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A LOVER OF LIGHT AMONG LUMINARIES : Dilip Kumar Roy with them. They established their ashrams in the Southern part of India. Both of them had their daughter-disciples, who, with their spiritual capacities, helped them on the path of Truth.
But Dilip Roy, it seems, had always to seek support from others, because of his diffidence and doubting intellect. He did not have the experience of godrealization like Swami Ramdas. He aspired all through his life to see Krishna face-to-face, but he could not. So he was very unhappy. Ramdas frequently tried to soothe him. Dilip Roy held him in high esteem because his loving guidance and solace were very useful to him. 8. Mahayogi Anirvan
Dilip Roy has sketched in brief the unique achievement of Mahayogi Anirvan who was one of the most prominent saints of Bengal of his time.
Mahayogi Anirvan (1896-1978) was a revered scholar, philosopher and spiritual seeker. He wrote commentaries on the Vedas, Upanishadas, Tantras and Gita in Bengali. He had accepted in his adolescence Swami Nigamananda as his guru. For years he lived in his ashram in Assam. He served his Guru with complete sincerity and loyalty. But, afterwards, he decided that he must stand on his own away from his Guru as he had heard the call to follow his own light. He began to live as a recluse in his solitary retreat in the Himalayas. He accepted his niece, Narayani Devi, as his spiritual colleague. His knowledge, scholarship and spiritual discipline attracted many seekers of Truth. They were very much enlightened by his affectionate letters and wise discourses. Anirvan's name was Nirvanananda. When he retired to the Himalayas, he changed his name from Nirvanananda into Anirvan. He had to suffer a lot physically to bring Lord's bliss on the earth. He passed the last seven years of his life in bed. But the last moments, as it is described, were very peaceful.
Roy, after the passing away of his gurudev, Sri Aurobindo in 1950 and his friend, Krishnaprem in 1965, turned to Anirvan to solve his queries and was very much impressed by Anirvan's illumined answers. He wrote about Anirvan in Bengali in his book, Smriticharane Anirvan. Then, a few of his friends, asked Roy to write about him in English, too. Roy consented to do so because he wanted that Anirvan's greatness should be appreciated by non-Bengali readers also. Hence, in Six Iluminates of Modern India, he published an English article about him. Here the author informs his readers that Anirvan, being a spiritual seeker, lived his life within. So there was nothing remarkable in his life from the historical point of view. Hence, Roy confines himself to delineating those inner qualities of Anirvan, which emerge out from his discourses, commentaries and letters.
Dilip Roy discovers from his writings that the ultimate aim of Anirvan's life is not to get any miraculous powers by his daily askesis, but to realize the
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