One of Saint Baba Maharaj Arvikar’s close disciples was Mrs. Vimala Purohit, who was lovingly called Kakuma or Ma by Baba. Her devotion to Baba and Shri Krishna was akin to that of Yashoda Maiyya. So much so that Baba would say to Kakuma that Mukunda¹ was her younger son and he himself was her older son. Baba, knowing that Kakuma had a strong maternal bond with them, always sought to nurture that devotion through the time they spent together. Even when they were physically apart, Baba was always her constant companion, her sangati, through the letters he wrote. In fact, Kakuma was so blessed that Baba, no matter what time of day or how busy he was (he would rarely sleep for longer than a few hours), would make sure that he sent a letter to his dear Ma.
Saint Baba Maharaj Arvikar says that the true role of saints in our lives is to help us transcend and reconfigure our behavior, outlook and feelings towards divinity, other people and our world at large.
After Baba returned to Machnur from one of his travels to Pandharpur for a spiritual endeavor, Baba wrote a letter to Kakuma. The following is a translated extract from that letter, written in January 1961²:
Can you guess what I missed most when I was away? As I returned, I was overcome with a feeling of deep longing, of missing all of you. Hoping to quickly remedy this, I went into my room to first meet my dear Kanhoba, my Shri Krishna. Words can’t describe how adorable he looked.
But his eyes were teary.
Our sweet boy, Shri Hari, said, “You didn’t bring Kakuma with you, did you? If not, then take me to her. Here, there is no milk for me, everyone does puja whenever, they dress me whenever, and sometimes they don’t dress me for the day at all. They all lock the room from the outside and keep me alone, shut in the dark room all day.”
Maiye, I’m telling you I was shocked and utterly distressed upon hearing this. Truly. I called everyone and they all told me that it was true, no one had done the puja for 2-3 days. Hearing this, my eyes filled with tears and I started to cry.
Then my Shri Hari said to me, “None of this now. Take me to my Kakuma. You are always traveling. So why do you keep me here?”
Finishing this sentence, Shri Krishna started to cry. It broke my heart, and I felt as though I should immediately bring and place him in your arms. But what to do? So, I said to him, “Krishna, please don’t be upset with me! I only travel for your work, na!”
He replied, “I don’t know about any of that. Take me to my Kakuma!”
Finally, I agreed while crying, “My beloved Krishna, I promise I will take you to her.”
Maiye, who should I send your Deva with? Look how joyful he's became now that he’s coming to you. But what should I do? How will I be able to live here without him? I didn’t know what to do.
Now Shri Krishna has become incredibly attached to you. He says, “Kakuma is such a sweet mother. All her attention is focused on me.”
Hearing this, I was humbled. I apologized to him.
Ma, please write him a letter. He will stay if you do. Definitely write to him, I’m not joking about that. He is unrelenting about this matter. Send it as soon as you can.
I gave him the snacks I got from you. That made our cute Maharaj happy. But he didn’t forget our agreement. He keeps reminding me, “Take me to my Kakuma, please.”
I merely assure him, “Deva, I’ll take you, I’ll take you, I promise. Please don’t cry my sweet boy.”
Even the best read philosophers, scholars and literary experts have said that Baba’s teachings through his discourses were quite difficult to fully and clearly comprehend. They said this was because he spoke so fast and communicated complex philosophical concepts so naturally, especially considering they were not scripted or preplanned.
Regardless, whenever Baba spoke to Kakuma, who had such a deep and profound maternal devotion for her Gopal, Baba would converse with her with the fondness of a son. A son that was taking his mother’s hand and slowly placing it in the hand of Shri Krishna, of the divine. All because “Bhaktine Sadhya Mi Sukhe" (Marathi translation of a Shlok from the Bhagavad Gita). In other words, with the blessings of a Guru, the practice of sadhana becomes one of love and thus, one of eternal bliss. The hardships typically affiliated with the practice of sadhana are absent in bhaktiyoga. The difference is that on this path, the sadhaka is able to effortlessly experience the same eternal, divine bliss which is also attainable through other, more taxing yoga paths.
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