śrī śrī guru-gaurāṅgau jayataḥ
20th Caitra, Monday—1334
[April 2, 1928]
An Old Man’s Tale
Oh, you know, there is some new religion cropping up. I’ve heard its name, but when I need to, I can never remember it. They’re not Hindus, not Muslims, not Christians. I can’t figure out at all who they are. They refer to upāsanā [worship of a deity] as a practice from a barbaric age and they do not want to believe in Hindu gods and goddesses. They say that is all idolatry. They do not want to honor the worshipful deity of Bhagavān. Nowadays all these new sampradāya people are receiving acclaim in the world as being educated. Aho! How the education system has fallen. The further a person can reach into the ultimate zeniths of idiocy, the more educated they are. And this is just a sort of infantile phase of Kali. No one can say what will happen after this. The root cause of this is that the more jaḍa-vidyā [mundane knowledge] is spread, the more our intelligence will keep contracting. One mahājana has sung: “jaḍa-vidyā jata māyāra vaibhava, tomāra bhajane bādhā, moha janamiyā anitya saṁsāre jīvake karaye gādhā.” Do you know what the Vedas have said:
avidyāyām-antare varttamānāḥ | svayaṁ dhīrāḥ paṇḍita-manyamānāḥ || jaṅghanyamānāḥ pariyanti mūḍhā | andhenaiva nīyamānā yathāndhāḥ ||
I am bobbing up and down in the ocean of ignorance and thinking myself a scholar. Can I, a fool, teach anyone anything? The result of being educated by all these foolish people is to fall into a ditch and lose one’s life. It is just like one blind man leading another blind man down the path, which ends up with both of them falling into the ditch. Bhāgavata has said:
dhik janma nas trivṛd yat tad dhig-vrataṁ dhig bahu-jñatāṁ | dhik kulaṁ dhik kriyā dākṣyaṁ vimukhā ye tva adhokṣaje ||
Fie on the births of those who do not want to worship Adhokṣaja Bhagavān. Fie on their vows, their austerities, knowledge; fie on their dharma and their dynasties.
If the practitioners of the new kind of upāsanā that has cropped up in these new sampradāyas these days would evaluate their practices without bias, they would be compelled to admit that it is their practices that are in fact barbaric. Worship of Bhagavān’s saccidānanda-vigraha can never be called idolatry. Do you know what idolatry refers to? Knowledge that is bereft of any spiritual state and stems from the gross senses or subtle mental functions is idolatry and is derived from the material realm. The belief all the people of these new sampradāyas have that they are not idolators because they do not worship Bhagavān’s graven image is their foolishness. The śrī mūrti [sacred forms] of Bhagavān or His very dear Śiva are not forms contrived by man; Nārada and other devotees forever behold Bhagavān’s śrī mūrti in cit-samādhi [spiritual trance]. Tad-viṣṇoḥ paramaṁ padaṁ sadā paśyanti sūrayaḥ—with all the faculties of their minds, they meditate upon that form. In the material realm, those devotees view the shadow of that eternal form manifest as the śrī vigraha [deity] and thus increase the bliss of their eyes. Though the śrī vigraha appears to be a doll or idol to those blinded by inert matter, to devotees who are endowed with spiritual vision, the śrī vigraha is an incarnation of Bhagavān’s transcendental form. Andhasya dīpo vadhirasya gītam [“like a lamp to the blind or a song to the deaf”]—similarly, those who do not have bhakti cannot perceive any form or personality in Bhagavān, so what else are they going to refer to Bhagavān as, if not as an idol? This too is the work of Bhagavān’s Māyā, which bewilders those who are averse. Bhagavān has said to Arjuna in the Gītā: “Though I am always present as scripture, the holy name, and the śrī vigraha deity, by dint of My Yogamāyā I am not revealed to those who are averse.” Moreover, Bhagavān’s form is only glimpsed through the eyes of devotion. To other sorts of eyes, that form can appear to be an idol. Look, when Kṛṣṇa Himself incarnated in Dvāpara-yuga, then Kaṁsa, Śiśupāla, and others thought Kṛṣṇa was an ordinary human being like themselves and were thus misled. So what is so surprising about these people making this kind of mistake when looking at Bhagavān’s deity during His unmanifest pastimes? So why have I said so much about this then, do you know? The present age is Kali-yuga. The path of spiritual practice has become unconstrained. Later you boys of tender minds will think this foolishness to be scholarship and will fall into their trap. That is why I am saying so much about this. I will say a few more things about idolatry for you to understand and then leave it at that. In the texts that deal with upāsanā, in our Vedas, idolatry is ridiculed. The mahājanas have referred to these following five types of worship as idolatry:
1| Those who, without knowledge of vastu-tattva [the truth of reality], or in other words, without spiritual knowledge, refer to that which is inert as God and worship it.
2| Those who think that jaḍa [inert matter] is inferior and refer to that which is the opposite of matter to be God and worship that are also idolators. The impersonal meditators, this new sampradāya of people who refer to others as idolators, are this class of idolator.
3| Those who conjure up five forms of brahma in order to perform their worship.
4| Those who meditate imaginatively on the form of God in order to purify the inclinations of their consciousness.
5| Those who worship an ordinary soul as God.
Keep in mind these five types of idolators. Those with little pious merit do not have faith in Bhagavān’s name, sacred form, mahāprasāda, and the Vaiṣṇavas. You know what the Vedas have also stated? They [or Bhagavān] have said, “To those who engage in enmity of devotees, Bhagavān, and His various forms, I give such perverted intelligence that they do not take shelter of My transcendental form and thus, as a result, they have to endure the tortures of hell. Whatever others are doing, let them. But you should not let someone else’s words drag you down. Seek the real truth.
Karma and Upāsanā
According to man’s nature, there are four varṇas, and according to what phase of life he is in, there are four āśramas. Endeavours directed at physical, mental, and social development by means of adopting varṇa and āśrama is karma. According to the karmavādī paṇḍitas, there is no other way to achieve one’s goals other than through karma, because without karma the conditioned soul cannot maintain his life for even a moment. The essence of all scriptures, Gītā, has said, “na hi kaścit kṣaṇam api jātu tiṣṭhaty akarmakṛt |” Karma has two divisions: vidhi [prescribed duties] and niṣedha [prohibited activities]. Karma that is in accordance with scripture is known as vidhi, while akarma, or vikarma, is prohibited. Karma is of three types: nitya [eternal], naimittika [occasional], and kāmya [desirable]. That which is a duty is eternal. The journey of material family life, the journey of the body, doing good for others, expressing gratitude and worshipping God—all these are eternal, or ongoing duties over the course of one’s life. Duties which arise suddenly due to some incident or event are naimittika. Funerary rites for one’s father or mother, etc., are naimittika. Everything that is done with the hope of reaping some profit or benefit is kāmya. Performing yajñas and other rituals in order to obtain a child constitutes kāmya-karma. Karma generates puṇya [pious merit]. What to speak of attaining an ordinary kingdom of his own, the human being can obtain the post of Brahmā as a result of the karma prescribed in scripture. Akarma and vikarma constitute pāpa [sin]. The living entity suffers countless miseries life after life because of these sorts of actions. The newfangled form of upāsanā contrived by a person when he abandons the duties prescribed by scripture because his senses are uncontrolled is not upāsanā at all, but a toxic mess inflicted upon the world.
śruti smṛti purāṇādi pañcarātra vidhiṁ vinā | ekāntikī harer-bhakti utpātaiva kevalaṁ ||
The reckless performance of upāsanā that is seen when people discard the injunctions of Śruti, Smṛti, and Purāṇa is simply chaos. It is the duty of an intelligent person to know this and give it up.
Those whose hankerings for sense enjoyment have not been dispelled and who have not developed taste for the path of upāsanā should not relinquish karma.
This karma and upāsanā have no difference in their outward appearance, so many mistake karma-kāṇḍa for upāsanā-mārga, or vice versa! All the varieties of activities seen in karma-kāṇḍa, such as those needed to maintain the body, one’s worldly affairs, or acts beneficial for the world, are also observed to exist in ample proportion within the functions of upāsanā. And things like sandhyā vandanā [dawn and dusk rituals], īśvara-pūjā [worship of God], harināma-kīrtana, etc., are also seen in fitting proportion on the path of karma. However, one path is fixed on the soul, while the other is fixed on the body, mind, or society. The activities of upāsanā are strictly and purely focused on the soul. There is no manner of material or transactional idolatry within it. The activities of the soul that are directed towards the Paramātmā [Supersoul] are upāsanā. When the jīva’s pure soul becomes invigorated with prema and becomes engaged in Bhagavān’s upāsanā, one cannot say that those activities are mundane just because they are spreading to the jīva’s gross and subtle bodies. Though jīvas situated on this sort of upāsanā path maintain their bodies, their worldly affairs, and engage in acts beneficial to the world, they are not known as karmīs. Because their activities are not focused on the gross body or the mind, their karma must be referred to as bhakti. To put it concisely, all endeavours performed for the sake of satisfying one’s own senses are karma while the activities of the soul invigorated with love of God are bhakti, though they are reflected in the body and mind as karma. The fruit of karma is the gratification of one’s own senses. The fruit of upāsanā is the gratification of Kṛṣṇa’s senses. One is the soul’s natural, immaculate spiritual rasa, the other is the perversion of rasa. If one does not appropriate the fruits of karma for oneself and instead offers them to Bhagavān, then they must be called upāsanā, not karma. Spiritual realization is absolutely imperative in performing upāsanā. In the absence of spiritual realization, even the activities of upāsanā become idolatrous. Those who do not gain spiritual realization, but wrongly discard the worship of Bhagavān’s śrī vigraha and think themselves fixed upon the soul are the actual idolators. Only those who with simple hearts take shelter at Bhagavān’s lotus feet gain deliverance from the clutches of idolatry.
Judging Vaiṣṇavas by Caste
In Śrī Caitanya-bhāgavata, Ṭhākura Vṛndāvana has written:
ye se kule vaiṣṇavera janma kene naya |
tathāpiha sarvottama sarva-śāstre kaya ||
ye pāpiṣṭha vaiṣṇavera jātibuddhi kare |
janma janma adhama yonite ḍubi mare ||
[No matter what family a Vaiṣṇava is born into, all scriptures say that he is topmost. That sinful wretch who judges a Vaiṣṇava by his caste sinks and dies into successively more and more degraded species of life, birth after birth.]
The meaning of this statement is extremely profound. Failing to understand the purport of this statement, the kind of behaviour people are engaged in nowadays results in them not being able to understand at all how to properly respect Vaiṣṇavas. What Vṛndāvana Dāsa Ṭhākura means to say here is that no matter what kind of family a pure Vaiṣṇava is born into, one should not think of him as inferior in any way. One who has become a pure Vaiṣṇava is, according to the scriptures, a topmost individual. One should not think a pure Vaiṣṇava is inferior because he has been born into an inferior caste. One who considers a pure Vaiṣṇava inferior because the Vaiṣṇava has been born into a low caste is a sinful wretch, so he will roam vile species of life repeatedly.
Vaiṣṇava is not a separate caste. Whether one is born in a brāhmaṇa, kṣatriya, vaiśya, śūdra, or antyaja family, if one has taken shelter of pure devotion, then one is a Vaiṣṇava. It is not appropriate to evaluate his higher or lower status according to caste. During the age of Kali, mankind is very selfish. They have made a show of Vaiṣṇava-dharma and have created a caste of it; they say that only a person who takes birth in that caste is a Vaiṣṇava. This kind of behaviour is utterly despicable. Varṇa-dharma, or the caste system, exists to maintain worldly affairs. It has no connection to paramārtha-dharma [the functions of spiritual life]. Paramārtha-dharma is always dependent on the individual. Only one who has been fortunate enough to develop śraddhā, of faith, in one-pointed devotion is a pāramārthika [spiritually engaged person]. Caste, or varṇa-dharma, cannot act upon such a person’s pāramārthika behaviour. Those who indulge in conceit based on the fact they have been born into a Vaiṣṇava’s family are sinful.
There is no such thing as a Vaiṣṇava vaṁśa, or dynasty. There is no certainty that someone will become a Vaiṣṇava just because they have been born into a Vaiṣṇava family lineage. We are seeing that in Vaiṣṇava lineages, there are many born who are like total blemishes on their dynasty. They behave like demons. And on the other side, we see so many exalted personalities who have taken birth in caṇḍāla and yavana families and become Vaiṣṇavas by the power of pure bhakti. Many non-Vaiṣṇavas are seen even in the families of Vaiṣṇava ācāryas. And then in the families of deeply irreligious people, many Vaiṣṇavas appear. Therefore, the honour afforded Vaiṣṇava caste or dynasty does not augment the dignity of Vaiṣṇava-dharma. It ends up simply being a competition with non-Vaiṣṇavism. The root of it is selfishness and lack of genuine qualification.
O readers! The more you honour pure Vaiṣṇavas, the more you ignore their racial flaws, etc., and honour them according to how much bhakti has arisen in them, the more this conception of judging Vaiṣṇavas by their caste will be dispelled. Since there is no other way to obtain bhakti than by the association of Vaiṣṇavas, then to call anyone a Vaiṣṇava and associate with them or to disrespect a pure Vaiṣṇava because of some perceived flaw stemming from their lower birth leaves no more hope of gaining the association of pure Vaiṣṇavas. It is imperative to be unbiased and simplehearted in all activities. If you fear cheating your own self, then do not judge a Vaiṣṇava by his caste.
Society
It is best to determine a person’s varṇa according to what kind of propensity is strongest in them.
Now look, there is danger in two directions. On one side, the parasite of kusaṁskāra [bad impressions, habits] is draining society of its vital essence. Staying silent will not do anything but invoke inauspiciousness. Our societal strength, valour, and fortune are all disappearing gradually. For a long time the Earth trembled at the might of the Ārya dynasties, but now the sons of those Āryas have become less than even Mlecchas. And gradually they are becoming more and more degraded. Those who have hearts are weeping as they discuss all this. Those who have no hearts are carefree and gradually reaping a detestable fate. When you look at the other side, then there too you see a variety of perils. If we abandon the system of varṇāśrama and establish society in a new way, then we do not retain our āryatva, because that scientifically designed society would disappear. If you want an example of this, you can look at Buddhist society, Jain society, Christian society in India, Brāhmo society, and other systems bereft of varṇāśrama could never gain solid footing in the land of Bhārata. The Buddhist and Jain communities had to retreat to mountain caves. The Christian community here is only prevalent under the guidance of Mlecchas. The Brāhmo-samāja is confined to cottages. Of these, who else’s socially independent life is no more? Where are the Buddhist tāntrikas? Where is the Nava-vidhāna [Church of the New Covenant]? None of these were of any use. They will never have any use on this altar of science that is Bhārata. If we suddenly commence a reformation of varṇāśrama-dharma, there will be even more chaos and confusion. We are seeing darkness everywhere.
What recourse is there now? We need auspiciousness. But how can we easily obtain auspiciousness. That needs to be considered. As long as varṇāśrama-dharma is not reformed and returned to its proper form, then social, psychological, and spiritual inauspiciousness will riddle us. There is no doubt that only Bhagavān, the abode of all auspiciousness will effect that auspiciousness.
In this issue, we have said this much. In forthcoming issues, we will propose the means to social wellbeing and the best way of reforming the primary dharma of varṇāśrama. We hope that sincere, heartfelt readers will have read this small article with careful attention and be ready to read the next article in the forthcoming issues. The topic we have set our hands upon here is of grave importance. It is necessary to discuss this topic with a composed heart. Gradually very profound topics will be published. In brief, we shall say that for Bengali society, there is no topic that is weightier than this.
Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya
[Post-sannyāsa pastimes]
(Continued from a previous issue)
After bathing in the Gaṅgā at Soro Kṣetra, the Lord arrived at Triveṇī. In Prayāga, at Daśāśvamedha-ghāṭa, Mahāprabhu met with Śrī Rūpa who was enacting a pastime of leaving royal employment and the affluence of his home, etc. At this time, Śrī Vallabha Bhaṭṭa invited Mahāprabhu to Āḍāila-grāma, on the other side of the Yamunā, brought Him there and fed Him at his house, accepted the water that had washed His feet and worshipped the Lord. Mahāprabhu introduced Śrī Rūpa to Vallabha Bhaṭṭa. After that, Raghupati Upādhyāya, resident of Trihuta, arrived there and discussed many estoeric topics with Mahāprabhu. The Lord stayed in Prayāga for ten days and, in a secluded spot at Daśāśvamedha-ghāṭa, infused Śrī Rūpa with His potency, imparted to him the teachings of bhakti-rasa-tattva in concise form, and ordered him to write ‘Rasāmṛta-sindhu‘. He sent Śrī Rūpa to Vṛndāvana from there and Himself went to Kāśī, where He took up residence in the home of Candraśekhara. Śrī Sanātana extricated himself from royal service by various tactics and arrived in Kāśī-dhāma at the doorstep of Candraśekhara, longing to have darśana of Mahāprabhu’s feet. The omniscient Mahāprabhu called for Sanātana to be brought in from the doorstep and ordered that he be made ‘civilized’. After displaying a pastime of cleaning up and becoming ‘civilized’, Sanātana made kaupīna and bahirvāsa [loincloth and outer garment] from some old clothes given to him by Tapana Miśra. Mahāprabhu thereafter enacted a pastime of having His eternally perfect servant, Śrī Sanātana, ask Him questions. The profound answers He gave relating to the jīvas’ svarūpa, the jīvas’ duties, and their ultimate goal is renowned as “Śrī Sanātana-śikṣā“.
Wanting to deliver the māyāvādī-sannyāsīs of Kāśī and urged by the devotees in Vārāṇasī, the Lord found all the sannyāsīs along with their guru, Prakāśānānda,at the home of the Mahārāṣṭrīya vipra and manifested great humility and spiritual opulence, thereby attracting their hearts and minds. Afterwards, as per Prakāśānanda’s questions, he demonstrated the various flaws in Śrī Śaṅkarācārya’s doctrine by explaining how the interpretations made in māyāvāda philosophy are baseless and nonsensical. He also sang the glories of Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s name. The sannyāsīs of Kāśī were delivered from the all-devouring jaws of the witch of Māyāvāda by the grace of the Lord. One day while Mahāprabhu was in Kāśī, He commenced a kīrtana at Bindhu-mādhava. Prakāśānanda arrived there with his disciples and fell at Mahāprabhu’s feet, denouncing himself for his past deeds and inquiring about aspects of bhakti-tattva as aligned closely with Vedānta. Mahāprabhu explained to him the conclusions of bhakti as perfected in the Brahma-sampradāya, making him understand that Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam alone is the natural commentary on Vedānta. Thereafter, Mahāprabhu sent Sanātana to Vṛndāvana and returned to Nīlācala.
Śrī Rūpa Gosvāmī Prabhu arrived in Purī, from Vṛndāvana, and resided with Ṭhākura Haridāsa, whereupon Mahāprabhu happened to see the “priyaḥ so’yaṁ” verse that Śrī Rūpa had written and became very delighted. Another day, He listened to the introductory verses of Śrī Rūpa’s dramas ‘Lalita Mādhava‘ and ‘Vidagdha Mādhava‘. On the order of Bhagavān Ācārya, who was enacting a pastime of having tender faith, Choṭa Haridāsa went to beg rice from the elderly Mādhavī Devī for Mahāprabhu’s service. In response to this, the Lord demonstrated the ideal standard of shunning impropriety. In order to establish the proper conduct of a renunciate and issue a warning to the prākṛta-sahajiyās, Mahāprabhu forbid Choṭā Haridāsa from entering His presence for having conversed intimately with a woman. A year later, Choṭa Haridāsa relinquished his body in the Triveṇī confluence in Prayāga. When Mahāprabhu heard this news, He said that this was the appropriate repentance expected of a renunciate who has intimate relations of any sort with a woman.
The sādhaka-jīva [practitioner soul] is not be counted in the same category as the perfected paramahaṁsa or Bhagavān. In order to convey this, Mahāprabhu enacted one other pastime. There was a young widowed brāhmaṇa woman living in Puruṣottama and her beautiful young son used to come to see Mahāprabhu. When Dāmodara Paṇḍita cautioned Mahāprabhu about this, Mahāprabhu sent him to Navadvīpa.
When Śrī Sanātana arrived from Mathurā-maṇḍala, he enacted a pastime of being afflicted with oozing sores. As he was the incarnation of humility, Śrī Sanātana had vowed to give up his life beneath the wheels of the ratha. Mahāprabhu revealed, among other things, that Sanātana’s transcendental body was meant to fulfill Mahāprabhu’s deepest cherished ambitions. Mahāprabhu taught people who are driven by the mind and riddled with anarthas that phony knowledge and phony renunciation can never be the means to attain Kṛṣṇa. Thus He broadcast the fact that the body of a devotee who has surrendered his soul is transcendental. That year, Mahāprabhu kept Sanātana in Śrī Kṣetra, and the next year, ordered him to go to Śrī Vṛndāvana.
Nānā Kathā
On the occasion of this past Śrī Rāma-navamī, Śrīyuta Bhūdeva-brahma Mahāśaya, of the local village of Ballāla-dīghī, wanted to perform the anna-prāśana [first grains] and nāma-karaṇa [naming] ceremonies for his newly born son, so he arranged for his very worthy and devotional wife and elderly mother to come to Śrīman Mahāprabhu’s temple at Yogapīṭha and arranged for these rituals to be performed with śrī mahāprasāda. According to family tradition, Bhūdeva Bābu’s very qualified and elderly father-in-law received this news and with great delight promptly arrived at Mahāprabhu’s bāḍī [home/temple], where he performed the ceremony, offering śrī mahāprasāda into the mouth of his newborn grandson. The baby’s very elderly, almost eighty-year-old paternal grandfather was also present there. The name the baby was given was Śrī Rādhā-Govinda dāsa. As soon as the baby’s very worthy mother heard the name, she became overwhelmed with delight beyond her expectations and with keen sincerity, lifted that very fortunate and sukṛti-endowed beautiful baby who was dressed in fresh garments and lovingly placed him in the dust of that sacred place, offering her baby into the holy footdust of the devotees. The baby’s very devotional and elderly paternal grandmother also became so overwhelmed with delight that she said, “My Bhūdeva has offered this baby to your maṭha.” The devotees then began crying out jayadhvani in unison.
Prior to this, when this same Bhūdeva Bābu’s elder brother, Śrīyukta Mahādeva Brahma, departed to his abode, then also this Bhūdeva Bābu obtained śrī mahāprasāda from Śrīman Mahāprabhu’s bāḍī and arranged for his brother’s funerary śrāddha rites. The reason for this is that Mahādeva Bābu long had a strong pull toward dharma. At the time of his passing, he was in full consciousness, though extremely ill, and chanting śrī harināma, acutely regretting that he had not been able to obtain dīkṣā from the maṭha. He had tremendous faith in mahāprasāda. Therefore, despite strong opposition from various relatives and having to overcome a variety of considerable obstacles, his faithful wife went against their family traditions and with great delight and devotional faith in her heart performed his śrāddha beautifully with śrī mahāprasāda.
This Bhūdeva Bābu’s very fortunate younger brother Śrīyukta Indradeva Brahma Mahodaya, who is endowed with great sukṛti, received dīkṣā at Śrī Caitanya Maṭha this past Gaura Pūrṇimā and is currently engaged in preaching activities. Now, inspired by him, his elderly mother, worthy brothers, and their wives all want to soon follow his lead and receive dīkṣā. They are all striving for this with great anxiousness. They are all vegetarian. Bhūdeva Bābu’s efforts are very praiseworthy.
Apparently his ancestors made a show of being Vaiṣṇavas, wearing neckbeads and tilaka, but left no sinful deeds undone, even the consumption of fish, meat, and other forbidden foodstuffs. Even when they could not find a place to do so in their own home, they took refuge in the nearby cowsheds belonging to outcastes and cooked by their own hands, being sure to use their favorite forbiden foodstuffs. They would be so inflated with delight that they would have the audacity to broadcast to others what they were doing. Like boats in the water, checkpoints on land, or kites in the sky seem to consume the elements they abide in, leaving nothing else to be eaten, these persons were so shameless in their activities that there were no competitors who could pose any impediment to them. Congratulations Kali! You leave us speechless. But look at how Śrīman Mahāprabhu plays too!
This past Friday, the 30th of March, at the Śrī Śrī Gaura Gadādhara Maṭha in Cāṁpāhātī in Ṛtudvīpa, on the occasion of Śrī Śrī Rāma Navamī, a great festival was celebrated with great pomp. Almost all thirty devotees of Caitanya Maṭha participated in this festival. Class, kīrtana, and īṣṭa-goṣṭhī-style discussion were conducted appropriately.
Alipur police have reported that an individual by the name Manmatha-nātha Chaudhuri had collected some rent money and was returning home at around 8:00 at night via Degaṅgā Thānā’s Hāḍoyā Road in the Barasat subdivision when, near the Gaṅgārāma marsh, 8 or 9 armed thugs attacked and assaulted him brutally, before fleeing with his 200 taka. Police are investigating.
Last Thursday, the Langalbandh ritual bathing in the Brahmaputra was performed without obstacle or incident. Almost a lakh of pilgrims were assembled.
During the week ending on the 17th of March, in Calcutta and the surrounding city, 67 people have died of cholera, 15 of smallpox, 6 of influenza, 142 from fever and stomach ache, and 148 from lung infection.
Detective police have arrested six Hindustani individuals at a home on Tamer Lane after finding several counterfeit notes and the equipment for printing counterfeit money.
This past 28th of March, the Hindus of Sītāmārī village convened an assembly in protest of the removal of a deity of Sītā Devī. Sītāmārī is in an uproar over this incident.
On the occasion of the Easter holiday this current year of 1928, from the 30th of March till the 9th of April, third-class passengers on the general coaches of BNR railway travelling over 50 miles will receive return tickets only 1 and half times the rate from any station of the railway, and the third-class travellers on mail and express trains will receive the same above 300 miles. The return tickets for higher classes have been drastically, almost impossibly, reduced. Returns will be allowed till midnight on the 23rd of April on 1928.
This upcoming 6th, 7th, and 8th of April, there will be a grand assembly of the All India Marwari brāhmaṇas in the city of Chakradharpur, which falls in the regions of Bihar and Orissa. Various social issues and other topics will be discussed in the assembly.
Reports from Bhavnagar are that 4 men disguised as sannyāsīs have kidnapped two girls, ages 8 and 10, and fled. The two girls are from a village about 8 miles from Bhavnagar. When they were taking the girls to Dhanduka, the police arrested two of the men. They are in the court jail.
Śrīyukta Suśīla Candra Niyogī of Calcutta’s Bagbazar, on the request of his late wife, Pramodā Sundarī, has established a private bathing ghat along the bank of the Gaṅgā at Bagbazar for ladies living under traditional coverings (burkha, etc.). Mr. Stuart has inaugurated the ghat and, as chairman at the inaugural assembly, has glorified Pramodā Sundarī as a faithful, pious, exemplary Hindu woman.
Together, Mr. and Mrs. Stuart unveiled the marble statue of Pramodā Sundarī.
Some time ago, Śrīyukta Haravilāsa Sarddar proposed a bill before the legislative council to eradicate the practice of child marriage, positing that if the groom is younger than 18 and the girl younger than 14, then the arrangement will not be legal. When this bill was protested, responsibility of evaluating the bill was entrusted to a committee. Though the age of marriage is the same on Śrīyukta Sarddar’s bill and this committee’s bill, there is a big difference between the two. The committee’s bill posits that if a youth 18 years of age or older marries a girl younger than 14, then the youth and any aiding him in the marriage will be punishable by law. This law will not be in effect until the 1st of April, 1930.
A Muslim from western India named Sobrati got into a dispute with a man named Alabaksa over drawing water from a roadway well and Alabaksa was hit so brutally by Sobrati that he died. The medical report state that the man’s death was caused by the rupture of his spleen. The accused plead guilty before Alipur’s Additional Session Judge and begged forgiveness. He was sentenced to six months imprisonment and forced labour.
The 4 Hindus charged with killing a Muslim Fakir in Tangapet region of Nagpur during the sectarian riots there were sentenced to death. Upon appeal for their lives to the government, they have been sentenced to life imprisonment in the Andamans instead.
In the court of the Chattogram Session Judge, Rajani Kumari Baḍuyā and another six individuals have been charged with rioting and manslaughter. The Judge Saheb disagreed with the jury and sent the case on to the High Court where the accused have been acquitted.
Last Saturday afternoon a fire suddenly broke out at Kishorganj market and burnt down many stalls. The damage is no less than 1 lakh taka.
This past 28th of March, members of the Bhāratīya Vyavasthā Pariṣada—Paṇḍita Motilal Nehru, Śrīyukta Nivāsa Ayengar, Kedar Yoshi, Pandita Kuñjaru, Mr. Arthur More, Śrīyukta Amaranātha Datta, Gidabāṇī, Nabāb Ismail Chaudhurī, Sir Abdul Koiyam and Doctor Munje have toured the northwestern region via the Bhatinda Mail express.
Government members have finalized the itinerary for their tour. First, they will go to Dera Ismail Khat, then to Takhashila. There, on the upcoming date of April 5th, Sir Mohammad Habibullah will inaugurate the museum of the archaeology department. Members will also inspect the area. On April 5th, the members will return.
It has been reported to Alipur police that Rajnikant Das, a garment trader in Talpukur market, which is under the jurisdiction of Hasanabad Police Station in Basirhat Subdivision, was shot dead this past Tuesday night. It is said that when Rajnikant was tallying accounts at night, a person named Bihari Pramanik from Takipur fired bullets through an open window, causing him to fall to the ground. One bullet went straight through his thigh and another bullet was lodged in his back. At present, his condition is critical. His dying declaration has been accepted as testimony. Reports are that he was shot over a dispute about land.
Two airplanes of the French airforce collided at an altitude of 3,000 feet in the sky. As a result, the pair of airplanes broke into pieces and fell to the ground. The pilots leapt in the void with parachutes. One of the officer’s parachutes failed to open, so he fell to the ground and died. The other landed without injuries.
Renowned speaker and literary figure Gīṣpati Kavya-tīrtha Mahāśaya passed away at 10 o’clock on Wednesday, March 28th, due to cholera.
The New Lord Chancellor
London, March 28th. Attorney General Sir Douglas Hogg has become Lord Chancellor in place of Lord Cave. Secretary General Sir Thomas Inskip succeeds Sir Douglas Hogg, and Mr. Frank Merriman succeeds Sir Thomas Inskip as a member of Parliament. Lord Cave has become an earl, Sir Douglas Hogg a peer, and Mr. Merriman a knight.
Turkey’s Expenditures
for the Afghan King
The Turkish government has purchased 60 thousand pounds worth of furnishings to offer the Afghan King a suitable welcome upon his visit to Turkey.
Unfailing Home Remedies
(Continued from previous issue)
(22)
Harvest half-dried mature ākanda (calotropis gigantea). Place 20 such leaves on 1/8 half a poyā [125 grams] of Himalayan rock salt powder in a fresh earthenware pot and cover. Place this pot on the stove and slowly heat for 1 to 1.5 hours, turning the leaves and salt to ash. After food, take just an anna worth with cold water. In 15–20 days, the acid reflux will be alleviated, and indigestion will go away.
(23)
Take snail shells (they look just like taka in the mud, where the floodwaters come or in bins) and fill a 125 gram mature coconut with them, cover the coconut in mud and burn it in a dungcake fire. Open the coconut and take the coconut flesh ash and the ashen snail shells out, husk another mature coconut, crush the ash into the fresh flesh of that coconut and take a lump of that and fill two small earthen pots and seal them tightly (if you grind the edges of the pots down a bit, they seal nicely together). Put a layer of mud over them and fire them in a dungcake firepit. Take 1/16 an anna of this ash with cool water or lemon juice.
Cough and Cold
(24)
Cut little wheels of ginger, smear with salt, place onto a skewer, and place into the fire. Once they are half-burnt, eat.
(25)
Taking lotus seed powder with 1/16 an anna of honey will alleviate cough and cold.
(26)
Roast 5 or 6 jujube leaves in ghee and mix into some water with rock salt and take twice daily to remove cough and cold.
(27)
Add ¼ four annas each of kaṇtikārī (yellow-fruit nightshade), tejapatra (bay leaves) yaṣṭimadhu (licorice), baca (acorus calamus), bana-pipula (long pepper) leaves and bark, bāsaka (malabar nut) leaves and bark, which will be about 2 tolas (22-24 grams), into 250 grams of water, boil down to one fourth, remove from the stove and drink like hot tea every morning. There is no better remedy for a dry cough.
Headache
(28)
Crush coconut flower and kālajīra (nigella sativa) with a little water and apply to the head to remove headaches.
(29)
Burning sprigs of the cotton plant and inhaling the smoke or burning the blossoms of the cotton plant and inhaling the smoke through the nose will dispel all manner of headaches.