FOREWORD We are happy and feel fortunate and blessed to be able to bring out in English the Volume VII of Pujya Didi Shree Gurupriya Devi’s invaluable Diary on Matrileela, Shree Shree Ma Anandamayee. Most of the pages of Didi’s Diary were published during her lifetime in seventeen Volumes in Bengali, Vol. VII being in two parts, and she has left behind some volumes of her annals in manuscript, which are now being serially published in the Ashram journal. Shree Shree Ma Anandamayee Amrit Varta. Gurupriya Didi’s Diary from Vol. I to Vol. XVII spans a period of 39 years approximately, from December 1925 to May 1964. The original Bengali series of the Diary from Vol. I to Vol. XVII were subsequently published in Hindi translation, but the text was abridged at places and distributed with some difference among the volumes, with the result that the present English Volume VII actually consists of the text of the Bengali. Vol. VI, to the exclusion of some opening pages which have already been published as the concluding pages of the Hindi and the English Vol. VI. We have started with a few dates from the last pages of the previous English volume, just in order to lend some clarity to the sequence. During the ‘80’s and ‘90’s, an English version of the first few Volumes of the Diary were brought out as Vols I – VI, based on the text and volume-classification of the Hindi version. We are thankful to Mrs. Tara Kini, who in her beautiful, lucid English translated these volumes. After all the years that have passed, prompted by Shree Shree Ma’s Kheyal, we have now made an attempt to translate the next volume right from the original Bengali, retaining each and every detail, and have supplied it with ample notes wherever we felt a need to clarify a point. This task involved team work taking no less than a year. The Governing Body of Shree Shree Anandamayee Sangha, at the outset, sought the cooperation of its Publication Division for carrying further the long suspended work of translating these Diary volumes in English. After a brisk search for a translator, the name suggested was that of Col. Dilip Guha, a staunch devotee of Shree Shree Ma, who at present resides in the Varanasi Ashram. He took it up enthusiastically in a spirit of dedication, and swiftly completed the translation by July, 2015. The manuscript was then sent to Dr Krishna Banerjee, a member of the Editorial Board, for editing. After the first round of editing, the typed script was forwarded by email to Mr. Christopher Pegler (U.K.), who maintains a website on Shree Shree Ma, and Swami Brahmananda Giri (U.S.A.) for their opinions and suggestions. Thus began a veritable cycle of reviewing and editing, which took quite a few revisions. After each round, the script was printed in hard copy by Shree Alok Ranjan Choudhury, a member of the office staff at Mata Anandamayee Hospital, Varanasi and then the hard copy was given over to Col Guha to review. We are much beholden to each and every member of this team and thankfully acknowledge their valuable contribution. The original Bengali text of this volume is not divided in chapters; it follows the pattern of day-to-day diary writing. In fact, apart from a few initial volumes, the latter ones are not arranged in chapters. Vol. I is more like a book of memoirs rather than of daily chronicles; in composing this volume, Gurupriya Didi invoked the reminiscences of her recent past and put them conveniently under chapters. The chapters of the other few volumes do not have headings. We have arranged the English Vol.VII in five Chapters, providing instead of headings a short list of the main contents. As a reference guide, we have furnished a list of the events, following the paradigm of the original. The only difference is that while Gurupriya Didi has arranged the events in the Bengali alphabetical order, against a column of page numbers, we have put them in the chronological order (the alphabetical order would be different in English) along with the corresponding dates. This table of contents, so re-arranged, will remain valid in case there are reprints of the Volume in the future with different page numbers. In the matter of tallying the Gregorian dates with the days of the week (provided by Didi along with the dates of the Bengali calendar), we used a calendar of the year 1938, available on a specific website. The Glossary of relevant words and phrases in Sanskrit and other Indian languages was constructed from a Glossary of an earlier volume, together with notes from the current volume. There are four stotras in this volume which spontaneously emanated from Shree Shree Ma’s lips and were noted down by Shree Abhay on the spot. These stotras, uttered in a state of bhava at various times, are not translatable on the whole, though they contain many single words and phrases in the recognized form of Sanskrit grammar. As Pt. Gopinath Kaviraj has observed, they are in a pre-historic, early Vedic form of Devabhasha, the language of the Gods, in which bhava and bhasha, thought and speech, are an inseparable whole. These cryptic utterances seem to be symbolic; many of them are onomatopoeic (sound suggesting sense), carrying power-vibrations like mantras. Of all the 4/5 hymns noted down by Pujya Bhaiji in his Matri-Darshan (Bengali), only one was interpreted by Shree Ram Thakur, whose yogic intuition could penetrate its mystery. His interpretation appears in English in Mother As Revealed to Me. We have decided to publish the hymns of the present volume in ordinary English characters within the book for expert scholars and worthy recipients of Shree Shree Ma’s grace, to whom they may yield their inner significance. In the absence of recording facilities, Abhayda tried to jot down the fluently flowing utterances, missing out a few here and there (marked by three dots), depending on his auditory impressions. The gaps between words and phrases indicate pauses and the full stop appears, presumably, where Ma seemed to have concluded a sentence. This project has been financed by an anonymous donor from the U.S.A., whose earnest wish it was that more of Gurupriya Didi's Diaries should appear in English. Other than this, occasional but liberal help of various kinds came our way at times of need from a number of Shree Shree Ma’s devotees, who, however, would like to remain anonymous. We are sure that Shree Shree Ma, the Omniscient, has showered Her blessings on all of them. We have collected relevant photographs mainly from the Ashram archives, from the photo files of the Ratna Press and from the website: www.anandamayi.org . We are much beholden to all those who have proffered help in this and other matters and whose kind cooperation we have taken for granted. May Shree Shree Ma grant each one of them Her choicest Blessings. We humbly offer our obeisance again and again at the Lotus Feet of Shree Shree Ma, whose divine Kheyal has always been the guiding force behind our efforts and whose infinite, unstinted Grace has made this venture a success against all odds. To conclude, we earnestly pray to Shree Shree Ma for Her forgivemess for all our shortcomings. “ajnanat vismriter bhrantya yannyunam adhikam kritam purnam bhavatu tat sarvam tvatprasadan Maheshwari” “O Supreme Goddess, if on account of our ignorance, forgetting or misunderstanding the fault of doing less or overdoing has taken place in our efforts, then kindly let all that be amended and brought to perfection by Your Grace.” Guru Purnima Jai Ma 19 July 2016 Tuesday -Publishers - Varanasi CONTENTS CHAPTER - I (9 May - 26 July) Baba Bholanath’s Salil Samadhi His Last Days Recalled Ma’s Illnesses CHAPTER - II (27 July - 17 August) Sojourn at Shimla, Solan and Dehradun Nama-Yajna Ma in Bhava Stotras CHAPTER - III (18 August - 11 September) Arrival of new Devotees Past Anecdotes Recollected Death of Nirmalbabu and Sukumar CHAPTER - IV (12 September - 11 October) Ma’s Serious Illness and Miraculous Recovery “KanyaAshram” Founded A Visit to Ma’s Birthplace CHAPTER - V ( 12 October - 16 November) Ma in Allahabad Ma Visits Dhaka Chudamani Yoga (Kashi) Satsang at Kashi (Varanasi) and Vindhyachal TABLE OF CONTENTS Various States and Leelas 1. Breaking of the Idol of Kali 17 May 1938 2. Impact of Ma 30 May 3. “Eternal Kumari” 11 June 4. “Purna Brahma Narayan” 5 August 5. Vision on Kamakhya Hill 17 August 6. Past Anecdotes 20 August 23 August 7. Dhankora, Dhaka 30 August 8. About Jute Plant Leaves 3 September 9. Kheyal of Fever 10 September 10. Various States 13 September 11. Stomach Ache 24 September 12. Birthplace Visited 7 October States of Bhava 1. During Namayajna, Solan 30/31 July 2. Playing with the Body 3 August 3. Stotras 17 August 4. The Macrocosmic Body 30 August 5. Autsahi – Ma in Bhava 30 August 6. Taking Food from the Ground 3 September 7. Perfume in the Hands 8 September 8. Kriya on Ma’s Body 2 October 9. People's Volatile Nature and Ma's Equanimity 5 October 10. Recording of Ma’s Voice 20 October 27 October 11. Impact of Worldly Weal and Woe on Ma 1 November 12. About Ma’s Sect and Siddhi Ma 9 November Leela and Leela Companions 1. Baba Bholanath’s Salil Samadhi 11 May 2. Baba Bholanath’s last days recollected 10 May 31 July 11 August 3.