Mandleshwar
The fervour of satsang[1]-kirtan started on Shri Maharajji's arrival at Mandleshwar. Shriji would constantly sway in the emotion of religious rapture. Along with the awakening of eight sattvik bhavas, strange bhavas would come to the fore even when he was doing sankirtan.[2] When this state of bhava unmada would set in he would stand up in ecstasy and start singing devotional hymns. Tears would stream down from his eyes. Shriji would sometimes start dancing while doing kirtan.
Shriji Would Lose Consciousness
He would lose consciousness while doing the kirtan and swooning, lie unconscious for half an hour at a stretch.
Getting up again, he would start singing devotional hymns. His whole body would spring up forcefully with the thrill of ecstasy and tremors.
Shriman Mahaprabhu
Shri Maharajji in Alirajpur
This time Shriji was staying with Radhubhai Gaur in Mandleshwar. Shriji's fame had spread to villages around Mandleshwar. Devotees from far away used to come for Shriji's darshan and thus Gaurji's house was always thronging with devotees. His entire family felt gratified for getting the joy of serving everyone with
such passion and pleasure. Dr. Balwant Rai Mandloi, a
close relation of his had come to him from Alirajpur. He was very impressed to see Shriji and his satsang-sankirtan. A wish to take Shriji to Alirajpur awakened in his heart. Consulting Gaurji he made his humble entreaty at the feet of Shriji. Moved by his emotional request when Shri ji gave his consent, his joy knew no bounds. The very next day, he enthusiastically took Shriji along with his inner circle of associates to Alirajpur.
Alirajpur, Madhya Pradesh
A Swing
At this end Shri Maharajji's state was becoming very strange. Extremely shy by nature, though Shriji had accepted this warm hospitality as he had observed their loving feelings his heart was melting with great humility. Consciousness of the external world was disappearing. Eyes were becoming red-hued, moist and languid. Charmed, everyone was watching Shriji's trance like state with greedy eyes. All of a sudden, Shriji's body throbbed in ecstasy, trembled and he fell down, swooning on the swing itself. After a few moments a tune which was a prelude, emerged from his voice. I became alert and picked up a paper and pencil. The following pada sprang forth:
'sakal apradh kshamhu madhav, nit nav-nav ras dhar |
kalp-kalp yug bhakt jahan-tahan, kahat udar udar |
madhav kshamhu mam apradh ||
papi jo ajamil, bhilni, tahi nahin sambhar |
kalyugi dosh nirdosh jeev sab tahi krit sakar |
shyam tab tahi krit sakar ||village
treta yug tat gang kevat, sheetal charan pakhar |
charan supatra vidur ghar tanmay shyam apaar |
dou leen amrit saar || shyam ||
soi charan pag dhovat yamuna, gokul puri majhaar |
so shyam sunhu mam vaani, patra kahan yah charan pakhaar ||
jadh pashaan parsi yug ambuj, tar gai gautam naar |
soi charan hridyamrit ras madhu, yuvati leit balihaar ||
ksheersagar jahan shayan sevanvillage, tanh hiya tadan bhriguhi sambhar |
kahan laun kahun shyam udaar udaar ||
keshavgatra pag vaman dhrit badu, kshram jal aanan charu |
soi nayanashru udaar amit dwar vidur pakhaar |
neti neti shruti alabh ved mukh kali sir par dhaar |
charan tandav jahan kali sheesh vichar vichar ||
jo mukh shesh mahesh soi chatat gauvan baar baar |
(chatat charanh gvar, charan chatat van gvar gvar ||)
kab vah charan dhavan jahan tahan ki...||
tab ali laaj udar udar ||
kshamhu kripa nav shobhagar, ajhun jahan shringar saar |
ajhun kann shringar saar ||
nij dasya rati sakhya vatsalyahu hiya virhambudhi lalna dhaar |
yog teerth vrat sadhan nana, vraj raj mukti char buhaar |
kahn laun kahun shyam udar udar || '
' Madhava ! Forgive all of my sins. Daily fresh rasa
exudes from you. Villagers in every age and eon, devotees have called You very generous. So, pardon my faults, Madhava! (refrain: How far should I say that Shyam is magnanimous[repeated after each couplet])
Ajamil
The Kevat Washing Lord Ram's Feet
Ahilya
You sleep in the Ksheersagar where you bore the kick of Bhrigu. (Refrain) When the body of Keshava took the form of young brahman Vaman, His handsome face had perspired with labour. The same sweat generously washed the door of Vidur as magnanimous tears. The same feet were borne by goddess Kali on her head, which unattained by the mouth of the Vedas have been called 'not so,' 'not so' in them. Kali put the same feet thoughtfully in Her frenzied dance of dissolution (tandava.) Again and again, the cows are licking the face which is 'Shesh' and 'Mahesh.' (The cowherds lick the feet from forest to forest) When these feet frolicked here and there...the large black bee liberally shied
away. O store of novel decoration, pardon. You are the essence of handsomeness.
Gopis Drawn by Krishna
Observing this dainya bhava of humility, everyone's condition was becoming strange. All hearts were being pierced and eyes were raining tears.
The pada
came to an end. Shriji lay inertly for a while and then regaining normal consciousness, opened his eyes. He got up slowly and sat down.
Everyone present was sitting silently like a statue. Gradually the atmosphere became normal. A beautiful sitting arrangement had been made for Shriji in the adjoining room. On the request of family members Shriji stood up slowly and lay down on the thin mattress which had been spread out there. It was noon time by now. Feeling absolutely fine, Shriji sat up.
A Platter of Sweetmeats
Cymbals
Shriji began the kirtan in a soft sweet voice:
Govinda, the Protector of Cows
yadavaya madhavaya keshavaya namah |
gopala govinda rama shri madhusudana ,
giridhari gopinatha madana mohana ||
(Song of Srila Narottam Das Thakur
'O Lord Hari, O Lord Krishna, I offer my obeisance to You, who are known as Hari, Yadava, Madhava and Keshava.
O Gopala, Govinda, Rama, Sri Madhusudana, Giridhari Gopinatha, and Madana-Mohana!'
Repeating the lines of Shriji, devotees were singing devotional hymns in deep absorption. The singing grew louder and louder and the whole atmosphere resounded with the chanting of God's Name. Shriji was singing with intoxicated feelings. Every fiber of his being was standing on end and he had tremors. His eyes were becoming red-hued with a unique intoxication.
Suddenly exhilarated by the maddened frenzy of prema[8], Shriji
got up and raising both his big arms he began singing and going round and round in circles. Both his eyes seemed to be sources of rivers Ganga and Yamuna. The continuous flow of tears was streaming down his cheeks and wetting his chest.
Shriman Mahaprabhu
The following shloka depicting the condition of Shriman Mahaprabhu seemed to have materialized in Shriji that day:
'nayanam galad ashru-dharya vadanam gad-gad ruddhaya gira |
pulkair na chitam vapu kada tav naam grahne bhavishyati || '
(Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu in Shikshashtak [6] )
'Tears of love start flowing from the eyes, the body becomes full of ecstasy when one develops pure love for Krsna. And I am also aspiring for that state of pure love.'
The Realm of Prema
That was the fourth day of our stay at Alirajpur. Shriji appeared to be in a profound bhava stithi since morning.
“ Someone is going to be salvaged today through Shriji's singing of devotional hymns,” Shri Mangilalji
told me as soon as he got up in the morning.
Everyone yearned to see
Shriji's happy demeanour, glowing countenance, sattvik emotional dancing and
hear his melodiously loving voice sing devotional hymns. It was tough for them
to pass the day as they impatiently waited for the evening to set in so that
they could be delighted on hearing the kirtan.
The number of people who
assembled that day was many times more than usual. Shriji came and took his
seat along with his circle of associates at the fixed hour. The sky resounded
with exultant cries of 'Jai! Jai!' (Hail!Hail!) Everyone greeted Shriji by
bowing their heads at his feet. Lost in some divine realm, with his head bowed
down in a serious posture, Shriji was sitting silently with half-closed eyes.
When devotees asked his permission to begin the kirtan, he gave it by
just nodding his head.
Devotional singing of hymns
began. The hall was fully packed with devotees. Suddenly Shriji stood up and
started singing loudly with raised hands. When Shriji's voice singing hymns
entered the ears, the kirtan became doubly intense as if the frenzy of
singing was taking over. Shriji's bhava unmada stithi, the state where he was intoxicated by
divine madness, was worth seeing. Moving round in circles while dancing, he was
singing passionately.
Standing in the midst of devotees, both his arms would
shake as if two branches of a tree were swaying by a gust of
wind. The ringing sound of hymns was resounding throughout the village. Sitting
on his knees, Shriji's body would spring up by three hands length. Swooning
sometimes he would fall on the ground, get up again and start doing kirtan.
The
eight sattvik bhavas seemed to be flooding his body. It seemed that the bhava
avesh of Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu
had engulfed Shriji.
Two Branches of a Tree
Bhava Avesha of Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu's
Suddenly a woman (the widowed sister of Shri Balwant Rai) stood up from the gathering of women. With raised arms, streaming tears from closed eyes, uttering indistinct hymns in a tremulous voice, stopping in between and keeping one step at a time, she came into the midst of the kirtan (where Shriji was lying unconscious) after passing through the centre of the crowd. The end of her saree had slipped down from her head and her clothing was dishevelled. People were amazed to see a woman belonging to a noble family and living within the perpetuated code of decorum, standing so in the middle of that large crowd. But she was not aware of this fact. She could not keep standing any longer and swooning, fell down with her head at the feet of Shriji. Her entire body and eye-lids were trembling. Her hands were moving as if she was playing the kartal', a small cymbal. Some unclear words of devotional hymns were pouring out of her mouth. After about fifteen to twenty minutes, Shriji regained a bit of normal consciousness and standing up in an onrush of spiritual emotion, he began doing kirtan. The woman who had fainted was moved aside from the midst by her family members. After a while the kirtan came to an end and there was arti [10] and distribution of prasad [11]. Everyone went back to their respective homes.
Exhilarated by kirtan
Shriji lay down in a nearby room. The behan or woman lay where she was.
The family tried their best to bring her back to her senses but did not succeed
in doing so. Dr. Balwant Rai went to Shriji and told him about her condition.
Shriji kept lying down and asked them to make her lie down on a charpoy in the
open courtyard. Her brothers sat by their sister's side for the whole night. At
six in the morning when she regained normal consciousness the woman was asked
what had happened to her.
Opening her eyes she merely
exclaimed, “Bhai[12] what
should I say? He is so beautiful! (ito sunder chhai !)”
That's it! Saying this
she became silent.
Four-Armed Narayana
After this episode the
woman's life changed completely. All her life she kept attending to the needs
of God in the Krishna Mandir of a nearby village named Borlay, and had novel
divine experiences all the time. In this manner granting the delight of kirtan
or congregational singing to devotees for eight days at Alirajpur, Shri
Maharajji returned to Mandleshwar.
[4] Ajamil: a
brahman who went to
heaven by calling out
his son's name 'Narayan,' during his last
moments in this material
world
[7] Rangoli: decorative
designs made of colored
rice, dry flour, coloured
sand or even flower
petals, made as a
sign of welcome.
[10] Arti: Hinduism a ritual
performed in homes and
temples in which incense
and light is offered
to a deity
[13] Vaijanti Mala:long
necklace of five gems
, pearls, rubies. emeralds, sapphires
and diamonds, worn by Lord
vVshnu
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