KRISHNAPREM AND
MAHARSHI

---

Marie B. Byles

(An English professor in the purvasrama, Sri Krishnaprem
was an orthodox devotee of Krishna and as such had no intention
to follow Self-Enquiry. Yet he had a striking experience of the
significance of the question, `Who am I??', when he visited
Bhagavan for his blessings.)
SRI KRISHNAPREM, formerly Professor Ronald Nixon
from Cambridge in England, had taught literature at
Varanasi and Lucknow universities before he gave up the life of
the world, donned the gerua robes and became a sannyasin. He
took as his guru the saintly woman Yashoda Mai who had been
a leader of Indian social life before she became a sannyasini and
established an ashram at Mirtola, about eighteen miles from
Almora in the Himalayas. Here Krishnaprem took up his abode,
soon performing the Vaishnava rituals in the temple, and, when
the Brahmin cook left, doing the cooking also. When Yashoda
Mai died in 1945 he was left in charge of the ashram, though he
handed over the management to another in 1955, ten years
before his own death.

He was an orthodox Vaishnava and worshipper of Lord
Krishna, that is, of the personal aspect of the Supreme, and the
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last thing that would have entered his head would have been to
find his goal through asking the question, `Who am I?' However
he regarded Maharshi as a living shining light of India and
because of this in 1948, he made the long journey from Almora
to the south to receive his blessing. The story of his visit is told
by his friend, Dilip Kumar Roy, in his book about him. And as
I do not seem to remember having read about this visit
elsewhere, others may find it as illuminating as I do.

He entered the room where Maharshi was reclining with
devotees before him, and sat down among them to meditate.

As soon as he did so, he heard a voice saying over and over
again, `Who are you? Who are you? Who are you?' He tried to
ignore it but eventually he replied silently, `I am Krishna's
servant.' The voice still went on relentlessly. The question
changed to, `Who was Krishna?' He answered, `Nanda's son',
and formulated various other answers, `He is an Avatar, the
One-in-all, the resident in every heart'. The voice continued
asking the former question. He became very disturbed, and
finally he rose and left the room. He returned and the voice
continued as before. Silently he prayed to Radha for guidance,
but she shook her head. Then the answer was revealed, but how
we are not told!

In the morning he again sat down with the other devotees.

Maharshi gave him a lightning glance and smiled at him. He
closed his eyes, then on a sudden impulse he found himself
silently asking Maharshi his own question, `Who are you?'

Something made him open his eyes. Maharshi's couch was empty,
there was no Maharshi on it. He closed his eyes again but in a
moment opened them. Maharshi was reclining in his usual place
and he gave a fleeting smile and meaningful glance, after which
he looked away. Maharshi did not ask Krishnaprem to cease
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from worshipping Lord Krishna and surrendering all to him.

He never did this, there are different ways for different
temperaments. Some will perhaps be more direct than others,
but in the end all will find the same answer, and that vacant
couch gives the answer better than all.

And this is what I was taught when invisible cords drew
me to the Maha Bodhi Meditation Centre near Mandalay in
Burma. I was told there, that many are the ways of learning
Vipasana or insight meditation, but that all end up with the
experience of phyit pyet (come- go or ceaseless change) or the
end of `I' and `mine' and `me' -- you are not the worrying
thoughts that disturb you, you are not the mind, you are not
the body. What are you then? phyit pyet. Whatever is your way
or my way, it is always helpful to understand and appreciate the
ways of others, as for example that of Krishnaprem, who found
that ultimately all faded away and there was only Krishna.

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