Swami Prameyananda - Belur Math

He would always point out that in our Sangha, all puja traditions are linked
to Thakur’s puja. This should be remembered when doing Durga Puja and
the like. Our Sangha traditions should prevail all the time. Two examples
will suffice to illustrate the meaning of this.
(1) In Durga Puja, the bodhan ceremony has to be performed in the evening
on shashti tithi. But in our Sangha this is invariably done after Thakur’s
evening aarti, when it is almost night and not evening. Technically this
goes against scriptural injunctions. However, in our Sangha, Thakur is the
Living Deity. Daily worship and evening aarti have been going on at regular
timings for many years. In keeping with this tradition, the bodhan
prescriptions are performed after Sri Ramakrishna’s evening service. Such
departures notwithstanding, he was nonetheless a stickler to scriptural
prescriptions. If for example the shashti tithi was available only for a short
while after Thakur’s aarti, he would insist that all the bodhan rituals must
be completed within that tithi itself.
(2) At Belur Math and in many branches of the Sangha, Kali Puja is
performed during the Deepanvita amaavasyaa night. This is as per the
injunction in the Vishwasara-tantra. Though there is no sacrifice offered
in the Sangha’s Kali Pujas, detailed nyasas, food offering, the homa
(fire offering) are all performed in right earnest. This enables the puja
to continue the whole night. The presence of many sadhus, brahmacharins
and devotees, and the Kali Kirtan (singing of Mother’s songs) add to
the solemnity of the occasion. The final offering of the homa ritual, the
purnaahuti, is invariably done immediately after Thakur’s mangal-aarti.
This is the practice that prevails almost every year. During some years
it so happens that the amaavasyaa tithi lasts only up to 1 or 2 am. The
scripture requires that all puja formalities have to be completed within
this time. In such cases Maharaj, giving more weight to Sangha traditions,
would say that it is important to do the purnaahuti and visarjana when
the shrine of the established Deity (Thakur in our case) has been opened.
The puja can be continued through the night as is done every year;
otherwise many devotees who come to keep vigil at night would be
inconvenienced.
As a Vice-President of the Sangha, he became an inspiration to the youth.
Many students of our Purulia centre and some from the Vidyamandir at
Belur Math received mantra diksha from him. Many times it was noticed
15
that at the Math several young boys, after finishing their pranams, would
be sitting round him listening to some spiritual topic.
He was always alert to speak the right things to the right persons. As a
result young and old, whether monastic or lay, could all talk with him
freely. Thus many came to him for his opinion on something, some came
seeking consolation, some for solution to problems, and again some for
spiritual guidance.
As has already been said, Maharaj had great shraddha for the traditions of
our Sangha. He would point out that these traditions had not been built all
at once; they are the result of the sacrifices made by countless sadhus of
the Order over the years. Many have heard from him that if one reflects on
our Sangha’s unique traditions, one gets great help in spiritual life. He
would say in this connection, “Just as you study the scriptures, you should
also read about the early days of our Sangha.”
He never liked sadhus going out of the Math after evening. One evening
a sadhu said to him that he wanted to visit Dakshineswar. Maharaj
commented, “Why do you want to go now in the evening? It is always
good to go during the daytime.” Once he was in Seva Pratishthan hospital
in a serious condition. Some young sadhus had come to see him late in the
evening. Even in that condition he cautioned them, “It was not right on
your part to leave the Math at this hour.”
Once Maharaj was getting ready to go abroad. An identification tag was
being pasted on his bag. He noticed that his name on the label was in large
letters; the next line in smaller letters read “Ramakrishna Math.” And the
third line containing the postal address was in still smaller letters. At this
Maharaj commented, “Why so much importance to the name? The
Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna Mission should always be in bold
letters. Our names should be in smaller letters. How many people know
us? We are respected only because we belong to the Math and Mission.”
Maharaj had once come to visit a branch centre. A sadhu said to him,
“Maharaj, our pressure of work has increased considerably. We hardly get
any time for ourselves. How much more should I work?” And Maharaj
smilingly replied, “When we left our homes to join the Sangha, we came
to give the full 24 hours of each day to the Math and Mission. We did not
16