The chaturmas at Eesari was over. Acharya Maharaj decided to attend the Parshwanath festival held every year in Kolkata on the occasion of Kartik Purnima? But as it behoves an atithi, he proceeded in the direction of Kolkata without informing anyone. The congregation was abuzz "The path is strewn with difficulties. There are no shravak households to offer hospitality on the way. It is a very disturbed area. One can not predict how the people of Bengal will behave. Maharaj should not go there".
The shravaks coming from Kolkata echoed these apprehensions. “It is not safe to venture into the province of Bengal. We would love to have you there, but are afraid of the consequences”, they submitted. Acharya Maharaj smiled as usual, raised his hand in benediction and continued on his way.
He marched on without interruption. The songs of benediction sung by the followers had a reassuring effect and the distance of three hundred and fifty kilometers was easily covered in ten days. On the eleventh day, when Acharya Maharaj entered Kolkata along with his sangha, there were thousands to welcome him, heads bowed in salutation of his iron will. That day, the metropolis of Kolkata was blessed by the footfalls of a great Digambar Jain Acharya.
The facility with which he traversed the passage from Bara Mandir to Belgachhiya, which was lined by thousands of devotees, was a revelation to the common man. The onlookers considered themselves fortunate to behold a great Jain Acharya escorted by numerous monks, who formed the core of a massive procession. The multitude that had lined the passage, as well as the eyes peeping out of the windows of the houses en route, feasted themselves on the pristine beauty of a childlike nirgrantha monk in the attire of a newborn. And thereafter, they had appetite for no other spectacle.
Truly, the firm resolve of a godly shraman, who has conquered the desires of fame, adoration, gain and the like, automatically brings about the propagation of the faith, as he moves from place to place in his chariot of the true knowledge.
Kolkata (1983)
Kartik Purnima -The full moon of the eighth month of the Indian lunar calendar It usually falls in the month of November, fifteen days after Deepavali, the festival of lights.