User:Heymerenaath/Swāmī Sharnānandjī

=Swami Sharnanandji Maharaj=

Summary
Swāmī Sharnānandjī Mahārāj (? - 1974) was a modern day Indian saint who has been hailed as the living embodiment of the teachings of Bhagavad Gītā. <ref name="All biographical details are drawn from a small book-let called, Prabōdhanī. This book is now out-of-print and has been incorporated into a book called Sant Jīvan Darpaṇ, compiled by Swāmī Advaita Chaitanyajī and published by Mānav Sevā Sangh.  Swāmī Advaita Chaitanyajī is the current spiritual leader of Mānav Sevā Sangh. This essay primarily draws upon Swamījī’s five books recently translated from original Hindi into the English: Prabōdhanī, Sant Hridyōdgār, Krantīkārī Santvānī, Sant Jīvan Darpaṇ, and Prashnōttarī.  The cited quotations from his other books have been newly translated into English for the purpose of this page." /> He was amongst the rare Indian saints of 20th century who left an indelible impression on the minds of the seekers. Brilliant knowledge, irrefutable reasoning, simple faith, and one-pointed devotion—all of these qualities were extant in him to the highest possible degree. Still, he never made the mistake of regarding all these divine qualities as his own. .He is regarded as a “revolutionary saint” because he is known to have utterly abandoned all dependence on activity and objects.ref name="Ek Advitīya Sant: An Extraordinarily Unique Saint Par Excellence." /> Many saints, scholars, and seekers regard him as the crest-jewel of saints, a 'Sant Shirōmani' –A Saints’ Saint (Santo ke Sant). Swāmī Sharnānandjī’s clarion call to the humankind can be summarized into three exhortations—1) Serve the world; 2) Discover Thyself; and 3) Love the Divine. By examining the three universal human propensities—of doing, feeling, and thinking—into truest of actions, love, and knowledge, he ultimately fused the paths of selfless action, divine love, and transcendental knowledge into one unitary principle. Swāmījī did not use to insist on or oppose any system of spiritual practice. He never imposed his viewpoint on others. He proclaimed: “Many philosophies; one life.” He lived all his life anonymously, personifying the following creed: Nothing is mine. I do not need anything. I am nothing. Almighty God is my own.

His teachings are dedicated to the spiritual emancipation of the individual and the creation of an elegant society. According to Swāmīji, the most beautiful picture of human life is as follows: Let the Body be of service to the world; Let the ego be free from pride; and Let the heart be filled with Divine Love.

Birth and childhood
Very little is known about the life proceedings of Swāmī Sharnānandjī Mahārāj in the form of a chronological order. <ref name="All biographical details are drawn from a small book-let called, Prabōdhanī. This book is now out-of-print and has been incorporated into a book called Sant Jīvan Darpaṇ, compiled by Swāmī Advaita Chaitanyajī and published by Mānav Sevā Sangh.  Swāmī Advaita Chaitanyajī is the current spiritual leader of Mānav Sevā Sangh. This essay primarily draws upon Swamījī’s five books recently translated from original Hindi into the English: Prabōdhanī, Sant Hridyōdgār, Krantīkārī Santvānī, Sant Jīvan Darpaṇ, and Prashnōttarī.  The cited quotations from his other books have been newly translated into English for the purpose of this page." />The biographical fragments that are available are mostly in the form of reminiscences recorded by many seekers who came in his contact besides some incidents narrated by the saint himself from time to time. What is known though is that, Swāmījī hailed from the Northern part of India, and belonged to a well-to-do family. Since childhood itself, Swāmījī had immense love and compassion for all beings and was always motivated to help others. Swamījī had very mesmerizing eyes, which unfortunately, he lost at the age of about 10 Years. This caused immense grief to his family and in turn to Swāmījī.

Inspiration for Sann'yāsa
After the loss of eyesight the following question arose in the mind of 10-11 year old child: “Is there such a state of happiness which is free from sorrow?” He received the answer that such happiness, which is free from sorrow, is only accessible to sādhus and saints. His mind started constantly dwelling on the thought of becoming a sādhu. A true spiritual preceptor (Sadguru saint) met him. They talked. The saint advised him to take refuge in the Divine protection. The saint’s words left an indelible impress on his young, tender heart. Immediately upon accepting God's refuge, there rose in his heart an intense longing to meet God. This longing loosened the noose of all relationships with the body and the world. At the age of 19, he took the formal vow of renunciation (sann’yāsa) and was given the name of Swāmī Sharnānandjī. From that time onwards, he gave up all dependence upon objects and companions and, observing the strict discipline of sann’yāsa, started living by relying solely on God.

Philosophy and teachings
The most unique feature of Swāmījī’s discourses and books is that in them there is no mention of any scriptural proof. His original and unique views stand on the intrinsic soundness of his own first-hand experience. Swāmījī knew that the self-evident truth needs no proof. In his view, “Truth is limitless; it cannot be confined to books, etc. Truth is free to provide its own introduction….Not only is it capable of being its own introduction, this truth is also capable of illuminating the hearts of its devout readers….Such a straightforward and irrefutable exposition of the utmost intricate philosophical truths and spiritual mysteries has not been seen elsewhere.” During his entire life Swāmī Sharnānandjī shunned all forms of name and fame. He eschewed giving his name on his books, for he believed that it was not right to claim ‘individual’ credit for the ‘universal’ wisdom and did not want to confine the Voice of Truth to a particular ‘name and form.’ He taught that there is really nothing that is ‘personal’ in life. All wisdom is single unitary movement proceeding solely from the Supreme. All his books bear the byline: ‘the founder-saint of Mānav Sevā Sangh.’ As an ideal saint surrendered to the Supreme, he favored to proclaim and celebrate the Glory of the Lord alone. The total available corpus of his written and recorded legacy consists of some 100 discourses spanning about 50 hours and about 40 books in the Hindi language. The central theme of Swāmījī’s teachings revolves around one key question: How to seek the [spiritual] welfare of the individual and create an elegant society? In Swāmījī’s view, one can transform one’s moral character by restraint of senses, selfless service, contemplation of God, and search for Truth. And in the renunciation of one’s rights and the protection of the rights of others lies the secret of an elegant society. Once Swāmījī gave the following advice to an aspirant ‘The day you will understand that the world is not made for you, but you are made for the world—the very same day the picture of [your] life will change.’ Elsewhere he explains that compassion and freedom from jealousy are the harbingers of peace in the world: ‘Become at once happy to see one who is happier than you; and be compassionate towards the unhappy—this is the master key for fostering the world-peace.’ By taking the following ten vows, one becomes useful to oneself, to the society, and to the Divine: A. Methodology to make our life useful to ourselves: i. To be free from the ‘sense of me my and mine’ ii. To be selfless iii. To be free from the sense of entitlement iv. To be free from the pride of doership B. Methodology to make our life useful to the world: i. To regard no one as evil ii. To wish evil for no one iii. To do no evil unto anyone C. Methodology to make our life useful to the Divine: i. To accept the reality of heard God ii. To have devoutness and faith iii. To accept kinship with God

Swamiji's Prayer
In Swāmījī’s view, for a God-believing person, Prayer is life! The following prayer was composed by Swamījī and provides a succinct summary of his philosophy and its practical significance.

O’ Lord!

By Thine Nectarine Almighty

Purifying-Motiveless Grace,

Grant the strength of renunciation

To those afflicted with sorrow;

And strength of rendering

Selfless service

To those who are happy;

So that they may be released

From the bondage of happiness and sorrow,

And become blessed by

Thy Divine Love!

Mānav Sevā Sangh
Swāmī Sharnānandjī established Mānav Sevā Sangh in 1952 so that through its medium, for centuries to come, humanity’s needs regarding knowledge, faith, and action may be served. Its main is in office is in Vrindāvan (India). It has about 44 branches all over India. Besides Vrindāvan, it also has āśrams in Jaipur, Kānpur, Gāzipur, and Rāncī. The need for establishing this organization was felt due to the fact that Swāmījī did not want to publish, under his personal name, the universal system of thought that he developed in response to his internal struggle. Swāmī Sharnānandjī became Brahmalīn in the year 1974. After Swāmījī, his foremost disciple, Param-Viduṣi, Divya Jyōti Devakī jī took care of the administration of the Mānav Sevā Sangh. In 1992, Devakī jī too became one with the Supreme Divine Light. After that, Swāmījī’s disciples Swāmī Advaita Chaitanya jī and Sādhvī Arpitā jī have been taking care of the operations of this organization.

Basic Principles of Humanity: Eleven Rules of Mānav Sevā Sangh
Swāmī Sharnānandjī developed eleven principles that precisely encapsulate his message regarding the cultivation of the individual leading to the development of society:

1.Self-introspection or seeing one's own faults in the light of the intrinsic faculty of discriminative wisdom (viveka).

2.Resolving not to repeat any mistakes committed previously and praying with a simple faith.

3.Applying discriminative wisdom regarding oneself and faith regarding others; that is, to apply justice for oneself and love and foriveness for others.

4.Transforming one’s own moral character by restraint of senses, selfless service, contemplation of God, and search for Truth.

5.Not considering others' duties as one's own right; others' generosity as one's own goodness; and others' weakness as one's own strength.

6.Despite having no family or societal ties with others, to have mutual interaction and benevolence in accordance with the sentiment of famly; that is, to have the unity (universality) of affection despite the diversity of actions.

7.Serving through actions those close to oneself to the best of one’s capability.

8.Practicing moderation and self-restraint in diet and living habits and self-reliance in daily tasks.

9.Embellishing one’s personality by making the body hard-working, the mind disciplined, the intellect discerning, the heart loving, and the ego pride-less.

10.Regarding the objects as more important than money, the people as more important than objects, the discriminative wisdom as more imprtant than people, and the Truth as more important than discriminative wisdom.

11.Making the future bright by giving up useless worrying and by making proper use of the present.

Life Episodes
Once, Swāmījī was sitting in a train compartment. A Christian priest also came and sat there. After a while, he asked if he knew Jesus Christ. Swāmījī replied calmly, “Yes, I do know Jesus.” The Priest asked Swamījī again what he knew about Jesus. Hearing this question, Swamiji replied with great pleasure and confidence: “Dear Brother, Jesus is the son of God and I am God’s friend; Jesus is thus my real nephew. I know his very well; Jesus is very dear to me.” That an Indian Sann’yāsin clad in orange robe will consider Jesus as his very kith and kin in spirit- the priest could have never even imagined such relationship. He was stunned to hear Swamiji’s reply. In Swāmījī’s view, theism is such an all-pervasive truth of human life that the differences of temple, mosque, and church cannot possibly create divisions in it. A person who engages in religious warfare while being a theist is actually a big atheist. Because the true meaning of theism lies in acknowledging a spiritual relationship with God! According to Vaishnava belief system, this is verily the worship of God. An episode of a meeting of Pujaya Swāmī Sharnānandjī and J. Krishnāmūrtī, a pre-eminent thinker of modern era, is reported to have taken place as follows— Shrī Swāmījī Mahārāj arrived at the place where Shrī Krishnāmūrtī was staying in Delhi. Shrī Krishnāmūrtī welcomed Swāmījī with utmost respect and affection. He had Swāmījī sit on a special chair while he himself sat on an ordinary chair. The conversation started through the medium of a bilingual interpreter. Shrī Swāmījī said, “You keep on negating everything. So, then, do you accept non-existence or nothingness?” Shrī Krishnāmūrtī immediately said, “No, no, there is life; there is life!” Hearing this, Shrī Mahārāj jī said, “Would you mind if I call that God what you call life?” Hearing this, Krishnāmūrtī jī became quite and did not give any reply. Later on, while discussing about this meeting, Shrī Swāmījī Mahārāj said that in the last book that Krishnāmūrtī jī has written, he had stated that ‘in the awakening of love lies the fulfillment of life.’ But, dear brother, love will exist only when there is some object of love (Premāspad); in this manner, he [Krishnāmūrtī] has indirectly accepted the reality of God. Once a person told Swāmī Sharnānandjī that if those who had lot of wealth, were to give half of their wealth to the poor, the poor would also be able to live a comfortable life as a result. Sharnānandjī asked him if he was convinced about his conviction. The person said that he was. Sharnānandjī told him, “I have no eyes while you have two eyes; so please give one eye to me. With one eye, we both will be able to get by.” Hearing this, the person immediately ran away. It is because people are jealous inwardly to see others’ wealth; however, outwardly they indulge in empty talk about the welfare of the poor. Therefore, there is no greater benefactor of man than the Lord. Swamiji’s style of questions and answers was incomparable. Deftness of expression, liberating humor, and sharp reproach for the purpose of dispelling doubts accompanied by motherly love—these endearing qualities were a special source of attraction for the spiritual seekers. Enlivened by inner- realization, Swamiji's irrefutable reasoning had the utmost clarity, firmness, and doubtlessness. We present below a few examples of his unique style of clarifying doubts of the seekers through question-answer style: Question—Swāmī jī! What is realization (bōdha)? Answer—At the foundation of all and everything, there is an uncreated eternal essence. This essence alone has the independent reality. To know this essence indeed is called realization. Question—Why do we notice others’ faults? How to notice and overcome one’s own faults? Answer—Because we do not notice our own faults. Everyone has the ability to notice merits and demerits. We should apply the same ability in noticing our own faults as we apply to notice the faults of others. The development of a person comes to a halt by prying into the faults of others and by noticing one’s own merits. Question—How to attain spiritual freedom? Answer—“Expect nothing; be of service.” Expecting nothing, new attachment is not formed; being of service, existing attachment comes to an end. Question—What is the obstacle in spiritual method? Answer—To regard others as the cause of our sorrow is the biggest obstacle in following the spiritual method. Whoever we regard to be the cause of our happiness, we get attached to that person; and whoever we regard to be the cause of our sorrow, we develop aversion toward that person. While attraction-aversion (rāga dveṣa) remain, true expression of spirituality is not possible.

Swāmījī used to never speak after having first thought about the topic. Many times, per context, he has said. "Dear Brother! I also listen just like you do. I am listener too." The streams of knowledge and love used to flow spontaneously in his ego-free speech, hearing which great pundits used to say—and still say so—that the profound mysteries of philosophy that could not be comprehended by years of scriptural study have become clear in the discourses of this unlettered saint.

Views of Seers and Learned people about Swamiji
Acknowledging Swāmījī’s book, Sant Samāgam, the erstwhile President of India, Dr. Rajendra Prasad, was pleased to observe: “I have had the privilege of meeting Swāmījī on one or two occasions, and I was very deeply impressed by the way in which he dealt with most complicated problems in a simple, intelligible way. I am therefore very happy to receive the two volumes in which you have collected some of his discourses.” Swāmī Akhandānandjī Saraswatī reminisces: “Shrī Rāmsukhdāsjī told me that Swāmī Sharnānandjī’s thought-process was very subtle and deeply profound. He used to express each matter in his language based on his self-contemplation. Upon thinking over it, it was not found in any way to be contrary to the scriptures.” Swāmī Advaita Chaitanyaji, the current spiritual leader of the Mānav Sevā Sangh, observes, “Pujaya Swāmī Rāmsukhdāsjī Mahārāj was a unique admirer of the immortal words of the founder-saint of the Mānav Sevā Sangh. He used to designate the philosophy of Swāmī Sharnānandji Mahārāj as the ‘Seventh System’ (Human Philosophy). He generally used to inspire his close circle community to read Swāmī Sharnānandjī Mahārāj’s books. He used to regard Swāmī Sharnānandjī Mahārāj’s words as irrefutable (akātya).” In Swāmī Rāmsukhdāsjī’s assessment, “In Sharnānandjī’s books, it becomes evident that he wants the readers to attain realization, and not merely to ‘teach’ the readers. His words have the effect of the bullet of a gun. He states his position in a tacit manner so that the spiritual aspirant may not just learn empty words. Instead of just making the seekers go through the drill of “practice,” he used to have them “acknowledge” (the Truth); instead of the “intellectual exercise,” he used to let the seekers “experience” (the Truth) directly.”

Literary works
All of Swāmī Sharnānandjī’s discourses have been published in the form of a series of books called Sant Vānī—vol. 1-8. These books deal with the art of living a spiritual life. In addition, Swāmījī dictated several of his books in the form of philosophical essays to his foremost disciple, Param-Viduṣi Devakī jī, who, in her pre-sann’yasa days, was an eminent professor of psychology. In addition, Devakī jī also compiled and coordinated the publication of Swamiji’s discourses and other books. All of Swāmī Sharnānandjī’s books are currently available in Hindi language. The English translation of his books has also begun; five of which are now available in e-book format, soon to be released in the printed book form. Please see below a list of these books under references. Almost all of his discourses are also available in audio format. A complete list of his books is given below: (in alphabetical order) 1.Chit-Shuddhī (in two parts)

2.Darshan aur Nīti

3.Duhkha kā Prabhāv

4.Jīvan-Darshan (in two parts)

5.Jīvan-Patha

6.Jīvan-Vivéchan (in seven parts)

7.Krāntikārī Santvānī

8.Mānav Sevā Sangh kā Parichyey

9.Mānav Kī Māng

10.Mānav-Darshan

11.Mānavtā Ke Mūla Siddhānt

12.Mangalmeya Vidhān

13.Mein Kī Khōj

14.Mook Satsang and Nitya Yōg

15.Pāthyey (in two parts)

16.Prashanōttrī (in two parts)

17.Preranā Patha

18.Sādhan-Nidhi

19.Sādhan-Tattva

20.Sādhan-Trivenī

21.Safaltā Kī Kungī

22.Sant Hridayōdgār

23.Sant Jīvan Darpaṇ

24.Sant Pattrāvalī (in three parts)

25.Sant Vānī (in eight parts)

26.Sant-Samāgam (in three parts)

27.Sant-Saurabh

28.Sant-Udbōdhan

29.Satsang aur Sādhan