Tej Krishen Raina
Jagadguru
Bhagawaan Gopinathji was one among the most eminent Saints that have
ever graced the sacred land of India. Unlike the other Saints, he was
called Bhagawaanji and recognized as such in his life-time as all the
six attributes which that word stands for were prominently seen in him.
He was a Jeewan-mukta, having attained mukti or liberation while still
in the gross body, to which he was not attached in the least. HIS
spiritual state was what the Shaivites call Shaambhavi avastha (the
state of Shiva Himself) and the Vedantins, Brahmisthiti (the state of
ever dwelling in Brahman, or God without form).
With his spiritual prowess, he did a lot of good to many spiritual
aspirants, house-holders and to the country at large. He brought many
sinners round to the path of virtue. Though essentially detached, he
showed much concern for the country and its people as a spiritual icon.
Bhagawaanji also exercised a beneficent influence on the modern age and
the prevailing concepts.
Gopinathji, one among several brothers and sisters, was born in a middle
class Kashmiri Pandit family at Banamohalla, Srinagar, Kashmir on 3rd
July, 1898. His mother, Shrimati Haara Maali, passed away when he was
only twelve and his father, Pandit Narayan Joo Bhan, breathed his last
when he (Bhagawaanji) was in his late twenties.
Gopinathji was educated upto the Middle standard, however, he was well
conversant with Urdu, Hindi, Persian and Sanskrit languages besides
English.
The family into which he was born, being in dire financial straits, he
was asked to take up some work; so, at the young age of fifteen or
sixteen, he started working at a local Printing Press as a compositor – a
job he performed competently. However, he gave up the job after about
three years. In his twenties, he ran a grocer’s shop, at which he was
noticed generally absent-minded, being inwardly absorbed in meditation.
HIS elders in the family pressed him to marry, hoping that marriage
would bind him to the world, and so he would be a permanent financial
support but he was adamant in his refusal to shape into a house holder.
Bhagawaanji started with the spiritual discipline known as
Panchaanga-Upaasanaa, involving meditation on the five deities –
Ganesha, Surya, Naarayana, Shiva and Shakti. Later, his target was the
Divine Mother Shaarika, whose vision he had for the first time, at the
age of Twenty Seven. Gradually, he shifted to nirguna upaasana, that is,
meditating on the Supreme Reality without a form. In his early
thirties, he took to intense Saadhana (spiritual discipline). Shutting
himself up in a room, which no one except mostly a niece of his, was
free to enter, an earthenware lamp was kept burning there all the twenty
four hours and the Bhagawaan did not allow any intrusion or the room to
be even swept. His concentration was so intense and he grew so
oblivious of his body that a rat nibbled a hole in one of his heels.
During this seven-year period of Saadhanaa, he would take no food for
long intervals — extending even to six months, sometimes. Bhagawaanji
helped two girl-devotees, separately, to have a darshana (vision) of the
Divine Mother of the Universe. A third was helped to have an
illuminative experience – a darshana of the Mother in the form of
dazzling effulgence matching that of several suns. He did not initiate a
disciple directly by word of mouth as tradition demands. He did so by a
mere glance, by giving the devotee a little bhasama or prashad, or in
the case of a male devotee, offering him puff from his chillum. He felt
happy when particularly a celebate came to see him though he never
asked a house holder disciple or devotee to give up his wife and
children in pursuit of self-realization.
Bhagawaanji was far above any consideration of caste, creed or
nationality. From 1947 onwards, people of all creeds would come to see
him and he would shower his love and compassion equally on all. Once he
said, in answer to a devotee’s question, “is a Hindu one and a Muslim
another?” Among his disciples and devotees today are many who never met
him in his life time. These are spread over in other countries like
Australia, the USA, Canada, Switzerland and the UK. Globally famous, he
has come to be called a Jagadguru, a world spiritual teacher. During his
earthly sojourn and even after abandoning the mortal coil the Bhagawaan
cared for his devotees in and outside Kashmir and India. While sitting
in his room when alive or having left his physical frame, he was seen at
warfronts guiding and directing our troops in the years 1948, 1962,
1965, 1971 and 1999. Bhagawaanji was Tatvajnani (one who has all the
knowledge about the elements of Nature). By a special type of saadhanaa,
he had gained control over all the elements. During a pilgrimage to the
holy cave of Amarnath, he brought rain to a vast drought-hit area. On
some occasions, he stopped rain when it was likely to cause sufferings
or death. He was able, with his control over the elements, to know which
organ of a person’s body was diseased. He could cure a person with a
mere look or by offering the Bhasam from his Dhoni; “he cured dreaded
diseases like cancer, epilepsy, and other physical ailments of the
supplicating devotees.”
He would often urge the devotees to lift the veil of ego that envelops
the Atman. He observed vehemently: AHANKAARAS NAMASKAR, SUIGAV OMKAR –
TAMISAATI BANI SAAKSHATKAAR, which conveys, ‘Bid good bye to the ego and
be face to face with Truth’ (implying the attainment of God
Realization).
Almost on every Sunday, musicians singing till late in the night, the
Bhagawaan would never ask them to stop. But on his last Sunday on earth,
26th May, 1968 he directed the musicians to stop, remarking, “we shall
not listen to any more music”. Then came May 28th, 1968 Tuesday, the day
Bhagawaan Gopinathji finally chose to cast off his Bhautik Sareera. At
about 3 p.m. he had the last few puffs at his chillum. A devotee started
making tea but Bhagawaanji said, “we shall not take tea any more”. He
asked for water at 5:30 p.m. and at 5:45 p.m. he uttered Om Namah
Shivaya in a low voice, looked around with infinite love towards those
present and closed his eyes.
After Bhagawaanji attained Nirvana, his disciples built an Ashram at
Kharyar, Srinagar where his marble statue was installed in 1973. This
Ashram has become a centre for the spiritual upliftment of his devotees.
After the mass exodus of the Pandits from the Valley, other Bhagawaanji
ashrams came up at Udaiwala Road, Bohri, Jammu and at Pamposh Enclave,
New Delhi. At these ashrams all activities that were regularly performed
in Srinagar Ashram are being performed regularly. The number of
devotees participating in all such activities is going up day by day.
Bhagawaanji Trust has expanded the activities of all these Ashrams over
and above the infrastructure. With the ever increasing number of
devotees across the globe, Ashrams, meditation Centres and Satsang
Mandals at Mumbai, Pune, Bangalore, Chandigarh, Australia, Switzerland
have been rapidly coming up.
In all these ashrams and centres disseminate Bhagawaanji’s gospels of
spirituality and universal brotherhood, with great zeal and enthusiasm.
In recognition of his spiritual stature as an extra-ordinary Saint, the
Govt. of India issued a commemorative postal stamp on Him in 1998 – his
birth centenary year.
Chander M. Bhat