The walking Lord of Varanasi – Sri Thrailanga Swamiji

Pranams at the lotus feet of Swamiji!

Chapter -XII

Sri Dayananda Saraswathi visited Kashi, he was come to this land to give lectures on Aryasamaj, he gave speeches against the deities of Hindu and several scholars remained silent.  There was a debate in Gauri Kund and many scholars were defeated in the debate, Dhayanandswaraswathi proclaimed that there is one supreme spirit and He has no form, his organization had similarities of Bhramasamaj in Kolkata, many were becoming disciples of Dayananda Saraswathi.  He established Aryasamaj in Varanasi.  Many spiritually devoted people felt deeply hurt, came in the hermitage of Thrailanga Swamiji and revealed their distress against Aryasamaj and their disrespect towards Hindu deities, after listening to their qualms Swamiji wrote something on the paper and send to Dhayanandasaraswathi, after reading the message Dhayanandhasarasaraswathi disappeared from Kashi.

Somewhat like this incident happened to Umacharanji as well. He was working in a pharmaceutical company in Munger, his office mate was Mahendralal Gosh found some error in accounting and some money was missing, both of them were terribly upset about this because these two were in charge of finance.   Umacharan has the prime responsibility on the finance, they conducted meticulous search and it continued for three months, but there was no fruitful result.  These two-person jobs were at a risk, leaving work with a black mark and taking part in pilfering money around six hundred rupees both will earn stain in their lives.   Those days six hundred rupees was big money, he wanted to get rid of these troubles and returned to Kashi. He was quite confident that Swamiji will guide him in this matter, Swamiji asked him ‘ Child, you came here to find out the missing money, you and your friend Gosh are the same, you have sent two drafts worth 300 and 200 to two companies, and the receipts and acknowledgments are in the file, and the remaining hundred rupees Gosh will find out.” Umacharan returned to Munger and found the receipts in the file for 500 rupees, the hundred rupees which they found while rigorously searching in a box by Gosh, he was beaming with joy. Gosh said ‘You are fortunate to become a disciple of Swamiji, I will definitely visit Kashi with you, with all my hearts I sincerely prostrate before Swamiji ten thousand times.”  There were numerous disciples of Thrailanga Swamiji narrated his supernatural activities and there are several books describes the glories of Thrailangaswamiji.

One day the sacred city Kashi woke up with terrible news that Swamiji decided to embrace Samadhi, Panchaganga Ghat crowded with people, there are numerous Siddhapurusha, Yogis, saints and holy men arrived in Kashi, but none of them were taken Samadhi while living, it was  on 1887,  Shukla paksha Ekadashi day,  Swamiji sacrificed his mortal coil and attained Samadhi.

The walking Lord of Varanasi – Sri Thrailanga Swamiji

Pranams at the lotus feet of Swamiji!

Chapter -XI

Bhavanicharan Vachaspathi, who was severely ill with infection/black fever, he was tormented mentally and physically, he was advised by his neighbor and arrived at Thrailangaswamiji's Hermitage, Vachaspathiji made regular visits but he had to return without any communication with Swamiji, it continued for several days, once Swamiji asked the reason for his visit. Vachaspathiji poured out his troubles, after listening he advised Vachaspathiji to prepare a spirituous energy drink and consumed, advised him to visit Swamiji on a regular basis, he was repeated the same treatment, it continued for a month, Swamiji asked him to clean the surface and repeated the routine.  One day, Vachaspathi was asked to clean the place where Swamiji passed urine in large quantity, without any hesitations, he cleaned the entire place and went to take a holy dip, after that, he prepared the spirituous drink and consumed. Next day the same thing repeated with an order of Swamiji not to visit Mutt anymore, Swamiji assured he will get completely relieved from black fever in four days and it happened for real.

Umacharanji after returning from Kashi, he immersed in spreading the glories of his preceptor in his native village Munger, people were thrilled to listen to the supernatural powers of Swamiji, there were several people excited to meet Thrailangaswamiji, people were so devoted at the lectures of Umacharan, notes which were dictated by Swamiji himself.   Soon Umacharan received an instruction from his preceptor to stop spreading glories of Swamiji, Umacharan observed silence.  Later he forgot the instruction of Swamiji, he was persuaded by two close friends and arrived in  Kashi,  with his two close associates Yadhunathbhagji and another one is Srikrishnaprasanna Singh, but immediately after arriving the Mutt, Swamiji raged at  Srikrishnaprasanna Singh and spoke, ‘ You are  pride swollen, treating yourself as the incarnation of Lord Krishna, and wanted people to venerate you and touch your feet, you are too haughty, not hesitate to spread leg before twice-born, therefore your future is in darkness. You have only one quality; you are good in giving lectures, Puris made will dip in burning ghee to cook, it keeps making noise until it gets cooked well, once it gets cooked it will stop its noise, that is the state of you,”  Srikrishnaprasanna kept silence after listening to the unsympathetic yelling of Swamiji, he did not argue or responded at this.  Swamiji looked at Yadhunath and said ‘ You have read many scriptures and got yourself confused, your mind is not calm, the mind needs to be calm then only you will attain Mukthi, you have come to get Dheeksha from me, I will not make more disciple, Dheeksha to an undeserving person is sin, disciples are not willing to follow the instructions of the preceptor, then preceptor has to take care of those unfinished work, because it is the duty of preceptor to take care of the wellness of his disciple, I do not want to get myself into this sin,  therefore you go to my disciple Kalicharan and get Dheeksha.” Umacharan was stunned to know the real nature of his associates, if they were true they will talk about it, they kept quiet for all the remarks made by Swamiji.  Yadhunath realized the glories of Swamiji who is omniscient; he is aware of past, present and the future of a person. Later, Srikrishnaprasanna got Deeksha from a preceptor and built an Ashram in Dhashashvamedha Ghat and worshiped Goddess Annapurna, but the Mutt is in a pathetic state.

The walking Lord of Varanasi – Sri Thrailanga Swamiji

Pranams at the lotus feet of Swamiji!

Chapter -X

There was Sri Ramkamal Chatterji lived in Kashi, his small son of 5 years broke his bone while climbing stairs, those days there was no famous doctor for bone treatment in Kashi, therefore doctors advised taking the child to Kolkata.  They brought the child in Kolkata and doctors advised immediate operation should be performed; it is difficult to say anything, there is a chance that the child may lose its life while operation, Chatterji Babu panicked at the remark of the doctor. If the child is not going to live even after the operation, then there is no use of performing such operation, the couple was extremely disappointed and returned to Kashi.  One of his neighbors advised the couple ‘ Please  take your child to meet Thrailanga Swamiji, he is a supreme ascetic, pray to him all your troubles will go away, compassionate grace of a saint is enough to restore the life of lifeless, ’  Chatterji made up his mind, if he gets the blessings of the Swamiji, definitely his child will regain his health.  Next day, the couple took holy dip in Ganga and went to meet Swamiji, they were disappointed to see the atmosphere in the hermitage, Swamiji most of the time observe the vow of silence, he shows gestures to visitors to go out of the hermitage, Chatterji found it difficult to put forward his plea before Swamiji, he was not disappointed but he regained confidence after meeting Swamiji,  In this manner, Chatterji babu and his wife visited Swamiji several times and returned at the gesture of Swamiji.  One day, Swamiji asked Chatterji about their purpose of a daily visit to Hermitage, instantly both the couple fell down at the feet of him, they could not control their sorrow with tears overflowing he described the state of the child, Swamiji compassionately looked at the child, he gave a handful of mud and instructed Chatterji, to make a paste of the mud and apply on the place where the child find painful, the child may suffer from severe fever, but nothing to worry, once the fever is down, he will feel extremely hungry, at that time feed him whatever available at home and he will be completely alright in two days and it became true.

The walking Lord of Varanasi – Sri Thrailanga Swamiji

Pranams at the lotus feet of Swamiji!

Chapter - IX

The next morning while going for a bath in Ganga, Swamiji said ‘ Umacharan, meet me today night. I will clear all your doubts.  After that, you will not find the need to meet me in my hermitage.”  That night Umacharanji met Swamiji in the hermitage, he fed Umacharan with the offerings of Lord, he instructed Umacharan with few spiritual practices and concluded that with these practices he can attain self-realization and the realization of Bramham as well. Swamiji asked him to do the practices on regular basis, Swamiji took a seat and said ‘ Umacharan, today onwards you are bound by Upasana. Hence you have to strictly follow the practices on regular basis.  If you made any fault in this, I will be responsible to bear the fruit, if you did not get time in the day, do it in the night, if you did not find time in the night, do it in the midnight, but the performance of duty is essential, nothing will work otherwise if you make any fault in the practice, I will get the intimation,”  Thrailangaswamiji went into silence for some time, like he was immersed in the past,  Swamiji continued ‘ God has created human and instilled all the truth and virtues, therefore he can perform all the task of Supreme spirit, today I will make it clear for you. Then you will understand soul and supreme soul are ‘One’, there is no difference between them.  He resides as soul and intellect in the human brain, there is no ‘I’ concept, all that is ‘supreme spirit’.  There is no ‘I’ and there is no ‘mine’ as well. It should be remembered always.” Swamiji went into deep silence.  After some time Swamiji said ‘close your eyes, when I call you, then open your eyes.’ Swamiji also went into trance, it was not clear how long that state continued, Swamiji said ‘ Umacharan, open your eyes and tell me where are we.’ Umacharan realized that they are not in the chamber, Swamiji and he was in the shore of Ganga, Swamiji was seated on a cot which was covered in white and crisp cushions and clothes’ Swamiji asked to touch the waters of Ganga, Umacharan realized it was water, he moves away from water and sat near Swamiji, he said ‘ Close your eyes once again, now open your eyes and tell me where are we.’ Umacharan found he is seated with Swamiji in the same old chamber in the hermitage; Umacharan startled ‘how did it all that happen?’ Swamiji said ‘ It is nothing to get surprised when human understand the nature of self, he can do all that he wants, I have shown it to you to increase your belief, firm devotion and faith.

The walking Lord of Varanasi – Sri Thrailanga Swamiji

Pranams at the lotus feet of Swamiji!

Chapter -VIII

One day Umacharanji while conversing with Swamiji, asked ‘ Baba is it possible for me to envision Lord in this life,’  Swamiji said ‘ with the intense faith and practice, and the grace of preceptor, one can attain supreme Lord. You want to envision Lord?  Rishis, Sages and deities yearn for this, nothing to say about human.’  Umacharanji became too emotional, he took hold of Swamiji’s feet, and asked ‘ Is it possible for me?’  Swamiji said ‘ Today night I will fulfill your wishes. Now you can leave home.”  Umacharanji was too excited so he reached the hermitage early in the evening.  Swamiji took him to his small puja room at the right time, he took a seat and told Umacharan ‘ Go and do darshan of Ma Kali in the next chamber.”  Umacharanji entered the chamber, he prostrated before Ma Kali and silently came out of the chamber, seated near Swamiji, ‘Did you see Ma Kali, you want to see her here.’ Umacharan said ‘ Yes’ he thought how can he bring that idol here, is he going to show real Ma, Umacharan said ‘ It would be a great fortune for me to get darshan of Jagathjanani/Bhavatharani, it will be the piousness of thousands and millions of births.” Swamiji said ‘ Now you be seated silently, do not get excited, or do not speak anything’ after saying this Swamiji immersed in meditation for an hour, after that Swamiji said ‘ Ma Kali, kindly come to this chamber.’ Umacharanji saw a beautiful young lady all dressed in magnificent clothing, adorned in the gem and golden ornaments arrived in the chamber where Swamiji was seated, she had supreme radiance in that light Chaithanyamayi, Vishwamangala,  Jaganmatha appeared in real form.  Umacharan was terrified and lost his voice, his eyes widened with awe, the idol kept in the chamber became lively, Umacharan became silent, Swamiji said “ Umacharan, go and see the idol in the next chamber, check that is there or not, go and check and tell me right now.’ He went to check the idol in the next chamber, but it was missing, panic-struck Mukherji ran out and cried out ‘ No, there is no idol of Ma Kali.”  Swamiji said ‘ Sit silently, do not get excited.’ Umacharan noticed that the lively Ma became an idol and standing close to Swamiji,  Umacharanji with the permission of Swamiji, took the dust particles from the feet of Ma Kali and smeared all over his body, when he touched the feet of Ma Kali, it was not an idol, it was soft and supple like human feet, Swamiji said ‘ Look at Ma Kali, so that your heart will get contented.’ Later Swamiji told ‘ Ma, please take your seat in your chamber.’ She walked out like a beautiful young maiden and went into her shrine, once again turned into an idol; Umacharan had several doubts in his mind.  He asked ‘ Maharaj, how can an idol turn out full of life?, all that I have seen is true?’  Swamiji asked ‘How is your body moving?’ Umacharan replied ‘In the human body, there is a divine soul which makes us move.’ Swamiji replied “ It is Siddhpurusha and holy saints instill the presence of supreme soul in the idol with their several years of Tapasya, therefore these idols listen to us, walk to us, talk to us and do all that like a normal human.’ 

The walking Lord of Varanasi – Sri Thrailanga Swamiji

Pranams at the lotus feet of Swamiji!

Chapter -VII

 Next day, as usual, he had to follow Swamiji for a bath in Ganga, he had a unique style of bathing, he remains in the water for two hours, sometimes he dives underwater and vanishes for some time, Mukherji has to wait on the shore till Swamiji finishes his bath.  That day after finishing bath Umacharanji dried the body of the Swamiji with a towel and they returned to the hermitage, Swamiji took a seat and asked Umacharanji to sit near him, once the visitor's crowd was over, they have started the process of Dheeksha, Swamiji detailed the procedures to Mukherji and whispered Beejakshara in the ears of Mukherji, Swamiji said ‘ Umacharan, I am going to give you some instructions, you should follow them sincerely, talk only what is required, do not waste time on unnecessary talks, it damages your body, does not hate anyone, respects all the religions, people who believe in different religion will attain Mukti through their beliefs in that religion, the only difference is duration to attain Mukthi, people of all the religion and belief attain Mukthi, whoever worship Lord with intense devotion and faith would definitely achieve the presence of Lord, none of the incidents in our life are surprising, human with intense faith, knowledge, wisdom can perform supernatural activities, the purpose of creation of humans on Earth is not to enjoy sensual pleasure and consuming the meal, we are enriched with supernatural powers of the supreme soul, Lord has given this immense strength to humans to elevate them in a higher  spiritual state, none is aware of utilizing those immense powers or do not know the method, people easily get dejected if they did not get what they want, ultimately becomes a non-believer in God.   This universe and its living beings were created by the Supreme Lord, he is all-pervading.  God-realization should be achieved with supreme intellect and wisdom, search for God required intense faith and belief, He will definitely attainable to the true spiritual seeker and this is the process of the creation of the linage of the disciple.  The preceptor will not search for a disciple, he is brought towards the preceptor with a power of supreme spirit, disciple getting to know the immense powers of preceptor and became a sincere servant of him, it was Preceptor who took hold his disciple at the instruction of supreme spirit, like Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa and Swami Vivekananda, Vijayakrishna Goswami and Satheesh Mukherji, Gahaninath and Nivriththinath, Mahathmaji and Vishudhdhanandhji, Maharishi Ramana and Paul Brunton.  If a preceptor committed a fault in choosing his disciple, ultimately all those wrong deeds of a disciple should be borne by the preceptor.

The walking Lord of Varanasi – Sri Thrailanga Swamiji

Pranams at the lotus feet of Swamiji!

Chapter -VI

Umacharanji sincerely agreed to follow whatever his preceptor thinks good for him, he promised to follow his instructions with intense faith and devotion. After silence for a few minutes, Swamiji has given detailed instructions about the process of Deeksha.  The third day of the month Magh, on the star Pushya Lunar eclipse day has chosen as auspicious to get his body purified before receiving Deeksha, Swamiji asked him to donate some ingredients to a twice-born during the hours of eclipse, after that he takes dip in Ganga and seat on the sanctified place, he should recite the Manthraupadhesham given by Swamiji as a part of purification process.  Umacharanji had a doubt that why a noble Brahmin accepts charity during eclipse, normally charity during eclipse was given to Chandala, it is difficult to get a noble Bhramin to receive charity during eclipse, Swamiji smiled at the dilemma of Mukherji, and said ‘During eclipse, one twice-born will come and ask for charity, you give all that I have written and given in advance. ’ Umacharan was too happy to see his problem resolved, no need to search for a noble-Bhramin, Swamiji has already arranged for him.  Umacharanji impatiently waited for the Lunar eclipse day, on that day he arrived with the ingredients for charity, but there was a huge crowd on the river bank, he stared here and there waiting for a Bhramin, soon arrived a Bhramin asked for charity from Mukherji, after receiving the charity he disappeared in the crowd.  Umacharanji took a dip in Ganga, seated on a purified place and started reciting the hymns advised by Swamiji.  The next day he arrived at the hermitage and told Swamiji that he has sincerely followed the advice of him, Swamiji said ‘you are purified,’ after this Swamiji gave lectures on disciple and preceptor for a long time, ‘Tomorrow you will receive Dheeksha followed by customary rite.’  Later Mukherji saw three saints were discussing very important matters with Swamiji, and he was trying to convince these saints, Umacharanji could not understand anything, after some time, the three saints left the Hermitage.  Immediately the downpour started, Umacharanji requested permission to leave to home,  Swamiji said ‘ Not now, sit here in silence,’ downpour followed with thunder and lightning, streets were flooded with water, Mukherji waited for two hours, but there was no end of downpour,  Mukherji thought Swamiji will give shelter in his hermitage today, immediately Swamiji said ‘Now you can go home.” Mukherji was shocked to hear the instruction of Swamiji, the downpour is too heavy and the streets were flooded with water and pitch dark everywhere,  Mukherji kindly said ‘ Baba, let the heavy downpour stops, I will leave immediately.” Swamiji said ‘ Leave right now.” Mukherji could not disrespect the order of Swamiji, so he left the hermitage with intense fear, on the way he met Mangaldas.   Mukherji said ‘ I was thinking of going home once the rain stops, but Swamiji asked me to leave right now, there is heavy water logging and rain continuing, it is too dark outside, don’t know how to go home.” Mangaldas said ‘ Do not worry Bengali Babu, just remember Swamiji’s name and keep walking, If Swamiji advised doing this, there must be some reason behind this too, otherwise he will not say so.”  Once again he came back to Swamiji and touched his feet, immediately he moved towards the dark flooded streets, water reached up to his knees, and all these waters were rushing towards Ganga, it was pitch dark, nothing is visible, he felt something unique, rain is continuing but none of the drops falls on him, he felt the water up to the knee, while moving forward, a man arrived from another street with the lantern, Mukherji felt relieved after seeing a drop of light in the darkness, he wanted the person with lantern stop for him, but nothing is audible to that person due to heavy rain, Umacharanji increased his speed of walking, so that he can be with the person with the lantern, but surprised to see that they maintained the same distance even though he increased his speed of walking, it was impossible to reach close to the person with the lantern, Mukherji felt anyway he is getting enough light from his lantern and ways are clearer now, only there is knee length water is bothering him, finally, Mukherji reached home, but he could not find the person with lantern, he remained shocked for a moment, instantly he remembered the grace of Swamiji.  Once again Mukherji reverentially remembered Swamiji and went inside the house.

The walking Lord of Varanasi – Sri Thrailanga Swamiji

Pranams at the lotus feet of Swamiji!

Chapter -V

Umacharan Mukherji remembered the nectar like the advice of Swamiji, there is no piousness higher than Mukthi, there is no knowledge that is higher than knowledge of self.  In order to attain these two, there is no alternative other than blessings of the preceptor, if there is no knowledge of self, a person has to suffer from miseries and grief constantly.  The whole Universe is an illusion; none of the creatures in the Universe has the right to live in happiness alone.  One day Swamiji asked Umacharan to bring some papers so that he could dictate something,  Swamiji said, ‘I  want you to write down information about twelve subjects, I will keep instructing and you can note it down, our subjects are supreme spirit, preceptor and disciple, worldly existence, pure intellect, righteousness, Upasana/practice of spirituality, previous birth, self-realization, realization of Bramham and union with it, knowledge about philosophy, creation and a few important things and whoever read these would acquire knowledge.’ The next day Umacharanji brought some papers from the market,  Swamiji continued to pronounce like Maharishi Vedavyasa, and Mukherji was noting them down like Ganesha.  He wrote down in several papers, Umacharanji was moving too close to Swamiji.   One day Mangaldas told Mukherji that soon he will be a disciple of Swamiji because Swamiji keeps praising Mukherji for his perseverance saying that ‘Bengali Babu is a good soul’, Umacharanji’s joy has no bound and became too emotional.  One day Swamiji was sitting and Umacharanji was massaging the feet of Swamiji, ‘Oh! Bengali babu, want to get Deeksha from me’, Umacharanji just closed his eyes and prayed for the mercy of Swamiji, Umacharanji said ‘Baba, your compassionate grace on me always, other than this what else I need in this life.’ Swamiji said ‘We will discuss on this matter tonight. You are free from bondage now, once you receive Deeksha you will be bound by responsibilities, now you go home, we will talk about it in the evening.’  Umacharanji came in the evening, Swamiji took him to a small room adjacent to the main hall, he sat on the floor and started to speak ‘ You want to learn Yoga, but you are not qualified to undertake Yoga which is too tough deed to practice, it is described in Katopanishadh, five sense organs, reasoning ability, knowledge, wisdom,  mind, and intellect, turns out motionless/stop functioning, that state is called transcendental state/ Yoga, one need to have extreme courage to perform this, you do not have that.  Hence, you are not capable to take up Yoga practice. You are good to adopt Upasana techniques; therefore you take lessons on Upasana”. 

The walking Lord of Varanasi – Sri Thrailanga Swamiji

Pranams at the lotus feet of Swamiji!

Chapter -IV

 Swamiji narrated in detail about Umacharan’s current birth, his name is  Umacharan Mukherji, he told his  father’s name, name of the village, the number of  rooms in his house, and there is a pond on the northern side of his home, there are several trees, named the trees near the ponds, like this Swamiji, described everything about Mukherji.  He was stunned, Swamiji described all that as if he was witnessing all those in a screen, surprisingly Umacharan was not mentioned anything about him all these days after arriving in Kashi.  Swamiji explained about his previous birth too, he was a twice-born belonged to a village/named the village, he was a Zamindar, he was disciplined and righteous, he has a lot of respect for the family and all,  the room he had lived in those days was facing south, on the top of the entry of the room he has written three words in Sanskrit that is still there, that was when death takes place humans leaves this body and adopt a new body, the second one was all the rivers and its tributaries finally merge in the ocean, in the same manner every human should practice spirituality to attain union with Bramham, it should be the ultimate objective of a human,  the third one Bramham is pure and free from impurities,  it has no specific form, still, it assumes any form at the wish of Mahasiddhapurusha.  Umacharan felt his life is fruitful for the first time if he did not make a visit to Swamiji, all those doubts were remained un-cleared, it is good that he did not leave halfway while Swamiji was putting him into various tests, he constantly engaged in the service of Swamiji, his hard work paid its fruits,  Swamiji said that he will narrate some surprising news too,  and continued “ There is a person living in a village/named it and he loves you so much, you too have a lot of respect for him, the reason is that he was your father in the previous birth, because of this relationship in previous birth you both have a love for each other, but  both have changed bodies in this birth”.   Swamiji described his relatives, in this way soul never changes but the bodies keep changing in every birth.  Later, Umacharan found all those predicted by Swamiji was true. 

The walking Lord of Varanasi – Sri Thrailanga Swamiji

Pranams at the lotus feet of Swamiji!

Chapter -III

Swamiji asked Umacharan to leave the Mutt after the incident of Bengali Babu, he was so disappointed and left the Mutt.  But he continued the practice of visiting mutt and leaving at the instruction of Swamiji, one day he could not control his tears, he started weeping like a child, finally Swamiji asked him to stay in the hermitage, he was so delighted at the instruction of Swamiji and tears of joy rolling down from his cheeks. He bows down before Swamiji and kept weeping for long, Swamiji asked Mangaldas in gestures ‘Ask him to leave now, and come tomorrow.’  Umacharan was extremely happy, for the first time he had the Dharshan of the feet of Swamiji, he came back home and impatiently waited for the next morning, after coming to Kashi, that night he slept peacefully. Next day he had dip in Ganga and hurried to Mutt, Swamiji gave instruction to Mangaldas, he handed grinding stone and some wheat to Umacharan and asked him to perform a task of grinding the wheat, afternoon he send him off and asked to return in the evening, and the same practice was repeated in the evening and the next few days too. The grinding process continued for several days,   hands that were holding the pen in the office has no choice other than following the instructions of Swamiji.  Umacharan felt the grinding task is too painful and gradually his speed has reduced, Swamiji told him to do it quickly, this practice continued for another fifteen days.  Umacharan felt he had unnecessarily put him into trouble, hands were aching, and he was not even consuming meal properly.  One day Swamiji asked to translate a few Hindi words in Bengali, Umacharan felt relieved from the task of grinding grains, he felt so happy to do this work; he completed the translation work in a few days.   In this way, Umacharan was moving too close to Swamiji.  One day he visited mutt as usual Swamiji received him with great love and took him to another room; he showed gesture to Mangaldas that do not let anyone inside the room.   In that room there were two idols, one is Lord Mahadeva and another one is Goddess Kali, there was an earthen lamp lightened before the idols.  As soon as they entered the room Swamiji broke the silence, all these days he was eagerly waiting to hear from Swamiji, all these days he had seen few gestures or writings on the wall, Swamiji seated in one place and asked Umacharan to sit opposite, Swamiji asked ‘ Why did you come here  with  a doubt of re-birth?’ Rishis, Siddha Purusha, Thrikalajjyanis, noble-souls, and ascetics have confirmed the truth with their continuous spiritual practices, there should not be any disbelief on this subject, we should not be skeptical about their predictions, we have born here to consume the fruit of happiness and sorrow, if humans constantly engage in the practice of spirituality, he could attain the information about the past present, and future, unfortunately, none are interested to know any of these.  Swamiji kept silence for some time, and continued ‘You have come all the way to know the truth, it is my responsibility to describe them, I can show you with your divine sight, when human born on Earth, eventually his past Karmas follows him if he is a scholar in this birth, definitely, he must have been a scholar in previous birth too. If he is too Dharmic this life, same with the previous birth too, if he is a thief in this birth then definitely he is not a good person in previous birth too, if we have no previous birth how could we believe Lord as a supreme spirit?  Now think of your intellect, appearance and behavior in this birth, then you must have understood by now who were you in previous birth, you must have realized the truth that if we do good, we will get back goodness, otherwise evilness, you have performed pious deeds in previous birth, that is why you have taken birth in Bhramin family.  In this life, if you follow all the Brahmanic rites your life will attain the highest of piousness if you take up the wicked deed, definitely, you will be born as Chandala in your next birth, I am not dragging this subject too long, I will tell you about your previous birth.” After saying these, Swamiji continued the previous birth of Umacharan.

The walking Lord of Varanasi – Sri Thrailanga Swamiji

Pranams at the lotus feet of Swamiji!

Chapter - II

The moment Umacharan Mukherji entered the hermitage, there were two Bengali Babu came from Kolkata to visit Swamiji, they prostrate before Swamiji and stood there silently, Swamiji told them to go out of the Mutt with gestures, one person was intelligent so he went out of the Mutt without creating an embarrassing situation, another person was little adamant, he went to argue with the servants of Swamiji, he said ‘ We came all the way from Kolkata to meet Swamiji, we are not going to stay here forever, we want to get some guidance from Swamiji, after that, we will leave to home.’ Seeing this person attitude, Swamiji informed the servants with gestures to move the person out of the hermitage immediately, those were the days Swamiji was observing the vow of silence, he writes on the wall to communicate with people, servants of Swamiji took Bengali Babu in their hands and advised to go out of the mutt, otherwise they have to remove him forcefully, but Bengali Babu was in a rage, ‘I will not go out like this after getting enough mistreatment, is that your culture?’ Swamiji asked Bengali babu to wait, he asked Mangaldas to read the verse he had written on the wall, ‘You have kept eighteen rupees worth footwear outside, if somebody has stolen your sandals, you have to walk back barefoot, because your the mind is still with the sandal wear you have left outside, Is that right or not? You need not tell any lies, you can go now and wear sandals and go back home. Your footwear is still outside.” People surrounded were stunned at this, how did Swamiji read the mind of Bengali Babu.   Umacharan asked Bengali babu ‘All that told were correct?’  Bengalibabu was ashamed of himself, he said ‘Yes, yesterday only I have bought it, it is eighteen rupees worth.’  Bengali babu said ‘ I will not leave this place, it is fortunate to have a Dharshan and adore my head with the dust particles of the feet of a Thrikalajjyani like Swamiji’, he was feeling terribly guilty for his foolishness, he had committed sin how can he get rid of the sin,  finally, Swamiji advised both the Bengali babu to go out of the Mutt, and  they  had to follow the instruction silently.

The walking Lord of Varanasi – Sri Thrailanga Swamiji

Pranams at the lotus feet of Swamiji!

Chapter - I

Umacharan Mukherji visited Kashi after hearing about Thrailanga Swamiji, he had no intention to become a disciple of Swamiji, he wanted to know what is a rebirth, he was a twice-born had intense devotion and faith, he had deep faith in Dharma and scriptures.   He had the confidence that Swamiji like Siddhapurusha with the divine energy could describe well about his queries.  He took a holy dip in Ganga, he got the information about Thrailangaswamiji’s hermitage and visited Swamiji.  He sat in a corner; he did not go near Swamiji, after sometime Swamiji’s eyes fell on him.  Swamiji was observing the vow of silence, therefore with gestures, Swamiji asked Umacharan to go out of the hermitage, though Umacharan wanted to stay there for some time watching at the saints.  Mangaldas one of the servants of Swamiji informed Umacharan to stay out of the hermitage, this incident kept repeated for another few days, every day Umacharan arrived in the hermitage and seated in a corner, Mangaldas again asked him to go out of the Hermitage.  Umacharan was so disappointed and came out of the hermitage, this time another servant of Swamiji came and took Umacharan out of the Hermitage.  Umacharan came home and wept miserably, he had various thoughts in mind ‘How a noble-saint could throw his devotee out of the hermitage? Why did Swamiji insult me?’ he never imagined harsh treatment like this.  Umacharan was not disturbing anyone in the hermitage; he was just watching the saints and holy men. After all these, Umacharan was not willing to accept his failure.  He thought if he pays some money to his servants, it would be easy to get inside the hermitage, he paid money to Swamiji’s servants and revealed his intention to visit Swamiji, two of the servants happily received the money, but Mangaldas flatly refused and said if Swamiji does not want to see you, then that is final.  Umacharan was confident this time and firm too, two of the servants are on his side, he wanted to get his answer from Swamiji, he went inside the Mutt. 

The walking Lord of Varanasi – Sri Thrailanga Swamiji

Pranams at the lotus feet of Swamiji!

 A Bengali person Jayagopal used to visit Swamiji on a regular basis, he had a great devotion to Swamiji, whenever he visits Swamiji he will bring flowers, fruits, sweets, or milk for Swamiji.  Soon Swamiji realized that Jayagopal’s visit has no selfish motive, he is visiting Swamiji because of his intense devotion and faith in ascetics.  One day he arrived with an increased heartbeat, he said: “ Bhagavan, my heart is beating so fast from the morning, I have come in the morning to meet you.” Swamiji asked him to come in the evening so that he can explain the reason for that.  Swamiji said ‘Your father was not well in the morning, he was thinking of you.  He passed away.” while Jayagopal was too busy with the service of Swamiji.  The next day  Jayakumar was getting ready to leave to his village; he received a telegram saying that his father is expired.

 It was in  1874 Swami Vidhyanandhagiriji, a disciple of Sri Prithvigiri Maharaj arrived in Kashi and stayed in Rajghat, people of the Mutt told him that he had made a visit after several years to Kashi.   There are many temples were built in his absence and several Yogis and noble-souls are living here, they requested him to visit all.   Swami Vidhyanandhagiriji said he had visited all the shrines, this time he had come to visit Thrailangaswamiji, other than he had nothing to do in Kashi.  One day Vidhyanandhaji arrived at Thrailangaswamiji’s hermitage, seeing him Swamiji immediately embraced Vidhyanandhji, people surrounded were shocked, these two Saints disappeared from the sight instantly.  People have not witnessed a sight like this before, after thirty minutes they could see Swamiji sitting on the same place, but this time he was alone and Vidhyanandhagiriji was missing.  Some people went to Mutt where Swami Vidhyanandhji was residing; there Swamiji was conversing with the people.  Thrailangaswamiji never accepts anyone as his disciple easily.  Most of the saints build Ashram in their own name, but Swamiji did not do anything like that, because most of the people are not willing to follow the guidance of their preceptor, most of the people want to fulfill their desire, it will add sins to the preceptor, if a disciple did not follow the disciplines and instructions of a preceptor, it should be completed by preceptor.  In ancient times, Siddhas and Saints won’t accept disciple easily, they conduct many experiments to choose the right disciple who sincerely and fearlessly follows the instructions of a Preceptor can only achieve the highest of the state in spiritual practice.  It is essential to have courage, faith, discipline, perseverance, dedication, and devotion to become a disciple of an illustrious preceptor; one should take up a lot of hardships to attain the blessings of a preceptor.

The walking Lord of Varanasi – Sri Thrailanga Swamiji

Pranams at the lotus feet of Swamiji!

Once there was a King with all his family members visited Kashi, those days females were compulsorily remained behind the screen as a mark of great respect, they used to keep the women of the royal family away from the public, this royal family resided in a grand house near the banks of river Ganga.  Whoever visits Kashi, it is their objective to earn piousness and take a dip in the holy river the Ganges.  Royal women cannot take a bath in the Ghat like ordinary ladies, so they have constructed a screen stretched from the house to the Ghat where Rani was proposed to take bath so that she can have the privacy of bathing.  The two sides of the screen were protected with heavy securities so that none of the locals can enter.  One day Raja and Rani finished bathing in Ganga and returning to the house, the couple was shocked to see a naked saint inside the screen, how did the saint enter inside the screen after having heavy security? This made Raja infuriated, Rani and her female servants were alarmed, Raja asked ‘Who are you? How did you come inside the screen?’ but the naked saint did not utter a word, Raja in a rage screamed at the securities, all of them rushed towards the King, by the time Rani and her female servants returned to the home, Raja asked the securities how did this naked saint enter inside,   if they fail to reply he will shoot them to death.  The securities were in dilemma, they were safeguarding the place standing outside, none of them were seen this naked saint, securities were looked at each other’s face anxiously, King understood that this naked saint has entered inside the screen without the knowledge of securities, and this saint’s intention was not right.  King ordered ‘Arrest him and put him in Jail, we will make further inquiries from there.’ Swamiji did not utter a word while questioned, King was in a rage, one person appeared from nowhere and appealed to King to leave Swamiji who is not an ordinary saint, he is Thrailanga Swamiji’.   King was surprised as soon as heard the name of Swamiji, but he could not remember exactly where did he hear the name of Swamiji, but he was not in a position to believe how Swamiji entered inside the screen that too naked in the middle of women, is he saintly person or mad? King thought Kashi is under British rule, it is no use of making this issue into a huge one, King ordered to release Swamiji and increase the securities, if the Swamiji appeared again inside the screen all will be punished to death, the arrest of Thrailangaswamiji spread all over, all were scared of the consequences.  That night there was a long shriek for help raised from the chamber of King, all the securities were rushed to King’s room, King was unconscious, people served the King with emergency requirements, huge chaos was raised in the chamber, family of the King enquired about the incident, none could give a proper answer, and people guessed that something terrible happened to King.  As soon as King regained his consciousness, he ordered his men to find the hermitage of Thrailangaswamiji, he wanted to get Dharshan of him.  Soon it was found that Swamiji is available in Panchaganga Ghat.  King rushed to Swamiji and prostrated before him and said, ‘Bhagavan, kindly forgive me I have committed sin unknowingly.’ Swamiji raised his hands and blessed the King.

The walking Lord of Varanasi – Sri Thrailanga Swamiji

Pranams at the lotus feet of Swamiji!

 Sri  Bhaskaranandhji and Shyamacharan Lahiri were two illustrious Yogis who lived during the period of Thrailangaswamiji.   Swamiji used to visit Bhaskaranandhji very often in his small chamber in Durga Kund.   Sri Lahiri Mahasaya was living with his family; therefore Swamiji will not visit his home.  Yogi’s realizes the spiritual advancement of other Yogis though they live in far off places.  Lahiri Mahasaya was aware of Thrailangaswamiji.  Once Lahiri Mahashaya arrived in Panchaghat to meet his favorite Yogi, at that moment Thrailangaswamiji was sitting with his disciples in the Ghat.   Swamiji hurried to Lahiri Mahasaya spreading his two hands in the air, he embraced Shyamacharan Lahiri, it was like the union of Ram and Bharath.  They both looked at each other in silence, people assembled were stunning and looked in awe at the two Yogis, one is Grahastha Yogi and another one is Sarvathyagi who has abandoned even his loin clothes.  Thrailangaswamji’s disciple was believed that there is no greater Yogi other than Swamiji lived in this world, whoever visits Baba will get their wishes fulfilled, he never bothered to see people with pride and wickedness.  His disciples were surprised why Swamiji giving so much of honor to a Bengali Grihastha Lahiri Mahashaya.    The two Yogis were sat in silence for a long time as if they are finding words to communicate due to the sudden rush of emotions as if they were asking questions to each other in silence.  After sometime Shyamacharan Lahiri prostrates before Swamiji and returned to his home.  One of his disciples asked ‘ Swamiji, I have a doubt to clear with you, kindly pardon me if I am wrong, you are Sarvathyagi and a Mahapurusha, Bengali Babu Lahiri Mahasaya who was dressed in Dhothi Kurtha is a Grihastha,  he has wife and children, why did you so much admire him?” Thrailangaswamiji smiled and replied ‘ Your doubtfulness is quite right, Bengali Babu is a Grihastha but you people do not know the difference of  a Yogi and a Bhogi, he is a Yogi, he has done so many piousness in the previous birth, he had to take birth as Grihastha, and it is his final birth, his every limb has divine symbols. You should visit him on regular basis and prostrate before him to make your life blissful.” Shyamacharan Lahiri is known to a very few people, he was not well known as Thrailanga Swamiji, he was highly admired by Lord Vishwanatha of Kashi himself, therefore it is crystal-clear that Lahiri Mahasaya is a great Yogi.

The walking Lord of Varanasi – Sri Thrailanga Swamiji

Pranams at the lotus feet of Swamiji!

Once Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa arrived in sacred Kashi, he felt some magnetic pull towards a divine soul, he conducted the search for that noble soul with few of his people.  It was extremely hot in Kashi, and he proceeded from Dhashashvamedha Ghat to northern areas, they have crossed many Ghats, they have to stop in between because of the extreme heat.   Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa was walking barefoot, rest of his followers were wearing footwear, there was Madhuranath Biswas who was son in law of Rani Rasmoni who was the founder of famous Dhakshineshvar Kali Temple in Kolkata.   Suddenly they have noticed a naked saint hurried towards them, he was spreading both the hands-on sideways, as if he was rushing towards to meet his long lost friend.   He embraced Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa as if two friends are meeting after several years.  Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa’s followers understood that this naked saint must be divine personified, otherwise, Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa will not take up a journey in the extreme heat.  Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa said ‘Oh! dear fellows, why are you staring at us, prostrate before this Yogi, he is Lord Vishwanatha of Kashi, feel fortunate to have Dharshan of this noble-soul, prostrate before him and make your life fruitful.  My journey to Kashi has become rewarding now.”  These two saints remained in silence for a long time as if they are conversing in silence.  While returning Ramakrishna Paramahansa told Biswas Babu " I have met a flawless saint for the first time in life, what a beautiful physical feature, a sincere servant of Kali will not find any difficulties, she will protect him always.’ Biswas Babu was surprised to hear that Swamiji as a devotee of Ma Kali, they have not even visited the hermitage of Thrailangaswamiji, he was shocked how did Paramahansa know that Thrailanga Swamiji is a devotee of Ma Kali, Paramahansa replied that he had seen all the divine symbols of the devotee of Ma Kali in Swamiji’s body, he realized the spiritual powers of Swamiji in the embrace.  There was no Yogi in the last three hundred years like Thrailangaswamiji, he has no awareness of his body, everyone was finding to difficult to walk with foot-wear in the heat.  After this incident, Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa often visited Thrailangaswamiji in his hermitage, they immerse in endless conversation about their spiritual practices, but the people assembled were not in a position to understand anything.  One day a miraculous event happened, Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa was walking with his followers, all them were holding vessels, Ramakrishna Paramahansa said ‘Today I will feed my Lord Vishwanatha with Kheer/sweet soup. Let me see my Baba how much consume.’ Thrailangaswamiji smiled at the words of  Ramakrishna Paramahansa and he began to feed Thrailangaswamiji, he had nearly 20 big vessels of Kheer with no difficulties at one stretch and it is impossible for an ordinary person.  People who were watching this event were amazed.  Swamiji never refuse any meal offered with love and compassion, sometimes he won’t consume meal for a week, sometimes he drinks water and chew bale leaves.