Penance

Param Poojya Swami Chetanananda Saraswati gives us some glimpses of HIS years of sadhana (penance):

"During MY sadhana, I had darshan of Nava Durga. This normally requires nine bodies (births). My guru for this sadhana who lived in the forests of Katni (near Jabalapur) took nine lives to have this darshan, but I saw them in just nine months. The sadhana involves prayers to Ma Kali in the cremation ground between 12 and 3 AM every night, for 21 days. A recently buried dead body of a 14-year old low-caste girl is made as the asana. With full concentration, you continuously chant the chaitanya mantra. The eyes of the dead body open and the tongue hangs out. Maintain full concentration on the eyes, or your own life may be lost. Continue similarly for 21 days. On the final night, Ma Durga appears and asks what you wish for. You say: “Only Your darshan”, or else the other Shaktis will not appear. The entire sadhana is then repeated for the nine forms of Durga. This sadhana is very frightening, with lots of happenings all around, but you should not get scared and maintain your concentration. After one sees all this, there is no rebirth. This sadhana is necessary for those who become Gurus. (Ramakrishna Paramhansa did it, Vivekananda did not). Then I went to Abu, and then to the Himalayas.

"While in Abu, I was staying on a hill top, keeping cow for milk. The devotees were visiting with their gunmen for security. One day a wild tiger came there and all of them ran off. I held Ganga, the cow, on one side and the tiger on the other, and remarked, “Different beings joined by the same aatma”. I even made them drink water from the same bowl. Then, I asked the tiger to leave and he went peacefully.

"Even during MY sadhana, I always led a very disciplined life. I used to eat regularly and never went without food. I put MY knowledge of Ayurveda to good use and MY diet was always controlled and restricted."

Travel and Service

Param Poojya Swami Chetanananda Saraswati on HIS travels and serving HIS Guru...

"As a boy of twelve or so, I visited Tibet and had darshan of Mount Kailash. I met a Tibetan monk named Bhaskarananda, who showed ME Tibetan manuscripts describing the experiences that I had after meeting Baba Nityananda. Bhaskarananda used to stay just 5 kilometres from Kailash. He carried ME around the holy mountain on his shoulders. I had darshan of Lord Shiva and Parvati. All the fabled places described in the scriptures are on this earth itself. Mount Kailash in Tibet is the Kailash of the scriptures. Kshirsagar and Vaikuntha are also on this earth. Amravati is near the present-day Nagpur. The tapobhoomi of Vyasa was in Punjab. But the paths of rivers change every few hundred years. The Ayodhya and Mathura of today are not the same as those in the Puranas.

"Baba Muktananda was staying at Trayambakeshwar near Nasik for several years after some unpleasant incidents with the devotees of Bhagwan Nityananda at Ganeshpuri. He was observing silence. When I was staying with Bhagwan in 1959, He called Swami Muktananda back to come and stay at Gavadevi Ashram at Ganeshpuri.

"Bhagwan introduced Muktananda Baba to ME and said, "He is a Paramahansa. You should serve Him after You return from the Himalayas." This was MY first meeting with Baba Mukatananda. As per these instructions, I subsequently joined Baba Muktananda on 9 June 1973 and served as Administrator in the then Sri Gurudev Ashram of Ganeshpuri.

"Muktananda Baba used to set timings for job completion, one after another. I was thus engaged from 1959 to 1971. I drew up plans for all His ashrams and got them built all over the country and the world. During all this, I found time to go to Mt. Abu, Girnar and other places for sadhana."