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From GLIMPSES OF A SAINTLY LIFE—ANECDOTES FROM THE LIFE OF SWAMI BRAHMANANDA
A free translation by Swami Bhaskarananda of Brahmachari Akshayachaitanya’s Bengali book: Brahmananda Lilakatha
Chapter XX1
Large-heartedness and Ingenuity of Swami Brahmananda
Besides being very broad-minded, Swami Brahmananda did everything on a grand scale. Pettiness was foreign to his character. And in addition, he had great ingenuity. Whatever he did, he did in his inimitable style. The following anecdotes will throw some light on these sides of his personality: Arrangements were made in Belur Math for the worship of the Divine Mother Jagaddhatri. Swami Brahmananda expressed the wish that food should be offered to the Mother on a very large plate. Narayan Datta of Baranagore went out in search of such a plate. He later returned with a plate of massive size. Food for the Mother was put on the plate and four persons had to carry it to the shrine upstairs. After the food offering, Swami Brahmananda came to salute the deity in the shrine.
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According to the wish of Swami Brahmananda, the worship of the Divine Mother Durga was performed in a rather modest way in the Bangalore Math without using even the traditional clay image. But the overall grandeur of the worship far exceeded that of Mother Durga’s worship in Belur Math.
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One year, during the birthday celebration of Swami Vivekananda, Swami Brahmananda said, “This time we have to arrange for a lavish feast for the poor. We shall serve them fish Kalia (a rich fish dish).” His sevaks rushed to the Sealdah railway station to shop for fish. They were able to buy a large number of rui fish. Several fishwives were engaged to cut the fish. They came with their large fish knives. The menu consisted of the usual dishes that are prepared for the celebration in other years, but this time the fish dish was special and its quantity was sumptuous.
Another year Swami Brahmananda ordered that the poor should be fed large-size pantuyas (a delicious Bengali sweet made of fresh cheese). Accordingly, some sevaks went to Howrah to buy fresh cheese, while Khudumani rushed to Ghughudanga. After buying a large quantity of cheese, many pantries of extra large size were prepared by the cooks. In the same way, Swami Brahmananda in some years ordered huge quantities of begun (a special kind of eggplant fries) to be cooked. In other years he ordered many basketfuls of fried papadam (a kind of thin cake made of chickpea flour) to be prepared to feed the poor.
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There are many sadhus (renunciate monks) living in the cities of Kankhal and Varanasi. These two cities are full of monasteries and ashramas of the Naga and Paramahamsa sannyasis (monks who have taken the final vows of renunciation). During the occasional bhândârâs (feasts for sadhus), the invited sadhus are served pure, kachauri, laddu, jilebi, balushai, and sour buttermilk. And all this food is considered delicious by the sadhus.
Once Swami Brahmananda invited all the sadhus of Varanasi to a bhândârâ in our Ashrama there. For the bhândârâ he ordered Bengali style radhaballabhi, several delicious Bengali vegetable dishes, sweet curd, pantuya, rasagolla, etc. to be prepared, in addition to puri, kachauri, and laddu. The sadhus ate to their hearts’ content and said that they hadn’t eaten such delicacies ever before. There was a lot of surplus food. It was distributed to the sadhus the following day. Once Swami Brahmananda arranged for a similar sumptuous bhândârâ for the sadhus in Kankhal. He had gone for the Durga Puja that he had organized at our Kankhal Sevashrama. The Divine Mother Durga was worshipped using the traditional clay image.
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Swami Mukteswarananda said, “Once Swami Brahmananda said to us at the Bhubaneswar Math, ‘The kitchen storeroom is empty because you don’t do your spiritual practice properly. “Swami Brahmananda would be happy as a little boy when he would see the different cooked dishes served to him. But he would only nibble at the food. Most of it would be left uneaten. He used to say, ‘When I was younger and able to eat, I wouldn’t get food like this. When I performed austerities in Kusum Sarovar, my only food was roti made of millet flour and a little salt. The quantity of food was very small so I would drink a lot of water to fill my stomach. Now that I can’t eat much, all this food is coming!’
“After the meal, he will take some extra food from each bowl and mix it in a bowl. He named the concoction ‘gal goppa.’ We all used to share that dish. Sometimes he himself would serve that dish to us. Occasionally he mixed the surplus fruits, milk, and sweets in one bowl. He would call that mixture by the funny name ‘William Bhat.’
“In winter mornings he would sometimes ask the cook to prepare a dish, which he had named ‘Gopal goppa.’ It was a delicious rice and lentil dish. The ingredients were mung dal, rice, peas, potatoes, beets, carrots, green coriander leaves, evaporated doughy milk (khir) and browned butter (ghee). Sometimes a sweet and sour dish would also be served with Gopal goppa. This dish would be prepared by smoothly blending together raisins, dates, tamarind, sugar, green coriander leaves, green chili pepper, and a little salt. It would look a little bit like the ayurvedic medicine ‘chyavanprash.’
“Swami Brahmananda also prepared a special kind of tea. He would call it ‘moglai tea.’ A few pods of small cardamom, cloves and cinnamon sticks would be put inside a small bag made of cheesecloth. Then the bag would be put in boiling milk or the bag of spices would be boiled in water for a while and that water would be added to the boiling milk. A decoction of tea leaves would be prepared in a separate container and then put into the boiling milk. Saffron and sugar would be added at the end. In the winter, during some celebrations, he would order this tea to be made and served to the guests. That would make him very happy.”
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Krishnalal Maharaj wouldn’t smoke. So he wished that all monks, specially brahmacharis (novices), should follow his example and not get addicted to smoking. He wanted Swami Brahmananda to ban smoking in the Order. Then Swami Brahmananda said, “Swami Vivekananda made the rule that monks would be permitted to smoke only tobacco; all other intoxicants and alcohol are banned. So far as I am concerned I have been smoking since age fourteen. How can I ask the boys not to smoke?”
A senior monk complained to Swami Brahmananda about the behavior of one of his sevaks. He said, “He smokes cigarettes every now and then. He doesn’t respect his seniors; he smokes even in our presence. He goes to Nitai ’s room for idle chitchatting. He also uses Nitai’s face cream and powder.”
In response to the first complaint, Swami Brahmananda said, “I wonder why he smokes all these cigarettes. Smoking cigarettes are not good; it is harmful to the lungs. Smoking bidis (a kind of cigar) is even worse. It is so much safer to use the hubble-bubble. All right, I’ll tell him not to smoke so many cigarettes. I have many kinds of excellent tobacco to be used for the hubble-bubble. If he wants, he can take some from me.” Before responding to the second complaint, Swami Brahmananda maintained silence for a while. Then he said gravely,“ How much more will he enjoy? Gradually all these cravings will drop off on their own. And Nitai is fond of him. That’s why he goes to Nitai.”
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Swami Brahmananda’s Oriya servant, the Bulbul, found an ad for a movie and gave that to Hrishikesh (Swami Prashantananda). He wanted to go with Hrishikesh to see the movie. Hrishikesh talked to Swami Brahmananda about it. The name of the movie was Les Miserables. Hrishikesh had read that book by Victor Hugo. Swami Brahmananda said to him, “All right, both of you may go and watch the movie.” When he heard that the tickets would cost one rupee he said, “Go to A. and get the money from him.”
When A. was approached for money he was very displeased. Irritated, he said to Hrishikesh, “You have come to become a monk, and now you want to watch movies!” Without entering into a controversy Hrishikesh quietly came away.
In the afternoon Swami Brahmananda was seated in the courtyard of the Sevashrama. Seeing Hrishikesh he asked, “What happened? Didn’t you go to the movie?” After hearing that he hadn’t got the money from A., Swami Brahmananda said to Charu Babu of the Sevashrama, “Charu Babu, please lend me one rupee.” Charu Babu immediately brought the money and gave it to him. With that money, Hrishikesh and Bulbul went to watch the movie.
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Bulbul liked to wear nice clothes and live comfortably; he didn’t want to do much work. Swami Brahmananda wouldn’t interfere. Rather, he would give Bulbul whatever he wanted. He used to love the paid servant, Bulbul, and the renunciate monks equally. He would look to the needs of both.
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Hrishikesh was preparing for the final graduation examination on Vedanta conducted by the traditional Sanskrit school system. But he was finding it hard to prepare for want of the necessary textbooks. He came to know that a two-volume set of The Brahmasutras with commentaries on Shankara-Bhashya had just been published in Bombay. One volume contained five different commentaries including, the Ratnaprabha, and the second volume contained the commentaries Bhamati, Bhamati-Kalpataru, and Kalpataru-Parimal. Hrishikesh informed Swami Brahmananda about the publication of these two volumes. Swami Brahmananda immediately wrote to Varen Ghosh in Bombay to buy and send them to him.
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It was the year 1916. The Annual General Meeting of the Ramakrishna Mission was in session. Swami Brahmananda said to the members present, “You are all aware that your President is not an educated man. Therefore, in my place, Swami Sharvananda will speak on the teachings of Sri Ramakrishna.” It needs mention here that Swami Sharvananda was one of Swami Brahmananda’s disciples.
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Swami Brahmananda founded the Bhubaneswar Math so that monks of the Ramakrishna Order could go there for both rest and the performance of spiritual austerities. He would ask the monks very cordially, “When are you going there for a visit?”
Someone asked him once, “Why have you made the gate of the Bhubaneswar Math so massive and tall?” Smilingly he replied, “Now I am the President of an Order that has very little financial resources. But in the future the Presidents of our Order will enter this Math in great grandeur, sitting on the backs of elephants. That’s why I wanted the gate to be built like that.”
The below recipe was painstakingly reproduced at the Vedanta Society of Western Washington in Seattle
This tea was invented by Swami Brahmananda (1863-1922), the first president of the Ramakrishna Order. Moglai Tea may be translated as Tea of the Moguls or Royal Tea. The Mogul Emperors, who ruled India from the 16th to the 18th centuries, were noted connoisseurs of luxuries and delicacies, and Swami Brahmananda, in a jocular mood, named his tea after them. This tea is served on Swami Brahmananda’s birthday at many centers of the Ramakrishna Order.
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This recipe for Moglai Tea
This recipe for Moglai Tea was given by Swami Bhaskarananda of the Ramakrishna Order. He learned its ingredients during a ten-year assignment at Belur Math. It is served every year on Swami Brahmananda’s birthday.
- Ingredients For 8 cups For 24 cups
- Cinnamon stick one 2 1/2 inches two 3 1/2 inches
- Cardamom pods 2 5
- Cloves 3 8
- Bay leaves 1 3
- Water 5 cups 4 quarts
- Loose black tea leaves 1/4 cup 3/4 cup
- Saffron threads* 1/8 tsp 1/4 to 1/2 tsp
- Milk 3 cups 2 quarts
- Sugar 1/2 cup 1 1/2 cups
- Fresh ginger root 4 tsp 1/4 cup
Procedure:
1. Prepare the juice of fresh ginger root at end of procedure:
2. Crush the cinnamon sticks, cardamom pods, and cloves with a mortar and pestle or a rolling pin, or by any means that can be devised.
3. Put the crushed spices and bay leaves and water into a pot, and heat to boiling.
4. When the water and spices come to a full boil, remove them from the heat and add the tea leaves. Let the tea steep for 5 minutes.
5. 5. Strain the tea leaves and spices out by pouring or ladling the tea through a strainer into another pot. This second pot should be large enough to hold the tea after the milk has been added.
6. 6. Add the saffron*, milk and sugar and heat to serving temperature—160 to 180 degrees Fahrenheit (71 to 82 degrees Celsius)—use a candy thermometer. Do not boil. Keep stirring to prevent the milk from scorching on the bottom of the pot.
7. 7. Just before serving, add the juice of fresh ginger root.
Directions for the juice of the fresh ginger root
2. Wash and peel the root. Then finely grate it to a wet, fibrous pulp. To extract the juice from the pulp, put it into a small, fine-mesh strainer and place it over a glass or cup. Force the juice through the strainer by pressings the pulp with a pestle, or with thumbs or fingers. Let the juice stand at room temperature for half an hour, after which time a white powder will have settled to the bottom. Pour the ginger juice off the top.
3. The ginger juice is added last because its aroma and flavor change from better to worse if it is heated for even a few minutes.
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*Note: If small bits of saffron are desired, the saffron threads may be crumbled before adding them to the tea. First, lightly roast them in a dry frying pan until they are dry enough to crumble.
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SRI RAMAKRISHNA TODAY 
