‘Not me, only thou...’

Golwalkar's initiation by Swami Akhandananda during Sri Ramakrishna's centenary year marked a profound spiritual transformation, shaping his life of selfless service and devotion to higher ideals

- ANIRBAN GANGULY

1936, Sri Ramakrishna's centenary year, was passing by with Golwalkar absorbing drops of nectar of the wisdom of the Guru. On January 12, Swami Akhandananda told Golwalkar, 'Tomorrow is your diksha. Observe fast today.' The next day, January 13, writes Ranga Hari, 'was the sacred day of Makara Sankranti, birthday of Swami Vivekananda and the first day of Uttarayan that spells well-being of humankind. At the sacred moment the Guru initiated the disciple.

For Golwalkar, that inflection moment, as he described it, 'was the greatest day, a day to be written in golden letters, because, great fortune accrued through ages with countless births, had finally smiled on me and I was the recipient of an indescribable bliss from the kind hands of Gurudev. Experience of that day is literally most sacred. Words fail to describe that sense of sanctity. I can never forget those moments. The look in the eyes of Gurudev, his affection, his overpowering presence; the way he kindly bestowed upon me that luminous joy - I think and hope I will never forget all this. Every atom of my body was tremulous. I experienced a transformation. I was no more the person I was a few moments earlier.'

The last benediction was towards the end of January. Swami Akhandananda, his physical health deteriorating, called Golwalkar one day and said, 'May you have the best of everything, may you achieve self-realisation. This is my only prayer to Guru Maharaj. I am passing on to you anything that may be good in me. May you be the recipient of any goodness that I may have and may all your poor qualities come unto me... Go now. This is my blessings to you. Remember this every evening, always. Go, may good things always happen to you. What better blessings can there be other than this?' 'Was this a transfer of power at the spiritual plane? Who knows?' asks Ranga Hari.