Chapter I
THE BIRTH, THE ANTECEDENTS AND THE FAMILY

Bhagawaan Gopinath Ji was born on the auspicious Friday, the l9th Har, 1955 (Bikrami), corresponding to 3rd July, 1898 AD at Bhanamohalla, Srinagar (Kashmir), in one of the most highly esteemed Bhan families of the Kashmiri Pandit community. Bhagawaan Ji's grandfather was Shri Lachhman Joo Bhan, a Wazu Wazaarat (the equivalent of a Deputy Commissioner of these days) in the Dogra regime in the princely State of Jammu and Kashmir.
His father, Pandit Naraayan Joo Bhan, did the pashmina wool business. He was spiritually very advanced and devoted most of his time to religious pursuits. He gave up his ancestral home and other possessions in favour of his stepmother.
Bhagawaan Ji's mother, Shrimati Haara Maalee, was a very pious lady. She was the only daughter of Pt Prasaad Joo Paarimoo, a saint whom people used to call Zada Bharata. He had no issue and adopted a son. Shortly after, while in samaadhi at the Kshir Bhawaani Shrine at Tulamula, he had a vision of Shri Raajnaa Bhagavati, who chided him for having adopted a son, as She Herself was taking birth in his house. Soon after, was born to him a daughter who was destined to be Bhagawaan Ji's mother.
According to Shri J.P. Paarimoo, a flrst cousin of Bhagawaan Ji from the mother's side, Pt Prasaad Joo Paarimoo was a co-disciple of Swaami Anand Ji of Jamanagari, Shopian. Kashmir. 'Satsang' was held as a matter of routine at his house. His second daughter, Zapri Dedi, lost her husband at the very early age of thirteen. She was initiated by her father into japa-yoga and progressed well on the spiritual path, being recognised as a saint when she was around fifty.
Bhagawaan Ji's maternal uncle, Pt Bhagawaan Dass Paarimoo, was a devotee of the Divine Mother in her Shaarikaa Bhagawati form. He performed every day the parikrarnaa of Haari Parvat, the abode of Shri Shaarikaa. 'He would be back home at dawn. De- silting the holy spring at Pokhribal (at the foot of Haari Parvat) once or twice a year was a regular practice. Gopinath was the man to descend into the spring and perform the laborious work of removing the mud, the accumulaled rotten flowers and other things which had settled at the bottom of the spring because of the indiscriminate offerings of the devotees to the spring. An annual yajna was performed at Pokhribal. Sat-sang, and the teaching of the various scriptures like Yoga Vaashishtha was a regular feature of our domestic routine'.
Bhagawaan Ji had two brothers. The one elder to him was called Pt Govind Joo Bhan, He was an employee in the Customs and Excise Department, and died in 1946 AD. He was a bachelor and maintained Bhagawaan Ji. His younger brother, Pt Jia Lal, was a draftsman in the State PWD and had been adopted in a family of the Kaaks living at Sathu, Srinagar. He was married but had no issue. He, too, was spiritually very advanced and very liberal towards saadhus and the poor. He passed away in 1964 AD.
Bhagawaan Ji had two sisters. The sister elder to him, Shrimati Deva Maali, was widowed at an early age after giving birth to two daughters. It was her tender care that sustained Bhagawaan Ji during the period of his rigorous saadhanaa. She remained with him for a major portion of his life, taking care of his food, clothing and so on. She died in 1965 AD. She had two daughters. The elder one, Shfimati Kamalaa Ji, died after giving birth to a son and two daughters. It was in her house that Bhagawaan Ji lived for about eleven years at Chondapora, and gave up the gross body. Shrimati Dev Mali's younger daughter, Chaandaa Ji, is alive. Before Bhagawaan Ji moved to the house of Kamalaa Ji, he lived in her house for about ten years at Rishi Mohalla, Srinagar. She served him very well during this period and also when he lived at Rangteng, Srinagar (1930-37) during the period of his intense saadhanaa.
Bhagawaan Ji's younger sister, Shrimati Jaanaki Devi, was widowed at an early age after giving birth to two sons and two daughters. She, too, used to serve him on specific occasions and was very much devoted to him.

by Shanker Nath Fotedar

Chapter II
EARLY LIFE AND SOJOURN AT VARIOUS PLACES

Bhagawaan Ji was born at his ancestral house at Bhana Mohalla, Srinagar, in a room on the ground floor. Though over 75 years have elapsed since the building was constructed, it is in good condition today, and a tower was added to it some years ago. His early childhood was spent in this house.

by Shanker Nath Fotedar

Chapter III
EDUCATION AND EMPLOYMENT

From the information gleaned from various sources, we have been able to ascertain that Bhagawaan Ji had passed the Middle School Examination. The Middle standard of those days, it is said, was equivalent to the Matriculation standard of these days. In his ecstatic moods, he would sometimes utter beautiful English sentences. He could read and write Sanskrit in both the Devanaagari and Shaaradaa scripts. He had attained mastery over Urdu and Persian as well. Since his earliest boyhood, he had shown great interest in Sanskrit, and would recite from memory beautiful Sanskrit verses in an impressive way. In his early life, he was known to have recited, without any aid, the Bhavaani Sahsranaama, the Indraakshi the Panchastavi the Vishnu Sahsranaama, the Mahimnastrota, the Shivastotraawli and the Vaaks of some Kashmiri saints. In his later life, he would recite verses from the above-mentioned texts whenever he was in a mood to do so. He had great interest in Shrirnad-Bhagavadgita, a copy of which lay before him till he gave up the gross body. But, during the last thirty years of his life, nobody saw him reading these texts. Probably, he had memorized all these in his early life. It is not known whether he had studied any text on the Upanishadic thought or the Trika Shaiva philosophy, for which Kashmir has been so famous. It is however, a fact that he attended the satsangas of scholars and saints in his early life when discussiooo ons on Vedaanta and Kashmir Shaivism were very common. May be, he had studied the Upanishadic and the Shaiva texts as well. Bhagawaan Ji, since his early youth, had been very reluctant to take up any bread-winning employment. Because of the pressure from his parents and relatives and because of the straightened circumstances of the family. however, he was forced to take up such employment early in life. To begin with, he assisted his maternal uncle in the pashmina wool business, which was a flourishing industry in Kashmir those days. According to Shri J.P. Parimoo, his first regular employment was with the Vishi Nath Press in Srinagar as a compositor. Soon after Bhagawaan Ji had taken up employment in the Press, its business flourished. When he offered to relinquish his job three years later, the proprietor implored him to continue, but he refused, saying that his dass daaraz (dealings of the old incarnations) with the proprietor had ended. He gave up the job. 'It is said that next he got an offer from the proprietor of the Mercantile press, Srinagar... But he spurned the offer.'
After this. he started a grocer's shop at Sekidaafar and, soon after, shifted his business to a nearby place Vaaniyar, Chaayidob. These premises still exist. Probably, he took up this work as it gave him more time for his saadhanaa He appears to have worked at the grocer's shop for about ten years, i.e., till about 1925 AD. Though he sat at his shop, he remained absorbed, most of the time, in meditation, and spent even some nights there.
After he had given up running the shop, he plunged headlong into rigorous spiritual discipline, staking his very life with an iron will and a remarkable determination. Those alive to-day, who saw him at the shop, say that he talked seldom and seemed always to be lost in thought.

After his father, Pandit Naraayan Joo Bhan, had given up his house and other possessions in favour of his stepmother and when Bhagawan Ji was about ten, the family had to keep shifting to various places. From the etails given by Shrimati Janaki Devi, the latter's younger sister, it appears that the family had to live at the places in Srinagar for the periods noted against each in the table given below:

The house owner's name	The name of the place in Srinagar	The period of stay at the house	Bhagawaan Ji's age at the end of each period	The year (AD)
1. Pt. Shiva Ji Khyabri	Bhaana Mohalla	1 1/2 years	11 1/2 yr.	1909
2. Pt. Kesho Joo Nagri	Shaalayar	3 years	14 1/2 yr.	1912
3. Pt. Kallash Joo Bhan	Razwerikadal	1 1/2 years	16 years	1913
4. Pt. Prasaad Joo Parimoo	Sekidafar	7 years	23 years	1920
5. Pt. Kesho Joo Dhar	Safa Kadal	3 years	26 years	1923
6. Pt. Dina Nath Botta	Rang-teng	6 years	32 years	1929
7 Pt. Tika Lal	Rang-teng	7 years	39 years	1936
8. Pt. Nila Koul Saraf	Dalhasanyaar	10 years	49 years	1946
9. Pt. Madhava Joo Sathu	Rishi Mohalla	10 years	59 years	1956
10. Pt. Shyam Lal Malla	Chondapora	11 years	70 years	1968

Bhagawaan Ji lost his mother when the family lived at place No. 2, and he was a boy of about twelve. He lost his father at place No.6 when he was between 26 and 32 years of age. The earliest employment taken up by him was when he was at place No.3. The employment lasted for about three years. While residing at place Nos. 4 and 5, he ran a kiryaana shop first at Chaidob and then at Sekidaafar, Srinagar.
Shri J.P. Paarimoo says, 'During this period, he used to be the leader of the group he had formed around him. He would organise trips to Kshirbhavaani, Mahaadev and Vichaarang, and play the role of the leader. He was always brave and fearless and hated dishonesty. He was fond of going to saints. One of his close associates says that he used to go to a saintly person named Zanakaak, putting up in the attic of a small one-storeyed hut of one Sat Lal Waangnoo, a bachelor devotee of Zanakaak, at Habba Kadal. This Zanakaak had Krishnakaak as his guru, as mentioned in his Vaakyas. This goes back to the days when Bhagawaan Ji was reading in the 7th or the 8th class. (Source Or information: Pt Dina Nath Shaali, Karan Nagar) There, he used to go for many years, even after the death Or this saint. While at Sekidaafar, he would press the feet Or a 'Jataadhaari' saint, named Swaami Baalak Kaaw, popularly known as Baal Ji. Baal Ji used to give him recognition and consideration. In 1923, the Shaalis and the Paarimoos arranged a pilgrimage to Mattan on Vijaya Saptami. They went by boat to Khanabal. At Khanabal, wherefrom they had to go on foot to Mattan, Bhagawaan Ji, along with one or two associates, left the group, and went to pay respects to the saint Jeewan Saheb living somewhere on that side Or the Valley.
At place No.6, he was busy with his saadhanaa but, occasionally, attended to family matters as well.
It was at place No. 7 that he renounced everything. This was the period of his intense saadhanaa which continued to the time that he gave up the gross body.

by Shanker Nath Fotedar

Chapter IV
INITIATION

It is not known for certain who Bhagawaan Ji's guru was. Some of his relatives were of the opinion that he was initiated by his own father, Pandit Naraayan Joo Bhan, but this was not borne out by his sister or by the testimony of the people who were his associates in his early life. His younger sister was of the opinion that, probably, he had received initiation from the great Kashmiri Saint, Swaami Baalak Joo Kaw. This, too, was not corroborated by any evidence. Bhagawaan Ji, in one of his soliloquies, some years before he gave up the gross body, addressed him as 'Hato Baallakc Kaawaa' meaning 'O, Baalak Kaawaa.' He would not have addressed him thus, had he been his guru. Bhagawaan Ji also sometimes visited Swaami Naraayan Joo Bhan, a well-known saint of Bodager, Srinagar. But the Swaami is said to have had only one disciple, Swaami Kash Kaak of Manigaam, and, hence, Bhagawaan Ji being his disciple is ruled out. The evidence collected now shows that Bhagawaan Ji very often used to go to the house of Swaami Zana Kaak Tufchi of Karafalli Mohalla, Srinagar, who was a great saint. In his later life, Swaami Zana Kaak had moved to the house of Swaami Aftab Joo Waangnu at Baabaapora, Srinagar. It is certain that Bhagawaan Ji used to go to the house of Swaami Zana Kaak, when the latter resided at Karafalli Mohalla, and very frequently when he resided at Swaami Aftab Joo Waangnu's house. Every Saturday night, there used to be a bhjan rnandali in his house, and Bhagawaan Ji would invariably be present at such rnandalis, where the Guru Gitaa and the Vaaks alone were recited.
After Swaarni Zana Kaak Tufchi had shaken off his mortal frame, Swaami Aftab Joo used to perform a big yajna ever year, on Swaami Zan Kaak's death anniversary, which Bhagawaan Ji attended for many years, doing all sorts of work including even cooking and washing utensils, along with the other disciples of Swaami Zana Kaak Ji. This could only have been possible if either Swaami Zana Kaak or his disciple, Swaami Aftab Joo Waangnu, had been his guru. Pt Maheshwar Nath Trisal of Badgaam, who associated with Bhagawaan Ji during the latter's early life, says that Swaami Aftab Joo Waangnu was his guru. One instance given by Shri Trisal is that of an occasion when Swaarni Aftab Joo addressed him as 'Goopiya, have you had the darshana?', Bhagawaan Ji replied, 'I am having darshana', meaning that it was a continuing process for him. After I enquired of Shri Trisal whose darshana Bhagawaan Ji was having, he said that it was his guru's darshana.
The enquiries made from Swaami Aftab Joo Waangnu's younger brother, Pt Baal Ji Waangnu, yielded the information that Swaami Zana Kaak was, Bhagawaan Ji's guru and that Swaami Aftab Joo was his brother disciple. This appears to me to be the correct position.
Some of Swaami Zana Kaak Tufchi's disciples alive today stated that Bhagawaan Ji was not among the known disciples of Swaami Zana Kak. It is possible that the Swaami had secretly initiated him. Bhagawaan Ji had been very subtle since his early childhood. It is just possible that he had been visiting the saints mentioned in this chapter to learn whatever he could from them, but without any involvement of an initiation. A few years before Bhagawaan Ji's giving up the mortal frame, a devotee had the courage to enquire of him who his guru was. Pointing towards the Bhagvadgitaa lying before him, he said, 'Any one of the 700 shlokas of the Bhagvadgitaa can be one's guru, and, in reality, God, Who is the True Self, is one's Guru.'
Of all the past saints of Kashmir, he alone was addressed as 'Bhagawaan' in his own life time. People also called him 'Bub', i.e., father. As he had attained the highest stage of consciousness and remained ever absorbed in the Supreme, there was nothing extraordinary in his being styled as 'Bhagawaan.'
Two others of the greatest saints of Kashmir, LaLla Dedi and Roopa Dedi were addressed as Lalleshwari and Roopa Bhavaani respectively, but that status came to them after their passing away, whereas Bhagawaan Ji was known as a living personification of God even in his life time.