Robert Nield: President

This pdf file contains the Biography of Sri Sri Thakur...
This book 'THE DIVINE LIFE OF SRI SRI

SITARAMDAS OMKARNATH' was penned by C.Varadarajan, an English scholar and an ardent
devotee, who had the opportunity of having Thakur's Darshan in 1969. He was wekk established in
a job, but his spiritual thrist and Thakur's dreams inspired him to quit his job in 1996 and devote
himself to Thakur's work wholeheartedly.
[The scanned pages arent perfectly aligned, and the words in between two pages arent visible
properly. Inconvenience is regretted.]
It is wonderful to kno w that such men as this trod the earth, spreading
goodness and peace to those he interacted w ith.
ROBERT NIELD
PRESIDENT
ROYAL ASIATIC SOCIETY HONGKONG BRANCH.
May your Book have wide circulation among all devotees of Divine
Name.
SWAMI CHIDANANDA
EX-PRESIDENT DIVINE LIFE SOCIETY
The book effectively projects the perennial message of practicing
u fi i v e r s a l l o v e .
K. R, RAMACHANDRAN/I. A. S. (RETD.)
PRESIDENT
INDIAN INSTITUTE OF WORLD CULTURE BANGALORE.
The book serves the noble purpose of kindling spiritual light in the
hearts of thereaders.
DR. G. VEDA PARAYANA

DIRECTOR OF SEM INAR
PROFESSOR AND HEAD OF THE DEPT. OF PHILOSOPHY
SRI VENKATESHW ARA UNIVERSITY
This book has tried to explore the life, teaching and the unusual
spiritual pow er of Sri Sitaram Omkarnath and the fervent devotion he
inspires.
G. N. DASH
FACUL т OF THEOLOGY UNIVERSITY OF GENEV A
L4EE O F
OMKARNATH
L
A book for all those who w ant divine inspiration and enlightenment.
Third Edition
DR. K. BALACHANDRAN
Vij ay a Da sa mi
PROFESSOR OF ENGUSH AN NAM ALAI UNIVERSITY
28th September, 2009
The book brilliantly sums up the life and contribution made by Sri
To be had from iWtaramdas in the field of spirituality.

Mafia milan Ma th
7/7. P W. D. Road. Kolkata - 700 035
DR. CHHAYAflAI
PROFESSOR AND HEAD OF THE DEPT. OF
Girija Library RG. STUDIES 6 RESEARCH IN PHILOSOPHY

22/C, College Row, Kolkata - 700 009 RANI DURGAVATIVISHWA VIDYALAYA
Really the book has some commendable ideas and is spiritually
Publisher:
enlightening.
Kinkar Rameshananda
Al l Co py Right s re serv ed with DR. M. RAMACHANDRAN
Akh il Bhar at J ai Guru S amp rada ya CHAIRMAN
DEPARTMENT OF POST GRADUATE ATTITUDES

Central Office:
AND RESEARCH I PH1LOSPHY UNIVERSITY OF MYSOR E
Mahamilan Math
The book is indeed a must ha ve hand book for the modern man
7/7, P W. D. Road, Kolkata - 700 035
i s i rchlno for a bala nce betw een peace 6 prosperity, demands of
Price : Rs. 100/- (One Huandred only) materialism and search of God.
US $ 5.00 DR. JAYA SINGH

GENER AL FELLOW (I. C. R R) CENTRE FOR PHILOSOPHY,
Printed at RGB Printing M art
SCHOOL OF SOCIAL SCIENCES
26, Bidhan Sarani, Kolkata - 6. Ph. 033 - 2241 0533
JAW AHA RLAL NEHRU UNIVERSITY NEW DELHI.
i
PREFACE
CONTENTS AND ILLUSTRATIONS
On the night of Christmas in 1993, my Master appeared in a dream and
P a ge
directed that I should write his biography. He also suggested that my
approach in writing his biography, should be rational and without any sort of Introduction......................................... I
exaggeration and that there should be no undue emphasis on miracles that Atfvnnl ............................................. 1
had occurred in his life, for the simple reason t hat he wa s really innocent of
I ilonitlon ........................................... 3
them and that these miracles had occurred solely by the grace of, either his
Gum or God, They had made him their instrument in their kindness. He also Quruiiva............................................ 5
suggested that focus in his biography should be on his message rather than Mttirtoge............................................ 1
on his personality. An uliinl householder...........................................12
lllinct vision of the lo rd .......................... 21
i wa s keenly aware of the fact that writing the biography of the Master
Inltlntlon ............................................ 24
wa s a very difficult assignmen t, as the saints m ostly l ive in a
Nlridlui Yoga .................................. 26
super - conscious state and are constantly in touch with the Almighty. Their
inner experiences are beyond our comprehension; a little bit-that we can Ли preacher of Name ........... :
. ........ ........ 30
expereince. is aweinspiring. What is visible outside is only a tip of the Mnlhods of preaching ..... . ...................... 36
iceberg. We cannot dive deep into the depths of the ocean of spirit, wherein
How hiиme leads to the final g o a l ............... 49
lies its richest treasures and saints are in possession of them. W e have to ba
content with the little that w e have seen of him arid heard from his lips.
llllfitient paths ................................. .... 51
Л» n wrltoi ......................................... 57
Ac co rd ing ly, I h ave at te m pt ed his bio gra phy in ob ed ien ce to Ih» philosophy ................. 64
his direction and with all its imperfections. I am offering this work at his
Miracles............................................. 67
Lotus
llnlvnisnl lo ve...................................... 23
Feet.
InlBraullon with contemporary saint ........... 77
Jnlyuru Sempradaya ......................... 84
Hyderabad Hniik to tho
3rd July, 1996 C. Uaradarajan rSou
ce ................. 86
ADVENT
On 17th of February, 1892, one of the greatest saints of modem times
w si born at keota, a sma ll village in the district of Hooghly of We st Bengal,
Ю ■plo ts Brahmin couple Or. Pranhari Chattopadhyaya and M alyavati Devi.
Ill» parents we re deeply religious in their temperam ent. Both of them were
extremely devo ted to the ir family deity "Brajanath" (Lord Krishna) to whom
i Imy would offer th e w orship everyday. The child wa s called Prabodh Chandra,
4 very apt name as it means " The enlightenment" In 1897, his mother
Mdlyavatr Devi passed away, when he was only about five years old. This
wnii really unfortunate. Subsequently, his father married Giribala Devi who
wn« looking after him with motherly affection.
S i nce the childhood it was evident that Prabodh Chandra inherited the
■K y from them . He refrained from taking breakfast before the family deities
WMll du l y worshipped and oblations were offered to them. Anot her
inportant characteristic of him wa s that fie w as very keenly interested in
i Henlng to the chanting of the “Harinaam"; he wou ld rush to the spot where
the Nnam -Samkirtan w as taking p lace, with gre at delight. In this context, it
ivuuld be pertinent to mention a particular incident that took place at his
iwlernel grandfather's house at Keota. While listening to the chanting of
liHlnnnm there, he fell into a trance and as a result he rested his head
1
unknowingly on the lap of one of his relations. Sri Harimohan, who in ,
turn slapped the boy assuming that he had slept off. His great grandfathet
observed the whole incident and after Naam-Samkirtan was over, hi Щ , E D U C A T IO N

rebuked his relative for his conduct and told him that it was not a spell al ifl)
drowsiness but an ecstatic trance caused by his listening to the Name. I -fl
was therefore evident that he was particularly fascinated by the chanting d ll> 1898. at the usual age, he w as admitted to the Primary School and
the Lord's Name since his early childhood. mi he moved on to Bandel Church School. While at school his performance
I
» excellent in Bengali, but his record in English grammar was far from
nlmrlory. It was obvious that the curriculum of the school did not interest
i M h« wa s not keen on pursuing English education. In the circums tance
Dumurdaha, a village in the Hooghly district of West Bengal, he was lying b ■№ decided that his son should be sent to an indigenous seminary, so
the side of his father. His mother and sister too were there. The boy pointeM lie could devote himse lf to oriental learning and sta y a t home and
out to the southern window and told his father that Lord Shiva was sta nd At ulty perform o bligatory religious duties. Such as the w orship of the
near that window. The father, however, could not see but enquired his sdlUy deity "Brajanath
as to how Lord Shiva looked. The boy replied that Lord Shiva wa s of whit I
complexion, w as wearing tiger skin and his hair wa s m atted on head. H III 1905, when he reached thirteen years of age, he was invested with
was three eyed with a trident in the left hand and a small drum shaped tab* w cred thread which bestpwed on him the status of a Brahmin. From
in the right hand. He described what he had seen. In the meantime Low CHI, he was entitled to perform "Sandhya Vandana". worship of the Sun
Shiva vanished. His pare nts and others d id not attach much importance Mil "I llto time of sunrise, noon and at the sunset. Th e " Sandhya
Vandana" this incident, as they thought that it was possibly the product of the bounded the recitation of the most sacred Mantra of Vedas,
namely, Gayatri. fertile imagination and forgot about it, nHittn, this also enabled him to undertake the arduous spiritual exerc ises
lilt upliftment.
** ■*■*• *•* *
Ihereafter, in 1909, a fter making several a ttem pts he got-his adm ission
Ihn leildential school of Sri Dasarathi Bhattacharya, free of cost. This type
of education has been prevalent since Vedic times in India, where,

student would stay with his Maste r and serve him in all possible ways Щ
G UR US E V
return rece ive educ ation without incurring any expenditure on the saiii
A
was thus, his career as a stud ent formally comm enced in the institulii
Sri Dasarathi Bhattacharya, at the age of seventeen.
“ By the Lord's gra ce is the true Guru m et ”. - "Adigranth"
In 1911, he lost his father, when he was barely nineteen years old. It< ,. .. „
...................... ..
While staying with his Guru at Digsui, he was doing the lowliest of
a terrible shoc k to him. He tried to overc ome the traged y by conce ntr.. .. . , . _ , . .. u ., . ,
BUNtl in his Gurus household. He considered the service rendered to his
on the studies and appeared for the preliminary examination in M u g d h ^ „ „ р. For hin>| serace t 0 hls Guru was more lmportam , han his
in 1912 and stood first. In 1913, he passed his intermediate exam,nan,|udl„ str ict c onfo rm ity wjth the ve djc tra djtio n_ he wiMing|y
Mugd habod h. Thereafter, he show ed no inter est in pursuing his studiesjltM:|||ne a whole time unpaid se rvant. B eside s atte nding to the
household shock of his father s demise had raised several questions in his mind, tyiqies, he used to look after the cultivation of his Guru's fields
and at the the tran sience o f life and the certainty of d eath. He there fore felt thûne of harvest, he would bring home the produce of the field.
In one word, education he w as pursuing, wa s incapable o f yielding solution to the e^w WM entirely devoted to the se rvice of his Guru. In this
context, it may be problems of life, death and rebirth. He abandoned his studies in pursifftiiiiittoned that later in life, when he blossome d into a
full fledged saint, he solution to the riddle s of life. »viote In his pref ace to “ Guru Gita", tha t guru and the Lord had the same
‘ "И, tho ugh they app eare d to be diffe rent and he a dv ised the read ers tha t
me should worship guru with deep devotion. He further stated that Guru
................................. Imight the know ledge of Brahman, the ultima te rea lity and
hiiiHfore. he wa s superior to Brahman. Since these sta tements w ere of the
k» lhu, there w as no doubt that by performing G uruseva, every
union becomes blessed.
Al mentioned earlier, he was grappling with the eternal problems of the

II», Consequent to his father's sudden passing a way he was keen to possess
5
that knowledge, w hich could gram him absolute freedom from pain. I
if in response to his struggle to attain free dom from the m anifold problems
l ife, his teacher Sri Dasarathi Bhattacharya became his Guru by initiating t« M A R R I A G E
at Triveni, a holy place on the bank of Ganges. -----------------------------------
On 13th day of January, 1913. the initiation took place.

. , .. . . . . . . . . .. . While he wa s s tudying a t D igsui. a proposa l wa s mooted a t
the In order to attain fulfilment, it is absolutely necessary that tl
aspirant must be initiated into mysteries of spiritual l ife, only b,'"'" 1"™ °f his Gu ru f°r his ™ ria 9 e wi, h a ^ "amed Siddh“ But
Master, who has realised God. It is well known that only a burning lamp o'1 Chandra was keen in 9eMin9 married' as his health was in a
bad light other lamps. Initiation is the first step in the spiritual life. In this resper'-l“4>" A se vere a ttack o f Pneumonia had permanen tly impaire d his
health, neither parents nor other relatives would be of any avail. Even stnenui/* ■result of this attack, a wheezing sound-from his chest was
always effort cannot help the seeker in realising God. Enlightenment is possible oltudible. He did not want to marry, as he was not inclined to ruin
the life of a by the grace of a Guru. Science, contemplation, devotion and various otty .... .
leaving her a widow. This showed his consideration for others and
disciplines would be futile, withou t the grace of Guru. Just as trees brim innate unwillingness to inflict any sort of pain or sorrow on others. When
flowers and fruits only when the spring sets in, so also the devotion beaiim prussure mounted on him. the only course that was left open for him
fruit only when one is blessed by the Guru. Hence, the supreme impo rtant,,, ц, |eave Oumurdaha. He left his native village and after considerable
of Guru in spiritual life. In initiating, the Guru offe rs God as a gift to reached puri in Orissa, which is a sacred place of Lord Jaganna th.
disciple. lin t ol his friends, Sri Naren was aware of the fact that Prabodh Chandra
/и* ,i very de voted discip le of Sri Dasarathi Y ogesw ar a nd prevailed

upon The grace of the Guru neutralises the poison of sensual pleasures a . (<) (aturn ,Q 0umijrdat lai as his Guru wa s inte rested in the
....
aforesaid
then leads the disciple gradually to a state of ecstatic bliss. It is only l , ... . . . . . .
F M ulliince and was eager to celebrate his marriage. After a gap of fortnight or
Guru, who gives his disciple the key to the spiritual treasures and takes t .. _ . , .. . . . . . . .
a ■i I’mbodh Chandra returned to Dumurdaha. Inthe meantim e, in the bride
s to the land of infinite hap piness , wh ich is beyon d the realm ............. ............. ...
.... . . . . .. ....
i« iimn at Digsui. the mother asked her daughter as to whether she should fix
imagination and intellect. It is certain that every object of life can
. . . . . . . . . . ..Inn imniiage elsewhere, as. "Prabodh had fled'Mn reply, she affirmed that i f
attained by the grac e of Guru, as nothing is impo ssible for him. At ,
„ .. . , „ a in hnd had to marry, it could only be with Prabodh Chandra Chattop
adhyaya initiation, his Guru gave him the new name Sitaramdas .
.................
- • «Inn. she need not be married at all. Aft er his return to Dumurdaha, there
wa s great rejoicing and he was married to Siddheswari Devi, nmny inspec ts and particularly beca use of the following extraordinaiy
In Dece mbe r 191S. the marria ge took place at Digsui. niml ttxporieivces. whi ch occurr ed in his life in quick, succ essio n.
Afte r the marriage, the c ouple were on their w ay to Dumurdaha. Th
crass edth eGa nges byb oata nd then travelled byap alanq uin.lnthe palan auiiii / ih of January, 1918. all of a sudden he had a wonderful
spiritual Prabodh Chandra enquired of he r: umiii km). A s usual, he sat for prayers at midnight in the normal
posture Im closed his eyes and meditated intensely, fixing his mind at the heart.
- ' W hat would you have done, if Ihad not married? iviu<hinprised to see Lord Shiva appear with a trident in one hand and
- " Iw ould have remained a maid”. « in nftother.
- "That is not practicab le tor a Hindu girl."
- "Why. Iwou ld die-kill myself." Wlm are you?", he asked.
- "If I die?"
• “ That you shall not. I will appeal to Mother Siddheswari. I will oil ' | nm your Guru". Lord Shiva repl ied," Icam e to you in your
childhood, worship to Her and you shall not die." miii could not recognise me. I have come again".
These were the word s from a little girl of ten or eleven. The strenght и you are my Guru", said Prabodh Chandra. " Sh ow me m y Ishta
her conviction was tremendous. She had resolved to put an end to her Мри chosen deity)",
in case the marriage had not materialised. Her words took the load off t
mind. On her arrival at Brajanath's house, Siddheswari Devi changed irrj.ivii then began the " Jape" of his Ishta Mantra with each of his five
Kamale Devi of Dumurdaha. Even after his m arriage, Prabodh Chantlfjjpths, From his shoulder, a female form descended,
continued his Guruseva and the spiritual exerc ises. He regularly studied tv
books, namely, "Vedantasar", that is. essence of Vedanta and the "Bhagav Wlm are you?", enquired Prabodh Chandra.
Gita”. Besides, he recited "Chan di" daily as a matter of routine. In additi
to his usual sittings for medit ation in the morning, mid-d ay and evening, i nm your mother ", she answered
, sat at midnight also.
The year 1918 wa s a mem orable year in the life of Prabodh Chandra ,iin шок the astral body of Prabodh Chandra, whic h resided within him
9
and began to recite his Ishta Mantra into his ears. Shiva went on ri
and sincere efforts by strictly following the instructions of his Guru.
ing the Mantra, dancing and playing on the Damaru (tabor). Gradually!
Mantra faded away, leaving only "Ram-Ram". Even that passed o ff andl Next morning he we nt to his Guru and asked him to follow and the Guru
folowed dim alongwith his wife and Kamala Devi. The four met in a room
“O m- Om ” rem aine d. Th at to o left , givin g pla ce to N ad (so und l o f a se rp el
■ltd a revelation of a transcend ental order w as granted by Sitaram Das to
transcendent Hiss. He was experiencing a transcendent roar from wf
llm rest. This, in itself, w as an extraordinary event as it wa s the privilege of
H i s e ye s op e ned a nd got f ixe d to the c e ntre o f the e ye - b
Ihe Guru to grant such a v ision to his d isciple. In the instant case, however,
nl A tra nsc en den tal light app ear ed. Wh en he c am e ba ck t o mun dan e
re al! w as 4 A . M ., as he could infer from the whistle of the nearby II was the other way round.
jute mill)
W e shall now see the reaction of the Guru to this wonderful revelation.
He was overwhelmed and had to remain confined to bed. For three days or
The next day Prabodh Chandra haste ned to his Guru at Oigsui. The!
tour days he rema ined in a state of trance.
congratulated him on his experience and observe d that as he had the Dad
of the Suprem e God, he should be gratified.

One day ha wrote this verse in Sanskrit and gave it to his beloved
llllClple Sitaram Das :

The same year on the Saraswati Pooja day, when he was engagi
Japa, the mem ory of his previous life flashed vividly before him. He s | Guru or Sishya, who are you to m e? I do not know. That Iam y ours and
in his previous birth, he was a Mas ter of w orld-w ide fam e devoted t(Ji youare mine , however,. Ikno w very we ll from my instinct. If you ate m y Guru,
Mother. It seemed hardly credible to him. At night he took his Guru’ h ift a m l your disciple come to you for refuge; have grace on me and redeem
confidence and his Guru confirmed the truth o f this vision. m* out of your infinite mercy. If on the contrary. I am your Guru pray tell me,
who you are. Of what essence is your being made?"

In the sam e year 1918, on the day o f Dol Purnima he attained fulfilil
It w as revealed to him that he had not co me d own to this eartl Here is a Guru paying his tribute to his disciple. This perhaps is
exhausting his Karmic load like others, but to establish Dharma he unparalleled in the world of spirit.
incarnated himself.
* * -* -* • *
Thus he reached the su mm it of spiritual life by his constant unsw a ■* *
11
l landyopadhy aya, his wife Sint. Karunamoye e Devi, his brother Sri
AN IDE AL HOUSEHOLDER amananda Bandyopadhyaya and his eldest brother's wife Smt. Kalidas or
_ _ rw x tt m oy e e Dev i. Th ey w e re kee n to re ce iv e ini tia tio n fr om him. Bu t

ha
A ft er cli m bi ng th e su m m it, the M aste r cam e d own to the mundane И* »*Ч’вгпе1у reluctant to acce de to their request and it was only at tha
wor ld and divested himself of allspiritual glory in order to lead the life o f an !WV* ntion of Ws Guru that they wer e initiated. Even while being the house -
ideal householder. The rationale for taking such an unusual step wa s to prove assum ed the role of a Master,
that every individual, whe ther he wa s a househo lder or a Sanyasi or belong- 1
ing to any other order, could reach the goal by dint of Sadhana from the sanne year, at the reques t of Dhruvananda Giri, he wr ote his
position w herever ha or she might be situated. Se lf-realisation is not the UPontion" Astavakra Samhita" and at the request of Sri Ramdayal Majumdsr,
privilege of any exc lusive group. 11 wrote “ C ho kh er Jo le M ay er Po oja ” (w ors hip of th e M ot he r w ith tea
rs) .
huue two books wer e very different in character. The one w as rooted in
A s s oo n a s h e a ss um ed th e re sp on sib ilit ies of t he fam ily, he had to f ac e i w w ltid ga an d th e ot he r in Bha kti. Th us, he had bl os so m ed into a w rit
er a nd a number of problems in discharging domestic obligations. He had hardly any I* ikltinguished scholars of the time were very much appreciative
of his income worth the name, but he had to look after all the mem bers of his
fam ily and also the guests who visited them unexpe ctedly. He wou ld sell all ;
that he had and look after the guests by extending warm hosp itality to them. IH 1926, several important events occurred, when he was ap pointed as
He would rather starve than allow the guests to leave the house without Sanatan , a reputed religious monthly mag azine of the day. His
providing them with food and rest. He wa s a firm b eliever in the theory that Muhnresayan" (the suprem e elixir) w as w ritten in 1926 and published next
the gues t is God and he spared no effort to make his guest as comfortable as Уеаг again, "Pagaler Kheyal" cam e out and the Ma ster 's school "
possible, in)iuieth Chatuspathi" w as started and his eldes t son Raghunath wa s bom.
ulliwquently, he w as blessed with two more children, Radhana thand Janaki.
In 1924 even while he wa s struggling with his dom estic problems, four WeBl0r started teac hing earnestly in his Chatuspathi. Beca use of his
pe rson s a pp roac hed him fqr initiation, The p rivilege of being the first tbliohincy in teaching, his reputation wa s rapidly increasing, and as a result,
disciples of the Mas ter goes to the four mem bers of a family wh o belonged "* l1drnb0r pupils in his school increased, w hich m eant that so many
to village Baksara in the district of Howrah. They we re Sri Prakash Chandra petsons had to be fed. But fhe Ma ster we lcom ed all of them, because
12 * 13
of his complete trust in God, whom alone he considered as the owner
Mother " How can boiled mung be served as Prasad?"
the establishment. He took all of them under his care and looked after thej
Master " We have no choice. Jet us have it."
with great care and affection.
Mother "What about kerosene oil?"
Master " The lanterns of those who attend the chanting, will serve
The same year the family faced a very difficult situation, when
the purpose."
unexpected gue st arrived, who had to be properly treated, when their mear
and resources had almost exhausted. That day happened to be Nrisiml This conversation highlighted the acu te financial distress of the family.
Chaturdashi, a sa cred religious occasion and on all such occ asions the enti
family would fast. When the Ma ster 's mother wa s informed about the arriv The mother made no reply, but at night, a sw eet m ade of suji was served
of the guest, she came out of the house immediately and saw a venerad щ praried and oil for lantern also was found. It is not known how she could
old Sadhu at the door. He was singing Ramnam in a subdued voice. SfifMfligeto procure these items,
welcomed him and washed his feet. The Sadhu said :
Early next morning they would be celebrating "Dol Purnimaday" which

"I request for a plate of rice with mungdaal."
a an auspicious celebration. The following day being a full moon day, they
would be performing the Pooja of Lord Satyanarayan, which entailed
She manage d to get the food he wanted . She prepared the meal hers* .uMItlonal expenditure for the offerings to be ma de in connection with the
and served it to him. Inthe meantime, the Mas ter cam e dow n after readr ritual. But the Master was least worried. It was his convict ion that
"Chandi" and met the Sadhu who announced himself later, as a Sadhu |idtnahow or other the Lord would manage and his job was only to serve.
Deoghar, named Meghna d. The same day for the purpose of serving Prasa Палм evening, une xpectedly the fam ily received a basket - full of rice. The
his mother required suji ( a c oarse flour of whe at) and kerosene oil. Th< M aile r attributed this gift to the grace of God. It wa s later known that Batu
we re unable to procure the se tw o items, as no body wa s w illing to gir Щ Mtyanandapur had brought the rice. But the M aste r interpreted that the
these p rovisions to them on credit. There was no money left in the fam ily1«ipply was made by God himself, man being the instrument, through whom,
the circumstances, they w ere wondering what to do. She approached h HI* grace descended. Even before sunrise the Mas ter's m other's aunt
son and the conversation that took place, is recorded below: Nnndarani offered a few rupees at the feet of Brajanath as a token of
M as te r: " Let us have boiled mung grains/” ii'vnronce. Vegetables were sent from the Uttamashram. With the help of
I
the money and m atehals received, the feeding of the guests and devote there is no point in diverting our attention to others.
went through smoothly. "Lord is my friend. He alone is my support in the end."
- “ Guru Granth Sahib"
Ano the r major prob lem tha t c onf ront s the par ents in ev ery fa mily To sum up, he has written in his " Mo ods of m aniac ":
is. find suitable alliances for their daughters. After knocking several doors
з getting a negativ e response , he appr oached Sri Debendrana "With all your studies of Shastras, you cannot believe that a man can
Bandyopadhyaya of Khanyan in the district of Hooghly, who wa n nttnin supreme knowledge while he lives as a fam ily man. You believe that a
welcom ed him and gladly gave his consent for accepting the Maste r's daughi linnily man cannot win p eace and bliss: but he can. Peace can be yours, if
as his daughter-in-law. Thus, he discharged all the responsibilities d you conform to the ideals of a family life, as set forth in the Shastras."
householder with utmost competence.
Srimad Vijnananda Brahmachri Maharaj, who was the head of the
A s is natural in the life of a house holde r, he had to fa ce a serie s llltnmashram, observed that the Master was an ideal householder and
bereavements. iiiniiirked:
tn April 1931, his consort passed away. He took the tragedy in its strit
"It is usual with men to go on a visit to Sadhu:
He was aware of the fact that death was not an end but an ope rting for
It will be their turn now t o com e on a v isit to a householder."
infinitely happier world. His second son Radhanath followed her after thn
months. Inspite of these bereavements. Master continued to perform l

Eight months after the passing of his consort, the Mas ter had a severe
normal duties. It may be mentioned here that only a heroic soul, which v.
attack of Synovitis and he was bed ridden for three months. During these
in earnest quest of the Supreme, could have withstood these shod
Мини months, two major operations had to be performed on two different
Ordinary mortals would have collapsed under the weight of such ago nie s1
"i i nsions by Dr. Sourend ra N ath Cha ttopad hyaya and Dr. Ma ni Babu
set an example to others that if they were sincere in their desire for attain
mipictively. On both the occasions. Anaesthesia was not used and during
God realisation, they should be able to withstand these tra gedies and tb hu h operation, it becam e nec essary to mak e three deep incisions. During the
should not be obsesse d unduly with the things of this world and should n "Ifiction , the Mas ter was only chanting the Name of the Lord with utmost
above all relationships, as the only kinsman of every soul is the Lord and i dimness and tranquility. Even when streams of pus and blood flowed from
к
his body, he was unperturbed. Or. Mani Babu was much impressed by Ho wa s continuing his spiritual exercise in that sacred place. Ihe
his patient and said that he had never seen a patient like the Master in hit «Mwltiible part of every Ashram, was " Panchavati". an assemblage of five
life and kissed him tenderly on his forehead. How did the Master utilise the
• поим) trees. These trees were planted in 1933. a cave was dug in 1934,
time during the peiiod ol his illness? He was constantly chanting the Name
vlrmo he could continue his meditation undistrurbed for hours together. His
of the Lord, as he was not in a position to perform the daily obligatory rituals meditation became so intense that he could not pronounce any Mantra. The
like Sandhya.
moment he uttered Pranava (Om), he was immobilised. The transcendental
ii 'Heiiences, like hearing the sound of ding dong of belis and the chanting
of
Afte r long four teen m onths, he steppe d out of the bed and it was sees riiiin Krishna Naam continuously by male as well as a female voices in his
that he became lame on one leg. Otherwise, he was physically fit. The Lort •<iri from within, were coming thick upon him. He also heard from within,
comp ensa tes for the suffering s that we unde rgo in some form or other. Tht иio Mahamant ra in many voices ac comp anied by musical instru ments
for sufferings on the physical plane are amply comp ensate d on the spiritual plane ■iliinit a fortnight w ithout interru ption. This w as a unique ex
perience.
The Master was constantly listening to the unstruck melody and he wa:
perceiving the transcendental light and was slowly gliding into Samadhi Finally, in January 1937, the Master assumed the name of "Omkarnath'',
which is the ultimate stage of spiritual effort. When he was in a state о ‘ii hu w as being rep eat edl y add ress ed by an ete rnal vo ice during
his Samadhi, he found out that he had left the body behind and was soarini niiidltation by that name.
high, when he heard from above a voice whic e told him :
The Master went by a boat to Triveni alongwith Narayanji to the spot
"The work remained to be done". vlittm lie had once been initiated by his Guru. There the Master wrote the
and he began to desc end to the mortal plane. mime, " Omkarnath", on a "Batapatra". a leaf of the bo-tree and wore the
• iml garb of a Kaupin f a narrow strip of loin .cloth) and Bahirbas (a scanty
Even while being a householder, he was keen о huoii of cloth not covering even up to the knee for outer wear). The Master
intensifying his Sadhana. For this purpose, he established an Ashram in iimn assumed the name " Omkarnath". Thus. Prabodh Chandra was
secluded piace on the Ganges at Dumurdaha. This was known a uiiimmuted into" Sitaram Das Omkarnath". From Triveni he went straight to
"Ramashram",. On 28th of March, 1928, his Guru Dasarafhi Smritibhusa

Hm llltamashra m, w here Srim ad Dhruvanandan Giri prepared for him a Kaupin
performed the opening ceremony of Ramashram.
19
it
and Bahirbas out of a new piece of cloth and when the M aster w ore the
things offered by him, ho announced :
"So from today your name is Omkarnath."
Thereafter, the Master returned to Dumurdaha and surrendered alii
documents relating to the properties of Brajanath and handed over thechai
of his family to him. AH along he had been acting as an agent of Lord Brajana
He now returned to Him all tha t blonged to Him. From tha t day, he ceased
be a householder, as he had to take up more difficult assignm ent al
spiritual Master as hundreds of thousands of devotees were waiting fo ri
to slake their thirst at his feet. Henceforth, he was to be the “ fishei
men".
Only those great spirits who are endow ed w ith tremendous will pov I
and deter mination, can reach the sup reme heights of spiritual life, even vtf L
discharging normal duties of a householder. The Master showed us thal
was prossible by his own example. There is no need to despair for I
householder, as he can have a cce ss to the Supreme, just a s the Sanya I
can. This wa s the mess age that he wanted to convey to the world at la
by his example and not by precept only.
* * * - * * - * ■*
1
DIRECT VISION OF THE LORD
I» Mnr ch 1937, he undertook a vow of silence, after relinquishing his
II . . .. . . .. г. о householder, with a firm resolve that either God must appear
• iM i him and command him experessly by word of mouth, or he would
. ■ihn body and p ass off in Nirvika lpa or ind eterm inate Samadhi.
On 22nd or 23rd of April, 1937, the Lord appea red in the form of Jagannatn
..... iniin, the Master described this experience as follows:
I lint night he first had a vision of bright light, a light stronger than the
nl any nun. but a light, fuli of life comin g from the fore head of Lord Jagann ath
..... lolly of Puri temple As the light shown on his face, he opened his eyes
'ini ilnnling light and he clearly saw the black image of Lord Jagannath,
1 .. ..... . with dazling ornaments of diamond and precious stones, and His
. . l nyns were staring at him. He stared back with unseeing eyes not
iiiting thru he was in the pre sence of God Himself. The stub arms of Lord
21
JagannathliftedinblessingsandfromthefocusedbrightlightLord Kit . . .
IMQlOn, or insisting on any other conditions or considerations nf stnct-
emerged. Lord Krishna with a flute in this hand and his opaque bluet
H « W mI morality. He, however, accepted Haritaki (Myrobalan, a herbal dried
adorned with yellow garment, the neck and chest covered with qarlanL..................................,
I» W in med icinal property) and a sacre d thread as Gurudakshina. as is
flower, danced in front of him. He then realised that he was now m , ,
м ни iwy from the Vedic times. Perhaps, this is the cheapest Gurudakshina
presence of Lord Krishna and waited for him to speak, his eyes she;L . . . „ , „ ,
tvon the poorest can afford and offer, for the immense benefit, they
tears, te ars of joy. his heart filled w ith sub lime qu iet and fulfilment, his L. I. .. .. . .. . .. .. . .. .. . .. .. .
IM ul from the Master. The M aster has deliberately made it so, in order to
shivering with pleasu re and achieve ment. Lord Krishna, in a melodious v . .,
himself acc essible to one and all.
directed, "Ya-Ya-nam-dige-ya" Igogo-preach the name)."Sitaram Das'st
overflowed with gratitude, but his soul was soaring high with inspiration
his body was trembling with emotion. Before his staring eyes could I
* * * * * * *
Lord Krishna slowly became opaque and then vanished. The brilliant
dimmed and there was complete darkness in the room and he'couK
*
longer see Lord Jagannath. Sitaram Da s crying silently prostrated tow
the temple of Lord Jagannath and from his soul the answ er came:
"Y es m y Lord, thy wish shall be obeyed."
It is because of the intervention of Lord Jagannath that the Mt
became accessible to ail people, irrespective of caste, creed and reli|
Hitherto, he was reluctant to initiate and even when he gave his initiaht
wa s for the selec t few w ho could undertake and succeed in passing rigo
tests, like, chanting Gayatri Mantra or Hare Krishna Mantra, at leasi
lakh times. But after receiving the command to preach the Name fai
wide, he initiated freely without making any d istinction of creed or cast

Dtimuidaha and received initiation in Janua ry/ February 1928.
I
itubsequently. the Master made the conditions for receiving initiation
(ним him, more difficult by increasing the number of Gayatri Japa to three
N IТ IAT IО N M tl l imd performanc e of Sandhya thrice daily. For fema le candidates, they
worn inquired to com plete the M aham antra Jap a of three lakhs. Later on he
" iimh I и to four lakhs. These conditions wer e im posed by him only to test the
As alre ady note d, fou r me mb er s of the fam ily of Sri Pra kas h СГ|(Н, inss of th e can did ate s f or r ece ivin g i nitia tion and als o t o ma ke them
Bandyopadhyaya had the privilege of being the first disciples of the МауьHiqmiont to move in the spiritual path, by inculcating in them , a sense of
1924. It wa s very difficult in those days to receive the initiation froû, and earnestne ss, whic h are esse ntial for spiritual life. Wh en they
Master. Every male candidate was required to com plete one lakh of Gunn qonlilisd thems elves, the M aste r would initiate them. Thereafter, the
Jap a and every fem ale, one lakh of Maha man tra Japa. before effort would be easy for the aspirants. As a consequence of the
initiated. ifinii'iiil conditions, the number of disciple s w as very small. It was only after
.... . I vision of Lord Jagannath and His comm and that the Mas ter, waived
In June or July 1926. Sri Panchanan Gangopadhyaya of Hooghty d#'* 1,1,1 condition s and initiated people, who cam e from all wa lks of life,
came to him for initiation. He candidly confe ssed to the Maste r : dtuM any exception. Hindus of all castes, Muslim s, Christians and anyone
Mm ripproached him for initiation, would g et it without incurring any expen-
ihui» Initiation from the Mas ter meant, the opening up of a new wor ld of
" la m a debauche e, a drunkard, a liar, an imposter and a thief. Yoj
• Am , Itimling the aspirants to the suprem e spiritual state.
save me. I am the suppliant for your grace.”
The Master was reluctant initially, but because of his continued

and anguish and his frank confession, the Master agreed to initial!
subject to the condition, that he should complete one lakh of Gayar -*•-*-**-*-*-*-
and should pe rform the Sandhya, thrice daily, at the ap pointed hours
completing more than the required number of Japa, he came back tc
ii lyio, the sound that com es from a conch-shell, the rumbling of clouds.
iMiiiny ill anklets, sounds such as ’ Jai Guru' and the sounds of the chanting
Ии» Niime in various combinations, such as 'Radhe Govinda Jai' Radhe
SIDDHA YO GA •v*r u|| Jai' and ' Hate Krishna Hare Krishna/ Krishna Krishna Hare Hare /
- ................ ~ Hid llama Hare Rama / Rama Rama Hare Hare' and so on and so forth.
Of There are two types of initia tion. One of the ord inary type, is calkAl**' n,,(l Nad, the number is infinite and only few have been indicated,
Once 'Kriyevati Diksha'. Its essenc e is that the Guru shows the way and if1" w pw iw ce of Jyoti and Wad come, the aspirant has acce ss to
medita-
discip le has to wo rk for hims elf and with his own ef forts, rise to the gut**'11,1,1л wil1 not be necessary for him to attempt at meditation. It comes
heights. The other type of initiation is known e s ' Siddha Yoga", the essentN*,,",B,100uslv and in course of tim e as a re sult of medita tion on Nad
or of it is that the Guru transmits powe r to the disciple and awakens wWfl, H* mind gets dissolved once and for ever, leading the aspirant to
the Kundalini, which henceforth will work out its own course and the discipln^*^ (|t God, This expe rience has been beautifully summarised in
the only the witness to the miracles it works. Thus, in Siddha Yoga, the lines:
infuses the power into the disciple, either by touch or look or thought and;
a result, the Mantra beco mes sentien t and the awakened Kundalini mew N the unstruck melody rings within one, night and day, then the state
upwa rds, resu lting in a (tightened sta te of con scio usn ess and tliH HtMlhlnss Lord is known by the Guru's grace,”
immediately after initiation. Mild as well as wild tremors are experienced l ~ Ad igr$ r> th
him, The disciple feels electrified. He shivers all over and he has no pow
eith er to sto p or co ntr ol the m ove me nt of hi s body. The rea fti 11111 letter addressed to Rai Saheb Bhujendra Nath Sarkar. the Master
super- sensuou s experienc es, like the Jyot i and Nad occ ur |transcendeni,"," ,,n nlM,ut Siddha Yoga, as indicated be lo w :
light and sound appear).
! Hid articles that the Utsav publishes, relate all to the Kriyavati Diksha
Transcendent al light resem bles red and blue spots, stars, blazing fir(*'"l way is to be traversed and trudged with toil. You all have got
and sparks of lightning. It is difficult to indicate the types of Jyoti, as they a ^Mhe Yoga'; it is a lift, so far as this is concerned you need not care even to
millions in number. So is the case with Nad. The sounds like the roar of snfc",' vv im p in g ab out the routes. Only concent rate on the Man tra and
Jyoti, the beating of drums, the ringing of bells, the piping of a flute, the m u si c a l «nilVindu all shall come. Meditate a ttha heart. When the heart is
filled,
Я 27
L
г
you can go up to the cen tre of the e ye-brow s and the Sahasrar, the higty " Suddenly I had a sensation of a to uch at the root of the spinal chord
level. Concentrate on Nad, the mind will dissolve, the finite and the inlf mill n\ once an electric force passed swiftly through the spinal chord into the
will be indissolubly merged."

i mnlunl cortex, resulting in a strange experience. Suddenly, I found myse lf
nlunl Into a vast whiiling luminous void. For me the universe wa s gone, no
In another context, the Ma ster pointed o u t:
n ei.n ol it remained. It was an infinite sea of light that Ifound around me and
i trill Ihnt Iw as sw aying and tossing in that heaving sea.

" Once the power of Kundalini has been awakened, the Karma of(l
Yogi dro ps off in its enti rety and his J iva n Mulct i s tat e a ppe ars of itse
I cannot now recall how long I rolled in that vast radiant void, but this
lf"
I .... и I remember that I did not lose my co nsciousne ss even for a moment.
Here are two examples of the impac t of Siddha Yoga on his disciple Only a laint yet alert sense of the external world survived: that was tha
• iwniiiimss of the M aste r standing by.
A dis ting uish ed dis cip le of the M as te r Sri Anj ane yulu of Ram a
IMI Kshefram in Guntur District of Andhra Pradesh, described his Now Ifelt a stirring sensation o f a unique kind near about the navel ring.
experience follows : i inii that a sound issued forth from that region. I triad my best to stifle that
-uni«I, but in vain. The sound exploded w ith a terrific c rash and spread itself
" I was doing Japa on the day following that of initiation from Sri Gu «In nail. I could n't open my e yes for a long time.
whe n afloo d of light emanated from my forehead and in that, Isaw the !
of my Lord. A year after this, Sri Guruji came here and touched my N When I had the Pow er to open my eyes, I could not find the Maste r
when Iwas doing Japa, At once Lord appeared before me smiling and anywhere about me.
rounded by divine light. Wo rds fail to describe the a ppearance of Lord
the experience I had on that occasion." Alm ost im me dia tely af ter that, the Ma ste r arrive d. He sat by me and
i .«и nia my Mantra."
Sri Puranjay Roy Bandyopadhyaya, the Master's biographer in Ben
has described his experience when the Master touched him. while her
* -* ■** •** *■
waiting to be initiated:
29
than a thousand. Of them about three hundred will excel in knowledge

mill teeming. He will wander about from place to place to disseminate Dharma.
Many will receive from him the esse nce of truth. He will be dear to Sri Sri
lefleonath Oeva. He will be known to a good many wise men. As a house-
AS PR EA CH ER OF NAME 1чпМяг lie will be known as Prabodh Chandra Ro m very early
ihilrthrjod. he w i l l posse ss know ledge as w ell as an attitude of
nWHittachment. At the second stage of life, he will have one leg damaged.
Af ter rec eivin g the com ma nd of Lord Ja gan nat h, the mis sion o f Mas
W»ll, ye, for the advent of the Lord, in him will the Lord incarnate Himself.
tei' i life became crystal clear. He shall be a great preacher of Name. His m
1 la will come on a visit to Niladrinath and his identity gets revealed. He will
issicl would be to provide a shortcut to the fulfilment by chanting the Nam e
ImVW many disciples with him and he will be forever wandering."
of iff lord. This role of the Maste r w as predicted nearly four centuries ago.
At tht beginning of 16th century, Sri Krishna Chaitanya Mahaprabhu

Hnving been commissioned by the Lord to propagate the Name, the
knowt throughout India as the incarnation of the combined form of Lord Krishna
Marini uxerted himself to preach the Name in e thousand and one ways. His
anj Shrimati Radharani, had selec ted five renown ed scholars and devotees
-nuiint would be to provide a shortcut to the fulfilment by chanting the
front Orissa as his closest disciples and associates. Amongst them,
Nellie of the Lord. He was fully aware of the fact, that in this iron age,
Pandl Ac hyut ana nda , a ren ow ned sag e o f v ery high repu tatio n, had
10* 1» me in cap able of aus ter ity or re nunc iatio n. In his b ook, “ Mo od s of
pre dic ted tin birth of a great Bhakta who would grace the w orld in the
a
years to c ome. Hit prophecy runs as follows :
■••i.ii.". he w ro te :
” Listen to me again Oh you devotees of Krishna. In the district of HoogHi

* litis is not the age o f austerity or renunciation. People of this age
in North Bengal, a Bhakta will be bom, in the family of devotees of Krishna!
huikIni and quail at the thought of renunciation. In this age the recipe has
He will be known as a Bengalee because of his birth in Bengal. He will N
"i hn vniy much simplified and shortened. The people have lost the capacity
vastly learned and attain to the fell knowledge of the Supreme and will bi
1uiiiliiratanding the Gita, but have gained the capacity of bragging and
known as belonging to the Sri Sampradaya of the Rama-huti order. The cut
huutiiifl out the name of Gita. That is why a much smaller thing suited to
of Sri Sampradaya of the Ram a-huti order will be his daily Practice. Va st wii
um munis of the age is called for, a thing by means of which m en can easily
be his knowledge, meditation and learning. His disciples w ill number morn
' "'M n thing that can transmute base worldly-minded men caring only for
30
31
ш
gold and sensual gratification into very saints devoted exclusively to Gtxl How long have I been in this stag e?'
such a thing as can g rant them the vision of the Supreme . Oh, you « i nr two days' Isaid.
enlightenment, let that light supreme dawn and shine upon humanity."
Il<l then said. 'I had b een t o a stran ge re alm .' There was an assem bly
This was the Mas ter's m ission. To make a gift of that light Supreme 11 И тяну transcendent beings, who were very tall with forms as soft ascream .
the blind souls of this World. How did the M aster go about his mission? Щ |ka muni as I went, my form also b ecame exactly like theirs. A m eeting w as
did it by emphasising the glory of Mah amantra and by continuously chantu wood to find out a common course, which all people might follow with
the Name. W herever he went, he would insist that the disciples around him kuMhil results. One among them sugge sted," ach ieving non-v iolence'. Then
should chant this Name . This was his consta nt refrain. The easie st and thi I . . . . . .I Him beings spoke who we re sea ted in a circular form, one after
most practicable course for attaining eternal bliss was chanting the Name liar, each giving his views with a references to the Shastras. The first
the Lord and in particular, the Mahamantra: M i %tilting ended. On the second day cam e mine (that is, Sri Gurudeva's
•
m| Than Isugge sted with adequate referenc es to the Shastras, that chanting
“ Har e Kris hna Har e Kris 1Mahamantra was the best method, that can be resorted to by every man
hna Krishna Krishna Hare 1 • .illuming God realisation in this age.
Hare Hare Rama Hare Rama
Rama Rama Hare Hare” 1Ниге Krishna Hare Krishna
Minima Krishna Hare Hare

The Master in his letter to his disciple, Sri Anjaneyulu of Rama Nanv
Itare Rama Hare Ram a
Kshetra m in Guntur District of Andhra P radesh, has explaine d reason s f#
Urmia Rama Hare Hare"
adopting Maham antra as the chief instrument of his mission.
An soo n a s I con clu de d, all wi th one vo ice as se nt ed by s ay

"In 1922 in the month of Aswin (September/Octcber) after Durga Pup
Sri Gurudeva had an attack of Pneumonia; he seemed to be unconsciou

ing : ' Hari Om. Hari Om"
for two days and came back to himself only on the third day. Then he askor
me : Hum Sri Gurudeva returned from that invisible realm. After his recovery,
3?
■
he sang daily 'Hare Krishna..." in the Sadhan Samity, an institute] mng by many voices in accompaniment to many instruments in the in-
spirit! al culture tounded by him. We joined him and sang too. He used tow uM i sphere. No one was in sight, but the music of ‘ Hare Krishna' Naam
i ..iillnued without break. After a fortnight or so, the ' Hare Krishna' Naam
"I shall go to Arabia and Turkey. Even the mussalmans will receive uL yMigd itself to him and absorbed him and made him a part and parcel of
Name. I shall preach the Name from door to door." ,..„11
He lived for ten years more. Later, before passing on to the eternal re al цм further affirmed that the w ords of the Shastras, the meeting of the
he had started work through this medium, (that is, myselfl. At D umurd alLûjn denta i beings w ith Gurudeva. the gra ce of Mahamantra to
himself on every eleventh day of the moon, there used to be loud and non- siL„| ц|(| singing aloud of Maha mant ra by saints, conclusive ly proved
that the singing of the name for twentyfour hours or for three days and nights г»т я nncj g,e only way for men in Kaliyuga, is singing of M ahama
ntra. By stretch. He often graced these function s with his presence. , i„«iiting the Mahama ntra, one can meet God face to face. About it
there
«I Ini no doubt - none, none, none at all.

In 1933, M aste r himself stated that by the grace of Gurudeva, 1
capacity for performing Sandhya, Puja and study of scriptures, left him a
only Omkar remained with him. As a result, he used to be absorb ed in
Saimj
for ten or twelve hours. At that time, he took the vow of silence for a moil , * # * -* -* x-
■* with effect from the Uttarayana Sankranti, that is, about 14th of Jarnu
1933. During Pranava Japa, he could hear the ringing of bells. Then he ho| ’
with both his ears ;
" Hare Krishna Hare Krishna
Krishna Krishna Hare Hare
Hare Rama Hare Rama
Rama Rama Hare Hare"
Afte r that, he wa s hearing the sound of ’ Hare Krishna', tha t w as Ixi
■I
in Kaliyuga, Name is the clear and straight path. Just as all clouds are
id by sun's rays and the sun appears, similarly. Name destroys the
varieties of delusion (that is. the imperfections enveloping the soul)

METHODS OF PREACHING
:ht Paramatma (Lard) appears in person in the heart of the singer. The
question was relating to the Mantra that would be most effective in

"In Kaliyuga the Lord’s Name is the only emancipator"
and which c ould be chanted by all persons, irrespective of their
- ~Adig ran
creed, community or religion. Bhagwan Shankar anticipated this
( AJ Speec hes
and told M other Parvati in Yoga-SarTantTa, that in Kaliyuga for those
One of the methods adopted by the Master for preaching the Nai
ild have faith in the Tantras, the M antra w ould be :
wa s to address large gatherings of disciples and devotees, w ho w ere ea|
to listen to his message. He was never tired of exhorting everyone that t i l
should ding to the Name. He would speak, quoting from different Sh a st rl • Hare Krishna Hare Krishna
that the chanting of Name was the swiftest and smoothest way of at ta in ! Krishna Krishna Hare Hare
the direct vision of God. He would continue to speak until Samadhi a b s o r! Hare Rama Hare Ranga
him. Rama Rama Hare Hare"
.. .... . ... According to the Radhatantra, Mother Parvati gave this Mantra to
In his speech delivered at the 25th annual conference of the Divine it a
'.'ItaQwan V asudeva.
society at Calcutta on 28th of December, 19 79, he pointed out once 3|
the importance of chanting the Lord’s Name in this terrible kaliyuga, I

И you ask me. whether by taking Name once, all sins will be burnt to
attaining salvation. Inspite of all its drawbacks, Kaliyuga has one gtJ
N lM ? I reply, that it must happen. Take for example, a huge heap of straw
advantage in that, the results of spiritual exercises can be obtained quicj
« s large quantity of cotton, wool or a dark cave. Do you require dozens of
in this age.
ним» boxes to reduce the heap of straw to ashe s? No. If you apply even one
mulch stick, it will start burning and gradually the whole heap will burn
" Wh atever is attained in Satyayuga by meditation, in the Treata I
• vygy. In the sam e w ay the heap of cotton or wool w ill be quickly burnt by
sacrifices, in Dwaparyuga by worship, in the Kaliyuga, it can be attainedl
tl* implication of one single match stick. If you strike one m atch stick, it will
singing Name alone."
37
dispel the century old darkness of the cave immediately. Like a st ia

* In this Kaliyuga, what is that Dharma by observing a little of winch
heap, the sins of a very stnful person burn slowly. If a man is moderate
fluid a person get full result? 'This Dharma' • this path, is that of ’Nama’.
sinful, his sins are burnt aw ay rapidly. The dark ignorance o f the mind of J
«Mch alone is capable of reaching one to the highest."
otherwise virtuous person is im mediately dispelled."
In this context, it is also relevant to note what Lord Krishna told Arjuna :
From the foregoing, it is seen that Mahamantra can b e recited by of
and all at any point ot time of the day or night and without observing .11
'0 Partha, whoever sings my Name, either with respect or disdain, his
formalities. Coming to a particular individual, which Mantra will suit him
««M always remains in my heart."
best?
The Master eleborates on this note struck by the Lord:

Vishnu is the presiding God of Ak asha (Sky). Parv ati is th e presidri
Goddess of Fire. Sun or Fire is the presiding God of Vayu, Ganesh is ill
* How is it that even if one utters His Name in disdain, the result is
presiding God of Water and Bhagwan Shankar is the presiding God of til
«iiunlly beneficent? Why should it not be so? Material strength is
Earth. A person worships the God according to the abundance of one or til
• «l#()ondent ofall other forces. Materia l strength, witho ut waiting for anyo
other constituent in one’s body. If he has Akasha as the main constituent. i{
ne's nih, respect or bhakti, exhibits its own power. Name also is like that
will worship Vishnu. On the other hand, if he has fire as his main constituent
power, u* tosult of chanting (he Nam e, com es of itself. If you dip your hand
he will worship Parvati and so no. It is the Guru, who determines the suitatti
even 1Klainfully in nitric ac id, will it not burn your hand? If you take poison
Mantra for his disciple. When one gets the Mantra from the Guru, then Ц
mak ing ч|1| ul it. will it not cau se de ath? In the sa me way , whet her you
doing Japa of that Mantra at the time specified by the Guru, the discipJ
utter Na me
attains the Purushottama.
• vilh respect or love or with disdain, it will be active and produce results,
'nit us a well is filled up if you go on dropping b rick bats in it, similarly, one's
" without the grace of Sadguru, none can attain salvation"
'« ul is filled by constantly singing Name."
" Sing the Name of Hari

- 'A n Indian proverb'
Sing the Name of Hari
Sing the Name of Hari"
38
39
( В) W r i t ings gain, in this work, the Ma ster has m ade it amply clear that the power
i does n ot depend on the de votion or faith of the singer, as it has the

"Не who contemplates the Lord's Name pnt power to destroy sins, whether the singer has faith or not.
is not cast into the womb"
he powe r of my Nam e does not come from your devotion. A s the

- " Ravi
da| great fire de stroys c reation in the hour of dissolution, so do es the Fire of
Master has written a number of books wherein he has laid the strest my Name consume the sins accumulated through crores and crores of
the efficacy of the Name in attaining the Supreme State of bliss, at] birth. Oh sinner Here am I - wa iting for you. Fear not."
evident from the following extracts from different books : In yet another exquisite poem written by the M aste r in this book :
Great Elixir (MaitarasayanJ He wakes u pthe slumbering man and pursuades him to chant the name,
.0~ if he wants to avoid terrible suffering at the time of death. His role
1. " Listen. My Name is your support in the journey of life. Sing the Na appears to b e that of the Hound of Heaven.’
Today you are alive, bu t you w ill not be ative forever. A day will <
when your senses will cease to function and life will leave corp “ Sl e ep N o M or e , M y M in d '
frame, and the mortal remains will be either devoured by jackali|
burnt to ashes. If you do not obtain the means of support fori “D ay aft er da y de ath be ats his dru m"
journ ey, the n you a re do om ed . Fr om th is mo me nt e arn m ea ns - sing "Sleep no mere, w ake up pleasure-beguiled mind!
^ Name, let your whole system utter the words 'Rama Rama' and How long 0 fool, wilt thou revel in this world?
‘ Hari'. This is the best means of leading you to the right path of life.1 Death stands grim by the b ed-side.
wea lth, your wif e and children w ill not go with you. W hile ther e is 4 skewing that the body is the soul
time, sing the Name and obtain what is m ost worth your wh ile in| Thou hast made the body thy all in all.
Don't follo w too ma ny paths to «he higher life, better s tick to one- |j An d rov es t d ay by d ay like a m an iac .
singing of the Name - this will be the be st of your attainments* Ц Even now thou thousand cries go up.
need not be proficient in all the scriptures. " How long wilt thou lie senseless in delusion's sleep?
Thou hast obtained this body, desired of Gods.

A s man, wo ma n, bird, bea st, wo rm and ins ec t
As rew ard f or str iving s of a m illion lives. The Name in its myriad forms enjoys its sport Man ifesting itsoll in tiny
Ala s! thy day s hav e p asse d a wa y in vain.
as night.
Deep disgrace will await thee on thy last day.
As half m onth and mon th and the six s ea son s
The days Ogone by will not return
The name is a ll: it is the sun, the moon.
Though hundred times thou we rt to sa crifice thyself.
The planets: the Name is light and darkness.
Yet the re i s tim e; ch an t the Lord; s Na me
The basis of all things is the Name,
That carries the essence of immortality."
It is river, hill and sea, tree and creeper.
Remember Rama, sing Rama, Rama.

Streams of Nectar (Sudhar Dhara)
An d thou wi lt att ain bliss, о S itar am !"
1. In this marvellous book consisting of the essence of Vedas, the mas ll I,

In another poem, the Master has categorically stated that it is possible
has, emphasised the efficacy of Name and has clarified that Nairn!
to see the Lord face to face by simply chanting the Name.
synonymous with God and therefore, chanting of the Name sh l
certainly lead one to immortality. In the following poem, he h*

" Not a poet's fancy but seeing face to face!
conveyed the message, that chanting of the Name not only leads н
Surely, devotee will meet his Lord.
the conquest of death, but also to the realisation that all that exists* j
Unfortunate is the man who keeps away
this world is God.
Thinking it is all a figment of the brain.
“ Re cite the Nam e, my m ind! wit hou t a break How swe et to hear. Thou Lord! Thy servant I!"
and thou wilt find peace and conquer death.
A s th ou inte res t i f thou art rid of pa in.
From the Nam e has this universe arisen,
Make a firm resolve to see Him face to face.
In the N ame all objects find their support.
The Name objectifies itself into the world, Without a doubt thou wilt see Him thus.
Ihe Nam e becom es all forms of life and moves Thy heart strings are attuned to the loved Name,
43
43
Recite it constantly and move forward. assuming form of b lis s: in the great deluge Of bliss the mortal universe
I
Even now my Lord appears before me. writ totally dissolve leaving no trace behind; e verywhere you will se e My self
Recite the Name and make it all in all. who am all bliss.
■ Г
with recitation expectation will arise.
Nam-Samkirtan is the smooth, straight and easy way. The lustre ol My
And thou w ilt look out fo r Him day b y day. Name goes beyond the Vedas and Vedanta, They become adorable to the
He, thy life's joy. will smilingly appear. Hires worlds who say the Name constantly. Their grace can rescue
The Lord's servant Sitaram! Recite the Name!" numerous sinners and sufferers.
Neglect no more, time flies fast. Say the Name, Practise saying the
Ab ha y Vani (Ho ps Ab oun ding )
Name continuously So long as you can utter a syllable, don't give up saying
Iho name. Heedless of whether you are holy or unholy, ignoring whether you
In this book, the Master assures that he will take full responsibility to
luive reverence and faith or not. say the name every moment. It is the Name
those, who sing the Lord's name. While in the other books, he has been
Indeed that will fetch divine love. By silent repetition of the Name you will
emphasising that the Lord in His infinite mercy will grant them immortality, ti
• no Me face to face. Say the Name, say the Name, say the Name,
they sing His Name. In this book, he has given that assurance himself having
realised that he and the Supreme Powe r were one. He has identified himsrf
Fear not Fear not Fear not"
with the Almighty and has given the assurance directly The veil has Ьем|
rent as under and we see the Master as Lord Himself.

f, In another passage in the aforesaid book, the Master has revealed that
he has come down as Nameva tar (Incarnation of Lord's Na m e):

1. "l a n d my father are one”
- H o l y B ib k
"D ea re st! Listen, Dearest Mine! To do away with all your pain I
have come down as the Name. Say the Name and all your worries shall
"The Nam e and I are not distinct, you know, To say the Name and lo
cease: I Will fill you, within and without, with light and delight. You will be
stay with me amount to the same thing. Say the Name unceasingly, and
thrilled livery moment with My beautific touch, the world won ’t flash upon
disease, sorrow, pain and distress will be dancing in your presence.
your
44
sight any longer, you will only see blissful Myself . Isa y oo oath My name Sri Rama Rama Rama Sri Rama Rama Rama Sri Rama Hama Rama
can quicken death itself." Sri Rama Rama Rama Sri Rama Rama Rama Sri Rama Rama Roma
Sri Rama Rama Rama Sri Rama Rama Rama Sri Rama Rama Hama
tC) Writing The Name
Sri Rama Rama Rama Sri Rama Rama Rama Sri Rama Rama Hama
Sri Rama Rama Rama Sri Rama Rama Rama Sri Rama Rama Rama
The Master has also suggested one more method for preaching the
Name by writing the Name of Rama, taking into account of the total. Each
page has to contain 325 Names. The grand total has to be kept and each
book when finished, shalt be forwarded to Mahamilan Math for onwanl
transmission to a temple, which has been built specially for the purpose, al
Digsui. the Master's Guru's village. The Master has assured that whoever
writes the Name of Rama in the manner suggested by him, shall certainly
obtain whatever he desires. Whatever that desire may be, recovery from Sri Rama Rama Rama Sri Rama Rama Rama Sri Rama Rama Rama
incurable disease, ple asures of the world, know ledge and bliss, or whatever Sri Rama Rama Rama Sri Rama Rama Rama Sri Rama Rama Rama
else may be wanted by the writer. And of course, the Master never requires Sri Rama Rama Rama Sri Rama Rama Rama Sri Rama Rama Rama
that the Name should be written with faith or devotion. Even when tiro Sri Rama Rama Rama Sri Rama Rama Rama Sri Rama Rama Rama
Name is written without faith, the purpose of the writer shall be achieved Sri Rama Rama Rama Sri Rama Rama Rama Sri Rama Rama Rama
The master has given the choice to utter any Name of the Lord, Sri Rama Rama Rama Sri Rama Rama Rama Sri Rama Rama Rama
although, it is the Mahamantra. which he especially prescribes. But when ii Sri Rama Rama Rama Sri Rama Rama Rama Sri Rama Rama Rama
comes to the writting of the Name, he insists on one and only one : the Sri Rama Rama Rama Sri Rama Rama Rama Sri Rama Rama Rama
name of Rama , For the purpose of writing, no other form of N ame w ill do. In Sri Rama Rama Rama Sri Rama Rama Rama Sri Rama Rama Rama
this regard, the Master strictly follows the injunctions of the Shastras. In a Sri Rama Rama Rama Sri Rama Rama Rama Sri Rama Rama Rama
booklet entitled, " Sri Sri Ramanama Likhan Mahima" "(The supreme Sri Rama Rama Rama Sri Rama Rama Rama Sri Rama Rama Rama
efficacy of writing the Name of Rama), the Mas ter has specified the form in Sri Rama Rama Rama Sri Rama Rama Rama Sri Rama Rama Rama
which, it has to be written. The same is given below :
46 47
. 1
HOW NAME LEADS TO THE FINAL GOAL
In his "Kalir Path'- (the way in Kaliyuga), the Master observes as
Mows :
Sri Rama Rama Rama Sri Rama Rama Rama Sri Rama Rama Rama "Let us now discuss, how by simply chanting the Name, man can
jmlify him self.
Sri Rama That out of word (sabda) creation emerged is dearly mentioned in the
VMas. In the Shr uti s.w ord (Sabda) has been called Prana -Spanda nor
tremor n( life. It is from Sabda that all come. That Sabda Brahma, the
Supreme, iitays in the human body as para in Muladhar (below the navel
region), as IMiyanti at the navel, as Madhyama at the heart and as Vaikhari in
the mouth. The key to the secret of creation is found in the wo rds : I will
be пипу, Iwill be bom',. The Vaikhari word, inclined towards creation, moving
in ih« direction of creation, builds up life in the world. Wandering from life
to do through a cycle of births and deaths, when at last man is si ck of
torment
•Iturning the mind o utword s, lo ngs to return to th e centre o f his being,
then '«i has to adopt" Vak" or word in order to return. That is, the direction of
the
• luistras. So you chant the Name with word of the mouth, with the Vaikhari
iVokl. When as a result of this chanting, your tongue and throat are gratified,
iliit Vak or word arrives at the heart or Madhyama. At this stage, the body
к
shivers and shakes and numerous other symptoms appear, Gradual!
Jyotiand Nad come, trancendental light and sound reveal themselves. Wldl
transcendental experiences of sound, touch, sight, taste and smell com*
you grow indifferent to the sensuous appeal of the physical sound. toiKl
taste etc. With the blazing of red, blue, yellow, white and numerous otN
glaring lights within yourself, you find yourself immersed in a sea of hirst
Several hundred crores of Jyoti are there and several thousand crores of N.nl
No one can eve r suc ceed in enumerating all of them . Rum bling of the cloud
the roar of the sea, the hum of bees, the droning of large black bees, ill
music of the flute, of the lute, of so many other stringed instruments, Hi
sound of drum, of cymbal and so on. And many many other kinds of Nad at
there. It is impossible to draw a comp lete list, 'Jai Guru- N a d ,' Guru
Gun Nad, 'So-ham' Nad, Om Nad, these are part of one's experience.
When Nad go es on continuously and unce asingly without a mom ent's
pause, 01 has no power to stop it or arrest its course. At the end, one
loses onesell the Om Nad and is frozen in Samadhi.

■ I
DIFFERENT PATHS
In the Master's scheme of things, chanting of Name has the top most
HtWflty. as it has the inherent power to grant salvation to each and every
• «tvldual who chants the Name. Further, the Name can be chanted at any
Hilnt of time, during the cou rse of the d ay or night and with or with out faith
мм| In any state of mind or body. Su ch is t he glory of Nam e. The nex t
point ilMI is to be addressed to. relates to ascert aining as to w hether there
is any
• ah«r path to reach the sublime heights of spirituality, even in this degener-
.io nge. The Ma ster affirmed th at there we re other routes also. The details
■if those path s are indicated belo w :
i Ouruseva
"He who , has faith in the Guru

Unto him comes Lord, the God
He is renowned as a Bhakta in the three worlds"
- ~ A d i g r a n t h~
The Master would not preach anything that he had not practised.
According to him. one of the mo st effec tive me thod s leading to se lf
relisation. 4 nervicetothe Guru. As we have already seen, he was rendering

unstinting
• «vice to his Guru and his family m embers in all possible ways. In later life,
i« was wearing his Guru's wood en sandals right on his chest, to indicate his
■ |
love for his Guru. He wa s a lso willing to sacrifice everything to serve his Ciu'J
“S ky. air, fir e, wa ter , eart h, mo on , su n a nd all oth er he av enl y bo
If by nothing else, one can reach the goal by sheer devotion and service ■
die s, buds and beasts, w orm s and insects, the directions, trees, rivers and
his Guru.
the Has, whatever is there, ail, have to be regarded as the Body of God
and to ill, should the true Bhakta the devotee bow."

2. Devotion To Parents
This direction of Bha gavatam formed the b asis or the rationale behind
A p a rt fr om w or sh ip o f Gu ru , d e vo ti on to p ar e nt s is on
His cult of obeisance. He p ractised the abo veme ntioned instru ctions of
e. H worshipped his m other as a Goddess in human form. He used to go
Jhagavata Purana scrupulously. Every morning, he bowed to the sun and
roundIm with folded hands and prostrate at her feet, thrice a day. He used to
limn to the Tulasi plants. After that, he would visit each and every temple in
w ors iJ her and offer flowers at her feet. He used to dip h er toe in wate r
ihe vicinity and bow ed to the deity, next to his moth er and to every other
and drink d which is known as "Charanamrita." The Master explained in
person, who was senior to him. Once he had an occasion to visit a jail at
hi$ booklri I Yug ava ni' th at a pe rso n w ho w or sh ipp ed his fa the r an d m
Burdwan and the first thing he did before entering the p rison gate, wa s to
oth er a s th e L un in the universe and divine mother respectively, was not
НУ his obeisance to the jail. He was lying prostrate before it, to the great
reqired to practise other spiritual discipline. His se rvice to parents w
• ilonishment of the officers. He did so. a s the jail itself was God in one form.
ould lead him to titl highest spiritual level. He wa s nev er tired of quoting
#by nothing else, by she er obeisan ce one can attain Him. If w e are not
the examp le of Pundit'll of Pandarpur to show that to a person, who
Mpable of any spiritual effort, we can surely adopt this method, as it is
served his parents will devotion. God would com e of His own accord. To
Prfthin our reach. The Master in his mercy has given this easiest formula for
this day the Lord is n standing in the temple of Pandarpur, in the same
Iplntual upliftment.
state in which. Pundm* had found him.
I P a th of S ha s tra s
3 , Path of Obeisance
One important m essage of the M aster wa s that, by obeisance punI

The Ma ster prescribed Sw adhyaya or the study of the scriptures as
and simple, it would be possible for anyone to attain to the supreme hoiyHI
«other method. He had studied Shastras with great enthusiasm. He read
and he practised it in his daily life. He was very fond of quoting from Siinuf
Iht Vedas, Upanishads, Itihasas, Puranas and every other scripture that he
Bhagavatam, the following l ine s:
could lay his hands on with one end in view - to realise the infinite through
S)
53
L
study and tie achieved his purpose. He firmly believed that the
so«t| of Shastras in the true spirit, was capable by itself of granting God- vowed that until I die, as long as my tongue can utter a syllable.
realisation j Study of Shastras revealed ultimate truth to him. In a Ishall fctiare with all the emphasis at my command that the Shastras
memorable spemli are true, I I Shastr as are infallible, One that will take refuge in the
delivered in Rama Nama Ks hetra m of Guntur. Andhra Pra desh, the Masin Shastras, the Urd. God Himself shall receive him unto His bosom."
i; said:
► Yet again in his book, 'Kshepar Jhuli’, the Master writes:
" Tired and sick of the c ease less coming and go ing along the 1огц
I toilsome way of life, fatigued creatures have forever been running in I " The words of the Shastras can never go wrong. It may even be
quesld unalloyed joy of the bliss ofthe infinite. Things of the world cannot, JWsible for the sea to cross the shore. Mount meru to move and for the
of couui fetch the bliss oft he infinite. They only lead from torment to Won and the sun to deflect from their orbit, but the words of the Shastras,
torment - limn anguish to anguish. By no worldly means whatsoever, can rnn never - never - never-go wro ng. The way of the Sha stras is the safe
t his bliss of llnlj infinite, the ultimate, be attained. When one longs to royal oed, guarded by sentries. He, who takes exclusively to this way,
return to the centio il l one's being, one has to take recourse to the way of goes
the Shastras. The Ved,n I Vedanta, Upanishads, Sankhya, Patanjali, *ughi ng and secure to the realm of that nameless, formeless King and
Tantras and Puranas of India Iviwl only told us about the way to the bliss Lord, the Shastras are true. The Shastras are very ture. The Shastras
of the infinite" are most iwfoundly true."
r If by nothing else, exclusively by his study of the Shastras, the

He could say so as he had known from his personal experience. M l
Master illained to his great heights and showed another path to us. to
the study of Shastras could lead to final fulfilment.
move 'war ds the kingdom of God.
in another book, en title d,' Varnashrama Viplava,' or the upset in m

;. 5. Path of Aus teri ties .
l social order, the Master writes :
" My Shast ras, I do not know how to extol you. Yet, I declnifl Master was practising penance of all sorts, as laid down in the
categorica lly today that I love you with all my heart. I have not banl tetlptures. The triple panance of body, mind and speech, he practised with
privileged to follow you in toto, but the little of you I have observed, iml juratzeal. Worship of God, oft he respectable and the wise. Worship of holy
gratified me. Ihave been immersed in the sea of bliss and have solemnly <i*n and of teache rs, purity, uprig htness, non-v iolence and self restra int,
511 55
which formed the bodily penance were practised by him. Similarly. Hit
verbal penance, consisting of avoiding harsh words, speaking only the
pleasant wholesome truth and reading the sacred texts, was a part of hit
AS A WRITER
I daily routine. To these austerities, he added the penance of mind,
consistinj I of the cultivation of peace of mind, gentleness, silence, self

[ The Master had a very sensitive mind and a poetic temperament
control and purity of spirit to such an extent, that he was able to
ngrained in him. When he lost his father in 1912, he felt the pangs of
visualise God in every creature and in every bit of creation. By his strict
Movement. This incident brought him face to face with the stark realities
and continuous austerity,
4 life and the problems of life, death and rebirth. In a brilliant essay wri
he attained the fulfilment. tten 'К him after the tragic incident, but published later, a glimpse of his
pain is '•fleeted in the book, entitled, 'Pagaier Kheyal' or 'Moods of a

In this context, it may be stated that it was astonishing to note thtti maniac-. The erects from the book are given below:
he was sitting in meditation for long hours, even when he was approaching
I the age of ninety years. He used to sit in meditation at the Bhagirathi

x " A year is gone. A year since I lost my father. Ido not know, where and
Math I in Uttar kashi from early morning, before sunrise, till about 10
RM. in tht l
night in one stretch and this went on from day after day for nearly six months I
il whose house you may have been bom and whether, Imay be
He was also observing 'MOUNA' (or SILENCE) for indefinite periods,I meet you again in this life."
privileged to
sometimes it extended for a year or more and the maximum spell of Mourn I
wa s at Omkareswar, where his M ouna lasted for eithteen months at a stretch

He continues his introspection as to why men are bom at all on this
I He practised severe austerities and as a result, reached the supreme nth?
height I of spiritual glory.
“ Why do you come to this earth? How long does your novelty last?
Since he had practised severe auster ities and got excell ent results, hr |
•nice, in a moment, in a fraction of a moment, in less even than that, you
preached this path to all those, who had th e inclination and the capacity toI «I old, why do you come at all?'
follow the same.
Thereafter, he enquires as to whether there is any meaning in his
• lining to this world

-
№
1 " well, why do 1come ? Why should 1come? Onlyto drift with the tidei i. ’ Sri Sri Namrasayan', Mahara sayan' etc. are some of the books that fall
time and toss and whirl in the sea of life?" under this category.
In another essay, entitled, " Pain", which forms part of the Moods d I " 0 t ongue, Iwil l cut thee up in a hundred bits
Maniac", the Master writes : If thou utterest not the Lord's Na me "
f
- " N a m d e V"
" For pleasure we crave, though pleasure never comes. For Pleasun
that is never to be found we give our precious lives away. But look at pain Inone of his monumental work s, 'Sri Sri Namamrita Lahari', published in
pain comes unsolicited. For pain we need not strive or pine. Pain needs К Uleven volumes w ith innumerable quotations in Sanskrit, taken from Shruti.
invocation. It comes of itself. Why cannot we hail pair, saying 'come pa» Pliranas and the Tantras, he has emphasised the efficacy of the chanting of
Thee. 1am prepared to meet.' We do not do so for the simple reason thu Ihe Name of the Lord, for attaining life Divine. A few extract s from this book
pain is distressing. Therefore, we long for pleasure, the pleasures that an will convey the message of the master in this regard :
short lived, whereas the pain can bestow everlasting bliss."
"There can be no doubt that one can gain all one's desires and can
Afte r writing a series of philosophical and introspective essa ys. betwi» attain God by simply chanting the Nam e. It is very very ture. Those, who
have
the years 1912 and 1918, the Master blossomed into a writer. Ihe ability, should, with body, mind and speech and with Bhakti, sing Nam.
Those who have not that ability, may only repeat Ram Ram. Krishna Krishna.
As noted earlier, in 1924, he worte his exposition o f' Astava kra Samlm» Hari Hari, Even they do not have t o bother about either this life or next. Nam
and'Chokher Jole Mayer Pooja.' In 1926, he wrote his 'Maharasayan', whirl Itself will take charge of their lives in this or the next world. You are crying on
was published next year. account of vrious shortages - shortage of food, shortag e of money, shortage
Of clothes? Go on singing Nam, food will co me to you wit hout your asking for
Thereafter, Master wrote about two hundred books, of which, abou Iand you will be able to feed thousands of people. Even if you do not pray
for 160 have so far been published. The Master's writings can be broailli money, heaps of it will fall at your feet on its own. You do not have to
bother classified into three categories. In the first category comes the booli about the lack of clothes, you yourself will be able to clothe
innumerable
relating to the glory of Name. 'Sri Sri Namam ritam', Sri Sri Na mamrita people. Even if you give up everything, prope rty and wealt h will run after you
Lahivi
69
У
II J U I
to serve. I am not exaggerating N am's capability. I am not colouring my

[ Inthe second category of his books, come 'Sri Sri Gurupuja'.' Asrubadal',
words. If you want to s ee actual proof. I can sho w it to you. Blow off the
Bhakta Leela', 'Siva Vivaha', Dasya M adhur' etc. These plays emphasise the
insignificant sorrows and disappointments of this world by the explosion ol
llgnificance of spiritual values, like Guruseva. Sharanagati (or surrendering to
Nam and com e along to that abode of eternal bliss. If there is anything to be
ihe lord) and also other virtues that are co nducive for leading a spiritual life.
desired in this world, it is to see Him face to face. Nam alone will make m
Ily reading and watching the se plays, when they are enacted, the minds of
possible for you to have that Darshan.
iheviewe rs rise above the p latform of mundane life and reac h sublime heights.
Ihe very purpose of writing these dramas, wa s to inculcate in the readers, all
So -
the noble virtues, that are required to be cultivated for attaining freedom
from human bondage. In Sri Sri Gurupuja, the glory of Guru has been
Sing Nam, Sing Nam, Sing Nam"
beautifully described as fo llow s:
In yet another passage in this book, Ma ster has s tated that Kali has no
" Guru himself is the Suprem e Brahman.
power to come near those who constantly chant the Name of the Lord.
Guru is the greatest treasure.
" Kali has no power to come near and not even try to approach those Guru is the greatest o f all desirable things.
who constantly c hant the names, Hari, Keshava, Govinda, Vasudevn. I
Guru is the most secore refuge.
Jaganmaya etc. You have been born as a human being: you have a tongno
which is the great instrument of chanting Nam, then why worry? Go on Guru is the embodiment of the knowledge of Brahman.
singing Nam. dancin g and swinging. You are lying imm ersed in the grear I
Guru is the Supreme God
oce an of God; the playful God is dancin g in front, rear, left and right of you I
He is above and below you. He is dancing inside you and also out side, in I Guru is your helms-man for crossing this worldly oce an.
every atom and electro n of your body. You keep step with Him and dance and I
There is none greater than Guru.
sing Nam. the curtain will disappear in front of your eyes. You will see thru I
He is the means to realise God.
there is no world as such . Only Sri Bhagw an alone is dancing taking the form I
of the entire world. Then you w ill find 'Ananda' and 'Ananda' only 'Ananda' And God Him self too is he. "
60 61
У j I
Keeping Vaikuntha in darkness to teach the art of Guruseva.
Further, this drama also depicts an extraordinary service rendered hy
one of the disciples of Sri Ramanuja. On one occasion, Sri Ramanuja visilml I Blesse d am I for being your Guru.
From today this Sampradaya

the house of Sri Varadacharya and his wife Lakshmi, who w ere his disciple»,
rather unexpectedly. When Ramanuja came to their cottage, Varadachary.i W ill be known as Sri Samp radaya in this world.
had gone out for collecting alms. His wife, Lakshmi was alone at home ami A s long as the sun and the mo on w ill shin e in t he sky.
did not know how to serve her Guru, who had come to their cottage alongwiili The story of your Gurubhakti will be sung
ten or twelve disciples, as there was nothing at home. Suddenly, sh«
By millions and millions of voices.
reme mber ed that in their neighbourhood there wa s a rich merchant, who
Remembering your noble example.
was coveting her, but she had been resisting his advances with great
Men and wom en will be freed from all sins."
determination. She now found herself at cross roads. She had no option but
to get the provisions from him. for serving he r Guru. So she we nt to him amt
I To the third category, belong the books like. 'Brahmanusandha n', 'Sri Sri
then brought the required provisions, promising him that she will be at hit
Noda Leelamrita' etc., wherein, he has established his philosophy of Omkar.
disposal aft er the departure o f her Guru. After prepa ring the Bhog (food) loi
During his long periods o f Sadhana, it wa s revealed to him, that Omkar wa s
her Master, she served her Guru and others and obtained her Guru'',
(lod; Omkar wa s life and everything cam e from Omkar. Life played in Omkar
blessings. A s promised, she w ent b ack to the merchant in the evening),
itnd ultimately dissolve d in Omkar. There wa s nothing e lse than Om kar in the
alongwith the Prasad and Charanamrita (water that has washed the feet ol
universe. Thus, he remained as a great protagonist of "Omkarvada", and
Gum) for him. By the grac e of her Guru, the m omen t the me rchant took tlm
therefore. 'Omkarnath' was the fittest name for him.
Prasad, he bec ame pure and sinless and suddenly, realised wh at a terrible sin
he wa s about to comm it. He repented and fell at her feet for her forgiveness
This incident has been summ arised m ost impressingty in the following
verse: * * * * * -* *
"The woman, chaste, honest and devoted to her husband has dmm
Seva to her Gurudeva at the cost of her chastity.
Mahalakshmi has made Her advent on this earth.
6?
realisation that all that exists, is God, that there is nothing on the earth
tiich is not God : The realisation of the fac t th a t:
“ Va sude vam Sarvan Iti"
HIS PHILOSOPHY
that all is God and everything is God ought to be the ultimate aim of the
seeker. We need not concern ourselves, as to how we should reach that
ultimate state of illumination. Once the God is seen, the rest will be His
The Master has emphatically stated that God is both personal as vw ).
responsibility. What is the ultimate truth? This is the question that the
as impersonal, with for m and without form, determinate (Saguna Brahm» I
Master has been continually asking and answering in all his philosophical
that is Brahman with attributes! and at the same time, indeterminate (Nirgiiiu I
treatises. The final truth according to the Master is, Pranava. It is out of
Brahma, that is Brahman without any attribute), and that both aspects of
Pfanava that creation springs, it is in Pranava that it rests and it is into
Him are equally valid and valuable. The gene ral impre ssion am ong И* I
Pranava that it will dissolve. Pranava is Nirguna as we ll as Saguna Brahman.
seekers, that the realisation of the indeterminate (Nirguna Brahma) is a high*
I is both the Indeterminate Absolute and the Determinate personal God, To
stage of exper ience than the vision of the determinate (Saguna Brahma) I
attain Omkar, one has to take at first to other form s of this Pranava, to Nama
was n ot correct, and he pointed out that God and the Absolute, stood on.* I
and to Mantra free from Pranava and then proceed stage by s tage, until the
equal footing. On the strength of his own experience, he asserts that tin I
height is reached and fitness to receive the quint-essential Pranava. The
vision of the personal God is not just a stepp ing stone to the attainmeni id I
most striking point in the Master's exposition of the subject is that Pranava
the impersonal, the Absolute for even after and during rndetermin.il* I
was not to be taken from without. It rises from within and fills the seeker
realisation, visualisation is possible. The vision of God may fo llow a s it did inI
With infinite bliss.
his own case, the Nirvikalpa Samadhi.
To sum up, Omkar is the Supreme Truth. This knowledge comes when
In that case, wh at should be the ob ject o f the spiritua l seeker? The
the Sadhaka gains perfection. The Master arrived at this truth by his
immediate aim in the Master's opinion ought to be the direct vision of tl* I
rlrenuous Sadhana. But he did not preach the philosophy of Pranava to the
Lord, the privilege of meeting God face to face and of exchanging wordi
delusion of other Indian Philosophical systems. Earlier Acharyas had held
with Him. But this immediate aim should be followed by the ultimate
65
Г
that Omkar was indicative of Brahman. But the Master says that От Ы
itself is Brahman. If one ga ins the Suprem e Truth Omkar. then Omkar taken
possession o f him and then all differences disappear.
MIRACLES
However, the Mas ter does not propagate this as a new philosophy. Ho
Though the Master was very much averse to publicity, yet there are
only describe s his own realisation, after prolong ed Sadhana. He discoverixl
itfienticated records of the miracles, performed by him. He asked his
this eternal truth and he felt that there was no point in adding a new
• triples not to attribute any of these m iracles, whether they belonged to
philosophy to the existing SIX and in creating more confusion. His main
diterial or spiritual spheres to him, as he wa s com pletely unaware of these
purpose was to show the seekers a w ay to achieve the Truth and for that Im
Neeles and that either God or his Guru were responsible for their
preached "Mama" the Tarakbrahma Name :
«mrrence He w as only their instrument. 8y nature, he was self-effacing.
" Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna Hare Hare I A Person brought his only son. who was suffering from double
Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama Hare Hare " * Pneumonia, to the feet of the Master and sought his help, as he was
too poor for meeting the expenditure on his treatment, and that
By constantly reciting this Name, whether sitting or standing, walking Doctors also had told him that his child would not survive. Master
or lying down, t he Na me a rouses the Kundalini and Omkar Na da appea rs and asked him to recite the Na me of the Lord and touched the child, which
leads the aspirant to the direct vision of the Lord and thereafter, the Lnid cured him. but brought the disease upon the Master. The child went
Himself will sho w him that, "All that exists is He." home cured by the miraculous feat of the Master, but the Maste r was
left lying in the bed for two weeks with double Pneumonia.
I In another incident, a panel of eminent D octors, who were either his

disciples or admirers and who were regularly examining him,
discovered in an X-Ray, that the Master had Large patches of T.B. in
both the lungs. They had examined him two months earlier and had
found that the lungs w ere clear. They could not understand as to how
this disease could attack the Ma ster so extensively, within two months.
In their natural anxiety they advised him to take complete rest

led his disciple to take him to his house in the village. The disciple was
prescribed appropriate drugs, to which the Master said:
extremely grateful to his Master for arriving in the nick of time to save
his wife and led him to his village. On the way, there was a big lake and
"Can this treatment be postponed by one week?
the disciple walked straight into the water and would have been
drowned, had he not been saved by some villagers, who saw

During this week, I shall try to clear it myself by meditation. It ml
him walking into the lake so recklessly. He talked of his Master who
week's time, you find that the disease still persists, you can start щ
w as following him, but nobody could see him. His story of leading
treatment." the Master to his village through the lake made others think that he
had gone mad. Everybody sympathised with him because of his

The Doctors agreed, but they were certain that no amount il wife's sickness and his own poverty and assumed that his distre ss had
meditation could cure T.B. A week later, the X-Ray showed that lin^ caused mental imbalance in him and took him to his residence. They
the lungs were clear to the astonishment of these eminent pltysiciail were also amazed to find his .wife standing outside the house,
All that they cou ld say w as that he was beyond their comprehensii while a few minutes earlier she was unable to move from her bed. She
r. was looking for a Sadhu, who, she said, had come into their house
asking for alms, which she had given after getting up from her bed with
It was obvious that the Master had absorbed the disease ot a disert great difficulty. Immediately afterwards, the Sadhu had left. She had
and he had cleared it by meditation. never met him earlier, but her description of Sadhu was exa ctly like
that of Master. But where had he gone ? Having met both

In yet another incident, one of his disciples narrated that his wile vw husband and the wife separately, the proof of his physical presence
chronically ill and bed ridden for years, during which time, media was unmistakable. As an irrefutable proof, the ailing woman had left her
treatment had failed to help her and that she w as on the brink of bed and a ppeared fully recovered. All of them were wondering about the
den* Ina desp erate effort, he we nt to the loc al village temple to pow ers of his Master, who w as perhaps hundreds of miles away from
pray. On m way he was intently thinking of the Master, perhaps for them at that time.
the first lint as all his efforts had failed, On reaching the temple he In yet another case, a retired I. G. of Police has confirmed that he was
found that it«* locked and that the priest was no where to be suffering from Hernia for seven years and one day when the Master
found. When he ak helplessly crying at the temple door, someone jokingly ca ught hold of his hand and gave a sudden jerk, his Hernia
touched him and win he opened his eyes, he saw the Mast er disappeared.
standing close by. The M.n»j
69
И
One of the most amazing incidents relates to the iltness and death it
Sri Padmalochan Mukherjee in the Me dical College Hospital in Calcuiu фгу. Then he exposed his back and there were several severe lessions. It
Mrs. Mukherjee sent a wire to the Master, who was then at Benaraj wa s therefore evident that he had taken the blows on himself and pro-
tecte d his devote es, who were chanting the Lord's nan - /hile
asking him to go and see her husband in the hospital. The Master tho4
coming to him. The place where they we re attacked, wa s three to four
went by air to Calcutta, but on going straight from the airport to ll*
mifes away from the Master's place of stay and he had not left the
hospital, he was informed by the Matron that Mr. Mukherjee had di(4
place.
sometime back. The Master went to the bed of Mr. Padmalochm
Mukherjee and sat silently with his hand on the dead man's chest
i. It has been reported by Sri Rai Saheb Murarilal Adhikary, a retired
Af te r som etim e, the pul se and the hea rt be at returne d. Pad ma
Superintenden t of Police and the author of a valuable book,
loclu t opened his eyes and said :
" Vaishnava-Dig-Darshani", a treatise on Vaishnav philosophy, that on
2nd day of November. 1947. his wife asked him to find out the location
Baba, I wa s being taken awa y when you arrived and stopped them l
and address of Dumurdaha Ashram. She told him that while she was
thought it was only a dream, but when l opened my eye s I saw yot
circumambulating the Tulasi plant after having completed her daily
sitting on my bed. Strange!"
worhsip. she sa w a Sanyasi standing behind her, who wa s lame o f a leg
Al l his rel ativ es sa w this mir ac le and the Ma tro n tore up the
with m atted hair and held a stick in one hand. When she asked him as
death certificate and said :
to who he was, he replied with a gentle smile :
Baba is C hrist reborn."
The principal of the College Dr. Sarvadhikary and some of the ProfessunI
" Mother, my name in the previous ashram was Prabodh Chandra
of Medical CoHege. became his disciples.
Qtottopadhyay, my present name isSitaram das Omkarnath, my A shram is at
lltimurdaha. You will meet me again when you chant the Name in the
In yet another incident, three people cam e to see the M aster a t Howi.ihl
.
яtvening...
in a highly disturbed state of mind, and told him that while they w ur l
coming to him. they w ere chanting the Name of the Lord. On the way I
i W i th these word s he left. That evening he did attend the
they were attac ked by several miscreants and they were beaten up I
Чю т-Sarnkirtan. After the chanting was over, he gave detailed information
The Maste r enquired as to which parts of their bodies we re affected byI
• bout himself and left the place, after assuring them that he
the beating. They showed their backs, but there were no marks ot
would visit 'horn again. He visited them daily and joined in their Naam-
71
Samkirtan.
It was later learnt that the Master was far away in Deccan (in Souili
India), at least hundreds of miles away at that time.
UNIVERSAL LOVE
There has been several such incidents where the Master appeninif
before his devotees or disciples, whenever they were either in distress cind
His universal approach towards all men and women of t he world is
praying to him for help, or wherever Naam-Samkirtan was taking place.
ksed on his realisation that the Lord pervades the entire universe and that
I is in all and He is afl. That was the reason of his love for the entire
The above mentioned miracles wherein the dead have been raised И
etion and his heart was large enough to accommo date eve ryo ne and
the diseased have been cured, pale into insignificance, when it is seen iM
'thing that existed in this world. In his Maharasayan. or the Great Elixir,
the master literally took the mind of the disciple into his hand, which w.n
| identified himself with the Supreme Truth and declared t ha t he alone
fully absorbed in the sensual pleasure of this world, at the time of initialiod
Isted and nothing else and nobody else,. This itself showed that he had
and tur.ned it inward s and grad ually led him into the d eepe st rece sses ol
ched the stage of ultimate reality, which formed the ba sis of his love. The
hit heart, wher ein lies the Kingdom o f God. That wa s his gr eatest miracle,
bwing extract from Maharasayan clearly bears it o u t:
at;ii granted eternal bliss, whereas other miracles were transitory in nature
and
I am Chirst, I am Christain: I am Moham ed. I am the Mu slim : I am
yielded temporary results.
(nhmana and I am Chandala, I am God and I am the Devil: I a m th e
sinner However, these miracles also have their value, as they tend to creu!» j fl(j | am ^ у^ ои з; | am the wise man as w ell as the d unce : I
am the
faith in the Master, which is the first condition for assimilating his message i ^ g as weu as guru: ц jS | that |jgleJ1 an(j | that Speai( | am certitude
which has the capa city to ema ncipa te the bound souls. md I am doubt: I am Heaven and I am Hell: lam darkness and I am light:
Iam
toga and Iam Bhoga: Iam Freedom and I am Bondage: I am e ve ryt hing . Look.
uok, look close, I am there in every atom, in every molecule. H o w c an you

• ar grudge or hatred against anybody? Iam all: there is nothing w hic h is not
*• * ** -* ■* * nyself. I alone was in the past: I alone am in the present, Ialo ne shall be in
if* future. Whomsoever you envy, you envy me. In this vast universe, it is I
ilone, who exist."
73
His method of distributing love, wa s giving 'Nam e'w hich is God Hinisll I «compose d a song and recited it in Bengali. The poem w hen i translated into
and God is nothing but love. He welcomed all. irrespective of cast
nglrsh rea ds :
nationality or station in life and wou ld give a wa rm place in his heart, whli
w as large enough to accomm odate everyone. He did not turn away anyone
” I love beca use I must love.
w ho wa s in difficulty, as he mu st relieve his distress. Even a thief or |
I know no t why 1love.
murd erer received his kindness. He w as never tired of asserting that ho 1мй
Love is all Japa and Тара,
com e more for the sake of the fallen than for the good. In fact, he oserl l«
Love is real Sadhana."
be sto w max imum attention on such persons, w ho had violated sli the non
of m oral laws. If people could not come to h im to get their share of love, hi
It is well know n that even in the p arents' love for their child, there is an
w ou ld go to them to give it. In order to distribute his love as widely К
element of selfishness, as they expect some return, but the Master's love
possible, he would move about like a Hurricane from place to place, lakirn
was to tally unselfish and he asked for nothing in return for his love.
the 'Nam e' to every door step. »
He was constantly urging everyone to cultivate love for God and for
A cou ple wh o we re h is d isc ipl es, ca m e fr om Holl and to see him,
their Guru. This love does not ask for any return or rew ard or recognition.
who* he w as seriously ill at Srirangam. Wh en he heard of their arrival, hea
ska l Im disciples to carry him to the gate, as he was unable to walk. The
This type of love reminds one of the incident in the life of Rabia Vasria.
coupK w er e overjoyed and fell at his feet. He enquired of them as to
.Rabia Vasria wa s regarded as a Sufi of the first order. Her chroniclers write
what theylwl brought for him. They were embarrassed and the Master said
that one day she left the house in such a state that in one hand she held a
in English
Cauldron of fire and in the other, a vessel of water. People ask ed her w here
She was going. She answered :
"Sa y love. \Л'е have brought love for you.
This is your greatest gift to your Guru.”
'By this fire I wan t to burn Heaven.
It was obvious that their love for Guru had brought them from Их»
and by this water I want to extinguish the blaze of Hell, so that, both
hom etow n in Netherlands to Srirangam in India. The Mas ter immediately
may be destroyed and people w orship God for the sake of God and not for the
M
reward of Heaven or for the fear of Hell"
The breadth of vision of the Master was such that he could not make
any distinction between a Hindu and a Muslim, a Christian and a Buddhisl
They were all the creation of God and the same God, call Him by whatever
name you like, was present in all of them. It w as a qu ality in a person thnl
counted and not the religion which he followed. So all people, whether they
were Hindus, Muslims, Christians, Buddhist or even Atheists, flocked to him
and found refuge with him. tn modem tim es, he w as the gre atest unifier ol
people of all sects. He was keen to integrate all the religions of the world. In
the result, he had risen above all religions and was practising and preaching
universal love.
*** ■- » ** - *
76 Sri Sri Prabhuduttji Brahmachari with Sri Sri Thakur

1
т . м . T h e D j fa t £. a/? w а о * ф я д B a J
xa s m a t t e d r y a ir in c u / j o s t t y
xa Aniivlmayce mVi $ri Sri Thakur
it
INTER-ACTION WITH CONTEMPORARY SAINTS
I During his life-time, the Wa ster met a large number of contemp orary
Bints, whic h resulted in mutual respe ct and reveren ce for each other. A few
loch instances are given belo w :
I. H.H.S wam i ChidanandajiMaharaj
President, Divine Life Society, Rishikesh.
During the Durga Puja in Rishikesh in the year 1972, the Mas ter invited
all the heads and the inmates of the many Ashrams for taking part in
Mother's Puja. Sri Chidananda Swami readily agreed to come to the
As hra m on the mor ning ot the As ht am i Puja. A s th e S w am iji c am e n
ear the Master, he fell flat on the ground in Sashtanga Pranam to him.
The latter raised him and held him in a deep loving embrace.
Thereafter, whenever and wherever these two saints met, they evinced
same love and affection. In his homage to the Master, Swami
Chidananda w r i t e s :
' The scriptures had declared clearly that in the iron age (that is Kali
Yug al, the only res ort is t he Divin e N am e of t he Alm igh ty. The gre
at
77
I
Whe n IV/laaAna ndam oyee fell seriously ill in June 1902 at Dehradun and
Gauranga Mahapra bhu (Sri Krishna Chaitanya) came in order to spread, broad,
Baba wa s at Kanyakumari, a Telegram wa s rece ived by him. informing
cast, propagate and establish this Yuga-Dharma. After several сети,
him of Maa's illness. Baba, who was himself very sick, left immediately
ries. Babaji has now c om e to revive and give a fillip to this all
important saving and liberating work, comm enced by Gauranga by car for Trivandrum where he caug ht the flight for Bombay and then
Mahapra bhu. If Inr were described by the appellation of 'Nam-avatara' took another flight to Delhi and from there he went to Dehradun by car.
this would be no exaggeration, but would indeed be fit and When he reached the place where Maa was staying. Baba got the
room emptied and asked his disciples to re cite 'Omkar' They recited for
appropriate. Beloved B;i Im|I is verily Namavata ra. His e ntire life and
half an hour. Baba said that in Maa's Cbinmayee state, only 'Omkar'
personality is a radiant exampln and express ion of Nama bhakti and
Nam a-shakti. I bow do wn in silent reverenc e and love at his holy would apply to her. Maste r's love for Maa w as so great that even when
feet, I deem it a very great privilege mxl a matter of greater joy to he was very sick, he undertook the extreme ly long and tiresome journey.
write these few lines as my tribute to hit divine personality."

I. Mahe sh Yogi
r
2. Anandamoyee Maa
I The Master invited Sri Mahesh Yogi to a conferen ce of great saints in
I India at Kurukshetra for devising mean s to bring about unity amo ngst
With Anandamoyee Maa. the Master had a very special and swenl
К various religious fact ions of the Sanatan Dharma. In the afternoon the
relationship. She used to c all him 'Father' (Baba) and he used to call her
I world famous Mahesh Yogi arrived. Baba wan ted him to sit on his bed.
'Mothe r' (Maa). It was a pleasant experience to watc h these tw o sainls
I But he would not and wanted to sit on the ground. But Maste r would
sitting toge ther and talking to eac h other. If Baba were at Rishikesh anil
I not allow him to take such a lowly position . Finally, he sat on a chair,
Maa at Dehradun or Kankhal, Baba would invariably go to visit her
holding Baba's hand and hearing Nam e and after sometime appeared as
When he was questioned as to why he always went to Maa and she
if he was melting in love and bbakti.
never came to him, he would say :
On another occasion, Sri Mahesh Yogi invited the Master to open the
international conference he w as holding in his Ashram at Rishikesh, on

" A son always goes to his mother; he does not wait for his mother to
the Vedasand Science. When the Master reached Mahesh Yogi's Ashram,
come to him."
he was most cordially received.
In his inaugural speech, the Master stated that the Vedas had cornu
[lapsing in shreds, while the p owe r coming through him was tli.it ol n king In
out of the mouth of God and everything that the Vedas said was iiur
fact, in my estima tion he w as e mbod ying at that m omen t Ihn ullii
and that there was nothing beyond the Vedas. So modern science win
<■n! w hat we, in our Sufi law, call the Qutub, the plnimc
also a p art of the Vedas, particularly, the Atha rva Veda. Mahesh Yogi
lo ol hierarchy of the incarnated M aste rs on the planet at that
also spoke in support of wha t the Mate r had said. He also stressed ilwi
momonl in history. He conferred upon me what I consider as a
everything that scienc e taught, could be found in the Vedas, provideiln
precious jawol, ii transcend ental Ma ntram and invested me with
competent person learned both in the Vedas and in Science m i
the cbargo ol continuing the tradition that he repre sented in the W est.
interested in looking for it.
In view of Urn enormous universal compass of the message of Hazrat
Inayat Khan, I think of this in terms of wh at one o f our great Sufi

4. Pit Vilayat Inayat Khan
predecessors, Prince
Darashiku called Majmua-al-Baherein, the merging of the oceans."

Sri Vilayat Inayat Khan, the head of Sufi se ct has thousands »t .
followers all over the world, including Europe, Africa, America and
5. . Acharya Sushil Kumar Jain
India. Sri Vilayat came to India with nearly a hundred of his disciplin
His chief purpose was to meet the Master. On the day of the sotoi
Ac ha rya Sus hil Kum ar Jai n, Pre side nt, Ac ha rya Sush il As hra m, one
eclipse, Sri Vilayat and his disciples spent practically the whole rljty
of 1he eminent contemporary sainls of Jainism, met Baba in Delhi and
with Baba . During the e clipse itself, all the assem bled people, including
saw the unusual glow on his face, which lighted up further, when he
Baba, sat in meditation. Then there was some discussion with Ball
bowed before him in reverence. The Master immediately said referring
and he replied to the questions raised by them. In course ol iltit
to him that he was out of the ordinary. Baba then clasped his head in
proceedings. Baba held Sri Vilayat close to himself and said Unit
hand and blessed him profusely.
"Sri Vilayat and he wer e the same so ul. " Sri Vilayat wa s so moved by
this gesture that he b owe d his head at Baba's feet. In his tribute to ilia
It was an experience that he could never forget. In his homage to
Master. Sri Vilayat Inayat Khan has written :
M a s ter he write s :
" I will never forget the impression of this magnificent being, his body
"He was a realised soul in the true sence. His touch was divine and
emanated charging vibrations to all those having receptivity. Such souls
1
W
I
constantly having an e cstatic joy, imm ers ed in the sea nl I was impressed with his spiritual experience as well as his physical
consciousness, are rare. appearance, w hich r eminds me of the Indian Siddhas of the past. Since
Buddhism came to Tibet from India, which we consider as Aryabhumi,
Ach ieve men t of se lf reali satio n is one thing, but wh en tha t ble ssed even as a child, I had been interested in studying the images of these
soul is endow ed to imp art this p ower to othe r evolving souls, it is n Indian Siddhas in paintings. There were fo r example many paintings of
remarkable thing." Indian Siddhas at Tibet, like those 84 great Indian Siddhas. I used to be
very fond o f this.
6. H. H. Dalai Lama
I benefited from the spiritual exchange w e w ere able to have then. He
One of the most historical meetings in the spiritual world took placti was deeply concerned about the tragic situation of Tibet and recognised
between H. H. Dalai Lama and the Master. Both were keen to moot deep spiritual relevance of the Tibetan peo ple's just struggle.
each other and when they met, it appeared as if it were a meeting ol During that memorable meeting, Baba gave me a white woollen mat,
the great brotherhood of saints. After exchanging views, they paitud which I still use."
full of love and re spect for e ach other. H. H. Dalai lama was requested
by his high officials, not to go to me et Baba, becau se of his own stall» * * * * * * *

of an incarnation and king. But he ignored their advice and said:
"Baba is an older man and a great Sadhu.
It's my duty to go to him”
This was the test of the spiritual greatness of H. H. Dalai Lama. In hr.
tribute to the Master. H. H. Dalai Lama records :
* Iwa s very happy to meet with Baba Omkamath.
87
[ This Sampradaya has many branch es all over India, from Uttar Kashi in
Orth to Kanyakumari in south and Puri in east to Dwaraka in west, covering
JAI G URU SAM PRADAYA Ihe entire length and breadth in India. The primary purpose of establishing
hese Ashrams wa s to spread the message of Naam-Samkirtan to each and
ptery comer of India. As most of his disciples were spread all over India, it
In 1973, the Mas ter resolved to form a new sect a fter his own idea «I
would not be possible for all of them to come to Calcutta. Therefore, in order
Divine Life and established Akhil Bharat Jaiguru Sampradaya. It is a school ol D enable them to have access to Ma ster's message , he established these
religious association without any sectarian view, without any critical review jshrams. Wo rship of deities, read ing of scriptu res and Na am- Samk irtan
of any sect or path followed by other religious sec ts. Even though he win Ihe part of the daily routine in each Ashram. Besides, at his instance, a large
form ed
rooted in Sanatana Dharma, to him, Christians, M uslim s and others ol limber of religious magazines were introduced, vi z. ' Devjan', Jai Guru'.
non-Hindu faith were all equal and he cordially welco me d them In jharat Mar i' in Ben ga li and 'Th e M ot he r’ in Eng lish, ’P ranab Par ijat '
in
reverence, he used to prostrate before Mosques and Churches alike. To thn Sanskrit. 'Paramanand', 'Param Katha' in both English and Hindi and the like.
Master, religion was fundamentally the relationship betwee n one 's soul and
■
God. His school of thought was constantly making attempts to keep one ill | A separate Organisation for boys and youths was also set up by him.
the highest altitude of revelation, through chanting of the Name of God or wom en he encourag ed participa tion in Sati Sangha. Besides, he
.also
istablished a centre for study of Vedas and its propagation at Calcutta,

I
He was extremely busy in taking the Name to every door stop
throughout the length and breadth of India and wa s sprea ding Na me in oil I The administrative headquarters and the largest Ashram of the Jaiguru
directions, when he was not undertaking Chaturmasya. During Chaturmasy.i, Bmpradaya is the Mahamilan Math at Calcutta, which works as the nerve
from about 15th July to 15th November every year, there used to bo n fentre and looks after the day to day administration of all the activities of
programme of spreading Naam-Samkirtan from one centre. He was also ihe Sampradaya, which include. Tunning of the Ashrams, publishing books of
utilising the period of Mouna ( or Silence) for writing voluminous literature on he Master, overseeing all the activities of the educational centres and the
lublication of magazines etc. It is run by a Board of Trustees, appointed by

the efficacy of Nam e and other a spects of religion and philosophy. He also
undertook a numbe r of organisational activit ies for the purpose of spreading A
\ the Name.
84
„ I
1he Master, who are earnestly and sincerely carrying on to this day. the
directives of the Master.
85
I - i
I
At that juncture, Doctors advised that he should be insulated from the
, as his condition was very critical. Thereafter, he was given
oxygen. E en at that point of time, he was keen to listen to the Naam-
Samkirtan en asked his disciples to continue with the chanting of the
BACK TO THE SOURCE Name, sitting
| his side.
Life was never a bed of roses for the Master. From his childhood
hehnd to face innumerable difficulties. Pain, disease and bereavements

At last, on 6th of Decem ber. 1982 at 1.29 Л.М., he uttered the most
came In quick succession. He faced them heroically by placing his entire
syllable of Vedas. "Dm", thrice and shed his mortal coil and reached
trust in God Notwithstanding all the sorrows, he never forgot the goal of
his immortal abode.
God-realisatiwi even for a moment. He pursued his Sadhana relentlessly
and attained tlm direct vision of the Lord and received His command for
■*• *■**■*■*-*
spreading His Nam» far and wide. He plunged into his mission with his
heart and soul. He w,« not content with obtaining the nectar of Name for
himself. He was keen In distribute the essence of immortality to one and
all, to all those who worn interested and those who were indifferent.
By constant catering to the material and spiritual needs of hundreds nl
thousands of his disciples over a long period of fortyfive years, his health
broke down under its strain. Even when he was terminally ill in 1982. thou
sands of his dis ciples w ere floc king to mee t him. Even then he refused non»
He was listening to their problems and was trying to solve them. It w»i
evident that he was shedding his life-blood for them. His physical form w»i
weakened. There was hardly any strength in his body. He was reduced to«
skeleton. The unprecedente d strain at last took its toll. He was immobilisod
00

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This pdf file contains the Biography of Sri Sri Thakur...

This book 'THE DIVINE LIFE OF SRI SRI

goodness and peace to those he interacted w ith.

ROYAL ASIATIC SOCIETY HONGKONG BRANCH.

The book effectively projects the perennial message of practicing

DR. G. VEDA PARAYANA

PROFESSOR AND HEAD OF THE DEPT. OF PHILOSOPHY

SRI VENKATESHW ARA UNIVERSITY

spiritual pow er of Sri Sitaram Omkarnath and the fervent devotion he

FACUL т OF THEOLOGY UNIVERSITY OF GENEV A

To be had from iWtaramdas in the field of spirituality.

Girija Library RG. STUDIES 6 RESEARCH IN PHILOSOPHY

DEPARTMENT OF POST GRADUATE ATTITUDES

US $ 5.00 DR. JAYA SINGH

On 17th of February, 1892, one of the greatest saints of modem times

w si born at keota, a sma ll village in the district of Hooghly of We st Bengal,

Ю ■plo ts Brahmin couple Or. Pranhari Chattopadhyaya and M alyavati Devi.

wn« looking after him with motherly affection.

WMll du l y worshipped and oblations were offered to them. Anot her

inportant characteristic of him wa s that fie w as very keenly interested in

ivuuld be pertinent to mention a particular incident that took place at his

iwlernel grandfather's house at Keota. While listening to the chanting of

observed the whole incident and after Naam-Samkirtan was over, hi Щ , E D U C A T IO N

i M h« wa s not keen on pursuing English education. In the circums tance

of education has been prevalent since Vedic times in India, where,

Al mentioned earlier, he was grappling with the eternal problems of the

On 13th day of January, 1913. the initiation took place.

/и* ,i very de voted discip le of Sri Dasarathi Y ogesw ar a nd prevailed

Afte r the marriage, the c ouple were on their w ay to Dumurdaha. Th

- " Iw ould have remained a maid”. « in nftother.

- "That is not practicab le tor a Hindu girl."

- "Why. Iwou ld die-kill myself." Wlm are you?", he asked.

Gita”. Besides, he recited "Chan di" daily as a matter of routine. In additi

, sat at midnight also.

of the Suprem e God, he should be gratified.

llllClple Sitaram Das :

who you are. Of what essence is your being made?"

_ _ rw x tt m oy e e Dev i. Th ey w e re kee n to re ce iv e ini tia tio n fr om him. Bu t

that every individual, whe ther he wa s a househo lder or a Sanyasi or belong- 1

ulliwquently, he w as blessed with two more children, Radhana thand Janaki.

welcomed him and washed his feet. The Sadhu said :

Early next morning they would be celebrating "Dol Purnimaday" which

would be performing the Pooja of Lord Satyanarayan, which entailed

went through smoothly. "Lord is my friend. He alone is my support in the end."

- “ Guru Granth Sahib"

householder with utmost competence.

Srimad Vijnananda Brahmachri Maharaj, who was the head of the

months. Inspite of these bereavements. Master continued to perform l

"Ramashram",. On 28th of March, 1928, his Guru Dasarafhi Smritibhusa

things offered by him, ho announced :

"So from today your name is Omkarnath."

Thereafter, the Master returned to Dumurdaha and surrendered alii

documents relating to the properties of Brajanath and handed over thechai

be a householder, as he had to take up more difficult assignm ent al

spiritual Master as hundreds of thousands of devotees were waiting fo ri

to slake their thirst at his feet. Henceforth, he was to be the “ fishei

discharging normal duties of a householder. The Master showed us thal

was prossible by his own example. There is no need to despair for I

householder, as he can have a cce ss to the Supreme, just a s the Sanya I

by his example and not by precept only.

I» Mnr ch 1937, he undertook a vow of silence, after relinquishing his

II . . .. . . .. г. о householder, with a firm resolve that either God must appear

• iM i him and command him experessly by word of mouth, or he would