Saint Sketch - Anandamayi Ma - Last Part

[Ravishankar.G]

Dear All,

Ma accepted all faiths as paths leading to the Lord. Once, during a kirtan she walked out in trance to the mazhar of a Fakir [Muslim Saint]. When the Muslim caretaker there opened the doors she went round the mazhar chanting from the Koran. Though she had no knowledge of the Muslim way of worship she offered namaaz just as Muslims do. The Muslim caretaker accompanied her on her return home and participated in the Kirtan and even fed Ma with a piece of candy.

Ma’s devotees built an ashram for her in Dhaka. But she was always on the move not staying put in the ashram. She traveled throughout India. It is said that once Mahatma Gandhi questioned her on her continuous wanderings and she replied that she was really only in one place; that there is only one garden and she was really moving within its premises only.
Ma said that considering ourselves as separate entity was a disease [‘bhava roga’].

Once, on a hillock she experienced the whole atmosphere charged with divinity. Many gods and goddesses including Rama and Krishna were there in the form of children. There were also Saints there and the whole hillock was filled with them.

Ma said that many great souls visited her in the form of snakes, etc. Learned men and men holding high positions came for her darshan and blessings. Devotees in need were permitted to speak to her in private. She spent long hours giving darshan and talking to devotees. Ma blessed large gatherings.
There have been several incidents in her life to show the love and compassion she had for her devotees. Here is one such interesting incident in her life—Once, Ma along with two attendants of hers went to the railway station in a devotee’s car. There she requested that devotee to buy three train tickets to Saranath but the devotee hesitated, for, there was no train to Saranath for the next twenty-four hours. But Ma as adamant and the tickets were bought. A train arrived and Ma boarded the train with her two attendants though informed that it would not stop at Saranath. After a time the train suddenly stopped as there was no clear signal. At once Ma got down asking her two attendants also to get down. She began to walk away from the station with quick strides. They could not comprehend what was happening. The two attendants soon realized that they were in Saranath! Ma took them through the path that led to Birla Dharamsala. She entered the Dharamsala and walked straight into a particular room within. Here, a female devotee of Ma sat crying out for Ma! This Maratti devotee had come from a long distance to Saranath as she had been [mis]informed that Ma was there. On reaching Saranath she was terribly disappointed on learning that Mas was at Vaaraanasi. The Dharamsala was huge and in a remote area of Saranath. This devotee was unnerved to spend the night all alone there. Further, she was suffering from high fever. She began to desperately cry out to Ma for help, ‘Ma! Ma!’ Ma stood before her and said that everything was fine as she had come. Ma then spent the night talking and joking with her.

Ma was constantly at the bedside of her husband Bholanth when he fell ill. She served him until his death in May 1938. She held her hand on his head at the time of his death. Of death itself Ma said that it was akin to moving from one room to another and none was lost to her.

andamayi Ma was not initially recognized by the Sadhu Samaj as she was a woman. However, Sri Prabhu Dattaji Maharaj came in close contact with her. In 1944 he invited her to the council of Sadhus at Jhunsi. Sadhus came to know her and accepted her greatness. The heads of Monastic Orders also recognized her divinity.

During her meeting with Paramahamsa Yogaananda she said that her spiritual identity did not undergo any change since her childhood. It has always been the same. Any change found in her life was only for the benefit of the devotees. As for the huge crowd that followed her she said that just as one did not feel the weight of his head, hands and feet, so too, did she feel that all the people following her were only part of that body. Their joys and sorrows were experienced as her own.

Ma encouraged women to lead the life of celibates. She revived Naimishaaranya as a place of pilgrimage. Here, she built a Temple where kirtans and religious rites were performed.

Speaking of chanting the Divine name of lord, Ma has said that there was no need to renounce the world and run away. One could be with the world keeping a fire burning – the ‘FIRE OF HIS NAME’. She said that the ‘Fire of the Divine Name of the Lord’ will burn down all impurities and lead the purified soul to Him. She said, “Live your life in this world but keep Him along.”

With her health deteriorating her darshan became rare. Food intake came to a stop towards the end. She attained mahasamaadhi at Dehradun on 27th August, 1982 at 8 p.m. Her Divine body was taken to Kankhal and a Samadhi (Memorial) was built there.

 

Regards & Please Chant
Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare
Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare
and be happy

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