Thursday, April 24, 2008

Diary 6 of Divine Great Saint Ushaji: 11am to 4 pm

As I continue writing Ushaji's diary, let me ink down Great Saint Ushaji's activities after 11 am daily at the holy Dham of Vrindavan.


Saint Usha ji In Meditation

11 am dot was the time slot for lunch-Bhog to Her Thakurji or Lord Sri Radha-Krishna . Very much like Pushtimargis, Saint Ushaji 's sewa or devotional service was meticulous, of the highest order,always taking care of the minutest details. Bhog was sacrosanct for her and never what She ate Herself. Let me clarify. She was diabetic due to hereditary reasons but never failed to offer sweets for Bhog. Similarly, on Ekadasi she would make it a point to serve chapati or parantha for dinner explaining we are on fast, not Thakurji! In the same fashion whether tea was too hot or cold for Thakurji or other food items had proper salt , She looked into all the nitty-gritties.


During the months of May and June, several nephews and nieces of Aunties and I would be visiting Vrindaban but no discrimination whatsoever was allowed in the food served. These were Her strict guidelines. Unlike the unprecedented prosperity in 2008, money was not easy to come by in those days; consequentially children's parents were rather poor. However the richer kids would eat the same food as the other children. She was the Head of this Gurukul and total impartiality and transparency were the order of the day.


Around 12 am, Saint Ushaji would invariably shift to the meditation room for about three hours and be immersed in strict sadhana. Most of Her poems as mentioned in the 21st book are written during these very hours. If you are keen to know exactly what was this contemplation room, you will be flabbergasted! Any idle place would soon enough transform into Her meditation room! The bathroom for example! In the scorching months of May or June, when we cannot sit without a fan for a minute She locked Herself in the toilet, sweating profusely in the heat. Very reluctantly she would accept a chatai , water-surahi or torch from Vijayji since for writing She needed light and some water.


Srila Rupa Goswami

Her tough sacrifices and tapasya remind one of Srila Rupa Goswami of Sri Krishna Chaitanya Mahaprabhu or Lord Gauranga era. She was indeed a rare Mahatma I have ever come across. I will weep inconsolably if I delve further into how She had attained complete control over Her body and mind. At a loss of words to describe the entire scenario, merely tears streaming down my cheeks can do some justice.


While Saint Ushaji was busy in the meditation room, poojya Sheela Bahinji would offer water and fruits to Thakurji at 1.45 pm. Around 2.00 in the afternoon, Sheela Bahinji would read the 'Gita', 'Narad Bhakti-Sutra', Gospel (Swami Ramakrishan Paramhans ,1836-1886) and the likes to kids, explaining their deeper meanings. I bow with great reverence to Her as my first Guru.


Sri Ram Charit Manas

In 1972 when I was hardly nine years old , Saint Ushaji's mother Mrs. Shyama Bhatnagar, my Dadi, explained the whole of Goswami Tulsidassji's 'Sri Ramcharitmanas' which was more like a stepping stone for write-ups like 'BALKAND 's 88-103 on the divine Bhagwan Shiv -Parvati Vivah, 36 years later in 2008.


All of us are deeply indebted to the trio of Gurus, Saint Ushaji, Sheela Bahenji and Manoharji for creating such a celestial atmosphere in Vrindaban, developing our persona. Gayaprasad Panditji also contributed to this sublimity ..from 25th Feb to 4th March 08 at Gayaprasad Panditji's Samadhi.


Sri Radha-Krishna

Since from12 noon to 3 pm Saint Ushaji used to be engrossed in the divine play or leelas of Lord Sri Radha-Krishan , most of us waited impatiently for Her at 3 pm . Often, Her face would be glowing with the divine experiences and for a few moments, She would be absolutely silent or maun and continue having darshan of Her Yugal-sarkar. Many a time I would hurry to bring back Her chatai, water-surahi, torch, pen and diary . I noticed that generally She preferred Gitapress, Gorakhpur's yearly diaries which have a Gita-verse printed on each page. Adi Shankracharyaji says," Amba twaam or O Mother Gitaji ... ."


All of us would anxiously wait at 3 pm, to hear Her first words? Very often She inquired about dak which meant various letters received from devotees . Many of the replies written are available in a book-form now .... books as basis for BOBOJI's site. At about 3.15 tea -bhog would be served and She behaved like any other ordinary Sadhu even though for the past three hours She had recently witnessed divine experiences. Ushaji was truly a Daksh ( expert ) indeed as Lord Krishna fondly calls His devotee in Gitaji . Sipping tea, going through the letters, replying them would make it around 4 pm or so. Her schedule after this time span I will express later in Diary 7.


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