My Homage to Swami Devavratananda (Gaur Maharaj)

You know God gave birth to the Progenitor of us all on Earth and called him Manu. But did you know that our Progenitor had some elder brothers? There were four of them and these have been a source of fascination for their younger brother’s progeny from times immemorial. We monks (and nuns) have sprung from Manu but we walk the way of the four Kumaras.

‘We are a honeycomb’ said somebody about Indians, recently. He was right with this description notwithstanding how wise or unwise might have been his other pronouncements. Ramakrishna Mission too is a honeycomb. Gaur Maharaj was indeed a useful busy bee. He joined the Order in 1965 at Delhi. He went on to serve at Ranchi TB Sanatorium, at Bhubaneswar and Bankura and then at Sri Ramakrishna’s Kamarpukur. His Payasam was a treat to eat. At Baghbazar, after many years of work, he had been living a quiet life for the last few years under Mother’s Shadow. He seems to have imagined that he would fold up his life there. But Providence had other plans. He had to go to Hospital in Kolkata. Many great ones have breathed their last there but we have a thing about dying within our ashramas. We wish it but we hardly can cause it. Gaur Maharaj wanted it and played hard trying it. He was not too co-operative with the medicine men and he managed to come to Belur Math where they constantly coaxed him to consume his medicines. Finally he was granted his wish. He passed away without much suffering in Belur Math.

Yet another simple and unpretentious monk left us.

Official Obituary : 
http://www.belurmath.org/news_archives/2013/09/03/obituaries-august-2013/