by Sri Sumit Duttagupta
I never knew Her real name nor do I know so now. She was always referred to as “Bombay Ma” by Her devotees and I too worshipped Her as “Bombay Ma” - which She accepted with following response: ‘What is in a name? I’m physically here in front of you, but my presence is omnipresent in all creations.
So let me start recounting the journey of those precious years of getting Her blessings and listening to Her sermons which were so simple to practice. In fact She used to answer all my questions in a very simple way as if She knew what the true purpose of those questions were. I first met Bombay Ma (who for the remainder of the article I shall simply refer to as ‘Ma’) at Her Shivaji Park residence in Mumbai when we were stationed there following my father’s job transfer. I would visit Ma along with my mother, and during such times She would only discuss routine household matters with my mother. I never sensed anything remarkable about Ma during these visits, except perhaps a fascination for Her long, overflowing hair (jata). After many years, Ma suddenly expressed a desire to settle permanently in Kolkata to my sister. She readily agreed to the request and my father constructed a house with one floor fully dedicated for Bombay Ma. Well that is when the journey of knowing the un-known started for me, courtesy of Ma’s evening sermons. Her sermons more often were focused towards answering the lingering questions I harboured, but would occasionally involve Ma spontaneously addressing a random topic. I will try my best to put forth the contents of some of Her sermons that she imposed no restrictions on with regards to sharing with others. There were however other sermons that Ma administered to a particular individual (for a specific purpose), the contents of which She insisted may not be shared with others unless the receiver of these sermons attained Self Realization.
Ma would always have a smile on Her face. She never displayed any sign or anxiety, nor ever became perturbed over a particular incident. She always used to tell me that everything has a time and do not try to push yourself against time. Stay focussed on what you would like to achieve and it will come to you in its own time. The harder you try, the more pain you will feel besides ushering in a negative impact on your environment. Always try to make your environment, positive. There is always someone who is within your soul to guide you, so why worry? If you are honest in your deeds, positive results will follow eventually. It’s just that certain elements of your past life’s actions impact the quantum of results and cause delays. So be happy with your incremental gains rather than becoming sad on not getting the expected results.
In one of the evening sermon, She suddenly drew my attention to the balcony and said, “See so many souls are hanging out there on the grills, waiting to be freed” and smiled at me. I could not see or sense anything but asked Her whether even after death, one is bound by the forces of nature? Ma said “Yes, and you should always strive to know yourself and free yourself from this cycle of birth & death and the forces of nature. You can only free yourself after being born as a human being. It is a difficult path but can be achieved.” I wanted to know then how to tell when one’s time to pursue (what Ma instructed to do) has come.
A few weeks later, I resumed the same topic of achieving Self Realization and asked Her “Ma is it necessary to leave home and take sanyas to achieve self-realization”. She looked at me for a while and said, “If the past life’s deeds are good, then one can achieve the same by living within one’s home and family itself.” Ma said that the only issue to consider is how many of your family members will appreciate your wish to attain Self Realization and cooperate with you. “There are some intense practices and regular meditation to align your thoughts towards “Sattivic” goals which are very difficult to keep up with. But yes, it is very achievable and one should always strive for it. I will not discuss much of the later sermons on how to achieve the same as “Ma” told me not to disclose the same unless you have achieved the same. I am still on my journey but one hint which I can share is that most of Her sayings in this context are available in Sri Sri Babathakur’s “Knowledge of Knowledge – Part2”. You all need to read it in detail and understand the essence.
Sometimes during sermons, I would feel intense energy around Her when She was meditating and on one occasion, felt some sort of vibration (similar to a static electric charge) going through my nerves. She opened Her eyes and smiling at me said, “Never disturb or sit beside someone when someone is in meditation.” I instantly asked Her about the reason for this and Ma replied that all have masters and someone to adhere to and during meditation, it’s the time to connect with one’s master. So any disturbance distracts that connectivity, and in some cases, harms the person responsible. From that time onwards, I never used to sit when Ma was in meditation. Ma once told me that meditation is the only tonic to keep yourself Self-Realized even after you have realized yourself. Ma said that even after freeing yourself from the forces of nature, you are free to come to this earth in different avatars and live simple life or energize the society towards spiritual journey. The earth is the only place where you will get the opportunity to free yourself from this bondage.
One day while discussing avatars, I mentioned to Ma that no great avatars had come to this earth after Lord Krishna. Ma looked at me and said it is not necessary that avatars repeat what had been done by other avatars in the past. Ma said “If I say to you that Sri Sri Babathakur and Lord Krishna are the same, but born in different times with different form, will you believe in this?” I was stumped and said “Ma in that case, you have also taken a different form at different times.” Ma smiled at me and said “This is enough. To know more, you need to first realize yourself and then you will get all your answers."
Ma always kept to Herself and never displayed the immense spiritual power She had within Her. In fact on some selected occasions, I used to go to Her to seek Her blessings for some day-day solutions. She would simply look upwards and say that She had communicated my problem to the Lord and my entire problem will be solved. Indeed all those problems would get resolved. I asked once, if all the problems arising are owing to one’s past actions and deeds, why then does the Lord sometimes make exception in resolving the same at the earliest. Ma smiled at me and said that Lord is very kind and he is always there to help any devotee who believes in Himself/Herself and at the same time express full devotion towards Him. I instantly asked “Where does the Lord reside”? Ma smiled at me and said, “He is within you all and once you realize yourself and get freed from this cycle, you will get to know His abode.” Ma said, “Do not stress over knowing the answer to this question, it will come to you on its own once you achieve self- realization.”
I will now take a break from narrating my interactions with Ma. There are several other valuable lessons from Ma’s sermons that I shall reveal at a latter time. One thing evident from Her sermons is that “Self Realization” is the only path, and it can be achieved through a self-belief and confidence while living within the confines of family life and by under a controlled environment and behaviour. So friends, try practicing what I’ve attempted to convey in my earlier article and keep the incremental progress going; even if it is not achieved in this birth, you will get the opportunity and environment in the next birth to achieve the same from where you left. So let us stay focussed on our goal in midst of our day to day activities. Ma always said “It is a long difficult and strenuous journey full of distractions and roadblocks, but is very much achievable for devotees who are true in their spirits.”
I will end this article with my humble pronam to Ma.
Joy Sri Sri Babathakur
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