Ac. Pranavananda Avadhuta dedicated his life as a wholetimer in 1962, when he was still in his teens, and was initiated by Baba as an avadhuta on January 1, 1963. He succumbed to kidney failure and heart disease. From Kulu in Himachal Pradesh, he was taken to PGI, Chandigarh - a very famous hospital of north India -last evening. His condition was not that good when he was admitted. The end came at 12 noon. He was 67. He will be cremated at Kulu tomorrow by 9.00 am.
Pranavanandajii's contribution to Ananda Marga organization cannot be forgotten. He was Office Secretary for 18 years during Baba's times. (Once Baba said about him that he had immense potentiality). How true it was!. He worked day and night. It is difficult to find another hard working Karmii of Pranavanandajii's stature. Basically he was a Ksattriya, but was also intellectually developed. During his office secretaryship (since 1968), Baba built the organizational systems and executed them. As office secretary, every WT from training centre would go to him for final training before posting. So every worker was known to him, personally. In office, he was the dominating figure.
When Tiljala camp HQs were built, Pranavanadnajii was there. He was also responsible for Madhu Korak (Tiljala MG quarters) and didi's building. In late eightees he was posted in Ananda Nagar, where he left his mark as Karmii. Construction of Rotunda, Power House, Electrification of Ananda Nagar and various land problems in Anandanagar were solved by him.
He had very good knowledge of philosophy and had good command of four languages including their script. His memory was very strong. For a short time he was also PA to Baba.
Ac. Bhaskarananda Avadhuta, Ac. Venkateshvarananda Avadhuta and Ac. Artasevananda Avadhuta were his Diiksa bhratas (the last two were killed by CPM goons at Bijon Setu on 30th April 1982.) Before he was posted as Central Office Secretary, he was working in Kerala. Ac. Acyutananda Avadhuta also worked under him as LFT, before becoming WT.
We are sure that Baba has taken his dear son in His lap.
Ac. Kalyaneshvarananda Avadhuta
(with inputs from Ac. Bhaskarananda Avadhuta and Sarvatmananda Avadhuta)
.....
Dearest and respected all,
Namaskar.
I echo the feelings of respected sister Ambika and condole passing away of our dear and respected brother Pranavanandaji.
I know him well before he became the Office Secretary of Baba in which capacity he always pleased Him by exemplary performance and obedience.
There were occasions when I had the opportunity to work with Him very closely. I always found him dynamic , creative , consistent and bold. His love for Baba and His mission , his commitment to Him was never lost sight of and he remained active till his last breath.
He was a great asset of the organisation and mission and his sterling qualities will always inspire us.
May he always play in the sweet, loving and benign lap of Baba.
With deepest regards and affection to him,
In Him,
Santosananda
.....
There was a time at Tiljala, maybe in the early 90's, when a
volleyball game would be organized every afternoon. It was mostly the
volunteers and LFT's who played, but occasionally younger WT's would join in
as well. One afternoon I was surprised to hear wild shouting and cheering
coming from the volleyball field, where the game was usually fairly sedate.
I looked out my window. I saw that Dádá Pran'avánanda was playing for the
first time, and I could understand that he had rallied his team into an
unprecedented fervour for victory, and that the other team was trying to
respond in kind. Dádá Pran'avánanda was incapable of doing anything without
enthusiasm. I have never met a person to whom the word "spirited" better
applied.
In Him, Dada Acyutananda
Dada Pranavananda spent alot of time setting up his school in Kullu.
ReplyDeleteDada P was the most senior active dada of the organization. I
worked with him in 2008 on the Story of the Uniform. He was Dada
Bhaskarananda's acarya, and as a writer, it was a privilege and
experience to work with the both of them together contributing their
stories of early trainings of the first acaryas and the symbology of
the different parts of the dada uniform. It was like riding a wild
horse with both of their independent natures, with me chasing them to
write things down properly. Both would diligently read what I wrote
and correct or scold me for any detail or wording that wasn't
absolutely correct, then correct or scold each other on various points
each other wrote until they came to an agreement. I described the
experience as being the cheese in the middle of an acarya sandwich. I
will post that article again on separate email.
Bhaeravii
Gaunga writes:
ReplyDeleteNamaskar,
It is certainly a great loss. Dada Pranavanandaji was on of the most remarkable individuals I have met in Ananda Marga and beyond.
His understanding of the Ananda Marga philosophy, the ideology as well as spiritual practices were unparalleled. Also, being the central office secretary for almost two decades gave him an edge over organizational matters which is difficult to match.
I have come to know him in the 1980s when he, among many other duties, took it on himself to train the LFTs who had come for Baba's personal contact, in Tiljala, Calcutta. Even though he was extremely busy, he made it a point to find the time for teaching and training us. It was not any kind of formal training, but the best I have ever received.
Here is a story I would like to share which exemplifies his humanity and sense of humour.
The LFT-s who were in the central office at that time were told by Dada that they must wait for him in a designated area until he finds some time to teach them.
This we always did, so Dada would come whenever he was able to squeeze some time in between his manifold duties. One day though we waited all day and by the time it was 8 pm, we assumed that he could not find the time, so we dispersed and returned to our rooms. As it happened, Dadaji arrived shortly after we had left. The following day, we gathered at the central office again in the morning and waited for Dada to come and teach a class. He arrived but seemed to be angry. He asked why we had left yesterday. We explained that we thought he would not come anymore that day. He then announced that he will not teach us anymore, to our great dismay, as we truly loved his classes.
He had a way of teaching with great clarity, explaining things to the minutest detail, in a very interesting and engaging manner. He was also the most inspirational speaker I have come across.
He left in a huff apparently and we were at odds what to do. So, we sat down for a council and decided to follow our conduct rules, which say that whenever any mistake is committed, you must admit it and ask for punishment. And that is what we did on the following day. We all went to him, apologized, admitted our mistake and asked for punishment. We also requested him to resume the classes. He said that he has to think about it and that we should come the next day to receive our punishment.
So, on the following day, he told us that today he will punish us. We waited in suspense to hear what the punishment was. To our great surprise and relief he said: "You will have to laugh for five minutes." This we did, in the beginning with some difficulty but the more we did it the more natural it became and the greater was the mirth and laughter until the whole room filled with some thirty people was roaring with laughter. From that day onwards we never left again without waiting for him and receiving a class.
There were many such episodes in which he acted totally unexpectedly, but inducing a great sense of discipline and commitment in us. He was simply an amazing teacher.
I gathered that his own commitment and sacrifice were simply astounding. His karma yoga and his profound intuitional knowledge were a result of his deep love and devotion to Baba.
These qualities remained with him throughout his life, in spite of the organizational difficulties he was put through during the last decade of his life.
A great teacher and a great soul has left. It is a huge loss which leaves many of us in deep sadness.
in Him,
Ganga
Namaskar,I was personally attached with him(Dada pranavananda) for three years at Kullu,where we founded Himalayan institute of integrated therapies(HIIT).He was the president and I was secretary.He guided me in many aspects of life as per Baba's ideology.His courage and working spirit always will guide me and all,who personally touched him. I remembered him still.---Dr.Syamasundar Panigrahi,koraput,odisha,india.
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