Parisevanam

A Sadhana Called Life

A humble tribute to our Beloved Gurumata - Sudhapachi Kodikal, who left us for her heavenly abode on July 25th, by SHAILAJA GANGULY

“Sometimes I wonder how such a great thing happened... He was such a precious child, loved by everyone. When He said, ‘I am born in such a good family and as a male child. So I wish to take sannyasa’ I did not say a word. He was such an affectionate and good child and if He had taken such a decision, I knew it was not because of what He was, but in spite of who He was...meaning the decision was taken for Him by a Higher Power.” These were the awe-inspiring words of our beloved Gurumata  -Sudhapachi Kodikal-when she recalled that life-changing moment when her only son said He was opting out of all the pleasures life offers to be a renunciate. In that stunning moment, I realized, with deepening reverence, why she was that rare gem chosen by the Divine to bequeath to a huge and growing family of devotees a priceless Guru and an indefatigable Mathadhipati. Which mother would have had the emotional strength, intellectual perceptiveness and intuitive ability to digest such an unexpected announcement in total silence, unless she was rooted in body, mind and spirit to an unshakeable foundation of both bhakti and shraddha?

Apart from the lure of meeting, for the very first time, this special person to whom all of us owe so much, what enchanted me when I rang the bell at Chitrapur Apartments and was ushered in by this smiling lady with a soft voice was the genuine warmth in her welcome and the total ease I experienced in the wonderful hour that followed as she shared some precious nuggets from her vast treasury of memories, hustled up tea and snacks and through all of that, also made my husband forget that he was battling a disobedient body. Discovering that we both owned an identical set of dinner plates was a delicious addition to an instant bonding that was to only get stronger and more precious over the years…

Each time I heard Sudhapachi was present at Pujya Swamiji’s camp in Mumbai, Karla and of course Shirali, I would look forward to some enlightening conversations and I always came away both enriched and educated about how much there was to learn from this fragile looking woman of steel who was as much conversant with the political scenario as she was with the content of many a scripture. In the many invaluable moments we spent together, her innate discipline and love of tidiness, those meticulously laid out articles for the regular puja, her power of observation or analysis of people and events and most of all, her inspiring ability to turn every incident, every setback into a challenge posed by the Divine were, to my fond and fortunate vision  the stellar qualities of a mature sadhika who had transformed her very life into a spiritual classroom wherein every experience was new learning…

In her own words – “Our spiritual path has been made clear to us so beautifully. The Upanishads tell us to do good, to do our duty. As awareness increases, we have to do what is right and then offer it without any ahankara. By constantly keeping in mind – whatever I do is Your Wish, you slowly become what your Guru wants you to be.”

Hundreds of devotees who come to the Math or to Pujya Swamiji’s camps would obviously yearn to pay their grateful respects to Gurumata and in spite of the fact that this must have been tiring many a time, I have watched with admiration the perfect equanimity and cheerfulness with which she handled this, enquiring about the welfare of the families she knew and accepting the salutations of the others with a tender smile. How did a woman who had been so independent in her thought and functioning gather the courage that one has to muster to acknowledge a growing disability in movement and the prospect of being confined to a wheelchair and even worse, being waited upon? Here is her candid explanation -

“One important lesson I had to learn was removing all my stubborn ideas about how this should be just so…I had to learn to shed my self-consciousness and unwillingness to accept that I cannot do this anymore and should take help. I treat this as a lesson. We have to raise our awareness to catch the ‘sanketa’. What my lady help is doing is her seva, hence what I was feeling sorry about is actually her punyakarma.” Only a strong spirit can share this on a public platform, which Sudhapachi did, when we talked over three long sessions to present her reflections in the prized treasure I was compiling about the many-splendoured journey of Shri Chitrapur Math over the 25 years of Pujya Swamiji’s Mathadhipatya.

A penchant for pastel shades, a love for walnuts and a predisposition to break out into open-hearted laughter over many long-distance chats were some of the ‘lesser’ things we had in common and this for me, was a statement of Sudhapachi’s, perhaps little-known, childlike ability to derive joy from trifles, from some of life’s simple pleasures. I remember, with renewed respect, how she joined me for the pre-dawn Dhanavantri pujan and Agnihotra ‘homa’ in spite of having to negotiate a ramp to reach the venue, plus cheerfully and bravely went through all the dos and don’ts at the ayurvedic healing centre where we spent an unforgettable time together. In short, she never turned away from the ‘rasata’ life offers to enrich our sensitivity to all that there is…

The door to Sudhapachi’s room in Shirali or Karla would be a little ajar, whenever she was ready to receive visitors who were innumerable, of course, pouring in to seek blessing or counsel. Apart from this, over the last year, she would also give an hour and more everyday to demystify that spiritual treasury by Sant Dnyaneshwar – Dnyaneshwari. This led to her graciously agreeing to write on this for Parisevanam…But I must reveal that whether it was this gem of a piece, or the memorable Hrrlekha series which is a prize section of our website, her habit of checking and cross-checking with me about the accuracy of every word and line was mindblowing and heartwarming too. The loving warmth of her praise for the book Parijnan Sahavas when she called me up just a month before the Divine claimed her, will continue to glow within and inspire me to try my best to keep to the exacting standards she demanded of herself… 

How did such a loving persona, a mother incarnate sublimate the realization that a child born to her was now a Guru of the very samaja she belonged to?

Listen to what she said: “In the initial years, when the ‘deha-bhav’ was still predominant, even as I understood this was His Destiny and that I cannot claim any credit for it, to balance the idea of My son becoming a Guru was not very easy. Slowly, as my spiritual thinking advanced, as my comprehension of the Guru-tattva became more clear and His Personality as a Guru became more and more resplendent, my awareness of Him being my son began to recede.His amazing contribution to the Math and the samaja in so many areas and my concept of the Guru-tattva merged. I realized at that point that our roles had actually got reversed…now He is the Mother and I am the child…”