When Yogi Adityanath as a young adult decided to leave for Gorakhpur, his mother initially thought he had landed a job in some government office. But when the news of his vow of sainthood broke, she broke into tears. It was unimaginable for her to see one of her boys, who had shown a brilliant spark for life in childhood, going away from her suddenly. Today when Yogi has emerged as a Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, her eyes contain the same tears when she reminisces in his memories, brimming with pride.
Sarita Devi is a woman of few words. She lives quietly in Panchur, a village in Pauri Garhwal of Uttarakhand. At 85, she wakes up at 4 AM daily to complete her chores and then goes on to watch agricultural activities on the family-owned farm. Savitri Devi who spent all her life as a homemaker is a mother to seven children including 3 daughters and 4 sons. The octogenarian lives as a dowager after her husband Anand Singh Bisht passed away in 2021. Bisht – Yogi Adityanath’s father worked tirelessly as a forest officer for four decades. Together as a couple, they had many responsibilities to do, many dreams to fulfil.
Nonetheless, looking at Savitri Devi, one would instantly gaze that she has seen it all. The mother to Yogi Adityanath who was born Ajay Mohan Singh Bisht in 1972 has three daughters – Pushpa, Kaushalya and Shashi and four sons Manendra, Ajay (Yogi), Shailendra and Mahendra. While talking to author Shantanu Gupta, Savitri Devi opened up about the details of her family. The members of the Bisht family keep a low profile and never boast about their roots with Yogi Adityanath unless recognised. She lives with two sons – Manendra who works at Gorakhnath College near the Panchur village set up under Yogi’s guidance and Mahendra, her youngest son is a journalist with Amar Ujala newspaper. “What to say about Ajay, you all know,” says Savitri Devi as a proud Mother.
However, it was not easy for Savitri Devi as a mother to accept young Ajay’s resolve for renunciation as a ‘Nath Yogi’. Yogi Adityanath, the second child among his brothers left his family at the age of 21 before becoming the disciple of Mahant Avaidyanath of Gorakhpur Math. Initially, during his M.Sc in Mathematics, Yogi was inclined to visit the math at Gorakhpur. So convinced was young Ajay to join the math as Mahant Avaidyanath’s disciple, that he left for Gorakhpur without disclosing much to the family in November 1993. It was only after a couple of months that the news of Ajay’s sanyas was disclosed to them through a newspaper. Until then the Bishts thought that Ajay had left Panchur for Gorakhpur in search of a job. Here’s when Savitri Devi who was flabbergasted to learn the news urged her husband Anand Singh to rush to Gorakhpur with the next train available.
It was now for Savitri Devi and Anand Singh Bisht to see their son, Ajay in the attire of sanyasi. Young Ajay was anointed as Yogi Avaidyanath by now and was already touted to be Mahant Avaidyanath’s deserving successor. Both of them being dazzled to see their son renouncing material desires could not pacify at the moment. Yogi Adityanath somehow managed to calm them down after he dialled the Mahant, who was out of town at that moment. It was Mahant Avaidyanath’s words that convinced the parents of their child’s resolve for Seva. He said to them over the phone, “Out of your four sons, one has decided to come with me for nation-building and for strengthening Hinduism; please allow him to serve the country” Savitri Devi always knew Adityanath’s dream to serve the country and hence after initial resistance, she was finally convinced.
Two months later, Yogi Adityanath travelled to his home as a Sanyasi to take Bheeksha (alms) from his mother. For now, he was not their child or a sibling but a yogi who has left all his worldly desires and connections. Realising this, they started calling him ‘Maharaj Ji’ as a respect for his vow and his new role. Savitri Devi and Anand Singh Bisht continued to wish him good health and visited his math a couple of times. Today, Savitri Devi sits back and looks at the world celebrating the successes of her son who travelled as a Yogi, ascended as a Mahant and now serves as the Chief Minister of India’s largest populous state. While she is equally proud of him, she doesn’t say much when cameras reach her village home to trace the roots of Yogi Adityanath. Her memory dwindles with traces of her son who always wanted to serve the nation and his successes as a public leader, a monk who became the Chief minister.
