Devotee’s experience: Mere Coincidence or a Bhakta’s Earnest Desire Realized
by
Smt. Champa Dasgupta
Back in November 2004, I traveled to Kolkata to attend the wedding of a close relative accompanied by my husband, Shri Anjan Dasgupta and our then 2-year old child, Dev. As is often the case with folks visiting India on vacations, ours was a packed itinerary consisting of several short stops at places often separated by vast distances.
Being in Kolkata, I wasn’t about to pass up the opportunity of visiting Sri Sri Babathakur for anything in the world. Time and circumstances however were not on my side. We had allocated just 4 days of our hectic India trip to Kolkata - most of that period reserved to attend the myriad ceremonies typically associated with a Hindu wedding. Also confronting us was the unpleasant development of Dev contracting a high fever on the second day of our stay in Kolkata. The incessant travel had taken a toll on the child's health. Not helping matters either was the significant distance between Behala (the site of the wedding) and the Metropolitan Cooperative Housing Society. It certainly didn’t facilitate a quick visit to Sri Sri Babathakur on short notice.
We decided to visit Sri Sri Babathakur on the penultimate day of our stay in Kolkata (by which time the majority of the wedding ceremonies would have been over) before embarking on a cross-country trip to our next destination – the holy town of Shirdi, made famous by the great saint Sri Sai Baba. Per our plans, I called Sri Sri Babathakur on the eve of our departure from Kolkata. I sought His permission for a darshan, but He replied that a darshan would not be possible as He had some work to attend to that evening. In His loving way, Sri Sri Babathakur chided me about neither bothering to let Him know of our plans, nor caring to ascertain His availability until the very last moment.
Needless to say, I was extremely disappointed at not being able to see Him. I also felt angry and guilty for not letting Sri Sri Babathakur know of our plans ahead of time. With heavy hearts we boarded the Gitanjali Express from Howrah to take us to Nasik, from where we commenced the onward journey to Shirdi by employing the services of a cab.
Upon arriving in Shirdi and checking in to one of the local hotels, we proceeded immediately to the Samadhi mandir, the resting place of Sri Sainath. The ambiance inside the temple was serene to the say the least. After paying our homage to Sri Sainath, we stopped by a delightful little cafeteria located within the premises of the temple itself serving warm snacks and tea to weary devotees. As we sat on a bench savoring our tea, Anjan suddenly drew my attention in the direction of a figure seated underneath a tree in the distance. He was deeply engrossed in conversation with a flock of devotees gathered around Him. ‘Look’ my husband exclaimed ‘Doesn’t He quite look like Sri Sri Babathakur’! I couldn’t believe my eyes, for the figure in question indeed looked exactly like our dear Sri Sri Babathakur! Dressed in white from head to toe (i.e. white cap, white shirt, white dhoti, white socks), He even had a support stick and wore glasses similar to those belonging to Sri Sri Babathakur.
I continued observing the Sadhu Maharaj ji from a distance. I remember Anjan saying something to the effect, ‘Since you couldn’t visit Sri Sri Babathakur in Kolkata despite wanting so badly to do so, His Holiness Himself has traveled to Shirdi to grant you a darshan.’ The longer I stared at the Sadhu, the louder this voice within me kept saying, “Sri Sri Babathakur is Omnipotent, He is Omniscient, He surely must know how much I wanted to have His darshan!” Mere words cannot describe the feelings of pure joy and tranquility that enveloped me as I walked the few steps to where the Sadhu Maharaj ji was seated and touched His feet – fully believing in my heart that I was touching the Holy Feet of Sri Sri Babathakur.
After paying our respects to the Sadhu, we headed back to the cafeteria again to buy more tea and snacks. Along the way, all we could talk about was the amazing experience we had just been through and the immense joy it had brought us. Hurriedly grabbing our snacks, we made a beeline for the spot where the Sadhu Maharaj ji had been sitting. It couldn’t have been more than 10 minutes since we had last seen Him at that very location - yet neither He nor any of the devotees we had observed conversing with Him could be spotted! We searched for Him all around the temple premises but couldn’t locate Him. Come to think of it, we never ever saw Him again during the entire duration of our 3-day long stay in Shirdi.
Four years have elapsed since the occurrence of this incident. Over time, the identity of the Sadhu I had come across at Shirdi (i.e. Sri Sri Babathakur Himself, or somebody baring a striking resemblance to Him) has become a moot point for me. What has instead assumed greater significance is the realization (or to be more accurate, the faith) that it was Sri Sri Babathakur Himself Who had orchestrated the chain of events on that fateful day. It was He who had set things up in a way that made it possible for me to experience the kind of pure bliss I could only attain through a darshan of Him!
It wouldn’t be honest of me to claim that dealing with the daily struggles of life doesn’t on occasion dim my Faith. Doubts about the Good Lord’s sense of fairness and His love for me creep into my weak mind every now and then. I am however eventually reminded of the following quote from Gita:
“Fix your mind on Me, be devoted to Me, offer service to Me, bow down to Me, and you shall certainly reach Me. I promise you because you are very dear to Me”
Surely few things in life if any, are more reassuring than the awareness of the Almighty unconditionally loving us and steadfastly looking out for our best interests. His love for us, His devotees far exceeds the love we could ever have for Him!
by
Smt. Champa Dasgupta
Back in November 2004, I traveled to Kolkata to attend the wedding of a close relative accompanied by my husband, Shri Anjan Dasgupta and our then 2-year old child, Dev. As is often the case with folks visiting India on vacations, ours was a packed itinerary consisting of several short stops at places often separated by vast distances.
Being in Kolkata, I wasn’t about to pass up the opportunity of visiting Sri Sri Babathakur for anything in the world. Time and circumstances however were not on my side. We had allocated just 4 days of our hectic India trip to Kolkata - most of that period reserved to attend the myriad ceremonies typically associated with a Hindu wedding. Also confronting us was the unpleasant development of Dev contracting a high fever on the second day of our stay in Kolkata. The incessant travel had taken a toll on the child's health. Not helping matters either was the significant distance between Behala (the site of the wedding) and the Metropolitan Cooperative Housing Society. It certainly didn’t facilitate a quick visit to Sri Sri Babathakur on short notice.
We decided to visit Sri Sri Babathakur on the penultimate day of our stay in Kolkata (by which time the majority of the wedding ceremonies would have been over) before embarking on a cross-country trip to our next destination – the holy town of Shirdi, made famous by the great saint Sri Sai Baba. Per our plans, I called Sri Sri Babathakur on the eve of our departure from Kolkata. I sought His permission for a darshan, but He replied that a darshan would not be possible as He had some work to attend to that evening. In His loving way, Sri Sri Babathakur chided me about neither bothering to let Him know of our plans, nor caring to ascertain His availability until the very last moment.
Needless to say, I was extremely disappointed at not being able to see Him. I also felt angry and guilty for not letting Sri Sri Babathakur know of our plans ahead of time. With heavy hearts we boarded the Gitanjali Express from Howrah to take us to Nasik, from where we commenced the onward journey to Shirdi by employing the services of a cab.
Upon arriving in Shirdi and checking in to one of the local hotels, we proceeded immediately to the Samadhi mandir, the resting place of Sri Sainath. The ambiance inside the temple was serene to the say the least. After paying our homage to Sri Sainath, we stopped by a delightful little cafeteria located within the premises of the temple itself serving warm snacks and tea to weary devotees. As we sat on a bench savoring our tea, Anjan suddenly drew my attention in the direction of a figure seated underneath a tree in the distance. He was deeply engrossed in conversation with a flock of devotees gathered around Him. ‘Look’ my husband exclaimed ‘Doesn’t He quite look like Sri Sri Babathakur’! I couldn’t believe my eyes, for the figure in question indeed looked exactly like our dear Sri Sri Babathakur! Dressed in white from head to toe (i.e. white cap, white shirt, white dhoti, white socks), He even had a support stick and wore glasses similar to those belonging to Sri Sri Babathakur.
I continued observing the Sadhu Maharaj ji from a distance. I remember Anjan saying something to the effect, ‘Since you couldn’t visit Sri Sri Babathakur in Kolkata despite wanting so badly to do so, His Holiness Himself has traveled to Shirdi to grant you a darshan.’ The longer I stared at the Sadhu, the louder this voice within me kept saying, “Sri Sri Babathakur is Omnipotent, He is Omniscient, He surely must know how much I wanted to have His darshan!” Mere words cannot describe the feelings of pure joy and tranquility that enveloped me as I walked the few steps to where the Sadhu Maharaj ji was seated and touched His feet – fully believing in my heart that I was touching the Holy Feet of Sri Sri Babathakur.
After paying our respects to the Sadhu, we headed back to the cafeteria again to buy more tea and snacks. Along the way, all we could talk about was the amazing experience we had just been through and the immense joy it had brought us. Hurriedly grabbing our snacks, we made a beeline for the spot where the Sadhu Maharaj ji had been sitting. It couldn’t have been more than 10 minutes since we had last seen Him at that very location - yet neither He nor any of the devotees we had observed conversing with Him could be spotted! We searched for Him all around the temple premises but couldn’t locate Him. Come to think of it, we never ever saw Him again during the entire duration of our 3-day long stay in Shirdi.
Four years have elapsed since the occurrence of this incident. Over time, the identity of the Sadhu I had come across at Shirdi (i.e. Sri Sri Babathakur Himself, or somebody baring a striking resemblance to Him) has become a moot point for me. What has instead assumed greater significance is the realization (or to be more accurate, the faith) that it was Sri Sri Babathakur Himself Who had orchestrated the chain of events on that fateful day. It was He who had set things up in a way that made it possible for me to experience the kind of pure bliss I could only attain through a darshan of Him!
It wouldn’t be honest of me to claim that dealing with the daily struggles of life doesn’t on occasion dim my Faith. Doubts about the Good Lord’s sense of fairness and His love for me creep into my weak mind every now and then. I am however eventually reminded of the following quote from Gita:
“Fix your mind on Me, be devoted to Me, offer service to Me, bow down to Me, and you shall certainly reach Me. I promise you because you are very dear to Me”
Surely few things in life if any, are more reassuring than the awareness of the Almighty unconditionally loving us and steadfastly looking out for our best interests. His love for us, His devotees far exceeds the love we could ever have for Him!
* "Self- Knowledge reveals to him only, who acquires the right
Knowledge.": Sri Sri Babathakur.
