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.