Mahatma Anand Swami was among the greatest Gayatri sadhakas of his time. He held many high positions in Arya Samaj from time to time and was also known for his journalistic attainments. He spread the message of Mother Gayatri inside and outside the country till the ripe old age of 92. His personal sadhana of Gayatri was of the highest order and was reflected in equal measure in all dimensions of his personality – his words, thoughts and actions.
Mahatma Anand Swami wrote Gayatri Mahamantra, Anand Gayatri Katha and many other books on spirituality. Anand Gayatri Katha among these has descriptions of the many miracles of Gayatri sadhana that he personally experienced in the course of his life. Some of these experiences are being given below in his own words.
"In my childhood, when I was studying in the 6th or 7th standard I was a very dull student. The teachers would routinely stand me on the bench at the very beginning of the class and this practice would unfailingly continue in every succeeding class for hours together. Upon returning home, the father would beat me and say – 'you are a moron, wholly incapable of doing anything'! I would weep and reply – 'Father! I do study attentively. But what can I do? Whatever I read I just cannot retain it in my memory'. But the father would not believe me. This routine of daily beating and humiliation depressed me so much that even at that tender age I began to seriously think about committing suicide. Death would be better than this humiliating life. One day, after the classes were over, I went to the small stream flowing by the side of my village. It was rainy season and the river was full. I advanced to the bridge across it and flung myself into the swirling waters underneath. I was determined to die but God had willed otherwise. Probably He had some other scheme for me. The fast currents carried me two miles downstream and threw me on the bank in an unconscious state. The locals there recognized me and took me home.
"One day Swami Nityanand of the Arya Samaj came to visit our village, Jallalpur, and camped in my family's orchard. My father assigned me the duty of taking meals to him daily. One day, upon my father's instruction I took our buffalo to the village pond. The buffalo slowly advanced to the deep waters. I was a kid; I began to shout at her and throw pebbles. Finally the buffalo emerged on the other side of the pond and crossed into the zamindar's fields. By the time I could skirt the pond and reach there, she had ruined a good part of the standing crops. The zamindar came running and thrashed me severely. My bones began to ache. Earlier that day I had taken beatings in school, too. When after the buffalo episode I finally came home, the father was angry at my being so late and he also beat me. I began to pray to God about what I should do. Father then ordered me to take food to Swamiji in the orchard. I did accordingly.
Swamiji started eating and I stood by the side – sad and sullen. Swamiji occasionally looked at my face and after finishing the meal enquired, 'Khushal Chand! What is the matter? Why are you so downcast today? At these words of compassion I began to sob. Swamiji sat me on his lap and asked, 'What has happened?' Why are you so miserable?' I narrated the whole tale of my woes to him. I told him that I was mentally dull and could not recollect any lesson even after trying my best. Swamiji soothed me. He wrote out Gayatri mantra on a slip of paper, gave it to me and said, 'Here is the medicine for your ailment. Get up very early in the morning, about 2 or 3 a.m., when other members of the family are fast asleep, take bath and recite this mantra.' He also explained to me at that time some meanings of the mantra, which I have not forgotten even after such a long time.
From then onwards, I began to get up early. But I felt sleepy during japa. To solve this problem I would tie my choti with a long rope to the iron hook on the ceiling. After 5 or 6 months the effects of the japa were discernible. Previously my answers would be invariably wrong; now I began to pass the examinations. My teachers thought that I was copying someone. I told them that it was not so, that I was only chanting the Gayatri mantra regularly. They were skeptical, but nevertheless I started securing good marks. I wrote a poem too and got a reward of one pound from my teacher. I showed the poem to my father who gave me another pound.
A few months after this another significant even occurred. The annual festival of the Arya Samaj of Jalalpur Jattan was being held. Mahatma Hansraj had delivered a lecture. I prepared a report of this lecture and showed it to him. He asked, 'Whose son are you?' I replied, 'The secretary of Arya Samaj Lala Ganeshdasji is my father'. Mahatmaji enquired from my father about the work I did. My father said, 'He is poor in studies. So I have installed a socks-weaving unit for him.' Mahatmaji said, 'Munshiji, this work is not suitable for the boy. Assign him to me. I will put him to the work for which he is suitable.' Father replied, 'How can I refuse? He is your child. Do as you think fit.'
"Sometime later Mahatmaji summoned me to Lahore. There, I began to work in the Arya Gazette on a monthly salary of thirty rupees. With time I rose to be its editor. During those days there broke out the Moplah revolt in Malabar region. Thousands of Hindus were killed or forcibly converted to Islam. Something had to be done. But the press of the time was adopting a posture of complete silence on this happening. No one wanted to print and bring to light this tyranny on the Hindus. I felt that this was no way to bring about Hindu-Muslim unity. After much deliberation we started Milap magazine with a view to organize the Hindus. Its aim was to usher in Hindu-Muslim unity based on right behavior and conduct and to generate a sense of security.
By the grace of the Mother Gayatri the publication of Milap was a success in spite of initial hiccups. House, cars, cattle and other kinds of riches became available to me. I was blessed with sons and daughters too. I got everything because Mother Gayatri is the bestower of heavenly gifts – progeny, health, happiness,…
In Lahore University's hall an attempt was made on the life of the then Governor of Punjab. Four young men were arrested, prosecuted and awarded death sentence. One of them was my son Ranvir. Meanwhile another mishap occurred. During an Arya Samaj ceremony I slipped and fell down a high hill. The spine was injured. I lay in a Lahore hospital bed, the whole body in plaster. People would come to sympathize with me on the award of capital punishment to Ranvir, their faces showing a sad look appropriate to the occasion. But they would find me cheerful and non-chalant. This would surprise them and they would exclaim, 'Do you have a stone for heart. Your son is standing in the death row and you are smiling'. I would reply confidently, 'Listen, if my good lies in the separation of my son from me, he will be separated for sure. But if our good is destined in his survival, no power on earth will be able to snatch him away.' People would weep for Ranvir; I never did. One day Swami Satyadev, who was guru of the king of Jammu and Kashmir, came to meet me. He looked at me and said, 'You can remain undisturbed and joyous even in the face of this calamity. Who then can take away your son?' His words proved true. Ranvir was discharged and freed.
Mother Gayatri is the bestower of not only material benefits but also spiritual gifts. She purifies the soul and after granting longevity, children and all kinds of glory and riches, beckons one to accompany Her to Brahmaloka (the highest celestial abode). Leaving all these things behind, I put on the ochre robe and marched onto the path shown by the Mother.
Right from the age of eight there has not passed a day when I have not drunk the nectar of Mother Gayatri's grace. The purpose of narrating all this is to emphasize that even in this age of Kali, worship of Mother Gayatri enables one to get all the things about which Bhishma Pitamah had told Yudhisthira. What the rishis and seers over the ages including Shankaracharya, Maharishi Dayanand, Gandhi, Tagore, Tilak and Ramkrishna Paramhansa have preached cannot be untrue. I have myself experienced it personally. Hence I do assert – it is true, it is true, it is true!"
Mahatma Anand Swami wrote Gayatri Mahamantra, Anand Gayatri Katha and many other books on spirituality. Anand Gayatri Katha among these has descriptions of the many miracles of Gayatri sadhana that he personally experienced in the course of his life. Some of these experiences are being given below in his own words.
"In my childhood, when I was studying in the 6th or 7th standard I was a very dull student. The teachers would routinely stand me on the bench at the very beginning of the class and this practice would unfailingly continue in every succeeding class for hours together. Upon returning home, the father would beat me and say – 'you are a moron, wholly incapable of doing anything'! I would weep and reply – 'Father! I do study attentively. But what can I do? Whatever I read I just cannot retain it in my memory'. But the father would not believe me. This routine of daily beating and humiliation depressed me so much that even at that tender age I began to seriously think about committing suicide. Death would be better than this humiliating life. One day, after the classes were over, I went to the small stream flowing by the side of my village. It was rainy season and the river was full. I advanced to the bridge across it and flung myself into the swirling waters underneath. I was determined to die but God had willed otherwise. Probably He had some other scheme for me. The fast currents carried me two miles downstream and threw me on the bank in an unconscious state. The locals there recognized me and took me home.
"One day Swami Nityanand of the Arya Samaj came to visit our village, Jallalpur, and camped in my family's orchard. My father assigned me the duty of taking meals to him daily. One day, upon my father's instruction I took our buffalo to the village pond. The buffalo slowly advanced to the deep waters. I was a kid; I began to shout at her and throw pebbles. Finally the buffalo emerged on the other side of the pond and crossed into the zamindar's fields. By the time I could skirt the pond and reach there, she had ruined a good part of the standing crops. The zamindar came running and thrashed me severely. My bones began to ache. Earlier that day I had taken beatings in school, too. When after the buffalo episode I finally came home, the father was angry at my being so late and he also beat me. I began to pray to God about what I should do. Father then ordered me to take food to Swamiji in the orchard. I did accordingly.
Swamiji started eating and I stood by the side – sad and sullen. Swamiji occasionally looked at my face and after finishing the meal enquired, 'Khushal Chand! What is the matter? Why are you so downcast today? At these words of compassion I began to sob. Swamiji sat me on his lap and asked, 'What has happened?' Why are you so miserable?' I narrated the whole tale of my woes to him. I told him that I was mentally dull and could not recollect any lesson even after trying my best. Swamiji soothed me. He wrote out Gayatri mantra on a slip of paper, gave it to me and said, 'Here is the medicine for your ailment. Get up very early in the morning, about 2 or 3 a.m., when other members of the family are fast asleep, take bath and recite this mantra.' He also explained to me at that time some meanings of the mantra, which I have not forgotten even after such a long time.
From then onwards, I began to get up early. But I felt sleepy during japa. To solve this problem I would tie my choti with a long rope to the iron hook on the ceiling. After 5 or 6 months the effects of the japa were discernible. Previously my answers would be invariably wrong; now I began to pass the examinations. My teachers thought that I was copying someone. I told them that it was not so, that I was only chanting the Gayatri mantra regularly. They were skeptical, but nevertheless I started securing good marks. I wrote a poem too and got a reward of one pound from my teacher. I showed the poem to my father who gave me another pound.
A few months after this another significant even occurred. The annual festival of the Arya Samaj of Jalalpur Jattan was being held. Mahatma Hansraj had delivered a lecture. I prepared a report of this lecture and showed it to him. He asked, 'Whose son are you?' I replied, 'The secretary of Arya Samaj Lala Ganeshdasji is my father'. Mahatmaji enquired from my father about the work I did. My father said, 'He is poor in studies. So I have installed a socks-weaving unit for him.' Mahatmaji said, 'Munshiji, this work is not suitable for the boy. Assign him to me. I will put him to the work for which he is suitable.' Father replied, 'How can I refuse? He is your child. Do as you think fit.'
"Sometime later Mahatmaji summoned me to Lahore. There, I began to work in the Arya Gazette on a monthly salary of thirty rupees. With time I rose to be its editor. During those days there broke out the Moplah revolt in Malabar region. Thousands of Hindus were killed or forcibly converted to Islam. Something had to be done. But the press of the time was adopting a posture of complete silence on this happening. No one wanted to print and bring to light this tyranny on the Hindus. I felt that this was no way to bring about Hindu-Muslim unity. After much deliberation we started Milap magazine with a view to organize the Hindus. Its aim was to usher in Hindu-Muslim unity based on right behavior and conduct and to generate a sense of security.
By the grace of the Mother Gayatri the publication of Milap was a success in spite of initial hiccups. House, cars, cattle and other kinds of riches became available to me. I was blessed with sons and daughters too. I got everything because Mother Gayatri is the bestower of heavenly gifts – progeny, health, happiness,…
In Lahore University's hall an attempt was made on the life of the then Governor of Punjab. Four young men were arrested, prosecuted and awarded death sentence. One of them was my son Ranvir. Meanwhile another mishap occurred. During an Arya Samaj ceremony I slipped and fell down a high hill. The spine was injured. I lay in a Lahore hospital bed, the whole body in plaster. People would come to sympathize with me on the award of capital punishment to Ranvir, their faces showing a sad look appropriate to the occasion. But they would find me cheerful and non-chalant. This would surprise them and they would exclaim, 'Do you have a stone for heart. Your son is standing in the death row and you are smiling'. I would reply confidently, 'Listen, if my good lies in the separation of my son from me, he will be separated for sure. But if our good is destined in his survival, no power on earth will be able to snatch him away.' People would weep for Ranvir; I never did. One day Swami Satyadev, who was guru of the king of Jammu and Kashmir, came to meet me. He looked at me and said, 'You can remain undisturbed and joyous even in the face of this calamity. Who then can take away your son?' His words proved true. Ranvir was discharged and freed.
Mother Gayatri is the bestower of not only material benefits but also spiritual gifts. She purifies the soul and after granting longevity, children and all kinds of glory and riches, beckons one to accompany Her to Brahmaloka (the highest celestial abode). Leaving all these things behind, I put on the ochre robe and marched onto the path shown by the Mother.
Right from the age of eight there has not passed a day when I have not drunk the nectar of Mother Gayatri's grace. The purpose of narrating all this is to emphasize that even in this age of Kali, worship of Mother Gayatri enables one to get all the things about which Bhishma Pitamah had told Yudhisthira. What the rishis and seers over the ages including Shankaracharya, Maharishi Dayanand, Gandhi, Tagore, Tilak and Ramkrishna Paramhansa have preached cannot be untrue. I have myself experienced it personally. Hence I do assert – it is true, it is true, it is true!"
No comments:
Post a Comment