A story from India's freedom struggle.( Saints and revolutionaries )

A story from India's freedom struggle.

( Saints and revolutionaries )

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Shri Gajanan Maharaj was an Indian saint ,mystic and divine man of the Lord Dattatreya tradition who "'appeared" in the village of Shegaon ,Maharashtra, India during the later half of the 19th Century 

Many true stories are attributed to him about the supernatural miracles he did during his earthly sojourn but this is the lesser known story about his involvement with India's Freedom struggle.

During the period of his stay at Shegaon ,gradually the fame of his divinity grew and  news of him reached the ears of Lokmanya Bal Gangadhar Tilak ( A great Indian freedom fighter ) who eventually met and became a disciple of sorts of Shri Gajanan maharaj.

In 1909 , during a public meeting on the occasion of Shiv Jayanti (the birth anniversary of the great emperor- Shivaji Maharaj) ..Lokmanya Tilak gave a speech against the British Government and in favour of the Bengali revolutionary Khudiram Bose who was hanged earlier by the British

After the effective speech of Lokmanya Tilak, Shri Gajanan Maharaj made the  prophecy that the British rule in India shall declare the sentence of imprisonment of Tilak.

 Shri Gajanan Maharaj's words came true and Tilak was sentenced to 6 years imprisonment in the prison of Mandalay (Myanmar). But, Shri Gajanan maharaj's  blessings and food offering of Bhakari (Traditional preparation of Maharasthra, i.e. pancake of Jowar grain) had great favour on Tilak. Because in the prison, the extraordinary wisdom of Tilak  and blessings of Shri Gajanan maharaj gave birth to a landmark Book- Geeta Rahasya.

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Shri Gajanan Maharaj left his mortal coil a year later after Lokmanya Tilak was imprisoned but there was something more striking to this entire  incident.

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Soon after the sentence of imprisonment to Lokmanya Tilak.,one of the disciples of  Shri Gajanan Maharaj asked him.

" Maharaj, How is that Tilak had your all powerful blessings and favour and still the british could imprison him ? "

Shri Gajanan maharaj replied to him :

 "MY CHILD, CHATTRAPATI SHIVAJI MAHARAJ ALSO HAD THE DIVINE BLESSINGS OF SWAMI SAMARTH RAMDAS , THEN HOW IS IT THAT AURANGZEB TOO MANAGED TO IMPRISON CHATTRAPATI SHIVAJI ?

ANYONE WHO FIGHTS RIGHTEOUSLY AGAINST AN EVIL EMPIRE ALWAYS FACES DIFFICULTY AT FIRST.

TILAK WILL UNDERSTAND THE GITA IN HIS PRISON TIME AND SPREAD ITS MESSAGE TO THE WORLD.

THAT IS HIS KARMA ACTING OUT.

AND ALSO NATIONS TOO ( AS INDIVIDUALS DO ) HAVE THEIR KARMA .

AT THE MOMENT, THE KARMIC BALANCE OF THE BRITISH EMPIRE IS STRONG..BUT IN  FOUR DECADES FROM NOW ( 1909 ) , THEIR ( British ) STRONG KARMA WILL BE EXHAUSTED AND INDIA WILL SURELY BE FREE !!

Thats not the end...Far away..in the courtroom , before being sentenced to imprisonment..Lokmanya Tilak gave this statement to the British court, which ( COINCIDENTALLY ? ) echoed the words that Shri Gajanan Maharaj has told his other disciple earlier,  before and sitting far away from the courtroom proceedings.

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On being asked by the judge whether he had anything to say, Tilak said:

"All that I wish to say is that, in spite of the verdict of the jury, I still maintain that I am innocent. There are higher powers that rule the destinies of men and nations; and I think, it may be the will of Providence that the cause I represent may be benefited more by my suffering than by my pen and tongue"