Keshava bharati # 25

25

Around three in the morning, Nimai swam across the Ganges that flows near his home. Without even changing his wet clothes, which clung to his skin, he walked straight to Katwa—a distance of about thirty-five kilometers—arriving around nine o'clock. Once there, he went directly to the ashram of Keshava Bharati Maharaj.

The latter, sitting under the porch of his hut reciting verses from the Vedanta, saw a person as radiant as the sun approaching him. Captivated by this aura, he stood up. "Incredible..." he could only murmur, his eyes squinting and his face strained as he tried to discern those fantastic features. As the form drew closer, the mystery cleared. He then realized the figure's human nature and recognized Nimai, the famous scholar. He was happy to see him. But after Nimai offered his respects and revealed his intentions, he was caught off guard. He stammered: "The... the sannyasa? You come to see me... so that... I give you sannyasa?" The words tumbled over his tongue, forcing him to fall silent.

Undecided, he stared at him for a few moments in silence. In Nimai's eyes shone only determination, will, and an enigmatic confidence, as if nothing in this world could affect him. Disoriented, he turned his back and took a few steps; then, with a judgment he intended to be irrevocable, he let out: "Listen Nimai, I love you very much, you have many qualities, but you are still too young; you are barely twenty-four years old. And your mother, what will she say about all this? And your wife, your guardians? Do you really think you can just show up at my place one fine morning and ask me to grant you the...? Well, no! I will not do it."

He finished his sentence, peremptory, staring him in the eyes. But already, he felt himself weakening. He was afraid. In truth, from the second Nimai shared his incongruous request, he had begun to feel fear. Fear of not being able to resist, fear of saying "yes" in spite of himself; so much so that when a crowd gathered around them, he felt the pressure ease, certain that he had the support of the people.

Since it was a specific religious day of the year, a huge crowd from the surrounding villages had gone to bathe in the Ganges, and the news—that Nimai had left his home to embrace the order of renunciation—spread like wildfire. The villagers rushed to the scene, rowdy and protesting.

In protest, someone exclaimed: "Keshava Bharati! We will never allow you to take action. Do you not see the sacrilege you are about to commit? How can you give sannyasa to this twenty-four-year-old young man who still has his mother and a wonderful wife? Look at how beautiful he is, and you would deprive the world of this splendor! If you do this, we will destroy your ashram on the spot; never, do you understand! Never will we consent to this infamy."

But Nimai still insisted, pushing Keshava Bharati to consider his request. The latter sought in vain for a way to back out. Yet he knew he could not escape this iron will. He tried his luck anyway: "Fine, I will give you sannyasa, but on the condition that you first obtain permission from your family."

Hardly had he finished his sentence when Nimai was already dashing off toward Nadia.

Keshava Bharati immediately changed his mind: "Wait!" he cried out, defeated. He knew that Nimai's power of persuasion was such that he could make the most sensible man eat dirt. He muttered: "It is useless, tomorrow we will proceed with the ceremony..."

An outcry rose from the crowd, which grew restless and prepared to carry out its warnings. But Nimai, happy to have been accepted, began to sing and dance, drawing everyone into a frenzy of the holy Names that would last all day and a great part of the night.

Next chapter : The Renunciation Ceremony # 26
Preceding chapter : The renunciation of Nimai: ​a crucial decision # 24