POESY : HOLI REJOINDER TO BOISHAKHI GHOSH

রঙ যেন মোর মর্মে লাগে,

আমার সকল কর্মে লাগে || (রবীন্দ্রনাথ ঠাকুর)

--------------------------------------------------------------------

মর্ম যেথায় কর্মহারা,

যেথায় রঙের উৎসধারা,

সেথায় প্রভুর পূর্ণপ্রেমে

রঞ্জিত হ'ক নবীন ফাগে || (সুগত বসু)

-------------------------------------------------------------------

রঙ যেন মোর মর্মে লাগে,

আমার সকল কর্মে লাগে || (রবীন্দ্রনাথ ঠাকুর)

--------------------------------------------------------------------

রচনা : রবীন্দ্রনাথ ঠাকুর ও সুগত বসু 

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

নটরাজ

নীরব নিশীথিনীর বুকে নিখিল ধ্বনি ধ্বনিয়া।

আয় রে তোরা, আয় রে তোরা, আয় রে।

বাঁধনহারা রঙের ধারা ঐ যে বহে যায় রে।

শেষের রঙ

রাঙিয়ে দিয়ে যাও গো এবার

যাবার আগে,—

আপন রাগে,

গোপন রাগে,

তরুণ হাসির অরুণ রাগে

অশ্রুজলের করুণ রাগে।

রঙ যেন মোর মর্মে লাগে,

আমার সকল কর্মে লাগে,

সন্ধ্যাদীপের আগায় লাগে,

গভীর রাতের জাগায় লাগে।

যাবার আগে যাও গো আমায়

জাগিয়ে দিয়ে

রক্তে তোমার চরণদোলা

লাগিয়ে দিয়ে।

আঁধার নিশার বক্ষে যেমন তারা জাগে,

পাষাণগুহার কক্ষে নিঝরধারা জাগে,

মেঘের বুকে যেমন মেঘের মন্দ্র জাগে,

বিশ্বনাথের কেন্দ্রে যেমন ছন্দ জাগে,

তেমনি আমায় দোল দিয়ে যাও

যাবার পথে আগিয়ে দিয়ে,

কাঁদন বাঁধন ভাগিয়ে দিয়ে।

রচনা : রবীন্দ্রনাথ ঠাকুর

POESY : চল, তুলসীতলায় যাই

 

চল, তুলসীতলায় যাই

●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●

রাতজাগা এক পাখি আমি,

গাইছি রাতে তুলসী স্বামী |

তবু দেখ, দেখ কী অনীহা,

ভক্তচিতে অন্ধ স্পৃহা |

কেউ চায় না রে ভাই সত্যে নিতে,

ব্যস্ত সবাই এবে তৈল দিতে |

যারা করল অনৃতভাষণ,

তাদেরই তো চলছে শাসন |

তুলসীতলায় কেউ যায় না,

ঋতচেতনা কেউ চায় না |

যেদিক ভারী বৈভবেতে,

সেদিকমুখো কৃপা পেতে,

ভক্ত তথা, বনিক যথা,

মেরুদণ্ডবিহীন গুল্মলতা |

এই ভাব যেন তার দেবতা এতে

হবেন খুশী, দেবেন পেতে

কৃপার থালি উজাড় করে,

তৈল পেয়ে খুশীর ঘোরে |

সত্য যেথা হচ্ছে বলি,

যূপকাষ্ঠে যুগের, যাচ্ছে কলি,

তুলসী ও সেই খড়্গাঘাতে

অবলুপ্তপ্রায় ভীষণ রাতে |

ভক্ত তুমি, কেমন মানুষ ?

বিবেক কোথায় ? কোথায় বা হুঁশ ?

দলে ভারী যেদিক দেখ,

সেই দিকেতেই হেলতে থাকো ?

সত্যে রুচি নেই বুঝি আর ?

হংসপরম হয় ছারখার |

তোমার ভিনরকমের ভক্তিতে ভাই

মজবে প্রভু, মিলবে কি ঠাঁই

ওই চরণে মিথ্যা বলে,

মিছের সাথে মিথ্যা ছলে,

এক সুরেতে সুর মিলিয়ে,

নীতি, ধর্ম সব বিলিয়ে ?

ভেবে দেখ সত্য বেচে,

অনৃতরূপ নৃত্য নেচে

কোন্ লোকে তুমি দেবে পাড়ি

মর্ত্যে যখন টানবে দাঁড়ি 

ওই হংসপরম পরমহংস,

তাঁর কলমীদলের সদ্বংশ,

যারা সত্য ছাড়া মিথ্যা না কয়,

ঋতচেতনায় নিত্য যে রয় ?

তুলসীতলায় আজও পূজা

করছে মাতা দশভূজা |

সেথা দাও হে জোগান,

চড় ঋত দেবযান

যদি রামকৃষ্ণলোকে

চাও যেতে | দাও ওকে

তার যোগ্য আসন,

ঠিক পরিচয়, সঠিক শাসন |

ভ্রান্ত জেনেও কলুষ কর ?

ভ্রষ্টপক্ষে ধ্বজা ধর ?

কেমন ধর্ম, কেমন কর্ম

যা সত্য ছেড়ে মিথ্যামর্ম

নির্দ্বিধায় প্রচার করে,

জত্যূগৃহে অগ্নি ধরে

ভুলে কালাকাল ?

এমন পক্ষ সমর্থনে

হবে যে বেহাল | 

এখনও সময় আছে,

প্রভুর কৃপা নিত্য কাছে |

সঠিক কথা তুলে ধর,

রামকৃষ্ণে ভরসা কর |

তুলসীতলায় অসীম ক্ষমা,

দয়ানিধির ইষ্ট রমা

জটিল তত্ত্ব সরল করে

দেবেন আজি ভোরে |

কে কোথায় আছিস, ওরে,

সত্যপথে আয় |

বেলা বয়ে যায় ||

রচয়িতা : সুগত বসু (Sugata Bose)

MESSAGES GALORE ... 132

MESSAGES GALORE ... 132

1. Sleep no more. Awake to your sleeping divinity. Awake! Arise!

2. Scepticism carried to a fault is counterproductive. 

3. Constant loving memory of God is Bhakti. 

4. Forget you are the body and reach the Spirit. Every moment aver your freedom from flesh and form. Manifest your divinity in every movement of life. Look upon all as divine, no less yourself.

5. The quality of the population is progressively going down. It is an imperative now for enlightened citizens to pass on the gene like ancient Brahma-nishthha Hrishis used to do. Marriage after enlightenment and progeny thereof to continue the seer-chain.

6. Versatility is the development of both width and depth of personality of which two of the best exemplars were Ramakrishna and Leonardo.

7. With limbs all open they use them to tie themselves up. And then they cry foul that all is amiss. Strange predicament. Māyā!

8. The Holy Name dispels Māyā, cuts the fetters that bind the soul to Nature. Incessantly chant. But then, who listens? They all know so much!

9. Apologising on behalf of weakness and deliberately persisting with it is sheer hypocrisy that can only drag a person down. Be sincere.

10. There are devotees galore, disciples in dozens of dozens, and, yet, not one is devotee or disciple worth the call.

11. How can the Divine dwell where desires rule?

12. The ghost of worldliness is on people. Unless one rids onself of this unseemly companion, there is not much hope for spiritual progress.

13. সরল না হলে হবে না | বাঁকাবুদ্ধিতে বাঁকেবিহারীলাভ হয় না |

14. There is a clothing and behind it two more such. Behind these is Truth.

15. Self-realisation is the solution to life's maladies.

16. বহুত্ব হতে সমস্যা, একত্বে সমাধান |

17. Simplicity is an attribute which manifests in one's last earthly life. If you have it, God-vision is at hand.

18. Is God last priority? Then ruin awaits us all.

19. Work, enjoyment, recreation---all are prioritised over spiritual practice and man complains he cannot find peace. Hypocrisy has its limits! 🕉 Shanti!

20. Business, Thou art today's God! 

21. Develop shraddhā for dharma, O youth of the day!

22. 

Do not worry,

Do not hurry,

Think of Hari.

23. We are free, never bound. This thought must be affirmed day in and day out. Then this freedom will be apparent, then realised. Free we are, free we were, free shall ever be. The part is the whole. This is the divine equation, paradoxical though it may seem. 'Jiva Brahmaiva nā parah'.

24. Neglect of God in pursuit of pleasure will fail to conquer death in the end.

25. পৃথিবী আমার স্বদেশ |

26. বৈভবে ঐতিহ্যনাশ | ইতিহাসের সংরক্ষণ চাই, ঐশ্বর্য্যস্তূপীকরণে তার অবলুপ্তি নয় |

27. Rely on the Ātmā. Be fearless. In this dark night of travel shine light on yourself and others. They all are you in so many forms. Onward!

28. The more you chant the Holy Name, the more beautiful you become in every sense and peace pervades your entire being. You become a blessing unto all.

29. Existence cannot not be. Existence simply is. Great insight is needed. By the grace of the Ātmā the Ātmā is perceived in the Ātmā by the Ātmā. 

30. Brahmajnān is immediate Self-consciousness by the Self. Brahman is nameless, attributeless, Absolute Existence. No relativity there. Substance, not Void.

31. A seed has been planted. Now water the soil around and let it shoot. When the tree comes to life, you shall savour its fruit.

32. Between thought and speech, speech and deed there must be parity.

33. Hindus, awake, arise and unite!

হিন্দু, জাগো, ওঠো, ঐক্যবদ্ধ হও! 🕉

34. A great spiritual movement is in the offing. Awake!

35. Why should you fear anything at all? Aren't you God?

36. Keep chanting night and day. Let the Word vibrate in your system and transform you. You are divine. Now realise it.

37. Mantrārūrha Guru. The Guru is mounted on the Mantra.

38. Guru means heavy. He is resting in Truth at the base of the causal ocean. Sachchidānanda Guru.

39. 'Tamaso mā jyotirgamaya', from darkness unto light leads the Guru.

40. An enlightened Guru can dispel delusions of the disciple. Too many people, many an aspirant, are in the dark owing to lack of proper direction.

41. Implicit obedience to the Guru leads to illumination.

42. After God-realisation a human becomes a numan (new man).

43. Beauty is of the Soul that reflects off the body onto the beholder's eye much like the rays of the sun reflecting off the moon on a fullmoon night to entrance the poetic soul. Hence, spiritual practices and purity manifest beauty in the body and in the mind. This is the Sundaram Principle in an aspect as well where symmetry, the essence of the beauteous form, has been drawn attention to in the localised human context.

44. Greed has become the dominant vice in this day and age. Online begging by way of doing business is an occurrence that has assumed universal proportions.

45. Praise of the Lord liberates.

46. The Holy Name is omnipotent. Chant your way to freedom.

47. The craving for sense-pleasure stirs the mind to restlessness and kills peace. Renunciation restores the lost balance and brings in a settled peace.

48. 

Guru-shishya, preceptor-pupil, Ramakrishna-Nirmalananda.

গুরু-শিষ্য, রামকৃষ্ণ-নির্মলানন্দ |

49. To prescribe only one way of living for all to the exclusion of all else by way of divine mandate is in itself the seed of dissension and war. 

50. ঠাকুরের অমৃতস্পর্শ থেকে বোঝা যায় তিনি ভগবান |

51. The immature Narendranath came to Thakur in his mature years of ministration. What transpired thereafter is history. 

52. ক্ষীণদৃষ্টি, দূরদৃষ্টি, ঊর্ধ্বদৃষ্টি এবং অন্তর্দৃষ্টি---এই চার প্রকার দৃষ্টি বিকশিত হয় ক্রমবিকাশের দ্বারা জীবজগতে |

53. For rapid spiritual advancement it is best to only follow ones's Guru's directions and stop all other previous longstanding practices. This saves time, concentrates effort.

54. If you wish to realise God, listen to Guru and rapidly advance. Disobey the Guru and you will miss the mark.

55. Guru and God are one.

56. How long will man retain his animal attributes and wage war on each other?

57. Constancy of concentration achieves pinnacle of success.

58. Bengal has a great future if Bengal is once more culturally set right.

59. পিসিমনির নতুন নাম মনিপিসি | (moneypc/gemaunt)

60. Have some good discussions at home for children to seek nourishment from. Sterile video-watching and worldly talk are making fertile minds infertile.

61. Islam and Christianity must learn universal acceptance from Hinduism. So must capitalism and communism. All these antithetical ideologies must be harmonised on the basis of the Vedānta. Ramakrishna-Vivekananda is the Way.

62. Be strong. Resist adharma. Do not make relatives of evil people posing as politicians.

63. If 'Hrishi' is wrongly written as 'Rishi', 'Hrig' as 'Rig', 'Hriya' as 'Riya', why is 'Hriday' not wrongly written as 'Riday'?

64. 

যত মদ (অহং) তত পদ |

টাকা খাঁটি খাঁটি টাকা |

65. If you wish to realise God, chant the Holy Name as per Guru's instructions without arguing your worldly case. Total submission necessary.

66. The worldly ought to finish off with their enjoyment and associated sorrow before they hope to advance spiritually. Then they will come to reason.

67. The deluded think that they are bodies, were born and will die. Running after money and pleasures they die every day. Yet they pursue shadows.

68. Are we animals that we think ourselves to be bodies? We are men, real men, spirits free and blessed, as Swamiji puts it.

69. Unqualified obedience and submission to the Guru is the sine qua non for a spiritual aspirant in the absence of which progress is impossible.

70. Seek within in the depths of consciousness that which you in vain seek without. Dive within. Chant. Follow the Guru.

71. Who are you? Where are you? Do you know?

72. I am the life of all, the breath that animates everything. I am the substratum of phenomena, the Absolute Existence-Consciousness.

73. Miracles are all matter, not Spirit. They prove nothing.

74. God does not plan. He wills.

75. Personality is fine but Impersonality is better.

76. Have faith in yourself. That is the way to God.

77. God you are. Know you nhot?

78. You are deathless, immortal. Dissociate from body.

79. Smash the citadels of matter. Take to flight free.

80. This routine is killing. Break free.

81. Will it and you will be free.

82. Do you know who you are? God.

83. When the body falls, the delusion drops. Freedom.

84.  Ātmajnān is Veda.

85. Seek sanction in your Soul. There authority lies.

86. The Lord never sleeps. His wakefulness supports the world.

87. There is but One. He partitions to seek company.

88. Deluded clowns, drunk with desire, are doing war.

89. The Divine transcends, yet in immanence is here.

90. Let not the heart desert be. Water it with love. 

91. In the letter is the alphabet complete. The microcosm holds the macrocosm. The point blown up is the cosmic extension.

92. The trotting point is the line, the plane, space-time, the cosmos. The point from core to crust pervades all. Whosoever knows the point knows it all.

93. কল্যাণ হ'ক কল্যাণীর !

94. Our children are our future. Nurture them unto fulfilment for our nation's well-being. 

95. If the world stands against you, must you budge?

96. Become an individual. Be whole.

97. He who sees greenery in the desert is the visionary. He sees man in his fulfilment. 

98. Past karma is resolving now even as fresh karma is being fed into the future. The movement of Māyā will continue ad infinitum.

99. We must return to our Vedic roots. 'Tat tvamasi'.

100. Life is in vain if not Self-realised.

101. Who knows when there will be a U-turn in life? Charaiveti! Freedom lies at hand. Onward!

102. Despondency is fruitless. You are omnipotent. Arise! Crush opposition. Despair not. Help is at hand. Seek within. Chant heavily. Follow your Guru.

103. Dance on the golden mean unto Truth.

104. Shiva lies as the axis of the universe.

105. সময় থাকতে চিনে নাও | বিলম্বে বাধা বাড়বে |

106. ভাব বোঝে না কেউ হে, ভাব বোঝে না |

107. কী সুন্দর হাওয়া ! মধ্যবসন্তের মধুসমীরণ |

108. All around you are God. This is the test. Pass it.

109. সংস্কৃতের বহুল চর্চা আবশ্যক শুদ্ধোচ্চারণসহ |

110. Teach your children Sanskrit. It is a must for our civilisational revival. 

111. The pure and the simple realise God.

112. God is not partial. He dispenses justice as per karma. Even His grace has subtle kārmic justifications although grace follows no laws as such.

113. Eventually, Islam and Christianity will have to fall back upon Hindu philosophy for sheer survival in an increasingly rational world.

114. Āchāryasevā leads to spiritual fulfilment. 

115. Love is felt only when the mind is stationed in the fourth plane of consciousness, that of the heart.

116. The famous Gurus are largely false. Much pretence.

117. A blessed one builds the world, a demon destroys.

118. Politicians ought to be imparted intermittent courses in the Vedānta. Only then may they discharge their duties like devas and not like dānavas.

119.

Krishna danced on Kāliya's hood. Let the dancing monks dare dance thus. Else, they ought to put up a braver front elsewhere in defence of the Dharma. Ill doth effeminacy in debilitating dance befit them. Swamiji desired manhood in his followers. He hated soft sentimentality, detested effeminacy. His life's gospel, he said, could be summed up in one word---'MANHOOD'. He must be mighty annoyed at the current state of degeneracy that has crept in his following in almost every phase. A second coming of the sage and his preceptor peerless has become imperative now to save the day and it ought to be in the offing as per prior promise of the Paramahamsa.

120. Whosoever you associate with, you absorb such ones' attributes.

121. All are slaves to Māyā. They wish to be bound. Who can free them? Alas!

122. ছোটবেলা থেকেই সব সমাধিস্থ | লেখাপড়া করিয়ে আর কি হবে ?

123. Michael Madhusudan Datta was a literary genius. His 'Meghnād Bawdh Kābya' is simply singular. Swamiji was absolutely right in his assessment.

124. A lot of fraud Babas, fraud Gurus duping people. The rest are making money out of lectures. Few are spiritual like Swamiji was.

125. Babas performing miracles have never impressed me who am a seeker of spirituality and not materialism which miracle-mongers cater to.

126. If you have genuine spirituality of a high order like Sri Ramakrishna had, you will not need miracles to attract people to yourself.

127. As the scrutiny of the camera increases, Babas and Gurus are resorting more to clever talk and unverified claims of their spiritual experiences in their bid to dupe willing devotees. Craftiness in popular Gurus is on the rise as spirituality touches its nadir. Meanwhile reputed spiritual organisations are busy raising funds instead of stemming the rot.

128. Miracle-mongering does not prove spirituality. On the contrary it is proof enough of downright materialism. 

129. Material life kills. Spiritual life saves. Chant heavily and be spiritual. 

130. Worldly life's a killer. Be spiritual and attain to immortality. Chant your way to freedom. 

131. Sanātan civilisation must be saved to save the world. Let it begin in Bengal for Bangladesh is long gone.

132. ধর্ম বাঁচাও |

133. অবতারের আবির্ভাব আসন্ন |

134. জীবনে অনেকে ভুল বুঝবে, অল্প কেউ ঠিক বুঝবে | এ সবের মধ্যে নিজের প্রতি অটুট আস্থা রাখাই একমাত্র উপায় | যে নিজেকে বিশ্বাস করে, সে নিত্যে পোঁছোয় | জগত মায়া এইমাত্র জেনে কারোর ভালমন্দ বলার বা ভাবার ওপর গুরুত্ব দিও না | ইষ্টের পথে চল', সর্বকল্যাণ হবে |

135. Sacrifice is the soul of life. 

136. জপের সংখ্যা অনেক বাড়াতে হবে যদি পরমার্থ প্রাপ্ত হতে চাও |

137. প্রেমপূর্ণ শ্রীনামস্মরণই উপায় |

138. Death can only be conquered by gaining insight into the Soul. That comes by Guru's grace and by disciplined dedicated devotion to the Divine, by diligent dispassionate execution of duties and distancing onself from delusive desirous dreams that inevitably destroy.

139. The world is at the crossroads. The Avatār's hour is come. The descent of the Divine is at hand. Behold!

140. The Sanātan Dharma must be revived. That is the way to human redemption.

141. Greed is consuming the land. This veritably is national illfare. It is absence of spiritual consciousness that is at the root of this degeneration. 

142. Duty must not reduce to bondage.

143. Greed is consuming the land. This veritably is national illfare. It is absence of spiritual consciousness that is at the root of this degeneration. Hence, the regeneration of India must be with the regeneration of genuine spirituality in the people, of ethical living, values and the expansion of the heart in service to fellow beings, a general awaking to the principles of truth, beauty and goodness in all its varied manifestations amidst the multiplicity that life offers.

144. 

145. 

146. 

147. 

148. 

149. 

150. 

THE BOY BILEY

THE BOY BILEY ... 1

Swami Vivekananda was born to Vishwanath Datta and Bhuvaneshwari Devi in North Kolkata on 12 January, 1863. He was named Vireshvar which to his friends became Biley. Biley was a hyperactive child bubbling with energy. Two nurses were employed to look after him. He was a born leader and led his friends in games. He played King and Court with his mates in the large courtyard of his house. One day he fell from the short staircase there and badly hurt himself above the eye. He bled profusely for long which reduced his spiritual power to an extent as his spiritual master Sri Ramakrishna later said. 

Written by Sugata Bose 

THE BOY BILEY ... 2

Biley had many friends. They would come over to their large house to play. One such sport was the 'Meditation Game'. As such one day the boys retired to the attic of the house and started mock-meditating. But Biley was earnestly doing so and soon passed into a deep state of inner recollection where he was experiencing great bliss. Meanwhile a poisonous snake, a hooded cobra, appeared on the scene. All ran away except Biley. When the elders got to know of it they rushed to the scene with sticks to drive the cobra away. They found Biley in deep meditation in the attic, unaware of his surroundings, with the hooded cobra in front of him, as if charmed by the boy's concentrated oblivion of the external world. Very soon the cobra slid away without harming Biley and could not be seen anymore. When the elders shook Biley out of his meditation to normalcy, he reported of his inner ecstasy and said that he was completely unaware of all that had happened outside. When Biley grew up, he became the world-famous Swami Vivekananda who has been hailed as Pashupati (Lord of animals) Bhagavān Shiva. He then kept pets in Belur Math, dog, goat, ducks et al. But more of that later. 

Written by Sugata Bose 

THE BOY BILEY ... 3

Biley was a very naughty boy. He was full of energy and playful, difficult to control. Two nannies were kept to look after him. However, when all such measures failed to keep him in check, his mother would say that she had prayed to Bhagavān Shiva for a Shiva-like son but He had sent her one of His demons. Bhuvaneshwari Devi would even warn Biley that if he behaved like he was doing, Shiva would not let him into Kailāsh again. At this he would sober down. But sometimes simply nothing worked as a surge of energy flooded the boy's being and made him utterly unmanageable. On such occasions Biley's mother would take him under a tap and let water pour on him. The cool water on his head and body would at once quiet him and he would once more be his usual cheerful, reflective self, no more his hyperactive, hyper-energetic, restless, almost uncontrollable self. 

Written by Sugata Bose

THE BOY BILEY ... 4

Biley was one day listening to the Rāmāyana at home when the story of Hanumān and his great devotion to his master Rām came up. Learning that Hanumānji frequented the groves and ate bananas, Biley quietly stole into a neighbouring garden having a lot of banana plants around dusk and waited for Hanumānji to appear. Hour after hour passed but his object of adoration did not appear. It was dark now and people at home got worried about Biley's whereabouts. Finally a search-party was sent to seek him out and they came upon him in the banana grove in anxious expectation of Hanumānji. The boy was brought home and his mother pacified his feelings and brought him to a sense of sanity. However, Biley's fascination for Hanumānji continued lifelong as the mature Vivekānanda stressed upon the need of worshipping the great God to learn devotion to one's Master, courage of conviction, purity and plain valour. 

Written by Sugata Bose

THE BOY BILEY ... 5

Biley was at heart very generous. He loved mendicant monks or sadhus who would come to their doorstep seeking alms, or would be plain passing by their house. At such times he would give them away anything he could lay his hands on, be they even the clothes of his parents. His mother forbade him to do so but he would not listen. Finally, to keep him in check, he would be kept confined for some time in a small room upstairs. But the moment he saw from his window some passer-by monk, he would throw down his father's clothes or mother's saree to the monk and he would bless the boy from below. Thus, Biley was quite unmanageable anyway and would find his way to do things somehow, once he had set his mind to doing so. His will was strong from childhood and this trait made him great when he grew up into an adult.

Written by Sugata Bose

THE BOY BILEY ... 6

From early childhood Biley was a habitual meditator. His mother, Bhuvaneshwari Devi, had told him stories of ancient sages who used to meditate in a single seat for so long and would not cut their hair ever that they grew long matted locks. Hearing this Biley would also promptly sit down in the meditative posture and periodically open his eyes to find out if his hair had also grown matted locks or not.

When Biley was a schoolboy he was meditating in his room one night behind closed doors. His mind was soon merged deep and quite some time had elapsed before he came back to normal consciousness. He was still seated on his meditation mat when he saw the figure of a shaven-headed luminous monk of radiant visage emerge from the southern wall of his room. He was carrying a staff (danda) and a waterpot (kamandalu) in his hands. Serene, yet dispassionately emotionless, the monk looked intently at Biley's eyes as if he was to say something to him. Biley also was so enchanted that he kept on gazing at the monk when all of a sudden he was panic-stricken and fled from the room in fear. Minutes later he recalled that the sadhu was perhaps wanting to say something to him, and, so, he composed himself and returned to the room. But the apparition had disappeared by then. Biley regretted the missed opportunity and when he grew up to become a shaven-headed danda-kamandalu-clad sadhu himself, the world-famous Swami Vivekānanda, he after much reflection came to the conclusion that it was in all probability Bhagavān Buddha who had blessed him with his vision in his boyhood. But Biley never saw that sadhu in his lifetime again and, so, he could never get the opportunity to ask the monk what it was that he had wished to say to him when he was a boy.

Written by Sugata Bose

THE BOY BILEY ... 7

Biley was an adventurous boy. When very young he would go out to see local fares, escorting even younger friends along for the same. Once while returning from such an event he suddenly saw a horse-carriage that was rushing towards a mother and her small son. Instantly Biley reacted. He plunged ahead and rescued the child from almost under the wheels of the carriage and gave him to the mother who was in utter shock at the suddenness of it all. In later years Swami Vivekananda likewise had stood guard in between a raging, charging bull and his female disciple who was behind him. The bull charged at the Swami, then just when it was within yards of him, stopped abruptly, changed course and went its way. So we see, morning shows the day.

Written by Sugata Bose

POESY : DEAR DISCIPLE

DEAR DISCIPLE

From wakefulness to sleep,

You're immersed in absence deep.

It's one-way traffic for me

With promises lots to keep.

The shepherd doth guide the flock,

Haywire can't go the sheep

But time ticks by the clock,

There'll be time lots left to weep.

 

Composed by Sugata Bose 

MESSAGES GALORE ... 131

MESSAGES GALORE ... 131

1. I do not believe in a single leader neither do I consider them such. He who is full of dark desire, can he be called a leader?

2. The world is full of fools governed by a handful of crooks.

3. The wicked wield power, the meek submit.

4. Words are the missiles I launch and the launcher is my inflamed heart. There is no hope for man unless national selfishness is superceded by global interest.

5..Dawn means life to some and death to many. Meanwhile, war rages on. Brutality continues in the name of civilisation. 

6. We, Bengalis, know the magnanimity of Churchill. He engineered the Bengal Famine that took away 5 million lives.

7. The Axis Powers were wiped out but the Allied have ever since continued the tyranny. Neocolonialism/neoimperialism have gone on.

8. 

Democracy in name 

But dominance is the game. 

Tall though the claim, 

In essence it's a shame.

9. Your health is my wealth.

10. Politics is a dirty game of self-interest.

11. Children need neither theological indoctrination nor missiles. They need space to flourish free of fear.

12. When the preceptor perveives the pupil prosper, peace prevails in his pious self.

13. All divisive theologies, ideologies and nationalisms are anticivilisation.

14. মন নির্মল হলে সৌন্দর্য্য বিকশিত হয় | 

The pure mind manifests beauty. 

15. ঘরে ঘরে মা, মা হয়ে রয়েছেন, তবু খুঁজে মরি মাকে | এরই নাম অজ্ঞান |

16. ঠাকুর বললেন, "আমি ও আমার---এটি অজ্ঞান |" আর চারিদিকে দেখি এই 'আমি ও আমার'এর ছড়াছড়ি |

17. Might is right today as it has been in the past. Whole peoples have been wiped away by invasion, violence, extermination and endless oppression. Whither justice till date? Arms rule, not wisdom. Whither civilisation except in titular terms? But karma works its way in subtle modes and will repay.

18. Straighten your life and be happy. Love all. 

19. Do not be bothered by others' opinions about you.

20. Through a hundred hurdles man races to the finishing line. Be not downcast if you trip. Rise and run again. You will win. 

21. সরল হও, আনন্দ পাবে |

22. Youth squandered in chasing material dreams, vitality will not remain to 'see' the Self.

23. Do not claim God's wealth as yours. That is thought robbery. 

24. 

The modern Buddha. Soon he will redescend to complete his spiritual ministration and to save the world from catastrophe. His message unfinished will seek completion, his mission see fulfilment as he descends again, the prime apostle of Thakur who is due on earth soon along with his entourage of divine disciples. Ready yourself for the grand advent. 🕉 

25. My love is my blessing, my blessing my love. Whosoever has it is blessed indeed.

26. রজোগুণ ভাল কিন্তু অহংসর্বস্ব, কর্মের উন্মাদনায় ভগবানকে ভুলিয়ে দেয় |

27. Have faith in yourself. Be happy. Gurudev holds you. Why fear?

28. Communication is life. 

29. 

মন বড় না হলে কি গান হয় রে ভাই ? মন বড় হওয়া চাই | গান হবে আত্মার গহন হতে | নাহলে যে শ্রুতিবিচ্যূতি ঘটে | শুধু অভ্যাসে কি হয় ? চাই সুসংস্কার, সৌন্দর্য্যবোধ, সাঙ্গীতিক পরিমাপজ্ঞান ও সদগুরুর পথপ্রদর্শন | চাই চরিত্র ও হৃদয়ের উৎকর্ষ | সর্বোপরি সুরসরস্বতীর কৃপা চাই | তবে হবে গান | খেয়াল গায় ত' কতজনে কিন্তু গাওয়ার মত গায় ক'জন ? ছোট মনে ছোট গান হবে, তাও খাটো রবে | বড় গান হবে না | চাই বড় মন | তবে হবে বড় গান, গান হবে বড় |

30. Chant your way to bliss. Be deep divine. Have faith in yourself. Never be dejected. You are the mine of infinite glory. How little you know yourself!

31. Have tremendous enthusiasm for life. Only then can you combat the challenges it poses. Self-belief, vitality and purity will win the war, not vanity.

32. Massive chanting of the Ishtamantra through gradual increase spiritualises for sure.

33. নিজেকে ভুলতে পারলে নিজেকে পাওয়া যায় |

34. এক ভাষায় কথা বলতে শুরু করে আর এক ভাষায় চলে যাওয়া ইঙ্গিত বহন করে যে দুটির কোনটিই আয়ত্তাধীন নয় |

35. The war is proving disastrous for the world.

36. The war is taking a terrible toll on the world. When will man learn the way of peace? 

37. Sri Ramakrishna realised God through 64 separate Tantric disciplines under the tutelege of his Gurvī Bhairavi Brăhmani and that too in just 90 days.

38. Capitulating under circumstance is the sign of weakness. One must assert oneself and tide over circumstance. In it lies the practice of freedom.

39. 'The rich must remember that that there are those that are richer. That will keep their ego in check. The glow worm thinks it lights up the world. Then starlight, moonlight and finally the sunlight pales its predecessor into insignificance. Likewise with the rich.' ~ Sri Ramakrishna 

40. একটি ভাল সাধুর উত্থানে লক্ষ যুবক অনুপ্রাণিত হবে ত্যাগ-তপস্যা-স্বাধ্যায়-সেবার পথে | সাধ্বীর ক্ষেত্রেও তাই | যুবতীরা অনুপ্রাণিতা হবে অনুরূপভাবে |

41. বেলুড় মঠের প্রাচীন সাধু, মহাপুরুষ মহারাজের মন্ত্রশিষ্য, স্বামী নারায়ণানন্দ বলেছিলেন আমায়, "ওই কথামৃতই সাধু |"

42. 'Likolarm', the 'Liked your status' Whatsapp alarm to updates that wakes me up in the morning. 

43. বাংলাদেশে হিন্দুদের অবস্থা শোচনীয় | ভেবে দেখবেন গভীরে সবদিক দিয়ে এর কারণ কি |

44. Expand the horizons of knowledge by advancing along the intuitive-rational path towards truth in all its relativity and its absoluteness.

45. Tireless work done by me goes by the drain as receiver there is none.

46. Repressed emotions often find vent in dreams when loud outbursts occur that break through the dream state to the wakeful state.

47. What do prosperous politicians know of poverty? They make war and impoverish nations. The incalculable cost of war is borne by bleeding people. Capitalism!

48. War, thy other name is Capitalism!

49. Life is nipped in the bud, civilisations destroyed when monomaniacs wage war to appease the hunger of capitalists for money. Domination at any cost!

50. Read 'The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna' religiously every day. Thakur will bless you with his vision.

51. বলা-নরেনকে চিনেছ, না-বলা-নরেনকে চেননি---ওটিই আসল । এদিকে বারো আনা, ওদিকে ষোলো আনা । 

52. Have a commitment for truth, maintaining word of honour.

53. 

मक्का या बक्का 

तु सोच ले भाई पक्का |

54. Politicians are perfidious people. Leaders are liars. 

55. I am a cipher in the immensity of the universe.

56. The calmer you are, the nearer you are to God.

57. What is a biography? A biography is an insult to the life of a person. Its brevity, its concise formulations are scant description of the hourly pulsations of its subject. Encapsulation in such discrete terms is indiscreet and an injury to the holiness of a person's deeper sense of being and his emotional expressions thereof. Breath is life, yet, life is so much more.

58. 

যুদ্ধান্তে নেতাজী প্রায় অজাতমিত্র |

59. What we need now is leadership that is founded on sterling character.

60. Truthfulness is increasingly becoming a casualty.

61. There is hope as yet. Follow Vivekānanda. 

62. If lapse occurs, try again. You'll make it. Try.

63. Worldliness has to be given up for spirituality to dawn. Chant your way to freedom. Cast off all worldly ways.

64. He who lies will be laid low. Truth holds. 

65. Truthfulness is the spiritual seeker's lifeline.

66. Beauty flowers in purity. If purity is lost, so is beauty. The impure can never be beautiful.

67. One's looks reveal one's mind. The seer can see.

68. The wave is the sea.

69. There is a single matter-mass.

70. Life goes in vain in idle talk, in puerile pursuit of pleasure. Life's end is missed. Time ticks till the end draws near and the form's reduced to dust.

71. While it is not good to sell oneself cheap, one should not set oneself at too high a premium as well. Relations are at par excellence when kept at par.

72. অহংকার ভাল না | ওতে পতন হয় | নিজের কষ্ট কেন টেনে আনে মানুষ ? অবিদ্যা ! অজ্ঞান !

73. To close associates: If you do not keep in touch as you ought to, the philosophical loss will be yours alone. Hence, alter stance, rectify.

74. 

Preceptor's words flouted, 

In failure life will be routed. 

May this never be doubted!

75. Constant affirmation of one's divinity manifests it. This is the magic of repetitive impression on the brain to which the system invariably responds.

76. Apparent man you feel you are. Now be the Real Man which you truly are. Ceaselessly aver your true nature. Constantly say, "I am the immortal Atman."

77. 'Muhūrtam jvalitam shreyo nā tu dhūmāyitam chiram.' 

[It is better by far to momentarily ignite than to smoke away forever.]

78. গুরুভক্তির অভাবে সুসুপ্ত শক্তি |

Owing to lack of devotion to preceptor the disciple's latent power slumbering lies.

79. I never bow down to power. I bow down to purity.

80. আমি সাগর হতে চাই নে মা, ঘটি হতে চাই |

81. A nation rises, oppresses other nations, then falls. This has been the history of the world. Live and let live. Else, downfall is inevitable. 

82. The first qualification for discipleship is reverence for one's preceptor. If that is not adequately there, spiritual progress is impeded. Sraddhā!

83. Learn up Swamiji's Svadeshmantra by heart and recite it daily till these ideas tingle in your very bloodstream and bring forth a character-transformation that will burn all temporal dross and raise you unto transcendental heights of glory and Self-consciousness with head soaring high in the heavens and feet firmly planted on this motherland of ours whose peans of praise have been sung by poet-hrishis thus: 'Janani janmabhūmishcha svargādapi gariyasi,' 'Atrāpi Bhāratam shreshthham Jāmvudvīpey mahāmuney / Yato hi karmabhūresah yato'nyā bhogyabhūmayāh.' 🕉 

84. If life ends in ignorance, it was ill-spent.

85. Constancy of purpose and effort achieves wonders.

86. Black spot on a white sheet or white spot on a black sheet? Which is the higher state?

87. Vanity accompanies both wealth and learning.

88. Impediments you yourself put in your way and then cry foul. What should you do then?

89. The Avatār is the finite tip of an infinite iceberg, the flow of a frozen superconsciousness that simply is. He is the people's peep into the Divine.

90. সব কিছুর দাম আছে, শুধু কথার দাম নেই |

91. বক্রবুদ্ধি দিয়ে আর যাই হ'ক, ঈশ্বরলাভ হয় না | অবশ্য, ঈশ্বর লাভক্ষতির পার |

92. কমপক্ষে নামপক্ষ |

At least pro-nām, pranām.

93. আপাতত স্থূলশরীরে মানব-মানস-সরোবরে ভাসমান | এরপর সূক্ষ্মদেহে কর্মানুসারে অবস্থান | পরিশেষে সর্বদেবদেহরহিত বিদেহমুক্তিলাভ অথবা মাতৃ-আজ্ঞায় প্রকৃতিলীন অবস্থান বোধিসত্ত্ব যথা |

94. ইষ্টস্মরণে অনিষ্টনাশ |

95. Rapid responses are more welcome than delayed ones. The mood changes, making reception of reply less invigorating. 

96. নৈপুণ্য সুন্দরম্ তত্ত্বোদ্ভূত |

97. Where are you in the midst of work? 

98. Prying into others' private affairs is uncivil.

99. Self-containment is more productive than spraying about oneself in silly socialising. 

100. Concentration is peace. 

101. বেশি প্রশ্ন কোরো না | জর্জরিত বোধ করি |

102. Why do you wish to define even love? Let simple things remain simple. Analysis belongs to the fragmented mind. Innocence never splits.

103. বদ্ধজীবের আবার মাহাত্ম্য ! সে জগতে যত বড়ই হ'ক না কেন, ধনে, মানে অথবা জ্ঞানে | ব্রহ্মবোধবিযুক্ত বিষয়বুদ্ধিতাড়িত জীব ত' |

104. Humility is the sign of future greatness. But it must be true and not affectation.

105. বক্রবুদ্ধির বিনাশে ব্রহ্মবোধ |

106. 'Dhī' is not ordinary intelligence but spiritual intelligence, subtle and all-encompassing, undeflected by material desires. It apprehendes the Truth.

107. Vedānta should be preached by valorous souls in the midst of war-ravaged terrain, offering wise counsel and solace to sufferers, and not by effeminate ones choosing safe sites for preaching to puerile people flocking out of passive adulation for such dancing dispensers of divine truth.

108. Wicked souls waging war, innocent ones dying.

109. Sher Shah Suri was greater than Akbar. In truth it is Sher Shah who deserves the epithet 'The Great'.

110. God cannot be realised by a scheming soul. Simplicity is a sine qua non for spiritual progress culminating in vision of the Divine.

111. The crashing cup does not drop under gravity in a straight line but follows the available geodesic, here the last bit of a very long curve that towards its terminus on earth appears straight owing to relative dimensional imperatives of human vision, much like the apparent straightness of the curved surface of the earth.

112. Constancy of purpose and unshakeable will triumphs. A resolve, firm and committed, wins victories over the vicissitudes of life. Health, wealth, happiness, wisdom and peace follow as the soul soars to heavenly heights in pure and concentrated form, thoughts integrated unto purified consciousness and heart pulsating to the beat of the Divine.

113. When a person shuts shop, it is best to buy the commodities in time.

114. India, for 1238 years bonded to alien rule (712 CE--1950 CE), finally became partially free in 1950 as Partition continues to keep severed provinces in bondage to alien ideology and rule. Therafter, a further freedom in 2014. 

Freedom is precious and needs to be preserved. Hindus and their siblings in faith must rise to the occasion to protect their heritage and further the spiritual evolution of the inhabitants of this land. Hinduism must reinvent itself as per the needs of the times and spread throughout the world, ushering in civilisation and peace across the continents. We must not only survive but must conquer. Dharmavijaya once more.

115. The Spirit comprehends deeper than words can go. Surface thoughts are bad intermediaries, emissaries of emotions that confound more than they convey.

116. পরিমাপজ্ঞানই শিল্প |

117. হৃদপদ্ম প্রস্ফুটিত না হলে, সৌন্দর্য্যবোধ বিকশিত না হলে, সঙ্গীত হবে কি করে ? শুধু কন্ঠের কেরামতিতে কি রাগসঙ্গীত হয় ?

118. The inability to feel happy in others' happiness, the incapacity to praise others' achievements of exceptional merit is symptomatic of a miserly soul hardly fit for God-realisation which requires a big heart.

119. America owns the world. True or false?

120. America is the world. True or false?

121. To wake is to sleep and to sleep is to wake. Thus life goes on.

122. A time will come when you will be free. But then time will be no more.

123. 

'Ponder awhile, 

The last day is most terrible

When everyone will chatter

And you'll remain utterly mute.'

●Rammohan Roy●

124. এখনও সময় আছে, বাঙালী হিন্দু , জাগো !

125. Unless you can stay at home and do your spiritual practices regularly you cannot hope to progress much. This wanderlust is killing.

126. Be hopeful. Chant yourself to bliss. God-realisation is at hand. Why fear when the gateway to freedom is open and the royal avenue clear? Arise! Awake!

127. Fill your life with heavenly music. You will find God. But it must be celestial music, in real sublime.

128. Want to be a classical musician? Then be as pure in purpose as Mā Annapūrna Devi. No love for name and fame, just pure love for pure music. Adoration!

129. Vedānta is spiritual democracy.

130. Read 'Is Vedānta the Future Religion?' over and over again. Swamiji's highest realisations have been articulated here in a climactic expression. Read.

131. Pretenders to Hindustāni Shāstriya Sangeet ought to keep Mā Annapūrnā Devi in mind. Their musical pretence will instantly vanish.

132. 

Music personified. No pretence, no hankering for money or fame, no self-publicity, just pure music. A lesson for lesser ones whose musical substance is in inverse proportion to their posturing and pretence.

133. The worthy must be given their due recognition and respect. Otherwise, the country will be shorn of its best worth.

134. This world is a market place where relations like all else are sold. Everything is transactional in basest terms including love.

135. Hindus, unite! Do not listen to fellow Hindus who say unity is not possible. I say it is very much on the cards. Therefore, unite!

136. May smiles fill up the lives of all who mourn!

137. 108 × 25 × 2 = 5400 chants a day is a good prescription if one is serious about advancing spiritually.

138. The more you read, the greater your vocabulary is, the wider the thought-travel, the deeper the experience. So, read much and chant much. Be blessed!

139. Sri Ramakrishna is God.

140. Contact with Guru strengthens spiritual life.

POESY : হে যুগান্ত !

হে যুগান্ত !

●●●●●●●●

অতলান্ত,

আমি ক্লান্ত,

দেব ক্ষান্ত,

হব শান্ত ||

পথভ্রান্ত,

হয়ে শ্রান্ত,

নিশিকান্ত,

কিবা জানত?

তারই প্রাণ ত',

জ্যোতি ভান ত',

কত টানত

সম গান ত'?

জলযান ত',

ভাসে বান ত',

নদে স্নান ত',

পারে আনত'

মুনি মানত',

তিনি ম্লান ত',

কী চাপান্ত!

ও হে পান্থ,

দুটি নান ত'

খেয়ে যান ত',

যাবে জান ত',

পেটে টান ত'

নেবে প্রাণ ত' ||

সন্ধান ত'

পেয়ে ক্ষান্ত,

দেব জান ত',

অতলান্ত ||

রচনান্ত : সুগতান্ত বসু মানত' [সুগত বসু (Sugata Bose)]