Mahan Of The Day :- Prahlad Chandra Brahmachari

Prahlad Chandra Brahmachari

 
Prahlad Chandra Brahmachari

 

Prahlad Chandra Brahmachari was a renunciant devotee of the goddess Kali, who was subject to trance states and visions throughout his life. He spent his later years as a Kali priest in Ramnathpur, West Bengal, having large goddess worship celebrations which attracted thousands of visitors.
He was born into a poor Brahman family in Orissa, somewhere between 1900 and 1910 (the date is uncertain). He was one of five brothers, none of whom ever attended school. His father would spend time in meditation, and sing to Rama. The family lived on land which could grow rice only for four or five months during the year, and the rest of the year was a time of semi-starvation for the family. Occasionally his father might act as a priest, and receive a small amount of money. The children had rickets and malnutrition, subsisting during the lean months on one meal a day of bread made from grass roots.
One day, Prahlad stole some green mangos from a neighbor's tree, and brought them to his mother as food for the family. When his father found out later, he was furious, and started hitting the child with an axe. Prahlad ran away bleeding, covering the wounds with grass.
He ran off into the woods, and travelled at random until he passed out from weakness. He awoke to see a sannyasi (monk) before him, smiling and compassionate. The sannyasi gave him some flat bread to eat, and touched his wounds with a log of wood. After that touch, the pain disappeared. Prahlad kept that log with him throughout his life. Then the sannyasi searched for a kind of leaf with a tough stem, and grabbed Prahlad's tongue and wrote lines on it with the leaf. He etched the lines so hard that Prahlad's tongue bled, and his "senses were lost," as Prahlad went into a state of trance. 

He regained consciousness at sunrise, and the sannyasi was gone. He could only see the remnants of a ritual fire (dhuni) and some coins. He considered his survival of his father's beating to be a new chance at life. He rode the train in rags to Howrah station, and lived in Calcutta on the banks of the Ganges for several years, sleeping on burlap sacks. He survived in a variety of ways, first by begging, and then by acting as a wandering Kali priest with a picture of the goddess hung around his neck. He would visit shopkeepers and bless them with the goddess' image, and they would give him a few pennies.
Sometimes he would work as a servant, a dishwasher, or a sweeper, ignoring the caste of the people for whom he worked. He was unhappy at these jobs, but at night he received instructions on yoga in his dreams from the goddess Kali.
During the day, he would contemplate these dreams and fall into trance states. This made him a poor worker, and he was often condemned by his employers. However, he did save some money, and decided to visit his parents after a gap of several years. His youngest brother had died, and his father took the money to renovate the family worship room. He continued to have visits from the goddess in his dreams, and she gave him instructions in meditation and hatha yoga. She told him to leave the household again, and he did so.
He returned to Calcutta, and first took a job as a servant, and then as a wandering priest. The goddess continued her yogic dream instructions, and he perfected his yoga postures, staying in one position for the whole night. Accompanying these practices were states of bliss. He had kept the sannyasi's log of wood, and the goddess told him in a dream command to chew it. He would scrape off small pieces of the log to chew, and he would start having visions. He could hear verses from the sacred books of India, and see pages written in gold letters. When a person stood before him, Prahlad could "read his heart," and know the person's innermost secrets. He gained an ability to tell the future, and took up a new career as an astrologer. While people had looked down upon him previously for being ignorant, now they would call him anxiously to tell their futures, and his predictions were generally accurate.
He continued his nightly yogic exercises, seeing himself as a tool in the goddess' hands. He continued chewing splinters from the log, and he lost track of time, with "tidal waves" of Sanskrit coming out of his mouth without forethought, in the form of hymns from the Hindu holy books (Vedas and Puranas). He would see visions of light before him, and lose track of his surroundings.
At the age of twenty-four years he attended a funeral ceremony (shraddha) in Hooghly district, where his abilities to predict the future made him a valued guest. His hosts insisted that he continue his visit. He did a large number of predictions, and many people with diseases and legal problems came to speak with him. He underwent mood swings and would often enter into depressions, but he felt that he was following Kali's will. He acted briefly as priest in a small Kali temple nearby, but upset the villagers there by offering the goddess cooked food. They came en masse to threaten his host, and Prahlad was forced out of the house in which he was staying.
He wandered out and eventually sat beneath a large tamarind tree, in an open space with bushes and thorns. The goddess came to him in a vision, and told him that he should not spend his life with householders, but should create his own space. She said that he would have the barren land on which he sat. The next day, the owner of that land gave him permission to build a small ashram there, and he determined to settle there in Ramnathpur. He spent the next four years in meditation, often at a nearby burning ground. He found it frightening, but went there because it was the Mother's command.
When he had extra money, he mailed it to his parents, and they sent back a demand: Prahlad must marry. His father had chosen a girl, and told his son to marry her. Prahlad returned to Orissa to argue with them, but they were unwilling to listen to him. He went into a single yogic position (asana) and trance state for four days and nights, and returned to normal consciousness with indifference towards his potential bride and his family. He explained again his unwillingness to marry, and his view of all women as only embodiments of the Divine Mother. He then left the house silently, and disappeared off into the woods. He took a formal vow of renunciation, and put on the clothes of a sannyasi.
He returned to Ramnathpur, and again started doing yogic practice at night. During the day, he would do ritual worship for the villagers and foretell the future. Every new moon, he worshiped the goddess at the burning ground. On one new moon in February, the villagers insisted upon following Prahlad to witness his ritual offering to Ratanty Kali. About fifteen people came, bearing lights and long sticks (lathis). Prahlad took a sharp knife and cut his arm, to offer his blood at the Mother's feet. The wind whistled, and a storm came up, blowing out the lights and frightening the villagers so that they ran away. Outside the burning ghat the weather was quiet, and the villagers then returned. They found the altar blown over, and Prahlad unconscious and lying in a pit. They sprinkled his face with Ganges water to awaken him. During the storm he had had a vision of the goddess as infinite light, and he had been absorbed into the Mother's spirit.
About three years after his sudden exit from the wedding, another message came from his parents: Prahlad must return, because his father was dying. He went to his parent's house, and fulfilled his father's last wishes, and he gained his father's blessings. Among other requests, his father told him that he must not neglect the worship of the family deity Rama, even if Kali was his special goddess. After his father's death, Prahlad was grief-stricken, and roamed through South India as a beggar for a month. He then returned to Ramnathpur.
When he came back to the village, two men asked for initiation from him as their guru. He also became the guru for their families. He then initiated many other people. When he entered a house, the villagers would offer him fruits and sweets, and wash his feet. However, the villagers would go through periods of doubt, and once they condemned Prahlad as a false monk, saying that they would only believe him if he could stay in his room without food or water for seven days. He went into the dark room, and knelt down before the statue of Kali, who filled the room with light. She came in visionary form and took Prahlad onto her lap, and he felt that their souls merged for seven days. He did not eat, drink, or leave the room during that week, until the trance ended at the appropriate time. It was his last trial by the villagers at Ramnathpur.
He had a variety of places where he would meditate. Often he would spend time in contemplation within a hollowed-out tree. He also had a meditation hut on a raised area between some rice and pan fields. Buried under the floor of this hut were five skulls, and he would sit over these skulls. The room also had a trident and an omkar (Sanskrit letter OM) painted on the wall. Later there were pictures of deities, and stick figures on the wall, and a large altar with a picture of a blue Kali. He warned others that this room had great power, and that it would be dangerous for others to live there. Apparently one person stayed in this hut while Prahlad was on a pilgrimage, and this visitor died after a few days there of snakebite. It is still said that the goddess Kali speaks to people who enter the hut.
Prahlad called himself a kite in the hands of Kali, which she keeps whirling. She is infinite light, showing herself as a candle, or as the soothing morning sun, or the violent and scorching sun at noon. He followed her will in practicing yoga and meditation at Ramnathpur ashram for over fifty years. He would offer Kali blood on new-moon night, when he would slit his wrists, and his disciples would hear him moan and gasp. He was often asked for boons by his disciples, especially for healing and for children, and for predicting the future. He had a coconut marked with red sindur powder and a long tongue, which he called Old Mother or Ancestress (Budi Ma). He performed rituals to Old Mother each day, when he chanted mantras and did his ritual fire sacrifice. When visitors would ask him to do things for them, he would ask Old Mother's opinion. He would put a flower on top of the coconut, and if it remained there, he would agree to the request. If it fell, he would not accede to the request.
Prahlad gained disciples outside of West Bengal in his later life, including ones from the USA. In India he had a core group of about forty disciples, though he initiated large numbers of people (he looked for various physical signs, such as a sharply pointed tongue, which was the sign of a Kali devotee). Some Western disciples came to India and brought him to Brooklyn on several occasions. He would fall into trance states frequently there, becoming the child Krishna, the goddess, and the warrior Arjuna (among other roles), and he would perform fire sacrifices (homa fires) and pujas (ritual worship). He knew no English, and refused to touch money, living the life of a renunciant Kali priest as well as he could in a New York brownstone building.
He spoke to his Bengali devotees about prayer to the Mother:

You must always pray to the Mother. It is Mother who takes you on her lap. She is my god, Mahamaya, the great Kundalini Shakti. You have to wake Her first, and pray to Her first. That is why our worship of the Mother must come first. Because who is he who is my Father? Only the Mother knows. She will take me to him in her arms. If you can wake up Mahamaya, that great power in the sushumna, in the thousand petalled lotus, then you will drink nectar.. this is why I perform the Homa fire before her... Mother is the provider; without the mother, there is no father. When the Mother takes me in her lap, she will merge me with brahman. Mother knows my father's name, and my caste, and she knows the path to infinity. Without Mother, one cannot find that impossible path.

The goddess is reflected in human women, and also in statues:

You must first pray to the outer mother, only then can you gain the Mother within. It is like seeing your face in mirror. You must see the outer image, so that you can know what you look like... Ma is in many places. Once when I was defecating, I was digging with a stick, and a small statue appeared. The goddess within it spoke to me, and she said, "I am Anandamayi." I took it back and cleaned it very well, and it shone like gold. Some robbers saw it and thought it was real gold, and they took it away. I began to cry, and the Mother came and said to me, "Let the statue go. Have no fear. They have only taken my outer form. The statue which is established inside you is still there, the robbers have not been able to take it."

According to his disciples and to people who knew him, he had a variety of psychic powers, especially the abilities to induce visions and to communicate at a distance. As one informant stated:

When Baba (Prahlad) was doing his homa fire, I saw a vision of the goddess, Ma Kali. She was dancing in a river of blood, like a waterfall, but she was beautiful and laughing. She had blue skin and six arms, with weapons and other things in her hands. She laughed with bliss.

His devotees spoke of his having a "cosmic telephone." He would put his finger on the ground, as if pressing a button, and say that he was in touch with someone at a distance. He was said to be particularly adept at entering the dreams of his devotees. As an American informant stated,

I once had a dream of Baba before I met him, in which I was playing a guitar and singing spiritual songs. He appeared in a loincloth, dancing with one arm up in the air, his legs moving rapidly, stomping to the rhythm of the song. Suddenly, the scene changed, and he was staring at me, six inches from my face, his eyes focused intently on me. A strange power radiated from his eyes. I felt myself expand inwardly, and my heart was full of a bliss that spread through my body. Later I learned that one of his devotees had given him a picture of me. When I met him months later, as soon as I walked into the room his translator told me that Baba wanted to know if I remembered him, that he had visited me. He did not say this to any of the other thirty people in the room. I think he had used the picture as a means of contacting me. I saw that same look when he gave one of his visitors in New York City darshan. He sat the person down and stared intensely at her for a period of minutes. She later said she had a profound spiritual experience during this period.

His American devotees were worried about his active practices:

Once during kirtan of the Hare Krishna mantra, I remember that Baba became more and more agitated. During the chanting, he suddenly jumped to his feet and started dancing faster and faster, jumping and shouting. He looked as if he were losing control of his body. His oldest devotee became worried that he would have a heart attack (he was in his seventies), that his health would not sustain such activity. She jumped up and tried to quiet him, putting her arms around him and lowering him to a sitting position. She asked people not to encourage such kirtan. It seemed that he had done such active kirtan often, in his younger days, and used it as a means of entering an altered state.

One disciple, who said that she had seen Baba in a dream over a year before she met him, spoke of her love and dedication to her guru. She said that he knew things about her at a distance; he had warned her not to cover her altar at home with a cloth (she had done so before going to see him, but had not told him about it), and not to perform the homa fire outside the ashram (which she had done). She said that when she felt his spiritual presence, it energized her body, and made her feel "out of this world," seeing a deep purple-blue light and feeling love for all living things. This occurred when he would go into a special state of blessing, with one hand on her head, and one hand in the air, reaching towards the Mother.

Prahlad Chandra Brahmachari visited the West several times, gained small groups of disciples, and died in 1982.

Mahan Of The Day:- Anandamoyi Ma

Anandamoyi Ma

Other Names and Nicknames: 

Nirmala Sundari, Sri Sri Ma Anandamoyi, Anandamoyi Ma, Sri Anondomoi Ma, Ari Anandamayi Ma, Dakshayani, Kamala, Vimala, Mother of Shahbag

Function: 

Avatar

Traditions: 

Hinduism, Tantra

Main Countries of Activity: 

India

Date of Birth: 

04/30/1896

Place of Birth: 

Kheora, West Bengal, India (nowadays Bangladesh)

In His/Her Body ("alive"): 

No

Date Left His/Her Body: 

27 August 1982

Sri Anandamoyi Ma was a spiritual teacher, Guru, saint and a mystic from Bengal, and hailed as one of prominent mystics of the 20th century. During her times, she was considered the embodiment of spiritual bliss and her name literally means Joy Permeated Mother.

Early Life

She was born as Nirmala Sundari on 30 April 1896 to Bipinbihari Bhattacharya and Mokshada Sundari Devie in Kheora, Brahmanbaria District, British India, in what is now Bangladesh.

At the age of thirteen, in 1908, she was married. She spent 5 years after her marriage at her brother-in-law's home, where she was in a trancelike state much of the time.

When she was about 17, she went to live with her husband in Ashtagram. It was here that a devout neighbor, Harakumar, developed a habit of addressing her as "Ma", and prostrated before her morning and evening.

In 1918, they went on to live in Bajitpur, where she became famous for her beauty. Here they stayed till 1924, while she went deeper into her trances. On his return from the office at the end of the working day, her husband often found her lying on the kitchen floor, the food half cooked or burnt.

On the full moon night of August 1922, at midnight, 26-year old Ma went through the actions of spiritual initiation - all by herself.

Members of her husband's family did not respond to his wife’s strange behavior as calmly as he did. While his relatives suggested he remarry, he became her first disciple in 1922.

The Dhaka Period

In 1924 she moved to Shahbag with her husband where he had been appointed caretaker of the gardens of the Nawab of Dhaka.

During this period she used to manifest the ecstasy that resembled Chaitanya Mahaprabhu.

In 1926 she set up a Kali temple in the Siddheshwari area and devoted herself to spirituality.

She underwent a mystic experience while praying in the temple one day. Henceforth, she became known as Anandamoyi Ma, meaning the Joy Permeated Mother. She set up an ashram at Ramna within the precinct of the Ramna Kali Mandir. Though her parents were Vaishnavas, she followed the Tantric creed.

Scholars and followers were attracted to Anandamoyi Ma's spiritualism, though she called herself "a little unlettered child".

The Dehradun Period

In 1932, Anandamoyi Ma went to Dehradun with her husband and started working there. She traveled across the subcontinent to enlighten others. Several ashrams, and seats of learning hospitals were established in her name at Ramna (near Shahbag) and Kheora in Bangladesh, and Benares, Kankhal and other areas in India. Twenty-five ashrams are named after her.

She also renovated many dilapidated holy places, including the Naimisharanya, where she set up a temple there and arranged for the recitation of holy names and the performance of kirtan and other religious rites.

At this times people like Arnaud Desjardins, the French producer of sprititual films, Melita Maschmann, the German novelist, and Dr. Collin Turnbull, the English author, became her disciples.

Kamala Nehru, wife of the future prime Minster, Jawaharlal Nehru, became a devotee in 1933. Anandamoyi was then staying at a small temple in Dehradun, while Pandit Nehru was incarcerated by the British in Dehradun jail. Later she took Kamala to the Ambika temple in Kajpur to perform a three-day yajna. She gave to her daughter Indira the rosary which Mataji had given her.

Mahatma Gandhi came to hear of Anandamayi through Kamala and sent his aid, Jamnalal Bajaj, to see her. He in turn became a devotee. After the unexpected death of Bajaj, she went to Wardha to console Mahatma Gandhi.

She visited Ramana Maharshi at his ashram and also met J Krishnamurti.

Although she is mentioned in many books about Indian spiritual teachers, she is notably written about in Paramahansa Yogananda's Autobiography of a Yogi. His meeting with her is recounted in the chapter titled The Bengali "Joy-Permeated Mother", where he wrote:

Father, there is little to tell." She spread her graceful hands in a deprecatory gesture. "My consciousness has never associated itself with this temporary body. Before I came on this earth, Father, I was the same. As a little girl, I was the same. I grew into womanhood, but still I was the same. When the family in which I had been born made arrangements to have this body married, 'I was the same... And, Father, in front of you now, I am the same. Ever afterward, though the dance of creation change[s] around me in the hall of eternity, I shall be the same.

She died on 27 August 1982 and was buried on the banks of the Ganges near the Kankhal Ashram in Haridwar in North India.

Teachings

Anandamoyi never prepared her discourse, wrote anything down, or revised what she had said. It is said that noting down what she said in her discourses was difficult, as the musicality and alliterative word-play of her saying died in writing. Only Brahmachari Kamal Bhattacharjee is said to have had the ability to transcribe her discourse with scrupulous fidelity.

The central theme of her teaching in endless variation is:

The supreme calling of every human being is to aspire to self realization. All other obligations are secondary.

and

Only actions that kindle man's divine nature are worthy of the name of actions.

However she did not ask everyone to become a renunciate. "Everyone is right from his own standpoint," she would say. She did not give formal initiations and refused to be called a guru, as she maintained that "all paths are my paths" and kept telling "I have no particular path".

She did not advocate the same method for all.

How can one impose limitations on the infinite by declaring - this is the only path - and, why should there be so many different religions and sects? Because through everyone of them He gives Himself to Himself, so that each person may advance according to his inborn nature.

Though she was Tantric, Anandamoyi Ma blessed Saivas, Shaktas, Vaishnavas, Muslims and Christians equally. Even now, the Muslim population of Kheora still refer to her as "our own Ma".

She taught how to live a God-centered life in the world and provided the powerful living inspiration to enable thousands to aspire to this most noble ideal. Her way of teaching involved jokes, songs and instructions on everyday life along with long discourses, meditation and reading of scriptures.

A gallery of photos of the guru and/or that are related to the guru

Mahan Of The Day :- Sri Swayamprakasananda Saraswati Swami (Alangudi Periyavaa)

Sri Swayamprakasananda Saraswati Swami (Alangudi Periyavaa) 

Srimad Bhagavatam is liberation bestowing Holy Text [Moksha Granta]. Mahans have opined that mere reading/listening to the Bhagavatam liberates one. The uniqueness of this Holy Text is that every letter in it is verily Lord Krishna! No wonder that mere reading about/listening to the Lilas of Jnani of all Jnanis [Lord Sri Krishna] bestows liberation not only at the end of one's life on earth but also has the ability to bestow Jivan Mukti state ['realising' one's nature even while living in the physical body]. This has been illustrated in the life of Sri Swayamprakasananda Saraswati Swami, popularly known as 'Alangudi' Periyava. The youth Ramakrishna attained Jivan Mukti by merely reading the Bhagavatam. Here, we bring to you the life history of of the great Mahan 'Alangudi' Periyava whose samadhi is in Mudikondan, a village near Tiruvaroor, Tamizh Nadu state, S.India. The 'aradana' of the Mahan was celebrated on 18th May 2008. A week long Bhagavata Saptaham was performed in this connection and Sri Sri Swamiji rendered Srimad Bhagavata discourse.  Narayanar, a poor Brahmin lived in Alangudi, a small village in the fertile Chozha kingdom. He had completed his Vedic studies and was a highly virtuous man. He earned his living through priesthood, assisting people in conducting Vedic rites and scriptural duties. A married man, he lived as per scriptural injunctions laid down for a householder and was deeply devoted to Gopala Krishna. After many years of marriage, through the Grace of Sri Venugopala Krishna swami, he was blessed with a son. Christening the child Ramakrishna the parents brought him up with much love and care. The child's 'akshara-abhyas' [learning to write] was performed at the age of five. When he turned seven the holy thread ceremony was performed; thereafter, he was left under the care of a great scholar for education. He learnt the Vedas wholly and became an adept in 'Sikshai vyakarana' that form part of the Vedas. The parents desired to find a suitable bride for him. However, Sri Ramakrishna feared married life, as he felt it to be a block to Hari Bhakti [devotion to Lord Hari]. He considered married life a camouflaged well. One should be careful not to fall into this; instead, move into a forest and take efforts to attain Lord Hari. He felt that this was the essence of all the Shastras [scriptures]. Feeling that the Grace of a Guru was most needed to strengthen his Jnana, Bhakti and Vairagya [wisdom, devotion and dispassion] he was in search of a proper Guru. Sri Balakrishnananda swami appeared in his dream, imparted Sri Nrisimha Mantra to him and also gave him Srimad Bhagavatam. After this Sri Ramakrishna's Hari Bhakti [devotion to Lord Hari] reached its pinnacle. He began to remain in solitude doing Mantra japa and reading the Bhagavatam. Due to the Grace of Sri Balakrishnananda, Sri Ramakrishna earned deep love for Srimad Bhagavatam; and, through reading the Bhagavatam, earned deep Jnana. The parents forced Sri Ramakrishna into marriage. Unable to go against the wishes of the parents he married the virtuous girl that they had chosen for him. Marriage did not spoil his pristine state. The fortunate bride was still in her parents home. Sri Ramakrishna was deeply upset by the new bondage. One night, he had a dream in which he found himself in a forest and many dacoits trying to bind him. Suddenly, a lion appeared from nowhere, roaring ferociously. The dacoits threw the rope down and took to their heels. He realised that Lord Nrisimha would soon save him from the cruelty of his relatives who were the real dacoits trying to bind him to the world. The next morning he received the news of his wife's death. Mahans feel that the worldly ties are bondages that keep them away from their spiritual life. In Srimad Bhagavatam, we see how Sage Narada takes the death of his mother as an 'anugraha' [blessing]  (1:6:10). Sri Periyava had a similar feeling when he heard this news. He performed the death rites for his wife. After the death of his wife his dispassion deepened. All worldly comforts seemed trivial. He spent all his time in meditating on his favourite Deity Lord Nrisimha who had protected his great Bhakta Prahlada. The relatives mistook his attitude to be longing for his lost wife and began to make plans for another marriage. Sri Ramakrishna sensed the danger. Days passed and suddenly one early morning, like the great Mahan Sri Sadasiva Brahmendra, he attained the 'unmathha' state. He ran away from home. He was twenty-eight years of age when he attained 'self-realisation'.  He had no consciousness of the body and wandered about as an 'avadhoota' [naked sadhu]. Unaware of the world he wandered about like a madman. [Srimad Bhagavatam describes the state of a Jnani as 'unmathha, mookha, jadavat' -- he is like a madman, the dumb and the inert].  His unkept hair hung in knots. The body was frail. The mind, however, going beyond the differences of man and woman remained pure. Almost always he was silent or chanting the Divine Names of Lord Narayana. Filled with the nectar of the Lord's Name he would at times dance, at times sing, at times shed profuse tears, at times cry out loudly. Wherever the Lord's stories were recited he would go and listen to it. But this would push him into ecstacy and he would begin to sing, dance and cry. He would experience horripilation. He would cry out loudly, "Narayana! Narayana!" At times he would fall down in a swoon. During his wanderings he came to the Holy Place Thiruvisanallur. Sri Ramasubbha Shasri, who was proud of his scholarliness lived here. He was a thorn in the way of all other learned scholars. Due to the pride of his learning he held an indifferent attitude to the great Bhagavatam. But he turned over a new leaf after listening to Srimad Bhagavatam from Sri Ramakrishna swami, just once! He earned deep faith and taste for Srimad Bhagavatam!  Suddenly, a deep desire to discourse on the Bhagavatam took hold of Sri Ramakrishna Swami. He arrived at the village Kamakshipuram. Sri Panchanata Iyer, a resident of this village, welcomed him with all reverence. Many others joined him. But the great renunciate said to them, "I have not come here for food. I have come here with the deep desire to discourse on the Bhagavatam. Is anyone interested to listen to it?" Hearing this, some of them prostrated to the Swami and said to him, "It is verily our fortune that you have come here to bless us. But some amongst us feel embarrassed to see you an 'avadhoota' [naked Sadhu]. We do not possess your spiritual maturity; hence, though we all deeply yearn to hear the Bhagavatam we hesitate to come to your presence on this account." The surprised Swami said to them, "If this state of mine proves a block to giving discourses or listening to the Bhagavatam I will embrace sanyas and live according to scriptural injunctions." All present there were wonderstruck. The Swami at once set out and received sanyasa, as per Scriptural injunctions, from Sri Panangudi Swami. Sri Panangudi Swami gave him the 'diksha' name of Swayam Prakasananda Saraswati [one who shines on his own] because like Prahlad he had had attained Jnana without a Guru in a human body. Sri Panangudi Swami comes down in a great lineage of Mahans who were all Krishna Bhaktas and loved Srimad Bhagavatam.  Sri Ramakrishna swami embraced sanyasa [ascetic life] a s his state of 'avadhoota' was a block to his rendering Srimad Bhagavata discourse. He desired to give discourse on the Bhagavatam even to the spiritually immature. Therefore, embracing ascetic life, he began to wear ochre colour loin cloth, 'gopi chandan' on his forehead and held 'danda-kamandalu' in his hand and scrupulously followed the various rules and regulations prescribed for this life. He was ever doing Bhagavata parayana [reading] and discoursing the Bhagavatam. The Divine Lilas and 'gunas' of Lord Hari drew the great 'avadhoota' into a life of scriptural discipline! Is it not the Divine Lila of the Lord to attract the hearts of Jnanis and make them sing His glory? People who listened to the Bhagavatam from 'Alangudi' Periyava, who wandered about in the same state as Sri Suka, were indeed most fortunate. Sri Suka who had 'realised his self' and wandered about like the inert, dumb, child, took to Srimad Bhagavatam as he felt deeply attracted to the 'gunas' of the Lord: so too, 'Alangudi' Periyava had for sometime wandered about in this state and later, due to his deep love and taste for Srimad Bhagavatam, took to living as per strict scriptural injunctions and began to visit innumerable villages to give discourses on the Bhagavatam. He was the very personification of tolerance and patience. He was totally free from from anger and lust. He followed all the scriptural injunctions laid down for the ascetic way of life. Of these, bathing three times a day and food restrictions are very important. At times he would eat a little grated coconut and remain without food for months together; at times he would eat bilwa fruit and at times only milk. Some times he would eat 'sathhuma' [a health gruel].  'Alangudi' Periyava loved children. He would gather them around and play with them. If a village did not have a pond, he would gather the youths of the village and dig a pond. He loved to maintain gardens, conduct 'utsavs' in Temples. He always stayed in a garden outside the village or in a Mutt or in a Temple. He wore only a loin cloth. He carefully followed the 'asrama dharma' as spoken in the Bhagavatam. He never touched money for any reason. He would accept an invitation to a village only if people agreed to conduct Bhagavata saptaham there. He would refuse to visit for the sake of 'bhiksha' [food]. He used to visit some villages quite frequently He performed innumerable Bhagavata saptahams there. Even today one finds the people of these villages interested in Bhagavata saptaham and possessing Krishna Bhakti. Several disciples still recall his Bhagavatam discourse. All these villages turned holy due to the stay of the Swami. All people were great devotees of the Lord. Due to his association many read the Gita and the Bhagavatam and many performed Namakirtan. Even women and children in villages blessed by his visits knew the Bhagavata slokas by heart. The Swami had great love for the commentary of the Bhagavatam by Sridhareeya. In his discourses, he would always quote from it. 'Alangudi' Periyava was also an adept in Ayurveda and Mantra Shastras. But he did not practice them. When situation demanded it, he would put this knowledge to use through his disciples. Once, Pattabhirama Iyer, a disciple of his, was in deep anguish as someone had used black magic against his family. Learning about this, the deeply compassionate Swami initiated the victim into Nrisimha Mantra, through his disciple Sri Kothandarama Iyer. The man was saved from his troubles. At the end of every 'Saptaham' there would be Namakirtan in which the Swami would participate. The Namasankirtan would go all through the night; yet, the Swami would be fresh and give discourse the next day. Through these unique qualities and Bhakti he was a great solace and support to the householders. Once, the Swami conducted Srimad Bhagavata saptaham in Dittacheri village. Every day Namakirtan was also performed. 'Alangudi' Periyava always enjoyed rendering Gajendra Moksha and Prahlad charitra. His discourse on Gajendra Moksha was excellent that day and he said, "Lord Narayana is the Supreme Godhead. All other gods are in His control. Gajendra Moksha is a testimony to this. When Gajendra, in seeking refuge in the Lord, chanted a 'sloka' no deity rushed to his help because, this sloka calls out to the 'One who is the prime cause of all'. They were well aware that there was someone else who had created them. Lord Vasudeva Himself came on His divine vehicle, the Garuda, and saved Gajendra. Therefore, Lord Hari [Vasudeva, Narayana] is verily the Supreme Godhead." There was a Pundit amidst the audience. He said that each Purana spoke of a different God as the Supreme Godhead. Gajendra Moksham in the Bhagavatam was a spin story to show Lord Hari as the Supreme Godhead and that one should not attach any importance to it. 'Alangudi' Periyava was deeply hurt by this. He said to him, "It is difficult for people like you to earn faith in Srimad Bhagavatam. Only the Grace of the Lord can clear your confused mind. My explanations will not suffice." The Pundit retorted, "Why don't you own up your mistake? Being a 'smarta' [saivite] sanyasi why do you speak like a Vaishnava sanyasi holding Lord Vasudeva as the Supreme Godhead?" The Swami said, "I spoke only the words of the Bhagavatam. You can accuse me of speaking wrongly only if it were my imagination." The Pundit walked away haughtily. 'Alangudi' Periyava bathed in the river there during the early hours of the morning. On one such morning the Swami had gone to bathe and a few of his disciples were with him. While the Swami was bathing a crocodile came up to him and caught hold of his leg. At once, the Swami lifted both his hands and cried out, 'Hare! Hare!" and the crocodile immediately let go of his leg. However, the Swami's leg was badly hurt. The Pundit who had watched this incident realised the greatness of the Swami and at once fell at his feet seeking his pardon. He said that his argument that 'Gajendra Moksha' was a spin story was due to his pride and that it was only to wipe out his ignorance that 'Yateendra Moksha' had taken place. [Yati means ascetic]. The Swami said to him, "Why do you beg my pardon? Do not feel envious if anyone speaks of Srimad Narayana as the Supreme Godhead." The Pundit became a great devotee of the Swami. A deep wound had been formed on the Swami's leg due to the bite of the crocodile. At the request of the disciples the Swami agreed to treat it. He asked them to collect some herbs and boil it in oil. He then asked them to pour it hot over the wound! No disciple came forward. The Swami said to them, "Hey, ignorants! why do you fear? Have not I repeatedly told you all that the Atma is different from the body? If it were true how would I, the Atma, suffer? Also, how would the body which is really inert suffer?" Uttering these words he removed the boiling oil from the oven and poured it over his wound and laughed loudly! This brought tears to the eyes of the devoted disciples. The leg healed within a few days. Once, the Swami gave a discourse in the woods of Koothanur village. The day was quite hot. A snake suddenly wound its way through the audience and moved below the Swami's seat. Some of them requested the Swami to move away. The Swami said, "A man becomes eligible to embrace the ascetic life only when he earns the Jnana that all forms are verily the Lord. There is no difference between my body and that of the snake. It is verily Lord Nrisimha who is the Atma in both. Why fear? All of you sit quietly and listen to the Lord's story." But is it possible for the people to forget the presence of the snake and listen to his discourse? So, the Swami, through his yogic power, held their attention. The people totally forgot about the snake and were engrossed in the discourse. At the end of the discourse the Swami asked one of them, "Where is the snake? See if it is still here?"  The man feared lifting the seat to find out.The Swami laughed and lifted the seat only to find the snake gone. All were wonderstruck. The Swami said, "This is not surprising at all. The snake went back the way it came but all of you were totally engrossed in listening to the Bhagavatam and did not notice it!" The people at once prayed to him to bless them so that their minds would always be engrossed in the Lord's stories in this manner.  The Swami thus passed his days wandering about several villages conducting hundreds of Bhagavata saptaha yajna and preaching Bhakti to the people. He became old. He had not spent his life labourig for his family. Shunning worldly comforts he had spent his days in the thought of the Lord. The Swami's eye sight failed and the disciples arranged for a surgery. Dr.Mahalinga Iyer was at first very indifferent towards the Swami. But soon he realised that the Swami had come to him with the excuse of a treatment only to bless him. The Swami refused to use anesthesia. He said that one could lose body consciousness without the anesthesia; and that when he did so, the doctor could perform his surgery. The Swami then lay in 'savasana' and lost consciousness of his body in yogic state. The doctor performed the surgery with deep reverence and devotion. All through the surgery the Swami lay without any movement. The doctor was simply amazed. He realised that the physical state of Jnanis were beyond their medical world, that the surgery he had conducted was only for his own good and that the diseases of Mahans were only their Lila. The vision of the Swami was restored and the doctor earned spiritual vision! The house where Sri Alangudi Periyava lived for nearly one and half years at Mudikondan village 'Alangudi' Periyava, fully aware of the day whence he would shed his mortal coil, arrived at Mudikondan village. The fortunate ones there served him in various ways. The Swami decided to celebrate Lord Nrisimha Jayanti during Vaikasi month in 'yuva varusha' grandly. He celebrated Nrisimha Jayanti every year. A Bhagavata Saptaham was arranged in this connection. He gave discourse on the Bhagavatam in his own unique way. On the day of Sri Nrisimha Jayanati, celebration of Sri Rukmini Kalyanam came to an end in the evening. It was the last day of Bhagavata saptaham. At the end of the discourse, 'Alangudi' Periyava gave a brief discourse on Prahlada charitra, as it was the day of Lord Nrisimha Jayanti. He was narrating the scene of Prahalad offering his prayer to Lord Nrisimha. When the Swami was speaking on the verse that says, "Oh, one of such great glory! Self-illuminating, verily the Time, holding the Universe within Thee, Thou shines with splendour without being affected by 'prakriti'. Here am I suffering, being caught in the wheels of life. Hey, Nrisimha, My Lord! Please take me unto Thy Feet!" A divine light ['jyoti'] shot out of the top of his head. A few spiritually evolved people were blessed to witness this. The pure body of 'Alangudi' Periyava was buried as per scriptural injunction laid down for a sanyasi.   Place where Sri Alangudi Periyava attained Sidhdhi.  A a very big hall in those days, the two side walls were constructed later.  Sri Alangudi Periyava attained sidhdhi in the corridor just before the grill gates seen in the photo Left: The sanctum sanctorum at Sri Bhagavatha Bhavanam of Sri Alangudi Periyava at Mudikondan village Right:  The sacred Adhisthanam of Sri Alangudi Periyava at Mudikondan Village The article is adapted from 'Alangudi' Sri Swayamprakasananda Saraswati Swami Divya Charitra published by Sri Sri Alangudi Swamigal Aradhana Sabha Trust.

Mahan Of The Day :-SRI SESHADRI SWAMIGAL

HISTORY OF SRI SESHADRI SWAMIGAL

INTRODUCTION

Everyone at some stage in his life, sits up and thinks: Where from he came? Where is he heading for? What is he doing? And what he should do? He also ponders as to how to overcome death and how to get salvation. He longs for God - realisation while still in this body and understands that such god-realisation is the knowledge that destroys death and grants everlasting bliss and that it is the paramount need of any man before the body may drop down any moment. Here he looks for guidance and feels assured that God has not left him in lurch. India, has given to mankind several Saints, Sages, Rishis, Sidda-purushas from time to time.

The aim of life is to make it sublime. It is the Saint who has reached that stage. He has shown us the path, which we have to tread in this world of materialism and uncertainty, to reach the goal of life. Books like Upanishads and Bhagavad-Gita contain the theories on Self-realisation, while the Saints and their life are the laboratories where you find them to actual form and practice. One can read an entire library of books and yet not realise the goal of life but if he gets the contact of a "JIVAN MUKTA (Realised Soul)" and earns HIS BLESSINGS, he would get it in no time. One such Mahan (great saint) is Sri Seshadri Swamigal of Thiruvannamalai.

CHILD-HOOD AND YOUNGER DAYS 

At Kanchipuram, in the illustrious Kamakoti family, there lived one Sri Kamakoti Sastri. He was an adept in Sri Vidhya Upasana and had mastered in boyhood itself vedas, puranas, smritis, tharkam, vyakarana and mimamsa. Besides these he had another valuable talent- music (gandharva veda). His brother's daughter was Maragatham. She was born beautiful and had learnt epics, darma, alankara and music from Sri Kamakoti Sastri. She earned the title "Sahitya Sangeetha Kalavathi" when she was 12 years old. She was given in marriage to Sri Varadharaja Joshyar of Kanchipuram who was also a Sri Vidhya Upasaka besides mastering vedas and astrology. To them - Varadharajar and Margatham- Sri Seshadri Swamigal was born as elder of the two sons. He was born on 22.1.1870 in Hastha Nakshatra (Star) at Kanchipuram.

When he was four years of age he would sing devotional songs and stotras, taught by his mother, in melodious voice and everyone regarded the boy as a Divine-child. An incident at this age of four, gave him the epithet of Hiranya-bahu--one with the golden touch. The occasion was a festival time at Sri Varadaraja Perumal Temple at Little Kanchipuram. Among many, one merchant has brought moulded replicas of Sri Krishna idol. The boy in the lap of his mother noticing it wanted one and at the instance of merchant, the boy picked up one of his choice. On the following day, when the mother and boy were passing through the shop, the merchant came running to them and prostrated before the child and took the two hands of the child and worshipfully pressed them to his eyes, and exclaimed that they are "Golden Hands". He narrated that all the idols were sold away on the previous day when the child picked up one and the normal experience was that only a few will be sold. This was a forerunner to highlight His Grace to devotees, even today.

When he was 5 years of age, he was sent to school in the traditional and orthadox manner. At the age of 7, Upanayanam (sacred thread ceremony) was performed. When he was 14, his father died. By 16 years of age, he completed his education. He had mastered various texts in Sanskrit and Tamil -- the whole Vedanta with three primary texts - Gita, Upanishads and Brahma Sutras, besides Vedas, Nyaya and Vyakarana. He had also mastered music and astrology. When he was 17, his people tried to marry him off, but his paternal uncle Ramaswamy Josyar predicting his horoscope that he will become a Sanyasin (Recluse) and Jivan-mukta (realised soul), dropped the idea.

When his mother was to breath her last, she chanted two slokas keeping her hand on the chest of Seshadri -- one of Sri Adi Sankara -- (Sat Sangatve - in Baja Govindam) which meant that the company of the good led one in time to solitude and thence to emancipation and the other sloka indicated the sacredness of Arunachala -- how merely by thinking of it, one attained ultimate Bliss. Repeating the word "Arunachala" in her tongue, she breathed her last on the lap of Seshadri. He took these two slokas from her mother for guidance in his life. Arunachala stands for Lord Shiva in Agni (fire) form at Thiruvannamalai. He drew a picture of Arunachala by instinct. His personal Gods were Goddess Kamakshi of Kanchipuram and Sri Rama - the divine avatar (God in the form of a person) depicted in Ramayanam (a great literary work of Bharath written by Valmiki Maharishi and adopted by several others in other languages). With the pictures of Arunachala, Rama and Kamakshi his worship was going strong. He had no sleep and no appetite. He will be seen in Chakrath-Azhwar and Kamakshi temples for several hours chanting mantras, slokas, etc. His rigorous and exacting religious practices were viewed with concern by his foster-parents who were taking care of him. He got immersed in Sri Kamakshi's divine form and regarded himself as Goddess Parvathi (Sakthi aspect of Brahmam). He began doing his meditations in Rudrabhoomi (cremation ground) which was resented and questioned by his people. He was wandering in the streets of Kanchipuram, when he met a Gouda Sanyasi, Sri Balaji Paramahamsa, who finding him worthy and fit, took him as his disciple). On the due date, Seshadri's father's annual ceremony was performed by his brother. To give him his father's blessings, he was brought home forcibly and kept locked in a room. At a stage, when the room was opened his relatives noticed that Seshadri had disappeared from the locked room and then only realised his greatness and attainment. He was 19 years of age then. After sometime he was noticed in the temple precincts of Sri Mukteswara at Kaveripakkam, 20 miles away from Kanchipuram.

One day, in the temple, a big serpent came out; Seshadri beckoned it and it came and coiled over his body and held its hood over his head. Those who witnessed were awe-struck. Seshadri now "Seshadri Swami" was unperturbed. His act showed that all creations of Almighty are alike and is all pervasive. When pleaded, he refused to go back home and was heading for Thiruvannamalai - keeping his mother's direction and guidance - and passed through various towns, villages, hills; At the age of 19, in the year 1889 AD, he reached Thiruvannamalai and never left its outskirts, till HE attained Mukti on 4.1.1929 AD. His Holy-body was interred in a Samadhi, witnessed by Sri Ramana Maharishi and several devotees, at Thiruvannamalai - Tamil Nadu (South India) and is worshipped daily.

SPIRITUAL LIFE IN THIRUVANNAMALAI

His 40 years of spiritual life in Thiruvannamalai showed that Swamigal was God himself. Speaking and walking among People, he was Sanchara-Dakshinamurthi (God as man on the move). His biography vividly shows that he was a Jivan-mukta (a realised soul while in body). He did not have body-consciousness and was in ever communion with his Atman (Soul). He saw atman in everything-animate and inanimate. He was seen going round and round a stone pillar and doing pranams (offering his worship) and saying that he was seeing God in it. Similarly he used to worship animals-buffalo, donkeys--seeing God in them. Sometimes he would embrace people on the road including ladies and say that he saw para-sakthi (mother aspect of Brahmam) in them. He did not have any fixed abode. He was always on the move. He will be seen at many places within a few minutes. He will be in rags and dirty clothes. He will enter any shop on the roads and pull out anything from them. The shopkeepers revered him and considered his visit and touch as a great blessing. If anyone gives him a new cloth, he will wear it for a while and give it to someone. Sometimes he will be seen going half-shaven. He appeared without a bath and his hairs matted and hung pell-mell round his neck. There was always a heavenly-smile in his face. Eyes always remained half-closed and turned inward in eternal contemplation. When opened they looked beautiful and slightly orange-tinged like a full moon. If at all he sat, he was in Swastik Asana, with his ankles crossed and the rest of his body poised over and out of contact with the ground. He was often seen at Sri Arunachaleshwara temple – at Kambattu Ilayanar (Murugan) Sannidhi. There was a devotee by name Manikkam, who used to beg in the streets and collect some food and offer it to Swamigal. If Swamigal does not eat, he too would not eat. The stale food would remain for days and Swamigal may some times take it not minding its foul smell. So was his detachment from the body and things of the world. All were alike to him. He was a saint of advanced spirituality. He possessed supernal powers and Godly possession. There was total abdication. Sthitha-pragna state spoken in chapter II of Bhagavad-Gita and Mano-nasam (control of mind) mentioned in various scriptures including Bruhadarinya Upanishad are the "states" the Swamigal attained. He did not get entangled in siddies (Spiritual powers) attained by him. Sri Swamigal was one of the greatest saints of our land and whose holiness has few parallels.

One Vitoba Swamigal was at Polur, 10 miles away from Thiruvannamalai. On the day Vitoba Swamigal attained Mukti, Sri Seshadri Swamigal was running in the streets of Thiruvannamalai shouting that Vitoba was ascending to Heaven. His power of clairvoyance was astonishing. The news from Polur reached Thiruvannamalai much later.

When Sri Ramana Maharishi was in his younger days doing meditation in Pathala Linga cave of Arunachala Temple, it was Sri Seshadri Swamigal who gave him protection from urchins and brought him to the notice of the world that there was a great soul in Sri Ramana. Ramana, younger in age used to be called Chinna-Seshadri (Little Seshadri). Sri Seshadri was called Mother Parvathi and Sri Ramana as Skanda (Lord Subramanya). There were instances when devotees have experienced that Seshadri was Ramana and Ramana was Seshadri. They were contemporaries and each knew the greatness of the other. Sri Ramana's presence, when Sri Seshadri's body was interred and Sri Ramana's personal reading and approval of script of Seshadri's Biography showed Ramana's reverence for this great Mahan. Many were his beneficiaries. Sri Vallimalai Swamigal, Kavyakanta Ganapathi Muni and Bhanu Kavi are to cite a few. Even men of ordinary walk of life had their several ills-mental and physical cured. Several had initiation in mantras according to their eligibility.

Sri Chandrasekarendra Saraswathi, Maha Periyaval of Sri Kanchi Kamakoti Peetam was reported to have said once "will I become like Seshadri Swamigal". Such was the greatness of Sri Seshadri Swamigal.

Mahan Of The Day : -Bhagawan Nityananda

Bhagawan Nityananda
Bhagawan Nityananda as a young yogi
Date of birth	1897
Place of birth	Tuneri, Koyilandi, Kerala, India
Date of death	August 8, 1961
Place of death	Ganeshpuri, Maharashtra, India

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

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. 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.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".

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.

Adult life

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

 

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.

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." 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.

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.

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.

Nityananda’s Guru

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.

Bhagawan Nityananda, died August 8, 1961, supreme Avadhut and Siddha Guru of Ganeshpuri, India. He was considered by everyone who knew him to be a janmasiddha, one born in the state of enlightenment. His name, which means "everlasting bliss," is a description of his exalted state. During Bhagawan's lifetime, thousands of people flocked to his ashram, just to be in his presence. They might sit for hours waiting for him to appear. It did not matter. Bhagawan rarely spoke. It was not necessary. What mattered and is well documented, is the transformation that occurred in countless people's lives. As early as the 1920s he traveled northward across Kerala and Karnataka states, gaining a reputation as a miracle maker wherever he went. Many hundreds of people gathered around him for blessings and for cures. Many miracles (including spontaneous healings) and instructive stories are attributed to him. His successor is Sathya Sai Baba (Sathya Sai Organization, pamphlet)
 
Leader claimed to perform miracles: 

"a reputation as a miracle maker wherever he went. Many hundreds of people gathered around him for blessings and for cures. Many miracles (including spontaneous healings) and instructive stories are attributed to him"