A Tribute to Sri Vasudevan

4th July 2016

Mohanji (was in Croatia at that time): Sri Vasudevan is unwell. He may leave his body soon.

(about an hour later)

I spoke to him. He said he do not want to be admitted in the hospital and want to leave his body in the temple at Bhagawan’s feet. Madhu is travelling to Vajreshwari as we speak. Dr. Gajanan is already there. He said he always thinks about me and wanted to hear my voice one last time and his blessings are always with me. This was so touching.

Madhusudan Rajagopalan (was with Sri Vasudevan in Vajreshwari), “Swamiji is not ill, he’s just weak and says he doesn’t want to be around for long… he’s fully in control.

(later)

We just left from Vajreshwari, conveyed pranaams from everyone. He was very happy to spend time with us.

Mohanji asked us to give him Gangajal, we got it for him and he drank one small glass of it. He said, “This is my medicine. Thank you for getting it.”

Absolute blessing to meet him today. All thanks to Mohanji.”

5th July 2016

Jeanetta and Dewa, who manage Fire Mountain Retreat, a centre near Gareth puri, first met Swamiji in March when we conducted ‎our Weekend program with Mohanji at their venue. They visited him every day since last week and paid their respects to him.

“We have great gratitude for being invited to visit beloved and super respected Vasudev Swami … it was such a joy and blessing to receive the darshan of this holy man experiencing the bliss of his faithful service and and his impending transition to glory.  Mohanji’s loving presence saturated the house during the time while we were there.

We brought an orange cloth that had wrapped Bhagwan Nityananda’s murti and flowers blessed at the samadhi shrine. We honoured and shared these gifts with Vasudev Swami for empowering his journey home.

He asked for nothing and said he was taken care of well.”

12th July 2016

Mohanji wrote, “Vasudevan Swami of Vajreshwari left his body at around 11AM IST today. I still remember his words when I bid good bye in March 2016. Unlike other times, he came out of the temple to see me off. He had tears in his eyes. He said, “Remember two things. There is not even one day that I do not remember you. And remember Bhagawan Nithyananda is always with you. Worry not. You are always protected.” I bowed down and left.

I told Kamath who was with me, “This seems like a final good bye. I may not see him again.” He merged into eternity today morning. Given are the pictures of his decorating me with a shawl.

Swami Vasudevan was decorated with a sacred shawl by Bhagawan Nithyananda’s devotees. The shawl was offered to Nithyananda for consecration. Swami Vasudevan was wondering what to do with this gift. Bhagawan told him, “Give it to Mohanji.“ He thought,“How will I meet Mohanji? Perhaps he is not in India. Bhagawan brought me to him last evening prior to our retreat in Ganesh Puri. He decorated me with the shawl. Divine Leela. What else can I say? Totally humbled.
While parting he told me,“One thing I am sure and shall tell you. Bhagawan Nithyananda is with you always and will be with you forever. I have no doubt. Trust me.“ His bhaav was overwhelming when he said that. He said, “Never be afraid of adversities. Your existence has purpose. Purpose is much larger than any adversities of existence.“ It was almost like a grandfather blessing a grandchild. While parting he also said,“Not one day goes by without me thinking about you. I remember you every day.“ In the myriad world of misunderstandings, this one understanding is worth the breath. Humbled. Grateful.

He was powerful. Deities visited him at his mere call and left their residues on the wall for visitors to witness and perceive. Life does not end. Only body ends.
Love to Swamiji. Love always.”

Rajesh Kamath, “Mohanji used to say that when Vasudevanji prays for someone to a deity, he tells the deity that it should be done. Such was his power and yet so unassuming in that frail frame. He attributed everything (the visitations, the miracles, the healing, etc) to the grace and blessings of Bhagavan Nityananda. He used to say that you will surely reach the goal when your every breath chants the Lords name. His life was one lived only for the Lord while ruthlessly removing all worldly desires. A truly divine soul who was the epitome of bhakti. When Mohanji met him the last time, Mohanji asked to pack a South Indian breakfast for him. He was so touched by the gesture. Mohanji said while leaving, “It looks like this is the last time we meet.” Sadly, and as always, those words were true. Rest in Bliss.”

Madhusudan Rajagopalan, “He passed away peacefully in the Nath mandir as he wished. His last rites were done in the afternoon. We are planning to collect his ashes and consign them to the Ganga.

When we met Swamiji last week, he asked us to do a bhandara (food seva) in Ganeshpuri in his name. We will coordinate and do this via Ammucare in the coming days.

The food seva through Nityananda sansthan (trust) will be done. This was Swamiji’s specific instruction… In fact, he told us that he did annadaan and abhisheka for Bhagwan Nityananda just before he got ill. He added that since then he had been praying to Baba to take him soon. And it happened…”

Narendra Bhandari: “I had the opportunity to seek his blessings on 29th March 2015. Rest in peace swami Vasudevanji.

Mohanji: We shall fulfil all his wishes as he told us including Annadaan in his name. We shall distribute his picture also along with food so that all those who  can bless him.
We shall immerse part of his ash in the river nearby Vajreshwari and part in the Ganga. We shall do this in July itself.

During a recent satsang, Mohanji told a story: 

A true story of Sri Vasudevan

I’ll tell you a real story. I always visit this place near Bombay. There is a small room with the presence of Bhagavan Nithyananda, and two Nath Gurus, Machidanath and Gorakhnath.

An 84 year old man, Vasudevan has been serving in the small temple for many years. He just washes the place and keeps the deities ready. People rarely visit the temple. This man is unbelievably powerful.

One day somebody gifted him a book in English about Bhagavan Nithyananda. He wondered, “What will I do with this book?” And in the evening Bhagavan Nithyananda came to him in a dream or in real, and said, “Give this to Mohanji.” He asked, “How will I meet Mohanji? He is always out of India.” Next day I reached there. He said, “Yesterday I was thinking how to see you and you came.” I said, “You were not thinking. You were pulling me! HA HA.” I was there during Kumbh Mela in September.
His mind is totally empty. Every thought is powerful. Do you know how he prays? He doesn’t pray in detail, he is very old. He says, “Oh, Lord Krishna, I haven’t seen you for a long time. Now my eyes are very weak, when will I see you?” And Lord Krishna appears. He not only appears, but leaves His impression on the wall. So it’s not imagination. He becomes excited like a child. If you go there and ask him, “Where did Lord Krishna come? Where did masters appear?” He will be very happy to show you, “Come here, I’ll show you.”

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XoJi5RV85p8]

While I was sitting there, Hanumanji was meditating in the temple. He said, “You know, this is where he was sitting.” And there is an impression of Hanumanji on the wall.
This time when I went, he could not even stand upright, he was bent. He was taking a bucket of water and cleaning. I asked him, “How are you lifting it?” “No, no, no, this is ok, I am serving God. I have no pain.” I know that he cannot walk and is full of pain. There is sacred ash emerging there. He keeps all the ash, and if any person with any ailment goes and says, “Please pray for me,” he will use the ash and it’s guaranteed to heal. I sent many of my followers there just to demonstrate to them what devotion is. Masters come to you not for the countless chants but for the purity of your heart.

I told some people, “Get him some nice clothes” since he wears torn clothes. When I met him next time, he kept all these clothes there. I asked him-
Mohanji: Why are you still wearing the torn ones? Where are other ones?
Vasudevan: Mohanji, don’t send me good clothes, I was afraid to look at them, because if I wear all these, people will think I am a rich man. You take it.

This time also he gave me a lot of clothes.

Mohanji: Don’t give me all these clothes, I have clothes.
Vasudevan: No, I kept them for you, take it.
Mohanji: I can’t take all these clothes, there are too many.
Vasudevan: Ok.
Mohanji: What will make you happy, if I take all these clothes, or if I leave it?
Vasudevan: If you take all these clothes, I’ll be very happy.
Mohanji: Ok, then give them to me.

He is an amazing man but local people don’t even know him. His neighbours have no idea who he is. When I visited him this time, he told me how at night some people threw stones at him. Being partially blind, he couldn’t see who threw stones. No stone hit him. I asked him, “Did you tell the police or anybody?” He said, “You know, that’s the beauty of karma. If somebody throws stones, it is their problem, not mine.”
(Laughter)

I remembered Sai Baba’s incident when someone threw stones at him and one stone hit his head and he started bleeding, he said “The injury is on this body. Pain is with God”
Vasudevan Swam said, “We should not even think bad about anybody. When they throw stones, they also take the karma. We should not be worried.” His eyes showed that he has just a few more months maybe. One person came to him while I was there. I asked, “So you have an assistant now?” He said, “No. He is just visiting”
There are various people like him but not visible to us. You cannot estimate the power of a master because if you start analyzing, you lose him completely.

When I told the story of Dipaka, I suddenly remembered this man. Unfortunately after his death, this temple will probably also wither away, unless someone with understanding and selflessness takes over with commitment. If you just tell him my name Mohanji, he would start crying out of deep affection – there is so much love, he doesn’t know what to do. I met many masters like him but they are not in the public light. You hardly see them, but if you want to experience real love, you have to meet such people. Apparently, this is the very location where the great book Nath Rahasya was delivered to human kind.

Sudeep (July 2012): From “Pilgrimage to Nithyananda’s Shrine at Ganeshpuri”

Finally we left the Ganeshpuri premises for Vajreshwari another 3 kms towards Bhiwandi and went straight to a Nath temple. From the main road one cannot easily find the temple. This is also a very powerful place where Bhagwan Nityananda would often sit and meditate. There are padukas of Maschendra Nath and Goraksha Nath of the ancient Nath tradition. The priest of the temple who is very old and frail looking told us that both Maschendra Nath and His disciple Gorakhsha Nath did penance there for two months to appease the Goddess and that the spot is very sacred.

Bade Baba later converted that into a temple. The original padukas of Bade Baba are also there at the altar. The priest is a great Bhakta and very saintly. He mentioned that it is not possible for ordinary people to reach there as the devatas there do not permit the same. This place lies well hidden and only those who are truly “invited” can reach there. The priest also is not just a priest, he is a great saint, but totally unassuming. He has the power to manifest any God at will. When he saw Mohanji, he asked him to stay with him or at least have food with him, which he would willingly cook for Mohanji!

Many visit Vajreshwari Devi temple across the road or even Ganeshpuri but rarely somebody visits Nath temple, because it is not visible at all. This saint is deep into Bhakti and is totally established at the being level. He does not do any great spiritual practice.  He is a saint and does not even realize that He has great powers. I have met Him several times before and always felt so, but never saw Him exhibiting any powers, just like any true saints who will never display any siddhis. He is very pure and humble.

He has had darshan of all Deities, Gods and Goddesses inside the temple and He showed their impressions on all the four walls of the temple to Mohanji, with a lot of enthusiasm. He also mentioned that if the inner eye is not open, one cannot even witness the residue left behind by the great Avatars, Gods and Goddesses. He had Bhagwan Nityananda’s live darshan several times there. Outside the temple in the garden there is Samadhi of Swami Ram Teertha, another disciple of Bade Baba who was asked by Baba to look after the temple before this priest. In fact the priest told us that Bade Baba gave His padukas blessed by Him at Kailasa to Swami Ram Teertha to place in this temple and worship.

We all did pooja here and the priest blessed us with the udi (sacred ash) of all the three energies. He mentioned that the udi is very powerful and bestows one with all the achievements in life! Mohanji bowed down and touched the feet of this saint which was very touching! We all touched His feet. Mohanji later revealed to me that God sent me there to the Nath temple to have darshan of this saintly priest who is so pure that He does nothing except devotion and always stays at the being level. All Gods, Goddesses and Deities come and give darshan to Him while we are busy doing some or other sadhana to fill our space and evolve spiritually. We go to temples and holy places searching for God. While Gods visits this simple man! This is the truth of spirituality one must clearly understand. All you have to do is increase eligibility through being-ness and nurturing purity within. God will guard you. Mostly we seek God and do pilgrimages to have Their darshan but its special and different when Gods come to us and give darshan. We should elevate our purity to that level in non-doing mode i.e. at being level by constantly being aware of each moment of our lives.

The saint told us many stories that he had encountered in the temple and was reluctant to let us go. It was so homely for Mohanji too, as he truly belonged there. While we were leaving, the saint was standing at the door and waving at us until we moved away from his vicinity. We felt as if we were leaving our own home and our parent was wishing us from the door step. This is the beauty and bonding of our Tradition. The Tradition never leaves your hand and it comes around as reminders whenever we walk away from it.

Then we left for the darshan of Vajreshwari, Renuka and Kalikadevi at an ancient temple on the little hillock. After the darshan we bowed at the Shiva temple there as well as the Hanumanji temple. On the right side of this temple at the back is the Lord Dattatreya temple under the only Rudrakasha tree with pictures of Bhagwan Nityananda, Swami Muktananda, Swami Ram Teertha and Sai Nath of Shirdi.  The priest at the Nath temple told me that Bade Baba would sit for long periods at this place as well.

Dhritiman Biswas: In the early 2014, I went to meet Sri Vasudev ji near Ganeshpuri (Maharashtra). I had already met Sri Vasudevji the previous year. We talked fondly about Mohanji. He remembered Mohanji’s visits to this Nath temple with a twinkle in his eye.

He showed me Mohanji’s eye cards and a printout of the blog on Mohanji’s universe about him! He asked me to translate the blog and smiled as I read it out loud. He also enquired about Bibaji and Mila. A dhoti was presented to him on behalf of Mohanji, at his lotus feet.

He narrated a couple of interesting incidents about Bade Baba and Gandhiji. Once Gandhiji came to pray at this same Nath temple before an agitation against the British. Bade Baba told him, “You are Paramguru. Why have you come here? You go and do your work.” When Gandhiji was in London negotiating with the British Government, Bade Baba instantly told his followers in India what had transpired (in those days, even a telegram took days to reach). Next day, the newspaper declared exactly what Bade Baba had told his followers!

Sri Vasudevji asked me to meditate inside the Nath mandir and then showed me the forms of Gods on the wall. I had the honour of drinking tea made by him for me. He also gifted me pictures of Nath Gurus, Sai Baba, Devi Mata and Bade Baba (now kept at my home altar)!!!

Preethi Gopalarathnam: (Kumbh Mela Trip in September 2015)

I would like to share my experience during the visit to Ganeshpuri on our way back from Nashik.

Mohanji said he would like to spend time with Vasudevan swami (a highly evolved saint at the Nath mandir in Vajreshwari). He asked us to proceed to take darshan at Nithyanand Bhagwan’s (Bade Baba’s) Samadhi and meet him back at Vasudevan swami’s place. It did cross my mind why he did not want to come to the Samadhi mandir after coming all the way to Ganeshpuri. We dropped Mohanji at Vasudevan swami’s Nath mandir opposite Vajreshwari temple and went to Bade Baba’s shrine.

As our group had a couple of first timers we went to Kailash Bhavan first to show them the place where Bade Baba used to live. We sat opposite his chair and meditated for some time. The place was as powerful and full of energy as it always is. Numerous devotees have felt and seen Nityanand Bhagwan in and around Kailash Bhawan even to this date. I have had the grace and good fortune of having his darshan too on one such visit. I will write about it separately some other time.
There is a room opposite the bath tub which is sometimes open to visitors. This was where Baba used to sleep. The last couple of times the room was open and we got in and meditated there for some time. I tried to open the door but it was locked. I put my head on the door and peeped in and thanked Bade Baba for this darshan when I got a very strong fragrance of vibuthi once again coming from inside. I instinctively recognised it as Mohanji’s fragrance, the same one I got at the snaan. As I kept my head there I also got a strong smell of sandalwood and after a while I could smell other multiple fragrances coming from the room. Madhu, Nikunj, Arusha and Vidya each put their head there, smelt the fragrance and their forehead began to pulsate as the energy inside was very high. Every single one of us were amazed! At that moment we knew Mohanji was inside with Bade Baba and I felt a couple of other masters were there too. We then went to the Samadhi mandir right in time for Aarti and needless to say the darshan was magical. We left after the Aarti without waiting for the Prasad as others in the group would be waiting for us at the Nath mandir. Once we went there I saw Mohanji and asked him what he was doing at the Kailash Bhavan? To which he replied with the same twinkle in his eyes that he did not have to be physically present at Ganeshpuri to take darshan of Bade Baba. He also confirmed there were a few of them there at the room. It was an amazing moment for me as a reconfirmation of how one’s own experience cuts out the doubts set forth by the mind. By the end of our trip I understood that what we see physically is a miniscule of Mohanji’s stature and presence. I remember what he told me when I met him at the Mumbai centre, “Try to understand me then you will never leave me”. My single prayer to him is to help me understand him, as I would never want to leave him ever and I pray it always remains that way.

Aparna Nazre (Kumbh Mela trip in September 2015)
I would like to share the most memorable visit to Vasudevanji. My one last wish was to visit the holy saint Vasudevan in Ganeshpuri. And since my flight was at 3.30 PM, Mamuji said that I might have to cancel the Ganeshpuri visit, as I would miss the flight otherwise. I was sincerely praying that I would get the opportunity to meet Vasudevanji. And not surprisingly, I had enough time to visit this saint along with Mohanji. The visit was so amazing.

Vasudevanji was an epitome of humility and a normal person can just pass him as another human being. I was just not feeling like coming out of the house, by which time, Rajesh and Mamuji started calling me saying I needed to hurry or I would miss my flight as it was already very late. After taking the blessings of my Guru and Vasudevanji, I hurried towards the cab to get my luggage. At that moment, I got a call from an unknown number, which I didn’t intend to pick, since I was terribly late, but somehow picked it to know, that my flight was delayed to 4.20 PM. Phew!!! What a timing… Now I had enough time to reach airport on time. What grace and unconditional love Mohanji is!!! Sheer joy and I was almost ready to jump of happiness. I bid goodbye to Mamuji and Rajesh and the entire group with a heavy heart. I was indeed able to make it to the airport on time.  Miracle after miracle is what I saw in this trip.
In conclusion, what I learnt from the entire trip was – have the best intentions and surrender to Lord – Things will definitely turn out well.
My sincere gratitude to the entire team and fellow travelers.