“Guru-shakti is Aseem, Agaadh, Anant,…”
…says Ravindra Bijoor in our ongoing series -‘Sahavas’ – as he shares precious glimpses of his deep and devout association with Guru Swami – Parama Pujya Shrimat Parijnanashram Swamiji III (June 2024)
Since my early school days, I was drawn to the writings of Swami Chinmayananda, Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, Swami Vivekananda and other Mahatmas. While reading and trying to understand these writings, I came to the conclusion that to proceed on the path of ‘Adhyatma’ it is extremely necessary to have the Guidance of an enlightened Master. Therefore, on my visits to the Sai Baba temple at Shirdi, I used to earnestly pray for an enlightened Master who would actually inspire and guide me in person. On one such visit to Shirdi, I had an unexpected glimpse of Guru Swami (Parama Pujya Parijnanashram Swamiji III) right there, inside the shrine. Seeing Guru Swami’s personality and its divine radiance was so impactful, that something powerful stirred within me and I felt certain that this was a divine ‘Sanket’ that I should surrender at the Holy Feet of Guru Swami and seek His Guidance for my journey forward…
Accordingly, I met Guru Swami at Khar Math for the first time in 1977 and expressed my heartfelt wish, bowing down at His Divine Feet. He looked at me, asked me to wash my face, hands and feet and then return. He gave me the sacred Mantra-deeksha and told me in Marathi that if I did ‘japa’ of this mantra, the rest will automatically follow.
On the path prescribed by Pujya Guru Swami, whenever there was any specific reason to seek some clarification, I used to immediately meet Him and He would clarify my doubt even before I had narrated it, as He always knew what I had come to ask, through His “Antarjnyaan”. After Guru Swami started staying at Lonavla in Bhangarwadi I used to visit him every Saturday Sunday and Guru Swamiji too used to frequently visit our home at Lonavla.
Guru Swami’s day -to -day behavior was also so meaningfully crafted, that the significance of those simple interactions ran deep. We realized this much later.
I have witnessed many happenings which could fall under the realm of miracles but they were only to guide and lead me on the journey of ‘Adhyatma’. They were insights of an enlightened Master, our Guru Swami which, for us mortals appeared to be miracles.
With pranaams at the Divine Feet of Guru Swami and Pujya Swamiji, I will relate three incidents of this miraculous manifestation of divine Guru-shakti…
To expand on what I mentioned earlier, during one of my numerous visits to the Shirdi Sai Baba temple , at the ‘kakad aarti’, I was in the section for men while my mother was in the one for women. As the kakad aarti was being performed I was dumbfounded to suddenly see our Guru Swami standing in the vacant place in the centre of the temple, right in front of the statue of Sai Baba. Guru Swamiji’s persona was beaming, radiant as He stood looking into the eyes of Sai Baba’s vigraha. Guru Swamiji’s unexpected Darshan there convinced me immediately that I was being shown the living, enlightened Master who would guide me. I decided to surrender at His Divine Feet after the kakad aatri was over. But after the aarti and pradakshina around Sai Baba’s statue got over, when I looked for Guru Swami, I could not find Him! I ran out of the temple and looked everywhere, but there was no sign of Him even in the outskirts of the temple. When I mentioned seeing Guru Swami to my mother she said that it was impossible that Guru Swami had left the temple within such a short time, Sometime later, after taking mantra-deeksha from Guru Swami, when I gathered courage to reveal this incident and asked Him if He had really been there, He just smiled sweetly in concurrence, convincing me that this was His way of answering my plea for an enlightened Master to guide me in person.
After getting mantra-deeksha from Guru Swami in 1977, though deep down in my heart I wished that Guru Swami should visit my house in Talmakiwadi and that I should have the divine privilege of performing His Paad-pooja, I never thought of expressing it to Him. This was because I did not want to subject Him to the
Inconvenience of climbing up to the fourth floor to my house, as Talmakiwadi has no lifts. However,on one of my next visits to the Khar Math to have His Darshan, Guru Swami suddenly looked at me and said in Marathi “Aare Raja, mala tujhya ghari yaychay” (Guru Swami used to call me as Raja and not by my name). I expressed the problem of climbing upto the fourth floor to which Guru Swami said “Don’t worry about that as I am not that old!” He then said that He would hire a taxi and come on the following Thursday as His car was in the garage for repairs. As promised, Guru Swami visited my house on Thursday morning and I had the privilege of performing ‘Paad-pooja’ for the first time. After having Bhiksha, He had a short nap and left in the evening. Poojya Guru Swami thus, graciously fulfilled my unspoken wish...
Sometime around 1981, when Guru Swami was staying at Mr Karnik’s bungalow in Bhangarwadi at Lonavla, I had a dream in which Guru Swami and I were sitting face to face and He said to me “It is good that you have come, I have to give you something, just wait”… But suddenly Guru Swami left, as He had to attend to someone else who was calling him. After waking up at Talmakiwadi I immediately went to Lonavla and narrated the dream to Guru Swami. He said “Yes, indeed, I have to give you something….come back on Kalashtami”. When I went to Him on the following Kalashtami, He asked me to follow Him to the pooja room and made me sit opposite Him, exactly in the manner that I had seen in the dream. He then asked my mother to come into the room as well and said to her “You as a mother are fortunate to witness this”. Guru Swami then gave me diksha of the Lalita Sahasranama along with the book bearing His signature saying, “This is what I wanted to give you!”
The Mahima of divine Guru-shakti is Aseem, Agaadh and Anant.
Our present Mathadhipati- Parama Pujya Sadyojat Shankarashram Swamiji’s sacred bonding with Guru Swami is most solemn, sublime and palpable from His Ashirvachan-s and from His repeatedly telling us that it is Guru Swami who gets things done and all that happens is through His Grace and Blessing, right from Prerana to Poorti.
With utmost humility and gratitude,I would like to endorse that Pujya Swamiji is undoubtedly the flawless and perfect Successor of Guru Swami and He is our loving Guru Mauli, just like Guru Swami was…Yes, we do feel the throbbing presence of Guru Swami in Everything that our Beloved Swamiji does, in the rising glory of our Math and in the progress of our samaja in every walk of life under the Divine Guidance of Pujya Swamiji !
PRICELESS MOMENTS
