I have been long
cheerfully serving you all; now rejoice and wish me Godspeed. I
go to meet my Cosmic Beloved.' In a whisper, Pranabanandaji added,
'I shall be reborn shortly. After enjoying a short period of the
Infinite Bliss, I shall return to earth and join Babaji. {FN27-8}
You shall soon know when and where my soul has been encased in a
new body.'
"He cried again, 'Sanandan, here I kick the frame by the second
KRIYA YOGA.' {FN27-9}
"He looked at the sea of faces before us, and gave a blessing.
Directing his gaze inwardly to the spiritual eye, he became immobile.
While the bewildered crowd thought he was meditating in an ecstatic
state, he had already left the tabernacle of flesh and plunged
his soul into the cosmic vastness. The disciples touched his body,
seated in the lotus posture, but it was no longer the warm flesh.
Only a stiffened frame remained; the tenant had fled to the immortal
shore."
I inquired where Pranabananda was to be reborn.
"That's a sacred trust I cannot divulge to anyone," Sanandan replied.
"Perhaps you may find out some other way."
Years later I discovered from Swami Keshabananda {FN27-10} that
Pranabananda, a few years after his birth in a new body, had gone
to Badrinarayan in the Himalayas, and there joined the group of
saints around the great Babaji.
{FN27-1} VIDYALAYA, school. BRAHMACHARYA here refers to one of the
four stages in the Vedic plan for man's life, as comprising that
of (1) the celibate student (BRAHMACHARI); (2) the householder with
worldly responsibilities (GRIHASTHA); (3) the hermit (VANAPRASTHA);
(4) the forest dweller or wanderer, free from all earthly concerns
(SANNYASI).
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