One-Year Tapas
Shivabalayogi giving darshan on August 7, 1969, after completing one year of tapas for world peace.
A crowd in the tens of thousands witnessed the yogi emerge from a year of isolation at the Bannerghatta Road ashram in Bangalore. The pressure of the multitude was so great that a section of the wall surrounding the ashram had to be torn down.
Three excerpts from film of this occasion, "One Year Tapas", can be seen online HERE.
One Year Tapas
Found in a Crowd — Darshan among Tens of Thousands
I first met Swamiji and had his darshan in 1968, the first time he was in Agra. Shortly after that, Swamiji began tapas for one year. He was to get up on August 7th of 1969. I decided to go to Bangalore with some Agra devotees to have darshan of Swamiji on this occasion. We went by train, a long journey arriving in Bangalore the third day after we left Agra.
On the day Swamiji was to come out from tapas, we placed ourselves in front of the dais that had been set up for him. But the crowd was so much that we were pushed away and out of the compound wall. We saw Swamiji because he was seated there for several hours, but we couldn’t get close enough to touch his feet.
I came back to the ashram the following day. Even that day the situation was almost the same. There were so many people that there was no opportunity for me to get close to Swamiji. All I could do was look at him from a distance, but my desire was to touch Swamiji’s feet.
I asked several people to somehow get me darshan of Swamiji
so that I could touch his feet, but nobody could help me. Finally I went
to the Bhadawar Maharaja and asked, “We have come all the way from
The maharaja replied, “With a yogi, recommendations won’t work. So don’t ask me to do that. I cannot.”
I felt very bad. I knew that all the arrangements for the function had been made through the Chief Minister of Karnataka. Transportation and police had been arranged and the officials were getting to go into Swamiji’s room for darshan. I thought to myself, “If only I were a minister. If only I were a VIP or a politician, Swamiji would have called me. I would have gone inside. I would have had his darshan and I would have touched his feet. But I am just an ordinary devotee, an ordinary man. He won’t bother about me.”
Just as I was thinking this, a devotee came out of Swamiji’s
room and went up to the Bhadawar maharaja and asked, “Sir, who is Mr.
Chatturvedi from
The maharaja turned to me and said, “Your wireless message has reached Swamiji.”
I told the devotee, “I am Mr. Chatturvedi from
“Swamiji wants you inside.”
As soon as I went inside, I did pranam and touched Swamiji’s feet. Swamiji said, “What is it? What is it that you want?” Then I realized that Swamiji had understood my thoughts. I felt so immersed in Swamiji’s love that I couldn’t say anything at all. Tears started rolling out of my eyes. I couldn’t stop crying.
Miraculous Healings
The most wonderful miracle cure I saw was on the 7th of August, 1969. This was the day Shri Swamiji gave darshan after completing one year of tapas. Among the almost endless stream of devotees filing past for darshan came a mother who brought a child they say was dead. If the child was not dead, then the boy was certainly in a coma that preceded death. As the distraught mother stood before Swamiji’s asana and looked at him with silent beseeching eyes, his grace seemed to flow out and flood the room.
Anang Singh Deo was standing next to me and he was suddenly gripped by an intense trance condition. In the trance, he walked over to the child, placed his thumb on the child’s forehead, and stood with his other hand extended towards Swamiji. Watching Anang, I felt as though a high voltage current was passing from Swamiji through Anang and to the child. Anang’s entire body was quivering and his face was contorting with the intensity of the power that he was transmitting. To the astonishment of all present, the child slowly opened his eyes. The mother was delirious with joy and the news that Shri Swamiji had restored a dead or almost dead boy to life spread like wildfire. There was a near riot as people jostled one another to have darshan of the great saint who had performed this miracle. I along with many others saw this with my own eyes and that very day recorded it in my diary.
On the same day and in like manner, Shri Swamiji cured a little boy who was almost completely crippled. This boy had come for darshan a cripple, but to the joy of the boy and his parents, he walked out of the darshan hall with sound and healthy limbs.
Scenes from films of the crowd that gathered at the Bannerghatta Road ashram on
August 7, 1969,
to see Shivabalayogi emerge from his one-year tapas for world peace.
The films can be seen online
HERE.