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A LOVER OF LIGHT AMONG LUMINARIES : Dilip Kumar Roy (A) Portrait:
The author remained in intimate contact with Swami Ramdas after the physical demise of his Gurudev, Sri Aurobindo. He grew fond of him and derived inspiration and illumination from his company. In Pilgrims of the Stars and The Flute Calls Still Dilip Roy has chronicled the details of his precious relationship with him.
Swami Ramdas, as Dilip Roy narrated with appreciation, was one of those few saints of his time who had revealed most about himself and his sadhana in his talks as well as his writings. He did not write to impress others but to reveal his vision of Truth. He always had faith in the existence of God. He declared boldly to people that he had, once, the realization of God which changed the entire course of his life. He had attained that realization after a very long spell of arduous self-discipline and austerities.
When Swami Ramdas went to Poona and stayed with Dilip Roy for three days, Roy asked him to describe that incident of his final Realization. Very lovingly, he told Roy how, when he was staying in a cave of Arunachala Hill, he went to Bhagwan Ramana Maharshi to seek his blessings for the fulfilment of his goal of God-realization. By merely looking compassiаonately at him, Maharshi blessed him. So, he returned to his cave and began repeating the Name of Ram. Suddenly, one night, he saw the vision of Lord Ram, his Murlidhara who appeared before Him and danced maddeningly for a long time. Ramdas claimed that he
seen Him with open eyes. But he was not satisfied with this temporary vision of God. because after such a vision, again, Ramdas would have to live in his earlier darkness. Dilip Roy quotes Ramdas's own words:
“...Ramdas yearned only to see Ram always in everything, nothing less would satisfy Ramdas.... And it came one morning apocalyptically-when lo, the entire landscape changed: All was Ram, nothing but Ram--wherever Ramdas looked! Everything was ensouled by Ram-vivid, marvelous, rapturous—the trees, the shrubs, the ants, the cows, the cats, the dogs—even inanimate things pulsated with the throbbing Presence of the one Ram! And Ramdas danced in joy, like a boy who when given a lovely present can't help breaking out into a dance. And so it was with Ramdas: he danced for joy and rushed at a tree which he embraced because it was not a tree but Ram Himself ! A man was passing by. Ramdas ran toward him and embraced him, calling out 'Ram, 0 RAM! The man got scared and bolted. But Ramdas gave him chase and dragged him back to his cave. The man noted that Ramdas had not a tooth in his head and so felt a little reassured:at least the 'looney' would not be able to bite him !"137
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