Divine Life of Omkarnath

This pdf file contains the Biography of Sri Sri Thakur... This book 'THE DIVINE LIFE OF SRI SRI SITARAMDAS OMKARNATH' was penned by C.Varadarajan, an English scholar and an ardent devotee, who had the opportunity of having Thakur's Darshan in 1969. He was wekk established in a job, but his spiritual thrist and Thakur's dreams inspired him to quit his job in 1996 and devote himself himse lf to Thakur's Thakur's work wholeheartedly. wholeheartedly. [The scanned pages arent perfectly aligned, and the words in between two pages arent visible  proper  properly. ly. Inconvenience is regretted.]

It is wonderful to kno w that such men as this trod the earth, spreading goodness and peace to those he interacted w ith.

ROBERT NIELD PRESIDENT ROYAL ASIATIC SOCIETY HONGKONG BRANCH. May your Book have wide circulation among all devotees of Divine

Name.

SWAMI CHIDANANDA  EX-PRESIDENT DIVINE LIFE SOCIETY  The book effectively projects the perennial message of practicing universal love.

K. R, RAMACHANDRAN/I. A. S. (RETD.) PRESIDENT INDIAN INSTITUTE OF WORLD CULTURE BANGALORE. The book serves the noble purpose of kindling spiritual light in the hearts of thereaders.

DR. G. VEDA PARAYANA  DIRECTOR OF SEM INAR PROFESSOR AND HEAD OF THE DEPT. DEPT. OF PHILOSOPHY  SRI VENKATESHW ARA UNIVERSI UNIVERSITY  TY  This book has tried to explore the life, teaching and the unusual spiritual pow er of Sri Sitaram Omkarnath and the fervent devotion he inspires.

G. N. DASH FACU L т OF THEOLOGY UNIVERSITY OF GENEV A 

L4EE

O F

OMKARNATH

L

 A book for all those who w ant divine inspiration and enlightenment. Third Edition

DR. K. BALACHANDRAN

 Vij ay a Da sa mi 28th September, 2009

PROFESSOR PROFESSOR OF ENGUSH AN NAM ALAI UNIVERS UNIVERSITY ITY The book brilliantly sums up the life and contribution made by Sri

To be had from

iWtaramdas in the field of spirituality.

Mafia milan milan Ma th DR. CHHAYAflAI

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RANI DURGAVATIVISHWA VIDYALAYA VIDYALAYA Really the book has some commendable ideas and is spiritually

Publisher:

Kinkar Rameshananda  Al l Co py Right s re serv ed with

enlightening.

DR. M. RAMACHANDRAN

 Akh il Bhar at J ai Guru S amp rada ya Central Office:

Mahamilan Math 7/7, P W. D. Road, Kolkata - 700 035

CHAIRMAN DEPARTMENT OF POST GRADUATE ATTITUDES

 AND RESEARCH I PH1LOSPHY PH1LOSPHY UNIVERSITY OF MYSOR E The book is indeed a must ha ve hand book for the modern man

i s i r c h l n o for a balance betw een peace 6 prosperity, demands of Price : Rs. 100/- (One Huandred only) US $ 5.00

materialism and search of God. God.

DR. JAYA SINGH GENER AL FELLOW (I. C. R R) CENTRE FOR PHILOSOPHY, PHILOSOPHY,

Printed Printed at RGB Printing M art 26, Bidhan Sarani, Kolkata - 6. Ph. 033 - 2241 0533

i

SCHOOL OF SOCIAL SCIENCES JAW AHA RLAL NEHRU UNIVER UNIVERSIT SITY Y NEW DELH DELHI. I.

PREFACE

CONTENTS AND ILLUSTRATIONS

On the night of Christmas in 1993, my Master appeared in a dream and directed that I should write his biography. He also suggested that my

Page

approach in writing his biography, should be rational and without any sort of

Introduction.........................................

I

exaggeration and that there should be no undue emphasis on miracles that

Atfvnnl

1

had occurred in his life, for the simple reason t hat he wa s really innocent of

I ilonitlon

them and that these miracles had occurred solely by the grace of, either his Gum or God, They had made him their instrument in their kindness. He also suggested that focus in his biography should be on his message rather than

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5

Mttirtoge............................................

1

An uliinl householder

on his personality. personality.

3

Quruiiva............................................ 12

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lllinct vision vision of the lo rd i wa s keenly aware of the fact that writing the biography of the Master

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Inltln Inltlntlo tlon n ........ ......... ........ ......... ......... .

wa s a very difficult assignmen t, as the saints m ostly live live in a

Nlrid Nlridlui lui Yo g a

super - conscious state and are constantly in touch with the Almighty. Their Their

.................... ..............

Ли preacher preacher of of N a m e

inner experiences are beyond our comprehension; a little bit-that we can

:

........... . ...........  . ........ ........

expereince. is aweinspiring. What is visible outside is only a tip of the

Mnlhods of preaching

iceberg. We cannot dive deep into the depths of the ocean of spirit, wherein wherein

How hiиme leads to the final go goal

lies its richest treasures and saints are in possession of them. W e have to ba

llllfitient paths

..... . .  . ......................

content with the little that that w e have seen of him arid heard from his lips. lips.

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21 24 26 30 36 49 51

Л» n wrlto wrltoii ........ ........ ......... ......... .......

57

Ih» philosophy

64

direction and with all its imperfections. I am offering this work at his Lotus Lotus

Miracles.............................................

67

Feet.

llnlvn llnlvnisnl isnl lo ve ...................................... ......................................

23

InlBraullon with contemporary saints

77

 Ac co rd ing ly, I h ave at te m pt ed his bio gra phy in ob ed ien ce to his

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Jnlyuru Sempradaya

84

Hniik to tho Source

86

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Hyderabad 3rd July, 1996

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C. Uaradarajan

 A D V E N T

On 17th of February, February, 1892, one of the greatest saints of modem times w si born at keota, a sma ll village village in the district of Hooghly Hooghly of We st Bengal, Ю ■plo ■plo ts Brahmin couple Or. Pranhari Pranhari Chattopadhyaya and M alyavati Devi. Devi. Ill» parents we re deeply religious in their temperam ent. Both of them were extremely devo ted to the ir family deity "Brajanath" (Lord (Lord Krishna) Krishna) to whom i Imy Imy would offer th e w orship everyday. The child ld wa s called Prabodh Chandra, 4

very

apt name as it means " The enlightenment" In 1897, his mother

Mdlyavatr Devi passed away, when he was only about five years old. This wnii really unfortunate. Subsequently, his father married Giribala Devi who wn« looking looking after him with motherly affection. affection.

Since

the childhood it was evident that Prabodh Chandra inherited the

■K y from them . He refrained from taking breakfast before the family deities

WMll duly

worshipped and oblations were offered to them. Another

inportant characteristic of him wa s that fie w as very keenly interested interested in i Henlng to the chanting of the “Harinaam"; he wou ld rush to the spot where the the Nnam -Samkirtan w as taking p lace, with gre at delight. In In this context, itit

ivuuld be

pertinent to mention a particular incident that took place at his

iwlernel grandfather's house at Keota. While listening to the chanting of liHlnnnm liHlnnnm there, he fell into a trance and as a result he rested his head 1

unknowingly unknowingly on the lap lap of one of his relations. relations. Sri Harimohan, Harimohan, who in , turn slapped the boy assuming that he had slept off. His great grandfathet observed the whole incident and after Naam-Samkirtan was over, hi Щ

EDUCATION

,

 _________________________ 

rebuked his relative for his conduct and told him that it was not a spell al ifl) drowsiness but an ecstatic trance caused by his listening to the Name. I -fl was therefore therefore evident that he he was particularly particularly fascinated by the chanting chanting d ll> 1898. 1898. at the usual age, he w as admitted to the Primary School and the Lord's Name since his early childhood.

 he moved on to Bandel Church School. While at school his performance

mi

» excellent in Bengali, but his record in English grammar was far from

I

nlmrlory. It was obvious that the curriculum of the school did not interest

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

Dumurdaha Dumurdaha,, a village in the Hooghly Hooghly district of West Bengal, he was lying b ■№ decided that his son should be sent to an indigenous seminary, seminary, so the side of his father. father. His mother and sister too were there. The boy pointeM n teM lie could devote himse lf to oriental learning and sta y a t home and out to the southern southern window and told told his father that Lord Lord Shiva Shiva was sta nd At ulty perform o bligatory religious duties. Such as the w orship of the near that window. The father, however, could not see but enquired his sdlUy deity "Brajanath as to how Lord Shiva looked. The boy replied that Lord Shiva wa s of whit whit

I

complexion, complexion, w as wearing tiger skin and and his hair wa s m atted on head. H III 1905, 1905, when he reached thirteen years of age, he was invested with was three eyed with a trident trident in the left hand and a small drum shaped tab* tab* w cred thread which bestpwed on him the status of a Brahmin. From in the right hand. He described what he had seen. In the meantime Low CHI, he was entitled to perform "Sandhya Vandana". Vandana". worship of the Sun Shiva vanished. His pare nts and others d id not attach much importance Mil "I llto time of sunrise, noon and at the sunset. Th e " Sandhya Vandana" this incident, incident, as they thought that it was possibly the product of the bounded the recitation of the most sacred Mantra of Vedas, Vedas, namely, namely, Gayatri. Gayatri. fertile imagination and forgot about it,

nHittn, ittn, this also enabled him to undertake the arduous spiritual exerc ises lilt upliftment.

** ■*■*• *■*• *•* * Ihereafter, hereafter, in 1909, a fter making several a ttem pts he got-his adm ission Ihn leildential school of Sri Dasarathi Bhattacharya, free of cost. This type

of education has been prevalent since Vedic times in India, where, student would stay with his Maste r and serve him in all possible ways Щ

GURUSEVA

return return rece ive educ ation without incurring incurring any expenditure on the saii saiiii was thus, his career as a stud ent formally comm enced in the institul institulii ii

 “ By the Lord's gra ce is the true Guru m et ”.

Sri Dasarathi Bhattacharya, at the age of seventeen.

- "Adigranth" 

In 1911, he lost his father, father, when he was barely nineteen years old. It< ,. .. „ While staying with his Guru at Digsui, he was doing the lowliest of a terrible shoc k to him. He tried to overc ome the traged y by conce ntr.. .. . ,. _ , . .. u ., . , BUNtl in his Gurus household. He considered the service rendered to his on the studies studies and appeare appeared d for for the the prel prelimi iminar nary y exami examinat nation ion in in M u g d h ^ „ „ р. For For hin>| serace t0 hls hls Guru Guru was more lmpor lmportam tam ,han ,han his his ......................  ..

in 1912 and stood first. first. In 1913, he passed his his intermediate intermediate exam,nan,|udl„ exam,nan,|udl„

str ict c onfo rm ity wjth the ve djc tra djtio n_ he wiMing|y

Mugd habod h. Thereafter, he show ed no inter est in in pursuing his studiesjltM:| studiesjltM:|||n ||ne a whole time unpaid se rvant. B eside s atte nding to the household shock of his father s demise had raised raised several questions in his mind, tyiqies, he used to look after the cultivation of his Guru's fields and at the the tran sience o f life and the certainty of d eath. He there fore felt th^une th^une of harvest, he would bring home the produce of the field. field. In one one word, education he w as pursuing, wa s incapable o f yielding yielding solution to the e^w e^w WM entirely devoted to the se rvice of his Guru. In In this context, it may be problems of life, death and rebirth. rebirth. He abandoned his studies in pursifftiiiiittoned pursifftiiiiittoned that later in life, life, when he blossome d into a full fledged saint, he solution to the riddle s of life.

»viote »viote In his pref ace to “ Guru Gita", tha t guru and the Lord had the same  ‘ "И, tho ugh they app eare d to be diffe rent and he a dv ised the read ers tha t me should worship guru with deep devotion. He further stated that Guru

.................................

Imight

the

know ledge

of

Brahman,

the

ultima te

reality

and

hiiiHfore. hiiiHfore. he wa s superior to Brahman. Since these sta tements w ere of the k»lhu, there w as no doubt that by performing G uruseva, every union becomes blessed. earlier, he was grappling with the eternal problems of the Al mentioned earlier, II» II», Consequent to his father's sudden passing a way he was keen to possess

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that knowledge, knowledge, w hich could gram him absolute freedom from pain. pain. I if in response to his struggle to attain free dom from the m anifold problems problems life life,, his his teac teacher her Sri Sri Dasa Dasara rath thii Bhat Bhatta tach chary arya a became became his his Gur Guru by init initia iati ting ng t«

M A R R I A G

at Triveni, Triveni, a holy place on the bank of Ganges.

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On 13th day of January, 1913. the initiation took place. . , .. .... . . . . . . . .. . In order to attain fulfilment, it is absolutely necessary that tl

W h ilil e h e w a s s tu tu dy dy in in g a t D ig ig su su i.i. a p ro ro po po sa sa l w a s m o ot ot ed ed a t t he he

aspirant aspirant must be initiat initiated ed into mysteries mysteries of spiritual spiritual life, life, only only b,'"'" 1"™ °f his his Gur Guru u f°r f°r his his ™ ria9e ria9e wi,h wi,h a ^ Master, who has realise realised d God. God. It It is is well known known that only only a burni burning n g lamp lamp o'1

Chandr Chandra a was

"amed Siddh Siddh““

But

keen keen in 9eMin9 9eMin9 married' married' as his his health health was in a bad

light other lamps. Initiation is the first step in the spiritual life. In this resper'-l“4> resper'-l“4>" A se vere a ttack o f Pneumonia had permanen tly impaire d his health, neither parents nor other relatives would be of any avail. Even stnenui/* ■result of this attack, a wheezing sound-from his chest was always effort cannot help the seeker in realising God. Enlightenment is possible oltudible. He did not want to marry, as he was not inclined to ruin the life of a by the grace of a Guru. Science, contemplation, devotion and various various otty

leaving her a widow. widow. This showed his consideration for others and

.... .

disciplines would be futile, withou t the grace of Guru. Just as trees brim innate innate unwillingness unwillingness to inflict inflict any sort sort of pain or sorrow on others. others. When flowers and fruits only when the spring sets in, so also the devotion beaiim prussure mounted on him. the only course that was left open for him fruit only only when one is blessed blessed by the Guru. Hence, Hence, the supreme impo rtant,,, ц, |eave |eave Oumurdaha. He left his native village and after considerable of Guru in spiritual life. In initiating, the Guru Guru offe rs God as a gift to disciple.

reached puri in Orissa, which is a sacred place of Lord Jaganna th. lin t ol his friends, Sri Naren was aware of the fact that Prabodh Chandra Chandra

The grace of the Guru neutralises the poison of sensual pleasures a

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