Taraben Soparkar
The wife of Founder's college friend and boss ( Late Revered Sister Taraben Soparkar ) was on death-bed suffering from Septicemia. The friend got the Founder transferred from Ahmadabad to Poona to help him in the calamity. The wife was lying upstairs. She said to her husband ," I am hearing the Mantra repetitions of some Matajee's devotee. I am on death-bed, so please find him out round about our bungalow streets and let me have his Darshan ". The friend took the Founder and went round in search and assured her that there was none: " Not only I, but even ' Dholkia Kaka ' accompanied me for the search ". She exclaimed , " What, has he come? It must be then he. Please call him up ". She repeated the same shloka of Saptashati fourth Adhyaya ( दुर्गे स्मृता हरसि भितिमशेषजन्तोः स्वस्थैः स्मृता मतिमतीव शुभां ददासि ।दारिद्र्यदुःखभयहारिणी का त्वदन्या सर्वोपकारकरणाय सदाआर्द्रचित्ता ।। ) which the Founder was then repeating mentally unheard by anyone. This shloka was repeated by her to assure the Founder that he was recognised devotee and that she was worthy recipient of his Darshan and blessings.
Pandharpur saint's prediction
A drawing professor was coaching the friend's daughter.He inquired of the future of the lady from a Pandharpur saint ( The saint was Shri Dasganu Maharaj ). The saint foretold, that her days were finished but added, " There is however a saint in his house, out of courtesy to whom she is not being taken away. The day he leaves the bungalow, she would expire ". The friend enlightened by the first experience suspected that the saint in his bungalow was none other than the Founder and, he was the head of the department, kept him all hours confined to his bungalow by way of precaution, asking him to do the official work at that place.On 3-10-1931, the case was entirely serious. Three eminent doctors declared she would die within an hour or so. The worst news was broken by the husband to his friend who was trying to strengthen his courage to meet the calamity. The husband vociferated, " What a coward's talk? I am sure, if you heartily pray, she will atleast leave longer and give me sufficient time to prepare for the worst ". The Founder had very little of confidence in the efficacy of his prayers for the almost impossible change., but he had to follow him upstairs . He prayed with his whole heart and devotion standing near the pillow of the lady in the midst of nearly twenty weeping relatives. The pulse, speech and vision had left the body. On prayer, the Founder's tears fell in her mouth, the pulse speedily went up, vision and speech returned and the eyes opened. Her words were, " How can I like to leave this world leaving behind me the un-cared- for children.? I see Mataji standing before me. She says if you fast for a day she will give me a week's extension. Will you not promise doing that for me? ". The promise was given hand in hand and the improvement began with most unimaginable speed.. Just half and hour after, she asked for milk, fruit-juice etc. It was an unprecedented family joy.
Some believed, and some did not, in God's hand in all these. But almost everyone including the husband thought she was saved permanently. On the 7th day, the temperature however rose up from the morning. The husband was too shrewd to remain any longer delusion. The whole story looked true. She was to go that day. He had a hysteric fit from which he was made to recover to composure after consolation by his friend. At 3 p.m., there was a phone from the Secretariat asking husband to send certain confidential office files under lock and key. He could not possibly leave her. The Founder was given keys and the motor driver was ordered to drive fast and the Founder was given strict orders not to waste a single minute in the office. On reaching office, the head-clerk informed him that the lady expired as soon as he had placed his feet outside the bungalow.
Here was a continued episode which baffled all human solutions.
She was a great devotee of Mataji. She actually heard the Mantra which the Founder was simply mentally chanting. The prophecy of the Pandharpur saint and its fulfilment were wonders. She saw Mother and heard Her words. A fast of a particular devotee earned the Mother's Grace of the boon of a weeks life extension. All these happenings began revolving in Founder's mind, finally resulting in an overpowering sense of his ingratitude to Mother.
The divine change in the Founder
Said he, " Should I be simply living pleasure-dipped and fully ungrateful to my Mother ? She has so often protected me all along and shown Herself to me and I have not breathed a single syllable to the world about Her mercifulness and Her dying for Her devotees. This one idea drove off all other ideas, even those required to sustain himself in daily routine. He became semi-lunatic, weeping day and night and beating his forehead, sometimes against walls rolling on ground and saying only one thing. " I am a wretch, most ungrateful creature. Even such a simple thing as a glorification of Thyself, I have not done ".
Mother's command to install Her as Mai
He had to go on a long leave. Doctors consulted diagnosed that he had no disease whatever. He had divine madness. The best medicine was constant talk about Mother and mother's occupation within his hearing and seeing. This was a furnace period, during which there was wholesale drastic change in the Founder's religious outlook. All the pride of Hindu-ism, Vedas, Brahmins ( he himself being a Nagar the highest Brahmin in Gujerat ) and the belittling of other religions evaporated. Strangely and wonderfully, Mother finally commanded him to install Her as Mai The Universal Divine Mother. " God as Mother, Mother of all, propitiable with universal love service, devotion and unconditional cheerful self-surrender ". These six words and expressions he would often hear in the air and would read written on walls and on the ceiling between joist-gaps and on closed doors and windows. He pleaded his full unworthiness for such an innovation. The more he tried to evade. the more did Mother sit on his heart and head till the sweet talk became artificially embittered and wrathful. "What do you prefer ? Installing me as Mai with the dictated 6 tenets or life-long present semi-lunacy ? "
The Founder finally gave the promise to Mother, and so to say escaped,on giving promise, in order to avert semi-lunacy. His recovery was marvellously quick after promise and he returned to Poona and rejoined his service. He had a word of reminders from Mother almost every week.But he was too conscious of the crushing responsibility, to so easily yield. He went on procrastinating.
Two persons one in Calcutta and the other in Mysore ( Shemoga ) were given command in dreams to go over to the city of Poona and deliver Her Message of Installing Mother.
Two messengers leave for Poona
The Calcutta message-bearer came over to Poona. Finding no place in any other hotel, he had come over to the hotel where Founder resided. With great despondency as to how to find the man in such a large unknown city, he fell into sleep at 10 p.m. He had a dream: " Don't be afraid and losing heart. I have brought you to the man. Just at 12 midnight, you see things through the slits of the common door between you room and the front room. You have to hand over the message to the man there in the morning. Make a bold statement ". The man saw the Founder at the said hour in communion, full of solicitations to Mother " to find some other man to install etc. " In the morning he delivered the message in a bold convincing manner and left.The Mysore devotee ( The man was M.R.Ananta Ayya ) who carried the message happened to come to the hotel as a casual visitor. The Founder by chance went to the dinning floor at the time man was dinning. As soon as that man saw the Founder returning to his place , he suddenly left his half meal and ran after the Founder. Most abruptly he talked, " Are you a devotee of Devi ? " Founder also made no delay : " Yes, not only a devotee, but a passionate, most uneasy devotee." Still more abruptly, the man said, " I come from Mysore. I have a message to hand over to you from Mother. " The Founder got dumb-founded. " Yes, please come up to my room." The man followed; the message was communicated. Said the man, " I have come so far. Would you not favour me with a spark of love for Mother ? I have enough of Divine Knowledge for my purpose"( this was only his modesty). Said the Founder, " Are you prepared? Would you sit with me on the bench of the Sheikh Sulla bridge during night hours? " He agreed. The Founder was sitting with him from 11 p.m. to 4 a.m. on a wooden bench. The man went to his place. He was at the highest pitch of desire that he may have a vision of Mother atleast in the dream. He had a dream on sleeping. Mother appeared and said, " You are now longing for my Darshan. Who was talking to you for hours on the bridge? That was myself. You have not only seen me but talked with me ." The man narrated the event to the Founder at early dawn.
Founder's resolution to install Mai & declaration of Mai-ism
Two persons coming down for the only purpose of delivering the message was something too great to be taken lightly. That put the Founder to an indescribable shame about his obstinacy and suspiciousness. Said he with a sigh , " I am surely a man without faith. I have faith in the reality of what I have seen and heard, but I have no faith in Mother making me fully fitted for the uphill unique task ". He was extremely nervous and terribly afraid of how people would consider his act and of their defaming him by attributing highest impudence , hypocrisy and blasphemy.
FOUNDER'S RESOLUTION
He decided to be tricky with Mother and to get her to agree to let her fad go once for all, but he could not succeed. On the other hand Mother directly repeated Her threat, " Tell me in one word once for all, what do you prefer - Installation or lunacy ? "The Founder had no go and with a sorrowful laughter he sat down to stipulate terms with Mother, as he had done before , when he had begun hundred repetitions of Saptashati. He made a Sankalpa ( a resolution ) pouring sacred water-offering to the Mother, " If there is entirely new building of which the first indweller is myself, if I enter it on a Friday, if by evening there is a dazzling light, if there is a basket of ' mithai ' and fruits received that day, if three girls and two men knock my door at 9.30 p.m. , if they press me to install Thee, if at 10 p.m. , I find Mother's picture in any shop, if at 11 p.m., I find some shop open wherefrom I can purchase worshiping materials and lastly if at 11.30 p.m. some ' Mali ' ( garland hawker) brings me a most beautiful garland befitting Thee and the occasion ,then I shall not hesitate and I shall not fail to install Thee and declare Thee and Thy Religion. "
EACH AND EVERY CONDITION WAS FULFILLED
Each and every condition was so wonderfully and admirably fulfilled. He was getting surer and surer as one condition after another came up attaining fulfilment, and when finally a hawker shouted out ' Har Har ' ( Garland, Garland ), he burst into tears on hearing that shout. He began to beat his breast and forehead . " Mother, thou hast finally caught me . Could you not find any other man, who is more worthy than myself ? " The five persons consoled him with sweetest words : " She would do Her own work. Who is more blessed than yourself ? Why should you lose heart and courage ? Where is the question of your worthiness or unworthiness , at all sir, when She Herself has chosen you ? "
Installation of Mai & declaration of Mai-ism (on 2-9-1932)
Mother was installed at 12 midnight on 2-9-1932. Said he to all that had gathered : " From today, I am a Mai-ist; from today my religion is ' God as mother, Mother of all, propitiable on living the life of universal love and service, with devotion and unconditional cheerful self surrender '. Krishna, Mohammad, Christ, Jarthost, Buddha and every Founder of any religion is my Mother's ( Mai's ) illustrious son. From now, Bible or Koran is as venerable and worshippable to me as Geeta. A Mohammedan lady will find the same shelter in my home as a Hindu lady under communal riot ( this actually happened ). I will continue to pray God as I have prayed till now, whether in a Hindu Mandir, or a Mohammedan Masjid, or a Christian Church or a Zoroastrian Agiari or an Israelite Synagogue. No more religious differences ; the devotion of Motheris necessarily the devotion of Mother's children. I am a changed religious man from this moment. " Said the Founder, " I install Mai today. I declare Mai-ism today. Let it be known to one and all of my friends. Let the world if so minded now commence the work of ridiculing, defaming, censuring, suppressing, harassing and crushing me and the Mai movement. "
News spread around. The nearest people were Theosophists and Harijans. Some educated Harijans had the most reverential regard for the Founder, the man who was Love and Mercy himself with innocent childlikeness and who was happily blessed with the most intense devotion. People began calling him ' second Ramakrishna ' , ' Mother's child ', ' Mother ' or ' Mataji ' actually addressing as ' Mother ' or ' Mataji ' .
EXTRACTS FROM THE BOOK : MAI-ISM
FIRST PUBLICATION : 27 MARCH 1952
PUBLISHER : UNIVERSAL MAI-ISM TRUST
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