1978

MA reached Kankhal via Kashi in the second week of January. A flame of the sacred fire from Dacca was this time ceremonially installed at a specially built place for Yagna at the Kankhal Ashram on the 14th.

Her journeys began four days later. She trav­elled to Delhi, Naimisharanya, Baroda, Chandod and then to the Bhimpura Ashram where she rested for a few days. Early March, MA was in Baroda for a day on her way to Vrindavan, where a statue of Haribaba was installed by his devotees.

Towards the end of March, MA left Vrindavan for Delhi on her way back to Kankhal, where she stayed till the end of May., She had to attend many religious functions and received many eminent per­sons who came to see here. They included Swami Hans Prakash, Swami Amar Muni, the Chief of the Army Staff, General Raina and several senior Army Generals.

Her birth anniversary celebrations in May were marked by a special function that year to install a statue of Adi Shankaracharya in the assembly hall of the Ashram. The Shankaracharya of Jyotirmath came on May 10 to lead a procession with the statue. It travelled to Brahmakund and back stopping at the dif­ferent Akharas and institutions both ways. The statue was formally installed at the appointed place in the hall in the presence of MA, Shankaracharya of Jyotirmath, Swami Shantanand and a number of Mahamandaleshwars of Hardwar.

On May 12, the birth anniversary of Adi Shankaracharya was celebrated all over India. A spe­cial worship at the installed statue was organised at Kankhal Ashram. Swami Swarupananda did the ‘Aarati’ in the presence of 12 Mahamandaleshwars.

From May 19 to 26, MA’s birthday was cel­ebrated at Krishna Nivas Ashram at the invitation of Mahamandaleshwar Swami Purnanand Gin Maharaj. A large number of followers was present there along with MA.

In June, MA went to Narendranagar three times, taking rest for a few days on each occasion. On July 10, she left for Delhi on her way to Vrindavan for a stay of about a fortnight.

Those who came to meet her at Vrindavan in­cluded Prabhudutt Brahmahari, the noted annotator of the Ramayan Goswamy lndrabhushan, and a Bengali woman-saint from Gangotri-Gomukhi, Krishna­nand.

In a lighter mood one day MA recalled an inci­dent of many years ago. During a religious congrega­tion, an old Sannyasi fell into a deep sleep resting against a wall. He was snoring with his mouth open. At MA’s bidding, a sweetmeat (Rasogolla) was pushed into his mouth. As the candy juice entered the gullet, the sleep was disturbed and the Sannyasi woke up MA cited the incident to underline a message. “When one is engrossed in ‘Sadhana’ then one can come out of the slumber to step into consciousness on realisation only when the essential juice of the Almighty perme­ates one’s senses.”

On July 25, MA at Naimisharanya where a two-month long programme of reading from the Bhagwat with explanations was continuing. The work at the Puran Research Centre had also started. Three re­search-students, housed at the Anandamayee Ashram in absence of a regular hostel, had taken up their assignments. MA left Naimisharanya on August 7 for Kanpur to see Mongturam Jaipuria and Padampat Singhania, both of whom had been taken ill. After three days, she Went to Rajgir to spend about a fortnight in total seclusion.

On August 24, MA reached Calcutta via Bakhtiarpur. Janmashtami was celebrated at the Agarpara Ashram with the participation of a galaxy of renowned singers. The next day, Nandotsav was marked by joyous festivities, when senior devotees turned into the cowherds and milk-maids of Brajdham to dance and sing. Even MA joined in the festivities singing and dancing. At the end of the month, MA reached Vrindavan via Dhanbad and Delhi to attend a Bhagwat Week organised at the Anandamayee Ashram from the 7th of September. She was held up at Vrindavan for some days as unprecedented floods that year had completely disrupted the transport system in northern India. Towards the end of the month MA moved to Rajkot on her way to Gondal where she was specially invited by Raja Jatinder Singhji to be present during the Durga Puja celebrations. The royal couple wor­shipped MA every morning and did ‘Aarati’ every evening while the Durga Puja was also celebrated with great enthusiasm.

Leaving Gondal, MA came to Vindhyachal for rest for a few days. On October 26, MA called Udasji and said “Why .is Lila weeping ? Tell her that Bhaiya is alright.” Bhaiya, of course, was B.K. Shah and Lila was his wife. Within two hours of this incident, news reached Vindhyachal from Bombay that BK. Shah had been taken seriously ill with a heart attack. Ac­tually, MA had a vision in Vindhyachal that Lilaben was smearing blessed ash on the body of her hus­band who was on the verge of death. The ash, blessed by MA had earlier been given to Lilaben to be used only in case of an extreme danger

End of October, MA reached Calcutta to stay for four days at a new hut, especially built for her at Bhasha on the Diamond Harbour road by an ardent devotee Bibhuti Chakravarty. Kali Puja was celebrated there with great enthusiasm despite the disruption caused by floods. From Calcutta, her next stop was at Nadiad where the 29th Sanyam Mahabrat had been organised by Narayan Dasji Maharaj at the Samacihi temple of Sant Ramji. It was observed on a grand scale with the participation of more than two thousand devotees, 900 of whom had taken a vow to follow the discipline during the week. The Shankaracharya of Dwaraka Sharda’Peeth was an honoured guest at the Mahabrat. At the end of the week MA went to Bhimpura Anandamayee Ashram to rest for a few days. Early December, she reached Morvi via Baroda and Rajkot. Later, she went to Ahmedabad, Bombay and Poona. The last week of the year was spent in near seclusion at the Bhimpura Anandamayee Ashram. Only foreign devotees and visitors from abroad were permitted to see her there. Among them was Arnaud Desjardins and his family from France, who had come to India to spend Christmas days with MA.

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