Chaganlal V. Yogi
Swami Madhavtirtha the saint had to travel to Arunachala for receiving the grace of Bhagavan. In contrast, with the skeptic Chaganlal V. Yogi, the master went to him! Chaganlal V. Yogi was a confirmed atheist. He denied the existence of God, scoffed at sages and saints, and was convinced that because of them the world was filled with corruption, inequality and misery. As a young man, he was a hard worker. In the metropolitan city of Mumbai, he was recognized as such and had a good reputation. He owned a printing press and as he was a very entertaining conversationalist, he had many friends. But all their efforts to make him give up his skepticism met with no success.
One day, when Chaganlal Yogi was commuting by a local train, one of his close friends who had been to Ramanasramam and had the darshan of Ramana Maharshi told him about his greatness and how he was God in human form. Chaganlal laughed at him, though with sympathy and pity. The friend persisted, “Here, I have brought vibhuti, holy ash, from Ramanasramam, from holy Arunachala. Please apply a little on your forehead.” Chaganlal would have none of it. A few days later, another friend who had also been to Ramanasramam, gave him a beautifully illustrated book, Sri Maharshi, and said, “I am coming from Ramanasramam, Chaganlal! Believe me, the Maharshi is God! Go to Arunachala and see Ramana Maharshi. You will then definitely change your skeptic views. Or else, at least read this book.” Being a printer, Chaganlal felt he had to go through the attractively printed book. Through yet another friend, he then received a copy of Self Realisation, the authentic biography of Ramana Maharshi by B. V. Narasimha Swami. Chaganlal was surely but slowly falling into the tiger’s jaws! When he started reading Self Realization, many doubts started rising in his mind. He still had no opinion of Ramana Maharshi, but he wrote to him about his doubts. Though the replies he got were logical, Chaganlal felt they were merely intellectual. Still, he had to concede that there was some depth in them. “This mere intellectual knowledge and understanding is not sufficient. I must have direct experience.” Propelled by this strong feeling and the persuasion of his friends, Chaganlal the skeptic set off for Tiruvannamalai in December,1938.
When he came to the presence of Bhagavan, he felt Bhagavan focussing his look on him. Immediately, Chaganlal started feeling the peace of Bhagavan’s spiritual benevolence. He now felt that the presence, the affection and the compassion of Bhagavan were all very genuine. Chaganlal himself has recorded what exactly happened to him at that moment, “The darkness in me that had been heavy and unbearable before, gradually lightened and melted into a glow within. My erstwhile sadness disappeared completely leaving in my Heart an inexplicable joy. My limbs appeared to be washed in an ocean tide of freedom. The colour of the world changed for me and the light of the day now took on an ethereal aspect. I saw the foolishness and futility of turning my gaze on the dark side of the life. Bhagavan, the strange magician, had opened before me a fresh new world of illumination and joy. Thus, I was caught in the tiger’s jaws.”
He went there for just a day, but he could not release himself away from that benevolent influence. It was neither hypnotism nor mesmerism, but pure love, compassion and peace. He returned to the presence of the Maharshi again and again. Once, in a dream, Bhagavan held his hands and took him to the top of Arunachala. Chaganlal Yogi deeply felt that this was a symbol of Bhagavan’s assurance that he would attain the goal of life. (Many other devotees too, have had this same dream of Bhagavan appearing before them and taking them to the top of the holy hill.)
Chaganlal Yogi could no more bear to be away from Bhagavan. He wanted to always be at the holy feet of his master. He was prepared to give up the world and make Arunachala his permanent abode. But he was also conscious that he had to maintain his family. Despite this, in 1945, he decided to sell his printing press in Mumbai and come to Bhagavan for good. When he was wondering how to sell his printing press quickly, Bhagavan appeared to him again in a dream. In the dream was also one of his friends who had never been to Ramanasramam. Bhagavan pointed to this friend and told Chaganlal, “Sell your press to him.” In reply to this, in the dream itself, he asked Bhagavan, “I have to maintain my family. At what price should I sell it to him? He must buy my press, so that I can come to Arunachala.” Bhagavan wrote on the wall, a five figure amount which was satisfactory to him. On waking up from his dream in the morning, when he went to his press, the very same friend who was in the dream was waiting for him. Chaganlal told him details of the dream. His friend immediately agreed to buy the printing press at the price Bhagavan had indicated in the dream!
“His Glance of Grace”
However, his friend advised him, “Go to Tiruvannamalai every week. But continue with your profession. Put a printing press in Bangalore and stay with your family there. That way, you will be able to visit Bhagavan often and also be of help to the ashram in printing their publications.” Chaganlal went to Bangalore. There, he identified a big press which had not been operating for six months. When he asked its price, its owner quoted a price which he could not afford. But by now, this skeptic turned devotee knew the way out. He requested the printing press owner to come with him to Ramanasramam. Though the man had never heard of Ramana Maharshi, he went with Chaganlal. In the Old Hall, Bhagavan was told about the problem. Before he could answer, the owner of the press agreed to sell it to Chaganlal at the originally offered price! This, of course, was the magic of the presence of Bhagavan. The press was soon bought. On Chaganal’s request to give it a name, Bhagavan named it ‘Aruna Press’. Soon, the publications of Ramanasramam were being printed there.
Bhagavan’s devotees wanted to celebrate the golden jubilee of his advent to Arunachala on September 1, 1946, as he had come there fifty years ago on September 1, 1896. They also wanted to bring out a fine souvenir to commemorate the event. And of course, they wanted Aruna Press to print it. It was a big book with lots of illustrations. Chaganlal knew that there wasn’t enough time to complete the printing. But he could not say no because it was for the ashram. Faced with this dilemma, he went to Bhagavan and told him how it was physically impossible to complete the printing within the stipulated time. Bhagavan listened for a few minutes and then went into silence. After some time, Bhagavan told him in English, “Do your work.” Chaganlal took it as a command and blessing. He worked day and night along with his enthusiastic workers. A few days before the celebrations, maybe in the last week of August, he took copies of the Golden Jubilee Souvenir and presented them to Bhagavan - much to the delight of the devotees who had assembled at the ashram in large numbers.
Chaganlal Yogi narrated two beautiful incidents on Bhagavan’s sense of equality. Chaganlal Yogi affirmed that he had met many sages across India, and Bhagavan’s sense of equality and sharing things equally was unmatched. He narrated how one day when he was seated in the hall, Bhagavan received a big parcel from far away Punjab. It contained chyavanaprash lehiyam, an ayurvedic health tonic. The devotee, who had sent it, had requested that Bhagavan should eat a little bit every day for two months, as it would improve his health. Bhagavan simply smiled. The next morning at breakfast, there was a little portion of that tonic on each one’s leaf plate. The entire portion was equally shared and finished in one day! An anxious devotee asked, “Bhagavan! It was meant to be taken by you every day, for two months. You have exhausted the whole thing in a single day.” Bhagavan gave a benign smile and said, “Yes. Do you think Bhagavan has just this one mouth? All these mouths are Bhagavan’s only.” Bhagavan did not transgress the wish of the devotee who had sent the tonic. Bhagavan had eaten the whole thing - but through the mouths of everyone there!
Seeing Bhagavan’s poor health, a devotee made Indian bread with a lot of ghee and brought it along with a cup full of milk and another cup full of orange juice. He took all these to Bhagavan in the hall and said, “Bhagavan! You should take this for your health.” Bhagavan did not even look at it. Bhagavan never liked any special treatment extended to him. Not understanding this, one of the ladies in the hall pleaded, “Bhagavan! Just because we requested you to sit on the sofa, did you not oblige us by sitting on it? Like that, why don’t you take this too? This is only for your health.” Bhagavan said, “Yes. What you say is true.” To everyone’s shock, he then got down from the sofa and sat on the floor. They all begged, “Bhagavan, Bhagavan, please sit on the sofa.” The poor lady who had tried to persuade Bhagavan, entreated him with profuse tears in her eyes, “I am sorry Bhagavan. I did not mean this to happen.” With a glorious smile on his face, Bhagavan replied, “Why are you sorry? You have told me the right thing to do.” He refused to get up from the floor. Fortunately, an attendant with long years of service took the bold step of lifting Bhagavan and putting him back on the sofa. Bhagavan did not resist being lifted up. He also didn’t insist on sitting on the floor. Chaganlal Yogi also told me that once an American came with a single slab of chocolate and gave it to Bhagavan. There were thirty six people in the hall at that time. Bhagavan said, “Cut it into thirty six pieces.” After the tiny pieces were equally distributed, Bhagavan took the last piece. “Bhagavan was that brutally firm about sharing things equally!” said Chaganlal Yogi.
Once, there was a swami who came to Arunachala and took shelter in a mantap on the pradakshina road going around the hill. The mantap was just a little away from the ashram. Soon, he became known for curing sick people with holy ash. Hundreds and hundreds of people started flocking to him. It was a great sensation at that time. On their way back from the vibhuti swami, some of them would come to the ashram too. At that time, Bhagavan had rheumatic problems with his knees. When he wanted to get up, he had to apply a little ayurvedic oil on both knees. One day, he did not apply it on one knee. Consequently, when he tried to get up he could not. He sat back on the sofa and started applying oil on that knee. At that time, a huge group of people came after having darshan of the vibhuti swami. Seeing Bhagavan massaging his knee, they went away with a disappointed look without even prostrating to him. Pointing to himself, Bhagavan smiled and said, “What must they be thinking about this swami who is massaging his own knee? Perhaps they must be thinking, ‘How can this swami heal others when he cannot even heal his own knee ailment?’” Chaganlal Yogi observed that Bhagavan could make a joke about his own inability. Even when miraculous cures did happen on account of a devotee’s faith in him, Bhagavan never accepted any responsibility for such cures. Instead, Bhagavan would say, “All these things take place automatically and are part of the natural activity of one’s Self. One’s attention has always to be poised on one’s Self.”
Chaganlal Yogi had a daughter and a son. When the daughter came of age, Chaganlal Yogi’s wife was worried about her marriage. She approached T. P. Ramachandra Iyer, who promptly took her to Bhagavan. Another devotee had just come into the hall. When they informed Bhagavan, he pointed to that devotee and said, “Why do you worry? Here is Bhatt. Approach him.” Bhatt had a son for whom he was trying to find a match. The betrothal was settled in the presence of Bhagavan. That couple live happily in Chennai to this day. Years back, Chaganlal Yogi wanted a son to be born to him. A son was born and Bhagavan named him ‘Arun’. The whole family was completely devoted to Bhagavan. In Bhagavad Gita, there is a verse wherein Lord Krishna declares, “Anyone surrendering to me, the burden of their entire family I take over and look after them.” This skeptic surrendered to Bhagavan and Bhagavan took complete care of the whole family. Later in his life, Chaganlal Yogi settled down at Anandashram in Kerala. There, continuously chanting the name of Ramana, Chaganlal V. Yogi passed away peacefully and consciously in the presence of two saints, Swami Ramdas and Mataji Krishna Bai.
Mother Krishnabai and Swami Ramdas
