Shastriji Maharaj

Background

The supreme God, Purna Purushottam Narayan Sahajanand Swami Maharaj descended on this earth to re-establish purity and righteous conduct. However, His mission was far greater reaching than just putting in place a new religious order; His true goal was to give all souls absolute and final redemption from the cycle of birth and deaths, and the shackles of material nature (known as Maya); He had said, “...This time I have manifested to kill the demons of the mind.”

In the Vachanamrut, Maharaj had very clearly emphasised that the only way to achieve this ultimate redemption was for people to dedicate themselves to the manifest form of God. To that end Maharaj had promised to remain forever manifest on this earth through His peerless God-realised saints (G II 48). To fulfil that promise, Maharaj had brought along with Him his divine abode Gunatitanand Swami (also known as brahm or akshar).

Gunatitanand Swami's mission was to teach the people about the supremacy of Shreeji Maharaj as the ultimate God, Purushottam, and to start the line of brahmroop saints (Gunatit saints) through which Maharaj would carry on His mission. Maharaj had also explained that the only method to achieve emancipation was to become one with brahm and then join with parbrahm (God) as per Loya 12.

In order to become one with brahm, one must know brahm. Gunatitanand Swami could not readily spread the truth of his own glory because people would not understand (except to those few who could understand such as Pragji Bhakta, Jaga Swami and Krishnaji Ada). Accordingly he prepared Bhagatji Maharaj (Pragji Bhakta) as someone who had realised Swamiji's true identity in order to carry on teaching about Shreeji Maharaj as being the supreme God and Gunatitanand Swami as being the manifest brahm or akshar. As Bhagatji Maharaj had become one with that brahm, he was now brahmroop, the dwelling place of God such that God Himself was then manifest through him.

Once the seeds of this religion were sowed and these seeds started taking root, Bhagatji Maharaj prepared Yagnapurusdas Swami, later known as Shastriji Maharaj to propagate the Akshar Purushottam religion as a formal movement; this is, to worship the twin form of Akshar and Purushottam (God) and to attain God by surrender to the brahmroop saint (by which we can become one with brahm).

Dungar Bhakta

Dungar Bhakta (later known as Shastriji Maharaj) was born into a satsangi family in January 1865. His home town was a village called Mahelav, which is close to Vidhyanagar. When he was a baby Dungar was blessed by Shuk Muni who proclaimed, “This child is a very pious devotee from his past birth and in the future he will renounce the world, (and) become a sadhu....”. He was also blessed by Gunatitanand Swami himself, who said, “(He) will one day become a sadhu, spread the doctrine of supreme devotion of Shreeji Maharaj and will support and develop the sampraday.”

As a child, Dungar preferred not to play normal games with other children, but rather make temples out of clay (a premonitional activity to his future mission). He would install the murti of God, offer thal and aarti and showed his immense devotion to God. Dungar had great faith in Maharaj. Once he walked from his family house to his father's farm at night along a road that was reputed to be haunted. His father was surprised to see him come there and asked why he was not scared. Dungar replied, “Haven't you told me that Maharaj accompanies him who walks chanting the name Swaminarayan, and protects him? I have thus brought Maharaj with me.” Even at a young age he showed the traits of a true sadhu as he was very steadfast in following religious rules; on an occasion of a family wedding, instead of getting involved in the festivities he found his way to the nearest temple. He was finally found at dinnertime, but Dungar refused to eat anything on that day, as it was ekadashi.

Dungar Bhakta had by nature a very sharp intellect and memory. He excelled in school, but his thirst was not for knowledge of the material world but for spiritual knowledge. A rich resident of Mahelav, who had no children of his own, wanted to adopt Dungar and give him an education in an expensive British public school. But Dungar refused saying, “ I do not want to undertake that type of education...I shall instead become a sadhu and a learned pundit and teach spiritual knowledge to others.” He preferred to listen to stories about God from the sadhus' at Vadtal. He would gather together loose manuscripts from the scriptures discarded by the sadhus', learn and recite them as if he were a learned scholar.

Finally at a festival in Vadtal, Dungar came in contact with Vignananand Swami who was based in Surat. Vignananand Swami had stayed with Shreeji Maharaj for twelve years and was a very virtuous saint. Both the young aspirant and the learned sadhu were instantly drawn to each other. Dungar wanted to stay in the company of Vignananand Swami and become a sadhu, but his father would not let him. After sometime Dungar managed to find his way to Surat but his father brought him back. But when Dungar preached to his father on detachment, his father realised that Dungar would not be happy until he became a sadhu, so finally he gave Dungar his consent.

Dungar Bhakta joined Vignananand Swami in Surat as a parshad (sadhu in white robes). He undertook all tasks given to him with devotion, be it menial jobs such as washing pots and pans, or keeping accounts for the temple stores. He worked so hard that he would often fall ill. He also learned and mastered basic sanskrit grammar from his guru.

Dungar was very saintly and intelligent, it wasn't long before it was agreed to give him diksha (vows to become a fully pledged sadhu with saffron robes). The occasion coincided with a ceremony for an elder saint who had passed away and so many sadhus had assembled in Vadtal. It was decided that a yagna (sacrifice) would be held in honour of the deceased sadhu and at which Dungar would be given diksha. That is why Dungar was renamed as Yagnapurushdasji Swami. It was customary at such occasions to prepare the horoscope of the newly initiated sadhu. The astrologer told the assembly, “This sadhu is a manifestation of God in the form of a yogi...He will be a great saint”.

Devotee of Bhagatji Maharaj

Often festivals were held at Vadtal where sadhus' would give talks on God and spiritual matters. There Yagnapurushdasji's attention was drawn to a tailor who had a band of sadhus' with him. The young saint was amazed that this tailor was both sewing clothes and preaching at the same time. Bhagatji Maharaj being omniscient immediately responded, “A gnani (spiritually wise) has innumerable visions.” Yagnapurushdasji was even more surprised that the tailor apparently knew his thoughts.

The young Swami was pulled towards the talks of Pragji Bhakta (Bhagatji Maharaj), as these were talks about manifest God and God-realised saints who are capable of redeeming people; he had never heard these types of talks before. Pragji explained Vachanamrut Loya 12 where Maharaj had described that to attain parbrahm (God) one has to become brahmroop. Yagnapurushdasji also learnt about the identity of Gunatitanand as the manifest akshar brahm, Vignananand Swami had also explained how Shreeji Maharaj is the supreme God rather than an incarnation of God; this was something that Maharaj Himself had explained to Vignananand Swami. With his intuitive intellect, Yagnapurushdasji fully grasped and imbibed the essence of the Akshar Purushottam philosophy.

Vignananand Swami knew that Bhagatji was a favoured devotee of Gunatitanand Swami and realised that Yagnapurushdasji had become very attached to him, so he encouraged his student to spend more time with Bhagatji; subsequently Bhagatji Maharaj became the guru to Yagnapurushdasji Swami. There was open criticism that Yagnapurushdas had left a sadhu who was a famed anand saint of Shreeji Maharaj and had chosen a person of low caste and a householder to be his guru. The young Swami now dedicated himself to Bhagatji Maharaj fully believing him to be a true Gunatit saint and the manifest form of brahm. He taught people about Bhagatji's glory as per Vachanamrut G I 27 explaining that God was manifest in every facet of his body; as such any one who wanted to attain God should dedicate themselves to Bhagatji Maharaj.

Bhagatiji promised to teach Yagnapurushdasji brahmvidhya (spiritual knowledge), but the young sadhu was also to maintain his studies of sanskrit and the scriptures. He became an expert in both and was soon known as Shastri Yagnapurushdasji in recognition of his learned status, and hence later as Shastriji Maharaj.

He was so proficient in the knowledge of scriptures that he could defeat famous scholars in philosophical debates. One such example was when a great Vedantin scholar had put down a challenge to the pundits of the Swaminarayan Vadtal sect to a debate. But none would take up the challenge because of his reputation. Shastriji Maharaj took up the challenge to uphold Bhagwan Swaminarayan's name. One by one the scholar threw questions at the young sadhu, but Shastriji Maharaj answered every question refuting the scholars understanding such the scholar's arguments so that he finally accepted defeat. All were amazed with the young sadhu, but Bhagatiji Maharaj gazed at him with great pleasure and love.

Many sadhus', including Shastriji Maharaj enjoyed the company of Bhagatji Maharaj as he gave them spiritual bliss, he taught them how to dedicate themselves to the God-realised saint and how to become brahmroop. Often Bhagatji Maharaj would tell them to leave him because this caused trouble for them in the satsang, but he would never send Shastriji away saying, “Oh, he is the apple of my eye...You should not imitate him”.

Bhagatji Maharaj had been excommunicated from the satsang because of his preaching about Gunatitanand Swami (akshar) and Shreeji Maharaj as the supreme God (purushottam). Shastriji Maharaj, who was by now a leading saint with a great stature in the satsang, felt that as a devotee of Bhagatji it would be remiss of him not to try to bring him back into the satsang. It was Shastriji Maharaj's influence on Acharya Maharaj (leader of the Vadtal sect) that brought an end to Bhagatiji Maharaj's exile.

When Bhagatji Maharaj's mission was complete, he met Shastriji Maharaj at Akshar-Deri (where Gunatitanand Swami was cremated) in Gondal. Bhagatji prophesized that a mandir would be built there. He then told Shastriji Maharaj “You have completed your study of the scriptures and I too have taught you Brhmavidhya. Henceforth you will teach others to live blissfully as you have learnt to.” Bhagatji Maharaj returned home to Mahuva, soon after he became ill and he left his physical form. Shastrji Maharaj was away at the time and was overcome with grief that he was not with his guru to serve him at his time of ill health, but Bhagatiji Maharaj appeared to him saying that he had not left him at all and that he would always be with him.

Influence of Jaga Swami

Jaga Swami was a householder and a cobbler, but he was a great devotee of Gunatitanand Swami, he was constantly in communion with God and was a Gunatit Saint in his own right. As part of Bhagatji Maharaj's group he used to preach about the glory of Gunatitanand Swami and Shreeji Maharaj. However there was continued opposition to this belief and there was also a great deal of jealousy about the popularity of Bhagatji Maharaj and Jaga Swami. Consequently, Jaga Swami was banned from preaching at the Junagadh temple; this was a big blow to Jaga Swami as preaching about Akshar Purushottam was his lifeblood.

When Shastriji Maharaj learnt about the ban, he immediately went to Jaga Swami in person and told him that from now on the ban was lifted. Shastriji Maharaj explained the eminence of Jaga Swami to the head of the Junagadh temple, who then realised his mistake and went to Jaga Swami asking for forgiveness; such was the power and personality of Shastriji Maharaj.

Jaga Swami blessed Shastriji Maharaj and now in the absence of Bhagatji Maharaj fulfilled a mentoring role. They enjoyed a close and affectionate relationship. Jaga Swami had requested Shastriji Maharaj to install the murtis' of Maharaj and Gunatitanand Swami at Junagadh, but at that time it was impossible for Shastriji Maharaj to do so. Jaga Swami had then told him, “It is the wish of Maharaj that the worship of Akshar Purushottam should be established, therefore you must take up this work.” He received a promise from Shastriji Maharaj to do so.

When Jaga Swami became ill he called for Shastriji Maharaj and said to him, “I am about to leave my mortal body...My work is over and you shall continue it. Propagate the gospel of Akshar Purushottam. Maharaj and Gunatitanand Swami will join in your mission.” Two elder saints who were devotees of Gopalanand Swami had also requested Shastriji Maharaj to install the murti of Shreeji Maharaj and Gunatitanand Swami.