9. IN THE PASSING OF EVENTS
(PART-II)
In
this extremity, the Holy Mother decided on a bold measure. Since all human
remedies had failed, she would now try the chance of obtaining some divine aid.
In the neighbourhood of her home there was the temple of the Divine
Mother in
Her aspect as Simhavahini. She decided to go there and perform the rite of
Hatya, according to which one was to lie before the Deity giving up food and drink,
with the determination to starve to death if no divine remedy was revealed. Her
condition was now desperate. In consequence of the dysentery, her whole body
was swollen. Her nose and eyes were running, and by constant loss of tears she
was practically blind, even a full moon night being, as she said, absolutely
dark to her. In that condition, unknown to her mother and brothers, she went
into the temple with the help of a friend and laid herself down before the
Deity in a mood of supplication. We have it on her own authority that within a
short time the Goddess revealed two medicines - one to her mother for the
dysentery and the other to herself for the trouble in the eye. (Note: As regards
the medicine revealed to her she said, 'I heard the Goddess say to me,
"Press out the juice of the gourd flower, mix it with salt, and apply it
drop by drop to your eye"). '
Both the medicines were tried. As a result she got back her eyesight that very
day while her other ailments disappeared in a short time. (Note: Since
that time Simhavahini of Jayrambati has become a living Goddess. People have a
strong faith that great power is manifested through the Deity in that temple.
Before the cure of the Holy Mother very few used to visit the temple, but now
many people hailing even from distant parts go there on the special days of the
week. Pilgrims carry earth from the foot of the shrine, thus causing a pit of
considerable size to be formed. This earth is supposed to possess great
curative power. Members of the Holy Mother's family officiate in this temple.)
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| Simhavahini |
Next
year the Holy Mother again fell ill, this time of malaria with enlargement of
the spleen. Her mother took her for treatment to a quack in the neighbouring
village of Koyapat. This man's peculiar way of treatment consisted in branding
the region of the spleen with burning plum wood, keeping a kind of green leaf
over the surface to be branded. He also introduced a religious element into his
system of spleen therapeutics, as he administered his treatment within the precincts
of the Siva temple of Badanganj in the name of the Deity. The Holy Mother was
subjected to this operation. We do not know what curative effect it had on her,
but it is known that she bore the painful operation calmly and did not require
anyone to hold fast her limbs, as it had always to be done in the case of the
other patients of this physician.
She
went to Dakshineswar for the third time in January, 1877. Chandra Devi,
her
mother-in-law, who had been residing at Dakshineswar, had passed away in
the
meantime.
 |
| Dakshineswar |
Her
fourth visit to Dakshineswar took place in February, 1881. Unfortunately the
occasion was marred by the insolent conduct of Hriday towards the Holy Mother
and her party. The respect which everyone in the temple showed him, and the
consciousness that even Sri Ramakrishna was under his control, had of late
brought about a transformation in Hriday. His greed had increased, and he had
begun to bid openly for people's respect by posing as a saint. Proud, haughty
and overbearing, he got into the habit of insulting everyone he came in contact
with, including even Sri Ramakrishna. In the blindness and folly of this new
mood, he lost his old love for the Master, and even seemed to entertain a
grudge against him for his rejection of Lakshminarayan's offer of ten thousand
rupees. As a consequence he began to oppress and tease him in various ways. Sri
Ramakrishna, however, put up with all his overweening behaviour, considering
the great services he had rendered him in the past.
It
was in the days when Hriday was on the war path that the fourth visit of the
Holy Mother to Dakshineswar took place. To narrate the events in her own words:
'I came to Dakshineswar for the fourth time with mother, Lakshmi and several
other women. I had vowed an offering to Siva of Tarakeswar during my
previous
illness. I redeemed that vow on our way to Dakshineswar. We spent the first
night in Calcutta. It was spring time. The next day we came to Dakshineswar. At
the sight of us, Hriday said, "Why have you come here? What's your
business?" He was discourteous to us. Hriday and my mother hailed from the
same village; so he showed her scant respect. Displeased at his behaviour, my
mother said, "Let us go back. With whom shall I leave my daughter?"
The Master, afraid of Hriday, did not say "yes" or "no,"
though he heard and saw every thing." (Note: The Master's conduct on this occasion is a
little puzzling. Perhaps he maintained this attitude, knowing full well that it
would lead to endless quarrels and insults if they were asked to stay there
against Hriday's will. And, perhaps he also foresaw that Hriday's days at
Dakshineswar were fast coming to a close.) All of us started back for
Jayrambati that same day. While leaving the place I said to myself, addressing
Mother Kali in the temple, "O Mother, I shall come here again if You deign
to bring me back." Shortly after, Hriday was sent away from the Kaii
temple, because he worshipped the daughter of 'Trailokya (son of Mathur Babu),
placing flowers at her feet. (Note: Trailokya, the proprietor of the temple,
belonged to a lower caste. It is believed that if a Brahmin worshipped a girl
of lower caste in that way, she would become a widow. Hence the proprietor was
angry with Hriday and dismissed him immediately from his position as the priest
of Kali, with the order that he should never enter the precincts of the temple.
It is to be noted that this misfortune befell Hriday soon after his insulting
the Holy Mother. It was in fact a direct consequence of it. Hriday's life
afterwards was miserable, compared with his earlier days, and he himself came
to repent of his conduct. In this connection may be remembered the Master's
words, quoted earlier, that one might insult him (the Master) with impunity,
but dire consequences would befall one who insulted the Holy Mother.) Ramlal, the Master's nephew, became the
permanent priest of the Kali Temple. That turned his head! He began to neglect
the Master. The Master would be lying down somewhere, in an ecstatic mood, and
his food would dry up. There was no one else in the Kali Temple to look after
him. So whenever anyone came to our part of the country from Dakshineswar, the
Master would request me through Lakshman of Kamarpukur, "I am in
difficulty here. Ramlal, since becoming a priest, has joined the other priests
of the temple. He does not look after me much. Please be sure to come. Take a
litter, a palanquin, or any other conveyance. I shall bear the cost whatever it
is - be it ten rupees or twenty rupees - or more." At last I came to
Dakshineswar in February, 1882, after an absence of about a year.'
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| Tarakeswar Shiva Temple |
SOURCE: saradadevi.info/SHM
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