HATHRAS(U.P.) - A DIFFERENT STORY

Hathras town in Western UP is on the headlines currently for dubious reasons. It is also a

town which has 4 railway stations with the word Hathras in it. (City, Jn, Kila, Road)

But Hathras is remembered for another reason, which though not a TRP generator, yet very intriguing for the people of this part of the world.

It is linked to the Indian Railways. More than 130 years back, a wandering peniless monk was sitting on a bench of Hathras Jn station. He was travelling partly on foot, partly by train and bullock cart, as was available to him. Suddenly, the Station Master (ASM) of the station, as he was going about in the performance of his duty, spotted this sanyasi(monk) with striking features, a sharp nose and wide eyes seated on the ground in the station compound. He went up to him and struck up a conversation.

The Station Master asked: "Swamiji, are you hungry?" The monk replied: "Yes, I am". "Then please come to my quarters", - said the Station Master. The monk asked with the simplicity of a boy: "But what will you give me to eat?" Quoting from a Persian poem, the Station Master said: "Oh beloved, you have come to my house. I shall prepare the most delicious dish for you with the flesh of my heart". Swamiji accepted the invitation. Impressed by his knowledge and disposition, the ASM requested the monk to be his guest that night and took him to his quarters behind the station.

In the course of conversation with the station-master Swamiji learned that Brajen Babu, an old acquaintance, lived close by, and after the meal was over, he went to call on him. Brajen Babu welcomed him cordially and insisted that he should stay with him. All the time Naren was with him, the whole Bengali population of the town poured in upon him. Sharat and his friend, Nata Krishna, were constant visitors and became attached to him.

In a letter reminiscent of those days Nata Krishna writes: "Thus we with others spent the most blessed days of our life in constant spiritual conversations with him. By the power of his holy company, the sectarian quarrels and ill-feeling amongst the different factions of the Bengalis vanished. Those, who entertained the pride of age or high position in society, used to come and sit like children before the young monk, forsaking their conceit of knowledge and position, and ask him questions on religious matters. The evening was generally spent in music, and all the gentlemen, who assembled there, were simply charmed with his sweet voice and sat for hours as if spellbound. The more they heard him, the more they thirsted in their souls to hear him".

After spending a day or two the monk wished to bid goodbye but the ASM told him to wait; he would rush to the station, submit his resignation and leave with the monk as his disciple which he did and became the monk's first disciple. The monk was none other than Narendranath Dutta who later became Swami Vivekananda and the ASM of Hathras Jn was Sharat Chandra Gupta, a Bengali gentleman, who, after getting his sanyas vows, was called Swami Sadananda of the Ramakrishna Mission.

Yes, it's a fascinating story of a monk and his disciple. You can read more about them in the book, "The Life of Swami Vivekananda, by his Eastern and Western Disciples", Advaita Ashrama (1989 edition), pages 220-224.

Before accepting him as his disciple, Vivekananda gave his begging bowl to Sharat Chandra Gupta and asked him to beg food from the porters and khalasis of the station( "Yes, take up the kamandalu and go begging"). This was his way of testing his disciple's earnestness. Without waiting for a moment, Sharat Chandra Gupta went to the station and begged for food from those very people who were his subordinates till just the previous day. He came back to Swamiji with the alms collected and partook of them along with his Guru. That proved the culmination of his ego after his renunciation. Incidentally, he was a good friend of Dr. Boshi Sen who later became a world renowned plant/agricultural scientist and lived in Almora(India).

One morning Swamiji decided to leave Hathras. He said to Sharat and Nata Krishna: "I cannot stay here any longer. We, who are Sannyasins, should not remain long in any place. Besides, I am becoming attached to all of you. This is also a bondage in spiritual life. Do not press me!"

After leaving Hathras Narendra and Gupta first went to Haridwar, and from there travelled to Rishikesh, on foot. Here Narendra initiated Gupta into Sannyasa and was named Swami Sadananda. Gupta was the directly initiated monastic disciple of Vivekananda. Vivekananda called him "the child of my spirit".

Sharat Chandra Gupta or Swami Sadananda, the erstwhile Asst. Station Master of Hathras Jn., though a Bengali, belonged to Jaunpur. He died in 1911.

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Photo- https://pixabay.com/photos/swami-vivekananda-indian-statue-390955/