Sri Aurobindo Ashram: Is Kamala a reincarnation of the Mother?
It is a modest first floor apartment on the periphery of Sri Aurobindo Ashram in Pondicherry. Pictures of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother adorn every wall. Joss-stick smell pervades the atmosphere. Except for ashram memorabilia at every nook and corner, it is sparsely furnished.
It is a modest first floor apartment on the periphery of Sri Aurobindo Ashram in Pondicherry. Pictures of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother adorn every wall. Joss-stick smell pervades the atmosphere. Except for ashram memorabilia at every nook and corner, it is sparsely furnished.
A steady stream of visitors knock at the door, seeking darshan or a message from Kamala, 16-year-old domestic servant of B. Venkat Reddy, a tenant of the apartment. He has rechristened the girl 'Meera', as she is said to have shown symptoms of Mother's reincarnation.
Kamala was born on December 26, 1961, at Chandepalli village in Nalgonda district of Andhra Pradesh. Her parents were too poor and bonded labour was the order of the day. She was entrusted to Venkat Reddy, an affluent farmer of the village - and in his service she has remained ever since.
Reddy had been an ashramite till 1974, when he was sent out for wanting to serve God and mammon at the same time. He returned to Pondicherry earlier this year and took up residence in the vicinity of the ashram with his teen-aged maid servant.
On March 27, according to stories put out by Venkat Reddy, Kamala had undergone a strange experience. "Forces like white clouds, changing into blue and then golden yellow kept moving about continuously for 19 days when knowledge, light, power, ananda and peace descended like a flood."
Unlettered and speaking only Telugu, Kamala says that after this experience, she can now understand any language with her soul. But her mind cannot translate it into spoken words. She says the Mother has entrusted her the task of "transforming earth consciousness", in which she is being assisted by Sri Aurobindo by "sending light from the supramental plane".
Holy Order: Since then, Kamala, alias Meera, has been giving out messages along with darshan individually or collectively. Many ashramites, deprived of their messages and darshan of the Mother, since her death three years ago, find in Kamala an ideal substitute.
Mary Aldridge, a British ashramite, is said to have got derailed in her sadhana. Kamala's special message to her: "You love parmatma. You ask the Lord for shakti and pray to God to overcome your difficulties," is said to have put Mary back on the path of her spiritual progress.
On August 4, Kamala gave darshan to her growing band of devotees in Pondicherry and handed out the message: "Pranamas to the respected elders. Mahakali, give Thy shakti. Mahasaraswati, give Thy knowledge. Mahalakshmi, sprinkle money in the world. The world is waiting for the riches."
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Veterans of the ashram who have donesadhana for long periods and yet are unable to commune with the Mother or Sri Aurobindo directly, are somewhat anxious of this little Andhra village girl stealing the thunder. They do not hide their scepticism. Sri Aurobindo Research Academy in Pondicherry put Kamala through two gruelling question and answer sessions. Since she understands only Telugu, Ms. Adilakshmi, the other believer of Kamala, acted as interpreter. The excerpts from the interview:
Q. Do you feel the presence of Mother and Sri Aurobindo always?
A. Always.
Q. How do you know that they are the Mother and Sri Aurobindo?
A. They themselves introduced me to them.
Q. How does Sri Aurobindo look like?
A. He is serene and tranquil like a mountain. He rarely smiles.
Q. How does the Mother look like? Any resemblance to her photographs?
A. No. She is more powerful, energetic and illumined. She is very young.
Q. The ashram is beset with problems lately. What is your opinion?
A. It is so because there is no total surrender.
Q. What about Auroville?
A. The light is descending more and more, so the dark forces are attacking more.
Q. Can you give light, knowledge, peace and bliss to others?
A. If they are ready to receive, then I can give.
During the course of the interview, Kamala, is reported to have said that she had seen the Mother working in a vast field of "earth consciousness". It was a cleansing operation and one-fourth of the job was complete. The remaining three-fourths of the work had been entrusted to her.
Watch-dogs: Kamala has been kept under the watchful eyes of Venkat Reddy and Adilakshmi. Darshans and interviews are granted only in their presence. They are reluctant to expose the young girl to the press unless they are sure of the outcome. A request for an interview from India Today, was summarily turned down.
However, our man in Pondicherry managed to gatecrash into the apartment of Venkat Reddy in the guise of a devotee. He found Kamala to be nothing more than a bonded servant - one who has accepted her station in life cheerfully and is prepared to do the bidding of her master, without a murmur.
On close questioning, in Telugu, Kamala was found incapable of uttering anything more profound than things connected with daily household chores. When asked about her interviews to scholars of Sri Aurobindo Research Academy or messages to seekers of spiritual progress, she confessed that she could not remember anything.
Watching her in action at one of her darshans, it was obvious that words were uttered on her behalf by Venkat Reddy or Adilakshmi, both of whom are well-versed in the ashram jargons. Shorn of shibboleth, much of the utterances signify nothing.
The Aurobindo Ashram is a multi-million rupee institution. The death of the Mother in 1976 created a vaccum which many have tried, though not successfully, to fill. Into this void, Venkat Reddy and Adilakshmi have been trying to project Kamala as the reincarnation of the Mother. They have already met with a small measure of success. The stakes being very high, they are treading cautiously.