All chapters33 of 42

Celebrations Again

O TRANSCENDENT Papa! Many devotees did not appreciate our proposal to stop the celebrations in the Ashram. So when you were away from the Ashram on tour for the third time, that is, in 1938, one of your devotees suggested that the celebrations should be held, for by so doing all devotees get an opportunity of assembling together at the Ashram and thereby derive spiritual benefit. Agreeing with him, you instructed us by letter to get ready big copper vessels. Accordingly I got them made. On your return all the preparations for the celebration to be held the following December were made.

O Papa, who pervades the entire universe! This time we did not send invitations to anybody as before, but the devotee who took the lead in this huge enterprise, himself mailed invitations to devotees all over India. All the Ashram friends were under the impression that this devotee had taken up the entire responsibility of conducting the celebration himself. So on this occasion we did not receive much financial aid from them. Even on previous occasions we could not avoid running into debts. This time the celebration took place on a grand scale, unlike the previous ones. As the people who attended it were four times more in number, we fell a prey to unusually large debts. As a result, you in the form of creditors, came and demanded their dues. As we had no money to pay off the debts you wrote to a devotee for a loan for discharging the debts. The devotee cheerfully sent the needed amount as his gift. So it became possible for us to clear off the debts incurred for the celebration.

O Papa, the lover of the humble! Although I was not in favour of conducting any more celebrations, at the time when these celebrations were held in the past, many men, women and school children used to gather in the Ashram during their vacation. You in the forms of the visitors on these occasions, paid the required money for preparing and distributing Payasam on the main day. Besides, due to the enthusiasm of the devotees there were on these days more than the usual Bhajan, Harikatha and so on. So one day’s celebration took place spontaneously.

O love-incarnate Papa! As the number of people who attended the celebrations was becoming larger and larger, the Ashramites could not bear the strain of the heavy work which entailed on them. Therefore, we had to specially engage paid cooks for three days on these occasions. Thereafter we found it necessary to employ two cooks permanently.

O Papa, the bestower of bliss! In 1944 we had your Shashti Abdapoorty celebration. At this time innumerable devotees gathered in the Ashram and the three days’ functions were carried out with great eclat. A devotee of Bombay, with a view of presenting you sixty thousand rupees on that day, sent a circular letter in this respect to devotees in different parts of India. The total amount collected came to about one lakh of rupees, including Rs.28,000 donated for the construction of the Sri Krishna Udyog Shala. The amount of Rs. 62,000 was offered to you as a gift on that occasion. Out of this sum, Rs. 40,000 was utilised for the payment of all Ashram outstandings.

O Papa, the ocean of grace! After the opening of the Ashram, for some months we were carrying on without incurring any debts. At that time our way of life was simple and easy. As years passed, the Ashram expanded and devotees belonging to various castes and grades of society started coming. We had to prepare for them food and other things of a higher standard, with the result that the mode of living in the Ashram took a turn which meant more comforts and more expenses. However, we were paying off the debts in small instalments from the gifts of money received by you from the devotees. But we could not, by these small payments, liquidate the growing debts. After the sixtieth birthday, from money received as gift by you, we were able to clear off all the Ashram debts.

O Papa, the love-incarnate! Some years after your Shashti Abdapoorty celebration, came the Silver Jubilee of your Sannyas in 1947. This expensive celebration lasted for three days.