Chapter VII
Attitude to Marriage and Sex
Though Bhagawaan Ji's
parents and some other relatives pressed him to marry, he spurned their advice.
They had speculated that, if he got married, he would take to a householder's
life, and be a bread winner for his family, but this proved only a dream.
Bhagawaan Ji was a born brahmachaari (celebate) and
remained a celebate throughout his life. He must have cultivated this virtue
during the course of many previous births. That alone can explain his remaining
unaffected by this powerful natural urge, to which even some saints have been
seen to succumb.
Just as Shri Ramakrishna Parmahansa advised people to
shun kaarnini and kanchan (lust and greed), Bhagawaan Ji would say 'Where is the
way for spiritual advancement so long as there is lust?'
At twenty, Bhagawaan Ji's ways were becoming visibly
godly. Some of his class-mate companions, in order to test him, took him to a
house of ill fame, which they visited to satisfy their carnal desires. They went
to the woman's room by turns. Bhagawaan Ji's turn came last of all. He went into
her room and found her lying in a compromising position. Addressing her as a
witch, he bade her stand up, administered her a rebuke and advised her to give
up her sinful ways. Then he flung a rupee coin at her and left the room. He felt
that it was all bliss. His companions had found bliss in illicit sex indulgence
while he had found it in abstinence. This fact was revealed by Bhagawaan Ji to
his companions the very next day, and he pitied their lot and that of the woman.
Some saints do not allow others to touch them but
Bhagawaan Ji was different. He allowed anybody (who offered to do so) to press
his feet or legs, and repeatedly said that his legs were mere splinters of wood.
Once, when I was indisposed and pressing his legs and
feet, he said, 'Have you thrown your senelity on to me?' Normally, saints do not
allow people to touch them as, thereby, the taints or ailments of the latter are
transferred to them. But Bhagawaan Ji was an ocean of grace and such things did
not affect him at all; instead, he allowed people to get solace by pressing his
legs or feet.
While he lived at Rishi Mohalla (1947-57), a lady once
came to his place. As soon as she took her seat he started beating her with an
iron pincer. As she took to flight, he followed her to the compound and also to
the lane just outside the house. As he had never before shown such anger on any
occasion, all sitting in his room were surprised. After he had taken his seat,
he explained, on his own, that the unchaste lady had visited two friends that
morning, and then she had come to him, steeped in the sin.
Once, a group of five women from outside Kashmir came
to see Bhagawaan Ji, and he remarked, 'They live by prostitution. This is
Kaliyuga' Once, a man fell for the blandishments of a widow, and was planning to
meet her. He went to see Bhagawaan Ji. As soon as he was seated before him, he (Bhagawaan
Ji) spoke out this, to all present: 'A drop of semen will produce fire all
around. Why go in for such a folly?' The man understood that, if the widow
conceived, the news would spread like wild fire to the great detriment of them
both. The conception might result in abortion or the death of the baby. if born,
by any other means. The man shuddered. This was Bhagawaan Ji's method of
bringing people to the path of righteousness. Once, another man fell for the
shapely legs of a lady, began to follow her and stated trying to meet her. When
he went to see Bhagawaan Ji, the latter told him, 'What is the charm in fine
legs' The whole body is food for Mahakaala (the god of death)'.
|