Bhagavan Nityananda: ‘MOTHER’ – the Primal Guru ~
The Shenoys were a large joint Hindu family with all relatives staying under one roof. It was a close-knit Hindu family where the grandparents, parents, uncles and aunts, children and cousins, and grandchildren lived under one roof. Such a vast gathering of relatives under one roof had its advantages and disadvantages. One of the disadvantages was that the ladies of the house never got along. And the relationship between mother and daughter-in-law was a tug-of-war for supremacy. As is common in this type of traditional living situation, Sitaram’s wife did not get along with his Mother either. Now, both of these ladies were very headstrong.
One day, in a fit of anger, Sitaram’s mother left their Mumbai house and returned to her native town at Padubidri in South Karnataka state. Sitaram just could not have any say in the matter because his mother was very firm in her decision. His mother’s hardheadedness, coupled with her move back to Padubidri, created a situation where Sitaram was no longer on good terms with his mother. They did not speak.
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Now, it was Sitaram’s long-standing desire to build a house close to where Baba Nityananda was living at the time. He wanted to be closer to his Guru. During those days, in the late 1940s, Bhagavan Nityananda used to stay at Vajreshwari, about a kilometer away from Ganeshpuri. Baba used to sit opposite the Vajreswari Temple where there were Samadhi Shrines (tombs) of several saints including to those of Machendranath and Gorakshanath of the Natha lineage (Natha Sampradaya).
So, Baba used to sit at this place and recommended this place for Sitaram to build his house. Sitaram got the place on lease from the Trustees of Vajreshwari temple. By then Baba had moved his ashram to Ganeshpuri. On taking possession of the place opposite the Vajreshwari Temple (adjoining the Nath Mandir), Sitaram Shenoy decided to build a house and a motel with lodging and boarding for the devotees visiting Ganeshpuri. Sitaram visited Ganeshpuri to invite Baba for the Bhumipujan (ground breaking) ceremony of his house and motel. Baba was then living in the old Ganeshpuri ashram, then called Vaikuntha (where the present Samadhi Shrine of Bhagavan Nityananda is).
Before beginning construction, Sitaram went to see Baba. He prostrated himself in front of Baba and said, “Dear Deva. I have decided to construct my house and hotel, as per your recommendation, opposite the Vajreswari Temple. I have one desire. It is that you, as my Guru, should grace the ceremony of Bhoomipujan.” To this Bhagawan Nityananda replied, “Go get your mother and ask her to grace the ceremony.” Now, Sitaram was as stubborn as his mother. His ego would not allow him to surrender to his mother. So, he outright refused Baba’s command. He looked upon Bhagawan Nityananda as his rightful mother and often took the liberty to argue with and counter Baba’s commands to him. He just said, “You are my God, my Mother, my Guru, and my everything. None other than you can grace this great event in my life.”
Baba would not budge. Baba said, “Only your mother should be given this honor.” To this Sitaram challenged “I will not go and surrender to my mother. If you do not accept my invitation to grace this ceremony, I shall still hold it. By keeping your photographs at the ceremony and offering my respect to you alone, I shall build this house.” and left Ganeshpuri in a huff.
Here one should understand the relationship between Bhagawan Nityananda and Sitaram Shenoy. Sitaram’s love for Baba was so strong that he felt he could venture enough courage to challenge Baba. He considered Baba to be his everything in his life and nothing else mattered to him. Now, between the two, Baba had even more love for Sitaram than Sitaram knew. This is the reason Baba tolerated Sitaram’s outbursts and retorts. Baba wanted Sitaram to go beyond the limitation of his ego. He also wanted to cure the loss of spiritual merit created by Sitaram’s obstinance towards him. He also wanted to reverse the Karma created by the riff between Sitaram and his mother. Now, Baba knew that there was an important lesson on the way for Sitaram.
The next day, Sitaram called a priest and, keeping Baba’s photograph where it was visible, offered his prayers to Baba and began the groundbreaking ceremony. On completion of the Puja, the workers began building. The buildings were constructed of large stones. The following morning, there was a commotion outside Sitaram’s room. He rushed to the construction site, only to find that the walls built the day before had collapsed. His engineers were perplexed. He made them build it again. Again, on the following morning, the walls had collapsed. This happened for three consecutive days. Sitaram finally understood his folly.
He straight went to Ganeshpuri and fell at the feet of Bhagavan Nityananda and narrated the happening. He also asked for Baba’s forgiveness for not listening. Baba was laughing. Baba said, “Mother is the Primary Guru. It is only by her consent and blessings that one can make progress in both spiritual and worldly life. If your mother is hurt then no matter how much penance you do; you can never be successful in your spiritual pursuit. You must first pay respect to your mother. Now that you have started the construction work, go and build your house. For the housewarming (Graha Pravesh), invite your mother with great respect and honor. Bring her to your house, wash her feet with water, offer her a new sari (dress) and, with her blessing and well-wishes, start your life in your new home.”
Sitaram completed his house and fetched his mother to Mumbai. He brought her to Vajreshwari with full honor and made her sit in the center of the house. He performed her padapooja, gifted her a Saree, and prostrated at her feet. He looked at her as representative of Baba and gave her full honor. He then took her inside to every nook and corner of the house to bring positive energy. From that day Sitaram treated his mother like God. Thus it has become a tradition in the family to regularly perform pada puja of one’s mother and bow to her every day
