Mahaprayan of Kanpur
margii
Namaskar,
It is with much sadness that we share the news of the mahaprayan
of Shrii Jagadish Bhalla of Kanpur.
All who knew Shrii Bhallaji remember him as a longtime, senior
margii who was deeply committed to the Ananda Marga mission and
highly dedicated to Sadguru Shrii Shrii Anandamurti ji. He was
also very keen and prompt in his sadhana practices and pracara
work, and he attended countless DMC and DMS gatherings. Over the
many years in the Marga from the 1960's onwards, Bhallaji was very
well known to margiis all over due to his friendly and welcoming
nature. The mahaprayan of Bhallaji is a great loss to us all.
Unfortunately, Bhallaji was
asthmatic and suffered from other ailments due to his advanced age
of 83 years. Bhallaji's mahaprayan occurred on 8th April 2017 at
1.00 pm.
May we all take solace in the fact that our dear elder brother
Shrii Jagadish Bhalla was a bhakta of Sadguru Baba. Certainly he
will attain mukti or moksa, accordingly. Baba will lovingly bestow
His infinite grace.
at the lotus feet of Baba,
Haridarshan
~ In-depth study ~
We have seen that when somebody dies then in offering their
condolences people say now Mr So-and-so is sitting on Baba's lap.
On other occasion when telling a Baba story people also say, "
Such and such person sat on Baba's lap." But these days we see the
trend that "sitting on Baba's lap" is used more in connection with
death. And that causes some confusion in reader's mind. To unknot
the situation please read below.
Baba story: "sitting on Baba's lap"
Some time ago after dharmacakra, a senior margii was recounting
his experiences of having dharma samiiksa with Baba.
He said, "After being lovingly scolded by Baba for my wrongdoings,
then He called me close and placed me on His lap - I remained
there for some time soaking up His love - and He blessed me."
We all enjoyed hearing about his personal account with Baba during
dharma samiiksa. When he finished telling his factual and
historical event, there was a call for questions. Various people
posed their queries.
Towards the end, one new margii raised his hand and asked, "How
did Baba bring you back to life?"
Everyone stared at the new margii in amazement. There was a look
of astonishment all around - people were really shocked to hear
him say this. The new sadhaka sensed that something was wrong He
said very matter-of-factly, "I thought that sitting on Baba's Lap
means that he (the margii) died - that is why I asked that
question."
This was quite eye-opening for those of us in the room: Through
our language and expression we had unknowingly taught someone to
think that being on Baba's lap is the equivalent of death. Because
it seems that nowadays people only use the phrase "Baba's lap"
when a person has died, such as "Let him rest peacefully in Baba's
lap", as if in order to sit on Baba’s lap one has to die. But that
is false. Sincere sadhakas regularly sit on Baba’s lap in their
meditation. It is His grace. It is just like a child need not die
in order to sit on his father’s lap.
The idea is that this phrase - Baba's lap - has been linked with
death due to extreme overuse. So for some time if sadhakas use
this phrase exclusively for devotional purposes, that will be
best.
The phrase, "sitting on Baba's lap", should not meet a similar
fate. It should not lose its devotional quality and just refer to
one's death. That will be very negative.
Baba would bless devotees and place them on His lap
There are tens of thousands of recorded stories by sadhakas where
they use the phrase, "on Baba's lap", when describing their
experiences of being with Baba: He used to bless them and bring
them on His lap. People should understand the deeply devotional
value of this expression, and not just think that Baba's lap means
death, i.e. that you can only sit on His lap at the time of death.
Still today there are thousands of margiis walking this earth who
sat in Baba's lap. And not only that, there are countless more
sadhakas who were blessed by Baba in dreams and sadhana wherein
they sat in His lap. And still today this deeply devotional
experience is attainable by sadhakas, by His grace.
There are so many ways an aspirant can reach unto Baba's lap
including in sadhana. That is the main idea that should be
preserved. Sadhana is a devotional practice and one can sit on
Baba's lap in sadhana. We should make it cent-per-cent clear to
one and all that the phrase, "sitting on Baba's lap", does not
mean death.
Dogma: if "on Baba's lap" only used for
death
Here are quoted lines from recently posted emails on various
forums, wherein the writer uses the phrase - "in Baba's lap" -
with the occasion of death:
- "May Parama Purusa Baba accept her in HIS divine lap"
- "May his soul rest in the lap of our beloved BABA"
- "Now she is taking rest in Baba's Lap."
- "May Baba accept him in HIS divine lap....."
- "May he rest in HIS loving lap of eternity."
- "We are sure that Baba has taken him in His loving lap."
- "May his soul rest in Baba's lap forever."
- "Let her rest peacefully in Baba's Lap - which she always
desired."
- "now he is in beloved Baba's lap"
- "May his soul get peaceful place in His lap"
- "He is now in Bábá's loving lap"
- "May Baba bless him with a seat in His lap."
- "May BABA accept him in HIS divine lap!"
- "May Baba take him in his eternal loving lap."
- "May his soul rest in peace taking shelter in Baba's lap."
- "Please keep him on Your lap forever."
- "We all collectively pray to Baba to take him on Baba's divine
lap forever.”
All of the above lines are commonly written in eulogizing the
deceased. These days mostly it is used in a eulogy and rarely used
to recount one's devotional experiences - unfortunately. By this
way, the phrase "in Baba's lap" is being misused and step by step
the real meaning is being forgotten as now people more commonly
use the phrase to eulogize those who have died, and much less so
to express their devotional feeling. Unfortunately, the meaning
and inner spirit of the phrase is getting lost.
"Mahaprayan" means death of mortals - confirm for
yourself
from the Samsad Bengali-English Dictionary
Mahaprayan (Death): Many are aware that mahaprayan (death) is the
common term used in India and especially in our Bengal to describe
the death of any human being, even ordinary people. In that way,
the obituary columns of the newspapers of Bengal regularly cite
the mahaprayan (death) of various persons of society who died or
passed away.
Some may get confused and wrongly think that the word 'mahaprayan'
(death) is one extraordinarily devotional term to be used in
association with Parama Purusa. But that is not at all the case.
Rather to do so is only to undermine the eternal presence of
Parama Purusa. That is why no devotees ever use the word
'mahaprayan' in reference to Lord Shiva or Lord Krsna. Because
Lord Shiva and Lord Krsna exist eternally. Then there is no
question of Their mahaprayan (death).
Baba is Parama Purusa so He is eternal and there is no question of
His mahaprayan.
Here it should be known that the convention of an annual death day
ceremony (i.e. shraddhainjali or mahaprayan) is a foundation of
the Islamic tradition. Muslims are well known for this, and their
approach of an annual death day ceremony was adopted by the leader
of a particular group in AMPS. So no one should think that
mahaprayan is some type of sacred event. It is done on the death
day anniversary of Muslims.
And for those who need still more technical proof then all this
can be clarified quite readily by referencing the dictionary.
Specifically in the Samsad Bengali-English dictionary 3rd edition
on page 848. Checking there it will be confirmed that the word
'mahaprayan' means death. Which is why it is used to refer to the
passing away of even common citizens. And that is the case in this
letter also. The term mahaprayan means death and this is the ideal
term for this purpose.
Mahaprayan is only for humans not for Sadguru
Here it should be qualified that there is both real mahaprayan and
fake mahaprayan. Real mahaprayan marks the death of any ordinary
human being, just like the aforesaid news. This is the proper use
of the term: To note a person's departure from this earth. That is
the meaning of the mahaprayan term and that is the standard way
the term is used in Indian languages.
Then there is the fake, or so-called, or dogmatic mahaprayan. That
is when certain vested interests try to apply the mahaprayan term
to Parama Purusa. This is grossly inappropriate because when
Parama Purusa Sadguru Baba is that Divine Entity who is
beginningless and endless and resides always in our heart, then it
is entirely wrong to proclaim that He is gone.
That is why rational margiis are protesting; because the Oct 21st
program is so-called mahaprayan. So-called means that something is
fake. Parama Purusa is eternal, thus for some vested interests to
declare "mahaprayan of Parama Purusa" is nothing but so-called
mahaprayan.
Mahaprayan only really happens in the case of human beings, not
Parama Purusa. Those doing mahaprayan for Sadguru are hypocrites.
On the one side in meditation they ask His grace thinking that He
is ever-present, and on the other side they think that Baba has
passed way. That is their hypocrisy.
