Mother Godavari Mata

MOTHER GODAVARI MATA

Life

Upasani Baba was a direct disciple of Shirdi Sai Baba. He was a great Vedic scholar and a great intellectual. His mind was therefore turned outwards when he surrendered to Shirdi Sai Baba. He was immensely blessed by Sai Baba. However, after some time, Sai Baba instructed him to go and live at Sakori – a few miles away from Shirdi. He was also given the permission by Sai Baba to teach yearning spiritual aspirants there. Upasani Baba implicitly obeyed his guru’s command.

In due course, Upasani Baba acquired siddhis (miraculous powers) and started performing miracles, which made people worship him as 'God'! Noticing that Upasani Baba was wasting the spiritual energy passed on to him by Sai Baba in performing miracles, a few compassionate devotees of Sai Baba went to Shirdi and reported it to him. Baba reacted apparently angrily, saying, "I wanted him to help spiritual aspirants by teaching them. Instead, is he doing this dog’s work?"

At the very same instant in Sakori, Upasani Baba began behaving like a dog - barking instead of talking, roaming on the roads on all fours, eating from garbage, etc. Upasani Baba’s close devotees were deeply pained by this deviant behavior as he was a very great scholar who always had adhered to vaidika dharma (traditional austerities). So, they went to Sai Baba and pleaded that he release Upasani Baba from the curse pronounced on him. Sai Baba, in all his compassion, responded by saying, "Did I curse him? I reprimanded only his performance of siddhis. Upasani is a great scholar and will continue his spiritual mission!" Immediately at Sakori, Upasani Baba became normal!

Realising his folly, Upasani Baba wanted to punish himself. He told his disciples that he had performed miracles solely to be looked up to as an important person. In atonement, he had them raise a steel cage in a prominent public place in Sakori in which he lived for some time on all fours !

During those ‘strange days’, a young, ten-year-old girl, served him by feeding him by hand and keeping his bent down body clean. This girl, whom Upasani Baba profusely blessed, became the future ‘GODAVARI MATA’.

Upasani Baba blessing Mother Godavari Mata

Godavari Mata was born on 24th December, 1914, in Shegaon, a remote village in Maharashtra. Her parents, were pious and God-fearing. Godavari's mother Ramabai had an extraordinary vision wherein a goddess blessed her daughter and gave a clear indication of her daughter's exalted destiny.

Even as a child, Godavari would be absorbed in worship and adoration of images of gods. Moreover, she had a magical touch - the food that she touched seemed to grow in abundance. She had an amazingly retentive memory which enabled her to recite any poem or passage that was read out to her once. Another notable feature of Mataji's early childhood was her instinctive attraction to all holy men and the reciprocal affection she induced in the hearts of great Yogis and Mahatmas. They probably recognized in the young child her potential for spiritual realization. One sadhu told her parents, "This daughter of yours is no ordinary soul. One day, she will meet a great Yogi through whom she will realize her exalted state and lead pious souls to their goal".

This prophecy was fulfilled, when one day in February 1924, Godavari Mata went to Sakori at the tender age of ten and met her Guru, Upasani Baba. The child Godavari was filled with devotion. The Master recognized his completion in the girl who stood before him. Likewise, Godavari intuited that she had met her Guru. Upasani Baba told Godavari, "All this belongs to you. You will have to see to its management."

Godavari Mata's unique outpouring of devotion to her Guru, and the many incredible hardships she suffered with great fortitude and humility in the service of the master are inspiring examples of what true sadhana means. Not that the Mother needed sadhana to realise her Self - she was born liberated. Her early life is a moving saga of surrender and devotion which cannot fail to inspire those who seek salvation through the path of para bhakti (intense devotion for God). Once, when asked by a devotee when exactly she had obtained that Bliss which is inseparable from Self-realization, Godavari Mata smiled and said, "When? There was not a moment when I did not have it! "

Godavari Mata advocated the practice of adoring God in any form suitable to the temperament of the aspirant. Japa siddhi (spiritual attainment through incantation), according to Mother, has been given to us as a special and easy method of attainment in this difficult Kali Yuga : Mother laid great stress on the powers of the mantra shastra, and she usually initiated deserving sadhakas by giving them appropriate namas or mantras. Those who have been blessed with such initiation by Mata, know the powerful impact of these mantras, both on their inner and outer life. The personification of purity, the Mother laid great stress on the gradual cleansing of one's thoughts, motives and actions. She gave a tremendous push to those who sought her Grace for spiritual progress, but at the same time she enjoined on the sadhakas the necessity of persistent effort. Guru's Grace does not operate until it is brought down by the persistent hunger and effort of the disciple. Mataji said, "The highest state man can aspire for is that of God, and to attain it, he has to exert himself. By self-effort man becomes God. Effort can make even God descend on earth or those of the earth attain heaven".

Though nurtured in almost monastic traditions of ascetic living, Mataji has had the courage and the vision to reject all formal manifestations of austerities. She has ushered in an era of gracious living, where Tyaga (giving up) is to be practiced to control one's inner life, thoughts and desires. Mother encouraged the performance of poojas and maintained that to worship and adorn idols with flowers, jewels and sandal paste was an outlet of man's primitive aesthetical impulse.

In 1917, Upasani Baba had laid the foundation for establishing ‘Shri Upasani Kanyakumari Sthan’. It is situated at Sakori, about 6 kms from Shirdi, in a quiet and calm village. The unique feature of this Ashram is that it is meant to enable young kanyas (spinsters) to learn Sanskrit, Vedas, Upanishads and perform Yajnas (sacrificial religious ceremonies with offerings to fire).

‘Shri Upasani Kanyakumari Sthan’ at Sakori

Godavari Mata, who was the head of the Ashram, herself guided the young spinsters not only in their unique activities but also in their assured spiritual improvement and maturity. She took them wherever she travelled, thus ensuring their growth in an all round way. This unique and special feature was given full recognition and appreciation, throughout India, by both the elite and advanced spiritual Saints. Sri Bhagavan’s Old Devotees, like Munagala Venkataramiah, Gajanan Deivarata, Krishna Bhikshu, Viswanatha Swami, TKS, had very great regard for her and spoke to me about her, appreciating Mataji’s invaluable services.

Mataji was the first Lady Saint from India to visit the Western countries. Carrying the Torch of Ancient Wisdom and unfurling the banner of Vedic culture, Mataji along with the kanyas performed a number of yagnas at almost all the important places in India and abroad - at Paris, Antwerp and London. Vedic recitations were arranged. The chanting of the Vedic hymns by the kanyas was very enchanting and left the audience spellbound. The Archbishop of Canterbury, who was present on one of those occasions, highly appreciated it.

Godavari Mata attained Mahasamadhi on 11th August, 1990. She named no successor. Samadhis of Upasani Maharaj and Godavari Mata are located within the Shri Upasani Kanyakumari Sthan premises, at Sakori.

GODAVARI MATA AND ME

In the 1960s, I was very eager to tread the spiritual path by serving the Old Devotees of Sri Bhagavan and the pilgrims visiting Sri Ramanasramam. Noticing my sincere spiritual aspirations, my teacher, Pundit T. K. Sundaresa Iyer, helped me by making me recognize the greatness of many Sages and Saints. I have no hesitation in repeatedly stating that I have had two upagurus (the great person who guides one to the Sat-Guru) : my own mother, Nagalakshmi Ammal, and my teacher, T. K. Sundaresa Iyer.

Mother Godavari Mata, along with her group of kanyas, came to Sri Ramanasramam in the late 1960s. My teacher spoke to me about the greatness of Godavari Mata, took me to her and requested her to bless me. Godavari Mata blessed me saying, “Your Guru is Bhagavan Ramana. This Ashram is your place of sadhana. Serve the devotees. You are already profusely blessed by Guru Ramana."