A Link to Some Spirtitual Biographies

 An excellent set of Spiritual biographies.

Among them Sri Shivacandra Vidyarnava, author of Tantratattva.

Sri Radharaman Carandas Babaji, guru of Sri Ramdas Babji;

Sri Vishuddhananda Paramahansa, guru of Sri Gopinath Kaviraj;

Sadhak Vamakhsepa of Tarapith, Bengal;

Yogiraj Gambhirnath and Sri Sitaramdas Omkarnath.

Sri Sri Annada Thakur: A Brief History of the Founder of Dakshineswar Ramkrishna Sangha, Adyapeath.

 

Part 1: 1891 – 1921

 

Sri [1] Annada Thakur was born on October 12, 1891 (Kartick, 8, 1298 Bangabda [2]) in the village of Raujan (Noapara), district Chittagong, in what is now the Republic of Bangladesh. He was the second of five children. Thakur was born after his mother, Tilottama Devi, dreamt that the goddess Chandi brought her a gift of a lovely fruit that she was to share with the world. Sri Thakur was named Annada- Charan, he who is at the feet of the goddess Annada [3], the one who feeds the world. His father, Abhoy Charan Bhattacharya came from a lineage of respected Brahmin scholars. In later days Annada was given the title of Thakur in recognition of his saintly life. As a child, he attended the local village school (pathshala). He was an able pupil and his teachers recommended that he should go on to high school. Being impoverished, his father decided to send him to Kashi [4] (Benares) to learn Sanskrit and so be able to carry on the family tradition. Thakur went to Benares around the age of 13 and enrolled in Sarvamangalla Chatuspathy [5] of Prof. Kamalkrishna Smrititirtha. He spent about six years in Benares, where one of his fellow students later recalled his simple lifestyle. Even at that time, he was very attentive to social ills and rescued a number of families from their plight.

 

Hoping to help his parents financially, Thakur decided to learn a trade. Seeing that an Ayurvedic [6] medical practice could allow him to help in supporting them, he decided to go to Calcutta and learn Ayurveda. In spite of the opposition of most of his sponsors, who believed that any such trade was against the tradition of his scholarly Brahmin family, Thakur went to Calcutta in 1910, with the blessings of his mother.

 

He visited more than fifty practitioners and tried in vain to apprentice to them. Finally, after passed a qualifying exam to the newly started Ayurveda College, he was able to enroll with a minor scholarship. Having very little finances, he lived meagerly, first in a hostel and then in the home of a friend. On a visit to his parents at Chittagong, his mother, who was very ill, asked him to get married to a girl she had chosen for him. Fulfilling the wishes of his mother, Thakur married Ma Manikuntala Devi in 1913. He returned to Calcutta to complete his Ayurvedic curriculum. By the time he was ready to qualify, Thakur had designed a number of herbal remedies for different medical problems. Sri Siddheswar Basu, the father of his friend Sachin Basu, helped him to start setting up a clinic, manufacture his patented medicines and practice Ayurveda. Everything was set up to begin on the Bengali New Year's day of 1915 (Bangabda 1322).

 

Thakur left to visit his family in Chittagong. One night there, he dreamt of a saffron clothed monk asking him to return quickly to Calcutta. Once he got back, about ten days before the start of his clinic, Thakur saw Sri Ramkrishna [7] in a dream. Sri Ramkrishna asked him to take three friends and go to the Eden Gardens in Calcutta, next to the Ganges, where he was to find a stone murti of the Goddess Adyama. On Ram Navami [8] day of Chaitra 1321(April of 1915), Thakur with his three friends found a beautiful murti [9] of Adyama in a pool inside the garden. He brought Her to Siddheswar Basu's house and being an auspicious day, performed a ritual worship (puja) for Her. That night, Adyama appeared to him in a dream and asked him to immerse her in the Ganges the next day. Thakur was distraught at the thought of having to lose Her after finding Her so miraculously. In the vision, She gave him Her reasons for wanting to go away. The next day, hordes of devotees came to the house to see Her. A couple of officials from the Calcutta Museum also came and observed that the murti appeared to be of the time of the Buddha [10] , about 2500 years old. Arrangements were made to take a photograph of Her murti. In spite of opposition from many, Thakur took Her in the evening and immersed Her in the Ganges.

 

Thakur gave up the plans for his own clinic and spent the next few years in great turmoil. He wrote some plays, one of which still survives [11] and a large number of devotional songs and poems. In 1918 he was asked by Ramkrishnadeva in a dream to be present at Lachmanjhola in North India on the day of the Jhulan Purnima (full moon) to await further instructions.

 

Thakur left Calcutta and traveled by rail to Hardwar at the foothills of the Himalayas after visiting Benares, Mathura and Vrindaban. From there he went to Lachmanjhola walking up into the hills from Hrishikesh. On the night of the full moon of Jhulan Purnima, in a vision, Ramkrishnadev instructed Thakur on the course of his future life. He was told to carry out a period of austerities and devotion and then undertake the construction of a temple and several charitable institutions for service to the needy.

 

Thakur stayed on for some time in Swargashram above Hrishikesh. During this time he had visions of Radha, Krishna and Adyama who appeared to him repeatedly in the forms of two hill children, as a pair of Vaishnav renunciates and as a young rural flute-player. After a variety of other incidents that Thakur details in his partial biography, he returned to Bengal to follow the instructions of Ramkrishnadeva.

 

Thakur reached Calcutta and from there went back to his ancestral home in Chittagong and took care of his parents for one year. During this time he wrote down some teachings about mental training that he received in a series of dreams from Ramkrishnadeva. These were at a later period published as "Ramakrishna Manoshiksha". He next went back to Calcutta and lived next to the Ganges in Dakshineswar where in the nearby Kali temple, Ramkrishnadeva had spent 32 years of his life. He performed the spiritual disciplines according to his instructions for another year. In January of 1921 he celebrated the completion of this task set to him. This day is still celebrated at Adyapeath as Siddhotsav day in January every year.

 

With the help of friends and devotees, the property next to Thakur's living quarters was leased for five years. A small structure was put up to house a temple to Adyama. This was the beginning of Adyapeath. [12]

 

Notes:

1. Sri, another name for the Goddess Laxmi is an honorific akin to Mister.

2. Bangabda: The lunar based, Bengali calendar, begins on April 15.

3. Annada, also named as Annapurna, like the Goddess in Benares.

4. Benares is an ancient Indian city in Central India and is a venerated pilgrimage.

5. Chatuspathy: A traditional, private, residential teaching institution.

6. Ayurveda: Traditional system of Vedic medicine.

7. Sri Ramkrishna Paramahansa (1836 -1886); Bengali saint who spent much of his life in Dakshineswar, in the northern outskirts of Kolkata (Calcutta).

8. Ninth day of the lunar cycle.

9. Traditional word for a representation of the deity, not merely a statue or image.

10. Lord Gautama Buddha, the founder of Buddhism (566 BC - 486 BC)

11. Mibarlaxmi (in Bengali)

12. This was close to the present location of the Sangha.

Two Poems by Shri Annada Thakur

From Ramkṛṣṇa Manaḥśikṣa: Instructions for the Mind

  A Smart Aspirant

“ Forsaking all dharma, seek refuge in only me.”

                                 Bhāgabad Gitā, 18:66.

With all that is sacred, always with pure intent,

      having uprooted all

love, delight, and sweet affection,

those who are devoted to His divine feet,

with ardor only for Him; they are very smart.

 

Subtle Path of Dharma

Mistakenly thinking of the downfall of religion,

      why pause in the path of dharma?

Without knowing, individuals attain

      the subtle speed of dharma.

How will men understand, even gods do not?

 From Preface of Sadhan Samar by Brahmarsi Satyadeva

 ‘evam paramparāprāptam’[1] :Thus down the line of succession

Acārya Śrimat Saumyendranāth Brahmacāry

To search for the source, one has to travel to the land of Śiva, to Vārāṇasi, where in the loving arms of Mother Annapurṇā, a blissful, unclothed child lives in immense bliss. One has to go to the bank of the Ganges, into its waters, where a sentient being swims and floats, in its depths where satyam-śivam-sundaram[2] is immersed in samādhi of yoga. We have to go to the feet of Viśvanāth[3] where he has taken mobile form, to the lotus feet of the great yogi Tailañga Swāmi, where in silence he explains the principles of Brahma, where he is distributing his infinite yogic energy for the benefit of humanity, Slowly coming to the final act of his own human drama, he tendered his divine body into the heart of the Ganges. It was an offering by Viśvanāth, of his love and affection for the world. In the distant past, Mahādeva had borne the divine river Gangā in his matted locks. This time, the auspicious Gangā accepted the human form of Maheśvara, carrying the yoga-śakti of the lord of yogis towards union with the ocean. But he did not reach his destination. In a fragment of the great awareness of this knowledgeable soul, appeared the grief of this world. Viewing this figure of ignorance on earth, the heart of Viśvanāth melted with mercy. Touched by sorrow, he landed at a quay at Hāorah[4]. Wisdom (prajñā) materialized in a divine birth. Self realized from birth, appeared yogi Āchārya Bijaykṛṣṇa. ‘I am your disciple, instruct me, I seek refuge in you’[5]. To enlighten the prostrating Viśvarupa, he recited the nondual, ambrosial, words of courage of the Gitā. He propounded the eternal mystery of yoga, in a yogic commentary of the Gitā. At the conclusion of the yoga of liberation, Āchārya Bijaykṛṣṇa took up all burdens of the surrendering disciple, desiring to reveal the intense, deep secrets of the principles of śakti. There were obstacles at every step, but the fearless spiritual aspirant, ignored all warnings and went forward. By electrical contact with an immense force, gross configuration dissolved into luminous form. But the wish of the sage was not in vain; it waited for the right time and place. The spiritual work wanted to flow downstream. That is why, leaving the river, we have to board a train at Hāorah station. We reach a secluded room in Kārmātār, where the paternal Bijaykṛṣṇa has taken new form as an affectionate mother, where the charioteer of Pārtha, has become the Mother of the universe, where Brahmaṛṣi Satyadeva is reaping the principles of the energy of the serene, where the Gitā has ended and the tune of the Caṇḍī has begun to play, where the ‘yogic explanation of the Gitā’ being completed, the ‘sacred conflict[6]’ has directly appeared. In this battle, the force of the guru is carrying the infant awareness of the universe towards its total nature. The knots of worldly existence are being torn, one after another. The eternal hunger of the five shells of worldly being are being satisfied by the grace of Mother, the darkness of ignorance is being removed. That is why the Mother of the universe is sometimes the warrior Durgā and sometimes the bestower of knowledge and renunciation, Annapūrṇā. Traveling on the path of Gitā and Caṇḍī, the power of the guru wanted to uncover dharma of truth of the Upaniṣads. But the great maternal spirit, overwhelmed by love for the children, attracted the illness of a favored disciple. The material body of truth natured Brahmaṛṣi dropped off untimely. But, the movement of the power of the guru towards the land of Śivā continued in the direction of a fair wind, on the paths of the gods. The journey on the path of truth continued, on which, the self-fulfilled sages have traveled for ages[7]. To deliver the resources for that path of truth, to establish the form of the Upaniṣads, Vaidyanāth himself appeared as a healer of worldly ills, in the heart seat of the Mother in Vaidynāthdhām[8]. ‘Haimabatī Darśan[9]’ was written, Gitā, Caṇḍī and Upaniṣad were strung together in one divine melody. The heart altar of a temple to salvation was created. Divine forms of Pārthasārathi, Annapūrṇā and Haimabatī, envisioned by a succession of gurus, were installed. That is why I say, the mobile Viśveśvara of Vārāṇasī became the stable Narendranāth of Vaidyanāthdhām. So I say, Śiva became jiva and jiva became Śiva, both together as one. That is why I say, hidden behind all name and form, keeps flowing the bliss of Brahma, the one eternal flood of purity, that is why we sing in joy, ‘I am blessed, I am enriched’. That is why in unison with the voices of the sages we offer our salutations, “Disciple seated within guru, guru within disciple. Our salutations to guru and disciple, to disciple and guru”.

Oṁ, Ṡānti, Hari Oṁ’.

---

[1] Bhāgavad Gitā, 4:2.

[2] truth, beneficience, beauty

[3] Lord Śiva in Vārāṇasi

[4] town by the Ganges in Bengal

[5] Bhāgavad Gitā, 2:7

[6] Sādhan Samar

[7] yenākramamṛṣyo hyāptakāmo yātra, Muṇḍaka Upaniśad 3.1.6

[8] in the town of Deoghar, presently in Jhārkhaṇd, India

[9] vision of the goddess Haimabati

mantra- brahmarshi satyadeva

A mantra is a special sound or word. By mentalizing (manana) the sound by which one finds salvation is a mantra. The right meaning in the mantra is the guru. The meaningful perception or feeling in it is consciousness (caitanya) or the deity (iSta). Putting this mantra, guru and deity together makes the consciousness of mantra emerge. Let me explain this with an example. Let us say, that ‘tamarind’[1] is a word. This word is like a mantra. As long as one does not know the meaning of the word, so long it is a dead word. Repeating it a thousand times will not bring any knowledge about it. Then someone comes and explains the shape and taste etc. of tamarind. Then one learns the meaning of the word; this meaning is the guru. Now, pronouncing the word ‘tamarind’, the knowledge about its acidity appears. Then, when you see that on reciting that word, the perception of it appears, that is, on saying ‘tamarind’, your tongue waters, then you will understand that the word has gained consciousness. Similarly in other cases. You say ‘kind Mother'. Immediately, your heart is filled by the feeling of kindness. When this happens, you will know that the word ‘kind’ has been pronounced right. You are saying ‘Mother’, but you do not know who it is, you do not know the meaning of the word; as long as you say ‘Mother’ in this fashion, it will remain a dead mantra. Then, someone explains to you, that the word Mother means ‘source of complete affection, an universal consciousness, which is your Self’. When one understands this, by the grace of the teacher, then, on saying ‘Mother’, one arouses the perception of a condensation of affection, an universal consciousness. Then one will know that the mantra ‘Mother’ has acquired consciousness. Without understanding the meaning, without feeling and perceiving the mantra according to its meaning, only by reciting them, do not bring proper results. Only because of the lack of mantra consciousness, the spiritual quest looks difficult and dark. So, reciting any hymns or repeating any mantras, or chanting the holy names, should be done by understanding the meaning and being aroused by that feeling; only then will the results be perceived quickly.

---

[1] Tamarindus indica, tropical tree with very acid fruit

RtambharA: Ch 1: Truth by Sri Bijoy Krishna Chattopadhyaya

satyameva jayate nAnRtM satyena panthA bitato devayanaH.

yenAkramamRySyo hyAptakAmo yatra tat satyasya paramaM nidhanam [1].

Only truth triumphs, not untruth; by truth is paved the divine path,

traveling by which the sages self fulfilled, attained supreme truth.

Truth triumphs, it is garlanded by victory. Whether in the realm of the spiritual or in the world of action, that which is false can never embrace victory. Specially, advancing on the path of the Self (AtmA), towards the face of the Self, one has to travel on the brightly lit path of truth. With footsteps of truth, desiring truth, traversing the paths paved by truth, can one reach the free temple of truth. Traveling in the direction in which even the shadow of what is false does not fall on the heart, where one does not take a step on what is false, no false views falls on ones eyes, the existence of anything false does not touch any corner of awareness, even the word 'false' by the light of truth, becomes truth, or what is false becomes totally false, in that direction is established the munificent temple of truth. Even if a drop of falsity arises in the soul, or has the opportunity to rise in the soul, we have to understand that we are that far away from the truth.

What is this weariness? What are these soul rending cries? What is this poverty- this sad loss? Why this comatose obsession? Why this horrific fear? Why this weakness, this self poverty, mind without strength, this life without light, this slavery of nature, this narrowness, this groveling on the ground? It is from untruth, false knowledge, false feelings, false views.

Everything of yours is false. You have learnt, known and understood that this life is false, transient; these fruits, flowers, moon, sun, fire, wife and children, parents, this external world, the internal world, all - all filled by untruth, a mirage of a false world. With your weak eyes, you see the edges of life with the change of scenery by death; your life begins at birth and ends in death. This much, this observable, keeps awake a fear of immediate damage in the layers of your lives. With great care, like protecting a fragile object, with great trepidation we try to save it, less we lose it. With great concern, like thieves, we step softly, to keep it as long as we can. In this way we try to keep our grasp on the things outside and inside, and even upon ourselves. You understand all this to be false- you behave as if they are true, but you call them false. On top of this, your education is, 'Brothers, all this is false, throw away the illusion of this false world, break this dream, discard the delusion of life, leave it, run away from the mirage of this illusory world- from this painful world of mAyA.

mAyAvad [2] : Whether you can escape or not, the feeling that you are truly immersed in untruth, is made more clear by the doctrine. The pain is increased, the darkness covers more completely, the world becomes false and poisonous, burning in the fires of hell, you cry for relief. But what you will use to rise and escape, what you will hold to stand, a rope that true, a staff of truth, you do not have. Far, far away has that staff vanished, un acknowledged, unformed, silent, beyond word and mind. If you can escape then you can find him, if you put aside the darkness, then will you find light! What astounding teaching.

vishiSTAdvaitavad [3]: You have other teachings too. "Go on calling Him to be saved, take care of Him, He is everywhere; the world is transient, all this insentient objects are parts of Him. Love Him, respect Him, sing his praises; you will pass this transient world, you will be free from this false universe." At least the previous teaching said that this world was a false dream, a mirage like inexistence, entirely false. This teaching makes it more lively, enshrines the truth of the constant existence of the insentient, an eternal cover of non-self to engulf in a false dream. Before, the AtmA was covered by a dense storm, now comes before it a impenetrable mountainous wall. You, bereft of truth, learning about One, being truth yourselves, become blinded by untruth. By the advice of others, although you are the truth, you become entombed by an wall. of unconsciousness.

Not false, you are not false- this universe is not false; it is the true play (lila)[4] of the true energy of the true paramAtmA5, a whirling self-enjoyment of name, form and action. Like in a surging ocean, we can say that there is nothing but water, but we cannot call the waves to be false; like the waves that are a movement in the water, and like how we see the characteristics of name, form and action of the water in the movement of the waves; deem all of it to be true; whether as material, or as name or action, we perceive and feel water, so is this world. It is not a cover of untruth or a mix of truth and untruth on the ultimate being (brahma). The characteristics of atma with name and form are just characteristics of the sentient atma; it is the atma. It has no coverings, it has no inert material that is not atma- it is the atma that with characteristics of name, form and actions, exalts in its own self. Only atma; it is self expressed, entirely limitless (bhumA), entirely undivided, entirely without untruth, not unconscious, exudes the greatness of the actions of prANa and perception, perceptive, freedom of perception; the true self.

But this that we see and feel that the world is insentient, death is death, birth is birth; that I am happy, I am sad, I am needy, sick, I am great, I am a human, that we exist with these perceptions, are they false? As long as we exist with the perceptions of earthly beings (jiva), the divine perception, the true play of name, form and actions, will be reflected as such. What is bondage, pain and non-knowledge, as an earthly being, after vision of the paramatma is divine play (lilA) the true games of truth. This is the true luxury of the strength of truth.

You may call this a partial vision of the truth- a fallacious game of truth. You may call the feelings developed by your perceptions as non-knowledge (avidyA) or fallacious as long as you do not know that this is the play (lilA) of your atma, that by his divine play have you been awakened as a being. The play of the paramatma becomes the rule for an earthly being, and this happens as long as one does not recognize this world as the divine play of the energy of the self-existent (chit shakti). The divine play of the ultimate awareness (chinmayi)[6] rising in your perceptions, is para-knowledge (avidyA) , so long as you do not recognize the knowledge of this ultimate awareness as its only reason; as long as you cannot break thorough the separateness of this awareness. This knowledge, this glory is really that of truth, the real nature of the truth. In you, in your ignorance, this knowledge appears as avidyA, as falseness. So, this falseness is only a partial truth in your dealings with this world, not untruth; a true play of the truth. If you perceive the truth, the universe will not vanish, you will see the universe of the atma, the non-unity will vanish, the illusion of its bondage will vanish. This is the middle-freedom (madhya mukti) or the freedom of the being (jivanmukti). The sense of non-unity is avidyA.

That is why the sages (RSi) have repeatedly asked to cover the transient, turbulent, posture of name, form and actions of this world by divine knowledge. That which is covered, is the radiance of the play (lilA) of truth, it begins in truth and end of its purpose is in the play of truth. The sages have advised to envelop the knowledge of this world (avidyA) from beginning to end with the divine knowledge.

Wipe away the false visions, banish from your life the word false. Your speech is truth, your mind is truth, your life is truth, your behavior is truth; this vision, this feeling, live by this rule of truth, be truth. Wipe away the kohl[7] of falsity from your eye of knowledge. My your vision of this temple of joy as a prison of ignorance end forever. Become a visioneer of the truth. See that this universe is the true play of the percept (bodh) of true atma; not false. Even the smallest shadow of untruth will prevent the complete vision of the truth; never forget this.

1 mundaka upanishad 3.1.6

2 the doctrine that the world is illusory (mAyA)

3 the doctrine of special non-duality

4 divine play

5 the ultimate soul

6 as formed of absolute awareness (used in the feminine gender)

7 used as eye-liner

The Ocean of Life

Troubled by the trials of life

I turn into skin and bone.

My boat is damaged, the passage tough,

my sins fill all the hold.

On top of that, Mother, tall waves rage

on this sea of delusion.

It is tough to sail in this storm of life,

I will sink here for sure.

I think I am going under .

I have no oarsmen, no one at the helm.

Those who are here, are slaves to desire,

staying drunk night and day.

**From 'Maa' by Shri Annada Thakur

The Subtle Path of Dharma

Mistakenly thinking of the downfall of religion,

why pause in the path of the dharma?

Without knowing, individuals attain

the subtle speed of the dharma.

How will men understand, even the gods do not?

Shri Annada Thakur

Ramkrishna Manoshikhsha.

Some BRM Snippets 01

For many years BR spoke about a person he used to see on a regular basis. This was between 1970 and 1990. According to his description, he appeared to be a young man with very long hair. BR used to refer to him as bAbA. According to him, Baba was over a century old. It all seemed to be like the description of 'babaji maharaj' that you can read of in Yoganandaji's 'Autobiography of a Yogi' and in a number of other places, including a book by Ronald Laing. However, this question was never completely answered. There could be more than one person with similar (hi)stories. BR used to meet Baba on the banks of the Ganges, close to the city. Seems that the only other person who had access was an old Marwari woman, who passed away around 1988. Baba would disappear for long periods and then come back again. BR spoke about how Baba used to make clay images of devi to perform puja and the river used to take it away when he was done. For many years, he was very keen to build a house of his own, as he said that then Baba would have made an appearence. However, this never worked out.

BR was always very close to his guru. Once when he was ill and we were taking him to a clinic for treatment, he told us later that he knew he would be OK as he saw his guru waliking down the road in front of him. Even very early on, when he had to be operated upon for his pleural condition, he said that they had at difficulty with the anesthesia. They could not put him under. Although his vitals were going down, he was still awake. He told us later, that he then heard the voice of his guru in his ear, telling him not to be afraid, as his mother too had been operated upon. He was told to take deep breaths, which he did, and he went under. He had multiple operations and was treated for over a year by Prof. P.C Sanyal. He was left with a large scar on his chest and a couple of missing ribs.

He first met his guru in the then southern suburbs of Kolkata (Calcutta) in the late 1930s, when he was in his teens. Earlier, after passing from high school, he had gone to a nearby state to start a business in trading rice. The money he had borrowed for starting the business was lost by a dishonest partner. BR decided to kill himself and so stole a gun from the nayeb (minister) of the estate he was staying at. With the gun, he also took a small booklet lying on it. He never tried to kill himself, and instead put the book to good use. It was a text called 'brahmyacharjyam' by Shri Pranavananda. He practiced the teachings for a few years. back in Clacutta, his brother took him to meet a saint he knew about. BR went to the building in South Calcutta where the Sangha had its main center. He was asked to go into a room where the saint was sitting. The man asked him "Do you recognize me?" In front of him was the person whose picture he had seen in the booklet he had. That was his first meeting with his guru.

The Smart Aspirant

“ Forsaking all dharma, seek refuge only in me.” Bhagabat Gita, 18-66.

With all that is sacred, always with pure intent,
having uprooted everything,
love, delight, and sweet affection,
those who are devoted to His divine feet,
with ardor only for Him,
they are very smart.

Shri Annada Thakur
Ramkrishna Manoshikhsha.

Science of Tantra: From Dr. Mahanambrata Brahmachari

From ancient times, two streams have existed in Indian spiritual thought, Vedic and Tantrik. The basis of the Vedic stream are the Vedas and Upanishads. The basis of the Tantrik stream are a large number of Tantra texts. The Vedic stream finds completion in the Bhagabad Gita. The Tantrik stream finds a final destination in the Sati Sapta-Shati or Sri Sri Chandi.
Another name for the Vedas is Nigama, and another for Tantra is Aagama. Nigama and Aagama both words have a similar meaning, that from which all knowledge arises or comes. Both are universal stores of knowledge. In the eyes of the seers, they are both apaurusheya – not composed by any human. The rishis felt that truth could not be created. Whatever is created at any time, or is demarcated by any space or age, would be transient and non-truth. Whatever is True, exists for all time, there is never a dearth of it in any time-frame.
The Gita says, ‘naasato vidyatay bhaabo naabhaabo vidyatay satah’, that which is non-truth could be scarce, there is no scarcity of truth.
The truth had no creator, could not have one. Truth has a seer or viewer, truth is observed, truth is remembered, truth is not created. The tantras and the Vedas are both stores of true knowledge, they have no composer. In most Tantras, Siva is the speaker, Parvati the audience. The Primal Father speaks, and the Primal Mother listens. This also sets the idea of absence of a composer. There is no real meaning to try to determine the age of what is Apaurusheya. Much effort is now seen in determining the ages of the Vedas and the Tantras. In the eyes of the Aryan seer these are meaningless. The tree comes from the seed and the seed from the tree. Whether the tree came before or the seed came before; such questions have no satisfying solutions, similar to the question of who or when created the earth.
Knowledge can be twofold – philosophical and scientific. There are two components in knowledge – the knower and what is known. The subject is the Knower, the object , what is known. The attempt of philosophy is inquiry about the knower. The question for science is about the object of knowledge. I see a flower. What is the ‘I’ – this is the objective of philosophical query. What is the ‘flower’ is the question for science.
Philosophy is synthetic, science analytic. Philosophy turns towards the whole, science looks at the segments. One takes a total view, the other at the separate parts. To see the whole garden is a philosophical view, to study each plant is a scientific task.
The Tantrics have a scientific sense and vision. Their efforts led to much deep investigative sciences. The contributions to advancement of science from Tantra is somewhat seen in ‘History of Hindu Chemistry’ by Acharya Prafulla Chandra Roy and ‘Positive Science of Hindus’ by Sri Brojen Shil. The word ‘Tantra’ connotes scientific investigation and logical, systematic determination of facts. For example, surgery is about the scientific discussion of use the of instruments. The contribution to a detailed analysis of the body by the ‘Sushruta Sanhita” is no less than that of Gray’s anatomy from the West. Western science has not yet reached the fine analysis of the Tantra masters about the subtler parts of the body. Information about Ira, Pingalaa, Sushumnaa, Mulaadhaar etc. is still in the dreams of occidental science.
Geology, botany, biology, astronomy, psychology, sociology, have all had contributions from Tantra. In India, mathematics, number theory, geometry and trigonometry have all been enriched from Tantra.
The Tantras study things that are transient and changeable. That which is sentient is the focus of the Vedas. All things in this world can undergo changes, so anything in this world is in the scope of the Tantras. To the common person, sputum and urine are things of disgust. To a scientist they are valuable as clue to health and disease. For common people, discussion about sexual organs is pornographic, to the science of Tantra, they are valuable clues to the mystery of creation.

Annada Thakur and companions during kirtan

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Copyright DRSA, Adyapeath 2021

Shivramkinkar Yogatrayananda

Yogatrayananda was a remarkable scholar saint (1848 - 1927). He was born Sashi Bhushan Sanyal in Bali, Howah, and was initiated at the age of 10 by Swami Shivramananda. After his guru passed away, he took the name of Shivramkinkar (server of Shivram). He was given the title of Yogatrayananda, because of his excellence in all the three Yoga paths.

He is the author of the classic 'arya shAstra pradip' (Light of the Aryan scriptures), of mAnabtattva (Principles of Humanity) and Paraloktattva (Principles of the afterlife). He lived in Baranagar and visited Shri Ramakrishna in his youth. The young Vivekananda and Abhedananda used to go to him to study the scriptures.Yogatrayananda later moved to Varanasi and then returned to Bengal. 

 

Dr. Gopinath Kaviraj wrote about him in his memoirs of saints, about the great influence of his teaching in his development. He is referenced by Alain Dinielou in the book 'Myths and Gods of India'. There is a brief reference to him in the article "Conversations with Swami Nirgunanada" to the question 'What is surrender?' (In Bengal there was a great scholar named Shashi Bhusan Sanyal who was contemporary of the then great saint of India Sri Ramakrishna.)

 

Web source for Volume 1 of Arya Shastra Pradip:

https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.291633

 

Books in Bengali published by Prachi Publications, Howrah.

Arya Shastra Pradip (Vol 1-4), Manab Tattva, Paraloka Tattva, Durgarchana o Navaratra Tatta, Shivramer Avedatattva.

 

 

From RtambharA

Ch. 5 External and Internal by Sri Bijoykrishna Chattopadhyaya

From brahma the greatest, to the tiniest clump of grass, this entire world is a ceremonial altar to the supreme being. The sages have repeatedly said this to us. From the movements of a speck of dust, to the evolution of the entire universe, everything appears to be occupied with the performance of this ceremony. Conscious or unconscious, whatever we see anywhere, all appear to be a flow of activity, of ceaseless unrest, uninterrupted movement. All this unrest and movement is a ceremonial offering to brahma. This ceremony has been going on, uniterrrupted, for eternity and will continue for eternity. The brahma is eternal and his ceremony is without beginning and end. The priest of this sacrificial ceremony is brahma, brahma is the oblation, brahma the fire, brahma the offering. The sages have clearly made us comprehend this and god himself came amongst us and said so himself [21].

The subject, object, means, recipient, source, locus and address, all the cases for this sacrifice are brahma. He has divided himself in many ways, forms and names. Dividing himself in this way, he has lit up sacrificial fire-pits of various perceptions; igniting in all of them, the same fire. The name of the fire is feeling (bhAb), the name of the flames is want (abhAb). The truth-natured brahma’s wish-natured enterprise or heat, taking the shape of flames of want are blazing away. From particle to particle, being to being, planet to planet, universe to universe, flames of want, burning of need. The blazing embers, its external form; the swirling flames, its heated breath; fires of feelings, flames of want.

Those that recognize this conflagration of perceptions as the truth-formed brahma, are carrying out their complete offerings into the sacrificial fire. They are involved by the truth-natured brahma and are the beneficiaries of the sacrifice, the master of ceremonies. Those that cannot do this, their want, their flames of non-awareness, pierce the skies, cross the spaces and spread their fiery tongues to the horizons. Not seeing feeling or perception (bhAb or bodh) one only sees want or non-existence (abhAb or achit).

Those who are taking the words of the seers as of a preceptor, and begin to recognize the fire; their flames are subsiding. Their flames only give light, luminescence, progress and life; they bring forth divine ambrosia; and finding it, they become immortal and in joy move towards nirvANa, they are the gods (sura). Those who do not recognize the fire, do not try to recognize it, only look at the flames as those of want, as non-awareness, not holding them to be the aspiration and wish for truth, their flames blaze into the skies; they burn from space to space, they extend through skies. Unruly, uncontrolled, ill-behaved, their flames of want and non-self burn to the horizons; they burn themselves. They bring up venom, they find venom and on every side they discharge venom. They find only burns, only pain, only smoke- they are the demons, the asura.

One seeks completeness (purNa), and finds entirety (purNatA). The other seeking entirety, find nothing (sunya). To complete themselves, one looks at the face of the entirety, and see the completeness of purNa. To give total authority to the whole, they empty themselves into the wholeness, increase the power of the whole, do not limit the authority of the whole by keeping their own; they put what is whole on their own throne. The others also want to make themselves complete, but they increase their own rule, spread looks of longing and discover want, create kingdoms of emptiness upon emptiness; trying to become whole by increasing the emptiness, they create a mirage of completeness in the void; they dissolve in emptiness. They want to seat themselves in the throne of purNa.
I have said, perception or feeling is the fire of this ceremony, its flames are want or non-self. The truth natured brahma, having the wish to play, with infinite reach, on one side shows its wholeness and on the other, the void, void, void. Those who see feeling (bhAb), do not see want (abhAb). Those who see abhAb, they do not see bhAb. Those who vision want, they only have burns, flames and the screams of danger.

They shout for succor, but who will save them? Where is the savior? Who is there to rescue them, who is a liberator? Only spirals of fiery smoke; unending darkness, endless immobility, only empty expanses; vision dimmed by smoke, breathless with it; throat choked by it.

No signs of a savior- only echoes. “Are you there?” echoing “there”. “Where are you?” echoing “you”. “Where?” echoes “Here”. “Where?” “There”.

A phenomenal ceremony, which is being carried out superbly; the conductor is right there. The ones who see want, think it to be a house on fire, a conflagration. “Run from here! Run, run!” But, where to run to? That is not known. This happens when one does not look at the very root of this.

The sages say, “Children, why this turmoil? Why this running about? Look at the lord of the ceremony. Keep your eyes there. The smoke will not bother you. This is not a house on fire, this is a ceremonial site.”
“Where is the lord of ceremonies?” In you, in your heart; in me, in my heart; in this fire ceremony, in it’s heart, in the flames, in the heart of the flames, in the burning, in it’s heart.

One can envision the ceremony and catch sight of the ceremonial priest if one can recognize, know and acknowledge this universe, this sacrificial ceremony of brahma, this playing field of the awareness of the truth-natured, animate brahma, as an indulgence of awareness, as a play of knowledge, as an evolution of feeling or an appearance of the sentient atma as name-form-action. If you can attain divine sight of the self, by applying the kohl of knowledge to eyes blind to the self; if you can know and agree that the truth-natured paramatma, the priest of the ceremonies exists; if you can expand the perception of his universal existence to the most material expression in this world; if you can realize, earth, water, energy, air, sky or sound, touch, form, taste, odor, or mind, intelligence, spirit and ahaMkAra or the fundamental force of these variations to be expression of the atma, differences in the name, form or action of the atma, then you will be able to observe the ceremony, see the master of ceremonies. As long as you can not do that, untruth, emptiness, the mirage of want will blow you about from space to space. The flaming, burning tongues of death will throw you about time and again. To satisfy the hunger of death, you will have to be born and burn again and again.

To save oneself from the clutches of death, to free oneself from the ties of delusion, to find the cooling touch of a million moons from these burning flames, one has to move towards the establishment of truth, wager ones life for the view of truth, turn oneself into truth. Death is but another form of the divine nectar; your perceptual self is both the forms of death and eternal life. Inside and out, this is the perceptual duality of your true self. This has been shown by the sages in the srutis and following these great statements, you will attempt to fill your perceptions with these feelings. Whether inside or outside, do not fell any other existence, and even if you do, think of it as the form of truth; this is the central conclusion in all the srutis. This is what the sage declared as ‘envelop this world by god, whatever is in the outer world or inner’ [22]. Convert this world, this consumption of the world into the enjoyment of truth. See it as truth. Feel yourself to be truth. Practice that other than truth there is nothing that you know of, inside or outside. Do not see the world as false. Say, ‘you alone are the only refuge in this universe’ [23]. Say ‘That self or my own self is all that is manifest or unmanifest. It is all the earth, water, air, fire and sky. It is all perception, intellect, mind, prANa. It is energy and non-energy, desire and non-desire, anger and non-anger, it is all. Truly it exists. Whether inside or outside, it truly exists. There is nothing false, no mirages, it truly exists even as unconscious form. I am engrossed in truth, it is my inside, it is outside, this universe is true, my mind is true, senses true, life is true, I am true. This world is true, all beings are true, the host of deities are true. He is true, who is the truth of truth. I am born in truth, live in truth and will vanish in truth. Hear this, O dwellers of this world, blessed children of the divine nectar, I see that great truth, know it and abide by it. There are not many; the one has become many. What else but truth will hold me, what else will pick me up to its heart. From what else but the truth, will I receive food, in what other water will I bathe, by what other fire, what light will my eyes be lit, by what other air will I survive, in what sky will I will I pour my words of care, love, respect, unruliness and demand? Other than that, from which all appears, who else will I accept with the heart of my heart? Whose wealth will I enjoy but his. Don’t accept riches from anybody. Take it as his. ‘do not desire the wealth of others ’. Really all things are his glory. Enjoy them as his glory. DO not accept riches from anyone else. What you know as different from the true soul is poison, is death.

Inside and out, accept all things as the true form of the AtmA. Do not build mirages of falsehood by trying to understand what is false. Do not cover the deity of your hearts, by the things of the world. Drown your sense of falsehood into oblivion, for ever.

This perception of truth, in truth, is the establishment of truth.


21 bhagabad gitA: 4: 24.
22 ishaponiSad, 1 “ishA vasyamidam sarvam…..”
23 AdhArabhutA jagatastvamekA, devI mAhatayma. 11:4
24 mA gridhaH kasyasiddhanam, ishaponiSad, 1


© 2008 Adyakalidas

Shri Shiva Chandra Vidyarnava Bhattacharyya Mahodaya

Shri Shiva Chandra Bhattacharyya was born in the village of kumArkhAli in Nadia district of Bengal in 1860. He earned the honorific vidyArnava (ocean of learning) in his youth. He was introduced to writing script by the writer saint kAngAl harinAth. He went to vAraNasi and studied vedanta, agamas and nigamas with leading proponents. He returned home and began study and practice in tantra from his grandfather kRSNasundar.

Shiva Chandra travelled to kailAsh, manas sarovar, jwalamukhi and other places in his spiritual quest. He returned to his home and a temple to sarvamangallA (the goddess who bestows all blessings).

He was a great orator and authored books of poetry and prose, gitAnjali, rAslilA, and the famous tantra tattva.
The last was translated by his famed disciple, Sir John Woodroffe, aka Arthur Avalon, as the Principles of Tantra.
In this, Woodruffe was helped by Shri Pramathanath Mukhopadhaya, who was later known as Swami Pratyagatmananda.

Shri Shiva Chandra passed away in 1913.

An introduction to the Devi Suktam by Brahmarshi Satyadev

vAk,a daughter of the great sage ambhRN , realized brahma, the ultimate being, so she too was a sage. She experienced union with, that is became non-different from, the sadchidAnanda (existence-awareness-bliss) paramAtmA (supreme soul) and expressed that unity in what is known as the ‘devI sukta’. There are eight mantras in the sukta. The devI sukta is the fundamental component of the chanDI . The chanDI or ‘devI mAhAtmya’ is an analysis of this sukta. The devI sukta is from the veda; it is the insight of self-realized flawless seers; therefore it is eternal, without extrinsic creation. The flow of words in the chandI, although uttered by some sage, expresses a knowledge and affect that too is eternal. This knowledge and affect appears at all times, in the hearts of all classes of advanced seekers. Only because of differences in place, time, person and language, this eternal knowledge and affect show differences in expression.
The subject of the devi sukta is sadchidAnanda paramatma. In the Devi Mahatmya, this paramatma is described in the episodes as Mahamaya . Paramatma and Mahamaya are non-different. In the logics of textual argument or in verbal discussions, maya and atma may be said to be different; but the seeker, the brahma-conscious or self-realized, know that atma and maya are completely non-different. As long as there is a search, as long as there is a body, atma expresses as maya. In paramatma, there is no attempting, no seeking, no seeker, no scriptures, no thoughts, and no language. When we come into language, thought or seeking, atma is manifested as maya. So, even though paramatma is the subject of the devi sukta, in the Chandi it is described as Mahamaya. These will be discussed in detail later.
The aim of all the scriptures is knowledge of the paramatma. The self, within all the diversity of race, color, denomination, is present identically in all beings. Who am ‘I’ ? The definite knowledge of this is ‘self-knowledge’. All beings are keen to know their true selves. As long as they do not understand this, they are just common entities. When they are aware of this search, they are termed seekers or devotees.
When one is aware of this movement towards the self, then, the external signs that are manifested are named as ‘a path of withdrawal’ (nivritti mArg) or sAdhanA . These characteristics have been described in the spiritual texts as rules of conduct. In reality, all work is a spiritual quest, all beings seekers, and self-realization is the goal. Any quest without realization of the self is incomplete. As long as we seek any god other than the self, even though ‘I’ am the only one sought (who else is there but ‘I’), it is an incomplete quest, unable to deliver liberation (mokSa). In other words, all spiritual quests without self-awareness are open to error. On the other hand, everyday worldly acts with self–enquiry are spiritual enterprises. This atma is ‘I’- mA (Mother). Knowing myself, finding Mother, and self-realization, are all the same. The principle appearing as ‘aham’ in the devI sukta, is described as Mahamaya in the Chandi. That which is At-mA in the devI sukta, is in the Chandi mA (Mother). Therefore the idea that the Chandi is meant only for the worshipper of shakti (shAktas) is not correct.

It is useful to have a gross idea of the nature of the goal one is striving towards, consciously or unconsciously, whatever be ones desired goal. Otherwise, the road becomes unnecessarily long. That is why the shAstras advise not to enter into the Chandi without knowing the devI sukta. The reason we see many seekers in this world fail, is because of a lack of direction. Having no idea of the nature of the divine and not seeking the divine nectar, advancing on the path will be wrought with danger.