English edizione
Shri Mahendra Baba
Dr. Gopal Prasad Pathak
01
Extra Ordinary Personality
I bow my head to Shri Mahendra Bhagwan, who has a tall body, a grand forehead marked with a round red kumkum mark. His hands hold a great scripture and a unique garland of "Rudraksha".
Having been incarnated in this world, respected Shri Mahendra Baba changed the natures of numerous people for the better. To the people of the world he seemed wonderful and great incarnation of God. To his devotees he identified Shri Munindra Maharaj (Baba of Hairakhan) as the form of Almighty God and encouraged his desciples for devotion towards him. When the people worshipped devotedly, he revealed Shri Baba of Haira Khan and introduced his (God's) divine light.
Shri Mahendra Baba had the power to reveal and show the eternal powers of Gods - i.e. Brahma, Vishnu and Mahesh etc. at the request of devotees. He showed the visions of Krishna and Shiv many times to their respective devotees.
A person who went to Shri Mahendra Baba for fulfillment of his wish was satisfied completely, e.g. if someone wished to acquire wealth he would get it in due time. Similarly a person making a wish to get a son would see his wish fulfilled with his blessings. Poetic talent was granted to lovers of poetry and revelation of God to the religiously inclined people.
There were also many devotees of Shri Baba who considered him to be everything. They wanted their salvation drinking the nectar of his lotus feet. He fulfilled the wishes of his devotees of all kinds.
02
His Childhood
Honourable Shri Mahendra Baba was born on 4-3-1908. His birthplace was the village of Manika in the district of Samastipur (Bihar). His father was Mr. Kanthu Jhaa and the mother was Mrs. Dayeeji. His father lived in Satlakha (District -Darbhanga). Manika was the village of his mother's maternal home. In his childhood he was looked after by his maternal grandparents and was given the name Mahendra Babu. Until the age of twelve years he sometimes visited his father's home but after that he never went there.
He lived in his maternal grandparents house and lived a prosperous life. He got regular secondary education upto college and then studied different languages like Sanskrit, English, Gujrati, Bengali, Marathi etc. privately. With the co-operation of his maternal grandfather he obtained Knowledge in Philosophy, Yog Shastra, Dharma Shastra, Karma- Kand etc.
03
Theophany in Childhood
He suffered from a very high fever once when he was a child . He prayed to Lord Sada Shiva and to the Goddess Durga to get relief from the ailment. In this condition of sickness he experienced the sensual perception of Lord Sada Shiva and Goddess Durga. By her mere appearance the Mother Goddess Durga cured him. By the blessing of the Goddess, Shri Munindra Bhagwan (Sada Shiva) revealing his supernatural form blessed him with unfailing divine power.
04
Abandoning of Home and Barefooted Journey
Shri Mahendra Baba, at the age of twenty two years renunciated the worldly attractions of his birthplace and his parents and set about in search of the creator and nourisher of the world. He walked barefoot through the provinces of Bihar, Bengal, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, United Province, Punjab, Sind, Kashmir, Kailash, Nepal, Tibet, etc. From 1930 to 1946 he noted the details of his barefooted journey vividly in his diary.
Metaphysical Percepts and Manifestation of
05
God's name
Shri Mahendra Baba, during the course of his journey preached religiously and propagated the importance of the remembrance of the names of Shiva, Durga, Rama, Krishna or any other form of deities. He wrote one book " Nama Sadhan " to reveal the special importance of "The chanting of the Name". He propagated the paths of devotion as explained by Gita and Ramayan, for human welfare. He himself recited and encouraged the recitation of Durga Saptashati and Shri Ram Charit Manas by others. He performed himself and encouraged others to perform rituals and oblations. He propagated the cult chiefly in Bombay, Gujarat, Rajasthna, Braj Area, Karanchi and Kumaon Region etc.
06
Perception of Goddess Radha
In 1940 when Shri Baba was in Vrindaban he saw the actual appearance of Goddess Radha the mother of the world. Upon the clear order of Goddess Radha he lived in Lohwan in Mathura. During this period at Lohwan, while pursuing God devotedly and performing pure rituals, he visited all the places of Braj area. He lived simply and taking light food spent time in meditation. His body resembled that of actual God shiva when he sat in meditation after consuming intoxicating hump (Bhang).
07
Reappearance of Goddess Durga
During his pilgrimage in 1946 he once again reached the city of Ambaji via Abu Road. After spending several days in a guest house near the temple of Ambaji, Goddess Durga reappeared before him and ordered him to visit the caves in the mountains of Almora and Nainital in search of his providential master. Consequently he proceeded to the Kurmanchal area (in the districts of Nainital and Almora)
08
Second Perception of Munindra Maharaj
(Shri Baba Hairakhan) After returning from Ambaji, Shri Mahendra Maharaj visited the area of Kurmanchal i.e. Kumaon. After spending two years he reached Shitalakhet, a village in the district of Almora. He then spent a few days at Siddhashram which is on an altitude lower than Shitalakhat.On a Tuesday in 1946 (Asharh Krishna Chaturthi, Vikram Samvat 2006) as he was thinking of continuing his hunger strike it happened. God Shri Munindra Dev appeared before him. Earlier Shri Mahendra Baba had seen the pictures of Shri Munindra Dev and was surprised and confused. But as he appeared. God Munindra Dev Shri Haidakhan Babaji cleared his mind of all confusions and blessed him as he had blessed him earlier in his childhood, Shri Shiromani Pathak was a great devotee of Shri Hairakhan Ke Baba i.e. Shri Munindra Bhagwan. He was residing in Shitalakhet when Shri Mahendra Baba reached there. Shri Pathakji narrated many stories about Shri Munindra Dev to Shri Mahendra Baba in the same ashram (Siddhashram) and identified Hairakhan village as the action place of Bhagwan Munindra Maharaj.
09
Reaching Hairakhan Village
Following the directions given by great devotee Shiromani Pathak, Shri Mahendra Baba located the chief reclusory (Ashram) of Hairakhan with other ashrams of Munindra Bhagwan in the same year 1949. Shri Mahendra Baba was tremendously impressed by the scenic beauty of the hills, Gautam Ganga river and the Shiva Temple. He has mentioned the undescribable pleasant tranquility and sensation of unique beauty of this place in his spiritual and sacred volumes.
The old villagers of Hairakhan narrated many tales of Hairakhan Baba's selfless deeds for the upliftment and benefit of the people to Shri Mahendra Maharaj as he himself experienced the same.
10
Composition of Munindra Sukta
Once Shri Mahendra Baba spent a night in the cave which was constructed by Shri Munindra Bhagwan Babaji on the banks of the river Gautam Ganga. At midnight as he sat meditating, verses in Sanskrit language poured out from his heart in the praise of Shri Munindra Bhagwan. The following are the verses of Shri Munindra Sukta :
I bow continuously to Munindra Bhagwan who is residing peacefully on the great Mount Kailash and who is the embodiment of kindness for ever.
I pay my obeisance to the Perfect Master who resides in Hairakhan, whose remembrance alone grants success and mastery to the devotees.
I bow continuously at his feet alone whose look full of grace makes the mankind happy and prosperous
I bow to the Lord who has a soft body and a heart full of softness, whose speech is very gentle and whose punishment too is very tender.
I bow to the perfect master who is detached and devoid of any ill feelings towards any one, who is forever helping others and who looks kindly upon all things moveable and immoveable.
Every moment do I remember the Supreme Lord who is the perfect Master, who is the only backbone of virtues, who is accessible through meditation, who has a beautiful heart, who is the apostle of truth, Divine Consciousness and pleasure.
He (Munindra Bhagwan) is Hari for the meditator, while He is a devotee of Hari who is engaged in meditating upon Hari every moment. Hence the wordly souls should attain the abode of Hari by drinking the nectar of Hari's name.
O my Lord Munindra, you are my only shelter, who have no wordly belongings and yet who gives Divine knowledge which is rare to the ignorant souls which are enamoured by the world.
You are the Sun of knowledge who removes the darkness of ignorance from everybody's hearts. You are the Soul of all Souls and the very life of Mahendra.
During his stay at the same Shiva Temple of Hairakhan village Mahendra Baba wrote two books "The sacred Remembrance of Hairakhan Baba" (Hairakhan wale Baba ki Punya Smriti) and "Devotion of Name" (Naam Sadhan) on his second and third visit.
11
Perception of God's Divine Light
In May 1952 Shri Mahendra Baba went to Siddhashram near the village of Shitalakhet in the district of Almora. Many devotees went with him. I too got the chance to visit Siddhashram with Shri Baba on this occassion. My mother Lalita Devi Pathak, Uncle Shri Jagdish Prasad Sharma and his sister Kapuri Devi were also there.
One day, at noon, Shri Mahendra Baba drew attention of all devotees towards the God Samba Sadashiva who was in the form of a divine light. The divine light was very resplendent and unique. It was seen on 20th, 21nd and 22nd of May 1952. Having seen the wonderful sight of the divine light of God, all the devotees praised their good fortunes.
12
Perception In Dev Guru
After one year of the aforesaid event , in 1953 Shri Mahendra Baba saw Shri Munindra Bhagwan (Sada Shiva) in the village of Dev Guru. On this occassion Shri Munindra Bhagwan ordered Shri Mahendra Baba to stop the worship and meditation which were extremely tough and trying. Obeying the order of his lord and master Shri Mahendra Baba stopped the practice and began to write the scriptures about Shri Munindra Bhagwan.
13
Strenghtening of Trust In God
In his religious discourses Shri Mahendra Baba explained very often that Shri Munindra Maharaj of Hairakhan was an incarnation of God Shankar (Shiva). Shri Mahendra Baba, when in Haldwani, occasionally used to go for morning walks towards the airport. He would take his disciple Shri Bankeylal Pathak with him on Sundays. My respected father (Shri Bankey Lal Pathak) had a strong desire for perception of Munindra Bhagwan in the form of Lord Shiva. To prove his statement about Shri Hairakhan Baba. Shri Mahendra Maharaj asked my father to accompany him for his morning walk on Sunday 24ᵗʰ January 1954. The hilly area begins from near the airport. As Shri Mahendra Baba and his disciple Pathakji were walking from the other end of the airport, they saw the smiling countenance of Shri Munindra Bhagwan. Shri Bhagwan appeared in the youthful form of Lord Samba Sadashiva then, where the forest would be Shri Mahendra Baba fullheartedly bowed at his holy feet. Several questions and answers later, Sada Shiva Munindra Bhagwan gave them his blessing to fullfill their desires. Then Shri Munindra Bhagwan started to glide in the sky and eventually disappeared. By the grace of Shri Mahendra Baba, , his fortunate disciple Shri Bankey Lal Pathak could see the shining body of Shri Bhagwan (incarnation of Lord Shiva) as he glided. Witnessing the last scene of Shri Munindra Sada Shiv, Shri Pathakji's faith renewed strongly in the preaching of his religious master Shri Mahendra Baba.
14
Appearance of Lord Krishna
This events took place in 1954 by the grace of Shri Mahendra Baba. Mahatma Buddha, a Bhutani devotee went in search of Shri Mahendra Baba and found him in the Arya Samaj Temple in Haldwani Mahatma Buddha was influenced very much, as he listened to the religious discourses about Shri Munindra Bhagwan Haidiyakhandi, by his pictures. After some time Bhutani devotee began to urge Shri Mahendra Baba to show him the form of Lord Krishna. On constant persuasion of this devotee, Shri Mahendra Baba sent him to Vrindaban with some devotees to visit some temples of Lord Krishna.
In Vrindaban, the Bhutani devotee saw many statues of Lord Krishna and Radha in various temples.
He was not satisfied on seeing the statues. He wished to see the actual form of Lord. He prepared to starve until death to fulfill his desire and began a hunger strike.
Shri Mahendra Baba was residing in Haldwani in those days. While meditating he became aware of the ambition and condition of Buddha and went to Vridaban after three days.
On the night of Hariyali Teej in 1954 Shri Mahendra Baba revealed the glowing form of Lord Krishna before the devotee Buddha of Bhutan. Shri Mishri Lal Gupta, a wealthy resident of Haldwani and Shri Suresh Chanda Sharma, a resident of Dehradun were also present there on that occassion. Shri Mahendra Baba himself mentioned the revealation of Lord Krishna and Lord Sada Shiva in his divine book "Anupam Kripa"
Mahendra Baba Is the Incarnation of Shiva In the summer of 1956, Shri Mahendra Baba went to Ayodhya and Varanasi with his disciples Shri Mishri Lal Gupta, Shri Bankey Lal Pathak and Shri Devki Nandan Mahashay. In Varanasi, when Shri Baba was performing his ablution in Ganga, he revealed his form of Shiva. Several snakes entwined his head and body and the head of Shri Baba was glowing with Divine Light. The devotees could not fathom this "Leela" of Shri Baba.
15
Organizing Religious Functions
In the months of May and June of 1957, Shri Mahendra Baba organised a religious function for 21 days to honour and worship the unique pictures of Munindra Bhagwan Hairakhandi. Shri Bhagwat Katha, Ramlila and Raslila of Lord Krishna were also performed. It was evident that the Supreme Being, the Gods and Goddesses were pleased by the devotion of Shri Mahendra Baba and the devotees. On the last day of the function all the devotees experienced the blessings of God.
16
The First Installation of Munindra Bhagwan's Statue
The first ever statue of Shri Munindra Bhagwan was installed in a temple in the village of Kathghariya (Dist. Nainital) on Sunday, 24-2-58 (Falgun Shukla Panchami Samvat 2014). On the previous night Shri Munindra Bhagwan incarnation of God, displayed his Divine body, glowing in the form of Divine Light, to hundreds of people present there, in mid-air. After a few moments, this light from of the Divine Body entered the statue of Shri Munindra Bhagwan (which was to be installed). This happened due to great devotion of the devotees to Shri Munindra Bhagwan, Due to this mass perception of God the devotees firmly trusted the devotional powers of Shri Mahendra Baba.
17
Construction of Samba Sadashiv Kunj
After constructing the temple in Kathgharia. Shri Mahendra Baba constructed the reclusory (Ashram) in Virndaban, Mathura. This ashram was named Shri Samba Sadashiv Kunj. It was built near Brahmakund. After six months of the installation of the statue of Shri Munindra Bhagwan (Hairakhan Baba) in Kathghariya, Shri Mahendra Baba removed it from there and reinstalled it in Vrindaban. He asked his devotee Shri Bankey Lal Pathak to shift residence from Kathghariya to Vrindaban. The worshipping of Munindra Bhagwan's statue in Vrindaban began on Radhashtami, Vikram Samwat 2015. The statue installed by Mahendra Baba is giver of all success, as it is said :
I bow my head to Shri Mahendra who installed this beautiful statue in sacred town of Vrindaban. The humans who meditate upon it succeed immensely.
Another statue of Munindra Bhagwan was installed in the temple of Kathghariya. Residing in Samba Sadashiv Kunj, Shri Mahendra Baba gave a lot of Knowledge about Shri Bhagwan and very clearly instructed his devotees and disciples, the method of worshipping Munindra Bhagwan. He inspired chanting the name and devotion to God, from time to time. He also ascertained the importance of worshipping and adorations to the footwear of Guru (Charan Paduka) at the functions of Guru Purnima and Prakatyotsava in the month of Falgun of Indian calendar.
Staying in the same Ashram, adorable Mahendra Baba composed several unique and wonderful holy scriptures like "Shri Divya Kathamrit". "Anupam Kripa", "Ashirwad Aur Adesh", "Avashyak Karma" etc. All the scriptures are in Hindi out of which some are translated in other languages.
18
Metaphysical Instructions of Shri Mahendra Baba
TRUTH : Shri Mahendra Baba says about truth : "No other religion is greater than truth. Truth is the ultimate perfection. God is perfect in the form of truth, where there is a pure and complete unity of mind (thoughts), speech and action.
SIMPLICITY : Simplicity is the name of natural life. Simplicity is consumable, by devotees, like the nectar. Animals are better than those human beings who do not have a good or simple nature. All the virtues can be obtained without any hard efforts if there is simplicity in life.
LOVE : Pure heart is filled with love. According to Shri Baba love and God are one. They are inseparable. The existence of love in heart is required to worship God Almighty.
He who has adopted the three virtues of truth, simplicity and love shall succeed in life. Mahendra Baba, in his divine scripture "Divya Kathamrit", wrote:
O dear brother ! The religion which gives happiness to the mankind is truth, simplicity and love.
Mental devotion of Baba (Baba's Mansa Yog) Religion and God have connection with the mind, and mind is the source and means of attaining them. The result of all the practices of devotion is based on our faith and trust originating from our mind. You will have to maintain your extreme concentration of mind, only then you will be able to devote your mind in devotion to God. Mind is a part of God. On being separated from God, mind becomes very mournful. This mind of man will be connected with the divine virtues only by the remembrance of God alone. In fact, there is no other in this world, as Almighty God who hears our prayers immediately. Therefore, disengaging our mind from everything else, and devoting it to God is the first step in the practice of this Yoga. This is mental devotion.
Tolerance and remembrance are the two basic virtues which help the person to attain the practice of mental devotion perfectly. Shri Mahendra Baba has himself mentioned about the perception of God through mental devotion or Mansa Yoga :
Converging the steadfast passions and restraining the race of mind in the heart, the accomplisher or devotee should meditate upon Almighty God in his mind. Thus the meditator achieves the Supreme Power - God.
19
Chanting of Name
One is undoubtedly happiest when he lovingly worships God. Remembering his name with immense love is the key. Shri Mahendra Baba said :- The flow of thoughts should be directed to heart. Our heart which is engaged in worldly thoughts should be made to remember the name of our desired God. Mind is like a horse hence it should be shown the right direction. All desires bear fruits by chanting God's name. The efforts bear positive fruits. Shri Baba has ordered that one should continuously chant, in solitude, the name of desired deity which is given by one's own religious teacher. He has not set the limitations of time and place for chanting the name of God. Baba also ordered to chant at a particular time and place regularly if one cannot do it continuously.
To those who desired to meditate upon a certain deity, Shri Baba taught the chants of the same. But to those who had a firm faith in him, Shri Baba gave them the chants of Shri Munindra Bhagwan Hairakhandi to meditate upon. These chants are known as "Mantra". It is Baba's preaching that God already dwells in our hearts. We have to purify our hearts or souls to realise the presence of God in our hearts. The heart will be purified by the chanting of God's name thus remembering him always.
As Shri Baba has written in "Divya Kathamrit" :
O dear ! Purify the heart by chanting His name. God is already present in your heart.
He who has practised to chant continuously the name of God given to him by Sadguru, has obtained unlimited happiness.
21
The Last Darshan
Shri Mahendra Baba abandoned his physical body on 23-06-69 in the evening in Haldwani (Nainital). His last rites were performed by his loving disciple Bankey Lal Pathak on 25-06-69 at noon in Vrindaban. Resting on the burning pyre, Shri Baba, lifting his right hand, blessed the devotees. This was a unique event in entire history. The devotees experienced mixed feelings of grief and happiness.
Even after his departure from this world, whenever his disciples felt unrestful or in great pain, Shri Baba appeared and blessed them. In other words, even today, whenever his disciples remember him in their hour of grief, Shri Baba certainly removes their grievances himself. His statues are installed in temples at many places and are worshipped with perfect religious rituals. The devotees and disciples have experience of immense satisfaction and peace when they bow before idol of Shri Babaji.
Author © : Dr. Gopal Prasad Pathak, Lecturer, Shri Hiralal Pathak Bhavan, Lohwan, Mathura (U.P.) श्री महेन्द्रालय भगवान श्री महेन्द्र बाबा उपासना गृह, श्री हीरालाल पाठक भवन परिसर लोहवन, मथुरा (उ. प्र.)
20
Social Reformation And Social Service
Shri Mahendra Baba was worried about the declining moral standards of the society. He corrected and improved many people through his preachings and blessings. He used to lovingly compel the dissolute to avoid committing crimes. There are so many anecdotes in his "Sansmaran Granth" depicting instances about how he reformed the thieves, cheats and violent people. He spread his religious thoughts through his devotees too. Shri Bankery Lal Pathak, Suresh chandra Sharma, Mishri Lal Gupta, Raghuveer Dayal Sharma, Girdhari Lal Mishra, Vishnu Datta Shastri, Seth Manherlal Vora, Jagdish Prasad Sharma and others contributed in spreading the religious and moral thoughts of Shri Baba.
He inspired the dear devotees like Shri. Manherlal Vora, Dr. Mansukhlal Vora, Jamnadas Ladiwala, Ambalal Inamdar (Bombay), Lakshmi Narayan Mittal, Ghanshyamdas Mittal (Gwalior), Maharaja Bhawani Singh (Danta State) and others to help the poor.
Shri Baba induced Shri Prahlad Pathak (Ahmedabad), Shriniwas Shastri (Ambaji), Revati Lal Gupta, Kundan Lal Gupta, Devi Charan Rawat (Lohwan), Hari Giri Pandey, Raghuveer Datt Pandey (Haldwani), Jeevan chandra Joshi (Almora), Govardhan Siyal and others for social service and benevolence. He inspired his disciples, like Shri Dwarika Prasad Sharma, Jagdish Prasad Sharma, Shivcharan Rawat, Nirmala Devi, Urmila Devi Tiwari, Kapuri Devi and others with their entire families, to live righteously. All these disciples from Bandikui (Jaipur) were very happy when Shri. Baba resided there for some time. Shri Mahendra Baba arranged several social services during his journeys to various places. For this he accepted the services of many devotees like Shri Girija Shankar Gupta, Chandra Viharilal Gupta, Shyam Behari Lal Gaur (Jaipur), Shraddhanand advocate, Phoolchandra Tiwari Jailor, Ram Gopal Sharma, Art teacher (Alwar), Badri Prasad Sharma, Chhedilal Mahashaya, Shyam Lal Gupta, Gyasi Ram Pathak, Chetram Sharma, Ram Gopal Sharma Post Master (Mathura) and others. Shri Baba arranged for water tanks and wells for the thirsty and food for the hungry. Shri Baba accepted services of Shri Girdhari Lal Mishra (Judge), Lakshmi Narayan Seth, Bhuri Singh Pathak, Dev Dayal Sharma, Het Ram Parasar, Babulal Chhanubhai, Ganga Sahay Maidh and others for the cause. Shri Baba donated grain and cereals, clothes and vessels to the poor on many occassions. To teach good conduct and high moral standards to society he himself composed and published excellent religious literature.
Presence of Baba On Occassion of Crisis Whoever called Shri. Mahendra Baba with sincerity of his innermost self during the hour of distress, Shri Baba appeared there suddenly and helped. Whenever Baba's disciples called him he appeared at that very place, be it in the middle of the road, on running trains, in crowded market places, at junction of rivers, seaports etc. All the distresses or grievances were averted by his mere presence.
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