All three are one
I served in Ramakrishna Mission Seva Pratishthan from January1970 to March 1981. So, I was able to watch Swamis Dayanandaji and Gahananandaji from close quarters. Dayanandaji had retired from active service by then. He used to stay in his own room in the Monks Quarters of Seva Pratishthan. Though he was the Founder Secretary of Seva Pratisthan, once he handed over the charge to Gahananandaji, he never interfered again in any way. If anyone asked his views on any matter, he would simply say, “Consult all and decide.”
Within a few days of my joining I felt a strange attraction towards Dayanandaji Maharaj and started rendering personal service to him. I used to request him to tell me incidents from Mother’s life. But he was very reluctant. Then one day, on his own, he said, “I was then the priest in Udbodhan (where Holy Mother lived). After finishing the morning worship, I went to Holy Mother to offer pranams. Pointing to the photographs of Sri Ramakrishna and Divine Mother Kali and then keeping her hand on her own chest, Holy Mother said, “All three are one. They are not separate entities.” (Similar Incident: She and He are One)
— Swami Lokanathananda
Good out of bad
Once Dayanandaji, Nityashuddhanandaji and I were taking a stroll in the evening. At that time, the hospital staff were on a strike and regular work was badly affected. All of a sudden, Dayanandaji stopped and said, “Your discussions about the strike are not correct. How do you know that something good is not going to come out of this strike? It is not in our lot to decide what is good and what is bad. Good may come out of what is seemingly bad. Always remember, only he, in whose name you are running this hospital, knows what is good and what is bad. Neither you, nor I know anything at all. Light comes out of darkness.”
— Swami Lokanathananda
A mother’s pain
The primary objective of Swami Dayanandaji was to ensure loving service for the mothers and children of Bengal. Only by seeing Maharaj, we could understand how one can so empathise as to keenly feel the pain of others. His personality was a combination of a strong personality on the exterior and a soft, child-like heart inside. Once Dayanandaji was in the ground floor of Ramakrishna Mission Seva Pratishthan hospital when the labour cries of an expectant mother reached his ears. He rushed outside, called me and roared, “Can’t you hear the desperate cries of the mother? Why aren’t you doing something to ease her pain?” I immediately rushed to the third-floor labour room and did whatever I could to lessen her pain. I came down to find Swamiji waiting. He returned to his room only after making sure that the matter had been properly addressed.
Another incident involved a mother of seven daughters delivering her eighth child, a son. Unfortunately, because of our mismanagement, the newborn baby became severely sick. If one witnessed Maharaj’s anxiety and urgency at that point, they would think that the responsibility of saving the child rested squarely on him and him only. But even after taking all possible steps, the baby-boy decided to slip through our fingers leaving the world behind. The pain of losing a near and dear one was unmistakable on Maharaj’s face that day. Even the parents of the departed child were overwhelmed by the anguish displayed by a sannyasi who had renounced everything.
— Dr Piyush Kanti Roy
A taskmaster
In matters of principle, Dayanandaji was uncompromising and firm as a rock. Once, when I made some grave mistake and couldn’t meet his high standards, I faced his scathing words: “The gate is open. You can leave.” I left the hospital premises in tears and sitting in the Doctors’ Quarters, lost track of time going over the events that had just transpired. He summoned me back and when I reached him shivering inwardly, he was a different person altogether. He stroked me lovingly and said, “I scolded you a lot. Go and take some rest.” His discipline, mingled with love encouraged and inspired me to love my work.
— Dr Piyush Kanti Roy
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