Swami Dayanand Saraswati

Swami Dayanand (1824-1883) was the founder of the Hindu reform organization Arya Samaj, which he established on April 7th 1875, in Bombay India. He also created the 10 principles of Arya Samaj. Throughout his life, Swami Dayanand preached against many Hindu traditions which he felt were dogmatic and oppressive. These included traditions such as idol worship, caste by birth, and the exclusion of females from the study of the Vedas. One of his main messages was for Hindus to go back to the roots of their religion, which are the Vedas. By doing this, he felt that Hindus would be able to improve the depressive religious, social, political, and economic conditions prevailing in India in his times.

Swami Dayanand was born on February 12th, 1824 in a town called Tankara in the state of Gujurat, India.

One of Swami Dayanand's major arguments for going back to the Vedas was that, in his own words " the four Vedas, the repositories of knowledge & religious truth, are the Word of God. They are absolutely free of error, & the Supreme & independent authority ". The four Vedas are; Rig Veda, Yajur Veda, Sama Veda, & Atharva Veda. To spread awareness of his movement and to revitalize Vedic knowledge, Swami Dayanand published many religious books. These include; Satyartha Prakash ( The light of Truth ), the Rig-Vedaadi, Bhasyya- Bhoomika, and Sanskar Vidhi.

Swami Dayanand preached many messages to Hindus during his lifetime. For instance, he preached that Hindus should worship just one, formless, God. He fought against polytheism by telling people the true meaning of the names of God, & established how all of them pointed at one & the same God- Paramathama, the Supreme Self. Further, Swami was " a voice against superstition, against unrighteousness, which reigned supreme in the garb of true religion, and against a foreign rule ".

Throughout his known adult life, Swami's main message was " Back to the Vedas ". By this, Swami Dayanand meant that Hindus should stop practising beliefs such as idol worship, caste, polytheism, pantheism, untouchability, child marriages,forced widowhood, and many other practices which he felt were wrong. He challenged many of the Hindu orthodoxy if they could justify their belief in the aforementioned practices. This induced the anger and wrath of many orthodox Hindus, which subsequently led to 14 attempts at poisoning Dayanand. Miraculously, he was able to use his Yogic abilities to cure himself from the first 13 attempts. However, the 14th time proved fatal. Swami Dayanand died, and left the world with his legacy, Arya Samaj.
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Swami Krishnananda

Revered Sri Swami Krishnanandaji Maharaj took birth on the 25th of April, 1922, and was named as Subbaraya. He was eldest son of a family of five children of a highly religious and orthodox Brahmin family, well versed in the Sanskrit language, the influence of which was very profound on the young boy. He had a high school education at Puttur (South Kanara Dist., Karnataka State) and stood first in the class in all the subjects. Not being satisfied with what was taught in the classroom, young Subbaraya took to earnest self-study of Sanskrit with the aid of Amara-Kosa and other scriptural texts. While still a boy he studied and memorised the entire Bhagavad Gita, and his simple way of doing it was not having breakfast or even lunch until a prescribed number of verses were memorised. Thus within months Subbaraya memorised the whole of the Gita and recited it, in full, every day. Such was his eagerness to study scripture. Reading from the Srimad Bhagavata that Lord Narayana lives in sacred Badrinath Dham, the young boy literally believed it and entertained a secret pious wish to go to the Himalayas, where Badrinath is located, and see the Lord there.

By the study of Sanskrit works like the Bhagavad Gita, the Upanishads, etc., Subbaraya was rooted more and more in the Advaita philosophy of Sanakaracharya, though he belonged to the traditional Madhva sect which follows the philosophy of dualism. His inner longing for Advaitic experience and renunciation grew stronger every day. In 1943 Subbaraya took up government service at Hospet in Bellary District, which however did not last long. Before the end of the same year he left for Varanasi, where he studied the Vedas and other scriptures. But the longing for seclusion and the unknown call from the Master pulled him to Rishikesh, and he arrived there in the summer of 1944. When he met Swami Sivananda and fell prostrate before him, the saint said: "Stay here till death; I will make kings and ministers fall at your feet." The prophecy of the saint's statement came true to this young man who wondered within himself how this could ever happen. Swami Sivananda initiated young Subbaraya into the holy order of Sannyasa on the sacred day of Makara-Sankranti, the 14th of January, 1946, and he was named Swami Krishnananda.

Sri Gurudev Swami Sivananda found that Swami Krishnananda was suitable for work of correspondence, letter writing, writing messages and even assisting in compiling books, editing them, etc. Later on Swamiji was given the work of putting into typewritten form the handwritten manuscripts of Sri Gurudev, which he used to bring to him every day. For instance, the entire volume of the Brahma Sutras of Sri Gurudev, which he wrote by hand, was typewritten by Swami Krishnananda. He confined himself mostly to the literary side and never had any kind of relationship with visitors, so that people who came from outside never knew he existed in the Ashram. It was in the year 1948 that Gurudev asked Swamiji to do more work along the lines of writing books in philosophy and religion, which he took up with earnestness. It can be safely said that from that year onwards, Swamiji was more absorbed in writing and conducting classes, holding lectures, etc., as per the instructions of Sri Gurudev. The first book Swamiji wrote was The Realisation of the Absolute which was written in merely 14 days and is still his best book - terse, direct and stimulating.

When it became necessary for the Ashram to co-opt assistance from other members in the work of management, Swami Krishnananda was asked to collaborate with the Working Committee which was formed in the year 1957. At that time Swamiji became the Secretary especially concerned with the management of finance. This continued until 1961 when, due to the absence for a protracted period of the General Secretary, Gurudev nominated Swamiji as General Secretary of the Divine Life Society, which position Swamiji held until 2001. It can very safely be stated that in the history of the Divine Life Society none ever held, nor is likely to hold, that responsible and taxing position of General Secretary for four decades.

It may be recorded to Swamiji's credit, without fear of the least exaggeration, that it is Swami Krishnananda, the genius and master of scriptures, who alone expounded practically all the major scriptures of Vedanta. These discourses were given the Yoga-Vedanta Forest Academy of the Society during the early morning sessions, afternoon classes and the regular three-month courses. Most of them have been brought out in book form and are authentic commentaries covering the philosophy, psychology and practice of the various disciplines of Yoga. Swami Krishnananda is thus the author of nearly fifty books, each one a masterpiece in itself. Only a genius of Swamiji's caliber could do this in the midst of the enormous day-to-day volume of work as the General Secretary of a large Institution. Swamiji is a rare blend of Karma and Jnana Yogas, a living example of the Bhagavad Gita's teachings.

Such was Swami Krishnananda's literary skill and understanding of the entire gamut of the works of Swami Sivananda, numbering about three hundred, that when the Sivananda Literature Research Institute was formed on the 8th of September, 1958, Sri Gurudev himself made Swamiji the President. Again it was Swami Krishnananda who was appointed as the President of the Sivananda Literature Dissemination Committee, which was formed to bring out translations of Sri Gurudev's works in the major Indian languages. From September 1961, Swamiji was made the Editor of the Society's official monthly organ, 'The Divine Life', which he did efficiently for nearly two decades.

Swami Krishnananda was a master of practically every system of Indian thought and Western philosophy. "Many Sankaras are rolled into one Krishnananda," said Sri Gurudev, in a cryptic statement, which he himself has amplified in his article, He is a Wonder to Me! Swamiji lived in God-consciousness and guided countless seekers on the path to self-realisation. Swamiji attained Mahasamadhi on 23rd November, 2001

J Krishnamurthi

J Krishnamurthi
Jiddu Krishnamurti was born on 11 May 1895 in Madanapalle, a small town in south India. He and his brother were adopted in their youth by Dr Annie Besant, then president of the Theosophical Society. Dr Besant and others proclaimed that Krishnamurti was to be a world teacher whose coming the Theosophists had predicted. To prepare the world for this coming, a world-wide organization called the Order of the Star in the East was formed and the young Krishnamurti was made its head.

In 1929, however, Krishnamurti renounced the role that he was expected to play, dissolved the Order with its huge following, and returned all the money and property that had been donated for this work.

From then, for nearly sixty years until his death on 17 February 1986, he travelled throughout the world talking to large audiences and to individuals about the need for a radical change in mankind.

Krishnamurti is regarded globally as one of the greatest thinkers and religious teachers of all time. He did not expound any philosophy or religion, but rather talked of the things that concern all of us in our everyday lives, of the problems of living in modern society with its violence and corruption, of the individual's search for security and happiness, and the need for mankind to free itself from inner burdens of fear, anger, hurt, and sorrow. He explained with great precision the subtle workings of the human mind, and pointed to the need for bringing to our daily life a deeply meditative and spiritual quality.

Krishnamurti belonged to no religious organization, sect or country, nor did he subscribe to any school of political or ideological thought. On the contrary, he maintained that these are the very factors that divide human beings and bring about conflict and war. He reminded his listeners again and again that we are all human beings first and not Hindus, Muslims or Christians, that we are like the rest of humanity and are not different from one another. He asked that we tread lightly on this earth without destroying ourselves or the environment. He communicated to his listeners a deep sense of respect for nature. His teachings transcend man-made belief systems, nationalistic sentiment and sectarianism. At the same time, they give new meaning and direction to mankind's search for truth. His teaching, besides being relevant to the modern age, is timeless and universal.

Krishnamurti spoke not as a guru but as a friend, and his talks and discussions are based not on tradition-based knowledge but on his own insights into the human mind and his vision of the sacred, so he always communicates a sense of freshness and directness although the essence of his message remained unchanged over the years. When he addressed large audiences, people felt that Krishnamurti was talking to each of them personally, addressing his or her particular problem. In his private interviews, he was a compassionate teacher, listening attentively to the man or woman who came to him in sorrow, and encouraging them to heal themselves through their own understanding. Religious scholars found that his words threw new light on traditional concepts. Krishnamurti took on the challenge of modern scientists and psychologists and went with them step by step, discussed their theories and sometimes enabled them to discern the limitations of those theories. Krishnamurti left a large body of literature in the form of public talks, writings, discussions with teachers and students, with scientists and religious figures, conversations with individuals, television and radio interviews, and letters. Many of these have been published as books, and audio and video recordings

Ramgopal Majumdar,The sleepless saint

Ramgopal majumdar
Ram Gopal Muzumdar called the Sleepless Saint. He lived in Ranbajpur, near Tarakeswar (West Bengal). Hindus believe that this place can miraculously heal people, just like the Catholics believe in Lourdes of France. This saint was always awake in an ecstatic consciousness. For 20 years, he had been mediating 18 hours a day. Then he moved to a isolated caves near West Bengal, where he practised Kriya Yoga daily for 20 hours for 25 years.
The saint was more rested by the complete calmness of his 'super consciousness' than it could have been possible in his ordinary subconscious state. "The muscles relax during sleep; but the heart, lungs and circulatory system are constantly at work; they get no rest." In 'super consciousness', all internal organs remain in a state of suspended animation, electrified by the cosmic energy. By such means "he found it unnecessary to sleep for years".
Sleepless Saint with Babaji
At sometimes Ram Gopal left his isolated cave and sat at the feet of Lahiri Mahasaya in Varanasi. One midnight, as Ram Gopal was silently meditating with a group of Mahasaya's disciples, the master made a surprise request.

"Ram Gopal," he said, "go at once to the Dasasamedh bathing ghat." He soon reached the secluded spot. The night was bright with moonlight and glittering stars. He sat in patient silence for a while; his attention was drawn to a huge stone slab near his feet. It rose gradually, revealing an underground cave. As the stone became stationary, held up by some unknown means, the draped form of a young and surpassingly lovely woman rose from the cave in the air. Surrounded by a soft halo, she slowly descended in front of him and stood motionless, steeped in ecstasy. She finally stirred, and spoke gently.

"I am Mataji, the sister of Babaji. I have asked Babaji and also Lahiri Mahasaya to come to my cave tonight to discuss about why Babaji does not want to retain his physical form in this world."

Ram Gopal then found a nebulous light floating rapidly over the Ganga; the strange luminescence was reflected in the opaque waters. It appeared by the side of Mataji and condensed instantly into the human form of Mahasaya. He bowed humbly at the feet of the woman saint.

Before Ram Gopal could recover from the surprise, a flaming whirlpool approached the group and materialised into the form of a beautiful youth, Babaji.

Mataji then asked Babaji why it was that he wanted to shed his physical form. Though Babaji said, "What is the difference if I wear a visible or an invisible wave on the ocean of my spirit?
Mataji quickly replied that in that case he might as well retain his physical form as it did not in any way matter to him.

Babaji told his sister "the Lord has spoken His own wish through your lips", and said he would never leave his physical body. "It will always remain visible to at least a small number of people", his devoted disciples.

Ram Gopal returned to the group of disciples around Mahasaya at dawn. "I am happy for you, Ram Gopal. Your desire to see Babaji and Mataji, which you have often expressed to me, has found at last wondrous fulfilment," said Mahasaya.

Ram Gopal was amazed to learn from a disciple that Mahasaya had not stirred from the dais since the time he had left the group - around midnight till dawn!

"For the first time I realised the truth in the scriptural verses which state that a man of self-realisation can appear at different places in two or more bodies at the same time," concludes Ram Gopal mazumdar.

Panchanan Bhattacharya

Panchanan Bhattacharya (1853)
Panchanan Bhattacharya was a discipline of yogiraj Lahiri mahasayan.He was born in a family where religious customs are performed strictly.From his childhood days itself he had a great spiritual thurst.He objected the religious customs followed by his family and leaved his family in search of a guru to lead him to the Eternal truth.His journey ended at Lahiri mahasaya's feet.Lahiri mahasaya accepted him as his beloved discipline only after making him agree to live as a family man.Because lahiri mahasayan had known that in the new age kriya yoga and its benefits should go to common man also!.Family people will gain more spiritual inspiration from a yogi who lives as a family man (that's why mahavatar babaji also insisted his discipline lahiri mahasayan to lead a family life) Lahiri mahasayan gave him 'Kriya yoga diksha'(yogic act practiced to become self-realized) and allowed him to spread the message of ideological spiritual life.With the blessings of his guru, he established Arya mission institution to spread the Ideology of spiritual life and kriya yoga. Lahiri mahasayan allowed him to give kriya yoga to eligible people and spread the message of kriya yoga.

Nagendranath Bhaduri; Bhaduri mahasaya

Nagendra nath Bhaduri
Nagendra nath Bhaduri,The Levitating Saint was named as Bhaduri Mahasaya by his beloved disciplines. Mukunda(paramahamsa yogananda) was a daily visitor of this yogi during his college days in Calcutta. Bhaduri mahasaya was an extra-ordinary expert in hatha yoga, when he practices Bhastrika pranayama(type of pranayama where breathing done in power and pace) there would be a feeling of a storm in that room.When he practices some yoga kriya he himself would goes up and stayed in air!.Bhaduri mahasaya always stayed at home and he merely went out of home. He allowed only few visitors and usually loved loneliness. But yogananda always allowed to visit him without permission, that much he loved the young yogi(paramahamsa yogananda).After college yogananda used to visit Bhaduri mahasaya. Bhaduri mahasaya used to teach yogananda many spiritual things. He had known what yogananda's life intend to and once he adviced yogananda "Son, go to America. Take the dignity of hoary India for your shield. Victory is written on your brow; the noble distant people will well receive you."God made his words tue and yogananda completed his life intention.
Bhaduri mahasaya was born in a rich family and he left all his wealth and lead a spiritual life.Read about him at The Levitating Saint

Swami Pranavananda

Swami Pranavananda
Swami Pranavananda was lahiri mahasayan's discipline and was bhagavathi charan ghosh's (father of yogananda) colleague.He retired voluntirely from his official duty after self-realization.His life is revealed from the book Autobiography of a yogi.Yogananda name him as 'The saint with two bodies'.Yogananda mets Swami pranavananda when his father send him with a letter to pranavananda.Pranavananda reveals his supernatural power to take any number of bodies by appearing infront of yogananda and kedarnath(yogananda's father's friend) at same time.He explained his spiritual pleasure experiencing in blessings of his guru Lahiri mahasaya in detail to yogananda and his unwillingness to join to official duty again.Read more at The saint with two bodies

Swami Kevalananda giri

Swami kevalananda giri
Another great yogi's life revealed through Paramahamsa yogananda's Autobiography of a yogi.
Kevalananda,Discipline of Lahiri mahasaya was yogananda's beloved Sanskrit teacher.It was described in autobiography of a yogi that after mukunda (childhood name of paramahamsa yogananda) caught by his parents during his himalayan journey in search of his Guru, His father arranged him a Sanskrit teacher 'Kevalananda' to fullfil his spiritual thurst.But instead of helping mukunda to be a master in Sanskrit kevalananda really awaked his Spiritual thurst more.read more at Autobiography of a yogi.How much times i dont know, i read that book!!"Autobiography of a yogi".Yogananda explains his beloved teacher' as innocent childish yogi.Their evening classes were not so intented to learn difficult sanskrit grammer but inspirational spiritual talks and all helped yogananda to build a strong basis in his Spiritual life.

Master Mahasaya

Master Mahasaya

In the life of the great Saviours and Prophets of the world it is often found that they are accompanied by souls of high spiritual potency who play a conspicuous part in the furtherance of their Master's mission. They become so integral a part of the life and work of these great ones that posterity can think of them only in mutual association. Such is the case with Sri Ramakrishna and M., whose diary has come to be known to the world as the Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna in English and as Sri Ramakrishna Kathamrita in the original Bengali version.
Sri Mahendra Nath Gupta*, familiary known to the readers of the Gospel by his pen name M., and to the devotees as Master Mahashay, was born on the 14th of July, 1854 as the son of Madhusudan Gupta, an officer of the Calcutta High Court, and his wife, Swarnamayi Devi. He had a brilliant scholastic career at Hare School and the Presidency College at Calcutta. The range of his studies included the best that both occidental and oriental learning had to offer. English literature, history, economics, western philosophy and law on the one hand, and Sanskrit literature and grammar, Darsanas, Puranas, Smritis, Jainism, Buddhism, astrology and Ayurveda on the other — were the subjects in which he attained considerable proficiency.

He was an educationist all his life both in a spiritual and in a secular sense. After he passed out of College, he took up work as headmaster in a number of schools in succession — Narail High School, City School, Ripon College School, Metropolitan School, Aryan School, Oriental School, Oriental Seminary and Model School. The causes of his migration from school to school were that he could not get on with some of the managements on grounds of principles and that often his spiritual mood drew him away to places of pilgrimage for long periods. He worked with some of the most noted public men of the time like Iswar Chandra Vidyasagar and Surendranath Banerjee. The latter appointed him as a professor in the City and Ripon Colleges where he taught subjects like English, philosophy, history and economics. In his later days he took over the Morton School, and he spent his time in the staircase room of the third floor of it, administering the school and preaching the message of the Master. He was much respected in educational circles where he was usually referred to as Rector Mahashay. A teacher who had worked under him writes thus in warm appreciation of his teaching methods: "Only when I worked with him in school could I appreciate what a great educationist he was. He would come down to the level of his students when teaching, though he himself was so learned, so talented. Ordinarily teachers confine their instruction to what is given in books without much thought as to whether the student can accept it or not. But M., would first of all gauge how much the student could take in and by what means. He would employ aids to teaching like maps, pictures and diagrams, so that his students could learn by seeing. Thirty years ago (from 1953) when the question of imparting education through the medium of the mother tongue was being discussed, M. had already employed Bengali as the medium of instruction in the Morton School." (M — The Apostle and the Evangelist by Swami Nityatmananda Part I. P. 15.)

Imparting secular education was, however, only his profession ; his main concern was with the spiritual regeneration of man — a calling for which Destiny seems to have chosen him. From his childhood he was deeply pious, and he used to be moved very much by Sadhus, temples and Durga Puja celebrations. The piety and eloquence of the great Brahmo leader of the times, Keshab Chander Sen, elicited a powerful response from the impressionable mind of Mahendra Nath, as it did in the case of many an idealistic young man of Calcutta, and prepared him to receive the great Light that was to dawn on him with the coming of Sri Ramakrishna into his life.

This epoch-making event of his life came about in a very strange way. M. belonged to a joint family with several collateral members. Some ten years after he began his career as an educationist, bitter quarrels broke out among the members of the family, driving the sensitive M. to despair and utter despondency. He lost all interest in life and left home one night to go into the wide world with the idea of ending his life. At dead of night he took rest in his sister's house at Baranagar, and in the morning, accompanied by a nephew Siddheswar, he wandered from one garden to another in Calcutta until Siddheswar brought him to the Temple Garden of Dakshineswar where Sri Ramakrishna was then living. After spending some time in the beautiful rose gardens there, he was directed to the room of the Paramahamsa, where the eventful meeting of the Master and the disciple took place on a blessed evening (the exact date is not on record) on a Sunday in March 1882. As regards what took place on the occasion, the reader is referred to the opening section of the first chapter of the Gospel.

The Master, who divined the mood of desperation in M, his resolve to take leave of this 'play-field of deception', put new faith and hope into him by his gracious words of assurance: "God forbid! Why should you take leave of this world? Do you not feel blessed by discovering your Guru? By His grace, what is beyond all imagination or dreams can be easily achieved!" At these words the clouds of despair moved away from the horizon of M.'s mind, and the sunshine of a new hope revealed to him fresh vistas of meaning in life. Referring to this phase of his life, M. used to say, "Behold! where is the resolve to end life, and where, the discovery of God! That is, sorrow should be looked upon as a friend of man. God is all good." (Ibid P.33.)

After this re-settlement, M's life revolved around the Master, though he continued his professional work as an educationist. During all holidays, including Sundays, he spent his time at Dakshineswar in the Master's company, and at times extended his stay to several days.

It did not take much time for M. to become very intimate with the Master, or for the Master to recognise in this disciple a divinely commissioned partner in the fulfilment of his spiritual mission. When M. was reading out the Chaitanya Bhagavata, the Master discovered that he had been, in a previous birth, a disciple and companion of the great Vaishnava Teacher, Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, and the Master even saw him 'with his naked eye' participating in the ecstatic mass-singing of the Lord's name under the leadership of that Divine personality. So the Master told M, "You are my own, of the same substance — as the father and the son," indicating thereby that M. was one of the chosen few and a part and parcel of his Divine mission.

There was an urge in M. to abandon the household life and become a Sannyasin. When he communicated this idea to the Master, he forbade him saying," Mother has told me that you have to do a little of Her work — you will have to teach Bhagavata, the word of God to humanity. The Mother keeps a Bhagavata Pandit with a bondage in the world!" (Ibid P.36.)

An appropriate allusion indeed! Bhagavata, the great scripture that has given the word of Sri Krishna to mankind, was composed by the Sage Vyasa under similar circumstances. When caught up in a mood of depression like that of M, Vyasa was advised by the sage Narada that he would gain peace of mind only qn composing a work exclusively devoted to the depiction of the Lord's glorious attributes and His teachings on Knowledge and Devotion, and the result was that the world got from Vyasa the invaluable gift of the Bhagavata Purana depicting the life and teachings of Sri Krishna. From the mental depression of the modem Vyasa, the world has obtained the Kathamrita — the Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna.

Sri Ramakrishna was a teacher for both the Orders of mankind, Sannyasins and householders. His own life offered an ideal example for both, and he left behind disciples who followed the highest traditions he had set in respect of both these ways of life. M., along with Nag Mahashay, exemplified how a householder can rise to the highest level of sagehood. M. was married to Nikunja Devi, a distant relative of Keshab Chander Sen, even when he was reading at College, and he had four children, two sons and two daughters. The responsibility of the family, no doubt, made him dependent on his professional income, but the great devotee that he was, he never compromised with ideals and principles for this reason. Once when he was working as the headmaster in a school managed by the great Vidyasagar, the results of the school at the public examination happened to be rather poor, and Vidyasagar attributed it to M's pre-occupation with the Master and his consequent failure to attend adequately to the school work. M. at once resigned his post without any thought of the morrow. Within a fortnight the family was in poverty, and M. was one day pacing up and down the verandah of his house, musing how he would feed his children the next day. Just then a man came with a letter addressed to 'Mahendra Babu', and on opening it, M. found that it was a letter from his friend Sri Surendra Nath Banerjee, asking whether he would like to take up a professorship in the Ripon College. In this way three or four times he gave up the job that gave him the wherewithal to support the family, either for upholding principles or for practising spiritual Sadhanas in holy places, without any consideration of the possible dire worldly consequences; but he was always able to get over these difficulties somehow, and the interests of his family never suffered. In spite of his disregard for worldly goods, he was, towards the latter part of his life, in a fairly flourishing condition as the proprietor of the Morton School which he developed into a noted educational institution in the city. The Lord has said in the Bhagavad Gita that in the case of those who think of nothing except Him, He Himself would take up all their material and spiritual responsibilities. M. was an example of the truth of the Lord's promise.

Though his children received proper attention from him, his real family, both during the Master's life-time and after, consisted of saints, devotees, Sannyasins and spiritual aspirants. His life exemplifies the Master's teaching that an ideal householder must be like a good maid-servant of a family, loving and caring properly for the children of the house, but knowing always that her real home and children are elsewhere. During the Master's life-time he spent all his Sundays and other holidays with him and his devotees, and besides listening to the holy talks and devotional music, practised meditation both on the Personal and the Impersonal aspects of God under the direct guidance of the Master. In the pages of the Gospel the reader gets a picture of M.'s spiritual relationship with the Master — how from a hazy belief in the Impersonal God of the Brahmos, he was step by step brought to accept both Personality and Impersonality as the two aspects of the same Non-dual Being, how he was convinced of the manifestation of that Being as Gods, Goddesses and as Incarnations, and how he was established in a life that was both of a Jnani and of a Bhakta. This Jnani-Bhakta outlook and way of living became so dominant a feature of his life that Swami Raghavananda, who was very closely associated with him during his last six years, remarks: "Among those who lived with M. in latter days, some felt that he always lived in this constant and conscious union with God even with open eyes (i.e., even in waking consciousness)." (Swami Raghavananda's article on M. in Prabuddha Bharata vol. XXXVII. P. 442.)

Besides undergoing spiritual disciplines at the feet of the Master, M. used to go to holy places during the Master's life-time itself and afterwards too as a part of his Sadhana. He was one of the earliest of the disciples to visit Kamarpukur, the birthplace of the Master, in the latter's life-time itself; for he wished to practise contemplation on the Master's early life in its true original setting. His experience there is described as follows by Swami Nityatmananda: "By the grace of the Master, he saw the entire Kamarpukur as a holy place bathed in an effulgent Light. Trees and creepers, beasts and birds and men — all were made of effulgence. So he prostrated to all on the road. He saw a torn cat, which appeared to him luminous with the Light of Consciousness. Immediately he fell to the ground and saluted it" (M — The Apostle and the Evangelist by Swami Nityatmananda vol. I. P. 40.) He had similar experience in Dakshineswar also. At the instance of the Master he also visited Puri, and in the words of Swami Nityatmananda, "with indomitable courage, M. embraced the image of Jagannath out of season."*

The life of Sadhana and holy association that he started on at the feet of the Master, he continued all through his life. He has for this reason been most appropriately described as a Grihastha-Sannyasi (householder-Sannyasin). Though he was forbidden by the Master to become a Sannyasin, his reverence for the Sannyasa ideal was whole-hearted and was without any reservation. So after Sri Ramakrishna's passing away, while several of the Master's householder devotees considered the young Sannyasin disciples of the Master as inexperienced and inconsequential, M. stood by them with the firm faith that the Master's life and message were going to be perpetuated only through them. Swami Vivekananda wrote from America in a letter to the inmates of the Math: "When Sri Thakur (Master) left the body, every one gave us up as a few unripe urchins. But M. and a few others did not leave us in the lurch. We cannot repay our debt to them." (Swami Raghavananda's article on M. in Prabuddha Bharata vol. XXX P. 442.)

M. spent his weekends and holidays with the monastic brethren who, after the Master's demise, had formed themselves into an Order with a Math at Baranagore, and participated in the intense life of devotion and meditation that they followed. At other times he would retire to Dakshineswar or some garden in the city and spend several days in spiritual practice taking simple self-cooked food. In order to feel that he was one with all mankind he often used to go out of his home at dead of night, and like a wandering Sannyasin, sleep with the waifs on some open verandah or footpath on the road.

After the Master's demise, M. went on pilgrimage several times. He visited Banaras, Vrindavan, Ayodhya and other places. At Banaras he visited the famous Trailinga Swami and fed him with sweets, and he had long conversations with Swami Bhaskarananda, one of the noted saintly and scholarly Sannyasins of the time. In 1912 he went with the Holy Mother to Banaras, and spent about a year in the company of Sannyasins at Banaras, Vrindavan, Hardwar, Hrishikesh and Swargashram. But he returned to Calcutta, as that city offered him the unique opportunity of associating himself with the places hallowed by the Master in his life-time. Afterwards he does not seem to have gone to any far-off place, but stayed on in his room in the Morton School carrying on his spiritual ministry, speaking on the Master and his teachings to the large number of people who flocked to him after having read his famous Kathamrita known to English readers as The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna.

This brings us to the circumstances that led to the writing and publication of this monumental work, which has made M. one of the immortals in hagiographic literature. While many educated people heard Sri Ramakrishna's talks, it was given to this illustrious personage alone to leave a graphic and exact account of them for posterity, with details like date, hour, place, names and particulars about participants. Humanity owes this great book to the ingrained habit of diary-keeping with which M. was endowed. Even as a boy of about thirteen, while he was a student in the 3rd class of the Hare School, he was in the habit of keeping a diary. "Today on rising," he wrote in his diary, "I greeted my father and mother, prostrating on the ground before them" (Swami Nityatmananda's 'M — The Apostle and the Evangelist' Part I. P 29.) At another place he wrote, "Today, while on my way to school, I visited, as usual, the temples of Kali, the Mother at Tharitharia, and of Mother Sitala, and paid my obeisance to them." About twenty-five years after, when he met the Great Master in the spring of 1882, it was the same instinct of a born diary-writer that made him begin his book, 'unique in the literature of hagiography', with the memorable words: "When hearing the name of Hari or Rama once, you shed tears and your hair stands on end, then you may know for certain that you do not have to perform devotions such as Sandhya any more."

In addition to this instinct for diary-keeping, M. had great endowments contributing to success in this line. Writes Swami Nityatmananda who lived in close association with M., in his book entitled M - The Apostle and Evangelist: "M.'s prodigious memory combined with his extraordinary power of imagination completely annihilated the distance of time and place for him. Even after the lapse of half a century he could always visualise vividly, scenes from the life of Sri Ramakrishna. Superb too was his power to portray pictures by words."

Besides the prompting of his inherent instinct, the main inducement for M. to keep this diary of his experiences at Dakshineswar was his desire to provide himself with a means for living in holy company at all times. Being a school teacher, he could be with the Master only on Sundays and other holidays, and it was on his diary that he depended for 'holy company' on other days. The devotional scriptures like the Bhagavata say that holy company is the first and most important means for the generation and growth of devotion. For, in such company man could hear talks on spiritual matters and listen to the glorification of Divine attributes, charged with the fervour and conviction emanating from the hearts of great lovers of God. Such company is therefore the one certain means through which Sraddha (Faith), Rati (attachment to God) and Bhakti (loving devotion) are generated. The diary of his visits to Dakshineswar provided M. with material for re-living, through reading and contemplation, the holy company he had had earlier, even on days when he was not able to visit Dakshineswar. The wealth of details and the vivid description of men and things in the midst of which the sublime conversations are set, provide excellent material to re-live those experiences for any one with imaginative powers. It was observed by M.'s disciples and admirers that in later life also whenever he was free or alone, he would be pouring over his diary, transporting himself on the wings of imagination to the glorious days he spent at the feet of the Master.
During the Master's life-time M. does not seem to have revealed the contents of his diary to any one. There is an unconfirmed tradition that when the Master saw him taking notes, he expressed apprehension at the possibility of his utilising these to publicise him like Keshab Sen; for the Great Master was so full of the spirit of renunciation and humility that he disliked being lionised. It must be for this reason that no one knew about this precious diary of M. for a decade until he brought out selections from it as a pamphlet in English in 1897 with the Holy Mother's blessings and permission. The Holy Mother, being very much pleased to hear parts of the diary read to her in Bengali, wrote to M.: "When I heard the Kathamrita, (Bengali name of the book) I felt as if it was he, the Master, who was saying all that."

The two pamphlets in English entitled the Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna appeared in October and November 1897. They drew the spontaneous acclamation of Swami Vivekananda, who wrote on 24th November of that year from Dehra Dun to M.:"Many many thanks for your second leaflet. It is indeed wonderful. The move is quite original, and never was the life of a Great Teacher brought before the public untarnished by the writer's mind, as you are doing. The language also is beyond all praise, — so fresh, so pointed, and withal so plain and easy. I cannot express in adequate terms how I have enjoyed them. I am really in a transport when I read them. Strange, isn't it? Our Teacher and Lord was so original, and each one of us will have to be original or nothing. I now understand why none of us attempted His life before. It has been reserved for you, this great work. He is with you evidently." (Vedanta Kesari Vol. XIX P. 141. Also given in the first edition of the Gospel published from Ramakrishna Math, Madras in 1911.)

And Swamiji added a post script to the letter: "Socratic dialogues are Plato all over — you are entirely hidden. Moreover, the dramatic part is infinitely beautiful. Everybody likes it — here or in the West." Indeed, in order to be unknown, Mahendranath had used the pen-name M., under which the book has been appearing till now. But so great a book cannot remain obscure for long, nor can its author remain unrecognised by the large public in these modern times. M. and his book came to be widely known very soon and to meet the growing demand, a full-sized book, Vol. I of the Gospel, translated by the author himself, was published in 1907 by the Brahmavadin Office, Madras. A second edition of it, revised by the author, was brought out by the Ramakrishna Math, Madras in December 1911, and subsequently a second part, containing new chapters from the original Bengali, was published by the same Math in 1922. The full English translation of the Gospel by Swami Nikhilananda appeared first in 1942.

In Bengali the book is published in five volumes, the first part having appeared in 1902 and the others in 1905, 1907, 1910 and 1932 respectively.

It looks as if M. was brought to the world by the Great Master to record his words and transmit them to posterity. Swami Sivananda, a direct disciple of the Master and the second President of the Ramakrishna Math and Mission, says on this topic: "Whenever there was an interesting talk, the Master would call Master Mahashay if he was not in the room, and then draw his attention to the holy words spoken. We did not know then why the Master did so. Now we can realise that this action of the Master had an important significance, for it was reserved for Master Mahashay to give to the world at large the sayings of the Master." (Vedanta Kesari Vol. XIX P 141.) Thanks to M., we get, unlike in the case of the great teachers of the past, a faithful record with date, time, exact report of conversations, description of concerned men and places, references to contemporary events and personalities and a hundred other details for the last four years of the Master's life (1882-'86), so that no one can doubt the historicity of the Master and his teachings at any time in the future.

M. was in every respect a true missionary of Sri Ramakrishna right from his first acquaintance with him in 1882. As a school teacher, it was a practice with him to direct to the Master such of his students as had a true spiritual disposition. Though himself prohibited by the Master to take to monastic life, he encouraged all spiritually inclined young men he came across in his later life to join the monastic Order. Swami Vijnanananda, a direct Sannyasin disciple of the Master and a President of the Ramakrishna Order, once remarked to M.: "By enquiry I have come to the conclusion that eighty percent and more of the Sannyasins have embraced the monastic life after reading the Kathamrita and coming in contact with you." (M — The Apostle and the Evangelist by Swami Nityatmananda Part I, P 37.)

In 1905 he retired from the active life of a Professor and devoted his remaining twenty-seven years exclusively to the preaching of the life and message of the Great Master. He bought the Morton Institution from its original proprietors and shifted it to a commodious four-storeyed house at 50 Amherst Street, where it flourished under his management as one of the most efficient educational institutions in Calcutta. He generally occupied a staircase room at the top of it, cooking his own meal which consisted only of milk and rice without variation, and attended to all his personal needs himself. His dress also was the simplest possible. It was his conviction that limitation of personal wants to the minimum is an important aid to holy living. About one hour in the morning he would spend in inspecting the classes of the school, and then retire to his staircase room to pour over his diary and live in the divine atmosphere of the earthly days of the Great Master, unless devotees and admirers had already gathered in his room seeking his holy company.

In appearance, M. looked a Vedic Rishi. Tall and stately in bearing, he had a strong and well-built body, an unusually broad chest, high forehead and arms extending to the knees. His complexion was fair and his prominent eyes were always tinged with the expression of the divine love that filled his heart. Adorned with a silvery beard that flowed luxuriantly down his chest, and a shining face radiating the serenity and gravity of holiness, M. was as imposing and majestic as he was handsome and engaging in appearance. Humorous, sweet-tongued and eloquent when situations required, this great Maharishi of our age lived only to sing the glory of Sri Ramakrishna day and night. Though a very well versed scholar in the Upanishads, Gita and the philosophies of the East and the West, all his discussions and teachings found their culmination in the life and the message of Sri Ramakrishna, in which he found the real explanation and illustration of all the scriptures. Both consciously and unconsciously, he was the teacher of the Kathamrita — the nectarine words of the Great Master.

Though a much-sought-after spiritual guide, an educationist of repute, and a contemporary and close associate of illustrious personages like Sri Ramakrishna, Swami Vivekananda, Keshab Chander Sen and Iswar Chander Vidyasagar, he was always moved by the noble humanity of a lover of God, which consists in respecting the personalities of all as receptacles of the Divine Spirit. So he taught without the consciousness of a teacher, and no bar of superiority stood in the way of his doing the humblest service to his students and devotees. "He was a commission of love," writes his close devotee, Swami Raghavananda, "and yet his soft and sweet words would pierce the stoniest heart, make the worldly-minded weep and repent and turn Godwards." (Prabuddha Bharata Vol. XXXVII P 499.)

As time went on and the number of devotees increased, the staircase room and terrace of the 3rd floor of the Morton Institution became a veritable Naimisaranya of modern times, resounding during all hours of the day, and sometimes of night, too, with the word of God coming from the Rishi-like face of M. addressed to the eager God-seekers sitting around. To the devotees who helped him in preparing the text of the Gospel, he would dictate the conversations of the Master in a meditative mood, referring now and then to his diary. At times in the stillness of midnight he would awaken a nearby devotee and tell him: "Let us listen to the words of the Master in the depths of the night as he explains the truth of the Pranava." (Vedanta Kesari XIX P. 142.) Swami Raghavananda, an intimate devotee of M., writes as follows about these devotional sittings: "In the sweet and warm months of April and May, sitting under the canopy of heaven on the roof-garden of 50 Amherst Street, surrounded by shrubs and plants, himself sitting in their midst like a Rishi of old, the stars and planets in their courses beckoning us to things infinite and sublime, he would speak to us of the mysteries of God and His love and of the yearning that would rise in the human heart to solve the Eternal Riddle, as exemplified in the life of his Master. The mind, melting under the influence of his soft sweet words of light, would almost transcend the frontiers of limited existence and dare to peep into the infinite. He himself would take the influence of the setting and say,'What a blessed privilege it is to sit in such a setting (pointing to the starry heavens), in the company of the devotees discoursing on God and His love!' These unforgettable scenes will long remain imprinted on the minds of his hearers." (Prabuddha Bharata Vol XXXVII P 497.)

About twenty-seven years of his life he spent in this way in the heart of the great city of Calcutta, radiating the Master's thoughts and ideals to countless devotees who flocked to him, and to still larger numbers who read his Kathamrita, the last part of which he had completed before June 1932 and given to the press. And miraculously, as it were, his end also came immediately after he had completed his life's mission. About three months earlier he had come to stay at his home at 13/2 Gurdasprasad Chaudhuary Lane at Thakur Bari, where the Holy Mother had herself installed the Master and where His regular worship was being conducted for the previous 40 years. The night of 3rd June being the Phalaharini Kali Pooja day, M. had sent his devotees who used to keep company with him, to attend the special worship at Belur Math at night. After attending the service at the home shrine, he went through the proof of the Kathamrita for an hour. Suddenly he got a severe attack of neuralgic pain, from which he had been suffering now and then of late. Before 6 a.m. in the early hours of the 4th June 1932, he passed away, fully conscious and chanting: 'Gurudeva-Ma, Kole toole na-o! O Master! O Mother! Take me in your arms!'
Read yoganandas experience with master mahasaya

Giribala yogini

Yogini Giribala:The women yogini who never eats

Yogini giribala was known to external world through paramahamsa yogananda's autobiography 'autobiography of a yogi'( world wide accepted spiritual book).This book reveals many spiritual truths which was unknown to external world.
Paramahamsa yogananda mets the young yogini Giribala in 1936.The young yogini had not taken food or drink since 1880.Her story is interesting to not only for spiritual seekers but for others also.Read Paramahamsa yogananda's meeting with Yogini Giribala

Sarada ma

‘Holy Mother’, Sri Sarada Devi, the spiritual consort of Sri Ramakrishna, was born on 22 December 1853 in a poor Brahmin family in Jayrambati, a village adjoining Kamarpukur in West Bengal. Her father, Ramachandra Mukhopadhyay, was a pious and kind-hearted person, and her mother, Shyama Sundari Devi, was a loving and hard-working woman.

Marriage.

As a child Sarada was devoted to God, and spent most of her time helping her mother in various household chores like caring for younger children, looking after cattle and carrying food to her father and others engaged in work in the field. She had no formal schooling, but managed to learn the Bengali alphabet. When she was about six years old, she was married to Sri Ramakrishna, according to the custom prevalent in India in those days. However, after the event, she continued to live with her parents, while Sri Ramakrishna lived a God-intoxicated life at Dakshineshwar.

Visit to Dakshineshwar

At the age of eighteen she walked all the way to Dakshineshwar to meet her husband. Sri Ramakrishna, who had immersed himself in the intense practice of several spiritual disciplines for more than twelve years, had reached the highest state of realization in which he saw God in all beings. He received Sarada Devi with great affection, and allowed her to stay with him. He taught her how to lead a spiritual life while discharging her household duties. They led absolutely pure lives, and Sarada Devi served Sri Ramakrishna as his devoted wife and disciple, while remaining a virgin nun and following the spiritual path.

Life at Dakshineshwar

Sri Ramakrishna looked upon Sarada Devi as a special manifestation of Divine Mother of the universe. In 1872, on the night of the Phala-harini-Kali-puja, he ritualistically worshipped Sarada Devi as the Divine Mother, thereby awakening universal Motherhood latent in her. When disciples began to gather around Sri Ramakrishna, Sarada Devi learned to look upon them as her own children. The room in which she stayed at Dakshineshwar was too small to live in and had hardly any amenities; and on many days she did not get the opportunity of meeting Sri Ramakrishna. But she bore all difficulties silently and lived in contentment and peace, serving the increasing number of devotees who came to see Sri Ramakrishna.

Leading the Sangha after the Master’s Passing

After Sri Ramakrishna’s passing away in 1886, Sarada Devi spent some months in pilgrimage, and then went to Kamarpukur where she lived in great privation. Coming to know of this, the disciples of Sri Ramakrishna brought her to Kolkata. This marked a turning point in her life. She now began to accept spiritual seekers as her disciples, and became the open portal to immortality for hundreds of people. Her great universal mother-heart, endowed with boundless love and compassion, embraced all people without any distinction, including many who had lived sinful lives.

When the Western women disciples of Swami Vivekananda came to Kolkata, the Holy Mother accepted them with open arms as her daughters, ignoring the restrictions of the orthodox society of those days. Although she had grown up in a conservative rural society without any access to modern education, she held progressive views, and whole-heartedly supported Swami Vivekananda in his plans for rejuvenation of India and the uplift of the masses and women. She was closely associated with the school for girls started by Sister Nivedita.

She spent her life partly in Kolkata and partly in her native village Jayrambati. During the early years of her stay in Kolkata, her needs were looked after by Swami Yogananda, a disciple of Sri Ramakrishna. In later years her needs were looked after by another disciple of Sri Ramakrishna, Swami Saradananda, who built a new house for her in Kolkata.

Simplicity and Forbearance

Although she was highly venerated for her spiritual status, and literally worshipped as the Divine Mother, she continued to live like a simple village mother, washing clothes, sweeping the floor, bringing water from the pond, dressing vegetables, cooking and serving food. At Jayrambati she lived with her brothers and their families. They gave her endless troubles but, established as she was in the awareness of God and in Divine Motherhood, she always remained calm and self-possessed, showering love and blessings on all who came into contact with her. As Sister Nivedita stated, “Her life was one long stillness of prayer.”

Mother of All

In the history of humanity there has never been another woman who looked upon herself as the Mother of all beings, including animals and birds, and spent her whole life in serving them as her children, undergoing unending sacrifice and self-denial. About her role in the mission of Sri Ramakrishna on earth, she stated: “My son, you know the Master had a maternal attitude (matri-bhava) towards every one. He has left me behind to manifest that Divine Motherhood in the world.”

Ideal Woman

On account of her immaculate purity, extraordinary forbearance, selfless service, unconditional love, wisdom and spiritual illumination, Swami Vivekananda regarded Sri Sarada Devi as the ideal for women in the modern age. He believed that with the advent of Holy Mother, the spiritual awakening of women in modern times had begun.

Last Days of Sarada ma

Under the strain of constant physical work and self-denial and repeated attacks of malaria, her health deteriorated in the closing years of her life, and she left the mortal world on 21 July 1920.

Nayanan swami

Marutwamala, a hill near kanyakumari fomous for herbals

Nayanan swami, avadoodha in kanyakumari

This is a short description of an avadoodha, who lived in kanyakumari in 1980’s.Since no clear information available of the avadoodha ( self realized yogi pretends to be mad or childish) Nayanan swami, this is part adapted from Swami paramatmananda’s ( sri matha amrithanandamayi’s senior discipline, incharge of amma’s American asram centre ) autobiography.part2.Amma meets with Nayanan swami on her way with disciplines to kanyakumari. On the way to kanyakumari they stayed near Marutwamala, a hill place famous for herbals. It was heard that there is a yogi named Nayanan swami, amma decided to visit him.After some enquiries they found the yogis place.In swami paramatmanandas words-After reaching the yogis place, amma and us entered his room, There was mere light in that room.We saw an old man sitting on the floor by spitting on the wall!!.Someone there said to us that the yogi had his bath before ten years!!By seeing him in such an uncleaned manner, for us It is easy to believe.

Amma sat next to him, it was unexpected, that the yogi hit on ammas face, we all felt shocked and got anger, but amma told us to stay cool. The yogi scolded me in a language only known to him!!.We all were eager to get out of there, but our amma stayed there for about 20minutes, After leaving him in his room amma told us that he was in the super most blissful state.At first We were not able to believe ammas words super most state!! May be he is mad!!. Amma said that a person in that state can only be identified by another one, who also in the same state.We all thought that, if that was the supreme state, we don’t need that.

After meeting another yogini mayi amma in kanyakumari, we started our way back to asram, On the way we reached nayanan swami’s place, suddenly we saw the yogi standing on the road as he was waiting for us!. Amma said to stop the vehicle, The thought of going back to him made us uncomfortable.Again we entered his room, yogi was sitting in the same place. Amma sat near to him, we all prepared to see another shock!.Amma started to touching his feet and she herself started moving.The yogi was calm this time and was watching amma silently.Tears were flowing from ammas eyes, we watched all this in curiosity.

All of a sudden amma entered in kalis form, started dancing showing mudra, we all amazed by watching this all.We had no idea what was happening.After sometime Amma came back from that state, she was in eternal bliss. Nayanan swami said YOUR SON!! YOUR SON!!, by looking at the boy with us ( it was true that the boy, shakthiprasad was born to his parents in blessings of amma!! ).From this we came to know that he was not mad as he seems to be. He knew everything.After leaving the yogi, we continued our journey.On the way amma explained what was happened.In ammas words, Nayanan swami knew who am I, and was willing to see me in kali bhava, so it was for him amma entered in kali’s state.Amma said that he was a self realized yogi and not a mad man. Avadoodha is named to a yogi in supermost blissful state and always pretends to be mad or childish. Amma says they are not mad people and their activities will have an internal meaning known only by a self realized yogi.

Another story related to nayanan swami, once swami gave a coin to one of his disciplines and asked to keep it life time, the man who got blessed with the coin became rich!

beg your pardon,if my English makes you irritating