No one ever saw him lose his balance of mind, his equanimity, his supreme poise, his calm and unruffled mood even in the direst of circumstances, in the most provocative of situations. Such was his self-control that when bleeding in the Seva Pratishthan from aggression by a rogue employee in those tumultuous days of the seventies, he refused to call in the police to seek redress, stating that, after all, what had happened was a thing of the past, that peace had been restored and that one did not file a case against one's very own which each and every employee of the Seva Pratishthan was. However, firm as he was in his dealings, he did take action against the truant elements within the work-force of the hospital and expelled them from service for several months before reinstating them on humanitarian grounds. When asked by the lawyers of the Mission as to why he was intent on taking them back, those who were the perpetrators of all the mischief in the past months that had vitiated the atmosphere of the hospital and hindered the smooth functioning of the institution, Swami Gahanananda (Naresh Maharaj) replied that the emaciated faces of the children of the ousted employees was looming large in his mind's eye and he could not bear to see them hungry and suffering for no fault of theirs. Such was the largeness of heart of this lion of a monk who had earlier prayed to Sri Ramakrishna at Belur Math begging for forgiveness that he had to adopt the harsh punitive measure of sacking the mischief-mongers from Seva Pratishthan. After all, in his eyes everyone was the living embodiment of the Master, the Divine wearing the garb of mortal man.
When such a one lives among us, the earth is rendered holy, life becomes a pilgrimage and those that were blessed with spiritual initiation by him, upon that fortunate fraternity lies the mandate to carry forth the message of the Master and the Mother to the remotest corners of the globe by way of befitting tribute to their spiritual preceptor. Swami Gahanananda is no more with us in flesh and form but his spirit animates us to living action of service and renunciation in the cause of the common good of all.
Jai Gurudev! Jai Thakur! Jai Ma!
Written by Sugata Bose
No comments:
Post a Comment