All World
Gayatri Pariwar

  Panditji (Shriram’s father) called out from the entrance of the cave. There was no response from inside. The voice only echoed back to him. It was then decided to search for him inside the cave with torch light. The twelve meter long zigzag cave was thoroughly searched. There was no trace of Shriram. Everyone returned home dejected. At home, Taiji was in a pathetic state due to continuous crying. The search for Shriram continued. The next morning, Taiji’s uncle Sri Rukmani Prasad, came to meet Taiji. In fact, he had arrived at Aanwlakheda the previous night itself but did not come straight to her house because, as per the tradition, it was not advisable to stay overnight in a daughter or sister’s place or accept food and water at her place. Hence, he had spent the night in a temple at the outskirts of the village.

The moment he reached his niece’s place, he saw an atmosphere of grief and lamentation because Shriram was missing since the previous day. Rukmani Prasad recalled that he had met a 10-12 year old boy on his way. He was surprised to see a boy traveling alone on a solitary road and asked where he was going. The boy replied very naturally that he was going to the Himalayas. Rukmani Prasad laughed at the naughty lad on hearing this answer. He let out a laugh because Himalayas was very far away. Local people only knew of Govardhan Parvat which was also more than 40 miles away. On reaching Aanwalkheda, he realized that the boy was none other than his niece’s son.

On hearing these words, Panditji immediately got ready to search for Shriram. Rukmani Prasad led them upto the place where he had met Shriram the previous day. It was obvious that the boy would not be there and would have at least moved 3-4 miles ahead. They all followed the same road and went for a few miles. They found Shriram sitting in meditation in a temple of Lord Shiva near a lake. The father was greatly relieved on seeing him safe and waited for the boy to complete his meditation. The moment he got up, his father embraced him tightly and asked, “Is this an age for you to go to the Himalayas? Why did you come away without informing us? Is it fair on your part to hurt your parents?” Asking innumerable such questions, tears rolled down from the eyes of Pt. Roop Kishoreji .

Confronting Taiji was a tougher task. Taiji had slept off after crying in despair. On seeing her son, she again began to cry loudly. Her crying encapsulated all that had happened at the birth of Shriram – the coming of Sadhus and Sanyasis to see him, the dreams that she had, the predictions about Shriram, his interest in regular worship etc. She cursed all those who were responsible for motivating Shriram on the path of penance and sadhana. The son tried to understand his mother’s feelings and asked her not to speak ill of Sadhus and her Lord Dwarakadhish (Krishna). He asked her to scold him instead as he was the cause for her distress.

The moment Shriram held himself responsible for her pain, Taiji’s wailing stopped. She said that if he genuinely accepted that he was responsible for her suffering, he should give her a solemn pledge. Shriram waited with bated breath to listen to the latter part of her bidding. She said, “You will never think of becoming a Sadhu or Sanyasi and leave me. You might be the soul of Himalayas, but so long as I am alive, you are just Shriram. Never plan to settle in Himalayas till I am alive. After I am gone, you may live anywhere.” Taiji was phrasing each sentence with considerable care and thought. Shriram also attentively listened to each word and said, “Yes Mother, I will always be with you. I will not even leave this region of Vrij since I know how much you like this place of Lord Krishna.” On hearing these words of assurance, Taiji calmed down, because she was sure that Shriram always kept his word and hence would adhere to his promise. That day was celebrated like a festival in their home. The mother was reassured that her loving son would never go away from her for good. It was different if he had to leave her and go somewhere else for his work or something else. Taiji’s intention was to let Shriram stay in the proximity of her and her household. And Shriram had given his word to fulfill her wish.

After this incident, his daily education and sadhana continued as before. His father began to pay close attention to him. He was to complete his primary education in 4-6 months. As a measure of caution it was decided that the boy would not be sent out of the village for secondary education. His father was a scholar of Bhagavat Mahapurana. He first taught his son ‘Laghu Siddhant Kaumudi’ and later ‘Madhya’ and ‘Siddhant Kaumudi’. After completing his primary school education, he found more time for these classical Sanskrit studies. After completing the studies of Bhagavat, Ramayan and Mahabharat, he began to study other ancient scriptures at a fast pace. His father had realized that he did not have many years to live and hence had told his son to solely concentrate on learning Sanatan Vedic lore for the next two years. He probably wanted to teach Bhagavat to his son as an heirloom. The father might have thought that his son will also do katha of Bhagavat. If there was any other reason behind teaching him Bhagavat, one can only speculate about it.

Dissemination of knowledge

After having learnt to read and write in Pt. Roop Ram’s school, there arose a tendency in Shriram to share this knowledge. Just as he taught other children about Jap and Dhyan after he got initiated by Malaviyaji, he now wanted to teach others to read and write. After learning Shastras and Sanskrit from his father, there was some time that could be spared. In that spare time, he went to the Chaupal of the village where people generally assembled daily. Even if there were 3-4 people, Shriram would ask them to read something. Whoever could manage to read would read while others would sit quietly. When Shriram said that they should learn to read if they did not know, a typical reply would be – ‘What is the use of learning to read now? We are old and have just a few years to live and will prefer to remain uneducated’.

Initially, when he heard such a hopeless reply, he did not say anything to them. But when everyone began to give the same answer, one day Shriram said to them that in the cave where he meditated, there was a hidden treasure. On hearing about the treasure, everyone became wide-eyed. Since they all knew about Shriram’s spiritual bent of mind and sadhana, nobody suspected his words or made fun of it. They all asked about what should be done to find and dig out the treasure. Then Shriram replied, “What will you do with that treasure? You are all old and whatever little life is left can be spent as it is.”

The elderly men did not understand what Shriram was driving at and said, “No, a treasure can be utilized at any age.” Shriram replied that to obtain that treasure, they should first attain the wealth of knowledge which would in turn teach them about the procedure to find the treasure. After listening to this, some old men got ready to learn. It is said that when the cave was searched, some gold ornaments were actually found beneath the rock. These ornaments could have been the loot of a dacoit by name Dhandhu or a mere coincidence. In the process of his teaching, Shriram had definitely taught those old men some Bhajans and verses of Ramayan.

Serving Chhapko

Aanwalkheda had its share of good and bad. The most predominant evil was untouchability. It was a strange and incomprehensible situation in which people in the higher strata did not really hate those who were backward. They even took care of them but from a distance. They were invited for weddings but were not allowed to mix in their group. They were seated separately, served food in a different batch etc. Though there was no feeling of hatred, these interactions from a distance were the result of some long-practiced distorted tradition. Life became worse when one of the lowly placed fell sick.

This is an incident that took place in 1923. There were few huts at the outskirts of Aanwalkheda where sweepers and people of Dom community lived. Nobody from upper or middle castes would even glance at these houses. A Dalit woman Chhapko used to come to Panditji’s mansion to do cleaning jobs. Elders called her by name while children called her Chachi (aunt) or Amma (mother). Chhapko regularly worked in the houses of the higher castes and did not shirk from work even during her illness. Even if she did not come for a day or two, people complained and threatened that she would be removed from work. It was due to this fear that Chhapko and people from her community never missed coming to work even during an illness. If someone fell ill, somebody else was sent as a replacement.

Nobody had seen Chhapko falling sick. Never did she complain about an ailment, not even a simple headache. One day Chhapko did not report at work. They waited for her till the evening but in vain. She did not come to work even the next day. They learnt that she did not come to work in any of their neighboring houses too. 4-5 days passed like this. There was no one in Chhapko’s family whom she could send as a replacement. When the family began to discuss about employing someone else in place of Chhapko, it fell in the ears of young Shriram. He felt that Chhapko amma must have fallen sick and that was the reason for her absence. He even told Taiji that they should administer medicine to Chhapko amma. As per the tradition in the village, Taiji replied that she would give medicine if Chhapko came to their home. Shriram argued that Chhapko could come only if she recovered from illness and how could she recover without medicine?

Shriram quietly walked to the place where Chhapko amma lived. He had to cross garbage heaps and dirty drains to reach her residence. He did not have any difficulty in tracing her house from the 4 huts that were there in that locality. He called out from the door step and received no response from inside. He cleared the grass and dirt blocking the door and peeped inside. Chhapko amma was lying almost unconscious on the cot. She opened her eyes on hearing his footsteps and tried to sit on the cot but could not manage to do it.

While trying to sit, she asked Shriram why he had come there. She told him that he would receive a thrashing when his family came to know of this. Shriram did not listen to her and placed his hand on her forehead. Her body was hot with fever. He remembered that his family members checked the palm and tongue if anyone had fever. He too did the same. There was a wound on her palm. Putrefying pus was oozing out of the wound. He thought that the wound might have become septic which had resulted in high temperature.

He assured Chhapko amma not to worry and said that he would come back with medicines. He ran out before she could say anything in reply. He first got her a drink of water and then managed to get medicines and bandage-related material. He came back in a few minutes and bandaged her hand with a clean cloth and then made her take the medicine so that fever could be brought under control. Chhapko amma’s eyes were filled with tears of gratitude. More than the medicine, his compassion and service worked a miracle. She began to fall asleep. Shriram left the place with a promise to come back.

He was lost in thought about what was to be done the next day to alleviate the suffering of Chhapko amma when he reached the doorstep of his house. His uncle was waiting at the door with a pot of sanctified water. He sprinkled the water on Shriram thrice and asked him to take bath outside before entering the house. A pair of clothes was already kept ready for him. Shriram entered the house after the cleansing process was complete. He did not ask any questions. He simply said that they should arrange for more sanctified water and another set of clothes since he had plans to visit Chhapko amma for many days to come. His family members who expected an elaborate apology or an explanation for his action were taken aback by his behavior. Shriram again emphasized his point that he would go to Chhapko amma’s residence daily until her wounds were healed. There was no trace of defiance or sarcasm in his voice but a firm determination. He was reprimanded severely for this reply and was asked to stay without food that day.

Undaunted by punishment or rebuke, Shriram went to serve Chhapko amma with an empty stomach the next day. He changed her bandage, administered medicine and returned home. He did not enter the house but was standing outside. Taiji saw him. In her mind, she was feeling very bad about punishing him. But she did not have the courage to revolt against the traditions of those times.

Taiji served food to Shriram in vessels made of clay as part of atonement for serving an untouchable. Shriram took a couple of rotis and some lentils and proceeded towards Chhapko’s house. He woke up Chhapko and fed her the food that he brought from home. Both Shriram and Chhapko were filled with happiness when he fed her with his own hands. Shriram returned home after putting her to sleep. A separate room was assigned to him and he sat there to have his food. He did not step out of his room for the rest of the day since there was no use in coming out. The news of Shriram serving an untouchable had spread in the entire village. Hence no one was supposed to touch or interact with him. Villagers had given strict instructions to their children that they were not to play with Shriram.

After 7-8 days of regular medication, Chhapko’s wound was healed. Temperature was also normal. She began to cook food herself. Shriram stopped visiting her. By this time, his father completed a Bhagavat katha in Alwar and returned home. The moment he reached his doorstep, he saw Shriram staying in the outhouse and lying down on a mat. He immediately asked about what had happened. His younger brother Devlal narrated the entire sequence of events. He expected that his elder brother would be pleased with the immaculate atonement procedure being followed with respect to Shriram. Till date, nobody had gone to an untouchable’s house and violated the custom. So, there was never an occasion to take decisions on what should be done in the case of a violation. The moment this opportunity emerged, Devlal imposed the strictest of rules on his nephew. He expected that he would be praised for his staunch observance of the atonement procedure.

Atonement or reward

The reverse of what was expected happened. Panditji asked, ‘What have you done Devlal? It is against the Dharma if someone in the Bhagavat family is punished for serving another person.’ He patted Shriram’s back and praised his son for having rightly understood and followed the Dharma of Bhagavat. By this time, people from the neighboring houses had also gathered. They had come to offer their salutations to Panditji but stayed back when they saw Devlal being admonished. Panditji was telling about Saint Eknath who offered the sacred water of Ganga to a thirsty donkey instead of carrying it for offering to Lord Shiva at Rameswaram. He said that the Lord appreciated Eknath’s gesture and accepted the water in the form of Abhisheka. Life was a precious boon of the Almighty. There was no deed more sacred than protecting a life.

Panditji paused for a while and again said to Devlal that he was not totally at fault. The outmoded traditions practiced by the society were themselves wrong. He said that this would not continue for a long time and things would slowly change for the better. Then he turned to his son and said, ‘Think that you too have completed a Purashcharan and be happy.”

Father’s support filled Shriram’s heart with new enthusiasm. He stepped out of the outhouse and went straight to Chhapko’s house and called her. She was wondering why this Brahmin lad had come again after having left in the morning with a word that he would not come back. Chhapko was tormented by the wrath of villagers. All these days, she was comfortably being served by Shriram and she had no knowledge of villagers’ reaction towards Shriram. She knew that she would know about it all once she entered the village. As she was thinking thus, her train of thoughts was interrupted by Shriram’s voice. The first thought that crossed her mind was that the villagers would have come to announce their decision. Before she could think any further Shriram entered the hut and came inside. His voice was filled with enthusiasm and his face glowed with joy, as though he had achieved a big success.

She began saying, “Dear Brahmin Devata! Please do not come here any more. I have recovered and am doing fine. If others see you coming here, I will not even be allowed to enter the village.” Chhapko did not notice how joyous Shriram was or even if she had noticed, she preferred not to pay attention to it. The Brahmin boy understood her predicament and said, “Amma, do not worry anymore. My father has waived off whatever atonement my uncle had imposed. My father has also given his blessings that I did a noble deed by serving you.”

Chhapko could not believe her ears. Shriram repeated that he was telling the truth. After listening to this, Chhapko’s face shone with happiness and peace. In an effort to express her emotions, she raised both her hands as though blessing him. Shriram then told her not to worry about anything and proceeded towards his house.