Swamini Niranjanananda is 83 years old. She lives and works out of CIF in Veliyanad, Kerala. There is a silent hum surrounding her being… the hum of her Narayana, Gurudev. Swamini ji continues to teach, to hold camps and satsangas. The smile that you see playing on her countenance is for Gurudev who she sees in everything. Hers is a lifetime spent in unconditional surrender.

It was June 1993. I had just graduated from my Vedanta Course at Sandeepany , Powai. I was in the best of spirits and health, very eagerly awaiting Gurudev. Others like me stood wearing bright yellow clothes and very pleased with our calling.
Gurudev was giving us deeksha, one by one… He came to me next and putting the rudraksha mala round my neck, he as if pressed near my ear lobes….

After lunch a fever seized my body. It shot up and raged like a forest fire. I was verily in a swoon. Gurudev was leaving for Sidhabari and then to the US. My fever was consuming. I was not even able to go and see him off. The fever took over my body for three full days. I, Brni. Tapasya Chaitanya was already enduring the fire….

And in 3 days the fever went away, having done its job … and it felt calm.
Something happened – some type of change had happened. Sometimes when the mahatmas wish you or bless you, some change happens, that is what I felt. That the fever is not some ordinary fever, he has pulled out some bad element from my system. What it is I don’t know. But it was a very rare, unusual experience.

August 1993 Gurudev attained samadhi. Just two months after he gave me brahmachari deeksha and set me on the path. One month after he passed away, I got the letter he wrote to me from Sidhbari or US can’t tell — but it shook me to hear from him during a time we were struggling to cope with his loss. He wrote to say: “We have to serve the Lord.”

Soon after my graduation and fever at Sandeepany, I had written to ask Gurudev why are you going to the US when you are unwell… and he replied to say we have to serve the Lord etc. The coming of his reply a month after he had left this mortal world was as if a reminder….

So then when I thought back I began to see that in every action of his, there was satya sankalpa.
Going back to the pre-1993 days…… One incident took place, which made me feel that he had blessed me in some special way.
Before I joined the Mission, I had worked in the Chinmaya Vidyalaya for 10 years as headmistress, Principal and so on in Madras and Bangalore. My home town was Bangalore and I was posted in Madras. The salary was not enough to sustain me in a new city, so I decided to leave and return to Bangalore. Gurudev agreed but he was not happy. He was always concerned about our betterment.
Then one day Gurudev came to Bangalore for a camp. I went to meet him, and he said, ‘why do you want to take retirement so early? You go and work in my school here… .’

It was an order. The next day he left for camp.

Prema Krishnamurthy was the correspondent for all Bangalore schools. Gurudev stayed at her house when he visited Bangalore. I went to her and said, ‘Gurudev wants me to work in your school, I don’t know what to do.’

I had been working as headmistress and principal, all along and Prema’s school already had a headmistress. So Prema was unsure what to offer me. I told her ‘don’t worry, I will work as anything.’ It was a small school up to class 6. Prema made me class teacher for class 6, and gave me all the trappings of that level. Very kind of her. All along I was concerned about what Gurudev had in mind for me. I wrote to Gurudev and shared these developments.

Time passed..

Gurudev was in Beijing. To my surprise,he wrote, ‘Prema needs a new principal…’ I could not fathom this. The school had a principal… what was Gurudev saying?

The next day the principal resigned for no reason! Whatever it be, her resignation coincided with his sankalpa!

I am convinced that his sankalpa is satya sankalpa. And I became the Principal and stayed so for 4 years and the first batch of class 10 kids passed during my tenure.

Then I wanted to resign and go away and join the Mission, enroll for Vedanta and so on. But Prema was not happy. She wrote to Gurudev and said, ‘ we hardly have any good teachers, Tilottama cannot go’ (Tilottama would later become Brni Tapasya and then Swamini Niranjanananda). Gurudev understood her plight but told her, people cannot stay for you, they have things to do, they need to do other things too.’ But the next day one lady came, a very highly qualified lady and she was a perfect principal! Out of the blue Prema’s anxiety was also met. She joined and stayed as Principal for the next four years! Once again, his sankalpa brought for the school a very good principal.

Hear this story as well and be convinced that his sankalpa was satya sankalpa!

There are so many people to whom Gurudev always said, make a true sankalpa if you want it to be fulfilled! Tapovan Prasad (TP) was a very simple magazine those days. When I finished at Sandeepany in 1993, Gurudev said you must go there and improve TP. I had not a dot of experience with writing or publishing, but he was giving me all of TP. Then again, I had wanted to go to Bangalore but Gurudev consoled me and said you go to Madras and change TP. I trusted him implicitly and straight from Sandeepany I went off to Madras, while Gurudev (if you recall) went off to the US.

Slowly I became involved in TP. The editor was a very old lady and Gurudev wanted her to retire given her age. Before you knew, the editor herself retired!

Things happened very fast. Gurudev attained samadhi. Swami Tejomayananda took over. TP came under his charge. Guruji asked me to take over. I agreed. Remember, I had no editing, writing or publishing experience or training. I only had Gurudev’s instruction.

The first TP was a big hit! It was Gurudev’s sankalpa that was unfolding. Gurudev ensured that happened! How it works every time! Whatever he said happened! He chooses the person for the job and always he accomplishes what is necessary! He was a fantastic personality.

What we think and he thinks are so different. At the age of 60 he empowered me to study and become a brahmacharini. Usually he takes people at that age only as guest students. But I joined the Brahmachari course at the age of 59 an age usually he would not take a new student into Sandeepany. And Gurudev cut new roads for me. That is why I said he did something to empower me and bring out my potential.

It was what he envisioned…..!

-Excerpt of an article from Celebrating Gurudev by Swamini Niranjanananda (08-05-2015)