DOWN MEMORY LANE ... 1
I was only 22 when Vivekananda hit me from nowhere and transformed my life. Two years later the nation celebrated its first Youth Day. It was 12 January, 1985.
Oh, the very excitement of those heady days of youth spent at Belur Math from early morning till well past the vesper hour, soaking in the vibrancy of the place and unconsciously restructuring the very fabric of one's character amidst the veritable gods who bestrode the precincts of the monastery ! The President Maharaj Swami Vireshwarananda (Prabhu Maharaj), the Vice President Maharaj Swami Nirvanananda (Surjo Maharaj) and the Manager Maharaj Swami Abhayananda (Bharat Maharaj), like three luminaries adorned the Belur Math. Others like Swamis Devananda, Vandanananda, Atmasthananda, Gitananda, Prameyananda, Prabhananda and the like were relatively junior but filled the Math with their presence, nonetheless. Many names I fail to recall or I simply never knew for the Swamis of the Order used to be loath to revealing their names.
One name stands out, though, and a face and form that remains ever etched in my memory -- Prabir Maharaj, a disciple of Swami Brahmananda. And why he remains so vividly clear in my memory? Because he was a Hrishi or a seer of transcendental Truth, in common parlance, an illumined soul. And he had blessed us. But more of that later as I delve deeper into roots, my roots that veered me eventually to Thakur-Swamiji.
End of Part 1
To be serialised.
Written by Sugata Bose
I was only 22 when Vivekananda hit me from nowhere and transformed my life. Two years later the nation celebrated its first Youth Day. It was 12 January, 1985.
Oh, the very excitement of those heady days of youth spent at Belur Math from early morning till well past the vesper hour, soaking in the vibrancy of the place and unconsciously restructuring the very fabric of one's character amidst the veritable gods who bestrode the precincts of the monastery ! The President Maharaj Swami Vireshwarananda (Prabhu Maharaj), the Vice President Maharaj Swami Nirvanananda (Surjo Maharaj) and the Manager Maharaj Swami Abhayananda (Bharat Maharaj), like three luminaries adorned the Belur Math. Others like Swamis Devananda, Vandanananda, Atmasthananda, Gitananda, Prameyananda, Prabhananda and the like were relatively junior but filled the Math with their presence, nonetheless. Many names I fail to recall or I simply never knew for the Swamis of the Order used to be loath to revealing their names.
One name stands out, though, and a face and form that remains ever etched in my memory -- Prabir Maharaj, a disciple of Swami Brahmananda. And why he remains so vividly clear in my memory? Because he was a Hrishi or a seer of transcendental Truth, in common parlance, an illumined soul. And he had blessed us. But more of that later as I delve deeper into roots, my roots that veered me eventually to Thakur-Swamiji.
End of Part 1
To be serialised.
Written by Sugata Bose
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