About Us
Towards the close of nineteenth century, humanity was passing through
a critical phase. Man's mind was disturbed and was getting
disintegrated; so was his life. Every life was shattered by activities
that are anti-human and anti-religious. Life on earth was getting more
and more complicated, going away from the laws of nature. Mother India
was through severe pain under the shackle of foreign rule. Amidst the
vicious environment, mother earth still carried some people who were
of pure soul and having crystal living.
One such saintly
person was Shiv Chandra Chakraborty, living in Himayetpur village in
Pabna district of northern part of undivided Bengal in India. Village
Himayetpur was blessed by bounty of nature; all types of trees;
varieties of fruits and flowers were there in abundance. The village
was skirted by river Padma, discharging perennial flow from the
Himalayan range of mountains. The village was surrounded by fertile
fields, used for growing paddy and other crops. Other villages in the
vicinity were Kashipur, Nazirpur, Chaatni, Pratappur and some more.
Himayetpur, situated at two and half miles away from Pabna town, had
something special in it. Life in Himayetpur was not so much stressed
and ravaged, as in surrounding areas. ...
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Shiv Chandra Chakraborty was a pious brahmin from
Sandilya clan. He was popular for his wisdom and helping attitude to
others. Wife Manamohini Devi was a living image of duty and purity.
At her childhood, girl Manamohini, by virtue of her spiritual merit
was blessed by diksha in dream from then saint of Agra, Huzur
Maharaj. Ever since then, Manamohini Devi was practicing the holy
'name' with intensity and sincerity, while performing all her worldly
duties of lady of the home. She displayed immense respect to
superior. Both Shiv Chandra and Manamohini were relentlessly engaged
with service to people. People in and around the village were greatly
benefited by the qualities of head and heart that the couple
dispensed.
Manamohini Devi gave birth to her first child at
07 hours 05 minutes on 14th September 1888. That was 30th day of
Bhadra in 1295 as per Bengali calendar; 9th day of lunar cycle
shuklapaksha (waxing Gibbous phase). That child later came to be
known as Sri Sri Thakur Anukul Chandra. In later years, Manamohini
Devi was blessed with two sons, Prabhash Chandra and Kumud Ranjan,
and a daughter Guru Prasadi Devi, the youngest one.
From
the days of infancy, Anukul Chandra displayed unusual features. A
curious combination of charm, hyper activity and leadership
qualities, with a spell of divine aura surrounded him. Whoever saw
the boy felt his endearing manners, perennial love and compassion for
others. Boy Anukul bore qualities like respect for elders, feelings
for lonely, deep inquisitiveness, service to others, a dispassionate
outlook; all these acquired a loving relationship with his peers. His
friends used to address him 'Raja bhai' (brother royal). Boy Anukul
was a mother's child. Mother cast an overwhelming pull on Anukul.
Mother imparted diksha to child Anukul, at the behest of sant Sarkar
saheb.
Anukul Chandra got his primary education from local
Pabna Institution. He then got nominated for matriculation
examination from Mahendra Nath School, Naiyhati in district '24
Pragana'. At that time one of his classmates came crying to Anukul,
as the former could not pay his examination fee. Friend Anukul
offered the money with him for his fee to the friend. That was the
end of school stint for Anukul.
At the age of 17 in the
Bengali year 1313, on 24th day of Shrabana, parents got Anukul
married to Sarasibala, aged 11, daughter of Ramgopal Bhattacharya of
Dhopadaha village, residing in Pabna town. Sarasibala Devi was an
ideal lady of the house. She was wholly dedicated to her husband and
had high regards to others in the family. Her qualities like
devotion, service, compassion, act of charity and togetherness are
legendary and stand out as examples to all homemakers. In course of
time, she gave birth to two sons, namely, Amarendra Nath, Bibek
Ranjan and two daughters, namely, Sadhana Devi and Santwana Devi.
With passage of time, some women pledged their life at the service of
Anukul Chandra, when he was over fifty years. Some of them submitted
their desire at mother Manamohini Devi to have the holy privilege of
becoming consort of Anukul Chandra. Very reluctantly mother
Manamohini Devi persuaded son Anukul to accept these women as wives.
Prominent amongst them was Sarbamangala Devi, younger sister of
Sarasibala Devi. Sarbamangala Devi gave birth to two sons; the eldest
one succumbed to infant mortality and the younger son Pracheta Ranjan
is still there. Anuka Devi was born to Parulbala Devi, Sri Sri
Thakur's wife from different varna.
Sometime after the
marriage with Sarasibala Devi, Anukul Chandra took admission in
National Medical School, Kolkata. At that time, he had to go through
harsh poverty. It was hard for him to maintain himself at Kolkata
with the paltry amount received from mother Manamohini Devi. He had
to share space with the coolies in the coal warehouse of Yogen
Bhattacharya on the grey street for quite some time. On many days he
went without food; had to appease his hunger by drinking water from
the roadside taps and slept on the footpath. Passing through
hardships and enduring the hard realities, he completed his medical
study. One of his teachers in medical college Dr. Sashi Bhusan Mitra
observed the divine expressions of the student and later accepted him
as Guru.
Anukul Chandra then returned to his village
Himayetpur and started practicing medicine. Very soon he became a
popular doctor. Words about his perceptive ability to diagnose
disease, loving way of dealing with patient, unerring medicine
prescription and his sheer feelings and help to the people spread
around widely. Even the so called incurable diseases were cured by
Anukul's treatment. That made people to believe that there was some
supernatural power with Anukul Chandra. Patients started pouring in
to Himayetpur from far flung areas.
Anukul Chandra however
could not keep himself confined to medical practice alone for
longtime. He realized that a man can hardly be nourished to health
without treating his mind. The root cause of all suffering lies in
man's obsession with complexes. Therefore, man can attain health and
peace only when he is free from the pull of complexes. Keeping that
in mind, Anukul Chandra mobilized some of his friends and followers
and organized massive kirtans.
The age of kirtan in Anukul
Chandra's life was actually the phase of revelation of the divinity
that he brought down on to the earth as incarnate. That was the phase
when Anukul Chandra brought the entire society and environment into a
spell of divine consciousness. Amongst his kirtan associates were
Kishori Mohan Das, Ananta Nath Ray, Durganath Sanyal, Nafar Ghosh,
Kokan, Bune and others. Some more entrants to the kirtan brigade were
Satish Chandra Goswami, from the family lineage of Prabhupada Adaitya
and Sushil Chandra Basu, who later years became prominent devotees.
The mass kirtan that was staged at that time presented an unusual
spectacle of mass devotion, leading to a stage of euphoria and
trance. Anukul Chandra was the leader; the trigger in the ambience.
He displayed a persona that was exceptionally charming, brilliant and
attractive. He bore the image of divine in human form; a godly
expression, a natural spark of brilliance with magnetic attraction.
From that time onwards, Anukul was addressed as Sri Sri Thakur.
People came to view God incarnate in him.
In the midst of
kirtan, at the height of mass hysteria, Sri Sri Thakur used to lapse
into state of suspended animation (samaadhi). At times his body
temperature soared high to the level of cinder; and at other times
the temperature would collapse to the level of ice. With ceased heart
beat, his body would lie flat; at times would undergo series of mudra
(yogic acrobatics), all without effort and in quick succession. Jets
of blood would spray out of the pores of his skin. With symptoms of
lifelessness, the body would radiate a glow and the mouth would go
uttering words, sounds, voices, of known and unknown bytes
seamlessly. The portions which people could understand appeared to be
messages from high state of consciousness, some responses to
unexpressed thoughts in the minds of people who surrounded. There
were also some outpourings; discordant, disjointed yet powerful and
rhythmic. After few days of this type of events, at the behest of
Brundaban Adhikari, a wise man in Pabna town, parts of messages in
Bengali, English and Sanskrit were noted down by devotees. Those
noting have been compiled and published as 'Holy Book'.
In
Bengali year 1316, being requested by Atul Chandra Bhattacharya, Sri
Sri Thakur penned down a charter of advices in one night. Those have
been published in the form a pocketbook named 'Satyanusaran'.
All these developments centering on Sri Sri Thakur created a
sensation in and outside the country. Inquisitive mind and devoted
hearts came pouring and created a beehive around Sri Sri Thakur. Sri
Sri Thakur's abode in the village Himayetpur turned to be a shelter
for people looking for relief and solutions of various kinds. Centers
of activities, primarily to meet the natural requirement of visitors
and inhabitants, sprung up; like school, college, hospital, centre of
arts, cottage industries and laboratories for scientific experiments.
Keeping people engaged in creative, scientific and entrepreneurial
activities and developing human faculties on a balanced way was the
motive behind all the activities. It was a fusion of science and
dharma; material and spiritual; body, mind and soul; all leading to
being and becoming of man, in symbiosis with surrounding and the
Ideal. Sri Sri Thakur's abode popularly came to be known as 'Sri Sri
Thakur Anukul Chandra Ashram'. As mother Manamohini desired, ashram
was named as 'Pabna Satsang Ashram'.
Sri Sri Thakur's
father Shiv Chandra Chakraborty left for his heavenly abode on 24th
Agrahayan in the Bengali year 1330. Even during the period of
mourning, Sri Sri Thakur never remised his pursuit of guiding and
caring people, salvaging the fallen and rescuing the endangered. He
was untiringly engaged in building his ideological framework both in
theory and in practice. That ideology sets the path for the humanity,
of current and of the foreseeable future. His cardinal principle for
the unification of the mankind was, 'God is one, dharma is one,
prophets are same, servers of the One.â He held all the past prophets
in high reverence; upheld and fulfilled all the past prophets through
his own conducts and ideology. While respecting all the past
prophets, one is required to follow the principles of the present
one. He said, âAll prophets shoot from providence, hence they are
anointed; the present prophet is the consummation of all prophets,
hence all prophets should be revered.â He formulated ideological
tripod, yajan, yaajan and istabhrity, which are to be practiced every
day for the uplift and transformation of every individual, family,
society and the humanity. For maintaining excellence and
progressiveness in the social system, he favoured varnashram and
eugenic based marriage.
As prophet of the age, Sri Sri
Thakur pioneered a movement that was designed to give 'being and
becoming' a reality. He brought in a new defining shape to the
concept of 'dharma'. He said, âDharma means the laws that sustain
life and growth with every effulgence of personality; both
individually and collectively.â He raised a guild of dedicated
workers, who were classified and named as: ritwik, adhwarjyu and
yaajak. The guild of ritwiks, out of sheer love for their Lord,
marched far and wide and disseminated the mission and method of love,
life and lore, as propounded by Sri Sri Thakur. Whoever came on the
ideological spring board of Sri Sri Thakur got an access to their
inner energy and were adjusted and elevated, leading a life centered
around Ista (the blissful Ideal). The evil got automatically
banished; each one got committed to an Ideal centric life in a
societal grove where mutual love, service and instinct based
livelihood prevailed.
Amidst hectic activities to spread
the movement, Sri Sri Thakur was focused on 'man making'. Each person
was an asset to him, with biological backdrop and future potential.
Sri Sri Thakur's ideology was primarily meant for protecting the
existence (being) and furthering the growth (becoming) of each
person. Sri Sri Thakur was looking for a band of balanced and sound
personality, devoted and dedicated, to lead his movement for the
benefit of the humanity. Sri Sri Thakur was feeling pain and
suffering of every person in his heart and was only too eager to
alleviate the pain and banish the cause of suffering. Sri Sri Thakur
displayed a sensitivity that is very fine and pervasive, by which he
felt the feelings of even an ant. His ideology was aimed at making
every person free from the bondages and luggage of the past that
cause pain and sufferings and make the person progress on the road
towards deliverance.
On 6th day of Chaitra in 1344, mother
Manamohini devi left his dear son for her heavenly abode. Sri Sri
Thakur's life took a different turn from then onwards, as he did not
have any other worldly anchor to keep him going. Loss of mother left
a lifelong void for him; as mother was everything for him. On 1st
September 1946, amidst torrential downpour, Sri Sri Thakur left his
homestead with a heavy heart. Apparently, he was advised by doctors
for a change of climate for his health. He came to Deoghar (Baidyanth
Dham) in Santhal Pragana district in then Bihar (now in Jharkhand).
His family members and some close disciples accompanied him in this
sojourn to Deoghar. It was tragic that less than a year from then, on
15th August 1947, India was partitioned and Sri Sri Thakur's birth
place, Himayetpur in Pabna, remained on the side belonging to
Pakistan (now Bangladesh). Sri Sri Thakur never returned to his
birthplace. No devotee of Sri Sri Thakur could continue to stay
there. All the people migrated to this side in India and many of them
preferred to stay at Deoghar, despite all hardship. Slowly, the new
ashram began to grow at Deoghar from the scratch. Sri Sri Thakur's
ashram in Himayetpur together with properties worth crores of rupees
was taken as public property by Pakistan Government.
Sri
Sri Thakur was at his mission and movement. The creator of the
universe got engaged with resettlement and rehabilitation, all alone.
For him, the partition of the country on lines of religion and the
holocaust of communalism that followed was sad, to say the least. But
nothing could unnerve and unsettle him. His mission and movement to
save and elevate the humanity went on a rampage. People in large
number, irrespective of caste, clan, religion, from across the
country and some from outside, poured in to Deoghar. A wave of
cultural and spiritual reawakening, a resurgence of life, with
epicenter at Deoghar engulfed the country. People from all walks of
life, common and prominent alike, with various background and
expectation, broke down at the feet of Sri Sri Thakur. Every soul
looked for a solution; every one came expectant; every leader wanted
to be led. Sri Sri Thakur fulfilled every heart, every mind and
strengthened every shoulder. Many visitors and onlookers took shelter
of Sri Sri Thakur's ideology by accepting holy mantra. Sri Sri
Thakur's discourses with visitors were so powerful, meaningful and so
precise in language that those were recorded. The discussions were
jotted down by his erudite devotee Prafulla Kumar Das and transcript
of those have been published in 'Alochana Prasange' in series. Sri
Sri Thakur's ideology and activities got published in many
contemporary magazines and news papers.
Sri Sri Thakur's
ideology is captured in his literature. His scholarly devotees like
Krishna Prasanna Bhattacharya, Sushil Chandra Basu, Panchanan Sarkar,
Khalilur Rehman, Prafulla Kumar Das, Ashwini Kumar Biswas, Devi
Prasad Mukhopadhyay and some more got engaged into creating
literature on Sri Sri Thakur's personality and ideology. Large number
of volumes in various languages have been written and published on
the subject of Sri Sri Thakur and his sayings. All these books are on
philosophy of Sri Sri Thakur, containing ways and means for the
humanity for all time to come.
By the cruel turn of time,
came 27th January 1969. Early morning at 04 hours 55 minutes, Sri Sri
Thakur, the prophet for the age, took departure from this world of
his creation. The prophet of the age, having accomplished his
mission, laying the foundation of his movement, relapsed to his
cosmic form, into the domain of eternity. Two years after that
fateful day, on 10th May 1971, most respectful, image of Laxmi,
Sarasibala breathed her last. A glorious chapter in the history of
divine play on the earth came to an end.
What remained
however is the undying print of his ideology. That ideology lays down
the path for the humanity. Sri Sri Thakur remains with his devotees
and provide the support and guidance, as he used to do when he was
alive on the earth. In his current form, Sri Sri Thakur remains
invisible, but not inaccessible and is always responsive. He said, 'I
have given everything in black and white, in prose and verse. I wish,
people can talk to me, even when I won't be there'. He expressed
desire from his devotees, by saying, 'you all are my limbs. I like to
move around everywhere through you all.'
World after
Thakur's incarnation waits good time. Good time will come when people
follow Sri Sri Thakur's principles, with sincerity and devotion. The
incarnate of the age descended on the earth to share and shift our
agony. He besought uninterrupted adherence and undiluted devotion
from us. He wanted to remain alive through us. As devotees, our peace
lies in his pleasure. It will be our continuous pursuit to be up to
his expectation.
Sri Bibek Ranjan Chakravorty
(Second Son of Sri Sri Thakur Anukulchandra)
ঠাকুরের মধ্যমপুত্র শ্রীবিবেকরঞ্জন চক্রবর্তীর (ছোড়দা)
জন্ম দিনটা ছিল ১০ই জুলাই 1914 (বাংলা ২৬শে আষাঢ় 1321), শুক্রবার। তিরোধান (৬৯ বছর বয়সে ২৪শে সেপ্টেম্বর 1983)
Sri Bidyut Ranjan Chakravorty
(Grandson of Sri Sri Thakur Anukulchandra)
Address:
Bibek-Bitan, P.O Satsang,
Deoghar-814116, Jharkhand
India
Dr. Buddhadev Chakravorty
(Grandson of Sri Sri Thakur Anukulchandra)
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Address:
71 C Circular Road,Provat Tower,
Apt # 2D, Ranchi-834001, Jharkhand
India
Sri Vinayak Chakraborty
(Grandson of Sri Sri Thakur Anukulchandra)
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Address:
Kallol Apt, 6A New Road, Baguiati,
Kolkata-700059, West Bengal
India