GURUDEV- PROPHET OF A NEW ERA

Millions of obeisances at the feet of the reverend Gurudev because we are able to write about miraculous episodes from his life. It was my earnest desire that I should be able to write the biography of the one whom I venerate. My above desire was echoed in the minds of many disciples and followers. When Gurudev was amongst us in human form carrying out his routine like other ordinary human beings, even then the desire to write about him was always there. For others he was a great soul, a yogi, a thinker, a man with miraculous powers, saint and social re-former. People have seen him in various roles. But, for me he was God Himself. Just as we address our small talks with confidence to God, similarly I had told many many times to Gurudev to write his autobiography, so that we would be able to drink from its fountain of inspiration. While mentioning this to him, such books as GandhijI’s 'autobiography', Jawaharlal Nehru's 'my story' and Paramhans Yoganand's 'autobiography of a Yogi' used to come to mind. But whenever I requested Gurudev, he would avoid the subject. He used to say "Mere is nothing worth writing in my life. Whatever is essential is 'mown to all and there is no point in writing about whatever is unnecessary". But I wasnot the only one to insist with him to write his autobiography or to have his biography written by others. Many of his followers also used to request him off and on.

If he sometimes told us about him, it was through sheer compassion. Sometimes in lectures or when talking to close antedates, he started telling about himself. These tit-bits were no doubt important, but I was not satisfied with that. In those snippets he would mention very little about himself and more about the 'guiding power' which directed him. To such an extent that he considers his day or birth as the day on which he met his mentor 'Dada Guru'. Around the year 1965, I was able to gather some informations about his birth-place and his family -lineage, but Gurudev himself did not volunteer any information. When questioned by others about the truthfulness or otherwise, he even corroborated what was right and rejected what was not true. Whenever we tried to go into details, he would stop us by saying that what is seen is not important. What is really important is the sadhana (devotional pursuit) and tapasya (penance) for the supreme which is the great legacy left tons by our rishis and munis (sages and monks) emphasising that the Supreme within us will start enlightening at in proportion to the amount of the sadhana and tapasya carried out by us. But a person like me-who lives more on the physical plane and whose mind was not as yet cultivated sufficiently -was not satisfied and hence insisted repeatedly with Gurudev for his autobiography.

Is it not a wonder that of the 2000 books penned by Gurudev, nor a single one is autobiographical. Of course Were is one book by exception titled "My will and heritage", in which Gurudev has written down only his experiences and conclusions in a summary form. There is very little mention of events and anecdotes, but that too is in the form of axioms. This book was also written only after under the pressure of great insistence from his followers. Even one word written by Gurudev is like the Gospel truth to me. After reading the above book, my thirst was only partially quenched. Once again I started requesting gurudev fee his autobiography, at the smallest opportunity. I would repeatedly request reverend Mother (wife of Gurudev) to tell Gurudev to be compassionate for our request that lakhs of followers like me want his biography. I must have requested Gurudev and Mataji hundreds of times.

**Contents and Sample Pages**