śrī śrī guru-gaurāṅgau jayataḥ
14th Caitra, Tuesday—1334
[March 27, 1928]
About the Dhāma
The svarūpa [nature] of the Śrīdhāma has been delineated in an article titled “Jagat o Śrīdhāma”, and in tandem with that, who has the qualification to live in the Dhāma has also been described. Now what needs deliberation is: who will determine what or where is the Dhāma? The answer to this is as simple as the question. Those who have an eternal relationship with the Dhāma, who have obtained a spontaneous glimpse of the Dhāma—only such Vaiṣṇavas can determine the Dhāma. “Only those who are skilled in a particular task should be engaged in said task; for others, that same task will be a burden.” This is common sense that has been around forever. Those who have no aspiration for wealth or prestige are Vaiṣṇavas. Only they can speak about the Dhāma. Will any intelligent, selfless person put his faith in the words of those who are engaged in cheating people while dressed externally as Vaiṣṇavas because of their hankerings for wealth, women, and prestige? Kavi Karṇapūra, Ṭhākura Vṛndāvana, the author of Caitanya Maṅgala, Locana Dāsa, and other ancient greats of the past have bound in writing the mention of Śrīman Mahāprabhu’s appearance place being in Prācīna [ancient] Navadvīpa on the eastern bank of the Gaṅgā. The Ballāla-stupa, Ballāla-dīghī, the Kājī’s samādhi and other ancient sites are still present there today. If someone still “has doubts” despite seeing all that, then it must be said that their motives are surely not selfless. At present, our only request of readers is that before putting their faith in anyone, please keep the following in mind:
Mahājano gato yena sa panthā | [“Follow the path of the exalted souls who have gone before us.”] If one relies on this and pursues the truth in an unbiased manner, then one will not be subjected to deception.
Nadīyā Prakāśa’s
Widespread Circulation
Seeing Nadīyā Prakāśa’s widespread circulation, several envious persons have been experiencing an intolerable burning sensation and are showering unjust insults upon the humble servants who are preaching śuddha-bhaktisiddhānta [the conclusions of pure devotion]. This is a matter of great sadness.
Ignoring the unbiased truth and broadcasting one’s own bigotry does not seem like something that very intelligent people do. Rather, it amounts to choosing considerable inconvenience for oneself. Anyway, their shower of undue insults do not affect the pure devotees at all. Moreover, the pure devotees earnestly and sincerely pray to Śrīman Mahāprabhu to grant the blasphemers proper intelligence and thus the devotees become known as the servants of the servants of Nityānanda. Pure devotees do not harbor malice toward anyone. They extend honour to everyone, seeing them as eternal servants of Kṛṣṇa. Therefore, it is our prayer that people should not employ such undeserved language toward them and thereby accumulate offenses. That is all.
—a wellwisher
Our Erudition
Ethics scriptures state: “śāstrāny-adhītyāpi bhavanti mūrkhāḥ | yas tu kriyāyān puruṣaḥ sa vidvān || – People study scripture but are still fools. Those who are active and productive are intelligent.” Today, however, there is no regard for such wisdom. Nowadays, in civilized society, in educated society, if someone speaks such statements, they will be laughed off as old-fashioned and irrelevant. Today one can only be acknowledged as educated if one can deliver instructions to others. It does not matter whatsoever what one does personally. But those who are truly educated say, “Giving others instructions is easy, but only one who follows those instructions himself is a great soul; only he is a true scholar.” The sad thing is, however, that presently the number of such great souls is diminishing day by day. No one puts much focus on real education. There are many universities in Bhārata. Many rich people donate much wealth to develop all these universities and thereby they have been and are earning their credits of piety. However, at present, they do not want to talk about how much real education has actually been developed and what kind of condition we are in due to the education that prevails. The world of spirituality is similar. Nowadays there is business going on in the name of religion. As long as you can get your name out in the market somehow or other, then you will have made it. Śrīman Mahāprabhu has said, ” Many people read the Bhāgavatam, but still have their intelligence ruined.” We can witness the truth of this at every step. We have heard that Bhāgavatam constitutes the absolute limit of knowledge, that there is no knowledge that tops it. If you look at the knowledge of today’s reciters of Bhāgavatam, you will be rendered speechless. By the influence of Kali, a mechanism of making a living out of Bhāgavatam has been developed. Not only that, if anyone wants to expose their theivery, they become the object of blasphemy in society. Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam speaks of the dharma of the Paramahaṁsas [those so transcendent they are akin to swans]. Those who read Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, those who hear it, those who hear it and deliberate on it—they all become liberated. But we do not see that happening. How many times have I already heard Bhāgavatam? How many times have I read Bhāgavatam? How many commentaries and verses have I memorized? But in the end, what have I become? A famed businessman Bhāgavata reciter, which is something Bhāgavatam has forbidden. Bhāgavatam has stated, “One should not earn an income from explaining Bhāgavatam.” But that is exactly what I have done. “One should see another’s wife as one’s mother and another’s gold as worthless metal.” But I do not have that attitude. Hence I am a paṇḍita, a Bhāgavata reciter. And people call me that too. The brāhmaṇa gets his sacred upanayana thread so that he can read the scriptures. When the ācārya gave me my thread, he taught me that I have to teach, saying, “Satyāt māgā – Do not deviate from the truth.” I too was compelled to utter the word “bāḍham – I will do just that.” And that was the extent of it. In practice it became something else. I did not learn to honor the truth any more than that.
I became preoccupied with thinking the false to be true. What I would speak would be to incorporate varieties of deceit into spiritual topics with the intention of elevating and increasing spiritual community, which has led to a bad outcome—such that nowadays no one wants to put faith in statements of the scripture. Scriptural statements now seem like ganja-fueled fairytales. We are also seeing the ultimate downfall of ethical life. We don’t even get the chance to reconcile dharma, karma and harināma through philosophical scripture because people are so quick to ridicule. In school, if kids do their sandhyā prayers and put ṭiki marks on their foreheads, then there is no saving them from that day onward. They get teased so much they have to flee the college. If there are spiritual topics in newspapers or books, then nobody wants to look at them. During such dark days, it is imperative that every educated person strive by body, mind, and words to gain a real education and create a spiritual lifestyle, wherein brāhmaṇas can develop their spiritual potency by the strength of celibacy and gradually learn to honor Vaiṣṇavas. Thus the divine form of the varṇāśrama caste system can be reestablished in India.
If there can be elevation in people’s spiritual lives, then financial elevation will automatically happen. The Vedas have said that there are two types of knowledge: parā-vidyā [superior knowledge] and aparā-vidyā, or jaḍa-vidyā [inferior, or mundane, knowledge]. Of those, parā-vidyā is real knowledge while jaḍa-vidyā is its shadow or copy. As long as you cannot get your hands on what is of real substance, fake things will seem to be good.
We Are Deceived
We are so busy trying to hear some praise of ourselves that we can’t bear to hear a little criticism for even a moment. If someone comes to me with the express purpose of deceiving me, “Mahāśaya, I do not see a second person in the world who is as wonderful a person as you,” then I become giddy with delight in my mind. Surely I will say something deceitfully modest like: “Sir, what qualification do I have? I am extremely fallen.” Internally, however, I am greedy for even a penny’s worth of praise. When someone doesn’t want to cheat and, for my benefit, starts critiquing me, then there remains no limit to my rage toward them. No matter how great of a sādhu–mahātmā someone may be in the world, if they do not praise me, I will not give any value to their saintly position. Meanwhile, though I have a thousand flaws, I am very enthusiastic about pointing out other people’s flaws. I have about as much enthusiasm to criticize others as I derive delight from hearing my own praise. Those who have paired up with me as friends have also understood my disposition. They praise me all the time, stealing and consuming my all. Now I am so unlucky that I refer to those who are my genuine wellwishers as not being saintly, while deeming as saints those who are deceitful and do not want what is good for me.
Saintly persons appear in the world for our benefit alone and are carefully watching for where we may be making some mistake. They have relinquished all efforts for their own happiness for the sake of our auspiciousness and are constantly going door-to-door, in the cold, the heat, the rain, just trying to encourage us to serve Bhagavān. All the fleeting, worldly pleasure of body and mind that we regard so highly and to which we devote all the enthusiasm of our lives is but a farce that resembles happiness at first and then transforms into sorrow-inducing efforts for happiness. These saints see these efforts as extremely detestable—vile even, and so discard them. And they try to warn us in so many ways so that we do not charge toward that fleeting happiness like insects to a fire and reap destruction for ourselves. As we use every moment we have to charge down the wrong path like madmen, they spend so much time crying and weeping for us, running behind us, trying to get us to turn around. We don’t even want to hear words of chastizement for our benefit from those causelessly and oceanically merciful devotees of Bhagavān. We think the saint is angry with us and so he cannot see us. Alas, alas, those sādhus are bhāgavatas; they arenondifferent from Bhagavān and are the embodiments of bhakti-rasa. In Bhāgavatam, the supreme dharma has been described for those who have compassion for all beings; this dharma is devoid of all manner of deceit in regard to dharma (religion), artha (prosperity), kāma (needs and desires), mokṣa (liberation, self-realization) and it destroys the three-fold miseries that afflict the living entites, grants them supreme auspiciousness as well as actual knowledge of true, eternal reality. Those who desire to hear this Bhāgavatam have not the slightest concern for other scriptures, yet can capture Bhagavān within their hearts at will. The bhāgavata-sādhus are nondifferent from that same text referred to as the Bhāgavatam. However, we think they are people just like us, so we cannot recognize that they are our wellwishers. What greater misfortune could there be for us? In this world, those who are inclined to envy surely praise or criticize each other constantly, but can’t we understand that the place of saintly persons is not in such a world, that they dwell so very far away from that world? Many people in this world may praise us for their own selfish gains, but sādhus don’t want anything from us. Those who are greedy for wealth and followers can observe the mannerisms of those who are actual benefactors of others and can imitate the way they speak, but sādhus truly do not want anything from us. If they hankered for wealth and followers, they could praise us profusely, but they will not condone any of our sinful activities. Their only purpose is to effect our auspiciousness, and they do not notice whether we are pleased with them or not. If they wanted any wealth from us, if gathering a following was their motive, then they would not trouble our minds so; they would condone all our activities. But that is not the case. They have appeared in this world to teach the conclusions of pure bhakti. To those who do not adhere to these teachings and want to stray off onto errant paths, they appear as the direct arbiters of punishment. Otherwise, to those who tread the path that is in accordance with the tenets of bhakti, they present as supremely peaceful, soothing, sweet, and loving. Śrī Nṛsiṁhadeva displays an extremely terrifying, ferocious form to nondevotees like Hiraṇyakaśipu, but with the boy Prahlāda, He is very calm and gentle. The devotees, who are nondifferent from Bhagavān, are also endowed with such a disposition toward the nondevotees.
We cannot know when that fortune, that beautiful day will be ours, when we understand that all the sādhus’ efforts are for our wellbeing and will surrender ourselves fully at their feet. We will address the sādhus alone as our only wellwishing friends and will completely relinquish the company of deceitful persons who simply engage in flattery. O Gaurasundara, please have mercy on us. Please give us the capacity to recognize who is a sādhu. May we not mistake the beneficial efforts of the sādhus to be somehow against our wellbeing, which causes us to accrue offenses toward the sādhus. Please protect us from the offense of criticizing the sādhus, O Lord!
How Much More Shall I See?
(Continued from a previous issue)
So, I was feeling pretty good. What else lies in store for me to see here by the grace of the devotees in Śrī Māyāpura at Śrīman Mahāprabhu’s home? My stomach was full. I was worry-free. There was no expectation of giving a donation. What not to love? After relishing the meal of four types of śrī prasāda, naturally some tiredness precipitated a nap. After a short while, my mind suddenly brightened up and I woke from my nap. I thought, “Will these people also be cunning like the gosāi temples? Even now perhaps I have to pay for the prasāda?” A bit hastily, I came to the banks of Śrī Gaura-kuṇḍa, washed my hands and mouth, and as soon as I looked up the road toward Kuliyā, I saw, in the middle of the field, several large-bodied women who were clearly from high-born households and not accustomed to walking. They were struggling along ahead of a boy, advancing steadily. They were all looking at Mahāprabhu’s bāḍī [home temple], raising their hands excitedly. It seemed whatever discussion they were having was encouraging them. As I watched, they arrived along the banks of Śrī Gaura-kuṇḍa at the front gate. The śītalī-bhoga [cooling refreshments] had been offered to the deities. The sannyāsī ṭhākura there was preparing to read from scripture. When the maṭha-manager Prabhu saw these people enter the temple, he immediately went forward to greet them, and the boy of the group said, “How are you? Are you well?” The group was greeted with a similarly pleasant response from the manager and they all settled down in front of the deities. Just looking at them, one could tell they were completely exhausted. But somehow a new kind of mood, something beyond what one would expect, was showing on their faces. The maṭha-manager Prabhu asked them to wash their hands and feet to alleviate their exhaustion and asked the boy who the other guests were. From the boy’s response, I came to know that one of the ladies was the wife of a Mr. M.L. Ghosh, the director of some factory. She was accompanied by her younger sister. Then there was the wife of a lawyer from Khushtia, one Bābu Rāicaraṇa Dāsa Mahāśaya, and the wife of a retired police inspector, along with two widows. At the request of the devotees, the guests freshened themselves, washing their hands and faces. With great honour, they had darśana of the deities and then honoured prasāda, expressing their gratitude and praising the water profusely, asking for more repeatedly. Such fresh air, such a pure, solitary, and peaceful place—the mind and heart do not even want to leave such a place. They were keen on staying there that day, and having heard various stories about the dhāma, they wanted to have various darśanas. Meanwhile, their lips were showing the red stain of paan they had each prepared and started chewing. Seeing this, the maṭha-manager started laughing, but with great sadness, and began to say, “Mothers, I have one humble request to submit at your feet. Please do not take any offense. I assume that when you were younger, before your marriages, you all must have tried to at least put on a show of following some vrata on the urging of your mothers in order to accrue some meager dharma or whatnot. Would you partake of paan or tobacco then, during those fasts?” They all responded with a unanimous “No,” and added, “Who even does that?” The Prabhu said, “So then surely paan and tobacco belong to what is adharma!! When you cannot mix even a little bit of adharma with any sort of dharma, then when you are engaging in kṛṣṇa-bhajana, taking darśana of Kṛṣṇa, and chanting Kṛṣṇa’s name, then why have such detestable habits gained such a place of honour and attention? Is kṛṣṇa-bhajana so much more inferior than those rituals you used to do? Now I assume you are married women, the mothers of children, maybe with grandchildren even, and since you are initiated by the gosāis (taught by bogus gurus who are only interested in their own selfish ends), you have become attracted to these habits. Am I right?” All the ladies were stunned, staring at him, listening intently. After quite a bit of conversation like this, the Prabhu spoke about the five things that are not favourable to devotion.
abhyarthitas tadā tasmai sthānāni kalaye dadau | dyūtaṁ pānaṁ striyaḥ sūnā
yatrādharmaś catur-vidhaḥ || punaś ca yācamānāya jāta-rūpam adāt prabhuḥ |
tato ’nṛtaṁ madaṁ kāmaṁ rajo vairaṁ ca pañcamam || amūni pañca sthānāni
hy adharma-prabhavaḥ kaliḥ |
auttareyeṇa dattāni nyavasat tan nideśa-kṛt || athaitāni na seveta
bubhūṣuḥ puruṣaḥ kvacit |
viśeṣato dharma-śīlo rājā loka-patir guruḥ || (Bhā. 1.17.38–41)
Sūta said, “When King Parīkṣit heard these pleas of Kali, he granted him residence in four types of places: wherever there was dyūta (criminal activity), pāna (consumption of intoxicants), strī (illicit relations with women or excessive attachment to women), and sūnā (violence against living beings). When, despite receiving those four places, Kali asked for another, Parīkṣit, who was capable of either granting his request or punishing him, allowed Kali to dwell within gold. With this bestowal of gold, Kali was given falsehood, arrogance, lust for illicit relations with women, violent passions—these four places, plus a fifth, which was the basis of enmity. The provoker of irreligion, Kali, bore the orders of Parīkṣit, the son of Uttarā, upon his head and proceeded to take up residence in those five places. Therefore, one who wants to elevate himself should never partake of any of these vices. Partaking of any of these is especially improper for any religious person, king, leader, or guru. Brothels are where Kali finds all his places of residence.”
“Now please understand and see, mothers. You have all reached the culminations of your stations in life and, more importantly, you did not hesitate to endure so much intolerable pain and suffering due to your one-pointed longing to behold Śrīman Mahāprabhu’s temple here in Śrī Māyāpura. Since that is the case, would it not be praiseworthy for you to relinquish this detestable company of Kali and those who take shelter of him? This is the only thing I beg of you.” It was clearly getting very late for the boy that was accompanying them and he was showing this in a variety of ways. But all the ladies were not budging. They were shedding tears and with great enthusiasm and earnestness offered prostrate obeisance. Mr. M.L. Ghosh’s very dignified wife responded, “When are we going to have the fortune of hearing this kind of knowledge from someone like you again?” With various remarks like this, they all offered obeisance again and again and went to have other darśanas. Just as they left, Śrīyuta Manmatha-nātha Adhikārī from Medinipur District arrived like a cātaka bird, anguished with hunger and thirst, seeking to obtain some prasāda, etc.
(to be continued)
Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya
[Post-sannyāsa pastimes]
(See previously published article entitled
“Śrī Māyāpura Pūrṇa-candrodaya”)
Pratāparudra made arrangements for the Gauḍīya devotees to have suitable accommodations and mahāprasāda. In the evening, at the temple of Śrī Jagannātha, the devotees divided into four groups and commenced a grand saṅkīrtana performance. Nityānanda and other devotees conveyed to Gaurasundara how anxious Pratāparudra was to have the Lord’s darśana. Finally, in order to pacify the king, Nityānanda Prabhu negotiated with Mahāprabhu and arranged for one of Mahāprabhu’s used outer garments to be given to the king. Later, at the urging of Rāmānanda, Mahāprabhu embraced the king’s son, thinking he was Kṛṣṇa. When King Pratāparudra hugged his son, who was overwhelmed with divine love from the touch of Mahāprabhu, then he felt the Lord’s mercy and felt prema arise within him. Prior to Ratha-yātrā, Mahāprabhu manifested the pastime of cleansing the Guṇḍicā temple along with all the devotees. While cleansing the temple, one of the Gauḍīya devotees drank some water that had washed over Mahāprabhu’s feet. Mahāprabhu, who was enacting pastimes as the teacher of the world, wanted to make it clear that drinking someone’s footbath water [that of an ordinary living entity] in the Lord’s temple constitutes a sevāparādha, so He had the leader of the Gauḍīyas, Svarūpa Dāmodara, expel that Gauḍīya from the Guṇḍicā temple. Mahāprabhu then beheld Śrī Jagannātha’s nava-yauvana-utsava [“new youth festival”] with the devotees. When Mahāprabhu was watching Śrī Jagannātha’s pāṇḍu-vijaya [mounting the Ratha-yātrā chariots], He saw Pratāparudra rendering the humble service of sweeping the path to the chariots with a golden broom and inwardly became very pleased with Pratāparudra. Thereafter, Śrī Gaurasundara arranged seven groups of devotees in front of the chariots and manifested His divine opulence as He danced and performed kīrtana. After the kīrtana, while resting in the Balagaṇḍi garden and still absorbed in the ecstacies of prema, Pratāparudra donned the simple garb of a Vaiṣṇava, approached Mahāprabhu alone, and started massaging His feet. The king also started reciting verses from Bhāgavatam that suited the moment, upon hearing which Mahāprabhu became even more overwhelmed with prema and embraced the king. The Lord showed His mercy to the king because He saw that the king was dedicated to serving the Vaiṣṇavas. Mahāprabhu then no longer saw the king as an indulgent sense enjoyer, but as a servant of the Vaiṣṇavas.
(to be continued)
News of the Times
Śrīyukta Amarendra-nātha Sena Mahāśaya, the temporary associate district and session judge of Mymensingh, has become the district judge in place of Mr. Uini Saheb. We welcome him with all due honour.
Śrīyukta Satī Prasanna Sarakāra has assumed responsibility for the Cuyāḍāñgā subdivision.
Śrīyukta Maulavī Mahammad Sāmasuddin has switched over from Nadīyā and assumed responsibility for the Tangail subdivision.
Nadīyā’s judge, Mr. Uini Saheb has become the district and session judge of Bakharganj.
From reading the article “Dhūlaṭe Khunokhuni – Murder in the Dust” published in the Phālguna issue of the Nāgarī–sampradāya newsletter from Buḍo Śiva-talā, we know that someone hurled a brick from the roof of a building in Rādhā-bāzār at Śitikaṇṭha Bābu of the Prācīna Kuliyā’s Hari-sabhā, gravely injuring him. He now has two doctors busy administering intravenous therapy to him. So, it is not as if the inhabitants of Prācīna Kuliyā only attack Gosvāmi-Vaiṣṇavas and throw bricks, etc. at them; such atrocities are seen to be committed against other inhabitants of the town as well. Those who think the saṅkīrtana-yajña is part of the karma process never engage in the kīrtana that was taught and approved by Gaura. Those who make a show of performing bhajana to fulfill their own selfish aims simply end up turning kīrtana into violence and envy. After the hair-raising incident that transpired in Kuliyā town, we anticipate that no innocent people will have the courage to visit its holy places in the future. Can’t all these unlawful acts be warded off?
The Nāgarī-sampradāya newsletter reports that Śrīyukta Rākhālānanda Ṭhākura from Śrī Khaṇḍa has published a newsletter called “Gaurāṅga Mādhurī”. The Nāgarī-sampradāya is thrilled to say that this has provided special facility to preaching gaura-dharma. We say there is a difference of heaven and hell between “gaura-dharma [the religious practice taught by Mahāprabhu Gaurasundara]” and “gaura-bhogīra dharma [the practices of those who want to take advantage of Gaurāṅga Mahāprabhu and enjoy Him]”. One of these constitutes Vaiṣṇava-dharma and the other is something else. Those who enjoy mundane sweetness can never be worthy of the title ‘bhakta‘. Rather, they are deemed ‘bhoktā – enjoyers’.
Our apprehension is simply that they will not see Śrī Gaurasundara’s audārya [magnanimity] and instead forcefully and sneakily appropriate His sweetness for their own selfish ends, whereby they will invite certain immoral activities.
Seeing that an English edition has been added into the “Viṣṇupriyā-Gaurāṅga” magazine proves the laziness of the Nāgarī-sampradāya endeavours. There is no reason to turn to poetic symposium instead of expanding their [Bengali] offerings. Because, generally the bhogi-sampradāya is preoccupied with adding their [English] aesthetics.
Though the “Janma-sthāna Nirṇaya Samiti [Committee for the Determination of the Birthplace]” has presently erected a memorial pillar with an inscribed tablet embedded in it at the birthplace of Gauraṅga-siṁha, we have not been able to understand what piety that will result in. And we cannot fathom why people would provide financial assitance to such an act of envious violence. Throughout the four ages of Satya, Tretā, Dvāpara, and Kali, there is no shortage of people who seek to harm Viṣṇu and the Vaiṣṇavas, but in every age they have all been punished for their unjust acts. In this Kali-yuga, when indulgent people who are greedy for wealth try to accumulate it by raising property values, the only thing that will happen is their hankerings for enjoyment will increase. If they accept that wealth and spend it on activities in the service of Hari, then they will not end up simply preoccupied with acquiring money due to envy on a platform that is but the covering of dharma.
We feel that Postmaster Bābu’s dispatch efforts will be directed toward relocating Sambalpur’s Śrīmān Vaiṣṇavānanda Bābājī’s Līlāmṛta of the flower-garden to Kākūḍa-māṭha. The fact that the Master Bābu of Dogacchia has changed his guise for the sake of the fake Miapur is not indicative of his great worthiness. Now once “Ghoṣa-ghāṭa”, “Nandī-vardhana”, and other places are established in Kākuḍa-māṭha, then there can be the destructive dance of mundane transformation in the flower-garden. A committee for the marriage of widows was founded in this place some days ago. Yet we doubt anyone in this region condones consigning widows to Punjab.
Sevashrams like the Mātṛmandira that are conceived from Western ideologies are incapable of bringing much of value to the world of moral principles. Yet from one perspective, those who are more or less aiding all these morally despised activities are considered wellwishers of humanity. If one can become a follower of Śrī Gaurasundara, one will not have to condone any sort of immorality. Ṭhākura Haridāsa did not approve of any policy of this class. He extended genuine auspiciousness toward the fallen living entities.
Nānā Kathā
“Various Topics”
Last Friday, the excise inspector of the 24 Parganas, Manir Uddin Ahammad, found a huge quantity of cocaine after searching three homes in Titagarh. A man named Sheetal Singh and 10 of his associates have been arrested. Reports are that two men were transporting two maunds of French alcohol by boat from Chandannagar to Titagarh. Police caught wind of the operation and arrested those two individuals, who divulged that Sheetal Singh was involved in the matter.
Last Friday night, on the Howrah–Shalimar coolie line a devastating fire broke out. First a cottage caught fire, then the wind fanned it into a blaze that reduced 300 homes to ash. The fire brigade finally succeeded in stopping the blaze after great effort. There are no reports of anyone losing their life in the blaze.
In Chattogram’s Khadandi-grama, several snake-charmers caught a 9 foot, 9 inch snake. The snake was 2 foot in width. This kind of snake can swell to twice the size.
The zamindar of Sultanpur District, Amaranātha Siṁha, ordered the tenet farmer cultivating on his land to relinquish their own cultivations and do forced labor in lieu of taxes. When the tenet refused to do so, two men, Amara Siṁha and Mañgaru Siṁha, started physically assaulting him. In end, Mañgaru threw the man on the ground and jumped on him, killing him. Mañgaru has been sentenced to one year imprisonment with forced labor. and Amara Siṁha has been sentenced to life imprisonment on the island.
On the night of March 21, a deplorable murder took place in Piyarpur, Khushtia. 60-year-old Sītānātha Bishwas was eating in the kitchen during the night with his nephew when the murderers entered the home and snuffed out the one lamp burning. One of the intruders caught hold of the nephew by the neck, strangling him into silence and the others killed Sītānātha with a weapon. No trace of the murderers has been found.
In Mashuma-grāma, which falls under the jurisdiction of Howrah Bagna station, at the home of Kṛṣṇacandra Sāmanta, there was a dacoity. The dacoits were carrying weapons, projectiles, and guns. They have fled without resistance and made off with money and jewellry. Police investigation is ongoing.
Two Australians were preaching Christianity in Bombay’s Chowpatty area. On the evening of March 22, a gang of Hindus came and pulled up the pegs of their tent and tore it down. Though the police came to the aid of the preachers, they could not do anything.
A Swedish steamer, the Citos, was slammed with strong winds and crashed into the shoals off the coast of Tarifa. The BISN Company’s Domala ship recovered a lifeboat carrying 12 survivors. Another lifeboat carrying 11 people has not been recovered.
A fire broke out in Madurai on the 22 and decimated 70 homes.
The CID Department, with the assistance of police detectives, has tracked down a counterfeiting operation in a village in Barddhaman District and arrested 7 of the counterfeiters. Lakhs of notes have been circulated throughout Calcutta, Howrah and other places. Reports are that a man named Noor Muhammad tried to pass off a single hundred taka note to a Marwari in Naihati and was caught by the police. From him, the police tracked down a man named Muhammad Hussain in Alambazar and arrested him, who led police to arrest the two brothers Haṁseśvara and Jagadīśa Sāmanta from Barddhaman. Many counterfeit notes and everything required to print the counterfeits was found at the Sāmanta house. Two men named Bagalā Dule and Afdul Gafur were also arrested. The 7 men arrested have been handed over to the SD’s court.
Last Thursday afternoon near the engine shed of Bamungachi, a meeting of labourers was called in Khelar Math under the leadership of the Labour Union secretary Kiran Chandra Mitra. Mitra Mahāśaya says, “Until all the drivers in Bamungachi participate in the strike, we will be protesting here everyday.” A police sub-inspector tried to disperse the crowd but fell under a motor vehicle. He was not seriously injured.
Heramba Nātha Mukhopādhyāya, a fourth-year student at Calcutta’s City College, was supposed to take the B.A. exam this time. However, Principal Heramba-candra Maitra has withdrawn Mukhopādhyāya’s character certificate because he spoke at Ram Mohan Ray Hostel on February 18. The principal has informed the university and, last Thursday, in a meeting at the senate house, it was decided that the student will not be able to take his exam this time.
Fires have broken out in many places across Mexico City due to an earthquake. An ancient volcano that has long been dormant has started violently erupting.
Last Friday, a notice was issued by Howrah’s district magistrate against Mr. Mitra, stating, “You are not permitted to convene any meetings or committees within the vicinity of Bamungachi.” To this, Mitra says, “We have not been fired from the Union Railway Company, so as labourers of the railway, we have the right to assemble on railway grounds.” Whatever the case, the meeting was held without permit. It was decided in the meeting that efforts should be made to get the Board Company coolies to stop their work. Two Chinese carpenters were cut out [of the Union] for washing trains in Howrah station. Many coolies from the cargo go-down at Howrah have participated in the strike. The announcement the agent of the E.I. Rail made on March 23 conveyed that the strike has not spread, work is going on nicely, and everything will soon be peaceful. Mr. Mitra, however, says, “Preventing meetings in Bamungachi has created great dissatisfaction among the labourers. They are saying they will resort to peaceful picketing because they have heard that management is taking on new employees. Other workers from other departments in Howrah will soon join the protest.
Scottish Church College student Śacīndra Mitra’s mother wants to know from the college administration what offense her son has committeed. In response to her query, administration says that when Śacīndra was asked to transfer to another college, he refused. His mother again wrote administration stating that it was only proper that Śacīndra be informed why he was being compelled to go to another college. Śacīndra’s mother has made an appeal to the syndicate administration to afford her son fair treatment. A proposal in this regard was accepted at a meeting of the syndicate to allow students expelled from the aforementioned college to receive admission at another college.
Early in the morning on March 22, King Amanullah went out on a tour on the Thames river and had the opportunity to observe London’s port. He was especially delighted to vist King George V Dock and Albert Port from the river. After that he went to visit the Greenwich Observatory.
Recently, in Delhi, members of parliament attended the promotion of Mr. Patel. The banquet, which was provided by the Jātīya Dala and several distinguished citizens of Delhi, was attended by the Chief General, Sir Basil Blackett, and several other members of the viceroy’s governing council, the King of Bharatpur, and representatives from all the parties of both legislative establishments, who all congratulated Mr. V. J. Patel.
Arrangements have been made to capture King Amanullah’s tour of England as a motion picture. The descriptions of these images will be recorded in Persian language and sent to Afghanistan.
The Afghan government has sent 25 youths to Turkey for military training. The students have first been admitted to an elementary school to learn Turkish. Later they will be admitted to a military college.
Anātha Mollā killed his aunt because he did not receive any wealth from her. Pabna Session Judge Śrīyuta H. K. Bose, in agreement with a jury, sentenced him to life imprisonment in the Andamans.
It is heard that a special Anglo-American company is currently building two huge airplanes that can carry a hundred passengers. These airplanes will travel back and forth across the Atlantic Ocean between England and America. It will only take a day and a half. Mr. Lindbergh will pilot the airplane’s maiden flight. The flights may commence as soon as this upcoming September. Every passenger will have to pay 15 hundred taka to travel from England to America. Later, the cost may decrease. It will take 36 hours to go from New York to London and 52 hours from London to Bombay. The airplanes will be furnished with all the facilities of a home.
On March 22, in the afternoon, near Portland, a destroyer named Thruster collided with the submarine R4. It is possible only the submarine’s periscope was damaged. The accident occurred because the vessels were moving in shallow water.