Anandamayee The Universal Mother
Shree Shree Anandamayee Sangha
BLISSFUL YEARS
THE JOURNEY BEGINS
1896-1899
Extremely rare are the occasions when the Maha Maya chooses to assume
physical features or the Lord of the Universe Shiva a human form. It is then
for a cause to serve humanity for its
welfare and education. From time eternal, India has been fortunate to have
these God-like beings from time to time. They descend to the earth with a
divine illumination from a thousand suns.
She also descends
one day - MA Anandamayee bringing glory and bliss to mother
Mokhshada Sundari and father Bipin Behari Bhattacharya.
Kheora is a sleepy and peaceful village in Tnpura, now in Bangladesh. MA
was born there around 3.45 a.m. on April 30, 1896. Bipin Behari was originally
from village Vidyakoot, Kheora being his maternal uncle’s place. He happened
to be living in Kheora with his wife at the time. A daughter earlier born to
Mokhshadasundari died prematurely. With that tragedy in mind Mokhshada
[Grandma (Didima) to the devotees] took the newborn MA before a Tulsi sapling
installed in the house in the morning and rolled the infant over and over on
the ground. The ritual was repeated every day for eighteen months. When MA grew
up, she did it all by herself’- an infant god frolicking in front of her other
self, symbolised by the Tulsi.
Endless were her Lila’s and actions suggesting her divinity. Even before
her manifestation, Mokhshada had started having visions of gods and goddesses
in dream. She continued to have such visions after MA’s abirbhav.
Father Bipin Behari led an unusual life prior to her birth. He suddenly
left home for about 10 months, took to saffron robes and got absorbed in the
constant chanting of the name of Hari. In MA’s words “My arrival coincided with
the period of his mood of renunciation.”
Equally fascinating was the moment of MA’s arrival. There was no one in
the room. Her mother experiencing no labour pain. That was how MA revealed
herself. The newborn did not cry out as usual. Asked about this later, MA said,
“Why should I cry. Well, I could see a mango tree through the fencing.” Her own
statement is a key to understanding MA’s real self - a being possessed with the Truth at her birth.
It is pertinent to ask whether this possessor of the ultimate truth had
planned her own arrival on earth. If it was not so, how could Bipin Behari’s
mother, while praying at the Kasba Kali temple, feel the compulsion to plead
for a girl child to be born to Bipin Behani while she had actually gone there
to pray for a male child?
Even in her infancy, the girl was endowed with absolute perception. When
she was just thirteen days old, Bipin Behari’s maternal uncle, Nandan
Chakravarty, came to see the new born. Mokshada Sundari (Grandma) had
completely forgotten the incident. She was struck dumb when MA reminded her of
the visit years later. How could a thirteen-day old baby know of the visit?
There were many such incidents. She was about 10 months old then and
staying at Vidyakoot. There appeared a glowing figure of a male, clad in
near-saffron standing near MA and then bending down. MA crawled to him as if he
was a dear one, known for ages. The figure watched her in a gaze, touched her
and fondled her with infinite care and then made a gesture in the manner of
worship. Grandma was close by watching. Addressing her, the man said, “This is
the Mother - beyond all bonds. No one can
confine her to a home". Suddenly the man was gone.
Some people realised the true significance, others did not. She was a
child of 2 years and 10 months when Grandma took her to a neighbour’s
(Chandranath Bhattacharya’s) place to listen to Kirtans. The child seemed to be
dozing off from time to time and Grandma, prodded her to listen to the singing.
In fact, the child was in a state of trance as the spirit of singing pervaded
her. Later, MA told her mother the effect the singing had on her and described
the events. Commenting on this later, MA said she always moved into a trance on
such occasions, even as a child. But then the time was not ripe to give full
expression to the mood. Once, in a proper mood, MA uttered the message “Singing
in praise of Han is the final utterance - the rest is wasteful agony”.
On another occasion, at the age of three, MA burst into tears after
attending a session of rural poet-singers and sat crying silently under a
cluster of banana trees. How could the child perceive the anguish of Radha in
separation as she appeared in the court of Sri Krishna?
Well, the child remained an enigma. Once in her early childhood, MA went
to a neighbour (a great grandmother) to fetch some buttermilk. This was a daily
routine and she carried a pot close to her belly. Something happened and the
old lady refused to give buttermilk.
As the words of refusal were being uttered, the old lady saw to her amazement
that the collected curd was oozing out of a hole in the pot. She hastened to
retrieve a portion from the pot and offered it to MA. Since then, the old lady
made it a point to reserve some butter milk for MA even when she was late.
Another incident at Vidyakoot.
An aunt of Mokhshada asked MA to clean the hearth and floor; the child
readily completed the job. The aunt was amazed to see the work of the child and
wondered how there could be marks of big palm movements in a job done by a
child?
Many were these early indications which few around her realised. MA’s
pleasing disposition was attributed to her parents. Bipin Behani was of Kuhn
stock, a truthful Kashyap Brahmin, devoted to higher spiritual attainments, a
renowned singer of devotional songs. Nirmala Sundari (MA) learnt kirtans from
her father. Mokhshada was a worthy wife - a religious lady, kind to guests, and managed the house efficiently
within the limited means. In short, it was a virtuous family - whose watchwords were sacrifice, service and
devotion. Our MA, Nirmala Sundari of those days, grew up in such a setting.
