-I. V. Ranga Rao, M A., M. Litt, I.E.S Deputy Director, Planning Commission, Madras.
The devotees of Divine Mother Sree Rama Devi have seen the Supreme in saguna splendour. Shaktinagar in this context is a veritable Heaven with Parasakti as the presiding deity. Mother is the universal deity in concentrated effulgence in Shaktinagar, the Light that shines over the institution which is beginning to bloom into a universal movement.
The greatness of Shaktinagar as distinct from home and ashram has been indicated by Divine Mother in Her intimate talks with Her devotees many a times. Shaktinagar is not the creation of human intelligence. It is the divine sankalpa materialized. In the emergence of Shaktinagar the devotees have got the God-given opportunity not only to do sadhana in the divine presence, but also to serve the Divine and the Divine Cause in a direct way.
Mother is Jagadguru as well as Jaganmatha. Divine Mother’s advent has great significance to the householders. It has sanctified the order of Garhasthya itself. It has elevated home into a divine abode, a heaven of peace and has testified to the truth that sadhana for Realization can be performed within the confines of four walls of home. Mother’s life of severe tapasya for 12 years in Her husband’s home at Tellicherry in the midst of multifarious domestic chores and Her great realizations and experiences in the moral and spiritual fields, amply prove that home is a springboard to God-experience and not a hindrance to it.
Though Mother is Divine and is ever-perfect, She is deigned to accept a human form and to function as a mistress of the home, resigning Her will to the husband’s will and converting life into a ceaseless tapas. The significance of this sacrifice on Her part is to make us realize that as householders we too can achieve that high state by following Her percepts and with Her grace. The Guru-shishya parampara is normally found existing only among sanyasis. Getting a proper Guru is a very rare fortune and getting the Guru’s grace is a hard task. But Divine Mother has come to our midst, accepted us as disciples and is leading us to the spiritual summit.
Miracles or siddhis appeal to the common man as revealing the greatness of a spiritual personage. To him, one cannot be a real spiritual preceptor if he cannot perform a siddhi or something supernatural. The phenomenon of siddhis or miracles is as old as human civilization. These siddhis have some kind of influence on people who witness them. The life of every Prophet or saint is replete with anecdotes or incidents which demonstrate the supernatural power in him. Men of faith attributes these powers to godliness and accept with immense credulity without any questioning. Even Bhagawan Patanjali in his ‘Yoga Sutras’ deals at length on the yogic siddhis. Some of the nobel prize winners in the western world as Sir William Crookes and Dr. Richet have accepted these supernatural phenomena as true. Intelligentia elsewhere are doubtful masters who consider these as hallucinations or even humbug. As miracles defy scientific explanation those keep the scientist in perpetual doubt. It is common knowledge that scientists proceed with certain laws of Nature as taken for granted. When a stone is thrown up, it falls down. It is due to gravitational pull, it is claimed Nobody disputes the accepted theory. But what that pull is the science has yet to answer. But in his efforts to reach the moon the scientist proceeded on certain hypothesis and scientific formulae after prolonged experiments and series of failures. Man did at last reach the Moon only to see the craters, mountains and other physical phenomenon and geological structures of that planet but certainly not visualized it as a punya loka where Jivas reach after leaving their moral coil to enjoy the fruits of punya as adumbrated in the holy scriptures. Of course, the ‘chandraloka’ of the scriptures is not the Moon which the Scientists have reached. It is a subtle loka and it requires spiritual vision to perceive that loka. Simply because we cannot perceive that chandraloka with our physical eyes or through scientific observations, we cannot deny the existence of such a loka.
Divine Mother does not pay importance to siddhis Herself and in fact has warned devotees not to get lost in those occult powers which are incidental to spiritual advancement. These are distractions rather, something like bangles or toy shops around the temple. If one gets lost in these side attractions, the main goal is apt to be missed. Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa also held the same view. Simply because Divine Mother does not perform miracles voluntarily, it does not mean miracles are not experienced in Her children’s lives. If only Divine Mother’s devotees are to unfold their personal experiences that they come across in their day-to-day existence, probably it would require volumes to record such incidents. Normally these are not dilated upon as there is the danger of these incidents kindling the ego, besides giving rise to expectation for such miracles to occur always and in their absence disappointment results, which is certainly not a healthy sign for spiritual progress. I would however narrate a few personal incidents for the readers, the incidents which I do not like to categorise as miracles, but as merciful intervention of Divine Mother’s protecting and guiding Hand.
One day my wife was frying appalams (papads) in the kitchen, and we were all seated taking food. The frying was over and she was trying to lower the pan, when the tongs gave way. The pan slipped and descended a height 2-3 feet with the hot oil in it. One could imagine the suspense and excitement during those few minutes. We thought the boiling oil would spill all over, causing severe burns to the mistress and all of us sitting around. Simultaneously from all our throats arose the Divine Mother’s Name, the Mahamanthra, and the wonder of wonders, not a drop spilt. The pan descended intact. What is the explanation for this except the act of invisible hand which waits as it were to protect Her children. We kept our mouths wide open, only to recover from that state after sometime.
There is another instance, when I was returning to Madras from Shaktinagar. I got into the sleeper coach and was searching my berth in the compartment. The porter who was ahead of me located the berth and was releasing the chain to keep the luggage, not noticing that I was closely following him. As he untied the chain, the berth plank got released suddenly and was settling down with a force and thud. A lady in the same compartment unknown to me, a co-passenger, was shouting at the top of her voice. What it was I could not make out. It appears, that was to caution about the sleeper hitting my sparsely-haired head. I was conscious that the sleeper was slipping on my head. I had neither the presence of mind to escape nor was it possible as some persons were following me with luggage etc. In the normal process the head would have been hit hard with other consequences as injury, bleeding etc. The sleeper plank settled on my head with a cushion-like touch. The lady, the porter and a few others were motionless, watching my reaction. When I told them that there was no problem, they were wondering how could it be. I knew there was the Divine hand in this process, hence I did not wonder.
On another occasion, when I was returning from Shaktinagar by the Malabar Express, I was feeling awfully hungry and was waiting for Cannanore station to come. As it was raining heavily, it was difficult for me even to peep out. I was praying Mother for help within. As soon as the train stopped one I. R. R. Server came running to my compartment and straight to me, as though the order for meal was previously conveyed to him. What was my reaction except my thanks to the Divine Mother for Her Motherly kindness. Mother is not only worried about the canteen bell even in the midst of a discourse, so that the children are not late for their meals, but Her kindness is boundless and She takes care of Her Children even outside as a mother nurses her baby looking at the time.
There is yet another occasion when my wife and myself still wonder at the mystery. That is in connection with a contribution promised by us to our Madras mandali. That was a period when we had a heavy budget. My wife reminded me of our commitment at the same time assuring me that the cash box was thoroughly checked up and it contained no resources. We were wondering what to do. It may be hard to believe the next morning to our surprise we found just the money needed to honour the commitment. My wife came running to me with excitement to announce this and we looked at each other’s face, all in obvious wonder. Even to-day, it remains a mystery to us.
Here is another instance to show how Divine Mother is concerned with ordinary routine affairs. That was a Sunday evening. The entire family was hurrying to attend Sunday bhajan. The domestic-gas got exhausted that morning and we left instructions to the company to send the gas refill cylinder at a specific time without interfering with our bhajan-schedule. The clerk at the other end nodded his head. We thought it was an end of matter. It was not so. We as usual, hurried to the bus-stop to attend the bhajan. As I reached the bus-stop, I was intuitively drawn back home. I told my wife that I would go to the house, while they could proceed. Accordingly they did. Meanwhile, I reached my house wondering what it all meant. Scarcely had I landed and settled in a chair, I found a boy in a tricycle hurrying up with the gas-cylinder. I could not contain my wonder, till I ran to my people and explained the whole incident. Tears of joy overpowered me and thanks full of gratitude was offered to the Supreme, who follows us even as a shadow of the body.
Recently, for a religious ceremony, I was in search of a purohit one evening when it was dusk. I was praying Divine Mother about my mission. I went to the familiar place of a nearby temple where such a demand can be met with some effort. In the absence of any purohit, I went to the temple, offered my prayers and came out. Lo1 I found two purohits talking to each other, in close proximity. They were fixing engagements for the next day. I wasted no time and hurried as fast as I could and got my job fulfilled. What else can it be expecting that of the Divine hand again in the matter? Such miracles are quite there. Instances are not lacking, when Divine Mother made Her Children talk in meetings or gatherings without pre-preparation whatsoever. Incurable diseases such as heart-trouble are also reported to be cured through faith after stay at Shaktinagar by Her grace. These show that Divine Mother is always with Her Children everywhere and we children should live tuned to Her with absolute faith in Her Vakya and constant Namjapa. The greatest miracle to my mind is that we children have taken birth at a time when Divine Mother has come as the Avatar and we are accepted as Her Children.
Divine Mother is Durga, Lakshmi and Saraswathi. As Durga, she protects, as Lakshmi. She is a giver of wealth and prosperity and as Saraswathi She bestows learning and wisdom. She is the Goddess who was extolled by Adi Shankara and Her cosmic beauty was sung in countless praises in the immortal “Soundarya Lahari”. She is the same Kali who was worshipped by Sri Ramakrishna. It is only at Her behest, the cosmic forces work. She is behind all the activities of the hevently lokas and those of the creation. Even the Trinities look forward to get a glimpse of Her Darshan not to say of the Devathas and Devaganas, who wait on eagerly to see Her Soundarya, equivalent to Sahasra rathi it is said. Such is the greatness of Divine Mother. Her name has a great potency that can even pierce mountains. Let us revel in these great thoughts and profit by them, in our spiritual sadhana.
The installation ceremony of Divine Mother’s Vigraha at Shaktinagar for the benefit of Her Children and the posterity is an occasion of great significance. Vigraha pratishta itself is a rare occasion and in this case it is sanctified by the Divine Herself. These developments taking place right before us, in our lifetime is a great blessing. April 14, 1976 is thus another landmark in the history of Shaktinagar, while this day is to be written in letters of gold in our minds, ever to be remembered and reveled. Our united prayers to the Divine Mother on this occasion is to absolve us of our countless short-comings and sins and lift us up to those spiritual heights in spite of those, which Her grace alone can bestow, so that Her Real nature is ultimately realized and we become one with Her. Even Narada in his “Bhakthi Sutras” highlights this aspect of grace, which is the gift of God in spiritual realization and no amount of self-effort can help according to him without Divine grace.