Foreword of “Pagal Haranath Letters”

God is beyond the range of human mind. In the evolution of man, his inquisitiveness in the Unknown keeps progressing. As a sequel, Scriptures have come into existence as a guidance to man in pursuit of God. These are revelations through the Apostles of God. They contain directions that have any amount of latitude to cater to the varying degree of diversity in man’s thinking. They are only means and not an end. The end is God. Saint Teresa says, “All things that seem to be ordained to man’s solace in the world if Thou be absent, be naught worth, and may not bring to man any true felicity. For Thou art the end, Lord, of all the good things, the highness of life, and the profound wisdom of all things that are in heaven and in earth. Wherefore to trust in Thee above all things is the greatest comfort to all Thy servants.” What a universal expression!

Finally it is the trust (the faith) that determines the relationship between man and God. Scriptures are only means. It is not the authenticity of the Scriptures that is of paramount importance but it is the trust that a man keeps in God. For example, historicity of Krishna is not susceptible of proof; but the mythical Krishna has become historical to mankind through His Apostles like Meera Bai, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, Jayadeva etc. These Apostles have proved to the world that Krishna is not just mythical but real. Thus historicity sinks into oblivion. For example the most universal scripture, the Bhagavad-Gita, has become authentic on the consideration of its having been accepted and commented upon by God’s Apostles like Adi Sankara, Saint Ramanuja, Madvacharya and Sri Aurobindo. Similarly Srimad Bhagavata gained authenticity from the incidents of directives of God to His Apostles to rewrite them. One example is Lord Rama ordaining Bhakta Potana to translate it into Telugu. Another example is Meppathur Narayana Bhattatiri (16th Century), the Nampudiri Brahmin who was ordained through a devotee (Thunchath Ezhuthatchan) to speak about Srimad Bhagavata to get cured of his paralysis. Bhattatiri abridged Bhagavata Purana under the title of Narayaneeyam in 1036 verses. Swami Tapasyananda of Sri Ramakrishna Mutt, in the introduction to his translation of Narayaneeyam, says, “Pauranika narratives are to be valued for the spiritual stimulations they give and are not to be approached as history or science, though much of both of these may be involved in them.” History has no relevance except only those events in history, which become enduring making an impact on human consciousness.

When Haranath was questioned regarding the way of worship, He advised the gentleman to proceed in the way he had adopted and that it was the concern of the Deity to let him know whether what he was doing was right or not. It just means that it is the sincerity that matters and not the method. There is no standard for approach unto God.

Haranath (1865AD–1927AD) endearingly known as Pagal Haranath to His devotees is a unique advent that made the relationship between God and man as very personal. He proclaimed that the repetition of Name of God in this Kali Yuga would be the easiest way of establishing the relationship with God. And whatever He taught was from the standpoint of God and not from the angle of individual ego. Bhagavad Gita says that it is the I-ness and Mine-ness that stand as the veil between God and man. Haranath says all Karmas belong to God and advises us to surrender all Karmas at the feet of God and remain free from anxiety. The I-ness thus transcends into Thy-ness.

Haranath says that life is a play. We have chosen our roles and have come on to the stage of the world. And as soon as the performance is over, we go back to the greenroom. Therefore the question of human endeavour or individual achievement does not arise, except that we keep remembering that we are enacting a role here. Thus the I-ness transcends into Thy-ness. Haranath centres all His explanations in God. The onus is on God to enlighten the men regarding their attitude towards Him. That is why in his letter (P.H-III-109), Haranath writes, “May the Lord never give the desire even to mention the subject of Free-Will? Surrender all Karmas at His feet and find relief.” Thus Haranath makes everything very simple.

Haranath writes (P.H-III-84), “Let the mind wander in any direction it likes. What can I possibly do for it? Let Him make my mind subservient to myself; and I shall make it work in conformity with His will.” Thus He indicates that it is the nature of the mind to wander, and that it cannot be an obstacle in our relationship with God. He writes (P.H-III-114), “The object of all worship is just to bring the mind under control. When one starts taking Name, the mind like a horse tries to wander about. Pay no attention to it but cling tighter to the Name of the Lord. You will find that your mind and speech would have come under your control within a short time.” The ultimate panacea that Haranath prescribes for all worldly ills is the repetition of the Divine Name, any Name that melted one’s heart. He says that Love is the most sublime and sweetest experience of man, and advises us to train this towards God.

During His sojourn, Haranath wrote innumerable letters to His devotees in reply to their queries. Most of them were in Bengali. The letters to non-Bengalis were in English. Several letters were collected even during His sojourn and published by the Sree Haranath Tattwa Pracharini Sava, Calcutta under the title “Pagal Haranath” in four volumes. These letters not only had the transforming effect on the recipients but also exert profound influence on the readers. After the exit of Haranath, several more letters were collected and published under different titles. There is not much of directives in these letters in addition to those found in the four volumes of Pagal Haranath published during Haranath’s sojourn. The essence from the directives contained in “Pagal Haranath” was published during His sojourn under the title “Upadesamrita”. They did not contain any reference to the person to whom it was written; and also there was no index. The present compilation has been made with the objective of providing reference and index and also to have the psychological impact of reading the letter-form and not a text-form. The letters are voluminous because they contain not only personal enquires but also Haranath’s unique method of reacting to the recipient’s emotional background. Therefore the matter exclusive to the recipients has been excluded. Thus the present compilation is an abridged version of Pagal Haranath letters, Parts I to IV with an index.

English translation of Pagal Haranath, Parts I and II was done byNandalal Pal and they were published even during the sojourn of Haranath, by Sree Haranath Tattwa Pracharini Sava, Calcutta. After the departure of Haranath, English traslation of some of the letters from Part III and Part IV was published by The Haranath Mission, Bombay, along with some letters from Part I and Part II, under the title “Message of Haranath” in six parts and “Haranath as a House Holder” (letters written to His consort Kusum Kumari). Vimala B.Mody got the balance of the letters (except very few) of these two parts,translated into English; 29 letters were published by her under the title “Divine letters of Pagal Haranath”, in 1955 AD, 61letters by Sri Kusuma Haranatha Seva Samithi, Guntur, under the title “Unpublished letters of Thakur Haranath, Part-1” in 1961AD, and 101 letters jointly by the Sri Kusum Haranath Ashram, Duvvada  and Sree Kusuma Haranatha Seva Samithi, Guntur, under the title “Unpublished letters of Thakur Haranath, Parts II & III” in 1962 AD. The list of the letters of all the four parts of Pagal Haranath has been furnished at the end of this book for general information.

Letters in English written by Haranath to Dr. U.C.Khambholja and Gujarat devotees were published under the title “Letters from Lord Haranath, Part 1&2” in 1937 AD, by Smt Dahigauri Khambholja (for the benefit of The Gujarat Haranath Samaj, Dakor). 21 letters in English by Haranath to P.Ramdas were published under the title “Letters of Prabhu Haranath to P. Ramdas” in 1938 AD by K.V.Ramanujachari. 309 other letters of Haranath (Bengali letters translated into English by Girija Shankar Ghar) were published under the title “Pagal Haranath, Part V” in 1964 AD by Girija Shankar Ghar. The salient messages contained in the above publications have been furnished in Appendix-A.

Resume (summary) of Haranath’s teachings has been added after Chapter 4. An index has been furnished showing reference to the messages.

Haranath advocates what Chaitanya Mahaprabhu ordained, that is, (i) taste for the Name, (2) kindness to beings and (3) service of Vaishnavas (devotees). The essence of Chaitanya’s philosophy is revealed in the discussions that He held with Ramananda Ray during His southern tour of India. Therefore the synopsis of the discussions with Ramananda Ray (extracted from Chaitanya Charitamrita) is given in the Appendix-B.

Sri Kusuma Haranath Central Mission, Chennai expresses its thanks to its member Sri S.G.Haragopal and his wife Smt. Padma for the help rendered by them towards the publication of this book.

****From the book : “PAGAL HARANATH LETTERS (Abridged)” by Sri Haragopal Sepuri [Sri Kusuma Haranath Central Mission, Ganesh Nagar, Selaiyur, Chennai – 600 073]