Gita Press and the Making of Hindu India (12 page)

On 18 May 1975 Raihana died, relatively unsung. News of her death was carried as a brief by
The Times of India
that called her ‘a sufi’ ‘who worked for Hindu-Muslim unity and women’s emancipation’.
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Communion with God
The image of Poddar as a grand seer who could not be distracted from his preordained path of propagating sanatan Hindu dharma was a part of a larger exercise undertaken by himself and those around him, led by Goyandka, to show him as God’s chosen one. Though this myth began with the story of his birth, what added lustre to it was Poddar’s own claims of having repeatedly experienced communion with God.

G.D. Birla, who had grown close to the Congress, especially to Gandhi, and was a firm believer in secular principles, openly resented such claims. Goyandka had written to Birla about Poddar having ‘visions’ of God but Birla was not impressed. In a subsequent letter to Birla, Goyandka referred to what Birla had said—‘I think it is wrong to encourage talk about such things and even spreading it’—and argued: ‘. . . one does not know the condition of another person . . . It is up to you to believe it or not.’
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Goyandka was sure ‘Poddar is not a person who would lie’. Goyandka himself claimed to have ‘visions’ of God, but in the narrative about the two leading figures of Gita Press, Poddar, the disciple, eclipses his mentor.

Both Gambhirchand Dujari’s account of Poddar’s life (2000) and the earlier biography by Bhagwati Prasad Singh (1980) speak of Poddar’s ‘visions’ that were not only beneficial to him but also to the public. Poddar was seen as God’s own messenger who would provide accounts—often even verbatim reproductions of his conversations with God—to the public about what God felt and wanted from believers and how pressing issues of religion should be dealt with. Such ‘visions’ were not the only way in which Poddar’s extraordinary position was extolled; there were a series of simultaneous events, most of them supernatural, which showed the ‘pervading presence of god’ in Poddar’s life.
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In one case of 1925 in Bombay, described in Dujari’s account, Poddar met a Parsi gentleman at the Chowpatty beach who introduced himself as a ‘ghost’. The narrative, entirely in Poddar’s words, describes how this Parsi gentleman approached him seeking his help to conduct pind daan.
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This raised the obvious question of why a Parsi would want to perform a Hindu ritual, and that too in the afterlife. Poddar said that when he asked this question the Parsi replied that he had been an ardent reader of the Gita in life. Poddar sent priest Hariram to Gaya (Bihar) to carry out the pind daan on the Parsi’s account.

Poddar listed three other extraordinary events in his life. Whether by divine providence or God’s benevolence towards his chosen one, in one case his friend Ram Krishna Dalmia was helped to tide over a serious loss in business, and in the other two cases Poddar himself was saved from being hit by a stone while travelling in a train. On both occasions the stones flew inside the compartment seconds after he had changed his seat.

The Poddar Papers do not specify the year, but talk of a huge loss to Dalmia incurred through speculation. This is said to have been recovered after Poddar conducted a special religious proceeding; however, Dalmia failed to fulfil the vow made during the proceeding, though Poddar warned him that this could result in another loss. The Poddar Papers claim that Dalmia indeed suffered another big loss, though there is no substantiation of this fact.

Poddar’s first so-called ‘vision’ of God in the presence of others was on 16 September 1927 in Jasidih (now in Jharkhand), a mining town with a large Marwari population that controlled the trading business. Jaydayal Goyandka was there for a religious discourse along with his entourage, and Poddar told Goyandka and others about his earlier ‘visions’ of Lord Rama and then of Lord Vishnu himself in Simlapal where he had been sent for his involvement in the Rodda Arms Conspiracy. His encounter with Lord Vishnu was an aborted one, he said. Later in the day, Goyandka with his followers climbed up a hillock near Marwari Arogya Bhavan for the discourse. Poddar suddenly turned silent, and seconds later told the gathering that God had appeared before him. Someone asked if God was standing or sitting, and Poddar replied, ‘He is on a lotus.’ There was silence again, then Poddar expressed anxiety that he could not touch the feet of God as he was moving away. After a brief interval, he claimed God was again in front of him, urging the others to look as well. He was touching God’s feet, Poddar said, and then fell unconscious. It was Goyandka’s feet he was touching.
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This experience repeatedly recounted, evolved into a pattern in his accounts of subsequent ‘visions’. The most graphic of his visionary experiences was in Gorakhpur on 8 October 1927, just days after his Jasidih encounter. Poddar recounted that God gave him twelve pieces of advice:

• It would be beneficial to keep the experience of your ‘vision’ of me secret.
  
• People who fight in the name of religion do not know my influence.
  
• Full cow protection will take some time to get implemented.
  
• My incarnation is far away.
  
• If you want to do good for society, take my name. In this period taking my name is good enough.
  
• Those who give patronage to sinners in my name cannot be protected even by Yamraj.
  
• It is wrong to think that my name will help in washing away sins and help in getting material benefits.
  
• My name is dearer than the name of a beloved. It should be used for love alone.
  
• Arrogance is on the rise. It is the biggest stumbling block to getting near me. Warn arrogant people that it would destroy them. Arrogance is worse than lust and anger.
  
• Do not assure anyone that he will have a ‘vision’ of me.
  
• Do not make any mention of this experience other than the one in Jasidih.
  
• I will not come like this again. I have come twice without you even calling me. I had to tell you all this. Remember me and I will appear before you, but do not commit any mistake.
  

Poddar would have more ‘visions’ of God in the next few years. In 1936, he claimed to have been met in Gita Vatika by celestial sage Narada and Angiras (the sage who received the Atharva Veda). Poddar claimed that they explained to him concepts that are not part of the shastras.

The news of Poddar’s extraordinary powers, some called them divine, spread like wildfire in the Marwari community. When Balkrishna Lal Poddar of the firm Tarachand Ghanshyamdas and an old business associate of Poddar asked him a few questions relating to his ‘vision’ of God, Poddar’s reply was predictable. He said there were many who ‘suspect, doubt, give wrong argument and dispute’ but ‘I do not care even if it is humiliating to my beloved Lord’. As had become a pattern in his life, Poddar asked Balkrishna to return the letter, keep it secretly or destroy it: ‘It would be good if others do not read it.’
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Though at first Poddar was circumspect about his ‘visions’ becoming a matter of public knowledge, by the 1950s he freely talked of having God’s ‘vision’ as a commonplace achievement possible for anyone who was devoted to God.

 

Self-doubt
Despite his life being completely devoted to spiritualism and his proclaimed interaction with the divine in all its manifestations, Poddar was not immune to the emotions and aspirations that drive ordinary men. He suffered long spells of self-doubt coupled with a sense of failure at convincing everyone around him about the supremacy of religion, spiritualism and the path that should be followed. ‘Members of my own family despite knowing of my status act in a contrary fashion. They go for movies, eat bread that maybe is made by Muslims or untouchables. They use glass utensils, eat each others’ jhootan (leftovers), do not greet elders and do not offer evening prayers. I observe all this and cannot do anything about it.’
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Poddar’s despondency about his own life and the working of Gita Press would continue throughout the 1960s.

Even before he joined the Gita Press, Poddar had wanted to live on the banks of the Ganga. In fact, Goyandka had promised to set him free once
Kalyan
stabilized, but this never happened. For all his protests and threats about leaving, Poddar’s association with Gita Press lasted his lifetime. At times he would openly talk about the rot in Gita Press and tell his friends that it should be closed down. Goyandka would then remind him about the Press’s mission of societal good. When Poddar requested Goyandka’s permission to join Gandhi’s Salt Satyagraha in 1930 at Padrauna, near Gorakhpur, Goyandka turned him down, writing that ‘joining politics can be an obstruction to the path of bhakti’.
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In 1934 Poddar made a request to Goyandka for ‘leave from writing, talking and putting his name’ to anything in
Kalyan
and by the Gita Press. ‘I live here but my mind is not in work,’ he told Goyandka.
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Goyandka’s reply in half-Marwari and half-Hindi was a masterstroke that totally disarmed Poddar.
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Not engaging in argument with Poddar’s statement that his mind was always restless and he needed peace, Goyandka replied that he should take it as the will of God against which he or anyone else could do very little. As for Poddar’s desire not to write, Goyandka put him in a moral bind: ‘Without your writing
Kalyan
would become lacklustre. I would not be surprised if
Kalyan
loses its readers in the future. You did not write for the
Shakti
Ank
and the issue does not have the same appeal. If you do not write others will also not write. Some articles have appeared that have produced a negative impact. Try your best to write. The rest is up to God.’ Further, Goyandka wrote, ‘Without your name
Kalyan
cannot be advertised. It would also be wrong to falsely use your name.’

In response to Poddar’s desire to live in isolation and peace, Goyandka offered to build a house for him in the garden of one Sukhdeo where he could work without interference from too many people. In his letter Poddar had expressed regret for his behaviour that he said was akin to an animal’s, but Goyandka did not agree: ‘Your behaviour is impeccable. I don’t understand how you can say that everyone in the world is better than you.’ Goyandka finally prevailed upon Poddar to give up his stand of not associating himself with
Kalyan
and the Gita Press.

In 1939 a melancholic Poddar left Gorakhpur and the work of Gita Press to stay at friend Ram Krishna Dalmia’s cement factory in Dadri. Though he had taken Goyandka’s permission for three months’ sabbatical, Poddar did not intend to return. Writing to one Madan Lal, Poddar said he had not taken a vow not to return to Gorakhpur but at the same time he did not know where he would go.
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A few months later, one Pitambar Prasad Aggarwal sought his help but Poddar curtly told him he had stopped looking after the work of Gita Press and was leading a secluded life.
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Goyandka finally convinced him to return.

In 1962, citing general inertia, he expressed his helplessness in running the affairs of
Kalyan
and Gita Press. He requested Goyandka that he should be relieved from all responsibilities of Gita Press and
Kalyan
—to the extent that the two should not bear ‘my name, signature and advice’ and ‘I should be considered dead.’
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Writing to an acquaintance, Poddar said he was not the person he had been made out to be by others, and neither was Gita Press any more the ideal place to seek spiritual solace. ‘Till a few years ago this was a good place for those involved in spiritual exercise . . . This place is not fulfilling, as it is marked by demonic traits like self-promotion, jealously, materialism.’
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Indulging in self-flagellation, Poddar continued, ‘There is no limit to my meanness and misdemeanours. Neither could I become a good person nor could I help my associates improve.’ He also gave instance of other organizations, saying that Aurobindo Ashram had become a centre of commerce and education, Ramanasramam was caught in legal wrangles and the Ramakrishna Mission was only involved in running hospitals—all activities far removed from the path of God.

Again in 1967 Poddar moved out of Gita Press and was living in Dadri when Shiv Narayan, a sadhu, wrote to him seeking to work for
Kalyan.
Poddar replied that he had completely left work at Gita Press and was immersed in meditation and other spiritual activities.
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Such long absences from Gorakhpur were noticed outside the Gita Press family, and commented upon. In 1939, when Poddar was out of Gorakhpur and Chimmanlal Gosvami was filling in for him, writer Nand Dulare Vajpayee accused Gita Press of becoming a commercial enterprise and Gosvami of being an unworthy replacement, even if for a short while. Poddar was in Bankura when he received Gosvami’s letter about Vajpayee’s criticism. Poddar dismissed the charge of Gita Press having become commercial but admitted he had been selfish in leaving the work to Gosvami: ‘I know you will not have the same place in the Press department and running of the organization but I have deliberately and selfishly passed on the work to you. It will not cause any harm. But I will remain obliged for your favour.’
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Growing Stature
Over the years, as Poddar’s stature grew, so did his disenchantment with Gita Press. He not only distanced himself from the organization of which he was the pivot, but got more and more involved with other organizations. Besides being closely associated with the movements for cow protection, against the Hindu Code Bill and restoring the birthplaces of Rama and Krishna, he was roped in as a delegate for the All India Cultural Conference organized by Indian Cultural Academy (ICA) in March 1951. With President Rajendra Prasad as chairperson and the official historian of Congress Pattabhi Sitaramayya as working chairperson, the ICA was filled with other senior Congress leaders like Zakir Husain, Rameshwari Nehru and M. Ananthasayanam Ayyangar.