Sitaramdas Omkarnath

Sitaramdas Omkarnath
Born Probodh Chandra Chattopadhya
(1892-02-17)17 February 1892
Keota Village, Hooghly district, West Bengal, India[1]
Died 6 December 1982(1982-12-06) (aged 90)
India
Guru Dasarathidev Yogeswar of Digsui Village
Philosophy Sanathana Darma
Quotation Faith in the divine Name is not blind faith. Call Him howsoever you will, call Him, standing, sitting, eating, going to bed - peace shall be yours.[2](c.2¶.77)

Sitaramdas Omkarnath (17 February 1892 – 6 December 1982) was an Indian saint [3][4]:115[5] from Bengal[6][7][8][9] He preached the importance of chanting Nam, wrote more than 150 books to promote the essence of Indian scriptures, built more than 60 temples and ashrams all across India, and founded the spiritual organisation Akhil Bharat Jaiguru Sampradaya[10] He started many groups, temples, mutts, both within and outside the Sampradaya—like local organisations, such as Delhi Jaiguru Sampraday, spiritual groups like Sati Sangha, Yuvak Sangha, Bidwat Sangha, Satya Dharma Prachar Sangha, etc. He was also the initiator of multiple magazines like Pather Alo, Devjan, JaiGuru, Arya Nari, Paramananda, and Mother. The film Nadia Nagar was adapted from a play written by Sitaramdas Omkarnath.

Birth and childhood

Sitaramdas Omkarnath was born in an uncle's house at Keota village in Hooghly district, West Bengal, on 6 Falgun 1892. His given name was Probodh Chandra Chattopadhyay, and his parents were Pranhari Chatopadhyay and Mallabati Devi. Pranhari was a pious Brahmin and worked as a village physician in Dumurdaha, Hooghly district.[11] The kuladevata (family deity) was Brajanath (Krishna).[12]

In 1896, his mother Malyavati Devi died. His father then married Giribala Devi, and himself died in 1912.[13]

Education

Omkarnath attended a village school but then determined that Dasarathidev Yogeswar of Digsui village should be his guru.[4]:133[10] Thereafter he studied at Yogeswar's house, where he undertook daily chores as well as spiritual education. In 1918, Probodh was meditating at about midnight when he visualised the god Shiva along with the Durga, the Divine Mother.[14] It is claimed that he had first seen Shiva when he was one year old, and this second vision affected him profoundly.

Later, Omkarnath visualised his previous birth on the day of Saraswati puja. Through this he came to believe that he was a famous worshipper of the goddess Kali in previous life.[15]

Spiritual quest

In spite of reluctance for worldly bondage, as per Guru's instruction, Probodh married Siddheswari Devi (who was later named Kamala). Probodh showed to Kamala, his Gurudev and Guru-Mata at Digsui. Later, he is claimed to have showed the Vishwarup [the Supreme Form of the Lord], to his Gurudev. Probodh attained spiritual fulfillment on a Dol Purnima, and he heard the divine utterance of "Yada Yada hi Dharmasya..." within himself. Kamala, his consort, died in 1930. Guru Dasarathidev died in 1933.

Guru Dasarathidev had named him Sitaram, the name Omkarnath was a divine revelation which was later formally conferred by Swami Dhruvananda Giri. Thus, Probodh came to be known as Sitaramdas Omkarnath. He had heard the Hare Krishna MahaMantra as a Divine Sound during his austere meditation in a cave at Ramashram, Dumurdaha, Hooghly. Later, he heard a divine voice say "O Sage, dive in". Still Sitaram was not ready for giving spiritual initiation to masses, and he waited for direct command. At Puri, Orissa, Sitaram visualised Jagannath in a halo [16] and Jagannath gave the instruction — "Go, Go, Go and give the Name".[4]:134 Thereafter, Sitaram started spreading the Lord's name on a mass scale.[4]:136

As a preacher/guru

After getting the Divine instruction, Sitaram started to preach Naam all across India.[2](c.2¶.77) In all corners of India, establishment of temples, renovation of dilapidated temples, feeding of the poor, distribution of clothes, help to the fathers of marriageable daughters, taking on the responsibility of lifetime maintenance of hundreds of poverty-stricken families, establishment of free schools for poor students, setting up twenty-nine Akhanda Naam Kirtan centers across India, establishing temples and Asrams, and several other activities of the kind went on continuously.[4] Millions of men and women took spiritual initiation from Sitaram. The fame of this prophet spread far and wide, and people gathered in large numbers wherever he resided. Besides the countless commoners - ministers, armymen, politicians, celebrities came to show respect. Love, miracles, spiritual guidance, fatherly concern, wisdom was mingled in his widespread attraction. Sitaram was respected by contemporaries such as Anandamyi Ma, Mohanananda Brahmachari, Dalai Lama, Peer Vilayat Inayat Khan, Swami Chidananda, Jain Muni Sushil Kumar and others.[4][8][15]

Teachings

According to Omkarnath,

Nama meant Nama of God; Rama, Krishna, Shiva, Durga; but Nama had to be repeated constantly. Nama could reach the Sadhaka to Nada and Jyoti; Nada could bring Shakti i.e. Durga and Jyoti could bring Purushottam, i.e. Vishnu and ultimately Name could bring Onkar, the Anahat sound one could hear inside. So what the Rishis of the old days could not gain even after hundred of years of Tapasya in jungles, Nama could achieve even when a person lived his normal life and did his every day work.[17]

The teachings of Omkarnath derive from his personal expiriences, gained in the course of a lifelong and continual spiritual practice. His teachings were compiled by Kinkar Omananda, his closest monastic disciple.[2](c.Introduction¶.17)

Philosophical background

Thakur Sitaramdas Omkarnath philosophy is often explained in the light of three simple assurances or messages that his own Guru wrote down for him. Often, on occasions of advising people in distress, Sitaram would recall these three guidelines:

  1. - 'The world is subject to change (jagat paribartanshil).'
  2. - 'Such days will not persist (aisa din nehi rahega).'
  3. - 'What the Supreme Lord of the world does is for the good (jagadishwar ja koren mangaler janya)'.

All three statements are warnings against three varieties of rajas - rajoguna - functions. Bhagavad Gita recalled in Sudhar Dhara: the two inner enemies of man are Kama and Krodha, both rajoguna samudbhava.

  1. Overpowered by sattva-mixed rajas, a person perceives the world as full of frustration and suffering and begins to blame his destiny, his own past karma, and God, for making his life such an hell. To such a person - who is proud of his intellect (Sattva) and is plagued by pure anguish of intellectually analyzing life and finding it empty of any joy, the cautioning message of optimism is: 'Whatever the world-ruler God does, is for our own Good (happiness + virtue), who are you to think that you understand it all, when you cannot know how much goodness/happiness all this evil/pain is going to lead to? (Jagadjishwar ja koren monagaler janya).' This cheers up and gives us hope.
  2. Overpowered by rajas-mixed-rajas, the success-drunk, arrogant, enterprising, restless constant wealth-gatherer thinks: (as described in the 16th chapter of the Gita): 'I am the best, look at my achievements, no one will ever be equal to or better than me, the world is in my control!' To such a person, the second message says: 'The world tends to reverse fortunes, it works like the rolling wheel, the up goes down, and the down comes up (Jagat paribartanshil)'. Paribartan in Sanskrit literally means 'going round in a cycle'. So, this does the opposite job, shatters overconfidence and makes the proud humble.
  3. Overpowered by tamas-mixed-rajas, the fatigued, bored, zestless seeker says: 'O well! What's the point of trying anything? It has always been the same, one day is the same as another, this mixture of wisdom and folly, of pleasure and pain, evil and good is it just going to continue for ever? So why bother? To such a deluded loser, the third message says: 'Prepare yourself for a surprise, such a day as today is not going to last, something new, something dramatically different may happen, so don't give up, keep up your effort, miracles do happen (Aisa din nehi rahega).[2](c.Introduction¶.19–22)

The teachings of Omkarnath covered various branches of religious philosophy of India. Bhakti Yoga was the arena of emphasis, as he said- 'Lord has two feet- Right and Left. The Right foot has joy, peace, happiness; the Left foot has disease, grief, sorrows. Whichever foot He puts forward, hold it and say ‘Guru Guru Guru’ - The end of Joys and sorrows.' As a part of this Bhakti, he laid special importance on Harinam Sankirtan. His ideology was rich in Jnana Yoga wisdom, as he always stressed on scriptural evidences, and himself wrote many books. He said- 'Scriptures are true, scriptures are flawless; one who takes the shelter of scripture will be embraced by the Lord.' The maxim of Karma Yoga was also mingled in his messages, as he motivated devotees to work selflessly for Lord's pleasure. He said- 'No need to renounce family. No need to go to forest. However you are, you can proceed towards the spiritual plane, the kingdom of Bliss.' [2]

Miracles

Omkarnath used to say that he doesn't know how to perform miracles, and would relate the supernatural realizations to the glory of Lord's Name. Many of unexplained incidents associated with Omkarnath has been documented in books and newspapers by prominent personalities. Few examples-

Eminent writer Nabaneeta Dev Sen had written in mulltiple publications about a 'medical miracle' she had seen. Her father Naren Dev was in coma for several days, but when Omkarnath came and touched him, he opended his eyes and talked, and could start walking within a week.[18]

Many news papers of Kolkata revealed a news of revival from death at a Government hospital [Calcutta Medical College]. Mr Padmalochan Mukerjee was declared dead, and after that his Guru Omkarnath arrived, touched him and revived him, in front of Sister G Wood, who was overwhelmed by this incident.[4]:126 [19]

Genral Sujan Singh Uban has described that Omkarnath had foreseen the Indo Pak war of December 1971, and during the war, a supernatural power of Omkarnath had given him extraordinary victory. Besides the national issues, Uban had felt the powers of Omkarnath in many aspects of his personal life.[4]:131

Death

Omkarnath died in the early hours of 6 December, 1982. His body was placed at Sri Ramashram, Dumurdaha so that people could pay their respects. He was cremated on a sandalwood pyre on 8 December.[20]

References

Citations

  1. ↑ "Shri Shri Sitaramdas Omkarnath Thakur « Shri Somnath Mahadev". Retrieved 2015-04-05.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Supe, Raj (2011). Cloudburst of a Thousand Suns. Dehli: Celestial Books. ISBN 978-9-38111-562-6.
  3. ↑ Bāula, Pūrṇadāsa; Thielemann, Selina (2003). Bāul Philosophy. APH Publishing. p. 511. ISBN 9788176484091.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Singh Uban, Sujan (1977). Gurus of India. East-West Publications (U.K.) Ltd. ISBN 978-0-85692-004-2.
  5. ↑ Ghosh, Indranil (23 September 2014). "Sitaram Sagar Belay". Bartaman Patrika (Bengali: বর্তমান). p. 7. Retrieved 2015-04-07.
  6. ↑ "THAKUR SITARAMDAS OMKARNATHDEV.wmv, Video". Firstpost. Retrieved 2015-04-05.
  7. ↑ Supe, Raj (2010). Pilgrim of the Sky. Leadstart Publishing. ISBN 978-9380154442.
  8. 1 2 "Sri Sri Anandamayi Ma's Devotees". Anandamayi Ma. Retrieved 2015-04-05.
  9. ↑ Basu, Sarada (7 February 2015). "'Nath Hey, Tumi Amari". Saptahik Bartaman Patrika (Bengali: বর্তমান). pp. 48–49. Retrieved 2015-04-07.
  10. 1 2 "Omkar Math Omkareshwar". Retrieved 2015-04-07.
  11. ↑ "An introdruction to Sri Sitaramdas Omkarnath". Retrieved 2015-05-28.
  12. ↑ Petsche, Johana J.M. (29 July 2014). "The Divine Life of Sri Sri Sitaramdas Omkarnath, by C. Varadarajan, fourth edition". International Journal for the Study of New Religions 5 (1): 106–107. doi:10.1558/ijsnr.v5i1.106. Retrieved 21 May 2015.
  13. ↑ Chattopadhyay, Sanjib (19 February 2011). "'Sri Sri Sitaramdas Omkarnath Shivthakurer kache ki Mantra peyechilen'". Bartaman Patrika (Bengali: বর্তমান). p. 12.
  14. ↑ "THAKUR SRI SRI SITARAMDAS OMKARNATH MAHARAJ BY PROF. S. BANERJEE". Retrieved 21 May 2015.
  15. 1 2 "Impression of Sri Sitaramdas Omkarnath". [The Mother Divine]. Retrieved 2015-05-26.
  16. ↑ "Pather Alo- Thakur". Retrieved 2015-05-21.
  17. ↑ Banerjee, R. K. (January 1993). "Shree Shree Sitaramdas Omkarnath" (PDF). Ananda Varta 40 (1): 1. Retrieved 2015-04-08.
  18. ↑ Devsen, Nabanita. Bhraman Samagra. Dey's Publishing. ISBN 978-81-295-0902-4.
  19. ↑ Sengupta, Dr.Naliniranjan (1 July 1968). "Chithipotro". Jugantor(Bengali: যুগান্তর). p. 4.
  20. ↑ "Full text of "s.v.u.oriental journal"". Retrieved 2015-04-05.

Works cited

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