M. was the pen name of Mahendra Nath Gupta (1854-1932), the
headmaster of Vidyasagar's High School in Calcutta. M. met Sri
Ramakrishna in 1882 and recorded in his diary many of the Master's
conversations and teachings until the latter's passing away in 1886.
Excerpts from this diary were first published in Bengali in five
volumes under the title Sri Sri Ramakrishna Kathamrita.
In 1942
Swami Nikhilananda translated this into English and combined the
five volumes into one, entitled The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna. In his
later life M. was surrounded by devotees, and his conversations with
them about Sri Ramakrishna and spiritual life were recorded by
Swami Nityatmananda from 1923 to 1932. These conversations
were published in Bengali in sixteen volumes under the title:
"Srima Darshan".
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The following is an excerpt from a biography of Mahendranath
Gupta by Swami Nityatmananda. P.1967
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It was during the life-time of Sri Ramakrishna that M was the first of the devotees to visit
Kamarpukur, his native village. By the grace of Thakur, he saw the entire Kamarpukur as a
holy-place bathed in effulgent light. Trees and creepers, beasts and birds, and men - all were
made
of effulgence.
So, he prostrated to all on the road. He came across a tom-cat made of light. He
immediately fell on the ground and saluted it. Another day, he saw the holy Dakshineshwar
enveloped in light. Instead of going himself, Thakur sent M to Puri. He said, "If I go there I shall
not
survive in this body." - By the memory of his play as Sri Chaitanya he might enter into
mahabhava
and might quit this mortal frame. At the instances of Thakur, with indomitable courage, M
embraced
Jagannath out of season. Later on too, M visited Puri several times.
Mahendranath Gupta outside Sri Ramakrishna's room at Dakshineswar
His first visit to Kashi was when he was only sixteen. Seeing Kashi from the railway bridge, the
mind
and soul of M began to dance in unison with joy. He again visited Kashi several times. After the
demise of Thakur, he met Trailanga Swami, Bhaskarananda Swami and Vishuddhananda Swami.
When Bhaskarananda Swami heard the Mother's Song of Thakur, sung by M he said, "You say
you
have to do so many things. How do you find time to think on these sublime thoughts?" Trailanga
Swami snatched the basket of sweets from the hands of M and like a child hid it behind his back.
In Ayodhya, Raghunath Babaji consoled M saying, "Visit the place of the guru, meditate on the
name and form of the guru, sing the praises of the guru and live." In Vrindavan, M witnessed the
Jhulan festival, the festival of the swing, and in Nidhuvana, he sought the place of Ganga Mai,
visited
by Thakur. The acting of the rasadharis enchanted M.
M accompanied Holy Mother to Kashi in 1912. He spent this year and the next in the
Uttarakhanda
in tapasya. He underwent tapasya on the bank of the Ganga at Kanakhal in Haridwar, living in a
hut.
At times, in that hut, he would form the brahma-chakra, alongwith his brother disciples - Swami
Turiyananda, Swami Shivananda and others. Then he went to Rishikesh. At first, he lived at
Mayakunda, later he shifted to a hut in the Swarga-Ashrama. To this day, this hut exists but in a
dilapidated condition.
Within M, there always resided a rishi of the highest order devoted to the life of tapasya in the
tapovana. He nursed a burning desire all his life to live in a tapovana. In his own residence, in
Calcutta, in the Morton School and the Thakur Bari, he grew various kinds Of fruits and
flower-plants in flowerpots and tubes on the roof of the building. If a man would listen to the
chanting of the Upanishad from the lips of M sitting there, in the sober and grave Vedic tune,
he would be reminded perforce that a rishi of the Satyayuga had perhaps descended in a new
body.
The Upanishad was the life and soul of M; next came the Gita. Of the Bible, he was a master. In
the
course of conversations, always without cessation he would quote divine passages from these
three
scriptures. Hearing the interpretations of the Biblical text from the lips of M, an old orthodox
devout
padre Mr. Bose, his neighbour, would be struck dumb. With a smile, M would reply: Thakur and
Christ are one. - Hinting at it - Because I lived with Christ in the same house, so I am able to
comprehend a little of his word.
Those unmarried young men who would embrace the monastic life, M would love with a hundred
mothers' heart. As parents become free from anxiety when they can make their son stand on his
own
feet, exactly so was the case with M. He would be free from anxiety when he saw the devotees
surrendering themselves to Sri Ramakrishna. The company of the sadhus and the service of the
sadhus - this is the practical Vedanta and he always taught it to the sadhus and bhaktas.
M was always surrounded by sadhus and bhaktas. Like Thakur, he also considered the sadhus
and
bhaktas as his own near and dear ones and looked upon his kith and kin as strangers. Even when
he
was going to enter into mahasamadhi he forbade the attendant-brahmachari to inform the
members
of his family. They arrived by being informed by the neighbours.
M had two sons, two daughters and a vast family circle. Having done all his duties, he was a
stranger, as it were, in his own house - a pilgrim, as it were, in an inn. He revered the members of
the family of Thakur and the paternal family of Holy Mother like Thakur himself. He would look
upon even the inhabitants of their birth-places in the same light. He looked upon Thakur and Holy
Mother as one and indivisible. His brother and sister disciples were like the guru to him. A
pommelo
orange - chakotra - fruit of the Belur Math garden and a bael of the Dakshineshwar, M treasured
as
sacramental offerings from Vaikuntha.
The terrace of the third storey of Morton School and the staircase-room were like the
Naimisharanya - always resounded with the holy words of God. Like Rishi Narada, M would sing
the glory of Sri Ramakrishna with a thousand tongues. Broach any topic you like and M would
drown it without the knowledge of others into the ocean of nectar of Sri Ramakrishna, the
harbinger
of blissful comfort to the soul. If ever anybody spoke ill of the sadhus before M, lo! there was no
escape for him, he would make him bathe in the tears of his eyes by sweet admonition. M would
say, "Man is made up of good and bad." In spite of their defects, the sadhus are adorable to us. If
we speak ill of them where shall we go to listen to the word of God? Once for several years, he
sent
devotees every morning to the Belur Math by the first steamer for the company of sadhus.
The swan in M sifted virtues. The doors of finding fault with others remained sealed for ever for
him.
The pride of birth, education, wisdom, beauty and virtue were totally uprooted in his life.
It was for the publication and propagation of the Kathamrita that M was born. The writing of the
fifth
part was finished at nine in the night. Immediately after, started neuralgic pain. Under this
pretext:,
with this swan-song on his lips: 'Gurudeva Ma, kole toole na-o' - Master, O Holy Mother, take me
in your lap, M. whose life was completely given to Sri Ramakrishna entered maha-samadhi. It was
June 4, 1932 A. D. Saturday, at the end of the Phalaharani Kali worship, on the last day of the
Dark
Fortnight in the Rohini Nakshatra.
It was twenty-one days before that M had started on the journey, chanting the name of Durga and
sat waiting, and pouring out his soul, sang the farewell death-conquering victory song-
[Sanskrit]
"I have surrendered my soul at the feet of the Fearless One and what fear is there for me from
the
god of death?"
To obtain a copy of the GOSPEL OF SRI RAMAKRISHNA, visit LINK for
the Vedanta Society of Toronto
|