Bhagawathy

February 2nd, 2014

 – Sri. Ramanuja Menon (1961)

One day, a friend of ours came and told my wife and me that Sadguru Sri Rama Devi of Tellicherry was at Pushpagiri Park holding spiritual discourses and bhajans. He was very keen, that we should go there and be blessed with the Mother’s darshan. To tell the truth we rather ignored his words at first. Though we were religious by nature we were not seriously in quest of a guru. But there was inner urge prompting us to go and see the Mother and so we accompanied our friend. We reached the beautiful mansion, Pushpagiri Park and joined the large gathering of devotees in the big hall awaiting Mother’s darshan.

A few minutes went by when all rose from their seats and we had the first sight of Mother. Even from that distance to our bewildering joy, a tender glance of blessing was directed towards us. Mother’s sweet smile burst on us, enrapturing us. Mother had not spoken to us but in a single moment she had drawn us to her in reverential surrender.

We returned home. We were filled with the thought of her. It brought waves of joy. We longed for the next day to dawn so that we could again see her. We became her humble worshippers; later we became her disciples. Numerous are the instances of her boundless blessing and love for us. A word of prayer was enough and she hastened to give succour. To our mothers who were ailing, we believe, she granted eternal peace, when their ends came.

In the path of life when tribulations beset us, infinite is her love, infinite her patience and understanding. Out of all troubles and trials, her unerring guidance leads us on, illumining our path. To us she is the great Mother-Bhagawathy, the be-all and end-all of our existence. No other divinity exists for us.

In the sublime shrine at Trichur where Mother had installed Sri Rama and Krishna, we feel the divine sakthi of Mother as we feel nowhere else. Many times we attained the needed solace and peace in that holy shrine, making us realise the divine presence there. Our humble prayers are to make us purer and purer that we may live a life of complete surrender dedicated to the service of Mother.

The Fourfold Blessing

January 19th, 2014

– M. Narayanan Unni,  M. A. B. L Advocate, Madras High Court, Camp: Honolulu, U. S.

Divine Mother Rama Devi is the bestower on devotees of manifold blessings. Four of such blessings would be uppermost in the mind of the recipients. They are the Blessing of enlightenment; the Blessing of bringing persons of varying outlook to a regime governed by the law of love; the Blessing in the form of attunement to internal harmony and external concord; and the Blessing bestowing on spiritual aspirants of whatever denomination the untold benefits of  austerity.

The Advent of Divine Mother is therefore not only the advent of the Guru par excellence. It is also the advent of the star of enlightenment in human consciousness. Through the faculty of the intellect that is in every one, by the grace of Divine Mother, there will be efflorescence in the form of Enlightenment.

What is Enlightenment? Enlightenment is the knowledge that underlying the ever-changing phenomena of external objects and the inner phenomena of ever-changing thoughts and emotions, there is Reality, which does not change and that Reality is the true self.

The physical body of sensations is veritably a shrine where the eternal and the ephemeral subsist together. Mother teaches that in the highest plane of man’s physical embodiment, there is divinity abiding within man himself, reachable by the practice of the law of love.

When persons begin to think and act humanely, then works of charity, justice and generosity will be resulting spontaneously. Based on this dictum is Mother’s teaching that practice of love by individuals will lead to harmonious social relationships.

Harmony leads to the realization of self. Realization of self will lead to the intellectual conviction of the possibility of achieving universal brotherhood, in which all selves partake and participate. As one practices the law of love adumbrated by Mother for adoption in day to day living, one would have to preserve harmony in domestic and social relationships.

A true realization of self is naturally followed by a profounder conviction of universal brotherhood. The law of love as expounded by Mother is both merciful and just. It is just in the sense that it works from within oneself to those outside in the world around. As we send out thoughts and feelings of love, on the basis of universal brotherhood which is a subsisting reality, so shall we reap the effects in goodwill towards ourselves from all directions.

From the definition of love as the basis of universal brotherhood and the promoter of mutual goodwill, Mother enjoins upon disciples and devotees especially, individual responsibility of setting in operation right thoughts and just sentiments as correctives to imbalances and imperfections wherever existing, in the society in which they are placed. Mother envisions each devotee and disciple of Her moving in the direction of Higher Self, in each of them, under Her aegis and directions, thus becoming several centres radiating light and love and peace and joy.

In some respects, the greatest blessing from Divine Mother is in inclining minds to the practice of austerity. What is the austerity prescribed by Mother? It is the discipline of training and cleansing the mind, curbing the senses, restraining capricious inclinations, not giving way to appetites and agitations, all the time cultivating the virtues and refining the moral nature to the best of one’s ability. This is the dispensation of Divine Mother. He who lives according to this dispensation will be in contact with Her divine guidance, Her divine vibrations and Her divine inspirations.

Mother has issued the warning that harmony and concord achieved through patience and perseverance, are liable to be endangered because, among spiritual aspirants, even among advanced sadhakas, by reason of their individual temperaments and characteristic tendencies, there will arise differences in opinions and diversity in outlook. When opinions clash and viewpoints differ one from the other, the unity will be broken, the harmony will be disrupted, bringing about as results thereof discord and disorder. Discord will give rise to mutual recriminations and adverse criticism of one another. Disagreements will thereupon occur and the tenets of the teaching may come to be jeopardized, violated, ignored and even forgotten.

Therefore, to avoid clash of opinion and conflict of personality fraught with disruptive consequences, Mother teaches that personal differences among spiritual aspirants should not be made much of; they should be forgotten. To make progress on the path of spirituality, the practitioners of discipline under the guidance of Mother should remain staunchily united in the upholding of Her tenets, in their promulgation and in their propagation. They should learn to disregard the shortcomings and at the same time, appreciate virtues. In the outer plane of their nature, they should exhibit bounty, generosity, patience and humility. In the inner plane, they should practice the threefold austerities in order to preserve and promote harmony and concord.

The threefold austerities are:

  1. The austerity of body consisting in purity, rectitude, charity and harmlessness;
  2. The austerity of speech consisting in speech that is truthful, friendly, gentle and courteous, causing no anxiety, no animosity, no anguish to any one, at any time;
  3. The austerity of mind consisting in serenity, self-restraint, sincerity and straightforwardness.

May the fourfold blessings of Enlightenment, Love, Harmony and Austerity result in clearer perceptions in the increasing number of Her devotees and disciples. With gift of higher knowledge, may She give corresponding motivations which are above selfish considerations. May she make us master every crisis through clearer vision and deeper understanding of Her glory and Her grace.

Divine Mother Entered My Life

January 5th, 2014

 – Dr.T.G.Menon, I F.S.(Retd.) Kollengode

(The Author, an initiated disciple of Divine Mother, was formerly India’s Envoy at our Embassies in Australia, Phillipins, Indonesia, North & South Vietnam, Mexico and Panama, Ceylon and Head of the Commerce Division in U.S.A & U.K. Missions: Ed)

I had the blessed opportunity of having Divine Mother’s Darshan and of listening to Her inspiring discourses and spending a few days in Her abode, Shaktinagar, on all the three occasions I visited Mangalore.

In 1953 I had a first glimpse of Divine Mother. I happened to pass through Madras on my way to take up a new assignment in London in our High Commission, from Australia where I spent three years as India’s Envoy. A satsang was being held in the residence of late Sir M. Venkata Subba Rao, Ex-Chief Justice of Madras. He, as an old family friend, invited me to meet Divine Mother who was his guest at that time. But when I went to the large prayer Hall, I saw Mother in a state of complete Samadhi. She seated majestically on the throne provided for the occasion. The huge gathering was singing devotional songs with great devotional fervour. The darshan of Mother in that majestic pose had a profound impact on me and I felt for the first time in the presence of a personality who had merged with God. I am sure the whole mass of humanity who had gathered there had felt the same impact.

In spite of my hectic career as a d’career Diplomat, my early training under my loving grandmother (my father was too busy with politics and my beloved mother had died when I was hardly six years old) had left in me an instinct to fear God, to respect traditions and to stick to my daily routine of prayers wherever I went.

But I did not know where to concentrate my mind, it was Krishna one moment, Siva another moment, Lakshmi still another moment, even Christ or Buddha, sometime as I have always been a cosmopolitan and pragmatic in outlook in the religious field (In foreign countries I used to attend the churches often as a regular practice). My mind was like a rudderless boat cast in the high seas carried hither and thither by winds of fortune.

But since that fateful day in Madras, the unforgettable and divinely beautiful and majestic figure of Mother had come to my mind every time I went through a moment of stress or strain, which gave me further confidence and courage. In fact even these days, after seeing Mother so often in Mangalore, when I pray to Her, it is that picture of Mother at Madras in 1953 that comes uppermost in my mind.

The next darshan was in 1957 when I visited Trichur on my way from London to North Vietnam to join there as the Political Adviser of the International Peace commission and later as its Chairman in Saigon. I spent three days when, as luck would have it, the Divine Mother was staying at the house of my cousin Thankam (Mrs. T. N. K. Nair) an ardent devotee of Mother, who, as I had known, was not only saved by Mother from a calamitous illness but is now a dominant worker of the Mission wielding considerable influence among the devotees of the Divine Mother.

Mother lovingly enquired if I practiced prayers daily. I replied, ‘Yes Mother, I repeat Sri Ram Jaya Ram Jaya Jaya Ram’. ‘That is quite enough for the present’, said Mother with a radiant smile, and I withdrew. Little had I known at that time that Mother had given some more time for me to wander about before I could take refuge at Her Feet.

The fateful telephone call to receive spiritual initiation from Divine Mother and to join Rama Sakti Mission came one crisp cold January morning in New Delhi in the year 1972, where I was staying on an assignment. It was the gentle voice of Thankam. She informed me that Divine Mother was at her daughter’s residence and that if I wanted to be initiated, she would gladly arrange it for me.

Thankam had of course known about my aspiration, but the offer was so persuasive and so sudden that I was simply baffled, knowing my own utter incapacity to take up such a divine responsibility. But in a flash I suddenly realized the uselessness of the pomp and glory of a wild diplomatic career, which leads you to nothing except some creature comforts and also the miseries of a meandering mind.

Every time I sat for prayer, it was the figures of such political leaders-Ho Chi Ming of  N.Vietnam, Mao Tse Tung of China, and the heroes of the day, Nho Din Diem of  S. Vietnam, Dulles and Nixon of U. S. A, Nasser of Egypt, who crowded my mind. I therefore welcomed the offer, taking it for Divine Mother’s blessing on me, decided on the spur of the moment and said ‘Yes’ without fully realizing the heavy responsibilities of recasting my life to one of peace and quietude and giving up certain earthly comforts. In my new orientation of mind, I also wanted to learn of the philosophical rhapsody of the Hindu religion, and who else can do so better other than one who is the fountain head of the power and wisdom of Shakti Herself?

To reproduce all that Mother had said from time to time in a brief article like this is to attempt the impossible. One fact that struck me forcibly is the rigid self-discipline that is called for in every aspect of one’s life. Mother insists on equilibrium in one’s way of life, an equilibrium which alone can bring a sense of joy, a sense of poise, a sense of fulfillment and achievement, a sense of harmony as in the orchestration of a beautiful concert of Bach, Beethoven or Thyagaraja.

She does it, not in a coercive form, but in a motherly way. Her love for the disciples and Her concern for them makes one realize the state of Her mind charged with divine attributes one associates with that Supreme Being.

Such divine qualities in their perfection can be found only in one who condescended to descend from the transcendental divine state to the human form, for the uplift of humanity which now wallows in degradation and needs to be guided. The readiness to accept all such individuals in Her infinite compassion which God alone is capable of is a phenomenon so rarely discernible in other spiritual personages.

Mother’s doctrine of duty is a clarion call not only to ethical idealism, but to spiritual detachment. She impresses on every one the purifying power of work and the need for conscientious discharge of one’s duties. She asks us to keep the mind in the presence of God even when we are intensely busy, and even in the most trivial details of work.

One can seek God and serve Him in every sphere of work, whether it is the household, the office, the business house, the Factory, or elsewhere, provided one adopts a spiritual perspective, or to speak in the language of faith, one does only such things which God will approve.

Like the great Teachings in the Bhagavad Gita and the Upanishads, Mother has spoken a lot about the necessity for the spiritual devotion and moral training as the way to control and conquest of mind. Her analysis of the human predicaments and situations is startling and She has solution for the problems that confront mankind.

Knowledge of the Self, selfless activity and devotion to the Divine, together bring about a certain state of mind which is exhausted of all factors of agitation in life, says Mother. It is ego, the mental passions and the latent vasanas that destroy one’s life of peace and quietude. If the thoughts are good, the mind is good. Those seeking realization of God, must tackle their own minds, purify their mode of living and seek God with constancy and faith under the guidance of Sadguru.

Sadhana as Mother has explained is the persistent effort to reach the state where one lives, moves and have one’s being in God. This implifies constant practice of the presence of God, restraint of cravings, practice of meditation and tuning one’s entire being to God. The success of meditation depends on our mental states during the rest of the day.

If we stray away from God-thought and get entangled in the stresses of emotional life, it will be impossible for us to focus our mind on God. However much we may try, worldly thoughts are sure to crowd in and prevent the mind from attaining a smooth inward flow called meditation. All our practices in the Prayer Hall are to coax our mind into a mood of spontaneous and total attention and to condition the mind at meditation.

A man living constantly in greed, sensuality and anger cannot even enter the periphery of meditation. The healthy discipline Divine Mother has enjoined upon all sadhakas in the Shaktinagar Campus has in fact opened up vistas of possibilities for quicker advancement in the inner contemplative pursuit.

True humanism, according to Mother, emerges from love of God only. Fellow feeling, compassion, mercy, selflessness, spirit of service and sacrifice, all these are great human qualities that come in the wake of God-love only. No man can truly love another except in and through God. Mother emphasizes the need for cultivation of higher love based on spiritual understanding.

Love is not levity, as Emerson put it. It needs the full worth of man. If two utter strangers can fall in total love at first sight and think of nothing but each other all the time, as is so common in this world, is it too much to expect to develop true love for God who is our only Friend, Companion and Saviour, nay, our own deepest self?

True love can arise only from total faith in God, says Divine Mother. When I spoke to Her once of an ailing relation and sought Her Blessing, Mother’s eyes were found filled with tears and She said: ‘Let her have faith in Mother’.

True enough. The religious books merely tell us of the possibility of understanding of a great transcendent Reality beyond the Mind. But only by faith can man strive on the path of Self-realization. It is faith alone, not philosophy that will give us divine comfort in critical situations. Without faith one cannot hold fast to God, one cannot do any real sadhana.

All these thoughts have been communicated by Divine Mother to those around Her, not in a doctrinaire way but from a state of sympathy and love arising from an inward abundance of spirituality. All these have been new revelations to me when I heard the inspiring divine discourses at Shaktinagar.

Religion was, for me, merely a set of forms of rituals and the knowledge of the Gita and other scriptures which I had to my credit was only on a theoretical plane. Only after visiting Shaktinagar and staying in the campus within the immediate spiritual aura of Divine Mother, I came to know that while I can do little about my past, I can by Her Grace and by my own patient practice of the technique She taught us, reduce the innate tendencies, make my mind less extrovert and eventually get linked with my own deepest divinity, the Atman.

Mother: The Mystery and The Revelation

December 22nd, 2013

 – T.N.Gopinathan Nayar, Trivandrum

(Sri T. N. Gopinathan Nair of All India Radio, Trivandrum, is a disciple of Divine Mother. An author of several books, he is an eminent playwright and short story writer of Kerala: Ed)

Without embellishments, without being adorned with glittering ornaments, my words springing up from the inmost chamber of my heart, are today on a pilgrimage to the highest abode, the Lotus Feet of my Ishtadevata, Divine Mother, in order to offer a flower there. That humble flower is myself.

I met Divine Mother Sree Rama Devi 28 years ago while She was living with Her husband at Tellicherry. Recently I had the fortune to revisit that sacred abode where Mother did Her intense Sadhana continuously for several years. Still I vividly remember the day I accompanied my Aunt, Mrs. T. N. K. Nayar from Trichur to Tellicherry. When I reached Trichur unexpectedly from Bombay that day She was about to leave for the Railway station and invited me to accompany her to Tellicherry. It was sheer curiosity that prompted me to accompany her, the curiosity to see the Sadguru who was responsible for the miraculous transformation of my Aunt who was on the verge of a mental breakdown due to several poignant domestic calamities. In the course of three months she lost two of her illustrious elder brothers. Her eldest brother Dr. Bhaskara Menon, Professor of the Vellore Medical College, suddenly passed away at the London aerodrome when he reached there to attend a medical conference. So too, his brother Madhava Menon, an Engineer of the Iron and Steel Company at Jamshedpur passed away after a heart attack. Her nephew who was studying in the Engineering College at Banaras met the same fate. The demise of her benevolent elder sister was the last stroke. Any one can imagine the condition of the mind of a woman who faced these calamities one after the other in quick succession. She was thus on the verge of a total breakdown. The ways of the Supreme are inscrutable. Fortunately she had the opportunity to meet Divine Mother in the midst of a large gathering of devotees during one of Her visits to Madras. That was the decisive moment of her destiny, the turning point in her life. That small particle of iron was drawn immediately to the stupendous magnet. In Mother she recognized her saviour and the sadguru. She became Her initiated disciple. Mother’s divine power healed all her psychological wounds and made her whole. Thus after an era of ordeals, she regained strength to face life courageously. She got the much-sought-for peace by her contacts with Divine Mother. Now you can more or less guess with what amount of curiosity I accompanied her to Tellicherry to meet her Sadguru.

When we reached the destination, a disciple opened the main entrance with a smile of welcome and said: ‘Oh, just now Mother was telling that Thankam will be coming here accompanied by Gopi. Is this Gopi?’

I was shocked. Strange indeed! How did Mother know I was accompanying my Aunt from Trichur? How did She know of my name? There was nobody there to inform Mother even by telegram. Did Mother foresee my visit? These questions, one after the other, sprang up in my baffled mind.

I saw Divine Mother doing all the household duties there like any devoted Hindu housewife. The concept of holiness and the idea of a spiritual personage received a new form in my mind as I watched the queen of that home of hospitality at work. The one I beheld there, was not a hermit withdrawn from the world, not a being hidden in a cloistered seclusion, but the one who manifested the pure zest of a dynamic life. At noon I was sitting along with a few guests for the midday meal. Mother, the Grihalakshmi, was serving various dishes to all in traditional humility and grace. The last item to be served as per Kerala custom is buttermilk. When I was expecting it, Mother appeared before me and asked: ‘May I serve you milk?’ Thinking that it was a gesture for VIPs I replied in a humble tone: ‘Mother, please give me buttermilk’. Mother raised Her head and enquired whether there was buttermilk in the kitchen. The answer was in the negative. Then I knew that my plight was miserable. There was a moment’s suspense. To the surprise of all, suddenly a female voice rose loudly from the gate: ‘Ma, curd, do you want curd?’ With a broad smile Mother said to me: ‘Wait, I shall give you buttermilk’. She rushed to the gate with a vessel. All were astonished. From which part of the world did this woman reach there with a pot of curd at that particular moment!

The rationalists may be inclined to consider this phenomenon as a mere coincidence. But why should not the woman with the curd appear a few minutes before or after. What power on earth made her arrive at that very moment of need. This no one can explain. The mysterious and the miraculous do not conform the logic.

At night Mother suddenly came to the room where my Aunt and myself were resting. She sat on a sofa. My aunt told Her in a jovial way that Gopi would like to put a few questions to Mother in order to clear his doubts. There was a glow in Mother’s eyes. With childlike simplicity and innocence, She turned them towards me. Silly and arrogant as I was at that time I asked a few questions pertaining to the concept of God. Remember, it happened 28 years ago. Mother answered all my questions in a very simple and convincing manner. Suddenly She went into samadhi. In the dim light She shone like a serene marble idol, absolutely still and motionless. The eye balls had gone behind the upper eyelids. Suddenly waves of fragrance began to emanate from Her sacred person. It was the combined perfume of camphor, sandal and Tulsi. I could experience its approach as if wafting steadily from billows. Intoxicating indeed! Soon the whole atmosphere was filled with that scintillating fragrance. My inner conscience commanded me in whisper: ‘Prostrate, prostrate’. The youthful egoism was pulling me back. That mental conflict lasted for a few seconds. Finally, inspite of me, with a throbbing heart I fell before those Lotus Feet like a jasmine garland. And I was crying like a child. Tears began to flow from my eyes as water from a broken vessel. I do not know where this much tears remained hidden till then. My tears spread the entire floor and Mother reflected on it like a celestial white lilly. A strange experience lingered for a few minutes. At last Mother soothed my mind by gently stroking my head with Her petal like fingers and called me in that sweet tender tone, ‘Son’. I know only this much. When I opened my eyes from that ecstatic thrill, the room was empty. A soul-stirring perfume was lingering still. It spoke volumes!

All this happened twentyeight years ago. My uncle, my mother, mother’s sister, my brothers, why, almost all members of our huge family have since then become disciples of Mother. Mother became our tutelary Deity and Her grace has been protecting the entire family with motherly care. The spiritual movement initiated by Mother’s grace and inspiration started growing day by day. My uncle became the first President of Rama Sakti Mission. A Mandali was formed earlier at Trivandrum which added a fillip to the collective quest of the devotees. Very soon, a beautiful Mandir dedicated to Divine Mother was built in a peaceful and prominent residential locality in Trivandrum. Divine Mother visited Trivandrum in Her extensive tours several times and each visit drew a large number of devotees to the Movement. My uncle and his wife played the leading role in all these activities. Emotionally enriched by my devotion to Mother, I composed several poems and songs on Mother.

But it may look strange that my wife and I became Mother’s disciples only three and a half years back. What caused this delay is still a mystery to me. The words Mother uttered during Her informal talk to me after the initiation, are still ringing in my ears. Mother said: “When you came to mother 24 years ago to Tellicherry Mother tied a knot on your feet and allowed you to roam about in the blue horizon as you pleased. The strings are with Mother. Slowly and steadily now Mother has brought you here.”

Oh Blessed One! With what words can I express my gratitude to You! I have experienced the nectar of Your immeasurable kindness on several occasions in my life. For the benefit of my readers I feel that I should describe one such occasion at least especially when my Mini, the sweet partner of my life for 23 years suddenly left me a couple of years back. A few months before that incident we, Mini and I, had gone to Shaktinagar to pay our obeisance to Divine Mother. It was our ardent wish to meet Mother at Her chosen abode on earth, Shaktinagar. Mother uttered a very significant sentence at that time. When we reached there, the bhajan was in full swing. My wife got a seat in the last row. I managed to reach the front line. We were not sure whether Mother would come down that evening to grant darshan to the devotees. Our ardent prayers must have reached Mother and Lo! suddenly, Mother blossomed before our eyes like the golden lotus. After paying my respects to Mother I rushed to the last row in the Hall to bring my wife to a noticeable spot so that she could gain a clear darshan of Divine Mother. But she was not seen there. With much despair I came back to my original seat and when I looked at Mother, to my utter surprise, Mini was seen quite close to Mother. With tears of joy, I cried: ‘Oh Mother, the one who is standing near you, is my wife’. With a hearty laugh Mother replied: ‘Mother knows that Mini is your wife. You were searching in vain for her in the back rows. See, by that time, she has already reached Me!’ Prophetic divine words! Yes Mother! Today I am alone. Leaving me behind she has reached You.

My wife became a victim of cerebral haemorrhage and a paralytic stroke while we were travelling in a night train from Tirur to Trivandrum. She was taken to the way side Mission hospital at Tiruvalla. Though we have the satisfaction that all humanly possible medical aid was given, her soul left the cage on 22nd day. As soon as the doctor gave the final pronouncement in a pain-soaked voice, I received an express letter from Divine Mother asking me to leave everything at Her Feet and leave the station courageously to look after my children.

In Her omniscience Mother knew what tragedy was going to overtake me. She knew I would find the anguish of separation from my partner unbearable and sent those words full of comfort and strength. Yes, Mother’s short message timely received by me, filled me with courage and lifted my mind to a state of calm and composure. I clearly perceived that it was Her intervening grace and not my philosophic detachment, that gave me strength to face the ordeal without being overwhelmed by sorrow and to continue my life with a sense of duty and commitment.

In the galaxy of spiritual Masters, Mother is a rare star. The radiance of Her life, work and personality has endowed Her with a status which is unique and Her influence is being increasingly felt on the contemporary society. Unique is Her message and unique the manner of Her delivering it. She is the exemplar of the yoga synthesis expounded in the song celestial, the Bhagavad Gita. It is the impress of Her personal magnetism that makes Her teaching a wonderful gospel of God-realization and a practical manual of Sadhana.

Mother stresses that, one can attain God-realization even while remaining in Garhasthya. Home-life can become a purifying discipline for moral growth and spiritual strength. Among the four orders, Garhasthya has pivotal importance. It carries the noble traits of our tradition. The concept of Divine Spouses in Hinduism (Vishnu-Lakshmi; Siva-Parvathy; and Brahma-Saraswati) reveals the sanctity of the marital order. Most of the venerated Sages in ancient India were householders. So were the Bhaktas whose hymnal outpourings constitute the vast devotional literature. Spiritualized home is the symbol of Bharat’s creative culture.

Associated with home, the order of garhasthya, are moral values which the spouses have to adhere to with religious devotion. The roles of husband and wife are mutually complimentary. Both are inseparable on the ground of moral dedication to the highest end, namely spiritual emancipation. Nowadays when dharma is in its lowest ebbs, Mother’s advent on the Indian spiritual stage as Sadguru and Saviour, assumes special significance. If the householders cast their lives to the mould of Mother’s immortal teaching, the future of this sacred land will be bright. Of this there need be no doubt. In Mother one finds the fulfillment of ancient prophecies.

The divinity of Mother is not a truth open to logical investigation. It is revealed to spiritual faith only. To those who are blessed with this faith, life holds no terror. They are able to live a life of disinterested devotion to duty. Matters relating to religion are absolutely personal. Faith springs from personal experience. One may have faith in Christ, one in the prophet, another in Ramakrishna. All faiths have to be respected and sentiments of devotion based on faith have to be honoured. For thousands of devotees and disciples of Divine Mother, the chosen deity and venerable Guru have become one. That has considerably accelerated their march towards the great goal. In the life time of Lord Krishna and Sri Rama, only a few blessed souls were aware that they were Avatars. Sri Buddha got the rightful place only after his Mahanirvana. Thousands worship Divine Mother as the Supreme Shakti. I am certain that a day will dawn when the world will realize that the Being who created Shaktinagar from nothing, who has brought countless souls to the way of life divine, who has brought about a tremendous awakening in the householders, is none but the Divine Himself.

After reaching the spiritual height through a course of self-inflicted ordeals and rigorous tapascharya, Mother did not choose a life of ascetic withdrawal in a forest retreat to vanish from there unnoticed. She was conscious of Her great divine mission of uplifting the human race. Hence She remain in the midst of suffering humanity, engaging Herself in a mission of mercy. Hers is a universal heart that feels the pulse of humanity.

I am told that there is a pillar in the harbour of New York with an inscription inviting those who are in fetters, those who are poor, those who are in distress, to the free land. Today even from that free land people in quest of peace have started coming here to take refuge at the Lotus Feet of Divine Mother. There is an unseen pillar at Shaktinagar too, inviting those who are in utter distress, who are the victims of cruel destiny, to take shelter under the canopy of Divine Mother’s Grace.

The Saviour is like a Railway engine ready to carry any number of bogies and any number of passengers to the cherished destiny. Yes, the engine is ready at the platform. Those who have tickets of faith can get in. Those who are longing to reach the desired goal should never miss this opportunity. There is no use of lamenting when the train has departed.

To be linked to Mother in the simplicity of heart, is the happiest experience, the rewarding fulfillment for me, a child. I seek no other reward. When I think of Her form I touch the philosophic height, I enter the realm of rapture, I visualize the golden orb of that mystery of mysteries, the Life itself! Through those eyes, the infinite gives me the message of comfort. At times calm and serene are those eyes as the moon-lit sea. At times the heavenly ambrosia pours down through them. At times there dawn in them sudden flashes of lightning. At times they have the freshness and vigour of the dewy dawn. At times they are deep and mysterious as the starry night. Always the rainbow of compassion glows in them.

Mother is the mystery and the revelation unified.