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Fund-raising through Bhagvat Katha

Shriram adopted a new method. He tried to recollect the stories of Bhagvat Katha that he had heard several times through the discourses of his father. Then he arranged those contexts properly in his mind and announced conducting of Bhagvat Masa Parayana in the Sanatan Dharma temple near the bank of Yamuna River. Normally, the discourses on Bhagvat are completed in a week; devoting six hours per day for this task. However, there is also provision of reading through it in a month, but this is done at the individual level by the devotee. Shriram decided to do this experiment for the masses. Due to his busyness in political activities and the work of ‘Sainik’ it was not possible to devote six hours daily for this purpose. By spreading this program over a span of one month, it was also the aim to motivate the audience through discourses for such a long time.

The management of Sanatan Dharma temple accorded permission to conduct the program. They also started helping in the arrangements. But as soon as they came to know that the Dakshina (offerings) collected through Masa Parayana would go to Harijan Fund, they revolted. They blamed Shriram of deceit, cancelled the permission to conduct the program; and started propagating – “Shriram is plotting to corrupt Sanatan Dharma; foreigners are providing funds for this purpose, etc”. Some people also blamed Mahatma Gandhi. Shriram didn’t care for these allegations. Inconvenience was certainly caused due to the cancellation of Katha program in the temple. But he didn’t give up. He started preparing to conduct Katha Pravachan in open space outside the temple on the bank of Yamuna. Congress volunteers too cooperated in this venture and within three days the arrangements were made for the Vyaspeeth (stage for discoursing) and that for the seating of about one hundred fifty people.

On the four corners of Vyaspeeth four bamboos were tied and they were covered with banana leaves. There was no roof. The audience was motivated to sit in open space. The Pravachan began on Magh shukla pratipada (first day of bright half of the lunar month of Magh). On the first day, thirty people attended the discourse. Shriram began his address like this – “Bhagvat Katha is for purifying everyone. Maharshi Vedvyas has written this Purana to explain the essence of Dharma to the common man who cannot understand the complexities of scriptures like Upnishads, etc. Even the evil spirits get salvation by listening to it. Therefore the common people should not worry at all.” By his strong arguments he settled the traditional sanatan followers’ hash, though he didn’t mention anybody’s name. After this introduction, he made a daily routine of Katha of one and half hours.

After the completion of Katha, everyday people offered one or two paisa or sometimes one – four annas. The task of keeping the account of offerings was given to Mangilal. He was from Dalit community. He could not get the opportunity to go to school, but he was intelligent. In spite of being illiterate he was good in accounting. He used to take part in the freedom movement also. When he saw the obstacles coming in the way of Bhagvat Katha, he came forward and told Shriram - “We will take the responsibility of doing the required labour and supplying the necessary items.” He had four more volunteers with him. So there was no problem in the tasks requiring physical labour or running here and there.

Dalits managed the affairs

When the responsibility of managing the accounts was given to Mangilal, he first hesitated. Shriram explained to him that the event was being organized for the benefit of backward and suppressed people; it would be appropriate if some person from the same stratum of society takes the responsibility of managing the affairs of money also. After this advice, Mangilal agreed to take up the task.

Within eight –ten days, the Pravachan started thriving. Apart from common public, people the volunteers of freedom struggle, writers, correspondents, etc also started participating. The comrades working in the office of ‘Sainik’ newspaper used to invite the public for Katha Pravachan. Some of them contacted even the intellectuals and people who had interest in literature. So they also dropped in, once in a while.

One day Babu Gulabrai also came to attend the Pravachan. He had good reputation as a itterateur. He knew Shriram as a journalist. This incarnation of his as a reciter of Katha was new for him. When the Pravachan was over, he got up from his seat, went to the stage and said some words in praise of Shriram. He said – “The style of Katha - recital of Shriram is like the Ganga descending from the Himalayas and coming onto the planes, which is fast, crude and carefree but it is pure and pious.” Babu Gulabrai laid stress on his carefreeness. The important message of this lecture was - “Till now I knew Shriramji ‘Matta’ as a journalist, a writer and a social volunteer. It is his new incarnation as a Katha Vyas. On this occasion, I will call him ‘Panditji’; in future also I will call him by this honorific name. I will be happy if you (audience) also call him by this name.”

And now Pandit Shriram

The people present there delightedly applauded the announcement of Babu Gulabrai. Shriram Sharma ‘Matta’ now got recognition as Pandit Shriram Sharma ‘Matta’. In those days, the title of ‘Pandit’ was not conferred easily. A person was called Pandit only when he had mastered the knowledge of scriptures, and achieved purity of mind and thought. A learned and respectable person used to give this kind of recognition. The authoritative declaration of Babu Gulabrai was according to that tradition. From that day on, people coming to Katha started calling him either as ‘Mattaji’ or ‘Panditji’. For the senior volunteers, elderly people or friends, of course, he remained Shriram later on too.

By the time Masa Parayana was completed, Pandit Shriram’s resolve too was fulfilled. The Dakshina offered on the Pothi (book) of Bhagvat amounted to Rupees one hundred and seventy one. The expenditure of the program was borne by Shriram himself and other volunteers like Mangilal, etc. It was decided that the entire amount received in the offerings, though it was more than the target, should be given to the Fund. The amount could have been easily collected by going to the village or contacting some twenty – thirty rich men. The real achievement was to convey the message of purification of society to about 250 -300 people.

Taiji had got the news of Bhagvat Katha fifteen –twenty days earlier. She was happy that her son was following in the footsteps of his father. She bowed in front of Thakurji (idol of Lord Krishna) and said – “Lord! Guide my darling (son) on the footsteps of his ancestors.” Then she changed her mind. In the emotional mood this thought did come, but immediately she regretted also – “Does Thakurji not know what is good for Shriram? He will himself guide Shriram on His path. I should not have shown haste.” With these counter thoughts she got up and moved away from Dwarkadheesh (same idol). Two weeks after that request to the Lord, the news came that the society had started calling his darling ‘Panditji’; she got deeply moved.

Mother’s wait

That day she was really waiting for Shriram. From the day she got the news of Katha Pravachan, she had an intense desire that she should meet Pandit Shriram; call him as Pandit. The day Shriram was to come from Agra, she had gone to the main gate of the Haveli (ancestral house) several times. Earlier three –four times, when he came home after being released from jail, he went straight to his friends. With a view to stop this happen again, she had instructed all concerned that Shriram should come straight to home. She also told his friends – “Don’t stop my son on the way; let him first meet his mother.”

Apart from Taiji, there was one more person in the Haveli – the better-half of Pandit Shriram - who was overpowered by waves of emotion; but she was silent. In the Haveli, she was called Bahurani (literally meaning daughter-in-law). Friends of Panditji called her Bhabhiji (brother’s wife). Panditji himself used to call her by the name of his son ‘Om Prakash’. Later on, after the birth of the daughter, he started calling her ‘Daya ki Maa’ (mother of Daya) or simply ‘Daya’. It appeared as if the name and identity of that silent Sadhika (Saraswati Devi) were almost forgotten. The Sadhana of Grihastha Ashram cannot be accomplished without melting like this. According to the tradition prevailing at that time, Bahuji also called Pandit Shriram in the guise of his son. There were hardly any instances when there was any reason to call him. After the marriage, Pandit Shriram hardly stayed at home. Most of the time, he was busy either in freedom movement or in the work of ‘Sainik’. Whenever he visited home and if there was any urgency to call him, Bahuji would follow the tradition of her time. Probably, she too was waiting for her adored husband, and it was likely that she too might have been impatient to meet him; but she was controlling herself.

Meeting with the family

From the hustle and bustle at the main gate, Bahuji understood that Pandit Shriramji had arrived. The joy on the face of Taiji was quite visible. The way the widowhood and old age causes the Indian woman to wither, that was totally absent in Taiji’s behaviour at that time. Taiji was behaving boastfully for the obvious reason that her child, treading the right path, had achieved first success and had brought home his first earning. She was coming forward (to receive him) saying – ‘Now my Shriram too has become Pandit. I have heard that great scholars have called you as Pandit. What have you brought for me? Did you bring any gift for Bahu or not? You would have certainly brought dolls for Om and Daya?’

There was a kind of torrent of queries. As soon as Shriram gifted his mother a Sari, the tears of joy rolled down her eyes. With these tears of love, she became eager to see the gifts for Bahu and children. She was unable to manage her joy. She took her darling straight to Puja room, bowed her head in front of Thakurji and then patted him on the back as a mark of blessing of her Lord.

For a full day Shriram remained at home; caressed the children, enquired about the well-being of his wife. There was neither any complaint nor any expectation from her side. When asked about the general welfare, she replied humbly – ‘There is no dearth of anything here. Of course, I would have considered myself more fortunate, had I got the chance to serve you there. Even in the present condition, there is no complaint.”

Shriram said – “If Taiji says, I will immediately call you there. Anyway I will be visiting home more often. Let Om grow up a little more. We will admit him in some school in Agra. So he will be with us all the time.” Bahuji was listening silently. Her silence itself was a sign of her acceptance.

Meeting again with Bapu

In the meantime Mahatma Gandhi came to Agra. His public meeting was arranged at Kachahari road. He was to stay at Agra only for four hours. Therefore, only two programs were kept – a meeting with volunteers and a public meeting in the evening. Meeting with volunteers was arranged in the office of Congress. There Gandhiji said – “I have taken a vow to forget about the freedom movement for one year. In our society, there are eighty percent people who belong to suppressed classes - Harijans, aboriginal tribes, backward classes or Dalits. Without uplifting them there is no meaning of independence. Such independence would be useful only to ten-fifteen percent people. Majority of the people will still remain under the yoke of poverty and slavery.”

Pandit Shriram was also introduced to Gandhiji in that meeting. Paliwalji mentioned about his contribution to Harijan upliftment in that region. When he was informed about the Dakshina of Bhagvat Pravachan, Gandhiji smiled and said - “Offerings on the Pothi belong to God. The idea of using God’s money for his subjects is unique. I got an idea for the public meeting in the evening.”

About one thousand people attended Gandhiji’s meeting at Kachahari road. At that time the population of Agra would have been hardly twenty five to thirty thousand. Thus, the gathering was quite good. In his address, Bapu mentioned about Shriram’s Bhagvat Pravachan. His inspiration was that the money being spent in the temples and religious functions should now be utilized in Harijan upliftment. He said – “Pandit Shriram has collected some money through Bhagvat Katha. This has given me great pleasure. It doesn’t matter how much money is collected. What matters is that he has shown the righteous path to the public. The gentleman who has called him Pandit is very right.”

Mention of Panditji in the address

In his address, Bapu elaborated about his Harijan upliftment program. He stressed the need to allow Harijans to enter the temples and to draw water from public wells; given equal status in community functions and even welcomed in upper caste homes. When the time for giving contribution to the Harijan fund came, the volunteers asked Shriram to lead them. Gandhiji said – “On behalf of this city, a Pandit is coming to donate. This is a good sign. We, the upper caste people, should take the initiative in this direction. If we try to rectify the error committed by our ancestors, the upliftment of Harijans will not take more than a year.”

‘When Panditji (Shriram) reached near Bapu to hand over the contribution of Agra to Harijan fund, Bapu became emotional. He got up and held both hands of Shriram in his hands. He touched his closed fist with his nose. As elder people smell the forehead of children, in the same way he expressed his love towards Panditji. Then he said – “Bhagvat Shastra is for everyone. Is it? I have heard that this spiritual instruction is only for those who possess a loving and compassionate heart. It is not for those who use logic and intelligence, are inflated with ego and consider themselves to be high-class. Is it true?”

Shriram was overwhelmed by these words of Gandhiji. He could not answer. He wanted to say – “You are right”, but could only nod his head in agreement. Bapu asked one more question – “What have you given in the fund from your pocket? The sum of rupees one hundred seventy one belongs to Bhagvatji. What is yours?”

“I want to keep it secret.” Panditji composed himself and said – “If you allow me then I can tell you in your ear with the condition that you will not tell others.” Bapu agreed. Shriram told him in the ear. Gandhiji’s face glowed with joy. He patted him lightly on the cheek.

Several years after this incident, Poojya Gurudev told that he gave his father’s gold buttons used in his Kurta in Bapu’s fund. In order to get these buttons, he went to Aanwalkheda. Taiji had entrusted these gold buttons to Bahurani. When Taiji came to know about it, she felt proud of her son’s virtue of selfless giving.

Bapu said – “Something is still left with you. You have hidden it. Give that also to me.” Panditji was surprised and started looking at Gandhiji; and then said – “I have hidden nothing.” Gandhiji said – “See the pocket of your Kurta. I can see it from here. Perhaps one rupee coin is there.”

Shriram put his hand in the pocket. Bapu’s penetrating view, humour and forthright talk made Shriram laugh. Smilingly he took out the coin and kept at the feet of Bapu. Raising his hand Bapu said – “Now it’s alright. A Brahman should believe in God and stop worrying about the subsistence of self. I too don’t keep anything with me. There is no pocket in my clothes. By caste I am Bania (of the class of businessmen); even then I have resolved to observe aparigrah (non-possession).”

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