User:Titodutta/Prabhat Ranjan Sarkar

Prabhat Ranjan Sarkar (21 May 1921 – 21 October 1990), also known by his spiritual name, Shrii Shrii Anandamurti (Ánandamúrti is a Sanskrit word meaning "Bliss personified"), was an Indian philosopher, author, social revolutionary, poet, composer and linguist. Sarkar was the founder of Ananda Marga (the Path of Bliss), a spiritual and social organization that offers instruction in meditation, yoga. Sarkar was a prolific author and produced an extensive body of works that includes theories aimed at increasing human welfare such as the Law of Social Cycle, the Progressive Utilization Theory, the Theory of Microvitum as well as the philosophy of Neohumanism. Ananda Marga, began in India in 1955 and by the mid 1970s had become a worldwide organization.

His system of spiritual practice has been described as a practical synthesis of Vedic and Tantric philosophies.

Sarkar is today considered by many as one of the most prominent philosophers of India. As the Norwegian sociologist Johan Galtung, winner of Right Livelihood Award and founder of International Peace Research Institute in Oslo, Norway, said: "Sarkar will probably stand out as one of the truly great in this century, so much deeper and more imaginative than most... He is an intellectual giant of our times.". The former President of India, Giani Zail Singh stated: "Sarkar was one of the greatest modern philosophers of India.". Leonardo Boff, Brazilian founder of Liberation Theology also said: "Sarkar, who did more than thirty years of studies and practical concrete work with the poor population of India, is very important for all who yearn for a |liberation which starts from economics and opens to a totality of personal and social human existence..."

Early life
Sarkar was born during the full moon of the Indian month of Vaeshakh (Buddha Purnima), on 21 May 1921 (at 6:07 in the morning) from Lakshmi Narayan Sarkar (who died on 1936 in Jamalpur, Bihar, British Raj) and Abharani Sarkar, in the small town of Jamalpur, Bihar, India. Sarkar was the fourth child in a family of eight children. The first was a sister, Hirprabha, who was born on 1917 and died on 1990 (six months after Sarkar's departure). The next two were a sister, Kanakprabha, who died at the age of two and half of smallpox, and a boy who died at birth. Prabhat Ranjan was the fourth and after him came Sudhangshu Ranjan. His younger sister, Bijaliprabha, died at the young age of 18. The two younger brothers are Himanshu-Rajan and Shrii Manas-Ranjan. The only surviving members of the P. R. Sarkar family are the three brothers Sudhangshu Ranjan, Himanshu-Rajan and Manas-Ranjan.

Sarkar was known as an exceptionally bright child in his youth, practicing meditation by himself at an early age and displaying great knowledge of various languages and various topics; knowledge which was reportedly not gained in school, reading books, nor listening to teachers or any other outer source.

In 1939 Sarkar left Jamalpur for Kolkata to attend Vidyasagar College of the University of Calcutta. During his time in Kolkata, he stayed at the house of his maternal uncle, Sarat Chandra Bose (aka Sarat Chandra "Basu"). Sarat Chandra's brother was the famous Indian social activist Subhash Chandra Bose, one of the most prominent leaders in the Indian independence movement (a legendary figure in India today). He was the founder of the Indian National Army an Indian national force against the British colonizers (and therefore also against the allied Western powers) during World War II which helped India to finally achieve its independence in 1947. These two figures were the greatest leaders of the movement to gain independence from England. Another renowned personality with whom Sarkar had a close relationship was the revolutionary sociologist Manabendra Nath Roy. Over a period of several years, both Subhash Chandra Bose and M.N. Roy frequently met Sarkar.

In 1939 on 2 August (at 8:30 P.M., on the full moon day of Shravani Purnima ), Sarkar initiated with Tantrikii Diiksa or "Tantric initiation" a notorious criminal by the name of Kalicharan Bandyopadhyay (after aka Kalikananda Avadhuta) into meditation at Kashi Mitra Gh’at on the bank of the river Bhagirathi in Kalikata (Kolkata), West Bengal, India and helped to reform his life. This was the start of Sarkar's spiritual teaching at the early age of 18 and many unknown Sadhakas ("spiritual aspirants") were initiated from then up to 1955.

Sarkar had to quit his studies in order to support his family after the death of his father, and from 1941 until the early 1950s, Sarkar worked as an accountant at the Indian railways headquarters in Jamalpur, Bihar, India for the next twenty-five years of his life. He taught the techniques of ancient Tantra meditation to a select number of his colleagues and gradually more and more people were drawn to the spiritual practices he taught.

Ananda Marga
In 1955, at the behest of his followers, Sarkar founded Ánanda Márga ("The Path of Bliss" in Sanskrit), a socio-spiritual movement with a two-part mission that Sarkar stated as "self-realization and service to all". His system of spiritual practice has been described as a practical synthesis of Vedic and Tantric philosophies. Sarkar's ideas are collected in the series of books called “Subháśita Samgraha”, which form part of the philosophical scriptures of Ánanda Márga ideology. The Subhásita Samgraha ("Collected Discourses") series assembles all the Dharma Mahácakra (DMC) discourses given by the author as Shrii Shrii Ánandamúrti. The books expound in simple, lucid and rational ways, many important aspects of the Divine Nature of human beings, or Bhágavata Dharma in Sanskrit. While interpreting the various spiritual ideas, he has discussed and quoted relevant portions from other scriptures such as the Rámáyańa, the Mahábhárata, the Bhagavad Gita, the Quran, Tantric, Yogic, and Vedantic literature, etc. to illustrate various aspects of Dharma and philosophy. Sarkar's ideas are steeped in the ancient spiritual tradition of humanity, considerably developed in India, yet revitalized by him with new meaning and universal approach.

Shrii Shrii Ánandamúrti (meaning "Bliss personified") as he was called by his early disciples oversaw the formation of an order of monks and nuns who came forward to dedicate their lives to the practice of meditation and service and who were able to teach the same to others across India and abroad. P. R. Sarkar aka Shrii Shrii Ánandamúrti continued his job in Jamalpur, Bihar, India to support his family as the main breadwinner after his father's demise until 1966, when he finally assumed the role of president of Ananda Marga's organizations full-time. During the latter part of his life his main residence was in Lake Gardens in Kolkata, West Bengal. He also spent much time, especially early on, in the all-round development community he founded based on his PROUT socio-economic theory at Ananda Nagar, partly in Purulia district in rural West Bengal.

Ánanda Márga opened regional offices in various countries, including the USA in 1969, and by 1973 had established approximately 100 local centers teaching yogic and social philosophies, with several thousand members, some living communally in the ashrams.

Spiritual philosophy
Sarkar's teachings on spiritual philosophy are based on a rational and universalistic approach that has been described as an innovative and practical synthesis of Vedic and Tantric philosophies.


 * Cosmology: Sarkar describes the universe as a result of macropsychic conation — the entire universe exists within the cosmic mind, which itself is the first expression of consciousness coming under the bondage of its own nature. With the evolution of unit beings, individual life, the extroversial projection of the "Cosmic Mind" starts the return journey in an always unique and colorful fashion. No two entities of this universe are the same, and yet all have the same goal to merge once more with their source, the infinite Cosmic consciousness. As such, the cosmological flow is from limitless consciousness to limited consciousness and back to limitless consciousness.
 * Realms of the Mind: according to Sarkar's philosophy the human mind is composed of five layers called Kosas: 1)Annamaya Kosa ("food layer") or "Crude Mind": is the physical or crudest layer. 2)Manomaya Kosa ("layer of thinking") or "Subtle Mind": is the layer of thought and memory. 3)Atimanasa Kosa or "Supramental Mind": is the intuitive layer. 4)Vijinanamaya Kosa ("layer of the special knowledge") or "Subliminal Mind": is the layer of conscience or discrimination (viveka) and vaeragya (non-attachment). 5)Hiranyamaya Kosa ("golden level") or "Subtle Causal Mind": is the subtlest layer. Here the awareness of mind is very close to the direct experience of "Supreme Consciousness".
 * Biopsychology: Sarkar's "Biopsycology" explains how the traditional tantric science of chakras ("wheels") with their subtle energies are related with the body through nerve plexi as physiologic counterparts, influencing the associated endocrine glands with the neuroendocrine system and the psychic part of the body. The philosophy of Ananda Marga consider the human body as composed of the same five fundamental factors as the rest of the universe as explained in P.R. Sarkar's theory of Brahmachakra. Every factor is distributed throughout the body, but is controlled by a controlling nucleus, or cakra. Mind's propensities (vrttis) associated with each cakra affect the glands and the hormones secreted from those glands (hence the emotions, physical behaviour and functioning of the various body systems). But the glands and the hormones they secrete may also affect the mind in a chain of feedbacks.
 * Microvita theory: "Microvita" is plural for "Micro-vitum" and literally means "micro-life". The concept was first introduced by P.R. Sarkar on 1986 through a series of lectures. According to this intuitional theory microvita are entities which come within the realms both of physicality of psychic expression. They are smaller and subtler than physical atoms and subatomic particles, and in the psychic realm they may be subtler than mind–stuff. The author predicts that they will soon be recognized by conventional science. In Sarkar's microvita theory microvita seems to be the first expressions of life. However, this concept, still in its infancy, conceives of various types of microvita, both positive and negative, at varying degrees of evolutionary existence.

Sadhana
A central point in Sarkar's philosophy is the concept of Sadhana. He describes Sadhana as a practice for "the transformation of fearful love into fearless love". Sadhana is concretized in particular with the practice of meditation for complete merger and unification. Sarkar recommends to his disciples the daily practice of individual meditation and the weekly practice of collective meditation. These meetings called Dharma Chakras are preceded by the singing of few Prabhat Samgiita (or "Songs of the New Dawn", composed by P. R. Sarkar himself) followed by Baba Nam Kevalam kiirtan, then the mantra called Samgacchadvam. At the end of the collective meditation the mantra Nityam Shuddham, then the spiritual gathering will end with the Guru Puja mantra.

Social cycle theory
The concept of Varna describes four main socio-psychological types, whereby human psychological and physical endowment and social motivations are expressed: the Vipra (intellectual), Kshatriya (warrior), Vaishya (acquisitor) and Shudra (laborer). Varna, in Sarkar's perspective, however is more than just a psychological trait but rather an archetype, approximately to Michel Foucault's notion of epistemes, which are broader frameworks of knowledge defining what is true and real.

Sarkar's "Law of Social Cycle" applies these traits in a theory of historical evolution, where ages rise and fall in terms of ruling elites representing one of the above mentioned traits. This "law" possibly connects to the earlier cyclical historical ideas of Sri Aurobindo, with a focus on the psychology of human development, as well as Ibn Khaldun, among other macrohistorians ideas about cycles. However, along with a cyclical dimension — the rise and fall of ages — Sarkar's theory exhibits a correspondent linear dimension, in that economic and technological "progress" are considered critical in terms of meeting the changing material conditions of life. Ultimately, for Sarkar, true progress has to prioritize development in the spiritual dimension.

Spirituality for Sarkar is defined as the individual realizing the "true self". In addition to yogic meditational practices and purity of thought and deed, Sarkar attached great importance to selfless social service as a means of liberation. Sarkar considered it necessary for the social arrangements to support the inner development of human beings and rejected both capitalism and communism as appropriate social structures for humanity to move forward to the golden age of a balanced way of life sustaining all-round progress. A serious problem with capitalism was according to Sarkar the concentration of wealth in a few hands and stoppages in the rolling of money which he considered root causes of recessions, even depressions. A spiritual way of life, however, would in no way be divorced from creating structures that help meet the basic, though ever changing, needs — food, housing, clothing, health and education.

Sarkar claims to have developed both Ánanda Márga and the Progressive Utilization Theory as practical means to encourage harmony and cooperation in order to help society escape this proposed cycle. Sarkar argues that once the social cycle is understood and sadvipras evolved, then the periods of exploitation can be largely reduced, if not eliminated. With leadership that is representative of all aspects of the varnas — that is, the leader engaged in service, who is courageous, who uses the intellect for the benefits of others, and who has innovative/entrepreneurial skills — the cycle can become an upward spiral. Sarkar's concept of karma samnyasa refers to the principle that a yogi becomes a person with all-round development and a balanced mind, that he called a sadvipra; and that this is accomplished by someone who remains fixed on the "supreme" consciousness through transformative personal practices and engaging in the politics of social liberation as a form of service work.

PROUT: progressive utilization theory
The Progressive utilization theory| ("progressive utilization theory") is a socio-economic theory first mentioned in 1959 by Sarkar in his speech "The Cosmic Brotherood". To popularize and implement PROUT, Shrii Sarkar established the organization, "Proutist Universal", which primarily consists of five federations (students, intellectuals, farmers, labor, and youth). The proutist economy as described by Sarkar is a form of cooperative and decentralized economy that looks more at the collective welfare rather than to profit, without neglecting the promotion of the individual merits of each. "Progressive utilization" stands for the optimization and maximum utilization of natural, industrial and human resources on a sustainable basis for the entire ecosystem. This theory, that claims to overcome the limitations of both capitalism and communism with his Law of Social Cycle founded on Sarkar's "Social Cycle Theory", is not concerned solely with economics. In 1968, Sarkar founded the organization "Proutist Block of India" (PBI), to further the ideals of his theory through political and social action. The PBI was soon superseded by "Proutist Universal" (PU). According to its proponents PROUT encompasses the whole of individual and collective existence - physical, educational, social, political, mental, cultural and spiritual - not just for human beings but for all beings.

Neohumanism: liberation of intellect
In 1982, Sarkar extended his writings on the subject of human society with the introduction of his new theory of "Neohumanism". If humanism tends to contemplate only humans in a human-centric view, Neohumanism, according to Sarkar's theory, is instead the elevation of humanism to universalism. This is because, as described in the theory of Brahmachakra, all existing things are expressions of the same Supreme Consciousness. Accordingly, Neohumanism gives preference to existential value over utility value for all living beings. Sarkar's Neohumanism places great emphasis on rationality and encourages what he calls a protospiritual mentality. According to Sarkar, rationality helps to give rise to devotion, which he consider to be the "highest and most valuable treasure of humanity". In Sarkar's view, Neohumanism leads to the liberation of human intellect from the constraints of imposed dogma and psychic complexes helping to bridge the gap between the inner and outer worlds. Neohumanism is both a reactive and a proactive philosophy. It promotes social activism in the form of identifying and exposing harmful influences. And it promotes personal development through appropriate physical, mental, and spiritual discipline.

Education
According to P. R. Sarkar "Education is for Liberation." Education means the simultaneous development in the physical, mental and spiritual realms of human existence. By this, dormant human potentialities will be awakened and put to proper use. As Sarkar made clear in his teachings, real education leads to a pervasive sense of love and compassion for all creation. in the Ananda Marga's education system, special emphasis is given to moral education and the inculcation of idealism together with a proper psycho-pedagogical approach and an happy blending of occidental extroversial science and oriental introversial philosophy.

Sarkar's persecution: unjust detention and final release
From Ananda Marga’s inception, the movement stood for universalism and opposition to irrational practices such as casteism. Ananda Marga had to face opposition from conservative Hindu circles and as well the Communist movement in West Bengal. Sarkar's PROUT theory, although first propounded in 1959, began to popularize in the mid-1960s.

In 1971, some of Ananda Marga's members were attacked and killed, and Sarkar was arrested and imprisoned pending trial for allegedly conspiring to their murder. Kept in jail for several years under poor conditions, Sarkar maintained his innocence all the while. His followers, meanwhile, claimed that he was only imprisoned for his spiritual and social teachings.

Under a declared opposition from the Indian government of Indira Gandhi, Sarkar received life sentence (Barker 1989: 168), which was overturned in a retrial in 1978. From the beginning of his imprisonment, Sarkar complained of the alleged torture of several of his monks. Sarkar claimed that on 12 February 1973 he was poisoned while in Bankipur Central Jail, Patna. His demand for a judicial investigation in his poisoning was, however, not granted by the authorities and consequently he started a long protest fast 1 April 1973 on a daily glass of yoghurt water until his ultimate release, five years and four months later.

On 4 July, after the end of the emergency period in India he was granted a retrial by the new Government. Sarkar's conviction was overturned on appeal and he was exonerated of all charges. He was found innocent on all counts. It was only when he was released on 3 August 1978, that Sarkar broke his fast.

Later part of Sarkar's life
During Sarkar's imprisonment, later shown to be unjust by the courts overturning his conviction, his organisation spread all over the world carrying Sarkar's message of "self-realization and service."

Subsequent to his release from prison, Sarkar was in poor health after his fast for 5½ years, but remained active in promoting his mission, giving discourses on a wide range of topics including spiritual and social philosophy, philology, agriculture, Neohumanism, Microvita, etc. He composed 5018 songs he described as a new school of music called Prabhata Samgiita.

In late 1978 and 1979, he travelled on a world tour to meet disciples in various countries around the world, including Switzerland, Germany, France, Scandinavia, the Middle East, Thailand, Taiwan, Jamaica and Venezuela. He was banned from entering the USA by the State Department, as a result of his problems with the government of India, and instead met his American disciples in Jamaica in 1979.

Just before he died on 21 October 1990, he founded Ananda Marga Gurukula (7 September 1990) - an educational network to preserve and develop his legacy through research, teaching and service. P.R.Sarkar laid the foundations of a university at Anandanagar in West Bengal, India and as its founding President he also provided many guidelines for the remoulding of educational systems in the world.

Works
Although Sarkar spent only seventeen years of his life working full-time for his organizations (1966–1971 & 1978–1990), he left behind a vast legacy, including over 250 books written on a wide variety of topics. Many of this books are compilation or collections of speeches given by the author during spiritual or social meetings.

He is primarily known as the spiritual teacher behind Ananda Marga, but Sarkar wrote over 1500 pages on his economic Progressive Utilization Theory (PROUT), with several thousand more pages dedicated to linguistics and the study of languages; Sarkar's writings on linguistics included among other works, Shabda Cayanika ("A Collection of Words"), an unfinished, twenty-six volume dictated encyclopedia on the Bengali language. Beyond this he wrote books on sociology, agriculture, history, literature, education, medicine, cosmology, and philosophy, also notably founding the philosophy of Neohumanism in 1982 and the Theory of Microvita in 1986.

On 1982 Sarkar started composing songs. In eight years, until the date of his death, He completed the composition of 5018 songs in multiple languages. This vast collection of songs is called Prabhat Samgiita ("Songs of the New Dawn").

Prabhata Samgiita
Prabháta Saḿgiita is a new trend in the world of music. The compositions are known as "Songs of the New Dawn". In Sanskrit, Prabháta means "dawn", and Saḿgiitaa means "the totality of song, instrumental play, and dance".

It came into being when Prabhát Ranjan Sarkar composed his first song at Deoghar, India on 14 September 1982. Over the span of eight years, the Prabháta Saḿgiita grew rich in content, style, and variety. On 20 October 1990, the day before Sarkar's departure, the number of Prabháta Saḿgiita stood at a staggering 5018.

In Prabháta Saḿgiita one will find a variety of temperaments, such as devotional songs, songs of mystical love, songs of social consciousness and ecology, Marching songs, songs depicting the various stages, feelings and experiences in spiritual meditation, songs about seasons, songs about Krishna and Shiva, and many more. The composer used a variety of forms and styles with elements spanning from classical to folk music. Most of the songs of Prabháta Saḿgiita were composed in Bengali; however, over forty songs were composed in other languages that include: English, Sanskrit, Hindi, Urdu, Magaht, Maethili and Angika.

Prabháta Saḿgiita is now a full-fledged school of music with its own distinct style. It has heralded a new genre in the realm of music and culture and tries to inspire its singers and listeners to shake off depression and melancholy generating vitality for life. Rhythm, tempo and melody, are the hallmarks of these songs together with its strong spiritual ideation, and optimism.

Literary and philosophical production
Sarkar's literary production is very wide. Between 1955 and 1990 the founder of AMPS wrote a total of 261 books in English, Bengali and Hindi. He wrote in the name Shrii Prabhat Ranjan Sarkar when treating sociology, economics, philology and various other subjects, included children's tales; and in the name Shrii Shrii Ánandamúrti when focusing on spiritual topics. Many of his books he gave as dictations; others were compiled from his discourses, some of them in small inspirational pocket-books.

Linguistic work
Sarkar also advocated against any language discrimination, whether declaring languages as dialects for serving political or nationalistic ends or denying their rights, such as oppressing its field of expression in media, education, courts and so. He advocated the rights of Maithili, Bhojpuri and some others.

He wrote many books and volumes of etymological encyclopedias focusing on phonetics, morphology, dialectology, acoustics, syntax, etymology, grammar and semantics. He mainly deals with the Sanskrit and Bengali languages and also discusses English, French, Persian, Hindi, Urdu, German, Portuguese, Latin and others. Additionally, he had a strong command of Sanskrit and coined thousands of Sanskrit-derived words in various Indian languages, mainly Bengali.

His linguistic works include:
 * Varna Vijinana — Science of Letters
 * Sarkar's English Grammar
 * Varna Vicitra — Various Uses of Letters (8 volumes)
 * Shabda Cayanika — A Collection of Words (26 volumes)

Sarkar's definition of language
According to Sarkar, there are two forms of language: the language of the inner world or voice, which is only one and indivisible; and the outer manifestation of the former, which is diverse. The former being rather a psychological concept, Sarkar focuses mainly on the latter one.

He says:

"...In that fluidal flow of cognition, bubbles of ideas are created...when these bubbles touch the `unit I feeling', then unit ideas are created...When these ideas concern the unit, the unit `I' tries to express them through its own psycho-physical structure. It endeavours to express its unit desires and longings according to the capacity of the vocal chords and its hormone secretions. These reflections or refractions of ideas are expressed either within or without....These expressions within and without are collectively called language."

His definition of language can be to some degree compared to Jerry Fodor's extreme innatist theory or to Naom Chomsky's Universal grammar.

Sarkar's criteria for distinguishing languages and dialects
There are no universally accepted criteria for distinguishing languages from dialects: cf. Mutual intelligibility, Ausbausprache, Abstandsprache and Dachsprache, Variety (linguistics), A language is a dialect with an army and navy.

Sarkar, approaching the question of "language or dialect", enunciated eight main criteria for a language to be called a "language", and the rest "dialects". He considered these criteria to be strictly linguistic rather than political or cultural.

"Every language has its own special characteristics. It is these characteristics that set one language apart from another."

According to Sarkar, no language or dialect should be subject to political or cultural exploitation, rather all languages, language varieties and dialects should be given full scope of expression in every arena of life. Their nomenclature (language, dialect, variant etc.) should be a hundred percent scientific, taking into consideration only linguistics, sociology and literature.

In Varna Vijinana, he lays out eight criteria for a language:
 * 1) Own verb endings (or own conjugation)
 * 2) Own case endings (or own declination)
 * 3) Own pronouns
 * 4) Own vocabulary
 * 5) Own oral or written literature (does not matter whether classical or folk)
 * 6) Own style of intonation
 * 7) Own acoustic notes ("psycho-acoustic and inferential acoustic")
 * 8) Own syntax

The first book of Sarkar was Ananda Marga Elementary Philosophy. It was originally published in Bengali in the year 1955 (the same year the book was translated in Hindi and later on published in English). This book continues to hold its place as an introduction to the entire AMPS philosophy. In the same year Sarkar's Problems of the Day was published. In the book the author explains key concepts of his ideas: "We are all citizens of this universe. The universe is the thought-projection of the Macrocosmic Mind, and it is in the extroversial and introversial phases of the Cosmic imaginative flow that the creation, preservation and destruction of all entities continues." "Parama Purusa (Supreme Consciouness) is our Father, Parama Prakrti (Supreme Operative Principle) is our Mother, and the Universe is our homeland". Another important book in three volumes is Ananda Marga Caryácarya, published for the first time in 1956. This is the social treatise (samája shástra) of Ananda Marga. These three volumes set out both the organization and the cultural basis of the Ananda Marga movement. Part 1 describes AMPS governing boards and committees, and guidelines for social functions. Part 2 gives many guidelines for conduct in a progressive society i.e., a society of individuals moving towards the Supreme. Part 3 contains all the dos and don'ts related to physical health that must be followed for progress in mental and spiritual sádhaná.

The fourth book dictated on 1957 from Sarkar as Anandamurti was A Guide to Human Conduct. Herein the author explains the cardinal principles of morality together with the ancient teachings of self– control and selfless conduct, and at the same time places those principles on a clear scientific basis. On his (later expanded) volume Yogic Treatment and Natural Remedies, 1958, Sarkar gives practical advices on Natural Remedies using yogic exercise, water, diet, herbal medicines, sunlight and air. In his sixth book Idea and Ideology, a collection of speeches delivered to higher Tattvika trainees from 27 May 1959 to 5 June 1959, Sarkar methodically explains, in a careful sequence, spiritual and social practices. Here is described for the first time a socio-economic theory which Sarkar called "Progressive Utilization Theory", known by the acronym Prout. It concludes by using the spiritual vantage that has been gained to focus on the social problems of the earth.

On Ánanda Sútram, 1961, Anandamurti condensed in a few strokes all his spiritual and social Philosophy. Ánanda Sútram means "aphorisms leading to ánanda, divine bliss. In the traditions of sutra literature the sútra form has been valued over the centuries as a powerful tool for communicating a deep philosophy in a condensed way. The eighty–five sútras of this book serve, with breathtaking conciseness, as a framework for the entire Ananda Marga ideology.

A large part of Sarkar's ideas are collected in the series of books called Subháśita Samgraha, which form part of the philosophical scriptures of Ánanda Márga ideology. The Subhásita Samgraha ("Collected Discourses") series assembles all the Dharma Mahácakra (DMC) discourses given by the author as Shrii Shrii Ánandamúrti.

Historical and geological work
In many lectures P. R. Sarkar gave explanations and suggestions on archeology, geology and the history of civilization. A big part of this lectures are collected in many books.

Ráŕh
In the book Ráŕh: The Cradle of Civilization, originally published in Bengali in 1981, Sarkar spoke about Ráŕh. Ráŕh is the very oldest region that has remained above water of Gondwanaland (the name given by geologists to a super-continent as they consider it to have existed hundreds of millions, of years ago). According to Sarkar, the tantric tradition of this very ancient land is even older than Shaeva Tantra, the Tantra of Shiva. As he said on the first chapter: "Ráŕh was not only the starting-point of civilization, Ráŕh represented the first-ever steps towards cultural progress... People of many lands started converging on Ráŕh... China called Ráŕh by the name of Láti Greece called it Gauṋgá Rid́i and the Aryans called it Rát́t́ha".

Disciples
The yogi Kalikananda was Sarkar's first disciple. As a young man he had taken to criminality. After confronting Sarkar in a remote area with the aim to rob him he was instead attracted to the path of bliss by Sarkar. Another disciple is Ravi Batra, an economic writer living in Dallas, Texas. In his works, Batra has relied heavily on Sarkar's Social Cycle Theory and PROUT, a theory of sustainable and equitable economics. Another noted disciple is futurist Sohail Inayatullah, who has become a major interpreter of Sarkar's work.