Sri Aurobindo (1872 – 1950)

The Great Hindu Saint & Litterateur

SRI AUROBINDO

Every year on the 15th of August, which coincides with India’s Independence Day, Hindus celebrate the birth anniversary of Rishi Aurobindo — the great Indian scholar, litterateur, philosopher, patriot, social reformer and visionary.

Sri Aurobindo was born in a Bengali family in Calcutta in 1872. His anglophile father Dr K D Ghose christened him Aurobindo Ackroyd Ghose at birth. When he was five years old, Aurobindo was admitted to the Loreto Convent School in Darjeeling.

At the age of seven, he was sent to St. Paul’s School in London and then to King’s College, Cambridge with a senior classical scholarship. Academically brilliant, he soon became proficient in English, Greek, Latin and French and became well acquainted with German, Italian and Spanish. He also qualified for the Indian Civil Service but was dismissed from the Service for not presenting himself at the riding examination upon completion of his two years of probation.

In 1893, at the age of 21, Aurobindo Ghose began working under the Maharaja of Baroda. He went on to become a part-time lecturer in French at Baroda College, and then a regular professor in English, and afterwards the Vice-Principal of the college. Here he studied Sanskrit, Indian history and several Indian languages.

The Patriot
In 1906, Aurobindo abandoned the position of the Principal of India’s first National University in Calcutta, and plunged into active politics. He participated in India’s struggle for freedom against the British, and soon became a prominent name with his patriotic editorials in Bande Mataram. For the Indians, he became, as said C R Das, “the poet of patriotism, the prophet of nationalism and a lover of humanity”, and in the words of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, “a name to conjure with”. But to the Viceroy of India Lord Minto, he was “the most dangerous man we…have to reckon with”.

Aurobindo championed the Leftists’ idealism and was a dauntless promoter of independence. He opened the purblind Indians’ eyes towards the dawn of freedom and instigated them to rise from their slavish stupor. The British soon took him under detention and imprisoned him from 1908 to 1909. However, this one year of seclusion turned out to be a blessing in disguise not only for Sri Aurobindo but for mankind as well. It was in prison that he first realized man should aspire and emerge into a completely New Being and try and create a divine life upon earth.

A Divine Life
This vision led Aurobindo to undergo a profound spiritual transformation, and it is believed that after one such meditative trance in jail, he rose up to proclaim that India would gain her freedom at midnight on 15th August, 1947 — Aurobindo’s birthday. Indeed, it rang true!

In 1910, obeying an inner call, he arrived at Pondichery, which was then in French India, and established what is now known as the Auroville Ashram. He left politics entirely and dedicated himself wholly to an inner awakening, which would spiritually elevate mankind forever.

He spent tireless years on the path of “Internal Yoga”, i.e. to acquire spiritual upliftment of the mind, will, heart, life, body, the conscious as well as the subconscious and the superconscious parts of ourselves, to gain what he called the “Supramental Consciousness”.

Henceforth, Sri Aurobindo tussled inwardly with the dark forces within man and raised secret spiritual battles to establish truth, peace and perennial joy. He believed that only this would enable man to approach the divine.

Aurobindo’s Aim
His object was not to develop any religion or establish a new faith or an order but to attempt an inner self-development by which each human being can perceive the oneness in all and procure an elevated consciousness that will externalize the god-like attributes in man.

A Great Litterateur
Rishi Aurobindo left behind a substantial body of enlightening literature. His major works include The Life Divine, The Synthesis of Yoga, Essays on the Gita, Commentaries on the Isha Upanishad, Powers Within — all dealing with the intense knowledge that he had gained in the practice of Yoga. Many these appeared in his monthly philosophical publication, the Arya, which appeared regularly for 6 years until 1921.

His other books are The Foundations of Indian Culture, The Ideal of Human Unity, The Future Poetry, The Secret of the Veda, The Human Cycle. Among students of English literature, Aurobindo is mainly known for Savitri, a great epical work of 23,837 lines directing man towards the Supreme Being.

This great sage left his mortal body in 1950 at the age of 72. He left to the world a priceless heritage of spiritual glory that alone can free man from the troubles that beset it. His ultimate message to humanity, he summed up in these words:

“A divine life in a divine body is the formula of the ideal that we envisage.”

The Epic says, “Kalow Kalow Bhavishyanthi Narayana Parayanaha:” As all of us are aware Yoga, Yaaga, Vratha, Theertha Mahima and even Kshethra Mahima will not have their full efficiency and holy vibrations in the “Kali Yuga”.  It is tough to practice any ritual and even if they are practiced they would have some discrepancies due to the evil effects of ‘Kali Purusha’. That is why “Srimath Bhagawatha Puranam” says, “Kali is Thosha Nidhi”.  There is only one sure way in this Yuga to attain the lotus feet of Almighty is, chanting his Holy Name and nothing else would work.

Now, kindly read the first line.  The Almighty sends ‘Bhagawathas’ quite often to this earth to spread the ‘Nama Sankirtana Vaibhavam’.  It happens frequently.  Here, we must be careful in assessing who is a real Bhagawatha!  Because the ‘Kali Purusha’ is trying to corrupt even the people who are doing Sankirtan and a few of them has converted ‘Hari Bhajan’ as their profession.  Santh Thukaram Maharaj says, “There is no other way in this Kali yuga other than Chanting Bhagawan Naama and this will make anybody to attain the Lotus feet of the Almighty.  But the same Maharaj, in another place says strongly that, “Whoever sells Bhagawan Naama will certainly go to the Narakam”.  So we must be prudent in identifying the real Bhagawathas and ‘commercial’ Bhagawathas.  Undoubtedly even the commercial Bhagawathas would too become purified in due course by the power the Bhagawan Naama.  That is a different story.

Here, we are going to see about a Great Bhagawatha who was born on 7th December, 1928 in a small village ‘Kallur’ which is located in Tirunelveli District.  His name is Ranga Subramanyam.  Before Moghul invasion in Srirangam, this family was serving Shri Ranganatha Swamy Temple.  But after the invasion, they migrated back to their home village at Tirunelveli.  But they have never forgotten Lord Ranganatha.  That is why, in this family alone, we could find a peculiar name, i.e. ‘Ranga Subramanyam’ in every third generation. The nomenclature ‘Subramanyam’ indicates the Lord at Thiruchendur.

Shri Ranga Subramanyam’s father too was a great Bhagawatha. His name is Shri Putarjuna Bhagawatha.  Shri Putarjuna was very rich right from his child hood. He went to Rangoon when he was very young and ran a Jewellery Mart.  But the first world war put a drastic full stop to his business and he lost everything in the evil effects of the war.  With great struggle, he came back to our mother land.  He got married to a girl called Parvatha Varthinini and begot three children.  Our Ranga Subramanyam is the second son of that family. Alas! when he was a small kid, his mother passed away.  That was the turning point in the life of Shri Putarjuna Bhagawatha and he got ‘Virakthi’ in all worldly affairs.  He handed over his kids to his Sister at Madurai and started pure ‘Bhagawatha Dharma’ life at late 20s. After that, he lived by Unchuvarthi, Hari Kaatha Kalakshebam etc.

Shri Ranga Subramanya Bhagawathar was growing in his Aunt’s place at Madurai. Somehow, his mind was always tied up with spirituality and at the age of 12, he started “Shri Ram Bhajan Mandali” at Madurai.  God bestowed a fabulous voice to Shri Ranga Subramanyam and even senior Bhagawathas participated in his Bhajan with great enthusiasm.  Shri Ranga Subramanyam’s mind disliked commercial benefits through Bhajan.  Quite often he used to visit Prisons and Mental Hospitals with his Bhajan companions and conducted Nama Sankirtanam for those in Prison and Mental Hospitals.  He explained the reason also.  “Only Poorva Karmas made them to enter in to Prison and the same made lot of people insane.  If the Bhagawan Nama is forcibly poured in their ears, they too get purified soon”.  That was the understanding of Shri Ranga Subramanya Bhagawathar at that young age.

God would have watched his pure intentions and he showed him Pudukottai Brahma Sri Gopalakrishna Bhagawathar.  Shri Ranga Subramanyam became a disciple of Shri Gopalakrishna Bhagawathar and took ‘Nama Japam’ from him.  His intensity in spiritualism started growing in a rapid way, after getting the ‘Guru Kadaksham’. At that time, for professional reasons, Shri Ranganna came to Mylapore, Chennai with his wife and three kids.  His poverty never disturbed his spirituality and even at that stage he never utilized Bhajans to promote his financial abilities.  It is easy to write but hard to practice.  Who will understand or believe all these things in this commercial world?  But Lord Vithal knows everything and HE was Ranganna’s protector.

In Chennai, he became very popular in the ‘Nama Sankirtana world’ in a very short span.  At that time, Shri Ranga Subramanyam became ‘Ranganna Bhagawathar’ and he started conducting Bhajans throughout India.

Here we will have to mention a very important thing.  Though Shri Ranganna conducted Bhajans everywhere, he never utilized the ‘Sambhavanai’ for his personal use despite his family commitments.  He used to take only the conveyance and food expenses from the ‘Sambhavanai’ and the balance would go to the ‘Sri Narasimha Jayanthi Uthsavam’ conducted by his Guru Shri Gopalakrishna Bhagawathar.  He considered this as a part of his ‘Guru Kainkaryam’.  Shri Ranganna later on started giving his earnings to a few other Bhajan Mutts also.  Till his end he never gave up this character.

SHRI RANGANNA

During 1970, Shri Ranganna went to the “Maha Kshethra Pandhari” with Brahma Sri Narayana Sasthrigal.  Though Shri Ranganna was popular in singing ‘Abhangs’ (Keerthan on Shri Panduranga Vittal) before this visit, the real darshan of Pandaripuram and Shri Panduranga brought flood of changes in his life.  He became a staunch Bhaktha of Shri Vithal. Subsequently he learnt lots of New Abhangs and started singing them everywhere.  (Even now, lot of Bhagawathas are singing the Abhangs tuned by Shri Ranganna).

Shri Ranganna was blessed to get the blessings of Swami Abedananda, Shri Purushothama Goswami, Shri Sanjeevi Bhagawathar (Holy son of Shri Gopalakrishna Bhagawathar), Shri Narayana Sasthrigal, Shri Chinthamani Bhagawathar, Shri Vembu Bhagawathar and lot more saints.  He has also had the blessings of the Saints who lived in the previous centuries through his holy dreams.  But he had never revealed any of his spiritual experiences with anybody other than one of his close soul-mates.

Before leaving this mundane world, Ranganna’s Guru Shri Gopalakrishna Bhagawathar handed over Shri Ranganna to a great Mahathma. At that time, Shri Ranganna was conducting Bhajans with a sangam and it was known as “Shri Gopalakrishna Bhajan Mandali”.

This is another turning point in Shri Ranganna’s life. The Mahathma very shortly showered all his blessings on Shri Ranganna and that enhanced the ‘Bhakthi’ of Shri Ranganna in leaps and bounds. The Bhajan world has started speaking that “Ranganna is Abhangam and Abhangam is Ranganna’. Besides, he also composed more than 500 Naamavalis and to put the truth frankly, most of the present days’ Bhagawathas are singing lot of Naamavalis written and composed by Ranganna, without knowing the origin. Because Shri Ranganna was never after money, fame etc.

On a few occasions, he had accepted the ‘Titles’ given by some Bhagawathas, that too with the intention of not offending their invitation. Otherwise, he never even printed a ‘Visiting Card’ throughout his life and never carried any Title in front of his name.  Simplicity, Honesty, Guru Bhakthi, Shri Vittal Bhakthi are the ‘Tharak Manthra’ of Shri Ranganna.

Thousands and thousand of Bhajan programs!! Chanting the Bhagawan Namam at free times!!  Dhyanam on Shri Vittal….. Wow! his life is inexplicable and highly spirutual!!!

We have already mentioned that Shri Ranganna’s ancestors had close connections with authority in Shri Ranganatha Swamy Temple at Srirangam. That ‘link’ would have brought back  him to Srirangam during his final span of his holy life.

On 10th February 2011, at the age of 82, Shri Ranganna experienced a slight discomfort. In the evening, his family members understood the situation and started “Abhang Bhajan”. He was listening to it and waved his hands to encourage the Bhajan. Around 7.30 PM, the ‘Mahathma’ came on the phone and said “Rama Krishna Hari! Vasudeva Hari! Panduranga Hari” in the ears of Shri Ranganna. After that, Shri Ranganna saw the picture of his Guru Shri Gopalakrishna Bhagawathar and Shri Panduranga Vittal. Then he started watching the holy picture of Shri Namperumal and Shri Thaayar of Srirangam. His relatives started chanting the Maha Manthra “Ram Krishna Hari” in high pitch. With a smile on his face, Shri Ranganna left this world and attained Vaikuntam. This was strongly vouched by the Mahathma also. (The Mahathma I am referring here is not interested in worldly fame and that is why I am avoiding his holy name in this article).

Right from child hood to his final day, Shri Ranganna lived a holy life and his beloved Shri Vittal gave him ‘Aanayasa Mukthi’. Jai Jai Ramkrishna Hari! Jai Jai Panduranga Hari!

Swami Ramdas (1884-1963) was a philosopher, philanthropist, and pilgrim. Giving up worldly possessions at a young age, he became a wandering monk. The inspirational story of his travels throughout India and his message of Universal Love has been presented in several different books and he is regarded by many as a spiritual master.

Swami Ramdas
Swami Ramdas
Born	1884 Kerala, India
Died	1963

Vittal Rao was born in Kerala, India in 1884 to Sri Balakrishna Rao and Smt. Lalita Bai. He worked as a spinning master in a cotton mill and in 1908 he married. He experienced difficulties, both in his financial pursuits and domestic life, and seeking relief from his circumstances, he began to chant “Ram” – a name of God. Soon after, his father gave to him a holy mantra to repeat, the Ram Mantra – ‘Sri Ram jai Ram jai jai Ram’. Through inner guidance he started adding the ‘Om’ to each repetition – ‘Om Sri Ram Jai Ram Jai Jai Ram’ and he found the benefit at least threefold.

He quickly became detached from materialistic pleasures and left on a pilgrimage, taking on the name Ramdas, and living on charity (though he never accepted money). His practice was to view the world as forms of Ram – and thus to see everything that might befall him as the will of Ram. His mantra practice also gradually became a round-the-clock practice.

In 1922 he encountered the sage, Ramana Maharshi, and received his grace. As a result of this, he went into his first retreat, living for 21 days in solitude in a cave in Arunachala. Upon leaving this cave he was filled with the realization that, “All was Rama, nothing but Rama”^[1] Some time later an absorption experience near Mangalore fully erased his personal identity, so that only Oneness prevailed.

After continuing to live on the roads for many years, his devotees established Anandashram for him in Kanhangad, Kerala in 1931. The ashram worked to improve the living conditions of the local people, and continues to this day to share Swami Ramdas’ vision of Universal Love and Service.

A list of Ramdas’ well known disciples includes Mataji Krishnabai, Swami Satchidananda, Swami Mudrananda and Yogi Ramsuratkumar.

He died in 1963.

Lal Bahadur Shastri

Born: 2 October 1904
Passed Away: 11 January 1966Contributions
He devoted his life for the pride and honor of the country. Shastri was regarded as man of principles. Lal Bahadur Shastri offered his resignation as Union Railway Minister; hours after he was made aware of a train accident that killed around 150 people. He laid the foundation stones of the well-productive schemes like Green Revolutions and White Revolutions. He was the first person to be posthumously awarded the “Bharat Ratna”.Life
Lal Bahadur Shastri was born on October 2, 1904, to Ramdulari Devi and Sharada Prasad Shrivastava, in Moghalsarai, United Province (Uttar Pradesh). He shares his birthday with Mahatma Gandhi, the father of the nation. Lal Bahadur was against the prevailing caste system and therefore decided to drop his surname. The title “Shastri” was given after the completion of his graduation at Kashi Vidyapeeth, Varanasi in 1925. The title “Shastri” refers to a “scholar” or a person, adept in the “Holy Scriptures”.

His father Sharada Prasad, a schoolteacher by profession, passed away when Lal Bahadur was barely two years old. His mother Ramdulari Devi took him and his two sisters to their maternal grandfather Hazari Lal’s house. Lal Bahadur acquired virtues like boldness, love of adventure, patience, self-control, courtesy, and selflessness in his childhood. After completing his primary education at Mirzapur, Lal Bahadur was sent to Varanasi, where he stayed with his maternal uncle.

Young Lal Bahadur, inspired with the stories and speeches of national leaders, developed a desire to participate in the Indian nationalist movement. He would also spend time by reading foreign authors like Marx, Russell and Lenin. In 1915, a speech of Mahatma Gandhi changed the course of his life and decided to jump into the fire of Indian freedom struggle.

In order to participate actively in the freedom movement, Lal Bahadur neglected his studies. In 1921, during the non-cooperation movement, called by Mahatma Gandhi, Lal Bahadur was arrested for demonstrating in defiance of the prohibitory order. Sine he was a minor then, the authority had to release him. In 1928, Lal Bahadur Shastri married Lalita Devi, the youngest daughter of Ganesh Prasad. He was against the prevailing “dowry system” and so refused to accept dowry. However, on the repeated urging of his father-in-law, he agreed to accept only five yards of khadi (cotton, usually handspun) cloth as dowry.

Active Nationalist
In 1930, Lal Bahadur Shastri became the secretary of the Congress party and later the president of the Allahabad Congress Committee. He played a crucial role during the “Salt Movement”. Lal Bahadur lead a door-to-door campaign, urging people not to pay land revenue and taxes to the British authority. The leader was also sent to jail for the campaign. During the long span of nine years he spent in jails, Lal Bahadur utilized the time in reading the social reformers and western philosophers. He was one of the leading and prominent faces that continued the Quit India movement, called by Mahatma Gandhi. Lal Bahadur, in 1937, was elected to the UP Legislative Assembly.

Post Independence
Lal Bahadur Shastri had served in various positions before being elected as the Prime Minister. After Independence, he became the Minister of police in the Ministry of Govind Vallabh Panth in Uttar Pradesh. His recommendations included the introduction of “water-jets” instead of sticks to disperse the unruly mob. Impressed with his efforts in reforming the state police department, Jawaharlal Nehru, invited Shastri to join the Union cabinet as a Minister for railways. He was a responsible man and known for his ethics and morality. In 1956, Lal Bahadur Shastri resigned from his post, following a train accident that killed around 150 passengers near Ariyalur in Tamil Nadu. Nehru, had once said, “No one could wish for a better comrade than Lal Bahadur, a man of the highest integrity and devoted to ideas”.

Lal Bahadur Shastri returned to the Cabinet in 1957, first as the Minister for Transport and Communications, and then as the Minister of Commerce and Industry. In 1961, he became Minister for Home and formed the “Committee on Prevention of Corruption” headed by of K. Santhanam.

Prime Minister
Jawaharlal Nehru was succeeded by a mild-mannered and soft-spoken Lal Bahadur Shastri on 9 June, 1964. He was a follower of Nehruvian socialism. Despite the strong influence and desire of becoming the Prime Minister, of some party stalwarts Shastri emerged as the consensus candidate.

Shastri tackled many elementary problems like food shortage, unemployment and poverty. To overcome the acute food shortage, Shastri asked the experts to devise a long-term strategy. This was the beginning of famous “Green Revolution”. Apart from the Green Revolution, he was also instrumental in promoting the White Revolution. The National Dairy Development Board was formed in 1965 during Shastri as Prime Minister.

After the Chinese aggression, the major cross-border-problems Shastri faced was caused by Pakistan. It sent her forces across the eastern border into the Rann of Kuch in Gujarat. Shastri showing his mettle, made it very clear that India would not sit and watch. While granting liberty to the Security Forces to retaliate He said, “Force will be met with force”.

The Indo-Pak war ended on 23 September 1965 after the United Nations passed a resolution demanding a ceasefire. The Russian Prime Minister, Kosygin, offered to mediate and on 10 January 1966, Lal Bahadur Shastri and his Pakistan counterpart Ayub Khan signed the Tashkent Declaration.

Death
Lal Bahadur Shastri, who had earlier suffered two heart attacks, died of the third cardiac arrest on 11 January, 1966. He is the only Indian Prime Minister, to have died in office, overseas. Lal Bahadur Shastri was the first person to be posthumously awarded the Bharat Ratna, (India’s highest civilian award).

Lal Bahadur Shastri

Born: 2 October 1904
Passed Away: 11 January 1966Contributions
He devoted his life for the pride and honor of the country. Shastri was regarded as man of principles. Lal Bahadur Shastri offered his resignation as Union Railway Minister; hours after he was made aware of a train accident that killed around 150 people. He laid the foundation stones of the well-productive schemes like Green Revolutions and White Revolutions. He was the first person to be posthumously awarded the “Bharat Ratna”.

Life
Lal Bahadur Shastri was born on October 2, 1904, to Ramdulari Devi and Sharada Prasad Shrivastava, in Moghalsarai, United Province (Uttar Pradesh). He shares his birthday with Mahatma Gandhi, the father of the nation. Lal Bahadur was against the prevailing caste system and therefore decided to drop his surname. The title “Shastri” was given after the completion of his graduation at Kashi Vidyapeeth, Varanasi in 1925. The title “Shastri” refers to a “scholar” or a person, adept in the “Holy Scriptures”.

His father Sharada Prasad, a schoolteacher by profession, passed away when Lal Bahadur was barely two years old. His mother Ramdulari Devi took him and his two sisters to their maternal grandfather Hazari Lal’s house. Lal Bahadur acquired virtues like boldness, love of adventure, patience, self-control, courtesy, and selflessness in his childhood. After completing his primary education at Mirzapur, Lal Bahadur was sent to Varanasi, where he stayed with his maternal uncle.

Young Lal Bahadur, inspired with the stories and speeches of national leaders, developed a desire to participate in the Indian nationalist movement. He would also spend time by reading foreign authors like Marx, Russell and Lenin. In 1915, a speech of Mahatma Gandhi changed the course of his life and decided to jump into the fire of Indian freedom struggle.

In order to participate actively in the freedom movement, Lal Bahadur neglected his studies. In 1921, during the non-cooperation movement, called by Mahatma Gandhi, Lal Bahadur was arrested for demonstrating in defiance of the prohibitory order. Sine he was a minor then, the authority had to release him. In 1928, Lal Bahadur Shastri married Lalita Devi, the youngest daughter of Ganesh Prasad. He was against the prevailing “dowry system” and so refused to accept dowry. However, on the repeated urging of his father-in-law, he agreed to accept only five yards of khadi (cotton, usually handspun) cloth as dowry.

Active Nationalist
In 1930, Lal Bahadur Shastri became the secretary of the Congress party and later the president of the Allahabad Congress Committee. He played a crucial role during the “Salt Movement”. Lal Bahadur lead a door-to-door campaign, urging people not to pay land revenue and taxes to the British authority. The leader was also sent to jail for the campaign. During the long span of nine years he spent in jails, Lal Bahadur utilized the time in reading the social reformers and western philosophers. He was one of the leading and prominent faces that continued the Quit India movement, called by Mahatma Gandhi. Lal Bahadur, in 1937, was elected to the UP Legislative Assembly.

Post Independence
Lal Bahadur Shastri had served in various positions before being elected as the Prime Minister. After Independence, he became the Minister of police in the Ministry of Govind Vallabh Panth in Uttar Pradesh. His recommendations included the introduction of “water-jets” instead of sticks to disperse the unruly mob. Impressed with his efforts in reforming the state police department, Jawaharlal Nehru, invited Shastri to join the Union cabinet as a Minister for railways. He was a responsible man and known for his ethics and morality. In 1956, Lal Bahadur Shastri resigned from his post, following a train accident that killed around 150 passengers near Ariyalur in Tamil Nadu. Nehru, had once said, “No one could wish for a better comrade than Lal Bahadur, a man of the highest integrity and devoted to ideas”.

Lal Bahadur Shastri returned to the Cabinet in 1957, first as the Minister for Transport and Communications, and then as the Minister of Commerce and Industry. In 1961, he became Minister for Home and formed the “Committee on Prevention of Corruption” headed by of K. Santhanam.

Prime Minister
Jawaharlal Nehru was succeeded by a mild-mannered and soft-spoken Lal Bahadur Shastri on 9 June, 1964. He was a follower of Nehruvian socialism. Despite the strong influence and desire of becoming the Prime Minister, of some party stalwarts Shastri emerged as the consensus candidate.

Shastri tackled many elementary problems like food shortage, unemployment and poverty. To overcome the acute food shortage, Shastri asked the experts to devise a long-term strategy. This was the beginning of famous “Green Revolution”. Apart from the Green Revolution, he was also instrumental in promoting the White Revolution. The National Dairy Development Board was formed in 1965 during Shastri as Prime Minister.

After the Chinese aggression, the major cross-border-problems Shastri faced was caused by Pakistan. It sent her forces across the eastern border into the Rann of Kuch in Gujarat. Shastri showing his mettle, made it very clear that India would not sit and watch. While granting liberty to the Security Forces to retaliate He said, “Force will be met with force”.

The Indo-Pak war ended on 23 September 1965 after the United Nations passed a resolution demanding a ceasefire. The Russian Prime Minister, Kosygin, offered to mediate and on 10 January 1966, Lal Bahadur Shastri and his Pakistan counterpart Ayub Khan signed the Tashkent Declaration.

Death
Lal Bahadur Shastri, who had earlier suffered two heart attacks, died of the third cardiac arrest on 11 January, 1966. He is the only Indian Prime Minister, to have died in office, overseas. Lal Bahadur Shastri was the first person to be posthumously awarded the Bharat Ratna, (India’s highest civilian award).

There are very few accounts of Babaji’s childhood. One source of information is book Babaji and the 18 Siddha Kriya Yoga Tradition by Marshall Govindan.^[7] According to Govindan, Babaji was named Nagaraj (king of serpents) by his parents.

Yogis S.A.A. Ramaiah and V.T. Neelakantan claim that in 1953 Mahavatar Babaji told them that he had been born on November 30, 203 CE in a small coastal village now known as Parangipettai, in Tamil Nadu, India.^[8]

According to Govindan’s book, Babaji Nagaraj’s father was the priest of the village’s temple. Babaji revelaed only those details which he believed to be formative as well as potentially instructive to his disciples. Govindan mentioned one jackfruit incident like this: “One time Nagaraj’s mother had got one rare jackfruit for family feast and put it aside. Babaji was only 4 years old that time. He found jackfruit when his mother was not around and ate it all. When mother came to know about it, she flew in blind rage and stuffed a cloth inside Babaji’s mouth, nearly suffocating him. Fortunately, Babaji survived. Later on he thanked God for showing him that she was to be loved without attachment or illusion. His Love for his mother became unconditional and detached.”^[7]

When Nagaraj was about 5 years old, someone kidnapped him and sold him as a slave at Calcutta (Now Kolkata). His new owner however was a kind man and he freed Nagaraj shortly thereafter. Nagaraj then joined a small group of wandering sanyasin due to their radiant faces and love for God. During next few years, he wandered from place to place, studying holy scriptures like Vedas, Upanishad, Mahabharat, Ramayan, Bhagvad Gita.

Gopal Krishna Goswami was born on August 14, 1944 in New Delhi, India as Gopal Krishna Khanna. After graduating from the University of Delhi, he studied Business Management at the Sorbonne University of Paris[3] on a scholarship from the French Government, and later studied for a Masters Degree in Business Administration from the McGill University in Montreal. After finishing his education, Gopal Krishna Khanna worked as a marketing research analyst for Pepsi Cola and Bristol-Myers. Gopal Krishna Khanna was living in Toronto in May 1968 when he first met with Srila Prabhupada on June 1, 1968. During a three month period where Prabhupada stayed in Montreal, Gopal Krishna regularly heard from him on devotional topics and took instruction regarding his own personal life.[4] Within two weeks of meeting him, Gopal Krishna Khanna decided to accept Srila Prabhupada as his spiritual master. In May 1969 he was initiated as one of Srila Prabhupada’s disciples, receiving the name Gopal Krishna Dasa. Later Gopal Krishna moved into the temple and lived there. He acted as Srila Prabhupada’s secretary for several years. In 1970, he entered into an arranged marriage with a disciple of Srila Prabhupada, Ekayani Devi Dasi from New York.[5] Gopal continued working for Bristol-Myers until 1975. In 1975, Srila Prabhupada sent Gopal Krishna to India, giving him the responsibility of being a Governing Body Commissioner within the area. Prabhupada also instructed him specifically to print and expand the distribution of his books in India and to translate and print books in Indian languages. Prabhupada was pleased when Gopal Krishna presented him the first copies of the Srimad Bhagavatam translated into Hindi. In 1976, Prabhupada appointed Gopal Krishna as Governing Body Commissioner for the Soviet Union. Gopal Krishna made several trips to Communist Russia at that time to preach and publish the Bhagavad Gita in Russian.[citation needed] In 1981 he took the sannyasa and was initiated into the monastic order of the Gaudiya Vaishnava tradition. He took sannyasa initiation from Jayapataka Swami and the name, Tridandi Swami Gopal Krishna Goswami Maharaja. Since then Gopal Krishna Goswami has been traveling extensively all over the world preaching Gaudiya Vaishnavism, initiating disciples, delivering talks, and overseeing various philanthropic and devotional projects.[6] Currently Gopal Krishna Goswami is the Governing Body Commissioner[2] of many countries and regions including Delhi, Vrindavan, Mumbai, Mayapur, Chandigarh, Kenya, Canada and parts of North America and Russia. Gopal Krishna Goswami played a leading role in inspiring and completing several large ISKCON temples, such as the Glory of India temple in New Delhi (inaugurated by then Prime Minister of India Atal Bihari Vajpayee) and the Radha-Bankebihari temple in Nairobi.[citation needed] Gopal Krishna Goswami has been featured on Radio, Television and Newspaper stories in India and abroad commenting on various issues. He has delivered series of lectures to diverse audiences in the last three decades ranging from the Chamber of Commerce in Mumbai, IIT students in Delhi, and congregation householder ISKCON devotees to academics, politicians and interfaith communities. He regularly delivers lectures at ISKCON temples, speaking on various Hindu scriptures, such as Bhagavad Gita and Bhagavata Purana.

BAPU {GANDHI } Mohandas Gandhi is considered the father of the Indian independence movement. Gandhi spent twenty years in South Africa working to fight discrimination. It was there that he created his concept of satyagraha, a non-violent way of protesting against injustices. While in India, Gandhi’s obvious virtue, simplistic lifestyle, and minimal dress endeared him to the people. He spent his remaining years working diligently to both remove British rule from India as well as to better the lives of India’s poorest classes. Many civil rights leaders, including Martin Luther King Jr., used Gandhi’s concept of non-violent protest as a model for their own struggle

-Charitha

Bhagawan Nityananda

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Bhagawan Nityananda
Bhagawan Nityananda as a young yogi
Born	1897 Tuneri, Koyilandi, Kerala, India
Died	August 8, 1961 Ganeshpuri, Maharashtra, India

Bhagawan Nityananda (November/December, 1897^[1] – August 8, 1961) was an Indian guru. His teachings are published in the “Chidakash Gita”. Nityananda was born in Quilandy (Pandalayini), Kerala, South India.

Contents  [hide]  1 Biography 1.1 Early life 1.2 Adult life 2 Nityananda’s Guru 3 Further reading 4 See also 5 References 6 External links

[edit] Biography

[edit] Early life

Details about Nityananda’s birth are relatively unknown. According to his disciples, Nityananda was found as an abandoned infant in Tuneri village, Kozhikode, India by a lady named Uniamma Nair, who was married to Chathu Nair. The Nair couple adopted this child and took care of him along with their own five children. Nityananda was named as Raman by his foster parents. The Nair couple were farmers,who also took care of the farms owned by a wealthy lawyer named Ishwar Iyer, who greatly trusted them.^[2] Nityananda’s foster father died when he was three and his foster mother when he was six. Before dying she handed over her responsibility of Nityananda to Ishwar Iyer.^[3] Even in childhood, Nityananda seemed to be in an unusually advanced spiritual state, which gave rise to the belief that he was born enlightened. He was eventually given the name Nityananda, which means, “always in bliss”.^[4]

Before the age of twenty, Nityananda became a wandering yogi, spending time on yogic studies and practices in the Himalayas and other places. By 1920, he was back in southern India.^[5]

[edit] Adult life

Bhagawan Nityananda Samadhi

Settled in southern India, Nityananda gained a reputation for creating miracles and wonderful cures. He started building an ashram near Kanhangad, Kerala state. The local police thought he must be producing counterfeit money to pay for the building, so Nityananda took them to a crocodile-infested pool in the jungle. He dived in and then produced handfuls of money, which was apparently enough to satisfy the police. The beautiful hill temple and Ashram in Kanhangad are now pilgrim centres. The Guru Van, a forest in the hills nearby where Bhagawan sat on penance, is now a pilgrim retreat.^[5]

By 1923, Nityananda had wandered to the Tansa Valley in Maharashtra state. There, his reputation as a miracle worker attracted people from as far away as Mumbai, though he never took credit for any miracles. He said, “Everything that happens, happens automatically by the will of God.”^[3][4] Nityananda gave a great deal of help to the local adivasis, who were despised by the population at large. Nityananda set up a school, as well as providing food and clothing for them.

As a guru, Nityananda gave relatively little by way of verbal teachings. Starting in the early 1920s, his devotees in Mangalore would sit with him in the evenings. Most of the time he was silent, though occasionally he would give teachings. A devotee named Tulsiamma wrote down some of his teachings and his answers to her specific queries. Later, these notes were compiled and published in the Kannada language and came to be known as the Chidaksha Geeta.^[3]

Some believe that Nityananda had the power to transmit spiritual energy (shaktipat) to people through non-verbal means. He could also be extremely fiery and intimidating in his behaviour, even to the point of throwing rocks on occasion. This was his way of deterring people who were not serious in their spiritual aspirations, or who came to him with ulterior motives.^[4]

In 1936, he went to the Shiva temple in the village of Ganeshpuri and asked if he could stay there. The family that looked after the temple agreed and built a hut for him. As his visitors and followers increased, the hut expanded and became an ashram. To the people around him, he was an avadhuta: one who is absorbed in the transcendental state.

Nityananda died on August 8, 1961. His samadhi is located in Ganeshpuri at the Samadhi Mandir. There is also a shrine dedicated him in the Gurudev Siddha Peeth ashram at Ganeshpuri. His ashram, tourist hostel, and other buildings associated with his life in Ganeshpuri are preserved by the Shree Bhimeshwar Sadguru Nityanand Sanstha Ganeshpuri. This trust is also responsible for his samadhi shrine in Ganeshpuri, which is a pilgrimage site.

A trust at Kanhangad looks after the Ashram and temples located there. The trust also runs a few educational institutions and a dharmasala.

[edit] Nityananda’s Guru

A life size statue of Bhagawan Nityananda at Bunt Bhavan,Mumbai India

According to Nityananda’s biographers, the identity of Nityananda’s guru is a mystery. Some believe that he had no guru. In one of his talks, his student Swami Muktananda said Nityananda’s Guru was an unknown Siddha Purusha from Kerala.^[6]

[edit] Further reading

• Bhagawan Nityananda of Ganeshpuri, by Swami Muktananda. Siddha Yoga Publications, 2nd edition (1996). ISBN 0-911307-45-1.
• Life of Bhagawan Nityananda & Chidakasha Geeta, by Deepa Kodikal. Surendra Kalyanpur, 2007.
• Nityananda: In Divine Presence, by M.U. Hatengdi, 1990.

[edit] See also

• Bunts

[edit] References

1. ^ Hatengdi, M.U. (1990). Nityananda: The Divine Presence. Rudra Press. p. iv. 
2. ^ Page 4 Life of Bhagawan Nityananda & Chidakasha Geeta, by Deepa Kodikal Publisher Surendra Kalyanpur,Mumbai, 2007
3. ^ ^{a b c} Nityananda, (1985). The Sky of the Heart: Jewels of Wisdom from Nityananda. Rudra Press. ISBN 0915801027. 
4. ^ ^{a b c} Brooks, Douglas; Sabharathnam, S. P. (1997). Meditation Revolution. Agama Press. ISBN 0965409600. 
5. ^ ^{a b} Muktananda, Swami (1996). Bhagawan Nityananda of Ganeshpuri (2nd Revised Edition ed.). Siddha Yoga Publications. ISBN 0911307451. 
6. ^ Muktananda, Swami (1978). Satsang with Baba Volume 4. Oakland, Ca.: SYDA Foundation. p. 17. ISBN 0914602322. “Q: Did Baba Nityananda have a Guru in the physical or subtle body? If so, could you tell us something of him and his lineage?/ Baba: Who would dare ask Nityananda about his Guru? Still, he had a Guru. His Guru was a Siddha Purusha living in Kerala. He was completely unknown. I don’t recall his name, but I have written it down somewhere. He belongs to the Siddha line. It is enough for one to know about one’s father, and what the father’s father was like, is the father’s concern. It is only the father who would bother about the man who was his father. Nityananda did come from a line. He belonged to the line of great Siddhas.”