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Shree Swami Ji Of Pitambara Peetha

Shree Swami Ji Of Peetamabara Peetha was a Hindu ascetic who lived for most part of his life at the temple complex of Pitambara Peeth. There is no knowledge with certainity about his birth, real name, community, native place and other informations nor did he reveal it to any one(a practice very common with Indian Ascetics). He was a devotee of the godess Bagalamukhi, and is said to have perfomed great many miracle for his devotees and others. His life long stay in Datia began in early years of the 1930's untill his death in June 1979, this time period was marked by a large number of events that shows his extraordinary knowledge and more than human capacities. He is also famously remembered for the organization of the Brahm Yagna, during the Sino-Indian War of 1962, to save India from a forign occupation. Since he was a mystic it is not possible to understand all his life by his outer actions, yet his public life was very similar to other indian spiritual men. To an ordinary devotee he was a spiritual master, a staunch nationalist, a very learned man, a vedic revivalist, a political critic, a mystic, very secular person and an authority over the vast ocean of the indian spiritual subjects. He was directly related in establishing the temples of Shree Bagalamukhi Mata and Shri Dhumavati Mata, two very important aspects of the hindu Shaktism. Even to this, after three decades of his death he remains very special to the local population and those who know him for any reason. Belived to a divine being, he is worshiped by most of his devotees as well as in the temple complex of Pitambara Peeth. He left behind a great litrature on a number of topics, though his biggest contribution is seen in the Tantra traditions. All the books written by him and on him are mostly maintained by the Shree Pitambara Peetha Sanskrit Parishad, a religious organization entrusted to regulate all affairs of the Shakti Peetha. The organization is the primary source of all the authenticated information about his life and works. The swami although himself never sought any fame, yet his sheer knowledge and respect made him very popular not only among his devotees but among academicians, Sanskrit scolars, politicians, royal families, religious figures and even people from non hindu communities. The Scindia family of Gwalior, Vaidya Ram narayan Sharma a natable public figure, the former Shankaracharyas Swami Shankaranand, Swami Stayamitranand Giri and Vrindavan Lal Verma, the eminent Hindi scholar, were some of his life long devotees.

Biography

Early Life

As mentioned earlier the swami never told about his early life to any one, so the only trusted sources about his early life were those devotees who met him prior to his entry in the outskirts of the then Princely state of Datia. As per the records entertained by the Shree Pitambara Peetha Sanskrit Parishad, in the book Shree Swami Smariti Granth part I, the swami was going from Jhansi to Gwalior on foot. While on the counrtryside of the Datia city, he was hindered on his further journey due to an injury in one of his feet, due to which he decided to stay for the night in some local temple, that was on the day of July 9, 1929. He went to the temple of Dantvaktreshwar, what is now a temple within the complex of the Pitambara Peeth. The city of Datia then had a large number of great Sanskrit scholars, most of them Brahmins, who would visit the temple daily, and discuss relegious and political matters. Shree Swami Ji was himself a great scolar of Sanskrit language and an authrity over spiritual affairs, and a politicle critic, this cought the attention of the visitors. The news of a highly learned young Sadhu in the small city soon reached to all interested people, Shree Parvat Singh Foujdar, a local landlord, but highly learned and spiritual man, sent his son to invite the Swami to stay at their home (something very auspicious for a hindu) as long as he likes, which the latter accepted. This day marks the begning of the events that will completely alter the identity of the people of Datia, in religious terms.

Some information that surfaced lately about his previous affairs, but is authentic according to the Peetha is that the swami was born somewhere around the Districts of Baliya (in Bihar) and Varanasi (in U.P.). He used to visit a temple of godess Kali which explains his devotion to Shaktism. He passed his Hindi Middle Exams in 1912, his vast knowledge of Parsi and Urdu showed his intellectual leanings. He renounced his home in 1913, became a wandering monk and was in Bengal in 1914. From 1916 to 1919 he cricrossed much of the northern and central India including Nepal and what are now the countries of Pakistan and Bangladesh. By the age of twenty five he was a highly learned man, thanks to his stay in religious places like Varanasi, which he left on January 31, 1926. Shree Swami Ji met a Sanayasi called Swami Anantaananda somewhere in Punjab, who infuenced him to enter the Shakta Marga, i.e. Shaktism, of worship. The same person is believed to have given him the ordined name Swami Amritananda. From there on he came to datia via Dholpur, Gwalior and Datia.

Life At Datia

Shree Swami Ji's life at the Pitambara Peeth was a very public one, right from begning to the very end. It is widely belived that his stay at the Peeth was well planned one, for, as the swami himself would reveal that the place was priviously inhabitated by many spiritual seekers and divine beings and therefore was suitable for his own meditation, which had some ulterior motives. The swami was insearch of a fitting place to complete his lengthy life long worship.He stayed in datia for almost fifty years. The Peeth in the begning had no special features but during the swami's stay it slowly developed in big temple complex, including a Yagnashala. Durig the early years the swami was mostly engaged in the scholarly debates and suggesting some forms of worship or the other to any one who would ask for it. This increased the number of devotees visit the temple daily. Most people would report positive outcomes after they did the worships suggested by the swami, which mostly included repetion of the Mantras. Women however, were not allowed to visit in early days, perhaps because the Peeth lay in far out part of the city.

The Last Days

Shree Swami Ji lived a comparitively healthy life, perhaps due to his yogic practices. The first sign of health problem surfaced on the day of 23 december 1978. The doctors blamed it to the decreased blood sugar in his body. More than a month later he complained breathlessness on 10 february, after which he was taken to Delhi and was admitted in AIIMS. Here he was escorted with the royal families of Dholpur and Gwalior. He underwent Dialysis, for three months, untill he left Dehli for Datia on 12 may 1979. After some time he came to Gwalior where Rajmata Vijayaraje Scindia buyed a Dialysis machine for his healthcare, but as his health deteriorated he was brought to Mumbai and admitted to the Bombay Hospital where he breathed his last on 1 June 1979 at 1:05 P.M.. His body was flown back to Gwalior by a special carrier of the Government of Maharashtra, in the early hours of 3 June, from there his body was brought to the Peeth in Datia by road and laid to rest on the very same day. Being a sanyasin his body was not cremated but burried at the place upon which, now the temple of Shree Amriteshwar Mahadeva stands. Throughout this period of illness the swami was engaged in collecting and dicussing new books, and reportedly was indifferent to any of the health problems.

 Most Important Events Of Life  

Sighting Of The Jinn

Somewhere in early 1930's the swami reported to seen and spoken to a Jinn like figure with whitest white clothing, great grey beared, white skinned and atlest 9-10 feet in height. It may be noted here that the swami was very familiar with the Arabic language and folkfore and hence he named that being as the Jinn. The conversation reportedly was,

Jinn - " You have come here ?"

Swami Ji - "yes I have come,if you wish I may leave"

Jinn - "now that you have come, stay here and complete your work"

after this the Jinn disappeared. The same being is reportedly to have sighted by many locals mostly in early hours fo the day but none could be verified. Shree Swami was of the opinion that the Jinn was here before and would remain for a long time to come.

The Brahm Yagna

During the Sino-Indian War of 1962, the swami being concerned about his country's future decided to organize a Brahm Yagna. This vedic riual according to the swami had not been performed for past 5000 years in that part of the world. But this was no easy task, already bounded by the time constraint, it reqired a hundred Brahmins who recite the Durga Saptashati daily, do not take money for perfoming any rituals and are ordained in the Shakta Marga, i.e. Shaktism. On the top of this it might take great physical labours, since most rituals would continue indefinitely, day and night, untill some divine intervention occurs. Also a cause of worry was the fact the such ritual may give unexpected and harmful results if done without care. Moved by the daily news of the failing indian defences, the swami decided to go ahead with the programme. Accordily sermons were issued, to all parts of India where such willing Brahmins could be found, a large number of them came from Varanasi, as expected. But only 84 such Brahmins could be assembled in such a short duration of time, the yagna began nonetheless. The temple complex was cordoned off for one and all, no monetary help was taken from outside, niether was the programme publicized. The Brahmins started the rituals which among others included the recitation of all the four vedas, use of the spiritualy collected power aginst the enemy of the country and it all supposedly happened under the powers of godess Bagalamukhi and Dhumavati. Godess Bagalamukhi was worship in the days to stop the enemy from further advances(the process called Sttambhan) while godess Dhumavati was worshiped during the nights to force the enemy back(the process called Uchhatan). The durations of the yagna, thirty three days, was marked with supernatural experiences by every one involved in the rituals, the swami would listen to them and based on his interpretation of the signs, wuold decide the next ritual. Even as the Yagna was at its peak, the much expected news of the ceasefire arrived. A personal account by a man, called Gopaldas Mishr, who was involved in the yagna is as follows

'''

" the eighty four Brahmins would recite the Durga Saptashati in the day's light wlth a Samputt'' (that included the name of the then Premiere of China Zhou Enlai), while in the night eleven Brahmins would meditiate, with japa on goddess Dhumavati, from 9 P.M. to 4 A. M. . I was instructed by Swami Ji Maharaj to observe the picture of goddess Dhumavati and report immediately to him as soon as any sign was seen. For ten days the recitations went on unhindered, on the eleventh day, during the midnight a horribly strong animal like sound was heard in the traditional gymnasium situated in the Peeth, all of us were fearful. But interestingly the swami was happy and said "the begning is auspicious, go now and carry on with your work ". Perhaps it was the fourteenth day that I was ordered, by the goddess' picture "I am hungry", I reported to the swami, to that Shree Swami Ji replied "She is always hungry , it very difficult to feed her, yet take some rice, ghee, gur, curd etc.. and feed Her". Accordingly the second next day we went to the pond nearby where a Tantric Animal ate it. Next day the goddess hinted that she remains hungry still, the swami ordered to increase the sacrificial offering. The same Tantric Animal came next day to eat the offerings . The next day the goddess complained that the Japa is lesser by five japamalas, the swami ordered to increase as per the goddess' desire. Finally it was on the twenty first day, that I was almost half asleep that the Mother Goddess appeared and cought my hand saying "sit with Me in the motor and come to China" to which I requested "I am doing the ritual, how can I leave it incomplete ? please You go alone." The Mother sat in the car, just as I heard a sound of starting of the motor, the mother disappeared before my eyes. When I reported this to the swami he lamented that "you did a mistake, you should have gone with the Mother, well now, I will have to go ". Shree Swami Ji and others who were doing the Japa saw that the Mother wielding a whip and punishing the chinese while standing on the bonnet of the car. The very next day it was published in the newspapers that Chinese are retreating and indeed it did so.'                                                        Shree Swami Smriti Grantha part I pg. 288

The worsened relation of the China and the erstwhile Soviet Union in 1960's was according to some participants, the result of the yagna. Some of his life long devotees are of the opinion that this was his single most important event in his life. A good account of this event was published in the Illustrated Weekly of India dated 6 october 1963 0n page numeb 19 under the title Chiaroscuro, although the writer and the corrospondent did not reveal their own identity.

big> Important Books

Siddhanta Rahsaya/ Riddhanta Ratna Manimala

This is his most famous book among Shree Swami Ji's common devotees, it is available in Sanskrit, Marathi, Hindi and English languages. it is also one of the earliest written books by him, it was first published in 1938. The book contains 109 points, out of which first 52 points deals with behaviour of a spiritual seeker with respect to the outer world, the next 19 point deals with the yogic practices containing information about the Mantra yoga, the Hatha yoga, the Raja Yoga and the Laya yoga. The next section covers the Devotional matters in 11 points and next 12 points are devoted to the Gyana Marga including a explanatory dialouge between the Sankhya follower and a Vedantic follower. The last 15 points try to bring harmony among all previously stated methods. It must be noted that the book is itself taken as an authority over many issues. It does not simply presents some infomation rather provides many helpfull suggestions to a spiritual seeker and if followed would result in Divine Grace. As Shree Swami Ji himself has written in the last two lines of the book

"Those who read this book should not disobey the rules laid down here, those who would read the book and ponder over its contents, upon them the all-knowing Lord will surely have His grace, know this to be the fact."

Siddhanta Rahasya, fifth edition last page

Swarodaya Vigyan

It contains many important guiding priciples of the Swaroadaya Science, which itself is a part of the Pranayama meditation. Actually this book is a collection of many different materials published on that same topic and cllected by the swami, some of them are Shiv Swarodaya, Indra Swarodaya by Swami Charana Das of Agra, who it is said, recieved the same from Suka son of sage Vyasa Dev, some 300 hundred years ago. It also contains Deepak Gyana Swarodaya a treatise on the same subject. The swami fearing that this science will disappear if not taken seriously collected all the relevent materials from known and unknown sources and almost revived the practise among his devotees. he himself used to practice the ways enshrined under the texts.

"The science of Swarodaya is an ancient and established one. Although people faith in it is fading, those who know it and use it can about tell all the three times, tell about their health and death. Work done according to it never fails." Swarodaya Vigyan fifth edition pg1,2

Shree Maha Tripurasundari Puja Paddati

This book is intended to worship the goddess Tripursundari as in all traditonal and necessary ways. It was a result of more than three decades of continuous worship of the goddess at the Peeth. The books contains all the required rituals' information, which were included by Shree Swami Ji from time to time, which makes it rather an evolutionary thing than just a traditional work.

Commentary on Eshwar Geeta

This book was written down by him in the year 1929-30, while he was still staying at Shree Parvat Singh Foujdar's place. The book, contained within the Kurma Purana is divided into eleven chapters and 496 shlokas. Its special feature is that, within the text shiva and Vishnu are said to be the same one being, which is generally not found in other text, most of which tends to pose one of them as supreme. While lord Shiva reveals the divine knowledge to the seers and sages, lead by Lord Vishnu Himself, the latter is not pictured as the seeker or any way inferior or superior to Shiva. The subject matter deals with the traditional Indian urge to know the very pupose of the universe and its creater and the repective status of human being.

" This world full names and forms   out of what cause did it came   filled with pain and pleasures   What element lives and dies.   what is the Self, what is liberation   for whom this world is is created   who is the ruler of the world   and who is the seer of it, tell us. " Eshwar Geeta ch 1, shloja 26,27

The book is perfect treatise for the Vedic Sankhya studies.

Commentary on Gherand Samhita

The Gherand Samhita is an treatise over the Hatha yoga. The book assumes importance since Shree Swami Ji himself used to practice some of Hatha yoga exercises, and there for he wrote his own experience and not only a hindi translation of the text.

Vaidic Updesh

This is a collection of Shree Swami Ji's interpretation of the Vedic Matras. Interestingly, these contains many notes in non religious perspective, indicating his deep concern to other parts of the society. This was perhaps his effort to give shape and direction to the Indian society of that period, which was undergoing a huge political change in the aftermath of the British departure. His way was expectedly similar to other contemporary nationalistic leaders like Mahatama Gandhi, Swami Vivekananda et al., who tried to find solution to India's problems from within the huge ocean of its ancient wisdom. Other important books written by him are


 * Shri Bagalamukhi Rahasyam
 * Panchopnishad Commentary
 * prashopnishad Commentary
 * Soundarya Lahari Commentary
 * Purashcharan Paddhati
 * Pratbhigya Hridayam
 * Shiva Sutram (including Spanda Karika)
 * Vedant Prabodh
 * Atharva Vedang Jyotish
 * Saptavinshati Rahashya
 * Tantric Panchag
 * Chida Vilash