The Child Ascetic: The Whole Thing – The Real Thing (Chapter: 01)

Excerpt from the book: The Whole Thing – The Real Thing: A brief biography of Shri Gurudeva
Chapter Number: 01
Author: Prem C. Pasricha (sometimes credited as Rameswar Tiwar)
Subject: His Holiness Jagadguru Bhagwan Shankaracharya Shrimad Swami Brahmanand Saraswati Maharaj
Length of Book: 75 Pages
Content: Explores his teachings, spiritual journey, and his role as the source of Maharishi’s core meditation ideas.

Glory to the omnipresent, Omniscient, Omnipotent Supreme Soul who manifested Lord Rama in Ayodhya, a place that lies in the heart of what is now known as the state of Uttar Pradesh in Northern India. Glory to the One who brought forth Swami Brahmanand Saraswatiji Maharaj in the holy village of Gana, a place not far from Ayodhya.

Maharaj Shri was born on Thursday, December 21, 1870, in a Saryoopareen Panktipawan Gana Mishra Brahmin Zamindar family: highly respected, well-known, well-to-do. All the normal comforts and luxuries of life were available to him as a child. But who knew that he would one day spurn the velvet and prove himself a supreme ascetic yogi? And who knew that this yogi would one day grace the venerable seat of Shankaracharya?

Maharaj Shri’s early years were very unusual. Even as a child he sensed the transitoriness of the world, and had an urge to renounce it. He was unconcerned about routine affairs. Love solitude and mature behavior. Disliked fickleness. His soulful transcendental look impressed every-body. He had no tongue for tasty sweetmeats nor an eye for fashionable clothes. He had no interest in the usual pleasure and entertainment, in toys and games that children play. He opposed purposeless talk and purposeless activity. Where he sat, he sat, lost in his own train of thoughts. Seeing his seriousness and unusually mature behavior, family folks were astounded, and grasped, however vaguely, that they were in the presence of a celebrity in the making. Sharp intelligence, logical resoning, quick decision-making: age, seven.

At that age he lost his most beloved companion, play-mate, friend. His grandfather, a hundred years old, died. He was not allowed to see the corpse, though a servant took him to a window from where he managed to see the covered body of his grandfather being taken away to the chant of Ram Naam Satya hai, Ram Naam Satya hai, Ram Naam Satya hai.

Eyes closed as if in meditative sleep, his grandfather was going away forever, never to meet again, leaving behind his last message, ‘Ram Naam Satya hai.’ Lord, Thy name is Truth, Lord, Thy name is Truth. Lord, Thy name is Truth.

The child’s thoughts turned to death. His grandfather, whom he had regarded as his own, had left. One by one, he thought, they would all leave: his father, his mother, his uncles and aunts, all his relatives. One day, he himself would be dead. When everyone has to go, no one is to leave forever, then what is the truth? What is it that is permanent? What is it that will remain? Vibrating loudly in his ears was the sound, Ram Naam Satya hai – Lord, Thy name is Truth.

Days passed, but the thoughts generated by this sound reverberated deeper and deeper in him. The sound was inerasably recorded in his innermost consciousness. It became the refrain of his life, his motto. He became more and more convinced about the illusion pertaining to this world. His folks, attributing his melancholy solely to his grandfather’s death, wondered how to console him.

One year passed, he was eight years old. The upnayan ceremony was duly performed in accordance with the Vedic rites. The sacred thread was put around his body. And he was sent to Kashi (Benaras or Varanasi) for a study of Vedas. As days passed, the cultural mainstream of the ancient city had a growing impact on him, so that he resolved that come what may, he would devote his life entirely to spiritual development.