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SWAMI DAYANANDA ABADHUT(1884 - 1954)Childhood: Was born in the village of Ujirpur, district Barisal, province of Bengal, India (now in Bangladesh) on 30^th Kartik 1291 (November, 1884). His father’s name was Chandra Mohan Chakravarty and his mother’s name was Suniti Devi. Chandra Mohan was a lawyer by profession.

Swamiji’s childhood name was ‘Gopal’ and his given name was Rajendra Mohan Chakravarty. There is an amazing story about his childhood. One day while he was playing with his playmates he jumped into a dumping place of broken glasses and got serious cuts at several places of his body. It did not only cause a lot of blood shed, at nightfall he had intense pain, high body temperature and was in a state of semi-consciousness. Everybody was very much concerned. At the middle of the night they heard a knock at the door. On opening the door they found a Sannyasi clad in saffron colored robes. The Sannyasi wanted to see Gopal. As soon as Sannyasi touched Gopal , he started seeing many beautiful pictures in his vision (at that time he did not know what those pictures were, but later in life he knew that those were pictures of Himalayas). The Sannyasi took out some green leaves from his bag, made some kind of paste, applied it on the wounds and bandaged. He said that Gopal would be O.K. the following day. He also told Gopal the he would meet him next at Amarnath Temple and left. Everybody at the house was so spellbound that they forgot to ask who he was. As soon as he left they realized and started looking for him. But he could not be found anywhere. (When any highly spiritual soul visits, they have the power to throw an envelope of mystic oblivion). Next morning Gopal was alright.

Though very meritorious, Rajendra lacked interest in regular school studies. He would rather like to read ‘Ramayan’, ‘Mahabharat’ and other religious books. Noticing his aversion to studies, his father took him out of the school and arranged for a job under Mr. Bell, Settlement Officer at Barisal. Mr. Bell one day told Chandra Mohan, “I think one day your son will be very famous in spiritual field”.

Youth: Rajendra Mohan got married at his early youth. Soon his father retired due to old age. But he did not live long. After his father passed away Rajendra Mohan had to take all responsibility of his father’s estate. Two years after his father’s death, his wife gave birth to a beautiful son. But his wife died within two weeks due to complication associated with child birth. After his wife’s death Rajendra Mohan became indifferent to worldly life.

At Himalayas: With his mother’s and Guru’s blessings he left home for Himalayas in pursuit of ‘God’. While in Himalayas he traveled on foot ‘Manash Sarovar’, ‘Amarnath Temple’ and various other places in India, Nepal, Tibet etc. While at Amarnath Temple a Sannyasi approached him and asked, “Do you know me”. Rajendra Mohan replied, “No”. The Sannyasi then introduced himself and said that he met him at his house when he was under severe pain due to cuts by glasses at his childhood. Everything reappeared in his memory and Rajendra Mohan bowed down to his feet. The Sannyasi blessed him that his mission to attain God will soon be successful. Rajendra Mohan also came in contact with various other sages and ‘Sadhus’ like Jogiguru Goswamiji, Aghori Baba, Jnaniguru Swami Rameshranda etc. He spent about eight years in austerity and meditation in the Himalayas. One day he heard a divine utterance, “Go to Kamrup in Assam and meditate”. He spent some time on meditation in Kamrup, then one day he heard another divine utterance, “Go to Ponabalia in Barisal and meditate”.

Shiddhi: On arrival at Ponabalia, he found the beautiful ‘Shiva Temple’ and quiet surrounding befitting for meditation. One night in the month of ‘Magh’, 1320 (February 1913) while he was meditating inside the temple closed door, the door opened all on a sudden. He was blessed by the divine vision of Lord Shiva, God Vishnu and Maha Lakshmi. Lord Shiva blessed Rajendra with unflinching devotion (Bhakti). This is called ‘Shiddhi’. When Rajendra asked what should be his next duty, ‘Lord Shiva’ replied, “Spread the message of God to the ignorant masses”. Rajendra asked him again, “When I will see you next”. Lord Shiva replied, “Whenever you want to see me”.

After Rajendra Mohan was blessed with ‘Siddhi’, he assumed the name Swami Dayananda Abadhut. He traveled different places in Barisal like Guthia, Gaila, Ponabalia, Betagi, Banaripara, Sriramkathi etc and spread the message of God. He also traveled to Calcutta and different districts of East and West Bengal. He had a large number of disciples and followers.

Miracles: Swamiji possessed an enormous divine power, but he rarely displayed miracles. However, sometimes he had to show it to save his disciples from impending danger. One day he was traveling by steamer from Khulna to Barisal with a few of his disciples. It was a foggy night with poor visibility. The steamer went aground and got stuck. The Shareng (pilot of the steamer) could not re-float the steamer in spite of his best effort. The Shareng became very worried, since there was a danger of overturning the steamer due to low tide. When the Shareng came to know that Swamiji was a passenger in this steamer, he begged for his divine help. When Swamiji realized that there was a possibility of loss of life, he agreed to help. Swamiji told the Shareng to start the engine. In a moments time people realized that some invisible external force pushed the steamer into the water.

One day Swamiji was talking to his disciples who would usually assemble to listen to him. All on a sudden he stopped talking and became motionless. Almost half an hour later he became alive and started talking. Disciples asked what happened? He replied that he had to go to Benaras to talk to an important person. Disciples asked again, “Was the other person able to see you and talk to you “? Swamiji answered that since the other person had also the spiritual power, that’s why he was able to see him and talk to him.

There are numerous stories about Swamiji curing many of his disciples disease by assuming the disease himself. He saved many of his disciple’s lives who were destined to die. Many Hindus were killed in East Bengal in the riot that followed the partition of Bengal in 1947, but not a single of his disciples was killed.

Swami Dayananda Abadhut had the power to defy the law of nature. Unlike all living being, Swamiji never needed any food for living. In fact he never ate or drunk. Occasionally he would taste a spoon of pudding etc when the disciples would give Bhog (food offering) to him at noon or evening. It was equally amazing that he never had to answer nature’s call. Swamiji’s soul left his mortal body at Guthia in 1954 to unite with God.

Swamiji was never interested in establishing Ashrams, but his disciples established several Ashrams in (1) Hazaribagh (Bihar), (2) Benaras (UP) and (3) Puri (Orissa) while he was alive. After he passed away his disciples established an Ashram in (4) Ariadaha at northern suburb of Calcutta. He has another Ashram in Guthia, Barisal, Bangladesh.

Swamiji’s Message to his disciples:

1) Always pray to God for devotion (Bhakti) and not for wealth or pleasure.

2) Do the rightful work and surrender to God for results of all your actions. If you completely surrender to God, you will achieve boundless pleasure.

3) Shed all your weaknesses. Always keep faith in God. Faith and devotion goes side by side. One can not be achieved without the other. You can not succeed in spiritual achievement without unflinching faith in God.

4) Always mentally chant Guru Mantra whether at work or on meditation. The more you chant Guru Mantra the more strength you will gain.

5) Never be slave to your ‘Ripus’. Uncontrolled ‘Ripus” can cause one to loose human conscience. Control all five (eye, ear, nose, tongue and skin) of your sensual organs. You will achieve immense pleasure.

6) Love all humans equally, even the animals. All are creations of the same God.

7) Respect all women as mothers and sisters.

8) Worship Guru & meditate on Guru. He will lead you in the path to divinity.

9) Eat Swatyik (vegetarian) food, if you can. Gurudev advocated for ‘Swatyik’ food.

MORUTIRTHA HINGLAJ

BOUL LALON

Lalon Shah (1774-1890) Baul guru, singer and composer of baul songs. According to tradition, he was born into a Kayastha family in the village of Bhandara in Kushtia. As a young boy, Lalon caught smallpox and was abandoned in a critical condition. Siraj Sain, a Muslim fakir, picked up the child and nursed him back to health. Lalon was later inducted as a Baul fakir. He set up an Akhda at Chheuriya, where he lived with his wife and a few disciples.

Lalon was a humanist who completely rejected all distinctions of caste and creed. He was also a fine poet and lyricist, whose songs are sung not only by his followers but also by non-Bauls. In 1963, a mausoleum and a research centre were built at the site of his Akhda. Thousands of Bauls come to the Akhda twice a year, Dol-Purnima, in the month of Falgun (February-March) and in October, on the occasion of his death anniversary. During these three-day song melas, Bauls pay rich tributes to their spiritual leader.

Lalon Shah left no written copies of his songs, which were transmitted orally and only later transcribed by his followers. Kangal Harinath Majumdar (1833-1896) was his direct disciple. Rabindranath Tagore was also inspired by his songs and published some of them in the monthly Prabasi of Kolkata. Lalon died at Chheuriya, at the age of 116 on 17 October 1890.

SONGS OF LALON SHAH

KUMARPRASAD MUKHOPADHAYA

Kumar Prasad Mukherjee was a true symbol of a bygone era of this country. A multi-faceted personality, he had achieved and contributed a great deal in various spheres of life. He was the epitome of refined education, polished living, accomplishment and a high degree of culture.

Born in 1927, into a well-known Bengali family, it was his father, Shri Dhurjati Prasad Mukherjee, the well-known musicologist and litterateur of his time, who provided young Kumar Prasad with the excellent education and all-round guidance, which would leave a deep impression throughout his life. Kumar Prasad acquired a Master's Degree in both Economics and Sociology from the University of Lucknow. In his professional career he had been a member of the Industrial Management Pool, Government of India and retired as the senior most Director and Deputy Chairman of Coal India Limited.

Having grown up amongst eminent musicians, authors and intellectuals of yesteryears, he had been fortunate enough to receive all his training from them. He had his early instruction in music from Professor Rabindra Lall Roy, the Chairman, Delhi University, Department of Music. Next he received taalim from the doyen of the Rampur-Sahaswan gharana , Ustad Mushtaq Hussain Khan, Padma Bhushan . He also learnt from Ustad Ata Hussain Khan, son of the famous Ustad Mehboob Khan ( Daras Piya) and brother-in-law of the great scion of the Agra gharana , Aftab-e-Mausiki Ustad Faiyaz Khan.

With such a treasure-trove of taalim , his knowledge and erudition was a force to contend with. He performed on All India Radio and Doordarshan for over 30 years and also featured in several National Programmes and Radio Sangeet Sammelans. Besides regular performances all over the country, he gave lecture-demonstrations at reputed musical institutions around the country.

His achievements and contributions were no less in the field of literature. He possessed a keen sense of humour and was widely known as an interesting convers-ationalist. He was a true raconteur and was acclaimed for his lucid articles and essays. He was also a music critic in The Statesman for quite some time. He wrote a number of Bengali books on music and cricket, his other passion. His very first novel KUDRAT-RANGI-BIRANGI received the Rabindranath Tagore Purashkar and was translated into Hindi by the redoubtable Shrimati Dipali Nag. MEHFIL, MAJLISH, KHAYAL-O-HINDUSTANI SANGEETER ABAKSHAY and DISHI GAAN O BILITI KHELA are some of the other books he had written .

He received the title of " Pandit " from Gana Kala Parishad in the year 1972. This highly talented personality was also an ace photographer with several exhibitions to his credit.

His association with ITC SRA goes back more than a decade. He had been a member of the Academy's Experts Committee till 2005 and was involved in our Gharana Project funded by the Ford Foundation.

Kumar da , as he was affectionately addressed, breathed his last on the night of May 14, 2006, at 11:15 pm, finally succumbing to a terminal disease that he had withstood with his usual savoir-faire. At the time of his demise, he had been the Vice-Chairman of West Bengal Rajya Sangeet Academy.

MAHFIL