Dharmashakti, the jewel that you will receive by the grace of God will help remove the ignorance of so many. (1.1.1960, Mumbai)
Dharmashakti, you are Niranjan’s nurse and I am his lord, his creator. If he improves he is mine and if he spoils, then my possession will be spoilt. How does it concern you? From your side, you must only give him the right education. Having risen above your attraction and attachment, your only task is to raise him. Any concern for his future is my responsibility. (24.5.1961, Munger)
Many years ago I went to Gangotri with Dharmashakti and Satyabrat, Swami Niranjan’s father. At that time, he said to me, “Swamiji, please give her something.” I said, “There is no child in her destiny, but there is one in mine.” However, he kept asking me; it was purely a joke. So I said, “Okay, make a resolve that you will give that child to me and not keep it for yourself,” and so the resolve was made. If they had taken Niranjan, then he would not have survived, because Niranjan is my manas putra, mind-born son.
As a child, when Swami Niranjan slept, you could remove his bed and take him anywhere, and he would not know. He slept like a log! When he was asleep, the swamis would take him off his bed and carry him from one side of the ashram to the other. They were very mischievous, but not in front of me. I knew all about it, but I never considered this childish mischief to be something very negative.
I used to teach yoga nidra to Swami Niranjan because I was doing research, not because I wanted to make him something. Gold is gold, a diamond is a diamond and iron is iron by birth. It is no use polishing iron in the hope of converting it into gold. Swami Niranjan is Swami Niranjan by birth. I did not make him Swami Niranjan. I taught him yoga nidra because I was trying to observe its effects on the subconscious mind. I was doing an experiment and it proved successful. I had read in psychology that suggestions given in a state of sleep enter the deeper layers of the mind. To test this, I used to read the Vedas, Upanishads and other texts to Swami Niranjan during yoga nidra. I did not do it to make him into something outstanding or because I was worried about his future. What would he have done with those achievements? A sadhu needs only two rotis. He is never bothered about becoming something. If a sadhu achieves something along the way, well and good. If not, it is equally good. He is happy just being a mendicant, smoking his chillum and chanting ‘Bam Bam Mahadev’. We believe it is the will of God. Ultimately, it is God’s will and not mine that will prevail. In the Ramayana, while consoling Bharata, Sage Vasishtha says:
Destiny is too powerful to be resisted,
Loss and gain, life and death, infamy and repute,
All are in the hands of the Almighty.
4 December 1994, Rikhiapeeth