Swami Prameyananda - Belur Math

One of Prameyananda’s outstanding qualities was that he would promptly
reply to the letters, regardless of who the writer was. Another of his notable
qualities was to make his juniors comfortable by saying, “Hello! How are
you?” He would not talk much with devotees, but whatever little he spoke
in his soft sweet style would fill the listener’s heart with joy. In the worka-day
world, clashes often occur; however, never was any feeling of disgust
apparent on Prameyananda’s features.
During the valedictory function of the outgoing batch of Training Centre
brahmacharins, a first-year brother is sent to escort senior sadhus to the
function and to again go with them after the ceremony. When anyone went
to escort Prameyananda, he would invariably say, “Don’t worry. I know
the way to get there.” And indeed every year he would come on his own
at the appointed time.
Maharaj would never give long speeches; he always spoke briefly and to
the point. This has been noticed in all his addresses whether they were
before sadhus or in Bhava Prachar meetings or elsewhere.
Maharaj was once returning to the Math from New Delhi by Kalka Mail.
Owing to torrential rains and the resultant floods, Kolkata-bound trains
were being stopped at Hazaribagh (Bihar). Maharaj and his monastic
companion got down from the train and were walking to the platform to
see what could be done, since Maharaj had to return to the Math as early
as possible for some urgent work. A devotee also got down from the
Kolkata-bound Rajdhani Express, and was walking unawares towards them.
On meeting Maharaj, he requested him to board the Rajdhani Express since
this train would reach the destination earlier. The station master was kind
enough to issue the tickets for this. All through the journey the devotee
noticed that not even once did Maharaj lose his composure.
A young sadhu who had come to Belur Math to attend the annual conference
of Heads of Centres (in 1990 or 1991) narrated the following incident:
Maharaj asked me to stay in a common room since all other rooms were
occupied by senior sadhus. The next morning Maharaj came to the door of
my room and said, “I am very sorry that I could not give you better
accommodation. All other rooms are occupied.” I said that it did not matter
at all and that I was not inconvenienced. I was surprised that he was so
upset for the sake of such a junior monk.
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Another sadhu narrated the following incident: I was sick for some time
during January-February 2011. On the doctor’s advice I was bed-ridden
for some days. Having not seen me for a few days, Maharaj made enquiries
and, on learning that I was sick, he came direct to my room to see me. I
was really taken aback since he was one of the Vice-Presidents of the
Sangha and I was quite junior to him. He sat down in my room and spoke
without any formalities for a long time. Everything about Prameyananda
was unostentatious. That day he suddenly said to me, “Listen, my body
won’t last for long.” I just blurted out, “What are you saying, Maharaj?”
To which he again replied, “No, this body will not last long.” How could
I know that his words would prove so true!
A well-established, longstanding devotee of Maharaj talks about
Prameyananda’s sense of humour: Once the devotee said to Maharaj, “My
father unnecessarily bothers about his health. I know that nothing is wrong
with him.” And Maharaj smilingly replied, “Just wait. When you reach his
age you will understand this thoroughly!”
To the mother of the same devotee Maharaj had once firmly said, “Come
for Pranams only on special days,” because Maharaj knew that by coming
regularly and doing Pranams, the lady’s spondylitis would worsen.
One of Swami Vireswarananda’s disciples who knew Prameyananda for
many years reminisced: “Ramgopal Maharaj used to feel a lot for devotees
of Thakur. I have heard my mother saying that it is only because of him
that our entire family could get initiation from Prabhu Maharaj. It seems
that Ramgopal Maharaj had said to my mother, ‘You all belong to this
place. Where else will you go?’”
When any devotee would do Pranams to Swami Prameyananda, after
enquiring about the welfare of the members of the family, he would also
ask about the others who had not come to the Math for long. And the last
question would invariably be, “You will have prasad. Won’t you?” He
would always make special enquiries about the overseas devotees and those
coming from distant parts of the country.
When Ramgopal Maharaj visited Hollywood centre (before becoming
Vice-President) a devotee who had settled in the USA came to see him.
The devotee had received initiation from Swami Vireswarananda when he
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