10 Jan Blessed Is the Day You Appeared, Srinath
— Written with devotion by Charanashrita Somananda (beloved Shubhodip)
Today is the sacred day of appearance of my refuge, my very breath, the supreme father of my life—my Mantra Guru, Sadhak Dibyasundar, whom I lovingly call Srinath. And so today I sit down to write about my Baba. I do not know what to write, how to write, or even in which language I could possibly describe him. I have neither the ability nor the worthiness to offer him anything—yet I try, with all my limitations, to describe someone whose vastness is like an endless ocean.
There was a time when I searched for him almost like a madman. It was Baba Basudev who led me to him—only because of Baba’s grace did I find him. Even when I strayed onto wrong paths, I returned to my father’s sacred feet, and he too pulled me close like his own son. What a Guru’s affection is, what the company of a Guru truly means—I have deeply experienced this in my own life by remembering my Gurus and Acharyas. That is why I too try to raise my own children in the same spirit.
Shrinath’s heart is wider than the sky itself. He holds all his disciples close as one. I have never seen him angry. Even strangers receive such affection from him that it feels as though he has known them forever. This is what a true Sadguru is—one whom, if you simply hold on to, your liberation is assured.
While searching for Sadhak Basudev Baba, one day I reached Shrinath. My elder Baba (Sadhak Bhikshuk Sundar) and Srinath’s elder sister were also present then. I arrived one evening while Gurudev was seated in worship. After some time, he turned around, saw me, and said,
“Hey, you’ve come? Sit down.”
I was stunned. I did not know him. I had never met him before. How did he recognize me?
After the puja, he came to me and asked, “Where have you come from? Why did you come so late? You should have come much earlier.”
At that very moment, I fell at his feet and said,
“Baba, I was going astray. The wrong people were leading me in the wrong direction. Please save me. I set out today in the name of Baba Vasudev, searching for my Guru—and I have reached you. Please give me refuge.”
After a pause he said,
“Baba himself has sent you. Now sit quietly and speak to the Mother. She will take you to a very great place.”
Today I know—Guru’s words are like the Vedas themselves. I do not know whether I reached a ‘great place,’ but today I have become a point of trust for countless people. That itself is Guru’s grace.
From that day onward, I would run to him almost every day. He would simply say, “When the time comes, it will happen. Why are you worrying so much?”
There were days when I sat waiting and Baba did not come to the temple. Yet my Guru-brothers and sisters helped me so much—and still do—that I can never forget my debt to them.
One day, rising from the seat of worship, Baba said to me,
“Listen. On this day, come wearing new clothes and take your seat. I will give you initiation.”
There was no limit to my joy. I danced all the way home announcing that I would receive diksha.
On the day of initiation, he gave me the mantra, personally taught me how to chant, how to perform puja. And after everything, he said,
“I am not your Guru. Baba Vasudev alone is your Guru.”
Even today he reminds me of this again and again. He tells me to move forward with Baba Vasudev, never to look back—because behind us is only filth.
Sitting with Baba, learning japa, puja, homa—everything happened only because the Mother willed it. Later I progressed deeply into Tantra, yet he never restricted me, never became angry when I went to other Acharyas. Instead, he supported me. That is why he is a Sadguru. That is why he is Brahman itself. I worship him daily as my Ishta.
There are countless moments spent with Shrinath—far too many to describe in one day. He is a true divine practitioner, a Mother-centered sadhak. Sadhak Vasudev himself had said that only those who retain divine feeling till the end attain the Mother. Srinath is a reservoir of love. From him I learned how to make everyone one’s own, how to spread the Mother’s name through love.
Even today he remembers me so deeply that when I cannot reach him, he calls my disciples to ask about my well-being. He asks about my health and tells everyone,
“He is my son—see, my mad son.”
After learning so much Tantra, today I feel I need nothing more. When the Guru is with you, what else is needed? I have endured hundreds of blows because my Guru has always stood beside me, and the Acharyas have silently supported me. Nothing else truly matters.
Once, wanting to learn the Mother’s homa, I told Srinath. Immediately he brought a notebook and drew everything—how to arrange the firewood, which offerings to place, how to perform the homa. Yes, I had to step forward myself, because a student must approach the teacher—this is the rule.
Shrinath and his elder brother (my elder Baba, Sadhak Bhikshuk Sundar) were extremely close to Sadhak Basudev. For many years, Vasudev Baba stayed in our Guru’s home. He painted the Baglamukhi Mother’s sacred image there—an image that is still worshipped today. Even my Gurudev’s name was chosen by Baba Vasudev himself, and the lineage was formally passed on to Bhikshuk Sundar and later to Divyasundar—documented in Baba’s own handwritten letters from 1982.
On a Guru’s appearance day, a disciple’s duty is to offer praise. But how can I praise him? I am his lowest child—and yet I am his own. So today, I only share fragments of my conversations with him.
In 1975, at Kashimitra Cremation Ghat, Baba Basudev initiated my elder Baba. In 1978, on Kali Puja, Baba Vasudev initiated my Shrinath—who was then working under the Central Government (a job he himself says came by Baba’s grace). Since then, he has held on to the Mother and continues to serve her exactly the same way even today.
This is my day of joy—because today is my Shrinath’s appearance day. Even now he tells me,
“Keep moving forward. No obstacle can shake you. Your Guru is Basudev Baba himself. Baba will complete his unfinished work through you.”
What more could one ask for in this human life? The one whom the Guru remembers has already crossed beyond.
Baba, may you always be well. May you always be healthy. I will come to see you very soon, and again we will speak of Vasudev Baba together. Keep your hand upon my head always, so that I may follow your words exactly as you say.
Victory to the Guru.
Victory to the Mother.