Saints and Mahatmas of India

290 Pages·2012·4.98 MB·Indonesian

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Saints and Mahatmas
Of
India

R.K.Gupta
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Index

1. Devrishi Narad
2. Brahmarishi Vasishtha
3. Mahrishi Ashtavakra
4. Mahrishi Valmiki
5. Mahatma Jadbharat
6. Mahatma Buddha
7. Sant Tirruvalluvar
8. Mahavir Swami
9. Acharya Shankar
10. Yamunacharya
11. Acharya Nimbark
12. Aandal Rangnayaki
13. Mahayogi Gorakhnath
14. Yogiraj Bhrutrhari
15. Acharya Ramanuja
16. Baba Farid
17. Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya
18. Acharya Madhva
19. Rasik Sant Jaydev
20. Mahatma Ramanand Swami
21. Sant Namdev
22. Sant Gyaneshwar
23. Yogini Lalleshwari
24. Sant Pipa
25. Sant Raidas
26. Sant Kabir
27. Param Vaishnav Narsi Mehta
28. Bhakt Meerabai
29. Goswami Tulsidasji
30. Sant Surdas
31. Chaitnya Mahaprabhu
32. Sant Vemna
33. Mahaprabhu Vallabhacharya
34 Guru Nanak
35 Bulleh Shah
36 Sant Dadu Dayal
37 Sant Tukaram
38 Tailang Swami
39 Samarth Ramdas
40. Sant Rajjab
41. Sant Dariya Sahab
42. Mahatma Charandas
43. Sahajo Bai
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44. Mahatma Nabhadas
45. Mahatma Eknath
46. Swami Dayanand Saraswati
47. Ramakrishna Paramhans
48. Swami Vivekananda
49. Mahayogi Arvind
50. Mahrishi Raman
51. Shirdi Sai Baba
52. Sant Vamakshepa
53. Sant Naga Nirankari
54. Yogiraj Shyamacharan Lahiri
55. Yogiraj Gambhirnath
56. Tailang Swami
57. Sant Tyagraja
58. Swamiji Maharaj-Shivdayal Singh
59. Sahajanand Swami
60. Sheikh Ahmad al-Faruqi
61. Shamsuddin Habib Allah-Mirza Zanzana
62. Swami Ram Tirtha
63. Maulana Fazl Ahmed Khan
64. Mahatma Ramchandraji
65. Jiddu Krishnamurti
66. Baba Nityanand
67. Param Sant Thakur Ram Singhji
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PREFACE

HARI ANNANT HARI KATHA ANNANTA-The Lord is Infinite and so are His
attributes and the stories related to Him. Saints and Mahatmas are an expression of His
glory and attributes and, therefore, they are also indescribable. Yet an attempt has been
made in this book to present a glimpse into the lives of some of His Saints and
Mahatmas, especially those, who have been the fountainhead of various sects in India,
e.g. Mahatma Buddha, Mahavir Swami, Acharya Nimbark, Guru Gorakhnath, Sant
Kabir, Chaitnya Mahaprabhu, Mahaprabhu Vallabhacharya, Guru Nanak, Sant Dadu
Dayal, Swami Dayanand Saraswati, Ramakrishna Paramhans, Shirdi Sai Baba, Yogiraj
Shyamacharan Lahiri, Sahajanand Swami and Swamiji Maharaj-Shivdayal Singhji.

If one asks as to what the saints and Mahatmas do for the society, the answer is
that they are like the trees, the spiritual trees. As the trees standing at their own places
purify the atmosphere and help bringing rains, the saints and Mahatmas purify the minds
of people through their prayers and channelise the grace of the God, at times even raising
storm in the Ocean of Mercy of the Almighty. Their presence is a symbol of
auspiciousness for all. It is well said: ‘EK GHARI, ADHI GHARI, ADHI SE BHI ADH;
TULSI SANGAT SADHU KI, KOTI KATE APRADH.’-meaning thereby that the
company of Sadhus (satsang), even for a moment, brings auspiciousness in one’s life. In
my humble opinion reading about saints and Mahatmas also is like spending time in their
company and I am sure this also would bring auspiciousness in the life of readers.

The material in this book for compiling the life stories of saints and Mahatmas of
India has been taken mainly from ‘Bhakt-Mal’ by Mahatma Nabhadas; ‘Bharat Ke Sant
Mahatma’ by Ramlal; ‘Bhakt-Charitank’ published by Geeta Press, Gorakhpur; ‘Bharat
Ke Yogi’ by Dr. Bhagwan Sharan Bhardwaj-Pradeep and various websites. Besides,
some anecdotes relating to them have also been included, as heard from great saints.

I must hasten to add that many authors have written about various saints and
Mahatmas but that does not make the subject stale. Every time one reads about them, a
new dimension of their life and devotion comes to fore, a new understanding is
developed. In any case, it is like offering flowers at the feet of the Lord. I have also,
therefore, dared to offer this garland of flowers at the feet of the Lord picking up some of
the most fragrant flowers from the Lord’s own garden.

In order to contain the size of the book I have resticted myself to mention only
important incidences relating to most of the saints and Mahatmas and in this effort I
might have left some other important aspects of their lives untouched. I seek forgiveness
of the wise readers for the same.

It is the grace of my Guru Bhagwan Param Sant Thakur Ram Singhji that this
book was conceived and completed. I am extremely thankful to my entire family and
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friends, who have helped me from time to time in gathering the material and in timely
completion of the work.

New Delhi R.K Gupta
August 2011
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Devrishi Narad
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Devrishi Narad

Devrishi Narad is the fountainhead of all the saints and mahatmas. He himself has
said about his state of devotion that “when I start singing in the praise of my Most Pious
and Kind Lord, He immediately enters my heart as an invitee.”

Devrishi Narad always keeps on wandering; it is his job to always keep on
moving and playing his vina (a large musical instrument of the type of lute) singing in the
praise of his Lord. He is one of the twelve main acharyas (Masters) of the
bhagvatdharma (follower of Lord Vishnu) and the supreme devotional singer. He is also
the composer of Bhaktisutra (the Compendium of various aspects of Devotion). He is
considered to be the master of all the nine forms of devotion. He is an eternal councilor of
the Divine Council. His nature is to create situations of conflict so as to protect the
interest of righteous and destroy the evil. Scriptures are laid with numerous such
instances. His main objective, however, is to encourage devotion to God. Both the gods
and devils trust his capabilities to give them protection. Brahma, the lord of creation, first
created Marichi, Atri, Sanak, Sanandan, Santkumar and Narad and thus Narad is the
manas-putra (a son born of mind) of Brahma.

It relates to ancient time. Narad’s eternal relationship with God was a result of his
deeds in a previous birth. In his previous birth he was a Gandharva (mythol. a heavenly
minstrel or musician) by the name ‘Upbarhan’. He was well built, handsome and deeply
interested in music. Once many of the great Gandharvas, and Kinnars etc. assembled
before Brahma to sing in the praise of God. Narad was one of them. He, however, had
taken some women with him. While singing, his attention got diverted towards them and,
therefore, he could not discharge his duties whole-heartedly. Brahma, therefore, cursed
him to be borne as a shudra (a member of the fourth and the lowest division of early
Indo-Aryan society) but this curse turned into a boon for him. He took birth through a
shudra mother, who was engaged in the service of noble and religious Brahmans (the
priest class). By the grace of Brahma, he was blessed with all the good qualities and his
mother was very affectionate to him. The life of austerity and self-restrain of his mother
had a deep impact on Narad. In the company of his mother he also started to spend his
time in the service of sages and saints.

Once some saints observed Chaturmasya-vrit (a resolution to follow strict
religious discipline during the four months of rainy season). On his mother’s advice
Narad started serving them. Narad was only about five years then. Those saints were very
kind to him. He used to listen to various stories related to God from them, as a result of
which his mind had become pure. At the end of the Chaturmasya-vrit they asked Narad
to meditate upon the God and told him the method of Japa (remembrance of God). After
the saints left, Narad started to devote his time accordingly. In the mean time his mother
died of a serpent’s-bite. Her death gave Narad the complete freedom from all obligations
and he now started to devote the entire time in Tapa (penance).
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He sat under a Pipal tree (holy fig-tree) and started meditation, as instructed by
those saints. As the time was passing, his desperation to seek the God was increasing.
Suddenly he had a glimpse of the Divine-light in his heart, which disappeared
immediately. He could not have the glimpse of that Divine-light again in spite of making
repeated efforts. He then got an inspiration that this Divine-light could be seen by only
those, who had acquired complete purity of mind. After this incidence, he completely
devoted himself in the contemplation of the Divine and after his death, on the start of a
new Kalpa (mythol. a day of Brahma) he was born as a manas-putra of Brahma, as
mentioned above. As a Divine councilor he keeps on wandering, playing his vina (a
musical instrument) and singing in the praise of God. He resides in the Himalayas and
because of the curse of Daksha Prajapati he is not affected by the age, i.e. he is beyond
the stages of childhood, youth and old age.

He is connected with the happenings in all the four yugas (mythol. a day of
Brahma, i.e. a Kalpa comprises of one-thousand Chaturyugas-Satyug, Treta, Dwapar and
Kaliyug). Narad had given spiritual instructions (updesh) to Prahlad’s mother when
Prahlad was in her womb, as a result of which he was born with an inclination towards
the Divine. Similarly, he had provided guidance to Dhruva, a little child, who was out in
the search of the Divine. It also relates to Narad that ten-thousand sons (named as
Haryashrva) of Prajapati Daksha were engaged in Tapa with the objective of the
expansion of the creatures by the order of their father, when Narad found them to be
pure-hearted persons, who were deserving to realize the Truth and, therefore, he
instructed them and diverted their attention towards God. When Daksha came to know of
it, he was very upset. He begot another thousand sons in the name of Shablashrva, who
were again similarly instructed by Narad. This made Daksha very furious and he cursed
Narad that he would not be able to stay at any place for more than two Ghari (a count of
time). Narad accepted the curse happily taking it as the Divine will. He thus keeps on
continuously wandering and preaching, showing the deserving candidates the path to the
Lord. It is his singular aim to help all creatures in seeking the God. He not only guided
devotees like Prahlad and Dhruva but also suggested a path to Hirnyakashipu and Kansa,
according to their bent of mind.

Once, both Narad and Tumbru were present in the court of Lord Vishnu. Tumbru
was an acharya (Master) of singing. Narad wanted to surpass him. Lord Vishnu,
therefore, asked him to go to Ulukeshwar Gandharva. Having completed his training
there, Narad went to Tumbru to defeat him but he was astonished to see the Ragas and
Raginiyas (musical modes or sequences) in the form of men and women in front of
Tumbru’s house. They said to Narad that by the singing of imperfect singers their organs
get mutilated but Tumbru’s singing cures them because he is a perfect singer. Narad felt
embarrassed at his half-baked knowledge. He went to Lord Vishnu, who gave him an
assurance that at the time when He would incarnate as Krishna in Brij, He would fulfill
his desire. It is said that in the Dwapar Yuga Narad, Satyabhama, Rukmani and other
queens learnt music from Lord Krishna and that it took him four years to learn the same.

It was Narad, who inspired and encouraged Valmiki to compose Ramayana in the
praise of Lord Ram in the Treta Yuga. Narad had visited Valmiki’s Ashram (abode of a
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hermit or devotee) and narrated the story of Lord Ram to Valmiki. After a little while
when Valmiki was walking at the bank of river Tamsa, the pain that aroused in his heart
seeing a wading bird being killed turned into a shloka (verse or couplet). When he
returned to his Ashram, Lord Brahma inspired him to compose Valmiki-Ramayan based
on the story of Lord Ram narrated by Narad. Similarly, the credit of inspiring Maharshi
Vyasa to compose Bhagvat goes to Narad, who narrated the original Bhagvat to him and
based on which Maharshi Vyasa composed twelve skandha (parts) of Bhagvat. Maharshi
Vyasa did not get peace even after accomplishing division of the Vedas, composing
Brahmasutra, Mahabharat and Puranas. He felt sad and was wondering about it at the
bank of river Saraswati that Narad reached there. Maharshi Vyasa welcomed him and
then asked him how he could get peace of mind. Narad explained him that he had not
narrated the playful acts of Lord Vasudev because of which his mind was not at peace. A
poem devoid of the praise of Lord or any such composition, all are worthless, unless
composed in the praise of Rasa-Kalpataru Nandnandan (Lord Krishna, the fountainhead
of all melody). With the grace of Narad his inclination turned towards bhakti (devotion).
The Gyan (knowledge-wisdom) given by Lord Vishnu to Narad in his past birth was
narrated by Narad to Maharshi Vyasa, which formed the basis of Srimadbhagvat-
Mahapuran.

Narad also alerted kings like Yudhister and others from time to time and
instructed the great sage Shukdev, who was the son of Mahrishi Vyasa. Narad had said to
him that knowledge is the greatest light; truth is the greatest Tapa (penance); renunciation
is the greatest source of peace and happiness and attachment is the greatest source of all
miseries; engaging in one’s duty in accordance with one’s varnashram (class and stage of
life) is following the path of religion; conquering the Self is the highest knowledge and
that Parmatma (the Supreme Soul) is Omnipresent and Eternal.

Narad is always eager and concerned with the welfare of house-holders and he
keeps on inspiring them to turn towards the God. Narad’s Panchratra is highly
appreciated amongst devotees. It is divided in Mantra-Siddhant, Aagam-Siddhant, Tatva-
Siddhant and Tantra-Siddhant and includes Satvat-Samhita, which was narrated by Narad
on Malay mountain to various Maharishies. It is also known as Narad-Panchratra or
Mahopanishad.

Shivpuran narrates the story relating to Narad’s marriage. It relates to Narad that
he once underwent severe Tapa in the Himalayas at the bank of river Ganges. Although
he did the Tapa to please the God but the king of gods Indra got perturbed. To distract
Narad from the Tapa, he sent Kamdev (the god of love) but he was defeated by the grace
of Lord Shankar. This aroused Narad’s ego and he narrated this before lord Shiva and
Brahma. He spoke about it to Lord Vishnu also. While he was returning from Vishnu-
loka, Narad saw a mayanagri (city), which had been created by Lord Vishnu. It was a
beautiful and rich city with lots of people roaming about. The princess of that city,
daughter of king Shilnidhi was to choose her groom in a swayamvar (an ancient tradition
in which the bride chose her groom from the assembled suitors). Various kings and
princes from far-off places had arrived to participate. The princess was extremely
beautiful. Her beauty had made Narad restless. He, therefore, went to Lord Vishnu and
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begged him to make him (Narad) look like him (Lord Vishnu). Lord Vishnu made him
look like a monkey. Narad participated in the swayamvar, but the princess on seeing him
look like a monkey got angry with him. Lord Vishnu was also present there. The princess
chose Lord Vishnu as her husband and put the garland on Lord Vishnu’s neck. Narad
looked at his face in water and seeing that he was looking like a monkey, he cursed Lord
Vishnu that he would have to suffer the agony of his wife being taken away from him and
that people looking like him (monkeys) would help him in tracing his wife. Lord Vishnu
then removed his maya (illusion). Narad now was ashamed on what he had done. He
sought forgiveness from Lord Vishnu and fell on his feet. This curse of Narad fructified
when Lord Vishnu incarnated as Lord Ram in Treta-Yuga.

Narad’s curse has always turned beneficial for the humanity. Srimadbhagvat in
the tenth chapter mentions about the curse of Narad to Manigreev and Nalkuber, two sons
of Kuber. They were once enjoying themselves in an inebriated condition at the banks of
river Mandakini in the Kailash region in the company of ladies. They were inside the
river when Narad spotted them. The apsaras (mythol.-a dancing beautiful girl at the court
of Indra) put on their cloths but the two yaksha-brothers did not do so. Narad cursed them
to be born as trees and told them that they would be emancipated after a hundred years of
the gods in Dwapar-yuga when they would see Lord Krishna. It was because of this curse
that Lord Krishna on being tied with an Ukhal (a mortar used for grinding grains etc.)
uprooted these two trees and emancipated the two brothers.

Lord Krishna had once said to King Ugrasen that I always recite this stotra (a
hymn in praise) attributed to Narad by the king of gods-Indra: “The one, who has
emerged from the lap of Lord Brahma; who is devoid of ego; who is apt at the scriptures
and well known for his conduct, I bow before that Devrishi Narad. The one, who is free
from anger, anxiety, agility and fear; who has perseverance but not dilatoriness, I bow
before that Devrishi Narad. The one, who never speaks a lie for gaining something or
desiring anything and all the creatures adore him, I bow before that Devrishi Narad. The
one, who knows the essence of spirituality, who is knowledgeable and who is ascetic,
simple and truthful, I bow before that Devrishi Narad. The one, who far exceeds in
brilliance, fame, intellect, humility and penance, I bow before that Devrishi Narad. The
one, who is well natured, radiant, well mannered and soft-spoken, who eats pure food and
wears pure cloths, I bow before that Devrishi Narad. The one, who is always eager to
think and do good to others, who has no trace of any sin in him and who is always
benevolent, I bow before that Devrishi Narad. The one, who always follows the dictates
of the Vedas, Puranas and Smrities and who is beyond likes and dislikes, I bow before
that Devrishi Narad. The one, who never indulges in any gratifications, who is a learned
one, untiring and who narrates various acts of the Divine, I bow before that Devrishi
Narad. The one, who is never lured by wealth, who has never been under the illusion of
desires, who has overcome all weaknesses, I bow before that Devrishi Narad. The one,
who is a firm devotee of the Divine, who follows the right path and who is introvert, I
bow before that Devrishi Narad. The one, who is beyond all doubts and dilemma, who is
an orator par-excellence, I bow before that Devrishi Narad. The one, who has no fault-
finding attitude towards any of the scriptures, who is always engaged in the remembrance
of the Divine and always exercises restrain over his mind, I bow before that Devrishi