Towards the close of nineteenth century, humanity was
passing through a critical phase. Man’s mind was disturbed and was getting
disintegrated; so was his life. Every life was shattered by activities that are
anti-human and anti-religious. Life on earth was getting more and more
complicated, going away from the laws of nature. Mother India was through
severe pain under the shackle of foreign rule. Amidst the vicious environment,
mother earth still carried some people who were of pure soul and having crystal
living.
One such saintly person was Shiv Chandra Chakraborty, living
in Himayetpur village in Pabna district of northern part of undivided Bengal in
India. Village Himayetpur was blessed by bounty of nature; all types of trees;
varieties of fruits and flowers were there in abundance. The village was
skirted by river Padma, discharging perennial flow from the Himalayan range of
mountains. The village was surrounded by fertile fields, used for growing paddy
and other crops. Other villages in the vicinity were Kashipur, Nazirpur,
Chaatni, Pratappur and some more. Himayetpur, situated at two and half miles
away from Pabna town, had something special in it. Life in Himayetpur was not
so much stressed and ravaged, as in surrounding areas.
Shiv Chandra Chakraborty was a pious brahmin from Sandilya
clan. He was popular for his wisdom and helping attitude to others. Wife
Manamohini Devi was a living image of duty and purity. At her childhood, girl
Manamohini, by virtue of her spiritual merit was blessed by diksha in
dream from then saint of Agra, Huzur Maharaj. Ever since then, Manamohini Devi
was practicing the holy ‘name’ with intensity and sincerity, while performing
all her worldly duties of lady of the home. She displayed immense respect to
superior. Both Shiv Chandra and Manamohini were relentlessly engaged with
service to people. People in and around the village were greatly benefited by
the qualities of head and heart that the couple dispensed.
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Manomohini Devi (1870-1938),
mother, guru of
Thakur Anukulchandra
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Manamohini Devi gave birth to her first child at 07 hours 05
minutes on 14th September 1888. That was 30th day of Bhadra
in 1295 as per Bengali calendar; 9th day of lunar cycle shuklapaksha
(waxing Gibbous phase). That child later came to be known as Sri Sri Thakur
Anukul Chandra. In later years, Manamohini Devi was blessed with two sons,
Prabhash Chandra and Kumud Ranjan, and a daughter Guru Prasadi Devi, the
youngest one.
From the days of infancy, Anukul Chandra displayed unusual
features. A curious combination of charm, hyper activity and leadership
qualities, with a spell of divine aura surrounded him. Whoever saw the boy felt
his endearing manners, perennial love and compassion for others. Boy Anukul
bore qualities like respect for elders, feelings for lonely, deep
inquisitiveness, service to others, a dispassionate outlook; all these acquired
a loving relationship with his peers. His friends used to address him ‘Raja
bhai’ (brother royal). Boy Anukul was a mother’s child. Mother cast an
overwhelming pull on Anukul. Mother imparted diksha to child Anukul, at
the behest of sant Sarkar saheb.
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| THAKUR SRI SRI ANUKULCHANDRA |
Anukul Chandra got his primary education from local Pabna
Institution. He then got nominated for matriculation examination from Mahendra
Nath School, Naiyhati in district ‘24 Pragana’. At that time one of his
classmates came crying to Anukul, as the former could not pay his examination
fee. Friend Anukul offered the money with him for his fee to the friend. That
was the end of school stint for Anukul.
At the age of 17 in the Bengali year 1313, on 24th
day of Shrabana, parents got Anukul married to Sarasibala, aged 11,
daughter of Ramgopal Bhattacharya of Dhopadaha village, residing in Pabna town.
Sarasibala Devi was an ideal lady of the house. She was wholly dedicated to her
husband and had high regards to others in the family. Her qualities like
devotion, service, compassion, act of charity and togetherness are legendary
and stand out as examples to all homemakers. In course of time, she gave birth
to two sons, namely, Amarendra Nath, Bibek Ranjan and two daughters, namely,
Sadhana Devi and Santwana Devi. With passage of time, some women pledged their
life at the service of Anukul Chandra, when he was over fifty years. Some of
them submitted their desire at mother Manamohini Devi to have the holy
privilege of becoming consort of Anukul Chandra. Very reluctantly mother
Manamohini Devi persuaded son Anukul to accept these women as wives. Prominent
amongst them was Sarbamangala Devi, younger sister of Sarasibala Devi. Sarbamangala Devi gave birth to two sons; the
eldest one succumbed to infant mortality and the younger son Pracheta Ranjan is
still there. Anuka Devi was born to Parulbala Devi, Sri Sri Thakur’s wife from
different varna.
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| THAKUR WITH BARO MAA |
Sometime after the marriage with Sarasibala Devi, Anukul
Chandra took admission in National Medical School, Kolkata. At that time, he
had to go through harsh poverty. It was hard for him to maintain himself at
Kolkata with the paltry amount received from mother Manamohini Devi. He had to
share space with the coolies in the coal warehouse of Yogen Bhattacharya on the
grey street for quite some time. On many days he went without food; had to
appease his hunger by drinking water from the roadside taps and slept on the
footpath. Passing through hardships and enduring the hard realities, he
completed his medical study. One of his teachers in medical college Dr. Sashi
Bhusan Mitra observed the divine expressions of the student and later accepted
him as Guru.
Anukul Chandra then returned to his village Himayetpur and
started practicing medicine. Very soon he became a popular doctor. Words about
his perceptive ability to diagnose disease, loving way of dealing with patient,
unerring medicine prescription and his sheer feelings and help to the people
spread around widely. Even the so called incurable diseases were cured by
Anukul’s treatment. That made people to believe that there was some
supernatural power with Anukul Chandra. Patients started pouring in to
Himayetpur from far flung areas.
Anukul Chandra however could not keep himself confined to
medical practice alone for longtime. He realized that a man can hardly be
nourished to health without treating his mind. The root cause of all suffering
lies in man’s obsession with complexes. Therefore, man can attain health and
peace only when he is free from the pull of complexes. Keeping that in mind,
Anukul Chandra mobilized some of his friends and followers and organized
massive kirtans.
The age of kirtan in Anukul Chandra’s life was
actually the phase of revelation of the divinity that he brought down on to the
earth as incarnate. That was the phase when Anukul Chandra brought the entire
society and environment into a spell of divine consciousness. Amongst his kirtan
associates were Kishori Mohan Das, Ananta Nath Ray, Durganath Sanyal, Nafar Ghosh,
Kokan, Bune and others. Some more entrants to the kirtan brigade were
Satish Chandra Goswami, from the family lineage of Prabhupada Adaitya and
Sushil Chandra Basu, who later years became prominent devotees. The mass kirtan
that was staged at that time presented an unusual spectacle of mass devotion,
leading to a stage of euphoria and trance. Anukul Chandra was the leader; the
trigger in the ambience. He displayed a persona that was exceptionally
charming, brilliant and attractive. He bore the image of divine in human form;
a godly expression, a natural spark of brilliance with magnetic attraction.
From that time onwards, Anukul was addressed as Sri Sri Thakur. People came to
view God incarnate in him.
In the midst of kirtan, at the height of mass hysteria,
Sri Sri Thakur used to lapse into state of suspended animation (samaadhi).
At times his body temperature soared high to the level of cinder; and at other
times the temperature would collapse to the level of ice. With ceased heart
beat, his body would lie flat; at times would undergo series of mudra (yogic
acrobatics), all without effort and in quick succession. Jets of blood would
spray out of the pores of his skin. With symptoms of lifelessness, the body
would radiate a glow and the mouth would go uttering words, sounds, voices, of
known and unknown bytes seamlessly. The portions which people could understand
appeared to be messages from high state of consciousness, some responses to
unexpressed thoughts in the minds of people who surrounded. There were also
some outpourings; discordant, disjointed yet powerful and rhythmic. After few
days of this type of events, at the behest of Brundaban Adhikari, a wise man in
Pabna town, parts of messages in Bengali, English and Sanskrit were noted down
by devotees. Those noting have been compiled and published as ‘Holy Book’.
In Bengali year 1316, being requested by Atul Chandra
Bhattacharya, Sri Sri Thakur penned down a charter of advices in one night.
Those have been published in the form a pocketbook named ‘Satyanusaran’.
All these developments centering on Sri Sri Thakur created a
sensation in and outside the country. Inquisitive mind and devoted hearts came
pouring and created a beehive around Sri Sri Thakur. Sri Sri Thakur’s abode in
the village Himayetpur turned to be a shelter for people looking for relief and
solutions of various kinds. Centers of activities, primarily to meet the
natural requirement of visitors and inhabitants, sprung up; like school,
college, hospital, centre of arts, cottage industries and laboratories for
scientific experiments. Keeping people engaged in creative, scientific and
entrepreneurial activities and developing human faculties on a balanced way was
the motive behind all the activities. It was a fusion of science and dharma;
material and spiritual; body, mind and soul; all leading to being and becoming
of man, in symbiosis with surrounding and the Ideal. Sri Sri Thakur’s abode
popularly came to be known as ‘Sri Sri Thakur Anukul Chandra Ashram’. As mother
Manamohini desired, ashram was named as ‘Pabna Satsang Ashram’.
Sri Sri Thakur’s father Shiv Chandra Chakraborty left for
his heavenly abode on 24th Agrahayan in the Bengali year
1330. Even during the period of mourning, Sri Sri Thakur never remised his
pursuit of guiding and caring people, salvaging the fallen and rescuing the
endangered. He was untiringly engaged in building his ideological framework
both in theory and in practice. That ideology sets the path for the humanity,
of current and of the foreseeable future. His cardinal principle for the
unification of the mankind was, ‘God is one, dharma is one, prophets are same,
servers of the One.” He held all the past prophets in high reverence; upheld
and fulfilled all the past prophets through his own conducts and ideology.
While respecting all the past prophets, one is required to follow the
principles of the present one. He said, “All prophets shoot from providence,
hence they are anointed; the present prophet is the consummation of all
prophets, hence all prophets should be revered.” He formulated ideological
tripod, yajan, yaajan and istabhrity, which are to be practiced
every day for the uplift and transformation of every individual, family,
society and the humanity. For maintaining excellence and progressiveness in the
social system, he favoured varnashram and eugenic based marriage.
As prophet of the age, Sri Sri Thakur pioneered a movement
that was designed to give ‘being and becoming’ a reality. He brought in a new
defining shape to the concept of ‘dharma’. He said, “Dharma means the
laws that sustain life and growth with every effulgence of personality; both
individually and collectively.” He raised a guild of dedicated workers, who
were classified and named as: ritwik, adhwarjyu and yaajak.
The guild of ritwiks, out of sheer love for their Lord, marched far and
wide and disseminated the mission and method of love, life and lore, as
propounded by Sri Sri Thakur. Whoever came on the ideological spring board of
Sri Sri Thakur got an access to their inner energy and were adjusted and
elevated, leading a life centered around Ista (the blissful Ideal). The
evil got automatically banished; each one got committed to an Ideal centric
life in a societal grove where mutual love, service and instinct based
livelihood prevailed.
Amidst hectic activities to spread the movement, Sri Sri
Thakur was focused on ‘man making’. Each person was an asset to him, with
biological backdrop and future potential. Sri Sri Thakur’s ideology was
primarily meant for protecting the existence (being) and furthering the growth
(becoming) of each person. Sri Sri Thakur was looking for a band of balanced
and sound personality, devoted and dedicated, to lead his movement for the
benefit of the humanity. Sri Sri Thakur was feeling pain and suffering of every
person in his heart and was only too eager to alleviate the pain and banish the
cause of suffering. Sri Sri Thakur displayed a sensitivity that is very fine
and pervasive, by which he felt the feelings of even an ant. His ideology was
aimed at making every person free from the bondages and luggage of the past
that cause pain and sufferings and make the person progress on the road towards
deliverance.
On 6th day of Chaitra in 1344, mother
Manamohini devi left his dear son for her heavenly abode. Sri Sri Thakur’s life
took a different turn from then onwards, as he did not have any other worldly
anchor to keep him going. Loss of mother left a lifelong void for him; as
mother was everything for him.
On 1st September 1946, amidst torrential
downpour, Sri Sri Thakur left his homestead with a heavy heart. Apparently, he
was advised by doctors for a change of climate for his health. He came to Deoghar
(Baidyanth Dham) in Santhal Pragana district in then Bihar (now in Jharkhand).
His family members and some close disciples accompanied him in this sojourn to
Deoghar. It was tragic that less than a year from then, on 15th
August 1947, India was partitioned and Sri Sri Thakur’s birth place, Himayetpur
in Pabna, remained on the side belonging to Pakistan (now Bangladesh). Sri Sri
Thakur never returned to his birthplace. No devotee of Sri Sri Thakur could
continue to stay there. All the people migrated to this side in India and many
of them preferred to stay at Deoghar, despite all hardship. Slowly, the new
ashram began to grow at Deoghar from the scratch. Sri Sri Thakur’s ashram in
Himayetpur together with properties worth crores of rupees was taken as public
property by Pakistan Government.
Sri Sri Thakur was at his mission and movement. The creator
of the universe got engaged with resettlement and rehabilitation, all alone.
For him, the partition of the country on lines of religion and the holocaust of
communalism that followed was sad, to say the least. But nothing could unnerve
and unsettle him. His mission and movement to save and elevate the humanity
went on a rampage. People in large number, irrespective of caste, clan,
religion, from across the country and some from outside, poured in to Deoghar.
A wave of cultural and spiritual reawakening, a resurgence of life, with
epicenter at Deoghar engulfed the country. People from all walks of life,
common and prominent alike, with various background and expectation, broke down
at the feet of Sri Sri Thakur. Every soul looked for a solution; every one came
expectant; every leader wanted to be led. Sri Sri Thakur fulfilled every heart,
every mind and strengthened every shoulder. Many visitors and onlookers took shelter
of Sri Sri Thakur’s ideology by accepting holy mantra. Sri Sri Thakur’s
discourses with visitors were so powerful, meaningful and so precise in
language that those were recorded. The discussions were jotted down by his
erudite devotee Prafulla Kumar Das and transcript of those have been published
in ‘Alochana Prasange’ in series. Sri Sri Thakur’s ideology and activities got
published in many contemporary magazines and news papers.
Sri Sri Thakur’s ideology is captured in his literature. His
scholarly devotees like Krishna Prasanna Bhattacharya, Sushil Chandra Basu,
Panchanan Sarkar, Khalilur Rehman, Prafulla Kumar Das, Ashwini Kumar Biswas,
Devi Prasad Mukhopadhyay and some more got engaged into creating literature on
Sri Sri Thakur’s personality and ideology. Large number of volumes in various
languages have been written and published on the subject of Sri Sri Thakur and
his sayings. All these books are on philosophy of Sri Sri Thakur, containing
ways and means for the humanity for all time to come.
By the cruel turn of time, came 27th January
1969. Early morning at 04 hours 55 minutes, Sri Sri Thakur, the prophet for the
age, took departure from this world of his creation. The prophet of the age,
having accomplished his mission, laying the foundation of his movement,
relapsed to his cosmic form, into the domain of eternity. Two years after that
fateful day, on 10th May 1971, most respectful, image of Laxmi,
Sarasibala breathed her last. A glorious chapter in the history of divine play
on the earth came to an end.
What remained however is the undying print of his ideology.
That ideology lays down the path for the humanity. Sri Sri Thakur remains with
his devotees and provide the support and guidance, as he used to do when he was
alive on the earth. In his current form, Sri Sri Thakur remains invisible, but
not inaccessible and is always responsive. He said, ‘I have given everything in
black and white, in prose and verse. I wish, people can talk to me, even when I
won’t be there’. He expressed desire from his devotees, by saying, ‘you all are
my limbs. I like to move around everywhere through you all.’
World after Thakur’s incarnation waits good time. Good time
will come when people follow Sri Sri Thakur’s principles, with sincerity and
devotion. The incarnate of the age descended on the earth to share and shift
our agony. He besought uninterrupted adherence and undiluted devotion from us.
He wanted to remain alive through us. As devotees, our peace lies in his
pleasure. It will be our continuous pursuit to be up to his expectation.
---- Jay Guru
