days in Mangalore. Back them, Nityananda had told them not to prostrate themselves before him, that their inner prayers would reach him. One afternoon Raddiwalla took his leave after placing Nityananda's hand on the head of every member of his family. Unable to contain themselves, the envious devotees asked the Master why he had never favored them in this manner after their many years of devotion. He rebuked them by saying, "A blessing is not given by placing the hand on the head. It is an inner transmission--not an outer demonstration."

One day when the Master complained of fatigue, Mrs. Muktabai admitted her surprise, saying that he rarely left the ashram and spent most of his time resting on the floor of his room or on the bench outside. He quipped, "Yes, but the devotees remember, don't they?" On another occasion he said: "one established in infinite consciousness becomes silent and, while knowing everything, goes about as if knowing nothing. While doing many things in several places, outwardly one appears to do nothing."
One day a new devotee brought his wife to Ganeshpuri. After first greeting Nityananda, they sat down a little apart from the others. Some of the visitors were discussing the building of a small school in the area. Thinking this a good opportunity to contribute something, the husband rose and placed a thousand rupee note on the plate by Nityananda's bench. After resuming his seat, the man was astonished to find his single note transformed into a pile of smaller denomination bills.

Nityananda basked in the spontaneity of life and delighted in saying that things rarely went according to plan--even the best laid ones. After all, he would tell devotees, "God's will always prevails."

In 1949, a devotee from Kerala was filled with dismay when a renowned astrologer announced that the devotee's young wife would soon die due to an affliction of Saturn in her chart. Distraught, the man rushed to Ganeshpuri. As he arrived and sat down, Nityananda turned to him and said, "Saturn is there but so is God." He then told the husband to stay on at the ashram and to perform certain rituals that were never explained. The devotee faithfully followed his instructions to the letter. When the day predicted for the calamity came, it passed without incident--and Nityananda told the happy man to go home.

 

One morning as Nityananda reclined on his bench with legs outstretched, three stalwart sanyasis appeared in the entrance behind him. One carried a large, brightly-polished trident.[The trident (trishula) symbolizes the three powers of the Absolute: Will, Knowledge, and Action. It is often associated with Shiva.] Quietly they took a stance behind the Master and waited for him to acknowledge them, but he uttered no sound and made no gesture. Time passed. The visitors grew restless and the watching devotees uncomfortable. Suddenly, the trident bearer thrust it forcefully into midair where it remained of its own accord. Still Nityananda did not turn, but whenever he glanced from the right corner of his eye, the trident swayed slightly.

After some moments, Nityananda shook his outstretched foot-and the trident fell with a clatter. Bowing, the sanyasis asked to stay in the ashram for three days. During this time they said they were followers of a powerful guru in the Himalayas. The conceded, however, that Nityananda was himself a great leader of the nath order of monks (Matsyendranath), and demonstrating great respect and affection, they departed with his blessing.

It was around 1942 when Kamath and a friend spent Shivaratri, the annual festival of Shiva, in Ganeshpuri. Staying in rooms opposite the hot spring tanks, they rose at midnight to bathe and them entered the darkness of the Bhimeshwar temple. To their surprise, the beam of their flashlight revealed Nityananda standing with one foot on the linga and repeating, "Shiva is gone, Shiva is gone." And the two men knew that for Shiva to have gone he must first have come.

Mrs. Muktabai once asked Nityananda whether he could see God. His reply was "More clearly than I see you." He also said that physical contact with the teacher was unnecessary. "This one is here, there, and everywhere," he assured. "There is no pinhole where this one will not be found." And a certain incident in the life of G.A. Rao illustrates this.

Rao was the devotee mentioned earlier who had won the lottery. Always generous with his unexpected wealth, he unfortunately lost everything during the war. Nityananda asked a devotee living in the same town as Rao to let the impoverished man stay in his warehouse. One day Rao sadly considered that he did not even have a photo of his guru to wave incense in front of. That night he had a dream. In it, Nityananda had him search the wall above his pillow for a nail hole and instructed him to wave incense before it. The next morning when he awoke, Rao found such a hole and began waving incense before it daily for the duration of his stay.

Some time passed before he finally saw Nityananda in the flesh again. On that occasion the Master remarked that he was enjoying the fragrance of Rao's incense.
One day as visitors from Saurashtra were bowing before Nityananda, one of them began to shiver uncontrollably. Afterward a devotee took him aside to ask why he had reacted so. The man said that before leaving his village he had seen the Master in a nearby cave and was shocked to find him here as well. Then evening when the devotee remarked on the unlikelihood of such an occurrence, Nityananda replied, "Anything is possible."
Anything is possible. To Nityananda this was abundantly clear. When, in the mid-1950's, he asked Madhumama to go to Badrinath, the devotee stopped over in Rishikesh. There he was approached by a tall stranger who, in passing, warned him in Kanarese: "Don't eat anything offered by a sanyasi on your way to Badrinath. Only eat temple food." Madhumama was mystified by both the message and messenger. How would anyone know that he understood Kanarese and was en route to Badrinath? Turning to ask him, he found only empty space.

On his subsequent return to Ganeshpuri, he told fellow devotees that when he bowed at Kedarnath he felt as if his head touch the body of the Master. Some devotees laughed, but Nityananda remarked, "There is no need to doubt his experience. The body without the head (Munda) is in Kedarnath while the head without the body (Runda) is in Pashupathinath. If Shiva's body can lie in Kedarnath and his head in Pashupathinath, then a devotee would not be surprised to feel Nityananda's body anywhere."

 

The Old Ashram: Part III
1936-1950

M. Hegde, a young relative of Sitarama Shenoy, was posted to Bombay during the Second World War as an apprentice in the Naval Dockyard. On his regular visits to Ganeshpuri, he was sometimes asked to prepare the Master's tea. During one visit to the jungle ashram, he found himself questioned by Nityananda. Did he wish to improve his prospects? Did he know about the government-sponsored Bevin Boy's Training Program in Great Britain? Hegde said he had read about it in the newspaper but thought himself ineligible because quotas were determined by province and he was not really from Bombay.

The Master told him to think big and apply anyway. The boy did and was accepted. However, at his medical examination, the local doctor contested his candidacy and declared him medically unfit. When Hegde hurried to Ganeshpuri, Nityananda again advised him to think bigger and appeal the decision. Hegde therefore wrote to the surgeon general and received an appointment. Puzzled at the sight of a healthy young man standing before him, the surgeon general asked the local doctor to explain his ruling. Because he was unable to do so satisfactorily, the decision was overturned.

During his year of training in Great Britain, hegde began dating an English woman. One time, while the two were strolling in a park, Hegde suddenly saw an apparition of the Master before him. His stern face seemed to say, "Was this why you came to this place?" The apparition disappeared and Hegde began sweating profusely even though it was winter. The look on his face apparently was startling enough to make the woman end their relationship on the spot.

When he returned to India, Hegde went directly to Ganeshpuri to ask Nityananda what he should do next. The master told him to put on a suit and walk up and down one of Bombay's major commercial streets from ten in the morning to five in the afternoon. This was a tall order, but the young devotee resolved to follow his instruction to the letter. Exhausted, he later returned home and wondered how he would get a job by pacing up and down. Nevertheless, the next day he faithfully repeated his vigil. By noon he found himself staring aimlessly at a notice board outside the Macropolo shop. From the corner of his eye, he saw a foreigner enter the shop. Exiting some time later, the foreigner was surprised to see Hegde still staring at the notices. He asked the young man what he was doing and Hegde admitted that he was looking for work. The stranger inquired into his qualifications and whether he was prepared to go the Calcutta that night. Gulping, Hegde said yes and followed the man to the Lakshmi office building where he accepted a good opening position plus traveling expenses.

Predictably, Hedge caught the first train to Ganeshpuri. A hundred yards from the ashram, he could hear Nityananda shouting at him to return to the station immediately if he intended to catch the train for Calcutta. And joyously saluting the Master from that distance, Hegde set out for his new job.
Nityananda's understanding of life was light years beyond the people around him. Time after time, someone would express concern or sorrow about an event only to have the Master explain, sometimes in exasperation, that many things occur beneath life's apparent surface. Stories abound, of course.

Captain Hatengdi's mother was among those who first sought out Nityananda. In 1924, however, she turned instead to Swami Siddharud in Hubli, being quite taken with the many miracles attributed to him. Two decades later, as her son's connection with Nityananda evolved, he wrote to his mother and invited her to the ashram. And so it passed that in February 1944, accompanied by a brother and his family, she traveled to Ganeshpuri. Upon seeing her, and with characteristic brevity, Nityananda asked, "How long?" unprepared for this greeting, the woman mumbled, "Perhaps twenty years."
"No," came his reply. "Twenty-two. Anyway, where is Siddharud now?"
"He is no more."
"Where has he gone? Can you see him when you close your eyes?" he asked. When she said yes, he repeated, "Are you so certain he has gone anywhere?"
The Hatengdi family was assigned a room near the baths for the night. That evening Nityananda visited, sitting without saying a word. When one woman quietly asked about his silence, another said that he must be meditating because it was sunset. The Master immediately spoke, "All that was over in the mother's womb."

Another time a couple arrived in Ganeshpuri. After first bathing, they were arranging to prepare a meal for the Master when they saw him rush across the compound. He shouted at them to leave at once. The startled devotees hurriedly packed and left--just catching a bus to make the rail connection at Bassein. The instant they arrived home, a fierce gale began to rattle the shutters and windows. It was a precursor to a formidable storm that severed railway connections in the region. In fact, had the couple not caught that particular bus and train, they would have been stranded in Ganeshpuri for ten days.

Once again a hardship proved to be a blessing when a devotee and his wife arrived in Ganeshpuri for a few days. After settling in, they hired a horse-drawn carriage to take them to Vajreshwari. But as the wife climbed into the vehicle, she fell and broke her ankle. Witnessing the occurrence, Nityananda told the husband to take her to a certain bone-setter in Bombay as opposed to the hospital. When an anxious friend of the couple asked Nityananda how such a thing could happen in Ganeshpuri, he replied, "She has young children. A fatal accident would have brought distress to them." It was clear to everyone that a fatal accident had been averted.

 

Around 1950, Dr. Deodhar recalls seeing two cars arrive. From one car servants emerged carrying bedding and headed for the ashram's back door. It seemed that the Bhiwandiwalla family was preparing to stay for some time. Family members emerged from the other car and walked toward the main entrance. One man gingerly carried an inert child in his outstretched arms. Not ten minutes later, the servants returned to the cars with the bedding. Next came the family, the same man holding the child. The entourage drove off and Dr. Deodhar hurried inside. There he learned that the child suffered from pneumonia and had been unconscious for three days. The family brought the child before Nityananda and begged him to open the child's eyes. Passing his hand over the small face, the child's eyes opened, but moving his hand back, the child's eyes closed. Nityananda then told the family to perform the last rites because the child was dead.

Mistry had been in charge of the ashram's construction work for many years and felt comfortable around his guru. Without thinking, he remarked how unfortunate it was that the child had died in Nityananda's presence. Angrily the Master said, "What do you know about it? This is the fourth time that the child has come from its mother's womb seeking liberation. It has wanted freedom but karmic law has dragged it down again and again into the same family. Now fulfilled, this soul will not have to return." Overcome by curiosity, Dr. Deodhar later questioned a family member, who confirmed that four infants had died shortly after birth--the last one only after receiving darshan from Nityananda.

In another instance, a Bombay couple had their first child late in life. When he contracted smallpox. the parents rushed him to Ganeshpuri. There they placed their beloved son at Nityananda's feet in full view of a group of devotees and ashram children. Aware of the risk to those present, the Master ordered the couple to take their sick child home immediately. The Nityananda stood up and entered his own room. For ten days he stayed inside seeing no one, until one morning he emerged and walked directly to the hot springs to bathe. Following him, anxious devotees noticed a number of skin eruptions on his body. Later they learned that in Bombay the sick child had miraculously recovered.

The following story occurred some time before Dr. Deodhar became a devotee. On his jungle estate near Panval stood a small shrine to Shiva. Installed by his family at this shrine was a certain Swami Ramananda who performed the daily rituals. Once a week the monk went to the Deodhar compound to collect supplies, and one time he arrived as the gamily was deciding whether to excavate an old rubble-filled basement that lay directly beneath the present house. Listening to the discussion, Swami Ramananda excitedly said the basement held a golden treasure guarded by a large cobra, and he offered to retrieve it for them. Rather doubtful, Dr. Deodhar said they were not seeking treasure-only a basement. But the family agreed to let the swami supervise the project.

Two days of digging passed without producing any sign of a basement. Meanwhile the family grew increasingly anxious, fearing that the house might collapse. Swami Ramananda pleaded for one more day, and spent the night in the trench breathing so loudly that no one slept. The next morning he climbed out and said they could replace the excavated dirt because nothing would ever materialize. Angrily, he added that a certain langotiwalla (literally "one in charge of the loincloths") was preventing their success, and he would go to Ganeshpuri and demand satisfaction.

The swami said he had known this langotiwalla in Rishikesh. He recalled that in those days Nityananda was already a powerful yogi known to lie on the bank of the Ganges for long periods of time without taking food or water. he explained that, in the case of the basement, Nityananda had obviously "blinded" Swami Ramananda's powers (siddhis). In short, it was not that the basement with its treasure did not exist; it was simply that Nityananda was not allowing the swami to find it.

Now it seemed that Dr. Deodhar was already in the habit of visiting holy men residing in Maharashtra. He had even heard about Nityananda from his patients and wanted to accompany Swami Ramananda to Ganeshpuri. However, when they missed their travel connections in Thana, he returned home. Swami Ramananda continued on, promising to tell the doctor later about his intended confrontation.
Swami Ramananda returned a few days later, a changed man. He admitted to having been severely chastised by Nityananda. "This is the third time you have used your siddhis in recent years," he told him. "You have far to go in your spiritual work and should know that you will never succeed by using your powers for vain and selfish reasons. Why did you do it?" Swami Ramananda meekly replied that he was only trying to express his gratitude to the Deodhar family. But Nityananda admonished him again, saying that it was the wrong way to do it. He then ordered him to move to a certain spot on the Narmada River and continue his personal practice. The humbled swami left immediately after telling his story and the family never saw him again. Dr. Deodhar felt compelled to meet Nityananda and became a lifelong devotee.

There is still an air of mystery around Nityananda's age, background, and movements. For instance, the only information known about his visits to the northern regions is that he traveled north between the ages of 12 and 16 or so, after leaving his foster father in Benares. In 1944 he told devotees of his presence when the ancient Ananteshwar temple was built. He described himself then as having an unkempt beard and matted hair. The confines of time and space did not appear to affect him.[The Ananteshwar Temple was built in the mid 16th century, making it over 400 years old.]

The Old Ashram

 1950-1956

Devotees gathered late one evening in 1950 on the west side of the ashram. Here Nityananda sat on a small ledge bordering a six-foot drop into the darkening fields behind him. Silence prevailed. Suddenly in the distance a pair of bright eyes appeared and, weaving its way slowly through the fields, a tiger came up to the ledge and stopped. The animal then rose lightly on its haunches and rested its forepaws on Nityananda's shoulders. Calmly the Master reached up with his right hand and stroked the tiger's head. Satisfied, the tiger jumped back down and disappeared into the night. Later Nityananda observed that as the vehicles of the Goddess Vajreshwari tigers should be expected around her temple. He also said that wild beasts behave like lambs in the presence of enlightened beings.

Many stories tell of his uncanny ability to understand animals. In Udipi he once told its captors to release a certain caged bird because it constantly cursed them. Another time he reassured a frightened devotee that a nearby cobra was too busy chanting to harm anybody. Others remember a devotee who always came for darshan accompanied by his pet parrot. And in May 1944 Captain Hatengdi heard Nityananda say that a bird told him it would rain in three days, and rain it did.

 

Among the many distinguished visitors seen in Ganeshpuri was a certain swami from Shirali. This enlightened yogi was the ninth guru of a small community that had demonstrated an enviable performance record in all spheres of endeavor for nearly a century. A shining example of kindness and humility but too mild mannered to exercise his authority, the gentle guru found himself dominated by a committee of lay advisors. For many years he had expressed a desire to visit Ganeshpuri but the trip was always thwarted by the committee.

Finally asserting himself in 1951, the swami departed on his pilgrimage. He was accompanied by a Shirali entourage that included three Nityananda devotees- Mrs. Muktabai, her brother, and his wife. The trip's organizers, still unenthusiastic about the trip, drove the swami to nearby Akroli where they started to hurry him from the car to the nearby hot springs. But their guru asked where Nityananda was. Hesitating, they admitted to being several miles from Ganespuri. The swami demanded to continue on, saying he would only bathe at the ashram. And so the group continued on.

Now it seemed that on the previous day Nityananda announced that a visitor would arrive at eleven the next morning. He then asked a devotee to heat some cow's milk and set it aside. When the swami and his entourage arrived, precisely at eleven, they proceeded directly to the hot springs. However, Mrs. Muktabai ran to the Master's room and excitedly exclaimed, "Deva, our Swamiji has come!" Nityananda replied, "Everything is known. Milk has been put aside. Place a chair on the temple's outer veranda, put a shawl on it, and offer the milk to the swami."

And so it passed that the swami had his bath, he worshipped at the Bhimeshwar temple, and he gratefully accepted the milk. He then rose and proceeded to the ashram's western hall. As the swami and his lay followers passed the room where Nityananda sat, the lay followers, still determined to prevent a face-to-face meeting, silently bowed before the Master's door and conveniently blocked him from view. Oddly, the swami no longer asked about Nityananda. He simply sat in the hall repeating over and over, "We are feeling blissful here and do not feel like leaving." (To avoid saying "I," mathadipathis customarily refer to themselves in the first person plural.) Although pleased that he seemed to have forgotten about Nityananda, the lay advisors still worried. They tried to hurry him by saying that he would miss evening services in Shirali if he did not leave immediately. The swami replied, "Why the concern about being late for one service? We are in a state of bliss and do not feel like leaving." However, eventually they persuaded him to leave, and the motorcade departed.

Staying behind, Mrs. Muktabai again rushed to Nityananda's room, this time to say with sorrow that the swami had left without seeing him. The Master replied, "You are wrong-- the meeting did occur. But his coming to Ganeshpuri was unnecessary. It could have happened anywhere and so many people tried to prevent it." She then knew that the encounter had been on a subtle level, leaving the swami in a state of bliss and immobility. She also realized that the Master himself had made the swami temporarily forget about him. Several other Ganeshpuri devotees belonged to this community and Nityananda had always told them that the swami was a good sanyasi and a true yogi.

When the party from Shirali was ten miles from Ganeshpuri, the swami awoke as if from a reverie and exclaimed: "Oh, but we did not meet Nityananda!" His advisors responded that they had driven too far to turn back. To this the swami said, "I believe he came to Shirali once but we were quite young at the time. We have long desired to meet him." But as was their custom, his advisors chose to ignore the swami's gentle hint.
Meanwhile Mrs. Muktabai's brother was upset with the subterfuge. He returned to Ganeshpuri the next day and told Nityananda what had occurred on the return drive, adding that he personally would bring the swami to meet him. But the Master replied, "It is unnecessary because the meeting took place. Moreover the good man suffers from diabetes and is unfit for another tiring journey. Remember that he is a Mathadipathi and must listen to his people.[Math (pronounced mutt with an aspiration at the end), means monastery. A mathadipathi is a leader of a math or monastery; an abbot.]

One day Mr. Mudbhatkal's Muslim landlord told him that he had always wanted to meet Nityananda but ill health prevented him from traveling. The devotee promised on his forthcoming visit to Ganeshpuri to bring his landlord some prasad. However, when he found a large group of visitors from Bombay seated before the Master, he timidly decided to wait until another day to mention his landlord. At the end of his visit the devotee went to bow before the Master, still conscious of his broken promise. As he turned to go, Nityananda called him back and purposefully handed him a coconut. His landlord's desire was fulfilled.

Similarly, a devotee from Santa Cruz tells of a childhood journey to Ganeshpuri in the company of a group that included a follower of U. Maharaj. Learning of the disciple's intended visit, his guru gave him a coconut to offer Nityananda. When the group neared the ashram, it found Nityananda leaning against the wooden gate waiting. The moment he saw them he said, "The coconut has been received"--as if to say a thought was as good as a deed. And we know that in the Mangalore days he told devotees that inner salutations expressed with purity of feeling and motive (shuddha bhavana) made physical obeisance unnecessary.

During this time Shankar Tirth, a sanyasi who had wandered for years without finding inner peace, first appeared. Hearing one day about Nityananda, he journeyed to Ganeshpuri where, upon receiving darshan, he finally found happiness. Asking the Master where he should stay, he was told to occupy the nearby Nath temple that Nityananda had restored two decades earlier. Shankar Tirth did so but the next morning, visibly shaken, said he had experienced such frightening nightmares of attacking cobras telling him to leave--that he asked to live elsewhere. Instead Nityananda told him to go back to the temple and announce on whose orders he was there. The sanyasi did this but returned the following day with the same story. Again Nityananda told him to go back and tell the threatening forces who had sent him. This time his announcement produced peace and quiet.

A year or two later the shankaracharya who had initiated Shankar Tirth into his particular order of monks was camped at Banaganga. When he sent word for the sanyasi to report for final initiation, Shankar Tirth asked Nityananda if he should go. He was told that it was unnecessary, and so he informed the shankaracharya that he would not come.

The Old Ashram: Part II
1950-1956

 
Another Shankaracharya visited Ganeshpuri in the mid-fifties. Details of his visit reached Captain Hatengdi in an unusual way. In fact, it was in 1977 at a harikatha, which is a scriptural story told in song and narrative, that he heard the story:

The shankaracharya of Puri was spending his chaturma in Bombay. Traditionally, a chaturma was the four months of monsoon during which a wandering sadhu would stay in one place, but these days it referred to a period of special study. At the end of his time there he visited the Dattatreya shrine in Vakola, where he expressed a desire to visit the Vajreshwari temple. Having just written a book on Shakti, he wanted to visit the shrine of the goddess before it was published. The then young harikatha performer was hired to drive two men, the elderly shankaracharya and a shastri learned in the scriptures, to Vajreshwari. The old swami was not very strong and had to be helped up the steps leading to the shrine. Afterward, the shankaracharya suddenly uttered a desire to see Nityananda and the three companions found themselves unexpectedly en route to Ganeshpuri.

When they arrived, the Master was resting on his narrow bench with a few people seated before him. The three new visitors quietly joined the others. Silence reigned. After some time the scholar stood up and announced who they were. He said that the shankaracharya had written a book on Shakti and that they had come for Nityananda's blessing. No one else spoke, and the silence continued. At some point the Master raised his head and nodded to an attending devotee, who left and quickly reappeared with a mysteriously prepared tray of fresh flowers, fruit, and coconuts. The attendant respectfully placed the tray before the shankaracharya and withdrew. Although it was clear that Nityananda had been expecting the holy man, he still did not speak. Several minutes passed before the scholar again stood up, this time to say that what was transpiring in silence was new to him. He nevertheless recognized that the flowers and fruit represented Nityananda's blessing and announced that his party would take its leave. Bowing deeply, the three visitors left the silent ashram.

In 1954, G.L. Rao was staying with Shankar Tirth in the Nath temple opposite the Vajreshwari temple. One afternoon Godarvarimata, a holy woman from Sakori, drove up to the temple and asked whether she could be taken to Ganeshpuri. Shankar Tirth asked Rao to accompany her. They found Nityananda resting in his room with his feet extended onto the cement platform. Rao announced the arrival of the visitor. who sat down near his feet, and Nityananda grunted in acknowledgement. Wishing to be hospitable, Rao asked whether he could bring Godavarimata something to drink, and Nityananda said yes. While Rao was away, the Master came out of his room and sat on the platform. Godarvarimata stayed for two days, later saying that Nityananda had given her the darshan of her guru. She had originally come to ask Nityananda to grace a Vedic ceremony in Bombay with his physical presence. He refused, saying he would observe the ritual from Ganeshpuri--but she continued to press her invitation. When finally he replied that "one has to come only if one is not there already," she stopped asking. Later it was reported that on the final day of the yajna the holy woman was granted the darshan of Nityananda.

In 1954, Sitarama Shenoy suffered a heart attack in Vajreshwari and died. Grief stricken and inconsolable, his wife was determined to take the body to Ganeshpuri. Accordingly she hired a car, had the body placed in it, and proceeded toward the ashram. A quarter mile away, the car stalled and would not start up again. At this point the driver announced that he would neither repair the car in the dark nor help carry the body the remaining distance. Undeterred, the widow left the body with the driver and set off for the ashram on foot. When she was still some two hundred yards from the gate, she heard Nityananada shouting, "Go back and perform the last rites!" She pleaded with him but was ordered away.

The devotee Rao was present that evening and asked Nityananda why he had not revived her husband as he had done some years earlier. The Master responded that their children had been young then and needed a father, and in compassion the Divine Force worked that way. However, present conditions were different. His interference, he said, would cause people to stop going to Chandanwadi, Bombay's crematorium, and come to Ganeshpuri instead.
Nityananda often tested a devotee's mettle, as in the instance of a Brahman devotee who came weekly to read the scriptures aloud in the Master's presence. After several visits he asked to be cured of his tubercular condition and constant cough. Nityananda agreed and told him to eat a small frog fried in ghee every day. A strict vegetarian, the Brahman was horrified--but having asked for Nityananda's help, he dutifully complied with the instructions. Soon his lungs improved and he developed a taste for frogs in the bargain.

The Master never took credit for the endless instances of healing that occurred around him. In fact, he often directed devotees to rely on their own traditional medical physicians. When pressed, he attributed everything to the Divine Force. He would say: "This one had no desire to do good deeds. Everything that happens does so through the will of God."

Nityananda was tolerant of his devotee's humanness; his actions indicated that one's heart was free to turn to God only after the basic human needs were fulfilled. He made no demands, issued no commandments, and frequently concerned himself with their worldly comfort. In return, all he asked was that followers be prapared to receive that which he offered in such abundance. This is a story of an attorney from the distant state of Kerala who regularly visited Ganeshpuri on weekends. As the years passed, however, the devotee felt keenly the loneliness of his unmarried state and finally announced he wanted a wife. listening, Nityananda pointed to the surrounding throng and said, "Take one from here." The prospective bridegroom instantly froze, concerned that his mention of a private problem had triggered a casual response. Bewildered, he sat as the people around him slowly dispersed until only one man remained, likewise from Kerala. Eyeing the attorney, he told Nityananda that he and his wife were having difficulty arranging a suitable match for their daughter. Nityananda pointed to his devotee.
Everything seemed settled until their families sent the potential couple's horoscopes to a group of astrologers who unanimously pronounced the match unsuitable. When informed of this, Nityananda without a glance at the offending charts pointed out that a certain aspect nullified the negative signs correctly discerned by the astrologers. When this information was relayed to Kerala, the astrologers agreed, amazed at their failure to notice this vital detail, and the couple married.

A longstanding devotee from the Mangalore days was a woman whose ill- tempered husband never allowed her to handle any family financial matters. In fact, she had never dared to ask him for money. Then one day following their recent move to Bombay, the wife asked her husband for some rupees. He demanded to know why. She replied that she wanted to visit nearby Ganeshpuri and he quipped, "And what will you achieve by going there?" Seconds later he literally threw a five-rupee note at her. Normally she would never have touched money so humiliatingly offered, but determined to see Nityananda she picked up the note and departed at once.

Reaching the old ashram at a little past noon, she found the devotees restless and the atmosphere tense. The Master had not taken his afternoon meal and as a result no one had eaten. They told her that when he was approached earlier about his food, Nityananda had become very upset and sent the questioner away. The devotees implored the woman to speak to him, and she approached the small room where he sat across from the Krishna temple. Seeing her, the Master visibly relaxed and asked, "Well he hasn't changed yet." His faithful devotee replied, "I don't know whether people ever change their inborn habits--but I have brought some food for you. Will you eat now?" And he did.

Late one evening in 1955, Nityananda asked his attendants to count the money in the Krishna temple donation box. When told the amount, he asked them to remove all but a quarter of it. The next morning worshippers found the box broken and the money stolen. When informed, the Master nodded. He said that on the previous night he had noticed a starving man silently praying for enough money in the temple box to feed him. And so Nityananda obliged him with an adequate amount.

The New Ashram at Kailas

 1956-1961

In 1956 a new ashram at Ganeshpuri was inaugurated and named "Kailas" after the Himalayan mountain home of Shiva. Here Nityananda lived for five more years--until two weeks before his mahasamadhi. Changes accompanied the new living situation. The Master's devotee attendants now monitored access to his private quarters and put darshan on a schedule. Visitors wishing to see Nityananda at other times were forced to make special arrangements. 

Early one evening Nityananda sat in the middle of the inner platform with a pile of pillows at his left. Before him a window revealed steps leading to the terrace. Suddenly the young head of an important monastery in Udipi appeared at the entrance. He was accompanied by a number of followers, one of whom announced to Nityananda's seated devotees that their swami required a mat to sit on. The devotees watched the Master for a clue as to how to proceed--but he continued to gaze out the window without acknowledging the visitor in any way. Finally the swami respectfully pushed the pillows against the wall and seated himself on the platform's edge. He then addressed Nityananda in Kanarese.
"Why do they call you God?" he asked.
Looking to his left, the Master replied, "Everyone is a God including yourself and those sitting here."
"But they call you an incarnation," insisted the young man.
Nityananda answered, "Does an incarnate ever make such a pronouncement? Does a jnani ever project himself as enlightened?"
"Yes, Krishna does in the Bhagavad Gita."
"No, Vyasa does so in telling the story--Krishna does not."
"But," the swami argued, "Krishna showed the universal form of God to Arjuna. it is recorded in the Gita!"
"How can the Absolute's form be seen or shown?" the Master said. "Vyasa wrote it to inculcate faith among the devout."
Trying to open an intellectual debate, the youth then raised certain points mentioned in the Gita. However, always impatient of such dry discussions, Nityananda waved him aside, saying: "What is in the Gita? From beginning to end, it is simply advice to renounce, renounce, renounce! To renounce worldliness and its inherent desires."

Considerably moved, the swami rose and thanked Nityananda for his darshan. But when he left, two of his followers stayed behind. The Master shrugged and said, "When there is yoga, there will be darshan."

A week later, the Master mentioned his young visitor. He hinted that in a previous incarnation the swami had been the elderly priest from Udipi who, recognizing the then youthful Nityananda's divine presence, had ordered the villagers not to harass him. This past connection had brought him to Ganeshpuri and Nityananda foresaw a bright future for him.

On another occasion, a small band of renunciates came and stood before him as he rested on the inner platform of his room. Nityananda nodded to them from his sleeping posture and they left without a word. When some of the devotees present expressed their surprise at not recognizing the renunciates, the Master said devotees did not just reside in Ganespuri. he said some lived in jungles, some in cities, and others in foreign lands.

Mrs. Kaikini of Dadar was a faithful follower of a great scholar who held audiences spellbound during his brilliant lectures on Jnaneshwar's famous translation of the Bhagavad Gita. Each year she was amoung those who accompanied him to Pandarpur on an annual pilgrimage known as Wari. Because Mrs. Muktabai occasionally attended these lectures, she became friends with Mrs. Kaikini and eventually invited her to Ganeshpuri. However, Mrs, Kaikini demurred, saying that it did not sound like an atmosphere she would enjoy. She admitted hearing that Nityananda was taciturn, gave no meaningful talks, and often rebuked visitors.

Some time later, just before the annual Wari, Mrs. Kaikini missed one of her scholar's regular lectures. Instead she went to a talk by a rival who, new on the scene, was beginning to attract a following. As fate would have it, her scholar/teacher had both noticed Mrs. Kaikini's absence and heard of her attendance at the other lecture. He angrily proclaimed that she was never again welcome in his presence or at the Wari.

When Mrs. Kaikini heard this, she was deeply shocked. To be punished so severely for what she considered a minor transgression was more than she could bear. Friends feared for her mental balance and Mrs. Muktabai again asked her to come to Ganeshpuri. This time Mrs. Kaikini agreed.

Their party arrived to find Nityananda sitting on his bench. When Mrs. Muktabai told him what had happened, he responded with characteristic brevity. "In divine wisdom (jnana) how can there be difference (bheda)?" The two young women took this to mean that if Mrs. Kaikini was truly listening to the saint Jnaneshwar, would it matter which lecture she was at? Then the Master pointed to the ground and shouted, "Besides, this is Pandarpur. There is no need to go in Wari!" He repeated this and as he did, Mrs. Kaikini's relief was immediate and she returned home calmed and at peace.

The following year as the month for the Wari approached, her anxiety returned, and she decided to go to Pandarpur on her own. But when she started to pack she fell ill. By the time she was well enough to travel, it was too late. The following year followed a similar pattern. Again, as she began to pack she became ill. Only then did she recognize the significance of Nityananda's words--and from that moment she no longer felt compelled to attend the Wari. Some years later she suddenly weakened and took to her bed. Stopping her son from rushing for a doctor, she said "Please don't. I see Nityananda standing thare and he has come to take me." Within minutes she passed away.

Narayan Shetty, popularly called Sandow Shetty, was a familiar figure in Ganeshpuri in the last ten years of Nityananda's life. He was a big, gregarious man looked up to int he ashram--although he sometimes went too far acting the buffoon. Now it happened that he was quite fond of fruit, especially those brought as offerings. Often he would seek the Master's permission with silent gestures and then slyly slip the best ones aside for himself. When a few devotees objected to such audacity, Nityananda retorted, "Never mind. His desires are simple--let him have the fruit."

Some years after the Mster's passing, Sandow was hospitalized following surgery. Captain Hatengdi, going to visit his friend, found him semi-conscious and speaking as if to Nityananda. "Remember, Master, that you promised me a place," he muttered. "Don't forget." And to the shock of the doctors who expected a full recovery, he died.

Once a famous singer visited Ganeshpuri at the invitation of a devotee. While fans and critics alike considered the man outstanding in his field, they agreed that he was also a little arrogant. Upon entering the ashram to perform, the man found a group of tribal people seated around the Master reclining on his bench as usual. Mud floor, an uncultured audience, and Nityananda's apparent indifference instantly upset the artist who decided his talents were wasted on this gathering. Without a word, he turned and went to his room. Later that evening a woman from a distinguished school of music arrived and performed for over an hour. Overhearing her, the disgruntled artist decided that he would perform the next day. To his dismay, however, that morning he could not utter a single note. He fearfully approached Nityananda who said, "Sing? Why not? God gave you the voice--sing his praises. Why should you care who hears and who does not?"

Please note that Indian music is an ancient science intended to enhance the individual's communion with the Infinite. Fame and wealth are incidental to its spiritual aspect. For this reason most songs relate in some way to reuniting the individual with the Supreme.

A year or two after K.S. Lulla began visiting Ganeshpuri, Nityananda took him aside. he told the attorney to go to Kanhangad and then to Dharmasthala to receive darshan at the famous Manjunatha Temple. he also told him to travel by air. This was the devotee's first trip to that part of the country and he planned it with care. He first proceeded to Kanhangad and from there to Mangalore. He then intended to take an early taxi to Dharmasthal and return to Mangalore in time for his 11:30 a.m. flight to Bombay. Accordingly, he rose, procured a taxi, and arrived at Dharmasthal at six in the morning. But when he tried to enter the Jain shrine for darshan, he was stopped. The attendant priest informed him that he could receive darshan only after first participating in the ritual puja--which would occur at noon. Lulla explained his predicament but the priest was adamant, explaining that tradition required this protocol of even the highest in the land. However Lulla persisted and was finally taken before the hereditary head of the temple, who simply repeated the temple rules. Nityananda's devotee in turn repeated his plea, saying, "Bhagawan sent me for Lord Manjunatha's darshan but my return flight is at 11:30. If you cannot help me I will go back and explain to Bhagawan why I did not receive darshan." Intrigued, the gentleman asked to whom he referred. When Lulla said "Nityananda of Ganeshpuri," the priest was told to let him enter the temple at once.

Lulla quickly returned to Ganeshpuri to tell his tale. To his surprise, however, the devotees already knew of the successful pilgrimage. He then learned that at the exact moment of his entry into the Jain temple in Dharmasthal the Master had smiled in Ganeshpuri, announcing, "Lulla is having darshan of Manjunatha."

This incident is unusual because Nityananda seldom urged participation in traditional ritual or public worship. Instead he often said that for it to lead to liberation devotion should not be demonstrative but practiced secretly. "Gupta bhakti--mukti!"

Once a devotee spoke of her spiritual experiences to friends in Bombay and implied that she was developing rapidly. On her next visit to Ganeshpuri the Master asked, "What do you do when you season food? Don't you cover it for a time and let it simmer?" This, he explained, allows the flavor to permeate the dish rather than escape into the air. Similarly, spiritual experiences should be kept private until one has evolved enough to speak of them without arousing the ego.

A cooking analogy is not surprising considering Nityananda's knowledge of the subject. He sometimes instructed a cook on how to grind the masala and what spices to use. It was customary for his devotees in Ganeshpuri to each prepare a dish as a daily offering to him. And Nityananda would always know if an ingredient was missing or make suggestions about blending spices or some aspect of its preparation. He once told a devotee that as a person became more spiritually evolved, he or she would instinctively be able to cook well and combine ingredients in the right proportions without having to measure them.
Nityananda's personal knowledge of the culinary art was legendary. G.L. Rao recalls that the Master once repared a superb festival dinner for him. Serving Rao most of the food, he saved a little for himself on a sheet of newspaper. This he mixed with some curry, at a few bites while still standing, and then threw away the paper. Captain Hatengdi had a similar experience in 1945 when Nityananda prepared some rice and a regional potato dish peculiar to his devotee's native region. Carrying it to the guest room, he handed it to him. Moving a discreet distance away, the self-conscious devotee began to eat as the Master watched. Though delicious, it was an enormous portion and only after some time did Nityananda suggest that he could stop eating. Another year passed until one day, as they sat together, the Master remarked, "It is good to know how to cook." Captain Hatengdi took it as a casual utterance until thirty years later he found himself forced to learn the elements of cooking.

The New Ashram At Kailas
1950-1961

 
Nityananda could be very modern in his views. Once a devotee with a growing family brought his fifth and youngest child to Ganeshpuri. Oddly enough, no one else was around. The Master gave the baby his blessing and played with him for a while--and then turned to address the father. "Why must you reproduce like the cat family? Go and have an operation.

Another time, on an evening in 1947, he broke ashram silence to speak about Prohibition. "How is it possible to stop a poor man from drinking?" he demanded. "What can one offer a weary man who trudges home every night with little to feed his family and even greater debts? How should he forget his worries and fall asleep? Currently, every household in this region brews its own liquor from plantains. Make drunkenness a crime--but not drinking. Until people are properly fed and have healthy recreation, drinking will exist."

In another instance a mutton shopkeeper decided his hereditary avocation was unclean. After much thought, he shut down his butcher shop and reopened it as a general store. The new enterprise, however, was a failure and the man sought the Master's advice. Nityananda's advice was simple--the man should follow his true avocation and not be swayed by external considerations. In speaking to his devotee, he used the word dandha in referring to the duty a person must perform in this lifetime.

Lastly, there was a boy who wanted to become a pilot. When his devotee parents disapproved, he appealed to Nityananda--who took the son's side. The Master told the parents not to worry about his safety. Accidents, he said, were more likely to occur on the ground. But another crisis arose when, during the boy's eye examination, doctors detected a condition that inevitably would lead to blindness. In despair, the boy returned to Ganeshpuri where, again, Nityananda said not to worry. He then gave him a small bottle of oil to massage regularly onto his scalp. And three months later, when he retook the eye exam he was declared completely fit.

M.D.Suvarna, who took most of the later photographs of Nityananda, remembers one of the more remarkable visitors to Kailas. Swami Chinmayananda first came for darshan sometime around 1956. He returned often and frequently spoke of Nityananda to his own disciples, always calling him the living stithaprajna of the Bhagavad Gita--one who never wavers from consciousness. One day in 1960 he decided to take his students to Ganeshpuri. Organizing a group of musicians for the occasion, the Master received them with the honor due a visiting religious dignitary. He first invited Swami Chinmayananda  to address the combined assembly from a terrace of the newly opened Bangalorewalla
building and then told the swami to use the wisdom and power of Saraswati to spread the message of the Upanishads. Humbly, Swami Chinmayananda replied that he and the others present were spiritual infants compared to the great yogi. He also said that anyone attempting to describe Nityananda to the world would be trying to write "a saga of one hundred Christs living together, each exhibiting his wondrous powers to ameliorate the sufferings of the poor."

Physically, Nityananda was showing signs of age. By 1957 his teeth had deteriorated so much that two devotees threatened to fast if he did not have them removed. He finally agreed but, refusing the then typical anesthetic injection of cocaine, experienced considerable pain and bleeding. When the two devotees later offered him some food, he refused. "How can one eat when the teeth have just been removed?" he said. "You may not realize it, but yogis do experience pain. The difference is they pay it no heed."

The relationship between the spiritual and the physical was sublimely simple--at least for Nityananda. When some devotees complained that travel conditions and old age hindered them from more frequent visits, he countered that his physical presence was unnecessary for their spiritual growth. "Devotees will find this one wherever they meet and talk. Fish are born, live, and die in the holy Ganges without attaining liberation, but devotees have only to think of the guru." He had been saying this for years.

 
And when asked about the benefits of performing selfless service, the Master would reply, "Who wants it? God? Of course not--people only do it to get something in return. you should dutifully do your own work to the best of your ability without seeking a reward. That is the highest seva you can render. The only thing required for spiritual growth is a detachment from worldly pleasures. If you don't listen to this, you will fail in the end. "[The Master said this over and over again throughout the years. He said that the thoughtless state, the state of detachment is the highest state. How can there be desire in the state of detachment? It is not the world the yogi gives up, it is desire for worldly sense pleasure. The true yogi is full and content whether he is a pauper or a rich man. If pleasurable things come your way, experience them, but never go looking. Always be content in yourself wherever you are and whatever your circumstances.]

One day a devotee saw that Nityananda's feet were extremely swollen and asked about it. "People come here for some benefit," he told her, "and then leave their desires and difficulties at this one's feet. While the Ocean of Divine Mercy washes away most of these tensions, a little is absorbed by this body--a body assumed only for their sake."

Whenever Nityananda intervened on a devotee's behalf, he always gave destiny the upper hand. During the monsoon of 1959, a long line of devotees and petitioners waited outside for their turn to enter the ashram. The wife of an old Gujarati devotee pleaded with Suvarna to be allowed inside. As the doorkeeper was about to open the doors, Nityananda shouted at him to stop - and he did. But as the woman kept calling through the window and Nityananda continued shouting at him, Suvarna grew agitated. Throwing open the doors, he nervously admitted a group that included the Gujarati couple. She waited until the others had departed and then begged Nityananda to heal her husband, who was obviously gravely ill. He was silent for some time before saying, "Take him first to the hot springs and then to the dispensary for an injection." Greatly relieved, the woman thanked the Master and, half carrying her husband, left. However, en route to the kunds she spotted the dispensary and, deciding it more convenient to stop there first, took her husband inside for his injection. They then proceeded to the hot springs where, upon entering the water, the old man died.

It was in the early 1920's, following his studies in England, that Dr. M.B. Cooper received from a Himalayan saint the secret preparation for a drug with broad curative properties. The doctor spent the next decades studying the compound, which yielded astounding results. In 1959, after hearing his friend and colleague Dr. Deodhar speak of Nityananda, Dr. Cooper asked to accompany him to Ganeshpuri. he wanted to talk to the yogi about the future of the drug.

Arriving, they found Nityananda seated in his room. Dr. Cooper gazed in silence as tears streamed down his face. After a time Dr. Deodhar led him away to a restaurant where, over a cup of tea, he reminded his friend about mentioning the drug. Dr. Cooper shook his head. "You come here so often," he said, "that you only see his outer form. But I saw a dazzling crystal in his head! In a split second I was overwhelmed at his purity and acutely aware of my own separation from the Divine. I could only stand before him and cry."

Dr. Cooper was correct. Nityananda's unconcern with his physical body was reflected in his devotees constant awareness of it. And they were perplexed. By 1945, although he ate very little, the yogi was clearly--and mysteriously--putting on weight. In those days overnight guests cooked for themselves, always offering something to Nityananda--who declined more often than not. In fact, meals were not organized in the ashram until the early 1950's when the old west room was converted to a simple kitchen. Nonetheless, by 1960 his body had grown to huge proportions. his eating habits had not changed. If anything, now being toothless, he ate less.

Alarmed, four devotees finally voiced their concern. The first was Sandow Shetty, who as a youth had been fond of gymnastics and feats of strength. The Master told him that his heaviness was due to lack of exercise. The second inquirer was Rao, who will be recalled as suffering from chronic malaria. Nityananda told him that his swollen stomach was a result of a malaria-induced enlarged spleen. The third devotee, a practitioner of pranayama breathing exercises, was told his size was a result of breath retention. Finally Mrs. Muktabai came to him full of concern for his health and comfort. To her he said that the love of his devotees had settled around his gigantic belly. Regardless of cause, by the time Nityananda took mahasamadhi in August 1961 he was once again thin.

Feeding the poor was a standard occurrence at Kailas because the food offerings brought by visitors to Ganeshpuri were distributed to local poor children. In later years, as the number of devotees grew, so did the piles of flowers and fruit baskets. Most were distributed as usual, but Nityananda allowed some to rot and then ordered them buried. One day Sandow Shetty ventured to ask about this apparent waste. He was told, "It does not go to waste. Those for whom it is meant are consuming it."

In 1958 Nityananda asked that the poor children of Ganeshpuri be fed on a permanent basis. And it was done. Within three years a hundred children a day were receiving morning meals; within twenty years the numbers surpassed 700. Today, besides the children, meals are served several times monthly to the region's adivasi, nearly 2,500 tribal people shunned by other communities. The ashram coffers are always full, not surprisingly, with unsolicited donations for food.

Nityananda's Passing

 August 8, 1961

On the afternoon of July 25, 1961, a weakened Nityananda asked Gopalmama, his attendant, to arrange for a chair to carry him to the nearby Bangalorewalla building. He said he would remain there a fortnight (14 days), and exactly two weeks later the yogi took mahasamadhi. His bed still stands in the building's main hall and is revered as a shrine.

Confusion was evident in the months preceding his passing. One rumor had Nityananda moving to the city of Bangalore, a plan primarily fostered by Lashmansa Khoday, who oversaw construction of the Bangalorewalla building. He went so far as to charter an airplane. Hearing of this, devotees rushed to Ganeshpuri to argue that it would make Nityananda less accessible to them. Nityananda said he had no intention of leaving and that "an assembly of sages" had already suggested that "it be here only." [Nityananda was referring to Masters from the subtle realms, such as Siddhaloka.] But unable--or unwilling--to understand the implications of this statement, Khoday and others continued with their plans. The day before the scheduled flight, however, the Master developed diarrhea and the trip was cancelled.

In hindsight, his move to the Bangalorewalla building appeared premeditated. It was the only building in Ganeshpuri large enough to encompass the multitude who would soon come to see him one last time. Remodeling the old ashram was likewise timely. In early June Nityananda learned that it was still unfinished; the voluntary backers had postponed the roof until after the monsoon season. But the yogi insisted that there was no time to lose. He ordered them to lay the slab immediately and to use ashram funds if necessary. These instructions were followed, and it was in the rebuilt section of the old Viakunt ashram that his earthly remains were later interred.

Of the many signs revealed to devotees in those last months, most were misinterpreted or ignored. For instance, Mrs. Muktabai recalled that shortly after his move to the Bangalorewalla building, Nityananda told her there would be a major pilgrimage to Ganespuri in two week's time. She wondered, but never thought to ask, why so many people would come during the monsoon. however, one person understood--a woman devotee from Dadar called Mataji by her followers and Mantrasiddhibai by Nityananda.

In May 1961, the day before she arrived for a visit, he experienced a discharge from his ear. He did not complain and the secretion was odorless, but devotees nonetheless called in a respected specialist. Although he had never met his patient, the doctor prostrated himself and refused to prescribe any medication until Nityananda promised to recover. The Master nodded his assurance and the doctor gave Gopalmama some capsules with instructions for administering them. He then departed. The yogi accepted a capsule, saying he did so because the good doctor had shown great sensitivity. But later he refused a second one. "One is enough," he explained. "His bhavana has worked." Mantrasiddhibai, learning of the discharge, began crying and begged Nityananda not to leave. She interpreted it as a sign that he was cleansing his system of toxins--and for only one purpose. The Master admonished her, "Why cry? Stop it. Greater work is possible in the subtle plane than in the gross." To the others, including Mrs. Muktabai, he said he had injured his ear long ago in a fall in the Kanheri caves.

The way Dr. Pandlaskar heard of the mahasamadhi was decidedly odd. Early that morning the doctor's nine-year-old son had confronted his parents with the words: "What are you doing here? Go to Ganeshpuri. He leaves today because the assembly of sages says that he alone can help in the forthcoming ashtagraha yoga. Astrological indications are for great evil to the world in general and to India in particular." The parents were so astonished at the boy's bizarre words that they reprimanded him for talking nonsense. But that evening they heard of Nityananda's passing and departed at once. The boy was so affected by his experience that he did not fully recover for years. His message was thought to refer to the conjunction of all planets in a single sign, the next occurrence being in February 1962 when all eight entered Capricorn, the sign of India. It was a hot May afternoon in 1961 when M.U. Hatengdi first heard what he called a telepathic bell announcing that Nityananda would soon take mahasamadhi. This is his story: Fearing the yogi had already discarded his human form, I tried not to think about it. The next morning I reluctantly opened the Delhi paper even though it would hardly mention a nonpolitical event in Bombay. All the same I was relieved to find nothing in the obituaries. 

The prospect haunted me for the next three months. I grew insecure about my own spiritual practice even though Nityananda had told me there was nothing to read or study. Even worse was the thought of being unable to contact him in a physical form. I had not yet heard of his assurance that greater work was possible on the subtle plane, and since 1948 my visits to see him were infrequent and largely in the public eye. No longer did I quietly sit with him in private. True, he once said that when a child learns to walk, the mother, still watchful, must allow it freedom to run around. Perhaps he should have added, even if the child tries to hang on to the mother! I knew his grace was with me wherever I was stationed in the Navy-but I also knew that I could contact him if necessary.

Unable to leave the naval station, I made a plan. Knowing that Mrs. Muktabai still went to Ganeshpuri every two weeks, I wrote asking her to report on Nityananda's health after each visit and enclosed some self-addressed envelopes. Her letters began arriving regularly, the first few indicating that he was well. Her third or fourth letter, however, referred to some debility as well as talk of his undertaking a trip to Kanhangad. This confused by did not worry me. He had told me in 1944 that he would remain in the Ganeshpuri ashram, and even if he changed his mind, I was used to traveling great distances to see him. Besides, I was planning a visit in early August and it was the mid- July. But my anxiety continued and it was an unhappy period for me. The last letter from Mrs. Muktabai was dated August 4 and reached me on August 7. It was a dark and rainy evening and I grew despondent reading it. She wrote me to come at once because the Master was very weak.

Back in December I had made a small altar in my home. On a corner shelf lit by the first rays of the morning sun I kept a framed photograph of Nityananda along with flowers from our garden and a silver lamp. The lamp held just enough oil to burn for an hour and it was my custom to light it every evening at sunset. The day after the distressing letter I came home for lunch to find the little lamp already burning. In turn, the picture was decorated with flower garlands and flanked by two vases, each containing sweets traditionally prepared on the festival of Ganesh's birth. When I asked my wife why she had arranged such a display, she said she had simply felt like it. I had never shared with her my fears about Nityananda's passing and so her demonstration was all the more remarkable. She lit the oil lamp at nine that morning and it had never gone out. She collected every flower in the garden including the water lilies, something she had never done before, and then prepared the modaks--all this without knowing why. The mystery was solved the next morning when I learned of the mahasamadhi. While I was so absorbed in the world, the Master sent this sign of his blessing from nine hundred miles away.
Nityananda occupied a room directly above the entrance of the Bangalorewalla building. For the first three or four days, though weak, he walked a little. July 27 was his last Guru Purnima, a day on which Hindus traditionally honor the teacher, and he addressed the assembled devotees for nearly 45 minutes in a surprisingly strong voice. He said that the  boxcars of a train going up a hill might slip backward without sand thrown on the tracks for traction. To maintain a lasting connection with the engine, each boxcar must forge a bond of unshakable faith and conviction. Everything else he said would happen automatically. He then mentioned plans for building a hospital in Ganeshpuri.

A day or so later, with only Madhumama present, he stood on the balcony watching the sun set in a sky that was unusually clear for July. Nityananda said, "Anyone wanting to see the sun should do it now for tomorrow he may not be seen." The following morning dawned cloudy and stayed that way as a noticeably weaker Nityananda was moved to the main hall. There he stayed until he died.

On August 7 around four in the afternoon he asked for B.H. Mehta, popularly called Babubhai Lokhandwalla. Mehta, who was in a restaurant having tea at the time, learned of the summons and hurried to the main hall. There the yogi handed him a large parcel wrapped in a piece of cloth and asked him to look after Kanhangad. The bundle contained cash, gold, and other valuables that Mehta eventually used, along with funds he collected, to build the two Kanhangad temples above the rock-cut caves and at Guruvana.

Guruvana is the area of jungle where Nityananda was found as an infant. A temple dedicated to Nityananda stands there today, along with many other temples in India dedicated to the Master.
For months devotees had noticed in Nityananda a growing sadness that often approached tears. We can only surmise that the great yogi felt as Krishna did in the Bhagavad Gita when he said he granted supplicants what they prayed for. But more often than not, the only thing they wanted was worldly success or material gain. Too many fools, he said, passed his dwelling without asking for the liberation he offered. Likewise people brought Nityananda their earthly cares. These he relieved hoping to inspire in them a hunger for the spiritual gifts he was empowered to bestow. But in the end, like Krishna, he was disappointed. Some people actually came to Ganeshpuri for a lucky number to gamble on. They might count, for instance, how many of his fingers were visible at a given moment or the number of steps he took. Usually this was when Nityananda threw stones or shouted.

This is only my view from the heart, but it is understood what Nityananda meant by "More work can be done in the subtle." Nityananda, while incarnate, was with people, all the people who asked for the liberation he offered received it. As in the case of remarking to Rao that he was enjoying the incense, even though it was being waved in front of a hole over one hundred miles away, he showed that he was wherever there was devotion. Though in the gross, he suffused the lives of all who desired what he offered through his permanent establishment in the subtle. Having merged with the formless Absolute, yet he projects subtle form from the realm of Siddhaloka now, and suffuses and permeates all who seek him within and without. In this way, only the earnest seeker with a pure heart can find him, and the numbers he can reach are limitless. By pure it is not meant a person with perfect behavior, but rather, perfect love for the master, a perfect desire to merge with God Shiva, and his gift of divine liberation and understanding. All who desire may fall under the protection of the Siddha lineage and the Bhagawan Nityananda, the essence of love.

On the evening of August 7 the engineer Hegde felt drawn to Ganeshpuri. Traveling alone, he gained entry to the samadhi hall with some difficulty and found Monappa at Nityananda's bedside. The doctor had just announced that there was no need to worry and was walking out with Sandow Shetty--when he dropped his medical bag with a thud. Opening his eyes, the Master asked what the noise was and then inquired who was at his feet. hearing that it was Hegde, he told Manappa to leave. Hegde started to massage the Master's feet and was alone with him until four that morning. A little after midnight Nityananda startled him by speaking:

"People only come here for money, and the more they get the more they want. Their greed is boundless. Sometimes they arrive hungry and with only the clothes on their backs but soon they start demanding luxuries like cars and houses. One would think that with their basic human needs satisfied, they would seek something higher. Something spiritual. But they persist. There is little point in allowing this body to continue. Tomorrow I will take samadhi."

This last sentence he repeated three times. Hegde was stunned because, while Nityananda was very weak, doctors had found nothing clinically wrong with him. Most devotees fully expected him to recover. Soon he began calling for Swami Janananda, demanding to know why he had not come. When Hegde begged him to postpone his mahasamadhi, Nityananda replied that he would if asked by someone with selfless devotion and love. After all, was not Pundalika a great devotee who made the Lord of Pandharpur wait for him? And was there no such person here? One would be enough to put off the samadhi. With such a person present, he said, not even God could leave without permission. He would be unable to break that bond of pure love. And pointing his index finger at Hegde, Nityananda asked, "Can you offer this one selfless devotion?" But Hegde tearfully replied, "I don't know."

Nityananda's Passing: Part II

 August 8, 1961

In the remaining hour or so, Nityananda asked for certain other devotees by name but they arrived to late. He told Hedge not to worry, and at a quarter to four again muttered something about Swami Janananda, who also came too late and only after receiving a telegram. Hegde asked if he could help but Nityananda said he needed a sanyasi. At around four o'clock he sent the engineer to bathe.

 Returning, hedge offered to pour some coffee into the Master's mouth but the devotee in the next room woke up and told him to stop, saying that his plan was to bathe and then prepare Nityananda's coffee himself. And the yogi waved the engineer aside. But when the other devotee went for his bath, Hedge ran down to the hotel and asked the grateful manager to prepare some special coffee. Quickly Hedge carried it back, served it to Nityananda, and then departed, leaving him in the care of the others wishing to attend him. Among them, sometime ofter seven, were several women devotees from the early days, including Mrs. Wagle, a professional nurse.

In the early days Nityananda had served sugar cane juice to visitors. When Mrs. Muktabai had once asked why, he said, "Why? Because it is this one's juice." However, that morning Nityananda requested coffee and food for those present, something he had been doing for several months. Coming from Bangalore, Lakshmansa Khoday arrived around this time.

Among those assembling since six that morning was Chandu, a longstanding devotee who had come some days before. When Nityananda suddenly asked him for some kasthuri, a type of musk oil, Chandu began to weep. Years ago in Kanhangad he had told the devotee that before leaving this world he would ask him for kasthuri. In an attempt to calm him, Nityananda asked his old companion if he knew of a train that could carry then to Kanhangad. Chandu answered, yes, there was a scheduled train. But when the yogi asked, "How can this one go without strength in these legs?" Chandu was silent.

C.C. Parekh had arranged for a lift to Bombay. He planned to leave by seven that morning, tell his staff that he would remain in Ganeshpuri a few more days, and return to the ashram that afternoon. However, as he entered the car, he suddenly stopped. Asking his friend to wait, he hurried to the hall--where he was shocked to find the Master struggling to breathe. He administered oxygen at once and Nityananda's breathing improved, but Parekh decided not to leave. Remaining at the head of the bed, he was soon joined by Dr. Nicholson, a devotee and respected eye specialist from Bombay. Dr. Nicholson's wife joined them shortly, having telephoned a doctor at the neighboring sanatorium. Soon he arrived, examined Nityananda, and prescribed some medicine. But it was too late. Nityananda had them remove the oxygen mask and, breathing normally, asked Parekh for some water. Then at a quarter of nine he asked Lakshmansa khoday for some lemon juice. Khoday offered him fresh coconut milk instead, which he accepted. He took nothing more.

At nine-thirty Gopalmama noticed that Nityananda's body was radiating a lot of heat. Speaking for the last time, he repeated what he had said often that summer: "A sadhu became a swami. The swami become a deva to some, a baba and a bhagawan to others. This deva will now enter constant samadhi." 

 [sadhu--literally, good; holy man. swami--literally, master of one's Self; title given to monks of the orders organized by Shankara. bhagawan--godhead; one who possesses the six treasures; one who is full of light. Deva--Literally, a shining one; a God. This is the last reference that Nityananda made of himself.]

Ten minutes later he took several very deep breaths, the final one expanding his chest fully. He straightened his legs, the one arthritic, as far as he could, clasped his hands above his navel, and lay perfectly still. After a time Parekh called Swami Muktananda and others from the adjoining room to take charge of Nityananda's body. 

Between that afternoon and the following evening, there was much discussion about where to inter the holy remains. The devotee responsible for the Kailas ashram's construction proposed building a subterranean room there. Other devotees suggested a site on the hill behind the present museum building. Another group wanted it to be where the yogi's body now rested in the Bangalorewalla building, a proposal that Khoday offered to oversee. However, the site ultimately chosen for the samadhi shrine was the recently reconstructed old ashram building. Nityananda had always said that sages gathered there, and it was remembered with what urgency he had ordered the slab roof installed during that summer's monsoon.

 

On the morning of August 9 Captain Hatengdi arrived at his office to find a telephone message. Calling home, he learned that Mrs. Muktabai had sent a telegram saying that Nityananda had taken mahasamadhi the day before and interment would be in three days. He somehow managed to reach Bombay at eleven that night only to learn that the ceremony would occur the next morning. At that hour there were no trains or taxis and he spent a dismal night waiting for the morning train, which he caught. He pulled into Bassein, now the Vasai Road, around five-thirty to find 150 other people stranded en route to Ganeshpuri. The state transport office was still closed and the area was deserted-- except for a growing crowd of anxious devotees. Captain Hatengdi joined the line, resigned to what seemed inevitable. He was 25 miles away and would never arrive in time to see Nityananda one last time.
As he stood musing, five people stepped out of line to flag down a solitary taxi. But the driver refused to make the trip and they trudged back to the throng. By now the hopelessness of the situation drove Hatengdi to pace up and down--from the station to the fork in the road. To the right lay Ganeshpuri; to the left, Bassein and the fort. Pacing this 200-yard stretch several times, he again came to the fork in the road. This time, however, he saw an old but empty seven seat vehicle approaching from Bassein. He hailed the driver, who agreed to take Hatengdi and six other devotees who quickly piled in. The driver kept remarking on their good fortune. It seemed he rarely came this way and had been surprised to find himself at the fork in the road. At seven-fifteen he dropped them off at the Bhadrakali temple.

Captain Hatengdi, overjoyed to be there, had no idea where to find Nityananda's body. He managed to push through the crowd and five minutes later saw the body being carried
from the Bangalorewalla building and placed on a jeep. At that moment the sun broke through the drizzle to light up the Master's face and Hatengdi rushed forward to catch hold of the vehicle. The hour-long procession would circle the buildings before proceeding to the old ashram's eastern entrance. As the entourage slowly began to move, the sun seemed to bow out and the drizzle resumed. The body had been arranged in the lotus position and sat in an easy chair conveyed by means of two logs tied to the chair arms. Hatengdi did not release his hold on the jeep until the chair was lowered and carried into the low building.

The old ashram was filled to capacity and there was no possibility of entering. So Hatengdi went first to bathe and then to pray. By now he knew the samadhi shrine was situated right where he used to sleep following the ashram's move to Kailas. He finally and truly understood Nityananda's earlier words to him that "this spot alone was good."

Samadhi Mandir

 
Nityananda's life exemplified nondualism. He made no distinction between people, never caring about their religion, their sex, or whether they were poor or wealthy, backward or educated. He was the common man's friend, the spiritual aspirant's guide, and the devotee's constant companion. He taught that devotion to God went hand in hand with the performance of one's earthly responsibilities. In fact, he demanded that people work in the world, saying that work properly done was the same as worship. He felt people should be of the world without being worldly. He particularly favored charitable works as opportunities to serve God. Always fond of feeding the poor, he built a small school in Ganeshpuri and a dispensary in Vajreshwari. Even while crediting the will of God and karmic law for the suffering of individuals and nations, he never let this justify callousness toward others.

He did not want followers. But when they came, he only asked for purity of motive and faith (shuddha bhavana and shraddha) and the freedom to do his work from within. His greatness lay in the key he held to the inner consciousness of the faithful. His power radiated without effort or notice on his part. Words were unimportant to him. Free of earthly ambition, he distributed whatever gifts people brought him. It says in the Bhagawatam that the divine power of such a guru remains hidden, manifesting itself for those who truly desire Truth. With Nityananda, this was so--and his manifestations were many. While emanating steadily from the spiritual plane, his divine presence reflected the viewer's inner state of consciousness. While some saw in him the terror of Kali, others found the compassion of Vajreshwari. Dualism was always unmasked as an intellectual pursuit that toyed with separate aspects of the same reality.

 

In his final months Nityananda complained that people only came to him for material gain. "What sort of grace is possible in such cases?" he would ask before adding, "They don't need a guru--they need a soothsayer." He called it an abuse of his physical presence, likening it to spiritual window shopping. Where was their spiritual aspiration? Why ask the ocean for a few fish when, with a little effort, one could have the priceless pearls on the ocean floor?

He spoke of the antarjnanis, self realized beings who lived in the world and experienced pain like everyone else. The difference between them and the rest of humanity was their ability to detach their minds from their suffering. Once established in infinite consciousness, they became silent. And, while all-knowing, they lived as if knowing nothing; while manifesting simultaneously in unlikely places, they appeared idle. They viewed life as if it were a movie--from a state of detachment. For Nityananda, being detached from life's circumstances, pleasant or otherwise, was the highest state. He was an antarjnani.

Let the mind, he said, be like a lotus leaf floating on the water, unaffected by its stem below and its flower above. While engaged in worldly pursuits, keep the mind untainted by desire and distraction. Keep the mind detached and faith in God firmly established in the lotus of the heart, never letting it be swayed by happiness or despair. Devotees will find themselves subjected to various tests, he said--tests of the mind, of the emotions, of the body. With every thought that pops into the mind, God is waiting for a person's reaction. Therefore stay alert and detached. See everything as an opportunity to gain experience, improve oneself, and rise to a higher level. Desire alone causes suffering in the world. Humankind brings nothing into this world and takes nothing away from it. This ashram, for instance, is full of things for devotees to use when visiting, but if this one (Nityananda) leaves he will take nothing with him. Whatever is need will come. This one is not flattered when important persons come or distressed when devotees fall away. Whether visitors come or not, whether they bring offerings or not--it is the same. This one has no desire to go anywhere or see anything. Let one's thoughts and actions reflect one's words. This ashram's practice is not in doing good deeds. This ashram's practice is learning to be detached. Anything else that happens does so automatically by the will of God--although this one will speak when somebody is genuinely interested.

 

Afterword
The Shrines of Ganeshpuri

Since ancient times Ganeshpuri was considered a holy place and Nityananda often recounted episodes from the ancient Puranas attesting to this. Of the area's numerous shrines, several were built and maintained by Nityananda and his followers.

The old Bhimeshwar temple, situated near the old ashram, was one of these. Dr. Deodhar recalled than on a visit around 1950 he noticed that the silver cobra--the Naag--was missing from the temple's linga. But he kept forgetting to tell Nityananda. This continued  for some time until one day he asked another devotee to mention it for him. Hearing the belated news, Nityananda said, "Have you come here just to tell me this? Deodhar always forgets! Tell him this one said to have the Naag remade--but this time in copper." He then gave detailed instructions for its size and features, directing the devotee to use a thread to show the dimensions. Finally, he said he wanted it installed on the following Monday-four short days away. Receiving these instructions, the doctor hurried at once to the marketplace where he was directed to a certain artisan. This man, the district's only coppersmith, announced the project would take him ten days to complete. Anxiously, Dr. Deodhar explained the urgency and the coppersmith agreed to finish it by Sunday.

When he arrived to pick up the Naag, the doctor saw that the cobra's eyes did not glisten as instructed. The coppersmith explained he had left off the shiny beads, fearing they would fall out and leave empty sockets. At that moment a statue of Shiva was carried in from the workshop, its eyes brightly painted and shiny. The men looked at it and decided to do the same for the snake. Nityananda was satisfied with the results and kept it in his room until the installation, which occured the next morning.

An unusual feature of the Bhimeshwar temple was the continuous trickle of water from the ceiling at the rear of the dome. It had begun seeping from a number of places behind the main linga sometime in the early 1940's after Nityananda moved to Ganeshpuri. As time passed the amount of water increased, even during the hot summers. Captain Hatengdi heard this from his uncle who added that Nityananda had cautioned him not to step on the small lingas that sprang up wherever the water fell. And indeed, two discernible lingas were forming in two water-filled holes directly behind the main linga. Projections of various shapes also appeared in a rough semicircle around them. Whenever Nityananda mentioned the water, he would laugh heartily at the thought of scientists coming to investigate the phenomenon. It is said that once the yogi left the old ashram for Kailas in 1956, the water slowed to a trickle and stopped completely the day Nityananda's statue was installed in the Samadhi Mandir temple.
On one of his monthly weekend visits in 1945, Captain Hatengdi noticed a small shrine 200 yards from the road to the ashram. Nityananda said he built it for the village deity, or gramadevata, because the spot had the power of samadhi. And it was here that Swami Muktananda later made his ashram.

The current Krishna temple stands where once there was an old stone relic of Nandi, the bull of Shiva. Its presence had always been a mystery. Captain Hatengdi recalls watching Nityananda sit on it occasionally, both feet dangling down its left side. When they began building the temple, workers tried to move the stone--but it would not budge. hearing of this, Nityananda ordered them to break a coconut near the bull. Once they did, two of them easily lifted the great stone. At the Master's instructions, they the bull's head, placing it on the cow statue that stands behind Krishna.

With the Krishna temple finished, Nityananda immediately turned his attention to the Bhadrakali temple. He would set a specific day for its inauguration and the work had to be completed. In this instance, Mistry had a single day to make the goddess's statue and, per Nityananda's instructions, he used the same cement mixture employed earlier for Krishna. But when it was finished, the priest anxiously said her face was not attractive enough. This, Nityananda reassured him, would be taken care of--and ordered the statue covered with a white cloth. At the following morning's consecration ceremony the cloth was removed to reveal a changed face that satisfied even the priest's aesthetic expectations. Later, when asked why the hurry to build this particular temple, Nityananda replied that Bhadrakali had followed him from Gokarn, desiring a place in Ganeshpuri. And she was not prepared to wait!

Besides those actually built by him, numerous shrines were dedicated to Nityananda after his mahasamadhi. The first temple built on Kanhangad rock opened in April 1963, the one in Guruvana in May 1966. The rock temple was commissioned by B.H. Mehta from funds he collected.
Known as Samadhi Mandir, the samadhi shrine was the creation of
Prabhashankar Sompura, who designed the renowned Somnath Temple as well as the two Kanhangad temples. The samadhi shrine with Nityananda's earthly remains is located on the site of the original Ganeshpuri ashram. Rising a hundred feet into the sky, the shrine and hall capped by a 24-foot high dome have an imposing beauty. The Tansa River flowing a short distance away adds to the tranquility of this holy site.

Additional temples dedicated to Nityananda range from simple altars adorned with his photograph to more elaborate temples such as the one built by M.L. Gupta in Koilandi near Calicut. With its large hall, this shrine wits where the young Ram once roamed with his adopted father Ishwar Iyer.

 

Nityananda's Photographer

Nityananda hated being photographed and only a handful of images from the early days exist. Most of the photographs we have of him were taken decades later by M.D. Suvarna.

Devotees often wanted a picture of Nityananda with their families. Typically the young Nityananda discouraged people from revering his photographs and actually admonished them for doing so. Mr. Krishnabai felt that since he had obliged the photographer in her own compound she might be permitted to keep his picture in her house. Accordingly, she asked the photographer to send one to her mother's house. When she arrived to pick up the framed photograph, it was nighttime. Mangalore still lacked electricity in those days and with only kerosene lamps burning Mrs. Muktabai did not notice Nityananda sitting in a dark corner. As she was asking her mother about the picture, the yogi exclaimed, "So you want a photograph, do you? You will find it in the dung heap!" Running outside, she looked to no avail. It was then that her mother said Nityananda had smashed the framed picture with a rock. The shards, of course, now lay buried in the dung heap. [Nityananda frowned on such things, as he did not want his image to become an object of retail commerce.]

Photographs of Nityananda only became readily available when M.D. Suvarna, originally a press photographer, came to Ganeshpuri in the early 1950. He and a colleague, learning of Nityananda's growing popularity, knew people would soon be demanding photographs. But when they arrived at the ashram, Nityananda thundered at them and they retreated in haste. Suvarna, however, decided to try again. This time his persistence was rewarded. Permission was granted, after considerable pleading, under the following conditions: there should be no disturbance, no fuss, no posing.
Suvarna first traveled to Ganeshpuri as photographer but he soon became a devotee. Whenever work brought him to Bombay, he made a point of visiting Ganeshpuri on Thursdays and shooting a roll of film. The resulting images consistently portray Nityananda's mystical power, compassion, and inner bliss. Some are so good that they may be mistaken for posed portraits. Others show considerable variance in Nityananda's physical appearance from picture to picture, a fact pointed out by the sculptor, Mr. Wagh, who utilized them for the altar statue in the samadhi shrine.
As an experiment, in the late 1950's Mr. Suvarna exposed several hundred feet of motion picture film, taking snippets at odd moments and later splicing them together. It was the first time he had handled such a camera and his results were remarkably good. Oddly, however, on occasion the developed film was completely blank. For instance, once he wanted to photograph Nityananda returning from his morning walk, After having a hole bored in the wall of a nearby hotel, Suvarna waited with his pre-adjusted camera and took several shots of the Master passing. But the developed film was blank. he repeated the experiment--with the same result. Suvarna recalls Nityananda sometimes asking him, "What is the value of so many pictures? Are you still not satisfied?" And then he would smile.

One last time, on a particularly important occasion, Suvarna's cameras unaccountably malfunctioned. it was August 10, 1961, two days after the mahasamadhi. The body had been placed in an easy chair, mounted on a jeep, and driven slowly around the Ganeshpuri compound, a procession that, despite a steady drizzle, Suvarna managed to capture on film. Then the body was taken inside the old ashram for burial. From different vantage points in the room, Suvama and his cousin each took a roll of film during the ceremony. But later they discovered that not one exposure came out.

Shri Nityananda Arogyashram Hospital at Ganeshpuri

The beginning of Shri Nityanadna Arogyashram is in a way connected with the late Dr. M.B. Cooper and the herbal wonder drug revealed to him by a Himalayan saint long ago. Through vibrational guidance and his own genius he successfully prepared an inject able solution from the original formula, which he initially prescribed for tuberculosis. However, Dr. Cooper knew the Himalayans took it both to combat disease and to maintain health, and further research proved the compound's broader curative properties. As a result, over the years he helped patients suffering from asthma and other lung ailments, skin diseases, arthritis, cysts, as well as tuberculosis--even advanced cases. He named the remedy mahawaz--"the great sound"--because of the cosmic sound that seemed to direct his research.
Dr. Deodhar had been Dr. Cooper's assistant since the late 1930's. A decade later he became a devotee of Nityananda and, after seeking the Master's advice, left general practice to concentrate on mahawaz. He was told the remedy would be successful if administered through an ashram hospital but that such a project would require great patience and perseverance on his part.

Eventually, Dr. Deodhar and B.C.S. Swamy, a fellow devotee, brought Dr. Cooper to Ganeshpuri. Upon first seeing Nityananda, the doctor was overwhelmed and had to leave. But he returned later with an ampule of mahawaz to show the yogi. Again, Nityananda said it would succeed. A few months before the mahasamadhi Dr. Deodhar and Mr. Swamy presented a proposal for a hospital to be built at Ganeshpuri. Nityananda immediately approved the idea and asked for a map of the ashram's property. He indicated where he wanted the future hospital built, giving them the piece of land along with a cash donation. he said to proceed in three stages, indicating with his hands and saying, "First small, then big, and then very big!"

In 1963 the Nityananda Arogyashram Trust was formed, and in December 1966 the hospital's foundation stone was laid by Swami Chinmayananda in the presence of a distinguished audience. Today one of the district's finest hospital buildings, its spacious and airy rooms are within walking distance of the samadhi shrine.

Dr. Cooper donated the mahawaz formula to the Trust. Although he and Dr. Deodhar received fabulous offers for this formula, they were determined to maintain its availability to common people. Similarly, his daughter, Dr. M.H. Pavri, and his son, Mr. Cooper, gave up their rights to any entitled royalties. Upon the death of her father in August 1980, Dr. Pavri assumed responsibility for the hospital as well as for the manufacture and development of the herbal extract.

 

So Say The Stars

There is considerable interest today in Vedic astrology, and ancient science predating its Western counterpart by millennia. To this end readers may be interested in a horoscope prepared for Captain Hatengdi in March 1970. (Incidentally, the Western word ''horoscope'' is of ancient Greek derivation and refers to ''looking at time.'') In such instances, sages with intuitive wisdom chart all possible permutations and combinations to develop the pattern of a subject's life.

In India these are called Nadigrantha readings. Full of great detail, they include the names and charts of individuals influencing the subject in good or bad ways, often referring to previous incarnations. However, such readings are primarily useful in understanding a subject's past and inherent tendencies. Present and future predictions often prove unreliable because of the ongoing play of human will and divine intervention. In Captain Hatengdi's case, at the age of 28 he was shown to meet a great being who would affect his life quite favorably. There was a lengthy description of this being, which we include here in an edited form.

He came to the world for the sake of his devotees, a great yogi. Nothing is known of his birth or his age. He has Fed thousands of sanyasis and sadhus. While ever in samadhi, he talks. While ever with the Atman, he is never in the body. He talks directly to God. Long- limbed with a vibrant personality, he sometimes goes naked and some- times wears a loincloth. Although few recognize him, he is God in human form.

He is called by a name beginning with the letter N. He sits near hot springs and a Shiva temple and does not engage in outward activities, giving the impression of doing nothing. Money he takes from his loincloth as needed. He removes difficulties and occasionally pre- scribes medicines. Ignorant people never see his true nature.

While these words cannot possibly relate his greatness, a devotee will come in due course and describe him properly. Others who write about him will succeed only if they are inspired by him--and then only if he wishes it.

Eventually books will be written about him and many will make money in his name.
At the time of this reading, he is no longer in human form. His many devotees include highly evolved sanyasis and members of royalty. Numerous ashrams and shrines are built in his honor--but he never recognized or initiated disciples. No one was fit to receive the knowledge of God from him. Although he has taken mahasamadhi, his blessings remain with his devotees. When you think of him, he is with you. Anyone who approaches him with purity of motive is granted their wish.

How can we describe such a being? He might deliver harsh words or actions, saying "Matti, matti--it is of no consequence,'' but blessings always fall on the recipient. He sees with equal-sightedness, treating everyone the same regardless of social position. But people pursue him with material desires--not with spiritual aspirations. Still, his guiding light is always available to both the devout and the spiritual seeker. Sadly, most devotees never really knew him. No one was powerful enough to succeed him or receive what he could grant. But he still blesses the devotees--and he remains without disciples.

 

Remembering The Master

Captain M.U. Hatengdi, retired Naval Secretary at Naval Headquarters in New Delhi, was a long-time disciple of Nityananda. This chapter is his story.

I remember first seeing Nityananda when I was five years old. It was 1920 and he was in the cattle shed of the late Colonel V. R. Miraijkar in Mangalore. Many years later the famous surgeon recounted that on returning home after eight years abroad he had argued with his mother about the young Master to whom she was devoted. He did not understand how a woman so fastidious about cleanliness could tolerate him. This was because in those days the reclusive, rail-thin youth was as likely to be found on a doormat or a dunghill as anywhere. The colonel's mother ordered her son to mind his own business. He regretfully told me that decades passed before he recognized Nityananda's greatness for himself.
In the early 1930's Nityananda still wandered South India and a long time passed before I saw him again. In fact, it was only when I felt an urgent desire for a spiritual teacher that a cousin who visited Ganeshpuri whenever he traveled to Bombay agreed to take me to the ashram. And so it passed that on June 10, 1943, I had my first darshan with the Master. The experience evoked in me feelings of reunion with a long-lost friend and an unusual inner peace. I remember not being nervous despite his silence that morning. Later as he stood on the tiny porch outside his room, I boldly asked him three questions. He gave suitable answers although the third concerned mundane matters and his response seemed to imply that I should have known better than to ask it.

After that I saw the Master every Sunday for a while. On one visit a young man ran up to me outside the ashram and asked if he could come. Saying that I thought everyone was welcome, I brought him along. Nityananda was away but we soon saw him approaching from the direction of the river. He seemed to be shouting at the stranger by my side. Entering the ashram, the Master shouted again, asking the startled man who had brought him, and then told him to leave. Turning to me, he said, "Never put yourself out to anyone here. People come with different predilections (vasanas) and it's not for you to interfere." My subsequent strict compliance with this directive brought me problems not becoming distracted from my spiritual practice.

On these early visits the Master was often away when I arrived, and it might be an hour before he appeared. I always waited anxiously until I saw him because there were few people about and the ashram felt empty. unaware of his habitual and sudden disappearances, I thought that perhaps he traveled to Kanhangad periodically and so I asked him. He replied, "This one won't go anywhere in the future-only here." As if to avoid further queries he added, "Moreover, traveling these days is difficult." This was during the Second World War when civilians were advised to travel only when necessary. After that Nityananda was always present when I came, either sitting on the cement porch or in his room.

The years from 1944 to 1948 were golden for me. happily stationed near Bombay, I spent a weekend every month in Ganeshpuri, often alone with the Master. He always greeted me affectionately in Konkani, asking "Have you come?"

Certain other patterns developed during these visits. For instance, he would point to the room I was to occupy, there being only two--one on either side of his own. The peculiarity was that I always stayed in the rooms by turn without deviation. My activities also followed a routine. First I would bathe in the hot springs and then sit to the left of the entrance. Invariably, he always sat on the first step with the narrow doorsill completely blocking my view of him. He never sat facing me. In fact, he would sit for half an hour or more and then walk around only to return to the same spot. This usually went on throughout the waking hours of my visits, which mostly passed in silence. In the beginning, the moment Nityananda sat down near me I would become drowsy and utilize all of my self-control to stay awake. Gradually this experience subsided. I never asked its significance, thinking that sitting near him was simply a form of meditation.

Punctually at ten o'clock every night, he asked me to retire and close the doors. Then, after extinguishing the small kerosene lamp, I lay in total darkness listening to a jungle serenade of frogs and crickets and watching glowworms light the trees with rhythmic regularity. The Master would slowly push open my door at the same time every morning and stand there. And I can't explain how, but my eyes opened every time he stood there in the darkness. As soon as he saw that, he would say, "It's four o'clock," close the door, and walk away. I would rise at once, bathe, and take my place near the entrance. He then joined me for coffee, usually served black and sweetened with ghee (clarified butter) because milk was scarce. The affection he showed me was particularly evident when we sat by ourselves after these morning coffee sessions. Such weekends of peace and happiness made me long for his company, and I eagerly awaited the monthly rituals.

Many people have told me that the Master's presence in their lives gave them a tangible sense of security. I know I always felt that he watched over me and an incident from 1946 illustrates this:
It was dark and the grounds were slippery and treacherous. On my way to the baths, I fell and cut my leg on the sharp stones. In pain and bleeding badly, I washed the wound with rainwater until I thought the bleeding had stopped and then had my bath. Later I was evaluating the injury in my room when Nityananda appeared suddenly, poured a little sandalwood oil on the exact spot, and left as he had come--without a word.

I have stated that our time together mostly passed in silence. however, he did occasionally speak and his words to me at the close of my third visit were particularly significant. "In life,'' he said, ''when a person overcomes one obstacle, another presents itself. This process continues until one's experience is complete and the mind is able to face any situation with the right perspective." To me this was a disheartening idea because I was still young and nursed a number of worldly ambitions. To view life as an obstacle course was not a happy prospect. Still, having sought him out for my spiritual development and not worldly gain, I knew there would be no ultimate disappointment. Already I felt blessed with a strong inner security and a longing for more of his grace.

The Master's conversation could appear casual and years might pass before I appreciated his meaning. For instance, he broke one evening's silence by uttering the solitary sentence that the words of Jesus could also be found in the Bhagavad Gita. This was something about which I was quite ignorant at the time. At other times I discovered that words spoken by him earlier were destined to be fulfilled. Later I heard that when asked how to recognize someone who had attained divine wisdom Nityananda replied that the words of such a person (jnani) were always fulfilled.

In 1944 I suffered a tormenting period of inadequacy regarding my spiritual practice. I did not ask him what I should do in fear that he would prescribe some severe breathing exercises or mantra intonation. One night as we sat together I hesitantly asked whether there was a particular book he would advise me to read. His response was instant: "It's not necessary. But if you must, read the Bhagavad Gita."

Nityananda's general disinterest in worldly events never surprised me--but I knew he was aware of them. it was two days after Lord Mountbatten became Viceroy that I arrived at the ashram for my monthly weekend. Sitting near me, the Master said, "While Mountbatten is a good naval officer, he lacks experience in politics." And certainly today an objective historian could substantiate this view. [Nityananda's awareness of global events was amazing, particularly in the early days at Ganeshpuri, due to the fact that the jungle ashram was isolated, with no television or newspapers of any kind.]

One Saturday night, with India's independence only four weeks away, Nityananda made some weighty pronouncements about the future. First he asked, "What does swaraj mean?" Defining it as "freedom" or "self-rule," he said that India needed additional time to complete its training, hinting that considerable begging and suffering remained for our country. He seemed to say that India's continued dependence on outside assistance would limit our freedom. he added that greedy parties were forcing the situation in the same way that people try to force fruit to ripen before its time. He even predicted our country's division into several states because of petty rivalries and jealousies. And everything he said has come to pass.

I was unable to understand at the time, being overwhelmed like others by the euphoria of India's potential future and greatness. I remember foreigners saying that with so much horsepower we only had to press the accelerator. Alas, today's reality falls short of yesterday's hopes.

Months later, in September 1947, I again heard the Master speak about a great national leader. He said that little time remained for this individual and he wondered whether he was satisfied yet with his fame and accomplishments. Why, Nityananda asked, did he not simply retire from politics, close his eyes, and think of God--for God would come to him, implying that he was a spiritually advanced soul. He added that a person alone, regardless of greatness, cannot do everything. Instead we should each treat life as a relay race, covering the bit of track meant for us as fast as possible before passing on the baton. Four months later, Mahatma Gandhi was assassinated.

 

Remembering The Master: Part II

On a dark night in June 1945, I was at my usual place by the door to the room nearest the baths. Oddly, Nityananda was sitting behind me some twelve feet away. We were both facing south and peering into the darkness when suddenly he shouted in Konkani, "Who's there?" I had to strain my eyes to see a person slowly moving toward us. "It is I," the man replied. Another shout erupted behind me, "Who?" demanded the Master. This time the man said, "Satyanarayana prasad." The Master shouted back: "Prasad for whom?" Repeating this a second time, he added, "Is anything known about this place (meaning himself)?" I had considered Nityananda to be an incarnate personality since I first received his darshan. This incident only strengthened my belief and I wondered why he seemed angry. Turning to look at him, I saw him in a posture radiating such power that I quickly averted my eyes. With great kindness he said to me, "Prasad means something received with God presenting Himself fully satisfied in the chosen form and bestowing the gift. You may have it now." By offering it to me I knew the prasad had been consecrated. Pointing to the stranger, he then added, "That man did not come for prasad but for sankalpa." A sankalpa is a vow taken to perform some action if a prayer is answered, a practice that the Master generally discouraged. As the man began telling his story, my guru admonished him and ordered him to return to the ashram from which he had come.

Several months passed until one evening the Master said: "Mothers are more important-- they know what fathers only think to be so. It is the mother who points out the father, brothers, and sisters to the child; this the child believes without question. The mother is to the child what the guru is to the disciple. The guru reveals God to the disciple and enables the disciple to experience His presence."
Sometimes he denied responsibility for his actions--even benevolent ones. One morning in 1946 as we sat in our usual places, a man approached. Nityananda rose, took a stick from the roof, struck him four or five times, replaced the stick, and sat down again. The man left without uttering a sound. Seeing my confusion, the Master said: "This one has not beaten him. He came to get beaten." And it is indeed true that many people believed such beatings to be blessings that would ward off trouble.

This reminds me of a story about the great Vyasa, author of the Vedas, the eighteen Puranas, and the Mahabharata with its beloved Bhagavad Gita. It is in his honor that we celebrate Guru Purnima every July in India. As he sat one evening on the banks of the river Jumna, some milkmaids carrying pots of curds approached desiring to cross over. Because it was dusk and the river was high, they asked the sage to use his good offices to make the river open a path for them. Vyasa asked them for something to eat, partook of the offered curds, and then addressed the river: "If I have eaten nothing, make a way for these milkmaids." The river complied at once. Because Vyasa always identified with the Absolute (atman) and not with his physical body, his true form had not eaten. Nityananda was often described in the same way.

My visits to Ganeshpuri were infrequent between 1948 to 1954, estranging me from a new generation of devotees. Then, restationed in Bombay from 1955 to 1957, I often felt lost during my monthly visits. In addition, my few overnights were spent in the big hall since the one's flanking Nityananda's room were no longer used by visitors. One was now a kitchen while the other was kept closed and used for storage.

One rainy September night, rather than stay in the big hall I made up my mind to sit outside the kitchen near the Master, who sat there on a bench. At seven o'clock he called to a devotee whom I did not know, asking him to open the closed room for me. I spent the night there surrounded by gifts and other offerings to Nityananda. I departed early the next day, later learning that Nityananda departed the same morning for a new ashram in Kailas.

After 1957, I only visited Ganeshpuri once or twice a year. Because of what I had understood him to mean years earlier, I always kept to myself, courteous but not overly friendly with other devotees. When Nityananda moved his living quarters to the new ashram in Kailas, specific hours were set for darshan. The old ashram's central hall was now usually empty because most devotees gathered in the west hall. On my sporadic visits, I usually occupied a corner of the old hall near the bench where the Master used to sit. My habit was to arrive in the early afternoon and leave by seven the next morning. However, to catch even a glimpse of Nityananda meant knocking hourly at the Kailas doors until they were opened at five o'clock or later. Sometimes special arrangements were made for devotees who had traveled great distances but, a virtual stranger to the new ashram's attendants, I was overlooked. Frustrated, I wondered why the Master failed to make special arrangements for me.

Finally I saw him one evening. He said to me, "Where do you stay these days?" Since he had always seemed to know what I was doing even when stationed to remote areas. I was irked at the question. Petulantly, I replied, "Where else? There." With an admonishing tone, he used his index finger to point to the place I had occupied in the old ashram and said, "Only there is good." I confess that his response was unclear to me at the time. I was too busy thinking that if this were so, why was he in Kailas? But I kept quiet. Only when he left his physical body and his remains were interred near that very spot did I understand.

My last visit before he took mahasamadhi was in October 1960. Late in the evening, and after numerous hourly knocks on my part, an attendant opened the door and asked me to sit beside his chair. The Master was resting in his room. About ten minutes passed while two devotees in the passage were trying to work a new tape recorder. The particular words they had managed to catch were of Nityananda repeating, "Without the guru's grace, nothing happens." Thinking of myself, I wondered whether my five-hour wait was due to a lack of grace in my life. What, I fretted, had I done to merit such treatment. As this thought entered my mind, he emerged from his room to lay down again--this time facing me on the adjacent platform. The only light was above my head and he looked directly at me as I nervously shifted my gaze. Nothing was said. Fifteen minutes later, he slowly rose and returned to the platform in his room. I was disturbed by the enormity of his body and wondered how he managed to breathe. My wonder was even greater because I knew how little he ate.

When I informed the attendant of my intended early departure in the morning, he told me to meet him at the baths at four o'clock. I entered the main hall to receive darshan at six. Finding Nityananda asleep on the platform and turned toward the wall, I bent over to see his face. he opened his left eye and nodded to indicate that I could go. Again no words were spoken. Even when my visits became infrequent, he had always said something to me. This was the first and only time that silence reigned. Perhaps he thought I had reached a higher level of understanding--but if so, I was certainly unaware of it. In truth, I left the Master recognizing that a long struggle lay ahead of me. Nevertheless, today as I remember the golden weekends spent in his divine presence, I am filled with inner peace and happiness. I am eternally grateful.

This ends the book entitled "Nityananda: In Divine Presence."
It is hoped that this small glimpse into the Master's life gives you as much hope, joy, and satisfaction as it has me.

============

 

 

Finding the Supreme Teacher - Nityananda

by Swami Muktananda, in his own words....

I met my Guru, Bhagavan Nityananda, when I was very young. I was almost sixteen and still in school. Gurudev loved children, so whenever he came to our school all of us would leave our classes and follow him. The moment we followed him, he would start running and shouting. We would run after him, and then he would climb a tree and sit on a branch. We would just stay there under the tree. He was a great runner. He had great speed. He was a great walker too, he walked very fast. He walked in a strange way, in the state of an Avadhut (One in a state of constant mergence in the Divine).

Whenever he came to school the teachers would be very upset, but the children would follow him anyway. he would go into a candy store, reach into the containers, throw candy to the children, and then take off again. Still the shopkeepers never complained, because whenever he gave away candy, their sales went up. I had this feeling I wanted to be like him, that such a thing would be better than anything else.

In those days he didn't stay in one place for very long. He kept walking and walking, day and night. he would walk forty miles a day, and then he would disappear. He wore just a loincloth, and he would walk and walk. Finally he went to Ganeshpuri where he settled permanently.

After I met him, I gave up school. I also started traveling. First I went to Karnataka where I began to study scriptures, and where I met a great Siddha called Siddharudha Swami. I continued to travel all over India, and I met two other great saints. When I met them, I thought I was smarter than they were, so I couldn't attain anything even from them.

My Guru was a great aid in crushing my ego. I was a kind of half scholar; I had read some books here and there, and I had some broken knowledge. If you only study a little bit here and there, it's no good. Also I had changed my clothes; I had put on the robes of a swami. Because I was playing a role, I couldn't sit still. I played my role by jumping here and there.

I used to go to Ganeshpuri and meet my Baba quite often. I would go and stay with him for a few days. Then he would tell me to go and travel some more. For about fifteen years I kept coming and going from my Baba's place.

I didn't spare any of the holy places in India. I didn't spare any of the great temples. I didn't spare any of the great beings. I searched intensely for God in caves, mountains, and forests. I do not remember in exactly how many temples I sought Him or in how many shrines I meditated on Him to no avail. I prayed in so many different temples, but only hours slipped by and I was still without peace.

Then I set out in search of a guide. I wandered all by myself, pondering the mysteries of life. In the course of these wanderings, I ran into an unusual, naked saint named Zipruanna. He was very great. Although he appeared to be a fool to worldly-minded folk, he was omniscient. He seemed a naked mendicant only to those who were spiritually naked, being without knowledge. However he was the owner of a vast treasure of wisdom - a true millionaire. I loved him at first sight. We became friends. What a combination! One was a naked fakir while the other was a well dressed, modern renunciant. He said, "O you crazy one, God is within! Why do you seek him outside?"
I said, "Instruct me."
"That is not for me to do so." he replied. "Go back to Ganeshpuri and stay there. Your treasure lies there. Go and claim it."

So I went back to Ganeshpuri once again and met Nityananda Baba, the supreme avadhut. I was overjoyed. No - I was fulfilled. After a bath in the hot springs, I went for his darshan. he was poised in a simple, easy posture on a plain cot, smiling gently. His eyes were open but his gaze was directed within. What divine luster glowed in those eyes! His body was dark, and he was wearing a simple loincloth.

He said, "So you've come."

"Yes Sir," I answered. I stood for a while and then sat down. There I realized the highest. I am still sitting there.

 

Guided by The Perfect Guru - Nityananda

Nityananda's form was supremely radiant and attractive, and if a person had his darshan even once, the impression would be deeply and unforgettably imprinted on his mind.

His skin was like a dark shining jewel filled with divine radiance. His forehead was high and arched, and his face completely captivating. Thick eyebrows curved over his large beautiful eyes. A river of love poured forth from his glance. His ears had the graceful shape of conch shells. Most of the time his attention was turned inward, as he sat peacefully with a smile on his lotus face.

His way of life was extremely simple. He would bathe very early in the morning, before sunrise. He ate very little. His simplicity and renunciation revealed the greatness of his inner state.

Most of the time Gurudev was silent. However if someone asked him a question, he would explain abstract philosophy in very simple words that were immediately understood.

Most of the time my Baba's eyes were closed. His eyes were very big and extremely powerful. He never looked at anyone with his open eyes. Even while eating or drinking, he used to keep his eyes closed. The photographs that you see of him were taken by a photographer who had to wait for hours and hours. When Nityananda Baba opened his eyes, at that moment the photographer snapped the picture.

A Photograph has great power. What kind of power depends upon whose picture it is. The state of the person remains inherent in the photograph. I fully believe in the power of my Baba's photographs.

If you want to establish a connection with Nityananda Baba, just look at his eyes in the photograph and repeat your mantra. In this way the Shakti will enter you. Then automatically the relationship will be established.

A Guru looks like a human being to the physical eyes, and it is very difficult for an ordinary person to see God in that human body. Ordinary people say, "He eats like us, he drinks like us, he sleeps like us, he laughs like us and has fun like us." But in a Guru's body, there is this Shakti, this divine force that is completely alive. That is what makes a Guru. As you follow the words of the Guru, the Shakti enters you more and more, until one day that Shakti transforms your being into the being of the Guru.

Within every person there is this Shakti. It is the divine power, God's power. And it is only because of this power that we live. This power is also known as the Self, or God. As long as you do not know the Self, no matter how much you try to improve on the outside, you cannot really improve.

People used to go to my Gurudev and ask, "O Gurudev, I want to see God! I want to see God!" My Gurudev would say, "Just look around! Everyone is God! Everyone is God!"

Every one of you experiences this, but you do not understand it. You do not know how he resides within. When you are awake, you perform so may actions, but there is One within who witnesses all your actions. When you go to sleep and dream, there is One within who remains awake and watches all your dreams. If you know that One, if you know that Knower, then you know everything. 

August 15, 1947

Nityananda stood facing me directly. He looked into my eyes again. Watching carefully, I saw a ray of light entering me from his pupils. It felt hot like burning fever. Its light was dazzling, like that of a high-powered bulb. As that ray emanating from Bhagavan Nityananda's pupils penetrated mine, I was thrilled with amazement, joy, and fear. I was beholding its color and chanting Guru Om. It was a full unbroken beam of divine radiance. Its color kept changing from molten gold to saffron to a shade deeper than the blue of a shining star. I stood utterly transfixed.

He sat down and said in his aphoristic fashion, "All mantras... one. Each... from Om. Om Namah Shivaya Om... should think, Shivo'ham, I am Shiva... Shiva-Shiva...Shivo'ham...should be internal repetition. Internal...superior to external."

 ====

 

 That Siddha gave me one word that completely transformed me, but I had to spend such a long time with him to receive it. The word I received after so many years spread through my body from head to toe like wildfire carried by the wind. It produced in me both inner heat and the coolness of joy.

Before meeting my Guru, I had practised many different kinds of yoga, but it was I who had practiced them. However that word activated a spontaneous yoga within me. I was filled with amazement. what postures, mudras, and breathing processes! Everything happened on its own.

After the awakening of the Shakti, this process of yogic movement began to take place within my entire body. I saw my own double many times. In the Sahasrara at the crown of the head, I perceived the brilliance of a thousand suns. I also saw the Blue Being. Sometimes I would lose myself within; then I would regain consciousness. I am ecstatic! I have found the best place of all, right within myself.

I have rediscovered that which I never lost. Still my addiction has not left me. Jai Gurudev! Such a great addiction to the Guru! "Guru Om! Guru Om!" The repetition of this great mantra occurs even in my dreams. I do not know who repeats it there. My Guru's picture seems to come alive for me. When I look at his eyes, I see radiance. When I gaze at his body, it seems to be moving. When I look at his face, a smile seems to play on his lips. People may think this is madness. So be it. How beautiful! How exquisite! How ecstatic! Sometimes in the privacy of my room, I dance while singing "Guru Om, Guru Om". The pulsation of his ecstasy pervades my entire body like the movement of the wind.

 ==

 
Although the Guru has great gifts to give us, he can give them to us only when we become worthy of receiving them. I can tell you this from experience. In the early years I kept coming and going from Baba Nityananda's place. When I was there, I would become restless, so I would leave and go somewhere else for a while. The reason for this was ego and pride. Nityananda was a being who loved to challenge others, and I was a person who was too proud. At his place people used to line up, waiting for hours to receive something from him. He was always established in the supreme state. Sometimes he would pick up something, call someone close to him, and give him that. Whatever gift of prasad he gave people was like a wish-fulfilling tree that would fulfill all their desires. I waited to see if I would receive anything. Nothing - not even a glass of water. Sometimes he would pick up something and say "Come here," and I would go running. Then he would say, "Not you. I'm calling someone else." In that way, he would insult me in front of everyone again and again, and I would die. The bigger my ego was, the worse the insults became. This went on for several years. he kept working on me, and I kept coming and going. I would leave, but then I would miss him and come back. He would work on me some more and I would leave. But I wouldn't remain tranquil, thinking, "If I get something, that's fine; and if I don't get anything, that's fine too." The more the Guru tested me, the more I advanced in my sadhana. No matter how much he tested me, I did not look for faults in him. Instead I looked for my own faults. I asked myself, What do I lack: What are my shortcomings?

At one point in my sadhana I discovered that knowledge is man's true nature. Shaivism says, "When pure knowledge arises in man, he attains the Lord." So I began to read books - many, many books. I used to stay a mile away from my Gurudev's place, and when I went to see him, I would take a book under my arm.

My Babaji watched this for a long time. He must have wondered whether I was ever going to stop reading. But there was no way I could stop reading. It wasn't that I was holding on to the book - the book was holding on to me. Whenever you have an addiction, that's what happens. Whatever you're addicted to holds on to you.

Finally, one day he called me closer and said, "Hey Muktananda, come here. What's that you're carrying under your arm?"

"It's a Upanishad," I said.

"Mati! (Dust)" he said. He was very fond of the word "dust". he would describe everything as dust. He went on, "Do you know how this book was written? Books are created by someone's mind. The mind creates books. Books have never yet created even a single mind. Where is your mind? Where has it gone? Instead of reading someone else's mind, meditate and then read your own mind. Put this book aside and meditate. Meditate a lot. When you meditate a lot, true knowledge will spring forth from you. You won't have to read books. Inner knowledge is far superior. Write your own book with your own mind. Meditate. Many books will come out of you."

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One day in Gurudev's presence, I referred to someone as a crook. Immediately Gurudev said, "Hey, Muktananda! Is there really any crooked person in this world? It is just the crookedness of your cleverness. Everything is the pervasion of the supreme truth. God has created the play of the world for His own pleasure. No one in the world is crooked." Ah how perfect he was. What Siddhahood!

He continued. "O, Muktananda! You are seeing with petty understanding. With this kind of awareness, you are heading in the wrong direction. Change your outlook. Correct your understanding. Then see that the world is just a play, an entertaining movie. It is neither true nor false. Know this secret. Only then will you attain something." What a great teaching this was, and how absolutely true. What divine wisdom of the Self. This is the teaching of the compassionate Siddha Guru.

So the world is as you see it. You project your own outlook onto someone else, onto this entire creation. Otherwise the world is nothing but God. Everyone is an image of the beautiful Lord. Everyone is a flame of the supreme Truth.

This entire world consists of different forms of God. Yogis who have attained complete knowledge say this world is a play of God, and He can be seen in every part of it. The world is not a solid substance, not the final reality; it is a form of the Self, a play of divine Consciousness, a symbol of joy. Marvelling at this cosmic drama, some have called the Lord a master of disguise, a supreme actor who can play any role, because even though He is one and indivisible, He reveals Himself in millions of forms, and through maya He takes part in every play. Though inactive, He appears to be active. The delusions of maya and maya herself, are also the forms of the Lord. All this is His amazing composition, His mysterious creation. Even though he is free, He assumes a body. Though He is the giver of all, He takes on the form of a beggar and eats whatever is given in charity. The only one dwelling in this entire world is God.

Sometimes when Nityananda gave darshan, someone would say, "Oh, Baba, it's been so long since I've had your darshan!" And Baba would say, "Why? Wasn't I where you were? Wasn't I in the things you were seeing? Wasn't I in the people you were seeing? Your Father is Brahman, your Mother is Brahman, you are Brahman. All are Brahman. Everything is Brahman. Where else do you look for Him?"

 ====

Once I went with my Guru for a walk along the bank of a river. Near the road was a huge rock. he said, "Do you see this rock? See the miracle? See the doing of the universal Consciousness? Here it has become a rock, here it has become a human being, and here it has become a tree. But although it has become all this, it does not lack Consciousness in its fullness.

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I firmly believe in the Ultimate Reality without any attributes or form. I adore the Impersonal, but I know fully what is good for a seeker. It is quite easy for one to accept what he can hear with his ears, what he can see with his eyes, and what he can think with his mind. But it is very difficult to accept what you cannot hear or see or think about. The only way of reaching the Impersonal is through the yoga of the personal.

Consciousness does not die. Names and forms change. It is an illusion to consider the statue of Nityananda to be mere form. However, he is attainable by devotees and disciples through the form. We worship the Guru in a personal form so that we may receive Shakti and meditate effectively, so that we may reach the journey's end.

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 Siddhas have their own independent plane of existence called Siddhaloka. It is a very beautiful world. The Siddhas who live there have a different perception of time than we do in this world. A thousand of our years is like a second for them. There is no day or night there. That world is illumined by its own light; it doesn't need the sun or moon. Just as we have the blue light of Consciousness shimmering within us, that same blue light is shimmering and scintillating in Siddhaloka.

From time to time beings from Siddhaloka come here to perform some work. Great beings such as Baba Nityananda come from that place. They come to our world because they have been directed to do so. They sow seeds, and after a while they leave. Then the seed sprouts, it grows into a plant; then it becomes a tree with many branches. Eventually it bears a lot of fruit and becomes something great.

Great beings appear to be different from each other on the outside. One may be inert, one like a ghost, and one may seem intoxicated. But all of them are lost in the love of God. Nityananda Baba was very intoxicated all the time. His eyes were filled with that intoxication, and his body too. When one experiences the supreme nectar of a great being, compared to that, everything else becomes meaningless, tasteless. Inside and outside he is filled with the intoxication of devotion. He becomes immersed in it. Wherever he looks, God is standing there. Notions of mine and thine disappear. Everything is God. The state of these beings is marvelous.

Nityananda had thousands and thousands of disciples who received his energy. He didn't use ostentatious rituals to give initiation. He would make a gesture towards someone, and that person would receive his grace. He would utter a single word to someone, and that person would receive grace. Whatever a Siddha says, that is mantra. Whatever a Siddha does, that is yoga. Whatever a Siddha speaks, that is knowledge.

For him, spirituality and worldly life were one and the same. If people asked him mundane questions about life, he would answer those questions. he never felt that one had to be a seeker, that one should ask questions only from the scriptures or about knowledge.

Some Gurus will tell you the simple truth straight away. Baba Nityananda was like that. As soon as a seeker came to him, my Baba would say, "Why are you wandering? All is within. Go and sit at home. What is there outside?"

Many different kinds of people used to come to Bhagavan Nityananda, ascetics, monks, mendicants, Christian priests and Yogis from the Himalayas. For him, all religions were equal. He saw all sects, all ideologies, and all philosophies as equal. He used to say that each sect or doctrine or creed is a different path leading to the same goal. Many paths lead to the same destination. Similarly through all these different philosophies one can attain the same divine state.

  Once there was a disciple called Jalandharnath, who set out looking for a Guru named Goraknath. Finally he met someone walking on the road. Goraknath said, "Where are you going?"
"I'm looking for Goraknath," said Jalandharnath.
"Why?"
"To receive grace."
"I am Goraknath," he said. "Sit down here and I will be back."
Then he left for twelve years. Jalandharnath sat there for twelve years. When Goraknath returned, his disciple had attained everything. This is the sign of a person who is worthy of receiving grace.

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 You can attain God, you can finish your journey, within a few years. It doesn't have to take a long time. Jnaneshwar Maharaj finished his journey very quickly, in only six months. Others have finished their journey in fifteen years, or twelve, or less. Then they became utterly content within themselves.

Baba Nityananda used to say, "You can finish the journey like this - within a fraction of a second." And he would snap his fingers!

====

When a person dies and divine Consciousness leaves the body as a tiny flame, the corpse is a frightening sight to many people. Even if the body was much loved, you hate to see it after the light of consciousness has left it. your eyes turn away from the corpse. How beautiful that divine Consciousness must be, which made the body appear glowing and lovable, beautiful and full of goodness. How radiant that light must be, how powerful. How much sweetness it must have. All this is known by one who has lost himself in the inner Self.

Bhagavan Nityananda used to day, "O soul, you should see the inner beauty. It is so sweet, so fascinating, so joyous. Not even a drop of that inner ocean can be found on the outside. Therefore, turn within. Meditate, meditate, meditate!"

 

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 Dr Gopalkrishna Raghunath Shenoy:

The 1961 Gurupurnima talk

Bhagavan Nityananda took Mahasamadhi on 8th August 1961. Eleven days before that, his last Gurupurnima was celebrated in Ganeshpuri. Crowds of devotees flocked to have his darshan, although no one knew how close he was to the end. Bhagavan had recently moved from Kailas Nivas to Bangalorewalla, the place where he was destined to breathe his last. Bhagavan was already very weak and his close attendants were worried that Baba might not be in a position to give the much looked-forward-to Gurupurnima Darshan. However, on the day, despite his frail condition, Baba rose early and gave non-stop darshan from 6am till late afternoon.

Baba generally did not give formal talks. However, on this occasion he spoke for forty-five minutes. There are recordings of Baba’s voice, but this particular talk was not recorded. No one but Baba understood the significance of what was happening. No one had the presence of mind to make detailed notes, but we can piece together several themes from various devotees' accounts, especially the reminiscences of my parents and Padiyar Swami.

As I mentioned, Baba never gave organised lectures, nor did he speak on particular topics. His talks were spontaneous and were usually initiated by the devotees around him. They would ask him to speak to them on various topics and he would answer in his cryptic style. In this last talk, however, Baba seemed to have a strong purpose and a number of points that he wanted to emphasise.

Usually, the flow of his conversation was light and quick, full of laughter and fun. He conveyed information in short bursts. On this day, he was clearly weak and his manner was different. Baba spoke slowly, using long sentences.

Bhagavan Nityananda all but spelled out what was going to happen in the near future. For example, he told his audience that when the gross body is shed, the subtle form is far more powerful to reach devotees. It was easier to help in subtle (nirguna) form than in gross form. The attentive listeners in the audience were comforted by these words, and also frightened.

He spoke about the Balbhojan program of feeding and caring for the children. This was very close to his heart and he wanted it to continue.

He emphasised spiritual practices. But he also emphasised the importance of one’s worldly responsibilities, one’s dharma. He said that first we should pay attention to our duties and only when they are handled, dedicate ourselves to sadhana and spiritual practices.

Mainly, he spoke about guru’s grace and guru kripa. He said that surrender to the guru is ultimate on this path. Once the guru takes your hand, he will never let you down. The guru's concern for his disciples is comparable to that of a tortoise to its young ones. It is believed that although the tortoise floats in the deep sea, its attention is always on the eggs lying on the shore (Kurma Dristhi). Its intense concern and love for the young ones soon leads the eggs to hatch and guides the newborn safely to sea.

He said, 'This One is the engine driver. Attach your bogie (wagon) to the train driven by this One and rest assured that you will be delivered'.

Finally, he told the crowd that everyone who takes birth has to eventually leave his body. This was even true for Lord Krishna and Lord Rama. There was no doubt that Baba was talking to the deepest fears of the devotees. No one wanted to believe, however, how close at hand the final act was. 

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Searching for the Sadguru with total devotion and longing leads to success in locating Him. In this chapter, amongst other details, I will also describe the circumstances under which various devotees met Bhagavan Nityananda and realized that he was their Guru.

Pitfalls in the path
Once, a lady visited our home at Vajreshwari. She appeared to be very pious and her looks resembled an ascetic. She wore an ochre saree, left her hair loose and adorned her forehead with a very large vermilion tika. The ladies of my house were pleased at her impressive presence and got overwhelmed by her elaborate sermons. Her entry into our house was instantaneous and the members of the family treated her with the respect due to a visiting saint. She performed some miracles, including materializing kumkum in her palm. All the womenfolk were mesmerized by her charisma and surrendered to her demands. However, one fine morning the lady disappeared as dramatically as she had appeared, and so did some of our valuables. There was no trace of her. The family was saddened that a stranger could dupe them so easily. Within no time, our family rushed to have the darshan of Bhagavan Nityananda.

Baba was staying at Vaikuntha at that time. The moment they stepped inside the hall, Baba muttered, "Bunch of fools. Trusting all and sundry! Blindly watching a magic show!” They all felt ashamed. After having a Guru of Baba’s stature, it was indeed very stupid to get carried away by someone who performed so called ‘miracles’.
Without mincing words, Baba admonished them, "Because somebody has acquired some siddhis and exhibits some magical powers, it does not mean that he can be a Guru!” Cautioning them about the pitfalls in the spiritual path, he added, "Before you accept anyone as your Guru, you should first ask him ‘Can you show me God in His entire splendor with shankar, chakra, gadha and padma?’ Only the one who has tyag (renunciation) can be a true Guru! Only the One who has seen God and can show God to others can be taken as a Guru!”

Miracles often pass as spiritual achievements in the eyes of a gullible public. It is very easy to fall into the trap of impostors who pose as saints and lure devotees through such cheap gimmicks, often at the cost of the believers.

In the Chidakash Gita, Baba had discussed the aspects and attributes of a Guru. "A Guru should be without desire”, he explained to his devotees. "A Guru does not expect anything from his
disciple, except devotion and total surrender.” Baba stated in no uncertain terms that only if a person is capable of granting the experience of Self-realization, is he a true Guru. Sadgurus, who appear in the form of great ones like Shri Ramakrishna Paramhansa, Akkalkot Shri Samartha and Bhagavan Nityananda were absolutely free of any bindings. They had no mundane ambitions or worldly possessions. There was no need for gimmicks or lectures to exhibit their powers. The greatness of those great beings was as inherent and natural as the sweetness in sugar. Devotees flocked to these great beings attracted by their spiritual prowess, just as trails of ants come to flock around lumps of sugar. There was no propaganda, advertisements or pamphlets to attract the devotees.

The Manifestation of the Lord on Earth

One day Goddess Lakshmi asked Lord Krishna, "Who is your most beloved devotee?” Krishna answered, "Bhakta Pundalik!” Lakshmi was surprised that Pundalik, who apparently did nothing but serve his parents, was considered the foremost one. There were many who did severe penance all their lives, but Krishna chose this simpleton Pundalik! To convince Her, Krishna told her that they would soon be visiting Pundalik.

 

It was late at night and Pundalik was massaging the feet of his aged parents. While thus engaged, he was composing and singing devotional songs, with his heart brimming with love for his beloved Panduranga. Tears began to flow down his cheeks. He remembered how he began his Guru Kripa journey. When he was young, he’d been cruel, self-centred and had ill-treated his old parents. One day he met his Guru who brought out a great transformation in him and ordained him to serve his parents. Since then, he turned a new leaf, from a local thug he was slowly transformed into a saint — Saint Pundalik. Through this selfless service, he realized the Self. While serving his parents, he would also compose devotional songs in praise of Lord Vittal.

Shri Krishna and Lakshmi took the form of Lord Vittal and His consort Rakhumai, and knocked on his door in the night. Pundalik could not get up for fear of waking his parents. He called out to the visitors, "Who is it at this time of night at my door?” Lord Vittal replied lovingly,"Pundalik, it’s us, your Vittal and Rakhumai. We are pleased by your service to your parents and your devotion for us. We have come here to take you to our abode Vaikuntha. Let us all leave before dawn.” Hearing this, Pundalik was very thrilled. He wanted to fall at their feet, welcome them with honour, and serve them. It was unbelievable! The very Parabrahman was standing at his door! Something that the sages and yogis fail to achieve even after several lives of penance! Just as he was about to leave his parents to open the door, a thought came to his mind.

He said to himself, "At last, my Lord Vittal is right here with Rakhumai. I am blessed indeed! If I go out and meet my beloved Vittal, I shall be permanently free from this cycle of birth and death. All my life, I have waited for this great day. Yes, but then, what about so many other devotees on this path? Who will redeem them? What will be the plight of all the other devotees like me? Instead of having the Lord all by myself, why can’t I prompt Lord Vittal to ever remain on this earth? He will be thus available unrestricted for all those who crave His presence. No! I shall never be so selfish as to have Him all by myself. I will make Vittal and Rakhumai stay here for ever!”
Thus determined, Pundalik uttered in a soft voice "Oh my dear Vittal, I am massaging the feet of my old parents. They may fall asleep any minute. Please wait, Oh Lord, till they sleep.” So saying, he threw out two large bricks for Vittal and Rakhumai to rest on. Since then, the Lord has been waiting eagerly for Pundalik, His dear devotee. The very act of sacrifice of Bhakta Shiromani Pundalik thus impelled the Lord to stay here on earth. The Grace of Lord Vittal was thus made available to all, irrespective of caste, class, creed or color.

The Lord is waiting at Pandharpur, standing on the brick, with both his hands resting on his hips. He is so easily accessible at the temple at Pandharpur, that, unlike other temples, the devotees can actually hug and kiss His Lotus Feet. Pandharpur, had become a virtual Vaikuntha, the abode of Lord Vishnu and Lakshmi, with the devotees flocking to the place to have the darshan of their beloved. Till Bhakti Pundalik arrived, God for a common man was far off, on a high pedestal, difficult to approach. It was Pundalik who brought God to the doorstep of common man, thus opening the doors of Bhakti to all, irrespective of caste, creed, race and sex. Till then, God was the private property of a few, who locked Him in dogmas, rituals and false belief. Rightly, Pundalik is believed to have laid the foundation of Bhakti Samprdaya of Varkari. No religious function can begin and end without hailing Pundalik. Several saints like Sant Janaeshwar, Namdev, Tukaram, Sauta mali, Gorkumbhar, Eknath Maharaj, who belonged to a different strata of life followed Pundalik and made it possible for common people to thread the path of Bhakti.

The same Vittal has now come to us in the form of Bhagavan Nityananda of Ganeshpuri. He stayed at Vaikuntha ashram in Ganeshpuri and was freely accessible to all the devotees. Vittal is often perceived in the form of a cowherd with dark complexion, wearing a loincloth and carrying a coarse blanket over his shoulder. Baba had a dark complexion and wore a loin cloth, and was often seen with a coarse blanket on his shoulder. While staying at Vaikuntha, Baba was adored by many as Lord Vittal and many of his devotees continue to worship him in that form.

 

The Samadhi Shrine of Baba in Ganeshpuri is located at the very spot where Vaikuntha Ashram previously was. Baba is eternally waiting for all his devotees. On Gurupurnima day, hundreds of devotees visit this shrine to have his darshan.

How can one greet Baba? First hug him and then wash his feet with tears of love and longing. The meeting of Bhagavan and his devotee is a moving sight and an amazing experience by itself. Bhakti comes out in the open and the devotion expressed is without inhibitions. One has to surrender to Baba and leave the rest to him. In due time, he will provide for the right guidance, the right knowledge and the right direction to embark on the journey of sadhana.

Once we have offered our hand to him, he will quietly lead us on this path of shaktipat and in due course, by his grace, the Kundalini shakti shall be awakened and we shall be lead to our ultimate goal. On our part, all we need to do is have firm faith in him and allow his grace to percolate us. Let us chant the gurumantra everyday till the mind, body and the nadis are cleansed thoroughly and the self gets ready for shaktipat diksha. Baba often reminded us that his physical presence is not required by his devotees who are pursuing the spiritual goal. He assured us that he would guide us step by step in this uncharted path in his subtle form. There is no alternative to sadhana for the bhaktas as most other methods are strenuous. Namsamkritan, bhajan and japa should be regularly done without any break, to prepare for the final shaktipat. Patience and commitment to sadhana is a must, and as they say, the rest is Baba’s responsibility.

Several devotees, like Bhakta Pundalik, were responsible for making it easy for all of us to experience the divine grace of Bhagavan Nityananda. Unlike other saints or gurus, Bhagavan Nityananda was not placed on a pedestal and so glorified that one could not approach him. These simple devotees through their simplicity but unflinching faith and love left us a legacy of Guru Kripa Yoga with Bhagvan Nityananda as fountainhead of this path. Bhakti is thus open for all.

Shri Janananda Swami

In a small village called Hejmadi in South Karnataka lived a young boy named Shina. Shina’s father died when he was an infant and His mother was very poor. He was very strong physically. One day while playing with a ball game with other children of his village, the ball crossed over to the road. Young Shina ran to retrieve it and as he was about to pick it up, a dark lanky youth picked up young Shina in his arms. The young stranger affectionately passed his palm over the head of the small child right down to end of his back bone. Shina looked deep into his eyes and left the ball forever! Thus Shina received Guru diksha and was later known as Swami Janananda of Kanhangad.

K SJ Parampujya Janananda Swami offering seva to Bhagavan Nityananda in Kailash Ashram below the staircase leading to terrace.

Swami Janananda was the only disciple of Baba who was given charge of the first Ashram of Nityananda at Kanhangad. He was totally devoted to his Guru and never hankered for name or fame. When Baba started his mission of constructing the meditation caves at Kanhangad, Swamiji assisted him in the strenuous activity of scooping out solid rock to carve out the caves. Being very strong, robust and tall, he toiled very hard. Baba used to admire his tough work saying, "Bhima is working there”.

Shri Sitaram Shenoy

In another village called Padbidri in South Karnataka lived a young boy called Sitaram. He was my uncle. Sitaram lived with his great grandfather Anant Shenoy, father Cherdappa and mother Bhavani. He had four brothers, Upendra, Vittal, Raghunath, Ramkrishna and one sister called Gulabi. Sitaram Shenoy, though ever robust in health and very hardworking, was always restless within. A spiritual obsession was bothering him and this propelled him to visit numerous saints who came to Padbidri and its neighboring villages. Whenever he met a saint, he used to ask if they were his Guru. None gave him a positive reply and he remained with a sense of inadequacy. He once learnt that a young saint was visiting the neighboring village of Mulki, and staying for several days. Many people sought him out and found relief from their mundane pain and sorrows and were holistically cured of various illnesses.
My uncle, Sitaram could not contain his curiosity and one fine day, walked all the way from Padbidri to Mulki, in search of him. After making enquiries, he came to know that a dark, thin youth called ‘Kala sadhu’ was staying at a local hall where many people had assembled to take
his darshan. Sitaram quickly made his way to that crowded hall. He saw a young boy wearing nothing but a loincloth, seated on a wooden chair on the far end of the packed hall. People fell at his feet and addressed him as Deva. He, in turn, was silent most of the time and uttered some words of guidance or offered advice whenever a devotee pleaded for his divine intervention. Sitaram went close to the youth and prostrated at his feet. The Kala sadhu asked Sitaram, "Why have you come here?” Sitaram replied, "I am in search of my Guru.” To this the sadhu replied "Now that you have found him, what do you intend to do?” Sitaram fell at his feet with tears in his eyes.

Young Nityananda in the house of Sitaram Shenoy at Banaman Gully, Girgaon, Mumbai.
One can see baby Ratnakar Shenoy and other children of Sitaram

Thus Sitaram met his Guru, Swami Nityananda and later became one of the foremost householder devotees of Baba at Vajreshwari. From there, he began the journey of Guru Kripa yoga which has so far covered five generations of the Shenoy family. Sitaram Shenoy’s grandfather, Anant Shenoy, father Cherdappa, his sons Prabhakar, Ratnakar, Shivaji and grandsons Ramchandra, Gopalkrishna (of Vajreshwari) and Kamlakar, all were blessed by Baba. With Sitaram leading the front, his brothers, Vittal, Raghunath (my father), Ramkrishna and Upendra too joined this path of Guru Kripa Yoga. Later, through marriages with children of other devotees like Hosdurga Devrai Pai (Master) and Gulabi Amma (Anand Ashram, Managudda, Mangalore) the family grew bigger and the grace of Baba extended throughout the large number of relatives, over several generations.

Swami Muktananda

At the age of sixteen, the young Muktananda met Bhagavan when he was studying at school. Baba loved children and often visited the school in which the young boy was studying. When the Saint visited the school, usually all the children would leave their classes and hurry to follow Baba. He distributed eatables and sweets to their utter delight. The children were totally captivated by the strange sadhu.

The young boy was mesmerized by the divine and peaceful personality of Baba and felt an inner urge to be like Baba. This made him leave the school and travel all over India in spiritual pursuits. He studied various scriptures and met several saints including Zipruanna and Siddharudha Swami. However, he could not attain the inner satisfaction from all these wanderings. Finally Swami Muktananda reached Ganeshpuri and met Baba again. He kept on visiting the saint to have his darshan and be near him. On 15th August 1947, in the early morning, Baba offered his padukas to Swami Muktananda, which he respectfully placed on his head. As soon as Swamiji placed the padukas on his head, he lost consciousness of the external world. With Baba’s padukas on his head, in a state of semi-consciousness, he walked to the temple of Gaondevi (the village Goddess) on the outskirts of Ganeshpuri, where an audumbara (wild fig) tree stood. There he sat down..In his words, he ‘sat forever’ in that spot, basking in the grace of Bhagavan Nityananda.

Although Swami Muktananda traveled all over India and met several saints, it was Zipuranna who indicated that his Guru was none other than Bhagavan Nityananda. It was only after he surrendered to Bhagavan that his real spiritual journey began.

Shri Shaligram Swami

 

There was a young man, who had taken initiation at Narayan Ashram and was given a new name Dayanand Saraswati. He was born in Bangalore and probably belonged to the family of the Diwan (Minister) of the ruler of Mysore. After initiation to the monk order at Narayan Ashram, he set out to perform Godavari Pradhakshina on foot (circumambulation, walking along the banks of river Godavari to complete one circle). As he was on his way, suddenly a man manifested in front of him and ordered him to "Come to Ganeshpuri.” Dayanand was not aware, at that time, where Ganeshpuri was. But the person who appeared looked very divine, and addressed him as if he knew him..He quietly set out in search of Ganeshpuri. After traveling for several days he reached Ganeshpuri and heard about Nityananda Baba. When he took darshan of Baba, he recognized him to be the same godly person who had ordered him to visit Ganeshpuri. He prostrated at Baba’s feet. In the divine presence of Baba, he became aware of several of his past lives and realized that Baba was his Guru over the past eight life times. Thus Dayanand Saraswati met his Guru and was given the new name “Shaligram” by Bhagavan Nityananda.

Shri Sadanand Swami of Tungareshwar

Shri Vaijnath Patil and his wife Parvati, devotees of Baba Nityananda, lived in Rai in the Thane District. As they were without children, they prayed to Baba. Baba said, “You will get such a child that the world shall call him Baba”. On 29th August 1957, a boy was born to Parvati. It was a full moon that coincided with the Hindu festival of Nariel Purnima. The name Sadanand was chosen for the child. From childhood he showed a strong inclination towards spiritual practices.
He used to move about in a loincloth and often sat to meditate in lonely spots.

On 26 April 1971, ten years after the Mahasamadhi of Baba Nityananda, when he was just twelve years old, he decided to renounce the world. After donating all their possessions, Vaijnath and Parvati left their village and accompanied Sadanand to Tungareshwar. It was a thick forest with wild animals and no source of food was available nearby. For five days he stayed alone at the Shiva Temple in Tungareshwar. He declared on 1st May 1971 that Tungareshwar would be his Karma Bhoomi and he allowed his parents to stay with him. Sadanand Swami was linked to His Guru Nityananda even before his birth and continues to experience his grace.

Shri Madhav Padiyar

Many years ago, the young Madhav Padiyar left his house at Karnataka and came to Mumbai looking for a job. He took shelter at Sitaram Shenoy’s gymnasium at Dongri, Mumbai. Being close to Sitaram meant that he would invariably be presented before Swami Nityananda. During one of his visits to Kurla, where Baba was stationed near Salt Pans, my father Raghunath took him to Baba. Whenever Raghunath was unable to visit Baba, it was Madhav who carried lunch for Baba. During the 1950s Madhav moved to Ganeshpuri and stayed in Kailash ashram to serve Baba.

After a few months of settling down in the presence of the Great One, Madhav started getting a feeling that he was not making any progress in his sadhana, as Baba did not prescribe any short cuts or techniques for easy nirvana. Getting impatient as days passed by, he decided to leave the place and started packing up. Holding his bag in one hand he stood in front of Baba and declared, "I am leaving for good”. Baba smiled and gently asked "Where to and what for?” Baba’s words reverberated in his mind and he was transformed. The ‘baggage’ fell from his hand for ever and he ‘stayed behind’ permanently, eventually becoming Shri Sadanand Swami of Kanhangad.

In 1961, some time before taking Mahasamadhi, Bhagavan Nityananda ordered Shri Padiyar to take up his permanent station at Kanhangad. He was asked to station at one place and engage in ‘suvichar’, or ‘pure thoughts’ . Padiyar went to Kanhangad after Baba’s samadhi and served Shri Jananand Swami. Later Swamiji gave him ochre robes and the new name ‘Sadanand’ and blessed him saying, "Today I give half of the power my penance.” Sadanand Swami stayed for over forty years at Kushal Nagar, till his final days.

Smt Lalita Mauli

 

Krishnabai was a young girl married to Shri Devrai Hatangdi. She continued her studies after her marriage. One day when she returned home early from school, she found her house locked and she waited in the compound, as it became dark. She heard a voice ordering her to, "Hold this.” She stretched out her hand and a copy of the book, Krishna Leela, was placed in her hand. Since the book was in Marathi, a language she was not familiar at that time, she expressed her disappointment. She demanded to know whom the voice belonged to. The voice replied, "Krishna represents love for the Universe. At the appropriate time my identity shall be revealed to you.” Krishnabai thus began her journey on the path of Guru Kripa Yoga. She met the Kala sadhu, as Swami Nityananda was known then, in Udupi and later in Ganeshpuri. In addition to household duties, she also pursued spiritual sadhana. Baba gave her initiation into the exalted order of ‘Paramahamsa’ and declared, "You shall be Mother for the entire Universe. You shall love all with samabhav (equal sightedness).” Thus the voice which spoke to her as she was waiting at her home years earlier was none other than that of Baba Nityananda. Krishnabai became well known as Lalita Mauli of Panvel, New Mumbai. She received formal netradiksha and was declared a Paramahansa by Baba.

Smt Tulsiamma

Here is a bhajan in which Tulsiamma gives a glimpse of her past:
In her past life she was a cruel animal living in a jungle. So notorious was she for her cruelty that nobody dared to enter the jungle, for she spared none. She killed animals and people irrespective of their age or gender. One day a king with his retinue entered the jungle. Seeing her, the king went after her with his bow and arrow. Soon they both went so deep into the forest that the king got separated from his guards. It was at this moment that she attacked him and killed him in one stroke.
She then found and killed all his guards. Thus she lived her life. One day she saw a dark lanky youth walking in the forest. She watched him closely. He was very tall with long arms with a very divine appearance. He seemed very calm and full of peace. She ran forth to kill him. As soon as she reached him, he raised his palm bidding her to stop. In his soft but powerful voice he said, "Just be present to who you and I are." Hearing his divine voice, although very ruthless and cruel, she stopped in her path. A great transformation occurred within her and she became tame as a dog. She surrendered at his feet. The divine man said, "You will have to undergo the vagaries of your Karma. But fear not. You will be born again. In your next birth you shall be born as a girl and marry into a rich family. In your suffering do your duty dispassionately, with your heart merged in the Self. Shri Hari will be your guide." So saying he kept his palm on her head and left. As soon as he touched her, tears started rolling from her eyes. She withdrew from her daily routine, lost all interest in life and soon died.
In her next birth she was born as Anandi. While doing her duty, she met once again the same Kala Sadhu, now known as Nityananda.

This lady was none other than the devotee, Smt Tulsiamma who, amongst the monk devotees, is considered to be foremost. The world is indebted to her, as it was she who brought out the teachings of Bhagavan Nityananda by compiling them in the form of a book, the Chidakasha Gita. As per Sadanand Swami, Baba very rarely allowed anyone to practise pranayama. Tulsiamma was an exception. Tulsiamma taught pranayama to some of her disciples, including Sunanda, who is presently taking care of Anand Ashram at Managudda in Mangalore.

Dr. Ram Bhosle

Ram Bhosle lost his parents when he was young and had to resort to the benevolence of his relatives. At a young age, felt frustrated with life, as his career was not picking up and he was constantly being harassed by his close relatives. He therefore left them and came to Bhivandi- Kalyan. The sufferings, however, did not leave him. At that tender age, he contemplated suicide as a solution to his woes. So he decided to wander about in the forest, so that wild animals could prey on him. He reached the thick forest of Tungareshwar and waited with intense yearning for a wild animal to finish him. But none came, even after a long wait. He felt miserable and out of sheer fatigue, fell asleep under a tree.
He woke up feeling thirsty and as he went to drink water from a stream he heard a voice whispering, "Welcome, dear guest!” in Sanskrit. He looked around to find a dark, tall man wearing a loin cloth, and felt annoyed with this stranger at his sudden intrusion. Baba, thus manifested in front of him and gently advised him not to kill himself, as a promising future in medicine awaited Ram, if he went abroad. But the young boy had neither heard of nor met Nityananda. Baba. He couldn’t help laughing at the prediction of this stranger. Here he was - he could not even afford to pay the paltry sum of Rs. 15 for his fees for the matriculation examination - and this stranger was declaring that he would become successful by going abroad and studying medicine!

Getting irritated and impatient, he demanded food from Baba, as he had not eaten for three days and was feeling famished. He asked Baba for a full meal, knowing very well that it would be impossible to get any food in that jungle. With an intention of insulting the stranger, he demanded a full course lunch with meat and liquor. Baba coolly told him to look beyond a particular tree, and to his surprise, young Ram found a silver tray containing a piping hot meal at the spot mentioned. Having starved for several days, he did not bother to find out its source, but busied himself with filling his stomach. He stayed in the jungle for three more days and each day he found a glass of warm milk to drink.
Ram came back to Bhivandi and made a fresh effort to rebuild his career. Baba had instructed him to pursue the medical profession abroad. Destiny took him to J. J. Hospital in Mumbai and a series of events during the period 1935-37 led him to Vienna to study medicine. He learnt the art of massaging to treat various aliments. His whole life took a different direction after meeting Baba Nityananda and in a short while Ram became renowned as Dr. Ram Bhosle.

Ram met several saints and had the darshan of Shankar Maharaj under very strange circumstances. He lived with Mahavatar Babaji (Guru of Paramahamsa Yogananda) for six years
in the Himalayas. He also went abroad 168 times and gave treatment to several prominent personalities including Mr. Churchill, Pandit Nehru, Dr. Radhakrishnan, Mahatma Gandhi, Swami Muktananda, Rangavadoot, and Gagangiri Maharaj. This art of massage known as Samvahan, which is a blend of the essence of ancient Indian methods, has become an effective technique and been adopted in several countries. Ram was also renowned as a freedom fighter. In fact, the then British rulers had issued eighteen warrants for Ram’s his arrest for participating in India’s freedom struggle. After India’s independence, Ram became a changed man with his spiritual knowledge, but he continued the usage of Samvahan technique to treat illness. As a token of respect and seva to Baba Nityananda, Ram established a clinic at Vajreshwari and gave free service to the local people.

 

Shri M. Sanjeeva Kamath

Shri Mangalore Sanjeeva Kamath, who was staying in Mahim, Mumbai, was a staunch devotee of Bhagavan Nityananda. He often visited Ganeshpuri. During one such visit, he went to worship at the Bhimeshwar temple, after his bath in the hot kunds. Baba was standing inside the temple. As soon as he entered the temple, Baba asked Mr. Kamath, "Where is Lord Shankar?”, placing his right foot on the Bhimeshwar Linga. Mr. Kamath was amazed by Baba’s pose as Lord Shankar and prostrated at his feet. It was Sanjeeva Kamath who translated Chidakasha Gita to English, from Kanarese, for the first time.
Although his family did not encourage his spiritual pursuits, he continued to do his sadhana quietly. Years later, he asked me to help him offer Abhishek at the Ganeshpuri samadhi shrine during the Gurupurnima festival. He was old and I was wondering whether I would be able to fulfill his wish. I prayed to Baba and took him to Ganeshpuri on the eve of Gurupurnima. I put him up at our house at Vajreshwari for a night and, along with Engineer Hegde, took him to the shrine at 3:30 the next morning. By Baba’s grace, I managed to take him inside the holy sanctorum and assisted him in pouring tender coconut water on the samadhi. His eyes were full of tears of satisfaction and he repeatedly expressed his gratitude to me. He died a couple of years later. It was only Baba who made me an instrument to fulfill Mr. Kamath’s wish.

Smt Gulabi Amma

After the passing away of Tulsiamma, a pious lady named Gulabi Amma, was in charge of Anand Ashram at Managudda, Mangalore. One of Gulabi Amma’s daughters was married to my uncle Ramkrishna Shenoy, (at King Circle, Matunga, Mumbai) and another was married to Prabhakar Shenoy, Sitaram’s son, (at Vajreshwari), as desired by Baba. Gulabi Amma occasionally visited
Mumbai and stayed at my father's house in Mahim. In those days the Shenoy family used to stay in Ganeshpuri for several days. She used to accompany them and took the opportunity to prepare delicacies for Baba. She was a very good cook, but fastidious about perfection and very strict. Obviously, while cooking for Baba, all the ingredients had to be clean, the best quality, in the right proportion and perfect.

Baba was in Vaikuntha Ashram and it was customary that Baba was the first one to take a bath in the kunda around 3 am, every morning. The devotees who stayed overnight used to go for a bath in the kunda at around 4 am, after Baba finished his ablutions. At that time, there was no electricity or alarm clock at the Ashram and it was very dark in those early hours. There was a large brass bell which was rung every hour to mark the time. Sometimes in the mornings, Baba used to loudly command, "Get up and go for your bath!” Early one morning, in her enthusiasm, Gulabi Amma got up assuming that Baba’s bath would have been over and proceeded for her bath.

As she reached the Kund, she saw Baba seated in the kund at the centre and watched several Goddesses descending from the sky to give Baba his bath, pouring water over Him. She observed a streak of divine light as these celestial forms were descending, and the scene was all luminous. She was stunned at the magnificent sight and immediately retraced her steps to Vaikuntha Ashram, where the daughters of Raghunath Shenoy were sleeping. She woke up my sister Kusum, the eldest and narrated what she had seen. The very next moment Baba appeared in Vaikuntha hall and thundered, "Have you lost your sense? Was it time for you to visit the Kund? Do not brag about what you saw!” Thus admonished, Gulabi Amma was trembling with fear. However, she was fortunate to have a glimpse of the divine form of her Guru!

Shri Hosdurga Devrai Pai

Shri Devrai Pai was Head Master of District Board Higher Secondary School, Kanhangad. Bhagavan Nityanananda appeared as a dark, reed-thin boy in Kanhangad sometime in the 1920s. He used to move about in the digambar state, often wearing nothing. He was occasionally found on the beach, at the Nileshwar hill (later known as Guruvanam), along the walls of Ikeri Raja’s Fort and in the caves close to this fort. Being in the Avadhoot state, people of Kanhangad often disturbed Baba, taking him for a lunatic. They used to throw stones at him and Baba used to throw sweet meats in return. Small children used to follow him, to collect the sweets. It was during this period that Shri Devrai Pai met Baba.
Devrai Pai was very pious and came from a family who were devotees of Lord Venkatarama. It was the tradition in his family to honour the saints and offer food to the needy and to guests. Noticing that the ignorant people of Kanhangad pestered Baba, he pleaded with Baba to wear a loincloth. It was Devrai Pai who tied the loincloth to the young Baba. Baba lovingly called Devrai, ‘Master’, a prefix which remained attached to Devrai’s name more because of being addressed so by his Guru, than because of his being a teacher in the school. All his life he served Baba, thereafter Jananand Swami and finally Sadanand Swami. Among the householder devotees of Baba, Master is held in high respect. His daughter Sunita was married to my father Raghunath and another daughter Meenakshi was married to Sitaram’s son Ratnakar. Both these marriages were blessed by Baba. The Guru Charitra of Baba would be incomplete if due respect is not given to Shri Devrai Pai. Master and my grandmother Anusuya served Bhagavan Nityananda from 1925 till he left Kanhangad and thereafter they served Parampujya Shree Janananda Swamiji till his Mahasamadhi in 1982 and later Shree Sadananda Swami. Devrai Master and his family served Baba for over 60 years.

Shri Raghunath Shenoy

With Sitaram meeting his Guru Nityananda, it was obvious that Baba’s grace was available to the entire family. Sitaram’s grandfather, Anant Shenoy, father Cherdappa Shenoy and Sitaram’s four brothers, were all blessed indeed, to experience the divinity of Baba. My father Shri Raghunath was very close to Baba. He had several divine experiences of Baba’s leela. Baba’s grace was available to him so easily, without any effort, that Baba became almost a casual and integral part of his life. Though he looked up at Baba as the Ultimate One, the God of Gods, and approached Baba with great respect and restraint, there was a sense of familiarity. Baba had become a resource at hand.

One incident in his life illustrates that he was fortunate to observe Baba’s divine form. During one of his visits to Ganeshpuri, Raghunath found Baba coming out of Vaikunth Ashram in a great hurry. Baba appeared furious and as soon as he saw Raghunath, he started abusing him and pelting him with stones. He got hit all over and was bleeding profusely, with his clothes in tatters. Yet, he remained transfixed on the spot, smiling. The onlookers, who were frightened by Baba’s anger, wondered why he did not run for cover, to escape from being hit by stones.

Raghunath later told them "Oh! You were all seeing Baba furious, but when I looked at him I was seeing his most divine form. That form cannot be described and it was so mesmerizing, that I froze. I could neither feel the pain nor was there any fear in me.”

Raghunath Shenoy (just behind Baba) followed by Karia Anna, Babab Anna.

Hilda Charlton

Hilda Charlton was living in the United States, and was striving to know the reality of life. In her spiritual quest, she was performing daily sadhana without knowing where she was heading. Her efforts were sincere and pure. One day, as she was practicing, she suddenly had a vision of a yogi sitting under a tree in lotus position in meditation. She experienced grace flowing towards her and after this vision, her sadhana became more intense. Her search soon brought her to India. She was in Delhi and over a period, she started getting the feeling that her pursuits were futile, worthless. While undergoing this frustration, she also felt an intense urge to visit Vrindavan, the Holy land associated with Lord Krishna. There she was brought to the presence of a saint. The saint said to her in a stern voice, "Sit straight.” She felt a gush of powerful divine energy flowing through her.

From Delhi she felt compelled to travel to Mumbai. In Mumbai, she hired a cab late in the evening and noticed a small picture on the dashboard. She couldn’t make out the details of the picture, but in curiosity, she asked the taxi driver, "Who is the person in the picture?” He answered, "He is a
great spiritual giant. One can find him in a place called Ganeshpuri, a few kilometers from Mumbai”.
Something forced Hilda to proceed the very next day to Ganeshpuri. She found Swami Nityananda seated there at His Ashram, with several devotees before him. Being in his presence, she realized within her heart that all her searches, inner and outer, were over. Her trail of Guru Kripa Yoga had thus ended at the feet of Nityananda. He was the same person she had seen in a vision in her home several thousand miles away. She had seen him clearly in her very home, sitting under a tree. He acknowledged her and said to devotees who had gathered "Oh! Here she has come. This One gave her direction in Delhi and then an introduction in the cab in Mumbai.”

Devotees knew that Baba had not moved out of Ganeshpuri for several years. The connection between Baba and Hilda must have been long, maybe in past lives too. That divine bond had brought this lady to Ganeshpuri to seek Baba’s darshan. She stood there transfixed and her heart cried out to Baba, "My beloved. Oh! My beloved.” Yes, she had found her Guru. Just as she was about to give up her search thinking that it was futile, Nityananda lead her to the saint in Vrindavan. Finally when she met him in Ganeshpuri, she was transformed! She carried the Bhakti Sampradaya to US.

Shri Deshpande

Shri Gajanan Mhatre had narrated this story of Shri Deshpande from Nasik.
Once when Shri Tare, a renowned astrologer met Deshpande, he enquired whether he had taken the darshan of Bhagavan Nityananda, while he was working at Thane. When he answered in the negative, Shri Tare described Baba as a great Avadhuta, a Janma Siddha whose glance bestows divine grace and predicted that as per the indications in his horoscope, he would have the darshan of this great saint in the near future. Deshpande had neither heard of nor visited Ganeshpuri. This prediction brought a longing in his heart to have the darshan of the Saint.

Several years later, Deshpande visited Thane on an invitation for attending the marriage of his friend’s daughter. A few days before the date of the marriage, he walked into the Kopaneshwar Mahadeo temple, and while praying to the deity, he suddenly remembered the predictions of Shri
Tare. He felt an intense desire to visit Ganeshpuri. His friend, who was also his host, made the necessary arrangements for him to make the trip to Ganeshpuri. Thus, on a Saturday morning in February 1956, he finally reached Ganeshpuri, as if everything was falling into place as predicted by the astrologer. In those days, Ganeshpuri was a virtual jungle. Although there was a road, a person led him through the fields and thick foliage, to reach Vaikuntha, Nityananda’s abode. His heart was beating fast with the excitement of the unknown.

When he entered the dimly lit hall, it was around eleven in the morning. There was a nip in the air and a chill in the hall. A dark person was sitting on a raised step and there were several people sitting in front of him. Although there were some thirty people around, the atmosphere was peaceful and quiet. All, including Baba, were silent. People were watching the statue-like magnificent figure sitting still, with his eyes closed, in silence. Deshpande being a novice, didn’t know how to present himself to the Saint, and at that time he was not aware of the greatness of Bhagavan. Instead of waiting humbly on the outer circle of the sitting group, he walked straight to Baba’s presence and stood in front of him. The devotees around were shocked at the apparent audacity of the stranger and were about to rebuke him to withdraw. Immediately Baba opened his eyes and stared at him. Baba ordered "Go, wash your hands and feet in the kund. Eat and come back.”

Deshpande obeyed Baba’s words and after some time, returned to the hall. Baba was sitting at the entrance of the room and, as usual, devotees were seated in front of him. Once again, he walked straight up to Baba and stood silently in front of Him. Devotees mistook his actions as arrogance, as they felt that he was not showing humility before the great Saint. Yet, everybody remained quiet and absolute silence reigned in the hall. Deshpande bowed to Baba with folded hands. When he raised his head from the ground, Baba pointed his finger at himself and said "So, this is what you have been looking for?” So saying, he began to recite, "Aham Brahmasmi” and immediately went inside the room. It appeared as if Baba was waiting for him so as to initiate him through his graceful glance and give him the mantra. Shri Deshpande came out of the hall completely overcome by this experience and spent his return journey to Thane contemplating the words of Baba.

He repeatedly churned the events that took place in darshan in his mind, trying to find their significance. One day, it suddenly flashed in his mind that several years ago he had undergone the practice of reciting the entire ‘Shiv Lilamrut’ in the Nageshwar temple, in one go. At the end of this recitation, there was a prayer which says "Oh Lord Shiva, I am an ignorant child and I do not
understand what devotion is. I do not know how to recognize a Guru. Hence bless me so that I can find a true Sadguru who shall guide me.” In those days he had a strong yearning to perform sadhana. But being unable to locate a Sadguru, he couldn’t fulfill his heart’s desire and felt dejected. It was Nityananda who could clearly detect the deep urge for spiritual guidance in his heart and hence declared, “This is the thing that you are looking for.” So saying, Baba initiated him through his graceful glance and the mantra ‘I am That’. Shri Deshpande finally met his Sadguru!

Shri M. D. Suvarna

Shri M. D. Suvarna owned a photo studio at Khar in Mumbai. In 1954, while he was undergoing a turbulent period in his life, his relative mentioned Swami Nityananda to him, saying he was a great Yogi and Siddha at Ganeshpuri, who moves around wearing nothing but a loincloth. He also narrated that many people had benefited from his darshan and stated that nobody could ever take his photograph without his blessing. When he heard this, the photographer’s ego was hurt and he declared that if all the settings of any good camera are right, the photo has to materialize. He decided to visit Ganeshpuri and verify the facts himself. After reaching Ganeshpuri and taking a bath in the hot springs, his relative summoned Suvarna for Baba’s darshan.

Suvarna took several snaps of Baba, apparently without His consent. To Suvarna’s surprise, when he developed the film, the entire roll was blank. Thus provoked, he visited Ganeshpuri again to take a few more snaps of the Saint. He cross-checked the settings of the camera, verified that
everything was right. Yet again he found that only the photographs that were not of Baba were taken successfully. His attempt to capture Baba’s picture proved futile, as the Sage’s permission was not sought. Suvarna was stunned at this mystery and his ego vanished in a trice. Surrendering himself at Baba’s feet, he humbly requested Baba’s permission to take His picture.

Baba uttered his typical humkar and then warned him, "Do not ever ask ‘this one’ to pose for any photographs. If you want to take any, then just take it without troubling.” Suvarna took only two photographs that day and both came off beautifully.

Since then, he visited Ganeshpuri regularly on the weekends and took photographs of Baba. That was how Shri M. D. Suvarna had the darshan of his Guru. From 1954 till Baba’s Mahasamadhi in 1961, most of Baba’s photographs were taken by him. The world is indebted to Suvarna’s family for making the storehouse of memories and experiences of Baba available in the form of films and photographs.
In this chapter we saw how various devotees met Bhagavan Nityananda because of their purvashanchita punya and their devotion and left us a legacy of Guru Kripa Yoga. Whoever reads this chapter installing his Guru on the lotus in his heart, will meet their rightful Shradhasthan and be guided in their sadhana.
Om Shree Nityanandarpanamastu

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The Guru Leela
At Palani
Young Nityananda once visited the ancient city of Palani in the then state of Madras in South India. There is a famous Murugan temple over a hill. The priest of the temple was just returning after locking the doors of the temple following the afternoon puja. Young Nityananda accosted the priest and demanded that the temple door be reopened for him. The priest was astonished by the audacity of this young lanky youth. He was a head priest and nobody should dare to make such a request, at least not a young lad. The priest refused to oblige and was a bit nasty to Nityananda. Nityananda appeared not to be bothered by the priest’s reply and just walked towards the temple. As the priest reached the foot of the hill he heard the temple bells ringing. The sound came distinctly from his temple, which he had just locked. The priest got worried and wondered how the bells could ring from the closed temple. In the temple there was lot of gold and other precious articles. He retraced his steps back to the temple. The door was locked, yet the bells were ringing! He hurriedly opened the doors and entered the inner temple. There was nobody there and the bell had stopped ringing. When he looked at the deity to confirm whether the gold on the statue was safe, he was shocked to find the young lanky lad in its place.

Wherever Nityananda went in Palni, money used to pour. He stood at the foot of the hill and the pilgrims visiting the temple placed money at his feet. Nityananda gathered the money and gave it to a local priest who wished to establish a kitchen (Bhojan Shala) to feed the pilgrims. Baba asked him to make the necessary arrangement to do so.

The food unlimited

In those days poverty was spread all over India. It was further compounded by various epidemics, droughts, floods, failure of crops etc. Food was scarce. In the villages, the scenes were pathetic. People were dying of starvation. Small children were orphaned and sick due to malnutrition. The best social service one could do was offer food to the needy. Nityananda was often found holding bhandhara (free distribution of food) in various villages. He used to hold the distribution of free food late at night. When asked why he didn’t hold bhandhara during the day, he used to say "In the day even those whose stomachs are full make good of a free lunch. At night only those who are starving will keep awake. Food thus reaches genuinely hungry people”. Nityananda used to feed hundreds of people in this way. Rice was cooked and stored in large heaps covered with sheets made from dried grass. From large vessels, curry was served hot and tasty. At times only rice-water (kanzi) with chutney or pickles were served. Knowing free food was available, the entire village used to gather. Often Baba was seen serving with a large ladle and irrespective of the quantity of food available he used to serve each plenty. It would seem that there wasn’t enough, but even after all had eaten, some food would always remain. He then used to order that the extra food be put into the river for fish and other animals to eat.
The food thus reached all.

 

Rescuing the murderer

In each village Baba visited, several people came out to serve him. Some would give him money. Money used to be kept at his feet as he never took it in his hands. He used to instruct the local chief or any devotee to collect the money and make arrangements to distribute food through bhandhara. Some of the close relatives of those who donated money and offered free service to Baba felt that they’re loved ones were being manipulated by Baba. These relatives did their best to prevent them from giving donations or service to Baba. Among those that donated were rich shopkeepers, rich men’s sons and brothers, government officers who received handsome salaries and young boys of the village. All of them felt a strong urge to serve Baba in whatever way possible.

There was a rich man’s son who used to donate money and also give his time in serving Baba to distribute food. His father was annoyed and all his efforts to discourage his son from joining Baba proved futile. As a rich man, he did the next best thing: he hired a professional killer to thrash Baba. Once, as Baba was visiting a devotee and giving darshan to those who has assembled, he suddenly got up from the gathering. The devotees who had gathered wondered why Baba left and followed him into the garden. There they saw that Baba was held by one man and his associate with raised arm was about to pull a long knife on Baba. The devotees soon overpowered both the goons, but the man with the knife was crying in pain. They found that his arm was seized in the raised position and he was experiencing extreme pain. His arm appeared as if frozen in the air and all efforts to pull his arm down failed. Nityananda felt sorry for the man and just touched his arm. Immediately the arm became free and the pain vanished. In the mean time, the police came and the devotees handed the assassins over to them. The police took both the men in custody and locked them up. Nityananda insisted that the men be released as they were poor and did it for the money. The authorities did not oblige. Nityananda stood his ground and went without food and water in front of the jail. The rich man who had hired the goons heard about the incident and approached the authority for the release of the men. Since he was influential his request was granted and both the goons were freed. The rich man became an adherent devotee of Baba and began to make his own regular contribution for bhandhara in a big way.

Lighting fire

Baba appeared like a young boy and not like any typical saint with a long beard and an animal skin to sit upon. He was thin, lanky and though often in a trance, he never appeared to be in any particular form of meditation. He was therefore often mistaken for a vagabond and insulted or hurt. There were several devotees visited him and served him with love and reverence and there were others took it upon themselves to hurt and test him. In one village where Baba was sitting under a tree, the local boys made fun of him. Baba was in a trance and did not notice them. This further antagonized them. They soaked several rags in kerosene and tied them around Baba’s hands and lit fire to it. Baba continued to be in his trance, unaware of the fire burning his hands. As the fire grew, suddenly the youth who had lit the fire experienced a burning sensation on his hands. He began screaming and people wondered why. He realized his folly and surrendered to Baba. Baba who was still absorbed in his Self was unaffected by the happenings around him. As soon as the youth surrendered at Baba’s feet, the burning sensation disappeared and he became comfortable again. Those gathered around realized that Baba was indeed a yogi and asked for his forgiveness.

Baba, a visiting doctor

When my family met Baba, he was in our village of Padbidri in South Karnataka. He was often found standing erect on a tree. People used to gather below the tree and shout, "Oh Deva! I am suffering from such and such a disease. Please cure me. Please help me Deva”. Baba remained as if unaffected by the entire crowd and their pleas. But he used to often pluck a leaf and throw it at the person requesting a holistic cure. The person who received the leaf as an answer to his prayers took it home and ate it like a medicine. He would soon be cured of his ailment. As more and more people received the benefit of Baba’s cure the crowd became larger and larger. Baba used to then move from one place to another.
Anant Shenoy, grandfather of my father Raghunath was in advanced age when he met Baba in Padbidri. He was bed-ridden due to an acute pain in his stomach. His grandsons approached Baba. Baba was sitting on open ground. He plucked a few blades of grass from the ground, asked them to prepare a decoction of the grass and give a spoon-full to Anant Shenoy. When it was administered as instructed by Baba, Anant soon became free of stomach ache. Anant, who was my great grandfather, was thus the first to experience the grace of Baba in my family.

The holistic healing of Baba became known all over Karnataka. Once a Konkani speaking man from Karnataka, wanted Baba to save his mother. His mother was seriously ill with a lump in her leg. Several medicines had been tried but to no avail. This man went in search of Baba and when he finally found him he expressed his concern for his mother. Baba Nityananda responded, "This one
knows and is there" but did not offer any grass or leaves as medicine. The man was disappointed and became very desperate. He somehow managed to take his mother to the spot where Baba was found sitting near the village square. But Baba was nowhere to be found. Disappointed, he returned home with his mother. When he arrived, he found Baba descending the stairs of his house. Nityananda rubbed the affected area for a few minutes and the lump disappeared.

Sitaram Shenoy’s daughter Gita, had a large very painful boil on her leg. One day she visited Ganeshpuri along with her mother Shusheela. Baba was in Vaikuntha and he saw Gita’s leg with the painful boil. He told Susheela to go to the bed of the river Tansa where a particular tree was located. There Gita had to go around the tree three times and then take a leaf from the tree and tie it over the boil. She should then loudly request to the tree, "Please cure me.” Shusheela took Gita to the tree on the bed of the river and did as Baba said. The very next day the boil was cured.

Gita was suffering from severe jaundice. The doctor had recommended allopathic medicine with several restrictions to her diet. During a visit to Ganeshpuri, her mother informed Baba of the child’s condition. Baba asked her to give Gita medicine for worms. When the doctor was told of this, he said that as Gita didn’t have worms, giving her such medicine would prove to be fatal. With faith in Baba Susheela gave Gita the medicine Baba suggested and the next day the child purged a large worm with her stools. Immediately she was free from jaundice.

My father, Raghunath, was very often fainting and did not know how to get over it. The problem was becoming chronic. Baba asked him to rub copious quantities of aged fat (ghee) made from cow’s milk on his head. The fat had to be vigorously rubbed on the temple and the froth that is formed should be discarded. This, when done, freed him from this problem of fainting. In fact this solution was later recommended by my father to several others who had similar problems. Although it was awfully smelly, the more aged the ghee was, the greater was the medicine’s efficacy.

Often we used an ointment called Santalax which had a sandalwood base. This ointment was recommended by Baba and was a multipurpose medicine. One can use it for insect bite, boils with pus, wound, etc. It was available in a small round tin box of 50 gram with a yellow label until 1970. Similarly there was a red colored liquid called Ague Mixture. It was very bitter and Baba had recommended it for malaria. It was one medicine which we children did not like to take because of its very bitter taste that used to linger on the tongue for several hours.

One of the attendants of Baba called Monappa had a good knowledge of ayurveda. He was blessed by Baba and hence his medicines, which were natural herbs were very effective. For sore throat he used to give us the dried stem of a plant which was hollow in the centre. Smoking this stem used to cause a severe burning sensation in the throat, but within a few minutes the throat infection disappeared. He used to prepare triphala churna, a general tonic and several other remedies.
It was not the queer and odd technique or the medicine that cured. What cured was the power Baba’s words carried.

As Sai Baba

A Parsi lady visited the shrine of Shirdi Sai Baba, where one of the ashram officials told her that if she wanted to see Shirdi Baba, she should go to Ganeshpuri and meet the great yogi saint Nityananda. When she went to Ganeshpuri she experienced the divine grace of Baba.

Malou Lanvin was a devotee from France. She had received shaktipat from Baba Muktananda. Spiritually she was highly evolved and spent much of her time in meditation. In 1982, when Parampujya Swami Janananda visited Ganeshpuri, she received his grace. She visited Kanhangad and stayed for several days and offered seva to Swamiji. She was a trained nurse and hence could offer very valuable service. She spent much of her time in seva and meditation. Her daughter Marium was equally devoted. When Janananda attained Mahasamadhi on 27th December 1982, Malou was by his side. After Swamiji’s Samadhi, she went into seclusion devoting all her time to meditation. She stayed at Baba Ramdas’ Anand Ashram in Kanhangad, Shivananada Ashram in Rishikesh, Mussorie, Ganeshpuri and much of her time was used for reading spiritual books and in prayer.

One day she visited Shirdi. Although there was the usual rush, as she was having darshan of the Samadhi, the priest in Shirdi picked a red rose from Baba’s statue’s hand and gave it to Malou as prasad. From Shirdi she came to Ganeshpuri and went to Baba Nityananda Samadhi shrine to have Samadhi darshan. Here too, the priest gave her a red rose from the hand of Baba’s statue. She realized that it was one and the same tattva (essence). She bowed low to Baba.

This does not necessarily mean that Baba Nityananda and Shirdi Baba were one and the same soul. Baba often said "Ocean water is large and no matter the shape and size of the vessel you use to carry it, the vessel contains the same water as the ocean. The ocean is free and anybody and everybody can take as much as he wants. What and how much you take depends on the size of your vessel (the depth of your faith and love)”. Appa Apte, a devotee of Shaligram Swami experienced that Sant Janeshwar and Sadchidananda Baba (who helped Janeshwar to write Janeshwari) are Bhagavan Nityananda and Shaligram Swami respectively, in their present sojourn on this earth. When Godhavaribai, a disciple of Upasini Baba visited Ganeshpuri, she saw her guru in Baba. More recently, a
lady in Oakland saw Baba’s face on Jesus on the cross. Baba appeared smiling and full of divine joy. Some saw him as Lord Vittal and some as Shiva.

 

The Eternal One at Ananteshwar Temple

Udupi is a small town in South Karnataka famous for Lord Krishna’s and Ananteshwar Temples. These temples are ancient and famous, visited by thousands of devotees from time immemorial. Somewhere in 1917-18, Bhagavan Nityananda reached Udupi and was found wandering around these temples. He was often found sitting on the steps of the Ananteshwar temple.

Several miracles happened here with Baba and hence there was a huge crowd wherever Baba was found. He used to move very fast from one place to another and people followed him wherever he went. The local chaste Hindus who were caste conscious did not approve of Baba Nityananda achieving fame in the temple area. They instigated children to throw stones on him. Whenever a stone would hit him, it would sparkle but when it fell to the ground it would be again an ordinary stone. Sometimes the stones thrown at Baba were found at the feet of Krishna statue inside the temple. Priests at the temple soon realized that Baba was not an ordinary person but a Siddha. During the annual car festival (rath yatra) when Baba threw beaten rice on the Lord Krishna’s chariot, it turned into coins.

There were two educated Konkani speaking youths who were curious to know more about this dark lanky youth who never stuck to one place. Every time these two tried to catch up with Baba, he seemed to vanish as if he wanted to avoid the crowd. However, one day they caught up with him and seizing him by the hands addressed him in Kanarese. Since Baba did not respond they spoke to him in Hindi. Baba still maintained silence. They then asked him in English wondering which language he would understand. When both were at their wits end, and were about to give up, Baba replied to them not only in all these three languages, but also in their mother tongue. Once it became known that Baba could speak Konkani, several villagers from G. S. B. community became his adherent devotees. They invited him to their house and soon short of satsang were held. Baba insisted on distributing food as bhandara. Its likely that he met Tulas Amma at Managalore during this period.

Do not doubt

There was a Konkani speaking lady who came to visit Baba in Udupi. Baba offered her coconut. It is auspicious for a young married lady to receive coconut from a holy person as it is considered a sign of blissful married life and a blessing that saves the woman from early widowhood. This lady being from a high caste family, wondered whether it was appropriate to receive any prasad from a casteless Baba. As she was in this dilemma, Baba held the coconut to her for several minutes and when she still did not move forward to collect it, he threw it
away saying, “Mitthi, sub mitthi(Dust, all dust). A couple of months later this woman lost her husband. Were she to trust that all are equal irrespective of caste or race, the deliberate attempt by Baba to ward off widowhood would have been effective.

Love for train

Several years after his foster father, Iswar Ayar’s death, Baba once again appeared in Quailandy. Some farm workers found a dark lanky youth sitting near the railway tracks. One of the men from this group fell down due to epileptic fits. His colleagues gathered around the fallen man and tried to revive him. Suddenly, a lanky youth came forward and put something in the fallen man’s mouth. Immediately the man got up, hale and hearty. His colleagues were impressed and one of them recognized Baba as Raman, the boy who used to live in Quailandy.

News of the return of Nityananda soon spread all over the village and villagers gathered around Baba, who preferred to stay close to either railway stations or railway tracks. There was a regular crowd around Baba everyday. This was not liked by railway staff as it was interfering with their work. Mr. Narayanan Nair was chief of the railway staff and was a very strict man. People used to call him Tiger Narayanan. When he was told of the crowd gathering around Baba, he became very furious. He went to Baba and abused him with foul language and ordered him to clear the tracks. Baba did not take any notice of Tiger Nair and appeared to be in a trance. Baba continued to stay around the tracks and crowds continued to visit him to get their problems solved. One day Madras Mail was passing along the same track that Baba was sitting on. Tiger Nair noticed it and was sadistically waiting for Baba to be crushed under its wheels. The train kept coming towards Baba at full speed but Baba was in deep meditation. There was no way the train could be stopped. As the train reached Baba it suddenly stopped just a few feet away from Baba without the engine driver applying the brakes. He was shocked and climbed down to see Baba sitting calmly and smiling at him. Tiger Nair approached him and demanded to know why he had stopped. The driver had no answer. Although the engine was in perfect working condition, the train refused to budge even an inch. It was then that Tiger Nair realized that Baba was indeed a divine personality and prostrated at his feet. Tiger Nair who had a very strong personality, became a staunch devotee of Baba and built a small ashram for Baba at Kotmangalam.

Baba Nityananda was very fond of traveling by trains. In the early days Baba was often found around railway stations and several railway officers, guards and drivers knew him. Baba often took free rides on several lines on Southern railway in the engine car. This personal rapport with various railway personnel came over due to several episodes that happened during Baba’s travel in trains. Once, a ticket inspector found that Baba had no valid ticket. He forcibly removed Baba from the train. But it was found that the train just did not get started. The guard,
the driver and the engineers from the station looked at the various possible faults that can occur, but everything was found to be in order. When they just could not solve it and were about to report to the major railway junction for help, the train driver noticed Baba. He went to Baba and enquired why he was sitting there. The ticket checker told the driver that he had thrown Baba out of the train as he was without a ticket. The driver immediately understood the cause of the engine failure. He begged Baba to board the train. Baba removed from his loin cloth several tickets and offered them to the ticket inspector. All tickets were found to be valid tickets. When Baba boarded the engine car at the invitation of the driver the train started at the first attempt. Baba’s acquaintance and fame with railway personnel grew to such an extent that whenever their train passed Kanhangad ashram they used to hoot their train whistles as an acknowledgement and salute to Baba Nityananda.

 

Construction of the caves at Kanhangad

In early 1920, Baba settled for some time at Kanhangad. He used to initially stay in a small cave, which was embedded within the wall of the fort. This fort was built by Ikkari Raja. This fort is very close to the present Kanhangad Ashram. Baba used to stay also in the cave of the present ashram. The present caves were built by Baba in those days. To build this cave it was necessary to build a road and clear the jungles around the hill. When the local authorities came to know about the massive activity taking place at such a remote place from the Kanhangad village, they came to investigate. When Baba was asked why this activity was being carried out, Baba told them that there would soon be a guest house built for visiting government officials. It was the British Raj and the offic

ials were convinced that such possibilities can happen. In fact, years later, the area within the fort walls was allotted for a police station and guest house. Later, Jawaharlal Nehru, Prime Minister of India, visited this place and gave his public speech on the grounds in this area. After the clearing was done and the road leading to the hill was ready, Baba began constructing the caves. There was no architect or structural engineer appointed for the job. Baba was all rolled into one. He was the architect, structural engineer and also the site supervisor of the massive work.

Using a local workforce, Baba carved forty caves in all, out of solid rock-hill. Baba gave six entrances to the maze of the caves. Since three entrances were facing east and three facing west, there was enough light in the caves throughout the day. It was therefore often called East-West Caves. Each worker was paid for their work. From where the money came nobody could know. Often Baba directed the foreman of the village to a particular spot beyond some tree where he would find the right amount of the wage bill. At times each worker would make a line in the evening and walk by Baba. Baba used to open and close his fist on the palm of each worker, leaving the exact amount on their palm.
Looking at the volume of the job, several local people felt jealous and complained to the local authority that Baba had found some treasure in the area and was liberally distributing it without intimating and handing it over to the government. An officer visited the site and finding Baba supervising the activity, demanded to know from where he raised the finance. There was a large lake infested with crocodiles beyond the cave hill. Baba jumped into the water and popped up with his hands full of money. Baba told the officer to join him, as there was a large amount stacked under water. The officer was so shocked that he walked away never to bother Baba again.

When the work of digging was in full swing, the District Collector of District South Canara, Mangalore, Mr. Gawn, visited the site. He had received a report from the local administration body that the illegal construction and destruction of the forest was being carried out by one Nityananda. As chance would have it, he had visited Kanahangad on some other matter when this report was again placed before him. He and his full retinue mounted horses and confronted Baba, who was working along with other laborers. Baba showed him the site and the activity being undertaken by him. He then called him inside the cave under construction. When Major Gawn came out of the cave he was a changed man. He ordered all his men to vacate the site and gave orders that no one should interfere with the activities of Baba and all should give complete cooperation. As Major Gawn was leaving, to his surprise he found that the road leading to the caves had been names in his honour. When Major Gawn reached his office he found a promotion letter on his desk. He was transferred to Madras District on a prestigious post.

On top of this hill where Baba had constructed the caves, is the shrine erected by Janananda Swamiji in memory of Bhagavan. This temple has a life-size statue, which was built in 1962 and is probably the first temple dedicated to Bhagavan. There are two deities on this hill, which were worshiped and revered with fear by local villagers. One of them is known as Gulga and it demands the first milk (colostrum) of a cow which has just delivered a calf. If this offering was not made the cow and calf would die. The second deity was known as Akeri Keri Keri Bateri Baba. I remember seeing it before the temple was build. It had three slabs, as if it were a tomb. This deity demanded local arrack (liquor) in return for any favor. Villagers believed that it was dangerous to cross the hill without paying their respect to these deities. When Bhagavan was at this place, he overpowered both of these deities, restricted their powers and ordered them to work for the welfare of people. He promised that in return devotees would offer them rice knazi. This practice continues even today. Devotees offer rice or sweet payasam in return for their wish fulfillment. Some offer oil to light a large lamp placed in front of the temple. When the shrine was built the three slabs were covered with marble and marble padukas were placed on the centre slab. If you bow in front of the slabs, the sight of Bhagavan’s statue appears to be aligned with the padukas.

Blind getting sight

A man living in Mumbai heard about Baba and visited Ganeshpuri. When he entered Kailas ashram, he found a long queue of devotees waiting for Baba’s darshan. He, too, stood in line and as it was his first visit, he was curious to observe what was happening. He saw that when each person’s turn came to present himself to Baba, they would say something to Baba or offer some gift that they had brought along and then prostrate before Baba. Baba was found sitting on his chair with his eyes half-closed and was usually quiet. Occasionally Baba would nod and acknowledge a devotee or speak a few words, which only the two could hear. When this man’s turn came to present himself to Baba, he was surprised to see that Baba moved forward in the chair and said to him, "Bring your brother here.” He did not understand the reason for Baba requesting his brother, who had been blind from birth. He took his brother to Ganeshpuri the following week and presented himself along with his brother to Baba. Baba instructed that the brother should stay behind and the man could return to Mumbai. After a few days, when the man came to take his brother back, he found that he could now see clearly.

There is another incident where a blind person got his eyesight. As usual, Baba was standing on a tree top and devotees gathered below the tree to collect the leaves thrown down by Baba. The healing power of the leaves was widely known and the crowd increased day-by-day. These leaves were gathered and treasured for their medicinal properties. A partially blind person stood in the crowd hearing the miraculous power of Baba. But the crowd was so huge that he could not get close to the tree on which Baba stood. Soon the crowd disappeared and only he was left. As Baba came down the tree he approached Baba and told him why he was there. He was slowly going blind and because of his poor eye sight he was no longer in a position to hold his job. Since he was the only member of his family earning an income, it was becoming very difficult to manage his family. Baba took a handful of leaves and rubbed them over his eyes without uttering a word. The man left after taking Baba’s blessings. Nothing happened to his eyesight and he continued to have limited eyesight that night. The next morning when he woke up, he found that his eyesight had been restored.

Mukti for soul

One day a family came to Ganeshpuri with a small child in their arms. The child was very seriously ill and the parents appeared worried. On enquiry it was learnt that the child was suffering from pneumonia and had not opened his eyes for the last three days. They were directed to have darshan of Baba. When they were in front of Baba, the mother held the child towards Baba and began to weep. The father explained the case and prayed to Baba that he should save the child. Baba, who was silent for a while, suddenly passed his hands over the child, from his head to his feet. The child opened his eyes as the palm passed over his face and by the time Baba’s palms reached his feet, the child closed his eyes once
again. Baba then told them to perform the last rites as the child was dead. Both parents were dejected and in deep sorrow. The following day the parents presented before Baba. The mother wailed, "Oh Baba! We had come to you with great hopes. We were told you are Avatarpurusha, but how could my child die in your very presence?” Baba rebuked them saying, "What do you understand of the law of Karma? You are blinded by ignorance. This child has chosen your womb and family for its last three births and was begging for liberation. In this fourth birth his desire for total liberation has been fulfilled ‘here’. This is the impact of this holy land of Ganeshpuri, the land of the Siddhas. No more birth for him.” Both husband and wife fell at Baba’s feet much consoled. Yes, the mother had given birth to three children before and all had died as infants. It was Baba who gave him liberation in the punyabhoomi Ganeshpuri.

A similar incident where Baba gave salvation to a woman happened at Ganeshpuri. When Baba was in Kailas ashram, every morning a woman used to come and prostrate at Baba’s feet and pray loudly for her salvation. This used to happen for several days at a fixed time, with Baba keeping his silence. One night Baba ordered one of the attendants in the ashram to buy a bag of beaten rice and unrefined sugar (pova and gudh). As soon as they were procured, Baba asked the attendants to mix the two ingredients thoroughly to make guudgpova and when it was ready, Baba asked them to make a figure of a woman at the same spot where the lady used to prostrate at Baba’s feet. Baba then asked the attendant to wake and gather all the village children and distribute the guudhpova. Baba strictly instructed that the entire quantity had to be consumed before sunrise. The next day the lady came as usual and prostrated at Baba’s feet with a prayer for her salvation. This time, however, she did not rise. She died on the exact spot where Baba had handmade her figure with guudhpova the previous night. Thus Baba made annadan, an important obligation to be done for the easy liberation of souls.

The offering of food is considered the best seva that a man can do for others. If you offer someone money, the receiver can still feel that he could have got some more, if land is offered then the receiver can still feel that a piece larger than what he got would have been better. Any other free gift can keep the receiver feeling dissatisfied. If, however, a hungry man is fed to his heart’s content, he immediately raises his hands and says, "Enough, I have had enough.” Annadan alone is one gift that results in complete satisfaction, purna trupti to the receiver. Hence in Hindu philosophy annadan is considered to be the most holy dan (alms) and when done ensures liberation.

 

Smallpox cured

A couple who were devotees of Baba had their first child very late in their lives. They were thus much attached to it. One day the young child, who was a few months old, got afflicted by small pox, a disease much prevalent in India in those days. They immediately rushed to Ganeshpuri with their child, placing it at Baba’s feet. There was a group of devotees sitting in front of Baba at that time in Vaikunt ashram. This disease is contagious and the manner in which they rushed in was not appreciated by Baba. Baba admonished them and went into his room. For about a week or so Baba did not come out of his room. When he finally came out, he took a bath and devotees observed that his body was covered with eruptions typical to those of small pox. The child, of course, survived small pox.

The scrap dealer

There was a devotee of Baba who was a successful businessman. Since his business was based on auction purchase for his products, he once made a huge loss due to a fall in market prices. He had to sell all his property to clear his dues. He came to Ganeshpuri to Baba Nityananda with his woes. When he prostrated at Baba’s feet, Baba said "Sell raddi (waste material, normally scraps and old newspaper). Sell raddi.” He failed to understand what Baba meant as he was in no way connected even remotely with any scrap deals. He returned confused and dejected feeling that Baba did not give him any specific solution. However, Baba’s command, of selling scrap kept ringing in his mind. As usual, he visited the market place where he attended regular auctioning for his products. He learnt that huge quantities scraps were offered at a throw away price. At that moment he remembered Baba’s words, "Sell raddi.” The merchant made a bid for the scrap and got it at a very low price. He worked on it and was able to sell at a very high profit. He not only regained his lost status but amassed much more than his previous net-worth. With his status changing, he came to meet Baba and shared what had happened. He became a regular devotee and people called him Raddiwalla.

There was a devotee called Gyanchand Muki. Chance brought him to Ganeshpuri. He was standing in a queue along with his wife and small children for Baba’s darshan. The queue was long and it took several hours, but there was no sign of Baba opening the door. It was getting hot and the children became restless. They started demanding something to eat. But Gyanchand refused saying that only after Baba’s darshan they could all have something to eat. The hunger and heat was unbearable and his children could no longer stand the heat. Just then a man opened the door and asked "Is there any Sindhi devotee in the queue?” Gyanchand immediately surged forward with his family. The man said that Baba has instructed him to take them inside. When they entered Kailash, Baba was sitting on the chair. Gyanchand fell at Baba’s feet and started weeping profusely. The entire family then prostrated at Baba’s feet. Baba consoled Gyanchand and told him that everything would soon be fine. This was Gyanchand’s first visit to Ganeshpuri and his first darshan. All of them experienced strange waves of energy flowing from Baba and entering into them. Thereafter he visited Ganeshpuri regularly. During one of his visits, Baba advised him to do business in articles which were white in color. Gyanchand entered into the yarn business and soon became prosperous. Every Gurupunima he used to visit Ganeshpuri and celebrated whole heartedly. I have myself seen him taking active part even after several years after Baba’s Mahasamdhi. He used to bring several articles like cloth, sweets, and various types of fruits, etc and personally supervise the offering on the eve of Gurupurnima.

The astrologer

A devotee visited Baba and expressed "Baba my astrologer has predicted the death of my wife. I am worried as I have two small children to take care of.” Baba looked up at him and asked "What makes him to sure that she would die?” Baba himself began to describe the wife’s horoscope to the surprise of the husband. Baba also explained the basis of the astrologer’s prediction. Baba then gave him very complicated instructions to ward off the impact of the planets. The husband followed the instructions given by Baba with total faith. The particular date predicted for her death passed, but she survived. The astrologer too was surprised with the results and asked the man how it had happened so. The husband told him about his Guru Nityananda and the instructions that Baba had given him to ward off the evil effect of the planets. The astrologer referred to his books on Jyothish sasatra and to his surprise he found the same solution as what Baba had given to nullify the negative impact of the constellations.

Stealing with consent

It is the custom in India that when you visit a saint or elderly person, you must carry a gift for them. The devotees visiting Baba Nityananda used to bring flowers, coconuts and fruits. Some used to offer money. The gifts were never taken by Baba in his hands. They were either placed at his feet or given to the attendants serving him. At times the collected gifts of flowers and coconuts used to form a big heap in front of Baba. A few business men used to give large tins of biscuits and chocolates. Baba himself never took any of it. The gifts were largely distributed among small children and coconuts and flowers were given as prasad to other devotees. At times large amounts of money used to collect at his feet. Some devotees used to prostrate at Baba’s feet and while getting up used to conveniently gather some money between their palms and take it away without asking. All knowing Baba never uttered a single word of rebuke and kept his silence with a naughty smile on his face. The attendants used to get real bugged seeing people lifting money. One day the attendant brought this to Baba’s attention and Baba asked "How do you know he has ‘lifted’ the money? Before taking it he asked for the permission from ‘here’.”

Behind the Samadhi shrine of Baba Nityananda is a small temple dedicated to Lord Krishna. The statue here is almost life-size Krishna reclining on a white cow. Krishna is holding a flute to his lips and is standing on his toes. Between the two front legs of the cow, Baba had placed a small shaligram and a small clockwise conch (a very rare variety, considered to hold very powerful shakti). A collection box was placed here where visiting devotees used to put in their donations. One evening Baba told one of the attendants to empty the box, count the money and leave only one-fourth of the total amount in the box. The next morning the devotees found that the box was broken and the money that remained had been stolen. They went immediately to report the burglary to Baba who was laughing as if he was already aware of it. He said, "Yesterday a poor man visited ‘here’ and prayed silently that he be allowed to break into the collection box, as he urgently needed money.” Baba, out of compassion, made arrangement for him to get only that amount which would meet his immediate needs.

Winning by love

Baba was once invited to Mrs. Krishnabai’s house in Mangalore. Looking forward to Baba’s visit on the appointed day, Krishnabai got up very early and cleaned the house. She made several garlands and decorated the place as if it was a festival. She also prepared several sweet dishes and various items for lunch as she knew Baba preferred to distribute food to devotees who also came to have his darshan. After much waiting Baba finally arrived but immediately left the house saying that he would not stay. Many devotees had gathered and it was very disappointing to all, including Krishnabai and her husband. Since Baba was like a small boy at that time, Krishnabai’s husband and his friend tried their best to prevent Baba from leaving their house. Baba, though he appeared very thin, could easily push past both of them and with great speed walked out of the house. They saw Baba walking away without looking back. The entire crowd felt very disappointed. Krishnabai, who worked very hard for over a week to see this day was in tears. In her heart she prayed to Baba not to disappoint the devotees who had gathered and pleaded to him to return. Just as they were losing hope and the crowd began to leave, suddenly Baba appeared. He stood in front of Krishnabai and said, ‘She stopped ‘this One’”. What Baba meant was that the intense love and pleading of Krishnabai made him return. It is not physical force but pure love which binds God. Lord Vittal used to dance along with his devotees during kirtan. Namdev used to feed Lord Vittal and Janabai was often helped in her chores by the Lord. Such is the power of Love!

Darshan after mahasamadhi

As mentioned elsewhere in this book, we had life size photograph of Baba in our house. Just a few days before Baba’s Mahasamadhi, the face of Baba in the photo appeared pulled down, as if he was not keeping well. My mother noticed it immediately and remarked, "Baba is not keeping well.” This photo was a representative of Baba in our home.

Elsewhere in Delhi, Captain Hatangdi experienced similar connectivity with Baba. Mrs. Hatangdi used to light a small silver lamp in front of Baba’s photo that she kept on her altar. This lamp was very small and did not hold enough ghee to keep burning for long. After an hour or so the flame used to extinguish. On 7th August 1961, she got an inner inspiration to keep the flame burning. After an interval, she kept on pouring ghee to keep it burning. Not only that, on that day she collected all the flowers from their garden and beautifully decorated the altar. She had never done this before. As soon as Captain Hatangdi returned from work, he enquired why this unusual action was done. His wife said that she just felt she should to do it. Captain did not approve of it but somehow he too joined in pouring ghee at regular intervals to keep the silver lamp burning. The next morning they received a telephone call informing them that Baba had taken Mahasamadhi at 10.43 am. Although Captain’s family was far off in Delhi, Baba kept their connection well!

In a similar incident, a doctor got intimation from Baba about his Mahasamadhi. I believe his name was Dr. Pandlaskar or Dr. Plasekar. He and his family were devotees of Baba and often visited Ganeshpuri. On 8th Augush 1961, his son woke up earlier than usual and behaved very strangely. With a very unusual accent and facial expressions he spoke to his parents as if he was not their son but an elderly person. He said, "Go to Ganeshpuri immediately. Baba is leaving today. The Rishi Mandal has called him and has said that he was needed to protect the world from the evil effect of eight planet conjunction.” Actually in February 1962 eight planets were to line up in Capricorn. Such conjugation can bring disaster to earth. The young boy had no way of knowing this and also that Baba was to take Mahasamadhi 

Engineer Hegde was at his office sitting in his cabin engrossed in his work. Suddenly he saw Baba manifesting in front of him and saying "Come immediately.” Mr Hegde, immediately left his office, picked up his wife and children and left for Ganehpuri. It was as if Bhagavan wished him to be present when he took mahasamadhi.

Baba and animals

One of the devotees visiting Ganeshpuri regularly had the following incident to tell. In early 1950, when Baba was still in Vaikuntha ashram he visited Ganeshpuri. He had not planned to stay behind, but Baba ordered him to stay overnight. This man was a devotee of Goddess Durga and was worried that he would miss his evening puja which he conducted at his home. Although it was late in the evening several devotees were still sitting listening to Baba. Baba sat in front of them and there was an open field behind him. The cool winter breeze was blowing and it was a beautiful evening as the sun was about to set. As the darkness crept in he noticed that there were two bright small objects just behind Baba. He instantly realized that there was a large tiger behind Baba. The fear of the tiger and the possible harm that it could do to Baba, shocked the devotees who were there. The tiger gradually raised its body and carefully placed his front paws on Baba’s shoulder from behind. Without moving or showing any reaction, Baba lifted his hands and tweaked the ears of the tiger as if he’s been expecting the tiger to come. Baba spoke as one would cajole a family cat. Satisfied with the caressing and the attention that it got from Baba, the cat turned around and ran towards the Mandakini forest and disappeared in the darkness. Baba laughed at the shocked devotees who witnessed a most unusual sight and said "Oh, it was just a vehicle of Mother Durga. Since this place belongs to her, the tiger had come to visit ‘this one’”. Baba is often described as Mahakali Avatar and hence it was not surprising that the tiger visited him. The devotee who narrated this incident realized that his chosen Goddess resided in Baba and hence worship to Baba meant worshipping Durga. In all his pujas he kept Baba’s photo and worshipped him as the mother goddess.
It is said that Bhagavan understood birds and animals. Once a devotee brought his caged parrot for Baba’s darshan. It was May 1944, which is a very hot month before the monsoons arrive in June. The bird was placed in the ashram and it began to sing loudly. Bhagavan interpreted the song, "He is saying it will begin raining in three days.” It does not rain till 10th of June normally. The bird’s weather prediction, however, proved to be correct. In three days it rained heavily. In another incident, the visiting devotees were afraid of a king cobra that lived near the ashram. Baba assured them that it would do no harm, as the snake was absorbed in deep chanting and meditation. Baba, however, did not encourage the caging of birds and animals. In fact, he often insisted that birds must be set free.

 

Ganeshpuri, mother of all pilgrimages

Baba Nityananda often described the significance of Ganeshpuri. He used to say that God is everywhere. Just like water is everywhere but when it is at a particular place, like on a hilltop, it has great energy. So also at particular spots, the shakti can be unusually high. This is called sthal mahimha (power of the place). It is this power that creates miracles. A spot where many Siddhas have meditated and have stayed for long acquires their spanda shakti. Such places have such a high degree of spiritual and divine shakti that miracles just happen. In Ganeshpuri several Siddhas have stayed in the past and several religious yags and yagnas have been performed by gods and yogis. Every grain of sand of this place is filled with divine energy. Yet, several devotees used to often come to ask for permission to go on long pilgrimages. Sometimes Baba gave them permission to proceed, but he denied a few.
Once a devotee came to him and expressed his desire to go to Bhadri and Kedar on a pilgrimage. Baba said, "What are you going there for? What will you find there which is not here. Everything is here. Everything, everything is here alone. Ganga, Bhagirathi, Narmadha are all here. Shiva, Krishna, Gods and Goddesses are all here. Why then go anywhere else?” This devotee insisted and went to the Himalayas. On the steps of Bhadrinath Temple, a beggar approached him and started asking for alms, singing a song. Since it is customary to give alms when on pilgrimage, he gave the beggar a coin. After his visit to various temples, the devotee returned to Ganeshpuri for Baba’s darshan. As soon as he presented to Baba, Baba began to sing the same song that the beggar sang on the steps of Badrinath Temple and tossed the exact coin that the devotee had given to the beggar. The man was shocked when Baba further gave the details of his pilgrimage. The man realized that when the very God of gods existed at Ganeshpuri in the form of Bhagavan Nityananda, it was foolish to go to any other place in search of God.

Visit to devotee as Sai Baba

There was a lady who was a staunch devotee of Shirdi Sai Baba. Sai Baba had long passed away, but she used to still long for his darshan. It was a routine for her to give alms to any ascetic who came to her doorstep in the afternoon. One day an old fakhir stood at her door. He appeared just as she had seen Sai Baba in various photographs. He wore a long kafani, tied a cloth over his head, and had a white beard. She took him in and gave him a good lunch. The fakhir blessed her and promised to soon meet her and left. Chance took her to Ganeshpuri a few days after this incident. She had never been there nor had she seen Baba before. When her turn came to present before Baba, Baba said "I went to your home a few days ago. You gave me a good lunch.” The lady looked up and said "Swami, why did you come as Sai Baba?” Baba replied "Would you have recognized me were ‘this one’ to come in this form?”

Shaktipat in absentia

This was from a devotee who experienced a complete transformation within him. Madhukar Khade often visited Ganeshpuri along with his father Baburao Khade. Baburao was a strict disciplinarian and adherent devotee of Baba. The respect and discipline that he followed in the presence of Baba was equally accepted by his brother devotees and his own family members. As Baburao was also a spiritually advanced soul he instructed his brother devotees on the path of sadhana. Since his children were small he did not think it was appropriate to teach them. Madhukar Khade, however, used to listen to his father giving instructions to others and slowly and secretly adopted them. In one of his visits with his father, he sat in a corner and began practicing what he had learnt indirectly from his father. There were several devotees in the hall and a conversation was going on between Baba and the assembled devotees. The young Madhukar was practicing innocently but suddenly a doubt flashed in his mind about whether what he was doing was right. There was no way he could ask his father, who would have admonished him for adopting what was not instructed to him. Helplessly he looked at Baba, who smiled at him and nodding his head gave a loud ‘humkar’. Madhukar was surprised that Baba could read his mind and help him in his spiritual quest. Years later Madhukar Khade would help several aspirants in their sadhana.

In another instance, a devotee went to Ganeshpuri with an intention to get instructions on his meditation. When he was in the presence of Baba he did his pranayama looking at Baba. Baba immediately nodded indicating that what he was doing was right. In his return trip, he randomly churned the pages of the Chidaksha Gita and stopped at a page where Baba says, "A yogi is no yogi if he does not have control over his breath.” He received several such instructions as he continued to read the book which guided him in his pursuit. He was steadfast in his meditation and earnestly did it regularly with full trust in Baba. Each day he used to begin by surrendering to Baba and praying for his guidance in his sadhana. Ever since he had seen Baba in the superconscious state of infinite bliss and peace he wanted to experience the same. One day during his meditation he got direction from Baba that Baba would give him an opportunity to experience that state. As he was meditating, automatically a mantra arose within him and he began to experience bliss and lost all body consciousness. This is a wonderful example of how the Guru provides guidance in performing sadhana, even though he may not be physically present.

 

Nityananda in nirguna form

Once a devotee was planning to visit Ganeshpuri several years after his last visit. He had a vision of Baba saying "Ask my devotee about my present form.” He immediately contacted a devotee who was a regular visitor to Ganeshpuri. This friend informed her that Nityananda had taken Mahasamadhi a few weeks before. Bhagavan who was a mahavatar chose to silently withdraw from the world stage, of his own free will, choosing the time and day of his passing. It was on 8th August (8) 1961 (8) in morning 10.43 (8) that Bhagavan had chosen to withdraw his leela in gross form. It all counted to the mystic number eight, which signifies infinity. Thus the infinite merged in the infinite. Even after his passing Bhagavan still very much cared for his devotees. Instead of getting a sudden shock of knowing of the passing away of Baba after reaching Ganeshpuri, Baba prepared this devotee to see him in nirguna form.

Thus forewarned and mentally prepared, this devotee reached Ganeshpuri and made his way to Kailash Ashram, the place where he was so used to seeing Baba. The chair on which he usually found Baba was empty. He suddenly experienced the deep vacuum and pain of separation. His heart cried "Why? Why did you have to leave me alone?” Suddenly he felt Bhagavan’s subtle presence and assurance that he would now be eternally present in subtle form seated in his heart. His bliss and shakti was all pervading. He was now sharvantyami Omniscient, Omnipotent and Omnipresent. Yes, Nityananda is anant, his leela is anant, his form is anant, he is indeed the Eternal One.
Shree Nityanandarpanamastu

 

 

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Other leelas

A farmers' group from Devalali, a place near Nasik, came to Ganeshpuri for Bhagawan's darshan. Soon after all of them had His darshan, Bhagawan Nityananda ordered them to

return to Devalali but the farmers had a desire to sightsee the city of Mumbai.

Only one person in that group, Vaman Rao left for Devalali obeying the order of Bhagawan. In a short span of time, it started raining so heavily that the buses boarded by the farmers got swept away in the flood waters. However the prayers offered to Bhagawan saved the lives of all the farmers

 

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Bhagavan's Guidance in dream

 

Bhagawan ordered Shri Kuttiram Swamy to go to Kanhangad for the construction of Gopuram(tower) of the temple. When he expressed concern about the required money Bhagawan told him, “You need not go” and called over another devotee Vamanrao Khalkar. Bhagawan instructed him, “Go to Kanhangad and get a tower constructed. Do not worry about the funds. Everything will be taken care of.”

Next day Vamanrao came to ashram to have Bhagawan's darshan before boarding the ship “Sabarmati”, which was scheduled to depart at 8 a.m. Bhagawan said, “Boat Boat – it departs at 2 in the afternoon.”

As predicted(or as rescheduled?) by Nityananda Baba the departure of the ship got delayed and it departed at 2 p.m in the afternoon. Vamanrao reached Mangalore the next morning. While getting off the ship, Monappa(owner of a tiles factory in Mangalore) welcomed him and asked about his requirements and assured him of his assistance. Vamanrao was surprised at the words of Monappa, a total stranger to him. Monappa explained, “I am a devotee of Bhagawan Nityananda. He appeared in my dream the previous night and gave me all the details. He instructed me to reach the arrival spot of Sabarmati ship. All the passengers will be wearing lungi. Only one among them will be clad in dhoti. He is my devotee. Arrange everything that is asked by him.”

Vamanrao mentioned the matter of construction of Gopuram(tower) for the temple. When he said, “No need to hand over the money to me. Please arrange for the materials required for the construction”, Monappa supplied the material

 

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Devotee saved from a drowning ship

In the year 1955 Devarai Pai came to Ganeshpuri and had darshan of Bhagawan Nityananda. When he was about to leave for Mangalore Bhagawan asked him to stay for a week.

Devarai said that he has to go as the vacation got over.

Bhagawan said again, “Don't go tomorrow. You may leave next Thursday.” When Devarai persisted saying, “Baba, my boss is very strict. I might risk losing my job if I prolong my stay here”, Bhagawan consented saying, “If that is so, okay. But remember to buy first class ticket for your journey in the ship(Mumbai to Mangalore Steamer).”

Devarai Pai bought first class ticket and sat in his reserved place on the topmost floor on the ship. One hour into the journey the ship started sinking as it was slammed by giant sea tides. The bottom floors – in which third class and second class ticket holders were present – sank. When the captain of the ship sent a wireless message for rescue, the required help came before the first class floor sank and Devarai Pai reached Mangalore safely with immense gratitude towards his ever-merciful Bhagawan for saving his life.

 

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Tutoring in dream

A student from Nagpur had applied for an exam in USA. After having darshan of Bhagawan Nityananda he went to the airport and boarded the plane. Within few minutes he fell asleep. Bhagawan appeared in his dream and taught him many concepts from the exam syllabus and some question-answers. The same questions appeared in the exam and the student came out with flying colours, completed his course in USA and returned to Mumbai.

 

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Darshan as Shiva and Ramakrishna

Mukherjee, a superintendent in Mumbai Central Railway, went to Ganeshpuri for Bhagawan's darshan. Bhagawan was sitting near a window in Vaikuntha Mandir. When Mukherjee got up after offering his pranams he was surprised to see Bhagawan in the form of Mahadev Shiva – with Trishul in His hand, a snake around the neck, Goddess Ganga in the hair locks over the head. Mukherjee realized that Bhagawan Nityananda is not different from Lord Shiva.

Next time when he came to Ganeshpuri accompanied by his wife, Bhagawan blessed them by appearing as Ramakrishna Paramahamsa. Mukherjees were ardent devotees of Lord Shiva and staunch followers of Ramakrishna Paramahamsa.

 

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Nityananda in the cave of Girnar Hill

Once seven devotees from Girnar Hill in Saurashtra (a peninsular region of Gujarat state) came to Ganeshpuri. Among them, one person started trembling while offering his pranams to Bhagawan Nityananda. Addressing other devotees he told that he had seen Bhagawan Nityananda in a

cave of Girnar Hill. Soon after the group left the place devotees started murmuring – “What a liar he is! He must be a cheat.”

However the omnipresent Bhagawan confirmed that what he told was not a lie but the truth. Is there a place where Bhagawan is not present? Otherwise why would He be called omnipresent? Bhagawan Nityananda has proved this fact by appearing simultaneously in different places. Once He appeared in Delhi, Mumbai and Kanhangad at the same time.

 

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Lost Nath(nose stud) found

Upendra Bhat used to visit Ganeshpuri ashram every Thursday along with his wife. Even after Bhagawan attained Samadhi, they would regularly go there. Once on a Gurupurnima, Bhat's wife lost her Nath(nose ring) while taking bath in hot water spring. She searched for it but in vain. When she started weeping a little girl came and told her – “Amma, your Nath is in the hot water spring. If you give me 25 paisa coin which is in your purse then I will get your Nath for you.”

Without waiting for her response the girl dived into hot water spring, found the Nath and gave it to Upendra's wife. The girl took 25 paisa coin and disappeared.

Bhat's wife understood it was a Leela of Bhagawan who was kind enough to appear in the form of a little girl to help her. Mahatmas' energy exists even after they attain Samadhi.

 

 

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Thousand-rupee note demonetized

In the year 1946, Mr. A.B. Nair, an affluent devotee residing in Mumbai, went to Ganeshpuri to have darshan of Bhagawan Nityananda. On getting to know that a school was being

constructed by the ashram, he kept a thousand-rupee note in a plate as his offering and sat at a distance. Little did he know that his action was going to be a part of a divine miracle.

The thousand-rupee note automatically transformed into equivalent notes of denomination hundred, fifty, ten and five rupees. All those who witnessed this incident were stunned. Bhagawan was smiling. When Nair returned to Mumbai the next day, the headline in the news-paper caught his immediate attention – “The British Government has banned the thousand-rupee notes!”

Nair realized that government is only a medium. It only executes the plan designed by Bhagawan. Even before the order was issued by the government, Nityananda Baba demonetized the thousand-rupee notes in Ganeshpuri.

 

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Mani Iyer's debt cleared

 

By the Grace of Nityananda Baba Mani Iyer earned his living by running a hotel. Breakfast, coffee and meals were available at affordable price to the customers.

Once Mani Iyer ran into a loss of ten thousand rupees which was a big amount in those days. After the celebration of Guru Purnima he told Bhagawan about his loss in business and started crying inconsolably.

Bhagawan spread a cloth on the floor and placed an empty tin-box. On lifting the tin-box currency-notes started falling. When the money was counted it amounted exactly to ten thousand rupees. Giving this money to Mani Iyer, Bhagawan told him to clear out his debt. Mani took the money with gratitude and paid off his creditors.

Next day Iyer recalled that payment of five hundred rupees to an oil shop was still due. Borrowing money from other friends he went to pay the amount. Shop owner handed him a receipt saying, “Iyer, Why did you come today? Someone came yesterday on your behalf and paid the amount.”

Tears of happiness and gratitude rolled down the cheeks of Mani Iyer. He silently offered his pranams to the ever-merciful Bhagawan.

 

 

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Transformation of a thief into renunciant

 

As there was scarcity of water in Kushalnagar(a locality in Kanhangad) Bhagawan Nityananda made an arrangement to dig a well. The well was fixed with a pulley and a rope for the

convenience of people. A newly bought pot to collect water was placed. A bench was also constructed for people to rest under the shade of a tree.

 

One day the rope, the pulley and the pot were stolen. When Bhagawan came to know about the theft He just laughed it off. The very next day the thief who had the stolen the items came running and screaming to Bhagawan Nityananda. “Deva, Bhagavanta, please save me. A stick is beating me continuously. I cannot tolerate the pain. Please pardon me”, saying so he returned all the stolen items and begged for His mercy.

 

When Bhagawan touched him and made him stand up, the beating stopped. As a punishment for his mistake - he was dressed up in a loincloth, mango leaves were tied around the waist, a garland of chakli (a deep fried snack) was wrapped around his neck and was taken in a procession in the town while the school boys were beating the drums. In the procession the thief was made to repeat, “I am a thief, I am a thief.” Sweets were distributed as prasad. After the repentance the thief took sanyas and became a devotee of Bhagawan Nityananda until his last breath.

 

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Bhagawan played the Harmonium

 

Once Bhagawan Nityananda got off the Madras Mail Train at Kanhangad station. He was wearing a coat, formal trousers, a wrist watch and shoes. He also had brought a harmonium with Him, which He gave it to a coolie to carry it and walked towards the sea shore. (This incident was witnessed by Mr. Gopalakrishna Hosadurg, who has written about it in his book 'Bhagawan Nityananda Leelamrita'.)

Bhagawan Nityananda sat under a cashew tree on the sea shore, started playing the harmonium and simultaneously singing 'Om Namah Shivay'. Within a few minutes He broke the harmonium into pieces and threw them away. He removed His clothes and threw them also. He was wearing a green shawl from which He took out sweets and distributed them to devotees.

Nityananda Baba distributed His formal suits, trousers and remained clothed in the white loincloth. One man took His wristwatch without His consent but he was caught by the police when he tried to sell it. When enquired by the police he told that it was gifted by Bhagawan Nityananda. The police approached Bhagawan Nityananda to verify if it was true. The merciful Bhagawan replied in the affirmative. The thief turned into Bhagawan's devotee and stayed in His company lifelong.

 

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Namaz or Bhajan?

There was a Muslim devotee who used to come to Nityananda Ashram to have darshan of Bhagawan. His friends and relatives from the Islamic community did not like this at all. They vehemently opposed it saying, “You have to do Namaz. Never go to Nityananda!”

When he told this matter to Bhagawan, He replied calmly, “Yes, they are right. Doing Namaz at your place is enough. No need to come here. Your prayer reaches me through Namaz also.

All religions are one. Only the forms of God are different. You call banana as kela, we call it kadalee-phalam. So many names for the same thing.”

 

ākashāth pathitham thoyam

yathā gachchathi sāgaram

sarvadeva namaskārah

Keshavam prathi gachchathi

 

The above Sanskrit verse says that as the water that falls down in rain from anywhere in the sky finally reaches the ocean, the worship of any deity ultimately reaches the Supreme Lord.

 

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Mind stinks, not the water

Once many officials along with the governor visited Ganeshpuri. Seeing the hot water spring they said that the water is very polluted. It is stinking very badly. They issued an order to get it cleaned.

Hearing this Bhagawan started laughing telling, “It is their mind which is stinking. The water is sacred. It has the divine power to cure the diseases of people who come here with faith. How will the officers understand this?”

 

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Bhagavan Gifted life to the deceased

 

Once Bhagawan was conversing with His devotees in Vaikuntha Bhavan when someone mentioned the problem of water-scarcity in Ganeshpuri. Bhagawan Nityananda replied, “Can the human body be deprived of blood? You really think there is scarcity of water on earth? There is water for everyone and in abundance.”

Pointing at a place He said, “Look, if you dig a well in that spot you will never have to face dearth of water.” When the well was dug a lot of water gushed forth. A Pooja was performed. The devotees forgot to construct a circular wall around the well.

A woman staying near Brahmapuri used to work in fields and would come to hot water spring to take bath in the night. One day her child followed her when she went out to take bath but she wasn't aware of it. The child fell in the open well and died on the spot. When she got to know about the untimely death of her child she was devastated. She kept the body of her child wrapped in a blanket at the Feet of Bhagawan Nityananda and wept inconsolably. She banged her head to the ground unable to bear the grief. As a result she fell unconscious and was hospitalised.

Bhagawan Nityananda closed His eyes and went into meditation. Within an hour, miraculously, some movement was observed in the blanket in which the child was wrapped. When the blanket was removed it was noticed that the child was alive and breathing. By the grace of merciful Bhagawan the deceased child got a second life.

 

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Bhagawan Nityananda's visit to

Anandashram in Mavungal

Ramdas Swami of Kasargod had darshan of Bhagawan Nityananda for the first time in Pandavas Cave in Kadri. When he met Him again for the second time in Kanhangad, Bhagawan gave a mango fruit blessing him. Bhagawan also asked him to go to Mavungal and chant the name of Lord Rama there. “Initially many people will trouble you. With time everything will be alright”, Bhagawan told Ramdas.

In the year 1931 Ramdas-ji established Anandashram in Mavungal. Bhagawan Nityananda was invited to the inaugural function. He remained silent throughout the function. He didn't utter a single word. He drank coconut water offered to Him. The ashram was sanctified by His auspicious presence. Now the ashram conducts community welfare programmes. Perennial chanting of Ram-naam continues there.

After Ramdas Swami attained Samadhi the ashram was looked after by Mother Krishnabai, the foremost disciple of Ramdas Swami. When I had been to Anadashram in Mavungal Mother Krishnabai blessed me by giving japamaala (chanting beads), a biscuit packet and fifty one rupees. My

spiritual journey began there. Now under the Mother Krishnabai Rural Development Plan twenty five houses have been built for the poor people in Bevinakoppa by Anandashram. We are forever indebted to the mercy of Bhagawan Nityananda.

 

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Bhadrakali and Bhagavan Nityananda 

The priest and Mr.Hingwala reached Ganeshpuri and stood in front of Nityananda Baba. The priest was stunned to see a naked man wearing only a loincloth (langoti) regarded as a Guru. He began to speak in Sanskrit and Baba gave him a reply in Sanskrit. The priest then spoke in Banarasi Hindi. Baba replied to him in the same language. Mr. Hingwala could not understand anything except that it was a long interrogation. Finally the question and answer session ended with the priest suddenly prostrating at Baba's feet.

 

While Mr. Hingwala was all ears when Nityananda Baba and the priest were conversing, he could not make out anything from their conversation. He was shocked to see the sudden change in the priest from being cynical initially to total surrendering to Bhagawan by prostrating at His lotus feet. When both of them came out of Kailas Bhavan Mr. Hingwala asked what had transpired between him and Bhagawan.

The priest said, "I was looking forward to meeting a very learned Mahatma who could dare to perform a Rājas Upachar pooja. It is not an ordinary ritual. One who knows this should also have the means and the will to perform it. On seeing this "langotiwala' I thought to myself what is this man going to know about the Răjas Upachăr Pooja?

To challenge him, I asked several questions in Sanskrit and your langotiwala quoted the scripture in totality. He recited the entire pooja vidhi summary. Then I thought he must be a Brahmin from Benares, so I questioned Him in our much unheard dialect, but your Baba spoke to me in the same dialect as if He was born into it. He is much more than all I could think of. Ours being a renowned family, many Mahatmas, Mahamandaleshwars, Sadhus and Sanyasis visit us. But I have never met anybody any close to His stature!

 

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Many went to Bhagavan asking for Self realization, experiencing Brahman, high spiritual experiences etc. They used to say "Baba place your palm on my head. Let me be transformed. Give the Ultimate Knowledge, Make me free from all bondage. Make me like you. So on and so forth."

Bhagavan used to either just ignore or smile it away. One day a young monk called Satyananda same from Rishikesh. He pleaded to Bhagavan for Atmasakshatkar. He bowed to Bhagavan and placed his forehead on the feet of Bhagavan. No sooner he touched his forehead to the lotus feet, he jumped back with a loud scream. It was as if he was hit by a huge thunder bolt. He was in great pain. Bhagvan was on the other hand Bhagvan was laughing. Bhagvan said "He was given only a fraction of Brahaman and this is state. If real Brahaman is experienced in full dose he will not be able to stand It."

 

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Sadhu Swami Math in Palani

A boy named Swami was born in an affluent family in Tamil Nadu. Whenever he met sadhus he would bring them home and serve them food. After the demise of his father, Swami's mother tried to marry him off. Giving some lame excuse Swami went to Palani.

Though he was no longer staying in a rich house, he would still feed the sadhus in Palani with whatever he got by asking for alms. On seeing the sadhu-seva done by Swami - Bhagawan Nityananda, who was at the time roaming in Palani in Avadhoota state, was immensely pleased. He gave him some money tied in a cloth and told, "Swami, stop begging for food henceforth. There will never be dearth of money to carry out your service. You will be able to offer food to sadhus as long as you want and how much ever you want."

By the grace of Bhagawan Nityananda Swami could continue his sadhu-seva. The money given by Bhagawan became akshaya (never diminishing). A food mess was constructed to feed the sadhus and sanyasis -it is now called 'Sadhu Swami Math'. Even today prasad is served in the Math.

 

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- RAKHADI BABA -

Rakhadi Baba was born in a poor family and left his home in his childhood searching for a living. Baba was in Ujjain for a year then passed a year in Rishikesh and another at Sri Jwalamukhi in Kangra. He stayed three years in Kulu Valley after that, by which time he was in his early twenties having spent almost twelve years in wandering and in Tapas. He came down from the Himalayas and stayed in the Girnar forest for a final year before his momentous meeting with his Guru, Bhagawan Nityananda.

Girnar, in the region sacred to Lord Dattatreya was where Baba heard about Bhagwan Nityananda and experienced strong Bhavana that he must meet and speak to Bhagavan Nityananda. It was crucial to him that Bhagavan Nityananda should talk with him.He left Girnar and came to Vajreswari, near to Ganeshpuri and the Ashram of Bhagavan Nityananda. He was there for three days at the Samadhi of Dogari Baba, living on bhiksha and asking the Mother at Vajreswari to bless him that Bhagawan Nityananda should speak to him. At the first darshan there was a big crowd so Baba waited for it to disperse and was about to approach for darshan when another huge crowd formed.

When Nityananda Bhagawan asked him what he can do he says “I can fight and I can eat and I can eat to fight and I can fight to eat”. He worked in a hotel for some time.

​On the night of Kartika Pournami. Bhagawan walked out of his Ashram without telling anyone where he was going. Moving with the long stride his devotees called ‘swift-as-wing’ he crossed the river by the boulders. It was midnight and at that moment Rakhadi Baba was sitting in meditation before the Homa kunda. Suddenly, his Guru appeared there. Bhagawan Nityananda took Baba straight to Agni Kunda and without a word threw him into the scalding water.

Bhagawan Nityananda then chanted in his ears: OM, and said, “Now the Omkara is invoked in you and you are named Omkarananda”

But he became famous as rakhadi baba because of his habit of smearing ash from the homagundam all over his body. Ash in Hindi is rakh and he became famous as Rakhadi baba.

Rakhadi baba stayed till around mid 1970’s at Nimboli near Ganeshpuri. Samadhi shrine next to Anusuya temple and ashram near Nimboli.