Brahmswaroop Bhagatji Maharaj

Pragji Bhakta was born in the year 1828 in Mahuva, he was a simple householder and a tailor by trade. As a child he held a single-minded conviction for God, he used to skip school with his friends and talk about God. Once, he proclaimed that he had already finished his studies and that he had come to worship God, and to make others worship God. His devotion and magnetism drew to him other children and adults alike, and that is why he became known as bhagat (and later as Bhagatji Maharaj). 

Despite being a householder, Pragji won over the favour of Gunatitanand Swami and as such he became the second spiritual successor to Shreeji Maharaj. Bhagatji Maharaj’s bhakti is exemplified by his total surrender to Gunatitanand Swami. Whilst Gunatitanand Swami was the human manifestation of akshar brahm, Pragji Bhakta was the first person to have been made Gunatit by Gunatit Himself. This is the whole ethos of the akshar purushottam philosophy, that is, parasmani in turn makes others into parasmani[1].

 

Association with Gopalanand Swami

Sadguru Yoganand Swami, who was a great saint of the Vadtal Laxminarayan Swaminarayan sect, introduced Pragji to the Swaminarayan religion. Through satsang he came into contact with Gopalanand Swami and instantly became attached to him, but Gopalanand Swami was also attracted to him and declared that, “This child is a born bhakta… and will inspire thousands of people to worship God”.

 

Pragji Bhakta devoted himself to his guru and was keen to become a sadhu, but Gopalanand Swami dissuaded him to do so clarifying that he who worships Shreeji Maharaj as the supreme God and becomes one with Gunatitanand Swami, then it matters not if someone is a tyagi (a renounced saint) or a householder (grihasta).

 

Gopalanand Swami wanted to spread the message that Shreeji Maharaj is the supreme God and Gunatitanand Swami is His manifested abode. But this message was not well received by all, so Gopalanand Swami became disappointed and resolved to leave his mortal frame, he emphasised to his dearest devotees, Pragji Bhakta and Jaga Swami that Maharaj Himself is manifest through His divine abode Gunatitanand Swami, and instructed them to go to Junagadh (where Gunatitanand Swami was based) saying that all of his promises would be fulfilled there.

  

Surrender to Mul Aksharbrahm Gunatitanand Swami

After the separation with his guru, Pragji Bhakta was inconsolable. He drifted through satsang and it was only by way of another sadhu that Pragji came to Gunatitanand Swami in Junagadh. Instantly Pragji felt peace in his heart. He was pulled to Gunatitanand Swami like a magnet and was totally overpowered by Swamiji’s teachings. Pragji Bhakta resolved to live for his new Guruji and to reveal to haribhakto Gunatitanand Swami’s true identity.

 

Gunatitanand Swami recognised the earnest soul of Pragji. Swami confided in Pragji saying, ‘Pragji, I am over flowing with gnana, but I have yet to find a worthy person to receive it’. Through his desire to serve his master and also to relieve his guru’s burden, Pragji asked whether this spiritual knowledge could be given to him. Swamiji replied that it could only be given to one who had gained control over his senses and to someone who was prepared to surrender himself completely to God; thus Pragji’s purification process had begun.

 

Pragji Bhakta started serving Swami and satsang by using his skills of tailoring. Pleased by this service, Gunatitanand Swami gave Pragji a blessing that he would earn a lot of money whilst serving satsang. However, Pragji responded that he wasn’t interested in material pleasures, instead he requested three boons: that Swami take him to God’s dwelling place; that he be blessed with spiritual knowledge and that he become a true satsangi. Gunatitanand Swami had tested Pragji with the temptation for material happiness, but became very pleased when Pragji rejected this. Swamiji granted these three wishes but on the condition that Pragji left his home.

 

Promptly Pragji left home and started to serve Gunatitanand Swami with even greater fervour. He helped to build a haveli at the Junagadh mandir taking on the work of mixing limestone mortar that other people avoided due to the effect of the limestone on the skin. Despite working very hard, Gunatitanand Swami told Pragji, “You are working with your physical power but without penance your senses will not be tamed. You start the penance… by eating only every third day”. Pragji not only observed the fast but also started to work both day and night. Pragji Bhakta resolved to follow every command from his guru without hesitation; this is known as agna palan.

 

Over a period time, Pragji Bhakta had also mastered conceiving Swami’s true wishes without Swami having to explicitly express them. Swami saw a mango grove and casually remarked that the mango trees would wither for want of water. Pragji instantly collected some pots and started watering the trees whilst other devotees attended the sabha with Swami. After the sabha, haribhakta queried what Pragji was doing but Swami showered tremendous pleasure on him for knowing his wishes. No matter what seva Swami asked Pragji to do, be it being a barber, blacksmith, carpenter or manual work, he did so without hesitation with a view to please Swami.

 

Realisation

Pragji bhakta had served Gunatitanand Swami selflessly; effacing his own identity he had reached a state of constant communion with Swami. Gunatitanand Swami wanted to make Pragji his heir in order to continue Shreeji Maharaj’s mission, so his last phase of purification was joining with Maharaj. Swami took Pragji to do meditation. In that state, he saw the image of Swami constantly for nine days. On the tenth day, Pragji suddenly saw a bright light from which he saw Shreeji Maharaj himself dressed in the saffron robes of a sadhu[2]. Pragji Bhakta was overwhelmed at the darshan of Maharaj; thereafter he felt Maharaj had taken His place in his heart. Nevertheless, after the trance, Pragji wondered why Maharaj had appeared as a sadhu. Maharaj re-appeared in His Sahajanand Swami form and spoke thus, “I am at the loving command of Swami and you have won the Swami’s heart… from this moment I am at your command to”. Pragji’s purification was now complete; Pragji Bhakta no longer existed, as he had now become gunatit.

 

Excommunication

Bhagatji Maharaj now started to spread the message about Gunatitanand Swami and the supremacy of Shreeji Maharaj with full earnest, and a band of followers quickly formed. This caused a considerable amount of jealousy towards Gunatitanand Swamiji and disharmony started to set in the satsang[3]. In public, Swami had to scold Bhagatji for hailing him, although in private Swami showed his pleasure. Ultimately this led to the excommunication of Bhagatji from the satsang.

 

Despite his exile, Bhagatji Maharaj continued to give unauthorised but practical sermons on how to progress spiritually by surrendering to your guru, which proved very popular. He had moved from Junagadh to Vadtal and carried on serving satsang with even more jest; on one occasion he even provided food at a festival at the eleventh hour when caterers failed to supply the food. A follower asked why Bhagatji still had so much feeling for the satsang despite being thrown out by it. Bhagatji Maharaj said that he saw all satsangi as images of brahm.

 

Aksharpurushottam in Bhagatji Maharaj

Now that Gunatitanand Swami had a successor, in 1876 he finally decided to leave his physical body. He had implied to others that Bhagatji was his successor by telling his followers that he had handed over the keys to akshardham to Pragji. Shortly before passing away he had also stated that he would now stay at Mahuva (the home town of Pragji) and would continue his task, thus implying that he would be manifest through Bhagatji Maharaj.

 

There was a keen aspirant who wanted to reach a brahmic state and was in search of a guru as described by Shreeji Maharaj, but could not find anyone. In desperation, he meditated on the Hari Krishna Maharaj murti at the Vadtal mandir for spiritual inspiration.[4] On the thirteenth day of his penance Maharaj gave him darshan and told him, “This Pragji Bhakta is my most beloved devotee. I remain manifest in the satsang through him. Go and seek his communion and I shall dwell forever in your heart.” The aspirant was surprised by the revelation, as Pragji Bhakta was only a grihasta and a simple tailor. So he meditated on Maharaj’s murti again, and Maharaj once again told him to go to Pragji Bhakta. When he went to see Bhagati Maharaj, he was instantly convinced of Maharaj’s words.

 

Guru to Shastri Yagnapurusdas

Shastri Yagnapurusdasji (later known as Shastriji Maharaj) was a leading young saint of the Vadtal sect. Bhagatji Maharaj’s teachings on brahm and parbrahm

had a particular impact on Yagnapurushdas, and he heard for the first time about Gunatitanand Swami being the manifest divine abode of Shreeji Maharaj; Yagnapurushdas realised Bhagatji’s greatness and had mentally made him his guru. Bhagatji had also accepted Yagnapurush as his chosen disciple to succeed him and showed his feeling towards him by proclaiming that he was his son.

 

The association between Bhagatji and Yagnapurush became that of a sublime guru-disciple relationship. Yagnapurushdas explained to people the greatness of his guru and that God himself is manifest through such a saint as per Shreeji Maharaj’s own words in Vachanamrut G I 27 and Vadtal 3. He commenced explaining the true identity of Gunatitanand Swami and about Shreeji Maharaj’s supremacy as per the Akshar Purushottam philosophy.

 

In 1898, Bhagatji Maharaj became critically ill and decided to leave his mortal body. Shastriji Maharaj was grief stricken at the departure of his guru, but Bhagati Maharaj appeared before him and said, “Have I forsaken you? I am dwelling forever in thyself”. Bhagatji Maharaj had made Shastriji his spiritual successor. Shastriji Maharaj now continued Shreeji Maharaj’s mission to redeem all devotees and to further spread the Akshar Purushottam religion.