Shri Gopal Swami

Shri Gopal Swami was a great devotee of Shri Nathji. He was born in a Brahmin family in Ambala, Haryana. He was the second of three brothers. His father was a very rich railway and road contractor who had undertaken many famous projects like the Ambala Kalka highway. He had three palatial mansions in Ambala. Gopal Swami was spiritually inclined from birth and was attracted towards meditation. He first started to worship Hanumanji. He did it so intensely that Hanumanji appeared and said that "I am always busy in service of Shri Ram. So it is best that you worship Shiva". Then for a long time Gapalji meditated of Lord Shiva. Lord Shiva also appeared and said that He remains in Meditation so now you should worship His consort, the great Mahamayi (Mother Goddess).  It was then that Gopalji started to worship the Goddess. Mahamai appeared before him and he becomes a staunch devotee of the Goddess. In his youth he met many Hindu mystics and Muslim fakirs. He tried to learn different aspects of spiritualism, astrology and tantra from them and continued his worship of the Goddess. Later in life when Gopalji met Shri Nathji, Shri Nathji told him that you were able to come to this Darbar due to the blessings of Mahamai.

  Now as fate would have it, Gopal Swami’s father, become addicted to gambling. He become a great gambler and ventured to far off places like Mumbai to gamble. Once is Mumbai he lost several lacs of rupees in one day. It was a shocking loss for him and he went mad. For many days he roamed aimlessly in the jungles of Nasik. After many months he regained his senses and returned home but his addiction to gambling didn’t stopped and he lost all his wealth. The family suddenly became poor. Gopal Swami’s mother died of this great shock. After that Gopalji, took the affairs of the household in his own hand as his father had given up all work, his younger brother was still studying and elder brother was a man of low virtue, who didn’t contributed to the family in anyway. Gopalji took up a job as a clerk in the irrigation department of Punjab. Now that he also got married, he somehow tried to support his family, with his meager income.  Those were the days when the Bhakra Nangal dam project was underway. Gopal Swami was posted at Nangal and soon rose to higher ranks in the department due to his intelligence, honesty and hard work and he contributed immensely to this prestigious project. He was so honest that many of his colleagues were afraid of him.

  While in Nangal his wife, Raj Bala developed serious gas trouble and she was not getting much relief from any medicine. It was then that they happen to visit Shri Nathji’s devotee, Shri C.L. Khosla. Khoslaji was working in the office of the Auditor General of Punjab at Nangal. After office he used to practice homeopathy. He was well known as a successful doctor. Khoslaji’s medicines worked positively for Raj Bala and as with homeopathic medicines the course was very long and they had to come every week to take new doses. Thus there was frequent interaction between Khoslaji and Gopalji.  During the several meeting that Gopalji and her wife had with Khoslaji, a mutual bond developed between them and Khoslaji told them about his association with Shri Nathji. Gopalji was reluctant initially as he was a staunch devotee of the Mother Goddess. Gradually as Gopalji continued to hear about Shri Nathji from Khoslaji and an intense desire awakened in him to seek Darshan of Shri Nathji. Underneath are given some experiences of Gopalji, of the Divinity of Shri Nathji, which are not recorded in the Mahagranth.

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Gopalji’s questionnaire

First meeting of Gopal Swami and Shri Nathji took place in 1976. Khoslaji send a telegram to Shri Nathji is Mussoorie and told Him about Gopal Swami. He seeks permission to bring Gopalji and other devotees from Nangal for His Darshan. The next day itself, he got a reply from Shri Nathji, where he was allowed to bring Gopal Swami to the Darbar. Early next morning Gopalji and family and some friends accompanied Khoslaji to Mussoorie to seek Shri Nathji’s Darshan. They were total of 12 people who started from Nangal. They had planned to return by nightfall. They first reached Saharanapur. From their they took a bus to Dehradun and then to Mussoorie. Though he had heard a lot about the greatness of Shri Nathji from Khoslaji, Gopalji had his reservations. So he had prepared a questionnaire comprising of 56 questions for Shri Nathji. When Gopalji and his family came before Shri Nathji they were overwhelmed by Shri Nathji’s persona and sat there for many hours in self forgetfulness. Shri Nathji then said “ Gopalji! I have answered all your questions, now see if there is any question left in the questionnaire you brought for me. Gopalji suddenly realized that all his questions were answered unasked. They have planned to leave by 5 in the evening as after that there is no conveyance available from Mussoorie after that. But Shri Nathji's discourse had lasted many hours and now it was 10 in the night. They all were thinking how they will go back now. Shri Nathji told them to go to Nangal after giving His blessings. They all packed their bags and ran towards the Library bus stand. From the mall road they saw a brand new bus standing at the bus stand below. To their surprise the conductor told them that it was heading for Saharanpur and has 12 seats vacant in the bus. This was exactly the headcount of this group from Nangal. He told them to climb down comfortably and there is no need to rush. On reaching Saharanpur they got a direct train to Nangal at 2 .30. They reached Nangal comfortably early morning.

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Signatures without ink

Gopal Swami tested the divinity of Shri Nathji on many occasion. Like In 1976, when  Shri Nathji gave the newly published book, Daivi Kirne to Gopalji. Gopalji requested Shri Nathji to sign the book. He deliberately gave a pen without any ink. Shri Nathji took the pen and whispered to Gopalji. “Is there ink inside?” Gopalji said nothing. Shri Nathji signed with the pen. And after that HH Priya Nathji also signed. The pen flawlessly recorded their signatures in blue ink. Then when Gopalji got it back, he observed the pen was dry as before and there was no ink.

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Sari in Nangal

Raj Bala, wife of Gopalji,  also has faith equal to that of her husband. In 1977 Gopal Swamiji got invitation to attend the marriage of HH Priya Nathji in Mussoorie. Raj Bala wished to give a sari as wedding gift to the bride, Priyavariji. Now Nangal where the Swami’s used to stay, is a town on border of Punjab and Himachal Pradesh and in this part of India, no one wears a Sari. All ladies exclusively wear salwar kamiz.  So none of the shops here ever had any sari put on sale. So Raj Bala was wondering how she could get a sari as a wedding gift. No shop had it in Nangal and they were to leave for Mussoorie tomorrow. She was engrossed in such thoughts when suddenly she saw a beautiful sari being displayed by a shop keeper outside his shop. This was the only one sari that he had for sale. This shop and no shop in Nangal, for that matter ever kept saris. It was a beautiful light green colored sari with a red border. Raj Bala liked it very much and was overjoyed to see it. She purchased it immediately and asked the shop keeper how come today he has put up a sari for sale. He said that he had ordered a fresh stock of lose cloths for his supplier in some other town. When the parcel arrived today, he found this sari also as part of the consignment, though he had not ordered for it. May be it was accidentally send by the supplier. Since the sari was there, he put it on sale.

 Raj Bala presented the sari as a wedding gift. On the second day after the wedding ceremony when devotees gathered for Shri Nathji’s discourse, Raj Bala saw Priyavariji wearing the same sari that she had presented, which was looking very beautiful. Shri Nathji pointed to Raj Bala that this is your sari. Raj Bala was overjoyed that Shri Nathji has acknowledged her gift and miraculously procured this beautiful sari for her in Nangal to give as a wedding present.

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Knee pain disappeared

Gopal Swami and family accompanied Shri Nathji to Nagpur in 1978. There they stayed in a very large house. The landlord stayed on the ground floor and Shri Nathji and His entourage had the entire first floor. This was rented by Dandewali for Shri Nathji. Every day Gopalji was given the seva to fetch vegetables and grocery from the main market which was situated about 5 kms away. He used to cover the distance walking. It proved to be a continuous stain on his knee. Every day his knee pained due to the long walks. One day when he could no longer bear it and addressed his plight to Shri Nathji. That night Shri Nathji had pain in the knee. Next morning Gopalji felt no pain or discomfort in his knee and he never had any knee related problems all his life since then. 

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Pangs of Separation

  

 After returning from the Nagpur trip there was a time when Gopalji and his family had not visited Shri Nathji for a long time. They wanted to meet Him and one day they felt uncontrollable separation grief. There was a phone in Gopalji’s office which was accessible to him. Since morning he kept trying Shri Nathji’s phone numbers of Mussoorie and Delhi, but there was no response. He went back in evening and tried many times, but no one picked up. Then finally at night he said to his wife, Let us go to office and try the number again. The urge to know about Shri Nathji had become intense in them. They tried the numbers again but still there was no response. At about 9’ o clock they decided to go back home. When they reached the house it was about 9.30 in the night. They saw a post man leaving their house. The post man stopped when he saw Gopalji approaching towards the house. He said that he has brought a telegram from Delhi. He had finished his duty but then decided to deliver this telegram also which had arrived just then. He came to the house and as no one was there, decided to go after waiting for some time. He handed them the telegram. Gopalji had an aunt in Delhi. They thought that she had sent the telegram. But when they saw the telegram they were overjoyed to know that it was from Shri Nathji. It was an invitation for them to attend a function at the Darbar.

Chief Justice Iqbal

Chief Justice Iqbal was one of the judicial luminaries who was devoted to Shri Nathji. He used to come for Shri Nathji’s darshan in Allahabad and Mussoorie. His full name was Hon'ble Iqbal Ahmad. He did his L. L. D. from Allahabad University. In the year 1932 he was appointed as an Additional Judge of the High Court. Later on he was appointed a Puisne Judge of the High Court in 1933. He was Judge of the Allahabad High Court from 1933 to 1941. He later become Chief Justice from 1941 to 1946. He was also Ex Officio President of the Bar Library. 

On top is the photograph of the Allahabad High court, whose many lawyers and judges like Uma Shanker Bajpai and Raghubar Dayal were devoted to Shri Nathji. Allahabad High court was built by Khan saheb Nizamuddin of Loha Mundi, Agra, when the location High Court for the North-Western Provinces was shifted from Agra to Allahabad in 1869.

He made a beautiful art deco style house at Butler Road in Lucknow.  His grandson Adil Iqbal Ahmed who is a famous architect refurbished the interior of that house and this house is famous for any one interested in art deco style interiors. I have given the photos of that house - 

 

 

Justice Bajpai

Justice Bajpai was one of the judicial luminaries who was devoted to Shri Nathji. In one of his sermons at Allahabad in 1942, Shri Nathji said: "Whenever a good impulse comes to you, act upon it immediately." After the sermon, he found Justice Bajpai of the Allahabad High Court waiting to say something.

"Huzoor," said Justice Bajpai, "I wish to invite you to my house, and to take you there–now." "But isn't it all very sudden ?" Shri Nathji asked.

"You just said in your sermon that a good impulse must be acted upon at once!" said Justice Bajpai, "my car is waiting outside! Let us go!" "Justice Bajpai," said Shri Nathji, "at the moment, there is no thought within me to go to your house."

"Then is there a thought within you that you must not go to my house?" Justice Bajpai asked. "There is no feeling either way," said Shri Nathji, "it is neither negative nor positive." "What would you order me to do?" Justice Bajpai asked.

"I have told you of my own position," said Shri Nathji, "and I leave you to be your own judge."

Justice Bajpai thought for a while, and then he bowed before Shri Nathji and took his leave, saying: "I have come to a decision." Later that night, at around 10.30 p.m., Shri Nathji called for a car, and said to his attendants: "Justice Bajpai is calling me. I must go to him!"

"He must be sleeping at this time," they said, "he goes to sleep promptly at nine."

But Shri Nathji would not be dissuaded. As Shri Nathji's car reached Justice Bajpai's bungalow, Shri Nathji saw Justice Bajpai standing in the portico.

Justice Bajpai bowed before Shri Nathji and welcomed him into his house with a beaming smile on his face.

"Did you come out into the portico upon hearing the sound of the car?" Shri Nathji asked Justice Bajpai.

"No, Maharaj," Justice Bajpai said, "I had been waiting in the portico from a long time for your arrival! Some inner voice was telling me that you are coming. You had told me to be my own judge. And my judgment was that you would fulfil my desire."

"Every true desire must find fulfilment,"

Shri Nathji had said very frequently. No better example of this maxim could have been found anywhere else than in the episode above. Justice Bajpai awakened his children and asked them to seek Shri Nathji’s blessings. He also brought Narcissus flowers for Shri Nathji

"These flowers," said Shri Nathji, "are like eyes wide open. What a wonderful thing it would be if man could look at God with such eyes that never close! The eyes of man shut and open with each twinkle. Thus his eyes are shut for half the time he is awake. Would that man could acquire the eye of the Narcissus to see God! And not lose Him even for one moment!"

"Nazzaare ko ye jumbishe mizgaan bhi baar Hai, Nargis ki aankh se tujhe dekhaa kare koi.

The twinkling of the eyes is a burdenWhen there is a vision of beauty before them! Would that one could look upon Thee with the eye of the Narcissus!"

Full name of Justice Bajpai was Uma Shanker Bajpai. He was Judge of the Allahabad High Court from 1937 to 1943. He used to dress in very elegant western suits.  He is remembered for his decisions on what is known as the “Special Judges cases”. In the wake of the Quit India Movement, country wide disturbances took place in August 1942. Police stations and treasuries were stormed by certain sections of the public. Police personals in some cases lost their live while defending themselves. The Governor General propagated the special courts ordinance, which set up special courts for the trial of these cases. They had stated to give court sentences ranging from capital punishment to life imprisonment. A re appeal court was also formed under these spatial courts. There was growing disagreement among the lawyers who wanted the special powers of this court abolished and re appeal of such cases in federal courts. Justice Bajpai  made important judgments in this regard, which are recorded in books like “My Owm Boswell” by M. Hidayatullah – who was former Vise President and Chief Justice of India. 

He was contemporary of great judges like Sir Noshirwan Engineer, Dr. Narayan Prashad Asthana, Sir Brojendra Mitter, and was held in high esteem in the judicial circle of India.   

Logan Airport

These are the photographs of Shri Nathji’s first day in America at the Logan Airport in Boston. This is where Shri Nathji landed on His arrival to America and also departed back to London. Shri Nathji boarded a Pan American plane from London to Boston in America. The date was June 3, 1964. The plane landed at Logan Airport in Boston, and Shri Nathji stepped on to the soil of America. The Greatest Being on earth had arrived in the greatest nation on earth.

Inside the customs lounge, where visitors were not allowed and no porters were available, Shri Nathji was confronted with the difficult task of raising his large blue suitcase from the ground. Immediately, his fellow-passenger came forward and lifted Shri Nathji’s suitcase. Shri Nathji thanked him and embraced him in a gesture of love. He had carried the burden of Shri Nathji’s suitcase on earth, and Shri Nathji would have to carry the burden of his soul across the waters of the bhavsaagar. The man gave him his card. He was a well-known industrialist of America.

It was this aspect of humility in Americans that Shri Nathji liked the most. No seth or businessman in India would have carried a stranger’s suitcase himself. From the airport, Shri Nathji was driven in a car by Priya Nath and some others to the house of Professor Euston Smith of M.I.T.,

Shri Nathji left the shores of America also from Logan Airport in Boston. As his plane soared up into the skies, the teeming populations of Boston and New York appeared to look up at him; the skyscrapers appeared to reach out to him. Shri Nathji had entered and left the country like a breeze that came and went, stirring only gently and imperceptibly the hearts and souls into awakening.

General Edward Lawrence Logan International Airport  is located in the East Boston neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, US (and partly in the town of Winthrop, Massachusetts). Originally called Boston Airport, Logan opened on September 8, 1923, and was used primarily by the Massachusetts Air Guard and the Army Air Corps. At that time, it was known as Jeffery Field. The first scheduled commercial passenger flights were initiated by Colonial Air Transport between Boston and New York City in 1927. Since then this airport has become an important civilian airport. As of now, the airport covers 2,384 acres (965 ha), has six runways, and employs an estimated 16,000 people. The largest airport in New England, as of 2010, Logan is the 19th busiest airport in the United States with about 13.5 million boardings a year and over 29.3 million passengers overall. It serves as a focus city for JetBlue Airways, and as a hub for regional airline Cape Air and for commuter airline PenAir. Delta Air Lines and US Airways also carry out many operations from the airport, and all major U.S.-based airlines fly to Boston from all or the majority of their primary and secondary hubs. It is also a destination of many major European airlines. The airport has service to destinations in the United States, as well as Canada, the Caribbean, the Cape Verde islands, Europe, Mexico and Asia.

Himalaya Club

When Shri Nathji Came to Mussorie in 1929, one of the first places where He stayed was located near Himalaya Club. This was a historic club build by the British in the year 1840. Besides the club many guest rooms and residential quarters were later build as part of the Club. Perhaps Shri Nathji stayed in one of those. This place went on to become one of the landmarks of Mussoorie. It was on the road leading from Picture Palace towards Landour. Shri Nathji met, Wali Mohammed, Istafa Khan and R.R. Khanna for the first time when He was residing near Himalaya Club. Before Shifting to Himalaya Club area Shri Nathji stayed at the Sanatan Dharam Mandir in Landour. From Himalaya Club He later Shifted to the Mall Road.

Himalaya Club is now a heritage hotel. It has two wings, divided by a road, which are separately owned by two brothers.

Lahore Railway Station

Of all the railway stations, Lahore Railway Station perhaps had been the most eventful in the lives of Shiri Nathji, Babaji Maharaj and Nath Bhaktas. It was here that many of Shri Nathji devotees would come to see him off to other destination like, Lucknow, Amritsar, etc. In 1937 Sohan Singh had come to see Shri Nathji off at Lahore Railway Station. A large crowd had gathered. Upon a sudden impulse, Shri Nathji said to Sohan Singh, "Sohan Singhji come with me." The faithful Sardar jumped into the train with only the shirt on his back. Shri Nathji was on his way to Calcutta.

Lahore Station was the place where many a Nath Bhaktas like Justice Rangilal would assemble to greet Him.  It was here that a tongawalla would miraculously appeared to take Ganga Bai Bhatt, Dr. Purekar and Bal Ojarkar and his mother to Shri Nathji’s house in Anarkali, and disappeared much before they could pay him.

The Lahore Junction railway station in Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan, was built by British between 1859-1860 at the cost of half a million Rupees. It is the most important junction of Pakistan. This is where the railway line from Delhi bifurcates to Peshawar and Karachi. Also it is the headquarters of the Pakistan Railways. It is of typical grand British architecture in South Asia during the British Raj period. The railway network established by the British was extensive and is one of their lasting contributions to the culture and infrastructure of this region.

The railway station has 11 platforms (1 to 9, with 2 extra platforms, 3A and 6A). Platform No. 1 is of special importance, as this platform is the destination of "Samjhauta Express", the train service between Pakistan and India.

Lahore Junction railway station was commissioned by the British Government and construction was contracted to Main Mohammad Sultan Chagatai, a formal prince of the Royal Mughal Empire. The front portion was disliked by the government (as seen in older photographs) and was subsequently rebuilt by Sultan Mohammad from his own pocket.

Shri Diwan Chand

One of the admirers of Shri Nathji was Shri Diwan Chand of Lucknow, a famed intellectual and philosopher, who was a leader of the Arya Samaj, and had been a Vice Chancellor before he retired. He met Shri Nathji in Mussoorie in the 1930’s.

"How are you?" Shri Nathji asked him.

"Like a bird in a cage," said Shri Diwan Chand, "fluttering to get out!"

"Is that your concept of life, then?" Shri Nathji said to him.

And Shri Dewan Chand asked Shri Nathji: “Maharaj, do you ever feel like that?”

Shri Nathji replied: "I, too, am in the same cage but:

“Jee kafas men lag gayaa apnaa chaman se bhee sivaa

Hamko ai sayyaad parvaaye rihaayi kyaa rahee".

“The cage captivates my heart even more than the garden,

O Hunter! What care I for freedom now?"

"A bird wishes to get out of a cage. The more it flutters its wings, the more it hurts itself. It is the relative comparison of the cage with the garden that makes it restless. But, then, realisation dawns upon it. The garden outside–was it real or unreal? If it was real, why did it vanish? If it was unreal, of what use yearning for it? It was like a dream. The present is a reality. Why must the bird destroy reality in pursuit of an illusion?"

“The hunter opens the cage, but the bird refuses to fly away. It has found contentment inside the cage.

“There are no fears within the cage, no storms, no arrows, no fear of nets. The bird has found the secret of life. The absence of contradiction in the present is another name for peace!”

Shri Nathji had further elaborated on the theme of a bird in cage by two other Urdu Verses:

The bird inside the cage finds contentment within the cage when he finds that he is secure therein and he says:

"Na tezeeye sar-sar hai na sayyaad kameen men

Goshe men kafas ke mujhe aaram bahut hai".

Here there is no storm nor a hunter with arrows drawn

In the corner of the cage I am greatly at peace.

Then again there is the bird inside the cage giving consolation to its companions who, too, have been caught and placed there:

"Ham bhee kafas men aaye khaamosh ho rahe,

Faayedaa hamsafeero naa haq ke shor kaa".

I, too, have come into the cage, but have become silent,

Of what avail, O friends, the noise of piteous wailings.

If people could fathom even a tiny bit of the philosophy expounded by Shri Nathji in these verses they would learn to be content in whatever circumstances life placed them.

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Lala Diwan Chand Chaddha was a renowned scholar. Educationist, social reformer and a great freedom fighter. His inspiration was a boost for the people associated with this noble cause of education. He was the Founder President and principal of D.A.V. college Kanpur, founded in 1919. Since the inception of D A V College - Kanpur (Whose photo is given here) he strove untiringly to provide quality education for young people.

In 1887, Lala Dewan Chand Chaddha travelled to Jodhpur in Rajasthan and organized famine relief camps their set up by Arya Samaj, which was the first non-Christian private agency, to a non-official movement for the relief of distress caused by famine in India.

Lala Divan Chand also published an article in the English Newspaper “Leader” in 1921, to address the issue of violence against Hindus and forceful conversion of Hindus to Muslim religion by Muslim Fundamentalists in Malabar during the Malabar Rebellion (also known as the "Moplah Rebellion) which was an armed uprising in 1921 against British authority and upper class Hindu landowners by Mappila Muslims. As per Arya Samaj estimates about 2500 Hindus were forcefully converted to Islam. Lala Divan Chand was instrumental in arranging financial aid and in sending volunteers to Malabar, who helped the Hindus affected by violence and arranged reconversion of Hindus who had been forcefully converted to Islam.