12 Feb 2013
“Jo deekhta hai Vo hain nahin”
Cherubic by nature Swami Pragyanand Maharaj is an unforgettable smiling face. Though a saint who kept his distance and maintained the maryada that was part of the disposition of Hindu saints, he had endeared himself to all of us in the Art of Living ashram. There was a personal connect. He reminded me of my Tatha(grandfather).
I always liked to see his smiling face. He had a very innocent side to his personality , which got revealed in many of his questions and talks. Sometimes we could almost predict what he would say next… “Jo deekhta hai vo hai nahin” was a phrase which would dot his every conversation. His sense of humour would make everybody laugh. He was always filled with anecdotes.
When with our Master,H.H.Sri Sri Ravishankar ji, he would ask questions like all of us, except that they were related to the vedas, puranas and were provocative. His prolific knowledge on the vedas would get reflected in his dialogues with my Master. Sometimes I had seen my Master act as his disciple too. It would be enchanting to listen to the dialogue between them. My Master would always bring out a different dimension to every shloka recited by Swamiji.
There was a strange love between them. Almost like that of friends or as brothers if you may. Swamiji loved Bhanu Ma and his fondness for her would reflect in his eyes as her dainty steps would move towards him and her hands would fold into a pranaam. The respect and fondness for Swami Pragyanand Maharaj was reciprocated both by Bhanu Ma and Gurudev.
Swamiji loved staying in our ashram. He would however go to the northern part of India to spend some moments near the ganges. Whilst in the ashram, all our satsangs would have the knowledge component delivered by Maharaj. He would begin by chanting “Narayan, Narayan, Narayan, Narayan”…4 times before he started and he would end with the same words. It had become such a routine that as soon as he would enter the hall, the audience would break into a chant…Narayan,Narayan….
The morning sessions with Swamiji were a learning too. From him we have heard the Tripura rahasya and several different scriptures. I also remember the moments he has spent with us during Shivratri and Navratri. He too would echo Gurudevs teachings that love was the essence and the core of our existence.
Today he is no more. Seeing his body lying unmoved was a shaking experience and an awakening to the reality that we would all succumb to the same fate one day. The meaningless of all that we do, the trivialities, the mundane was a startling reality. To see his two boys Hari and Narayan do the rituals of their Master with whom they have lived and grown up was touching.
Somewhere as my eyes closed with the chantings of the Gita reverberating in the background, I felt that this was not a reality too. An illusion just like his presence was an illusion. What was the source of all this illusion? Why this illusion? My thoughts looked out for answers in the teachings he had taught.
Jo deekhta hai vo hain nahin….I reminiscence.
Pranams and love to our Swami Pragyanand Maharaj.
We love you. You are unforgettable.
-Vasanti Iyer
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A touching article…. on Swami Pragyanand ji.
This article reflects my thoughts too… so true..
Some more phrases come to mind – “Sab kuch sankalp maatr se hota hai” and “Nature has provided for you even before the need arises”. The childlike Maharaj ji will be remembered fondly….
I remember the story of 2 friends, he had once narrated in VM. The moral of that story in his words “Jab sab kuch man hi man khana hai toh sabse acha bhojan hi kyon na khaye”
Nsrayan Narayan Narayan Narayan….Missing ur voice…!!
Remembering Swami Pragyanand ji with tears… Tears of gratitude and of separation.. Limitless, what he has given us… HE will live in our memories for times to come…
Immense service by Vansanti di in penning down this article. She has just opened out her heart . Swamiji will always remain ingrained in our memory . I will wiat for his knowledge CDs to be out
One of those rare pieces of writing where every word pours out of the heart…and touches the soul of the readers. It was a sheer pleasure reading it!
Narayana Narayana Narayana Narayana …… Very Well written article…will miss Swamyji and his amazing stories as Guruji had once said … “Ghyan Ke Bandar Hai… Jab Peed pe Phaal aathe hai tho Peed Jukh Ja tha hai….Swamyji was and will remain an example ..
Hoping that my article might have more comments, I logged into artoflivingsecrets.com. And what I saw was this most beautiful article, that I could feel had just flown out of the writer’s heart. It felt like she (Vasanti Iyer- “jo dikhta hai wo hai nahi”) had written it in a state of trance, it was easy flowing. And before I knew it, tears were running down my cheek. I was crying for a person who I had never conversed or even heard talking. I had always just seen him with Guruji on the stage on my trips to ashram. Looking at the photos and a few phrases that he often spoke, I became aware of this beautiful sensation that arose in me. I wasn’t crying because I was devastated. I was just crying imagining what the writer described as Swamiji’s rituals that his boys did. There were no intricate details but I could just imagine it all happening. I strangely felt like an intricate part of his life. It was weird, because, before today, I had not even known his name.
One of my first thoughts on seeing him for the first time was- such an angel! It was then that my typical assumption of what an angel looked like- with wings and a halo- changed for life. There was no beauty more beautiful than what he carried in himself. While in ashram, I would often catch myself staring at him instead of Guruji and I never understood why. I wondered if he took courses and random thoughts like that but never quite understood what attracted me to him. To me, he seemed like a warm bundle of solid peace, I felt like I could dissolve in him, like he could encompass everything around him. I also always felt like he knew some greatest secret of all times, like he was the silent bearer of all the knowledge that could ever be.
I just wrote this article at one go as tears were flooding my face. I didn’t know how to start and I don’t know how to end this. After all, how much can you write about a person who you have just seen a few times? Turns out, quite a bit! What a soul it must be if when it passes, brings beauty and tears to those who have not even known him…
-Brimming with love, Manisha Yadav
narayan, narayan, narayan, narayan!
One of the most witty, natural, innocent and loving swamiji whose recitation of Narayan Narayan Narayan Narayan… reverberates in your heart and makes it easier for you take in what he wanted to tell you… my experience during Navratri, Gurupuja courses and Shivratri courses in his presence is something I will never forget.. His talks…”bhakton ko mangana nahin aata” .. ask for the highest.. ask for the supreme.. it felt like he knew us.. he understood us perfectly.. I am grateful for the opportunities to be in his presence. He is truly unforgettable.. My Pranams and Love to Swami Pragyanandji Maharaj.
echoed my sentiments..!!
As Sri Sri once said, “The great souls make you drink the water you
are already carrying with you.” Narayan Narayan Narayan Narayan.. Om
Narayan Narayan Narayan Narayan
I have had the fortune of being in the presence of the knowledge he would share. Recalling- Bachcha dekhta hai cinema ke parde par mithai dikhti hai- maa ko kehta hai maa mithai khaani hai, saamne hai toh sahi, dikh toh raha hai— maa samajhati hai- beta dikh raha hai keval, hai nahi…
Jab bachche ko chot lagti hai aur woh pukarta hai “Maa” — toh kaise maa daudi chali aati hai. Aise hi jab hum Ishwar ko dil se pukaarte hain, toh woh daude chale aate hain…
Narayan Narayan Narayan Narayan
I just came to know Maharaj ji’s name 2 days back ( when we friends were discussing knowledge ) and had always known him as Narayan Maharaj in my heart