The Early Days

Fond Remembrances of Bhagavan Nityananda’s Early and Later Days

Shri Madhav Hegde, affectionately known by Bhagavan as “Engineer Hegde,” fondly recalled glimpses of Bhagavan’s youthful days in Mangalore. As a boy, Bhagavan was often seen at the Mangalore Railway Station, clad in a simple half-shirt, seated casually on the platform. Despite his tender years, an unmistakable magnetism was about him — a spiritual radiance that drew people to him. Many members of the Goud Saraswat Brahmin (GSB) community, some of them considerably older, recognised this extraordinary presence. Without any formal invitation or announcement, they would gather around him, listening with deep reverence to the words that effortlessly flowed from him. To them, he was not merely a young boy, but a being whose wisdom and authority were far beyond his physical age.

In the 1940s, just before India attained Independence, Bhagavan exhibited one of his many mysterious leelas (divine plays) that reflected both his detachment and how he engaged with the world without being bound by it. On one occasion, he asked my father, Shri Raghunath Shenoy, to take him to a tailor and have a three-piece suit stitched. Obeying Bhagavan’s instructions without question, my father made all the arrangements, and soon, the suit was ready. Bhagavan wore the suit and invited my father to accompany him for a stroll through South Mumbai. They walked for hours through the city’s bustling streets — Bhagavan, clad immaculately in Western attire, drawing no particular attention to himself. After this excursion, he nonchalantly discarded the suit, shedding it as easily as one might a used garment, and resumed his natural and beloved attire: a simple loincloth (langoti) and a thick blanket draped over his shoulders. In those simpler times, such an appearance in public was not unusual and did not provoke the kind of reaction it might today.

Bhagavan and my father shared a special bond, and they often travelled together by train across Mumbai and its distant suburbs, sometimes journeying as far as Kalyan. Undoubtedly, many other fortunate devotees must have had similar opportunities to accompany Bhagavan on these informal travels, experiencing firsthand the divine joy of his company. His preferred attire remained constant throughout his life — a loincloth and a blanket, embodying his utter simplicity and total renunciation.

Bhagavan Nityananda often visited us at our home in Banaman Lane, Girgaon, Mumbai. He allowed us to take His pictures. That was between 1920 -1930. Below you can see Bhagavan in our home, in second picture with the family and in the third picture, holding the baby Ratnakar Shenoy

When the time of his Samadhi approached, every arrangement for the sacred ceremony was made with utmost devotion. Yet, in a sudden realization, it was found that there was no fresh langoti to offer Bhagavan — a detail of profound importance. At that critical moment, Ratnakar Shenoy, a devotee who had made it a practice to offer langotis whenever he visited Bhagavan, came forward. By divine providence, he had once again brought a fresh pair with him. This humble offering became the final langoti with which Bhagavan’s sacred form was enshrined in Samadhi — an act of immense grace and significance for Ratnakar Shenoy.

During one particular phase of his life, Bhagavan, for reasons known only to him, donned a kafni — a simple, long robe traditionally worn by ascetics. It was during this rare period that someone managed to persuade him to visit a studio and have a photograph taken. In that photograph, Bhagavan is seen wearing the kafni, his luminous presence captured for posterity. Another cherished photograph from this period shows Bhagavan lovingly holding the infant son of Mrs. Krishnabai on his lap, a tender moment that speaks volumes of his boundless compassion.

Years later, I had the privilege of meeting that very child, now grown into a gracious elderly gentleman known as Mr. Mangalore. He resided at Talmikiwadi, Girgaon, Mumbai, carrying within him a living connection to that era of divine leela and grace.

Shared some remembrances that my elders shared.