Table of Contents
Shri Shri Anandamurtiji was bom in Jamalpur, Bihar, India, at dawn on the full-moon day in May 1921, the same day that Buddha was born about 2500 years earlier.
The sun was rising at the moment of His birth, so the baby was named Arun which means “crimson dawn”.
Later, His name was changed to Prabhat Ranjan, meaning “that which colors the dawn.” His full name was Prabhat Rainjan Sarkar.
Some days after the birth, a ceremony was performed where aA cotton wick was dipped into a silver pot of milk and then held over the baby’s mouth so that the milk could drip in.
At that moment, however, Arun lurched forward, grabbed the wick and started to drink from it directly.
Everyone was shocked, especially the grandmother who exclaimed, “He is not a baby, rather he is a grown-up boy! He is Burho!”
From that moment, Burho, which means “the ancient one,” became His nickname.
- Later on, it was shortened to Bubu.
Many years later, Baba was asked about this incident.
- He said He realized it would be better for Him then to act like a normal child.
When He was only an infant, He narrated strange experiences to His mother, telling her how all the animals of the universe would enter in one of His ears, and go out the other.
Many of the descriptions lit animals which He had never seen or which were extinct.
He also narrated how all the planets and galaxies were floating through Him.
His family members all remember seeing Prabhat Ranjan, even from a very young age, frequently sitting on His bed in the middle of the night performing meditation.
When He was 5 years old, Prabhat Ranjan accompanied His parents to a Shiva temple.
In the presence of the temple priest, the child gracefully recited a lengthy Sanskrit hymn to Shiva with perfect accent and intonation.
The priest was shocked. How could a small, uneducated boy perform such a feat?
In primary school, Prabhat Ranjan caught everyone’s interest by His astonishing memory and grasp of countless scientific phenomena and geographic facts that were beyond the capacity of a human mind.
He also surprised many people by His daily habit of visiting the old unkempt Kali Hill Temple, a thoroughly frightening place which everyone else avoided.
When asked why He went there, the child replied, “I go there to think.”
One day while walking home from school, He came upon a group of other students standing on the road.
A large bull was blocking the path of the children, and they were afraid to push it aside. Prabhat Ranjan stepped forward and held His palm in front of the bull’s forehead; immediately the bull sat down.
During every vacation period Prabhat Ranjan was sent to the family’s peaceful ancestral home at Bamunpara in Burdwan, West Bengal.
He spent much of His time lying in bed. So His sister complained that He was lazy, neither studying nor playing like other children.
She said she believed He did not even know how to write His name.
He asked her to bring a pen and paper. Then He wrote His name in 5 scripts: Bengali, Arabic, Roman, Devanagrii and Tamil.
From that moment she stopped pestering Him.
Many years later, Baba mentioned that at 7 years old, while spending long hours lying in His bed in Bamunpara, He chalked out His blueprint for the future Ananda Marga.
This habit of remaining lengthy periods in bed changed when He finished His plan.
From then, He became a student leader.
During classes, He sat very still, listening carefully, and absorbing every detail.
But once out of class he would change completely.
He loved gymnastics, swimming, wrestling, football, track and field events and other sports. He also enjoyed playing the flute, and writing poetry and short-stories.
Eventually, He composed articles concerned with public welfare which he published in commercial magazines.
His father died at the age of 45, and the family was beset by financial hardship.
Nevertheless, His mother made the necessary sacrifices so that Prabhat Ranjan could attend college.
In 1939, her son was admitted to the faculty of science in Vidyasagar College in Calcutta where He assisted students troubled by poverty.
He took private tutoring jobs in order to help others.
Students also flocked to Him for help in their studies—even senior students.
He also began attracting many people with His unusual talents—palm reading, fortune-telling, and manifesting various supra-psychic phenomena.
Every evening He used to walk along the bank of the Ganges River, where He would also sit for meditation.
Throughout His life. He never had any spiritual teacher or guru. One night, however, He began His own work as a guru.
It was a full-moon night. He was meditating in a cremation ground on the bank of the Ganges.
Suddenly, a tall robust criminal demanded, “Give me your money, or I’ll kill you immediately!”
Unafraid, He said:
The dreaded thief was:
- electrified by His composure
- amazed that he had been addressed by name
In a flash, he understood the youth was a saint.
Moments later, he entered the river to purify himself of his sins, then sat before Prabhat Ranjan and said.
Then He initiated Kalicharan, who, while doing meditation, entered the superconsciousness state.
Afterwards, Baba compelled a weeping Kalicharan to accept the few coins in His pocket.
From that day, the rectified thief became a great spiritualist and his name was changed to Kalikananda.
During His time in Calcutta, Baba stayed at the house of His maternal uncle, Sarat Chandra Basu.
Sarat Chandra’s cousin was the famous social activist Subhash Chandra Bose who is not famous in the non-Indian world.
- But in India, his memory is commonly equal or greater than that of Mahatma Gandhi.
Ghandi and Chandra Bose were the greatest leaders of the independence movement against England.
Baba also had a close relationship with the revolutionary sociologist M.N. Roy.
Over several years, both Subhash Chandra Bose and M.N. Roy frequently visited Baba to imbibe sociological concepts and solutions from Him.
Subhash Chandra also benefited from Baba’s knowledge of Tantra.
After completing His intermediate studies in science in 1941, the dire financial condition of the family forced Baba to give up His further studies.
He returned home and joined the accounts department of the railway workshop in Jamalpur.
At that time, Jamalpur was home to the biggest such workshop in Asia, with thousands of employees.
Two years later, during WW2, He entered the Territorial Army.
After completing His military service, Baba returned to the railway workshop, and continued working there for over 20 years.
He:
- was esteemed by the staff for His perfect efficiency and loving nature
- became renowned as a palmist and fortune-teller.
Many people came to Him to:
- find out the whereabouts of their lost children and articles
- be healed from chronic or incurable ailments
One day, while India was still a British colony, Prabhat Ranjan was approached by an English gentleman who told Him that his wife was suffering in a London hospital.
She had sent a telegram saying that the doctors found it difficult to diagnose the disease, but had decided to remove one of her kidneys.
The man was depressed because he could not go to England to comfort his wife due to the war. Baba closed His eyes, then told him to send a cable requesting the doctors to make another medical check-up.
Baba said:
After a few days, news came that his wife was healed and on her way to India.
When she arrived. Baba was invited to their house. When He entered, the wife was astonished.
The husband was stunned. Baba, however, evaded their questions, and quickly left the house.
In those days, Baba kept a special mirror in His bedroom.
Occasionally when people expressed anxiety to Him about their far-away relatives, He would allow them to look into the mirror and see their relative.
From this experience they derived great relief. Each time that He did this, however, He became sick for some time.
A woman was once desperately weeping about not being able to meet her mother just before her mother’s death.
Baba showed her the mirror in which she saw her mother calmly sitting in a rowboat on a lake.
The woman was very satisfied. After this, He became very sick for 1 month.
During that time, Baba’s mother came in the room and broke the mirror.
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