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Question:
Shri Maharaj Ji was honored with the title of Jagadguruttam, is most certainly a great accomplishment. But what benefit can I derive from this great achievement? I have heard people say that Shri Maharaj Ji showered His grace upon us by accepting this title. How do we attain benefit through this honor given to Shri Maharaj Ji? What is the real meaning and relevance of celebrating this day every year? Answer:
Saint Tulsidas said in Ramacharit Manas, भुर्ज तरु सम संत कृपाला । पर हित सह नित विपति विशाला ॥
bhurj taru sam sant krpaala . par hit sah nit vipati vishaala |
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If one keeps peeling off the layers of the bark, the tree would eventually die. Still the tree does not do anything to protect itself and willingly continues to give its bark for the benefit of humankind and ultimately perishes.
“Saints are like a birch tree. They willingly undergo great discomfort and pain for the benefit of others.”
Saints are compared to a birch tree due to their nature of compassion and benevolence. The trunk of a birch tree is made up of multiple layers of bark. In ancient times, manuscripts used to be written on the bark of a birch tree. If one keeps peeling off the layers of the bark, the tree would eventually die. Still the tree does not do anything to protect itself and willingly continues to give its bark for the benefit of humankind and ultimately perishes.
Material beings inherently think only about their own benefit, while saints cannot think of anything other than the benefit of others. Despite undergoing criticism and insults, they continue to uplift the fallen souls.
In the mid 1900’s, there were genuine seekers of God, but they were misled by imposters. Analyzing the situation prevalent during those times, Shri Maharaj Ji identified the following problems -
1. Teachings of contemporary saints were limited to maintaining harmony in the society. They did not pay any attention to the underlying reasons for conflict.
2. Lots of pretentious pundits mis-led innocent people in the name of dharma by misinterpreting hymns and scriptural verses.
3. Shri Maharaj Ji knew that our scriptures were full of seemingly contradictory philosophy, thus, studying the scriptures under the guidance of those who lack practical experience of God would not provide any clarity or deliver practical divine experiences. On the contrary, it would add to the confusion of the mind.
4. He also realized that the only way for devotees to protect themselves from wrong associations (see Beware of Kusang), that could lead to a spiritual downfall, was by having a sound knowledge of philosophy and a firm resolve to follow the path of righteousness.
5. The majority of so-called saints presented a very wrong concept of religion. In addition, they condemned the teachings of real saints.
6. He also knew that He could not successfully accomplish His mission of Jeev-Kalyan (benediction of the public at large) until He would explicitly prove that the philosophy he was propagating, was irrefutable even by the top-most scholars.
Moved by the pitiable condition of the masses Shri Maharaj Ji was determined to provide them with true spiritual guidance. In one phrase, the reason for providing guidance was - His graceful nature. And in one sentence, the only purpose for revealing his divine knowledge as Jagadguruttam was - To make us pause-long-enough to listen to His words attentively to know the higher-purpose of life, beyond what the contemporary popular beliefs were.
Shri Maharaj devised this plan to ensure that people would be forced to take note and listen to his philosophy, which was backed by evidence from our scriptures as opposed to the religious practices prevalent at that time.
Shri Maharaj Ji hosted a summit in Chitrakoot in the year, 1955 wherein he invited 72 scholars from all over India and presented to them questions containing 12 sets of contradictory statements written in our scriptures. He urged the invitees to reconcile the contradiction with each set. When none of the invited scholars even attempted to clarify or reconcile the contradictions, Shri Maharaj Ji took it upon himself to do so. He answered those questions by speaking 3 hours per day for 12 consecutive days. His discourses attracted a large audience. He had gained everyone’s attention. This was disconcerting to the scholars, for this could lead to them losing their clientele and thus their livelihood. Moreover, it was a huge blow to their pride.
Realizing that one convention alone was not enough to get His message across, on the heels of the Chitrakoot convention, Shri Maharaj Ji conducted another convention in Kanpur in 1956.
Saints are compared to a birch tree due to their nature of compassion and benevolence. The trunk of a birch tree is made up of multiple layers of bark. In ancient times, manuscripts used to be written on the bark of a birch tree. If one keeps peeling off the layers of the bark, the tree would eventually die. Still the tree does not do anything to protect itself and willingly continues to give its bark for the benefit of humankind and ultimately perishes.
Material beings inherently think only about their own benefit, while saints cannot think of anything other than the benefit of others. Despite undergoing criticism and insults, they continue to uplift the fallen souls.
In the mid 1900’s, there were genuine seekers of God, but they were misled by imposters. Analyzing the situation prevalent during those times, Shri Maharaj Ji identified the following problems -
1. Teachings of contemporary saints were limited to maintaining harmony in the society. They did not pay any attention to the underlying reasons for conflict.
2. Lots of pretentious pundits mis-led innocent people in the name of dharma by misinterpreting hymns and scriptural verses.
3. Shri Maharaj Ji knew that our scriptures were full of seemingly contradictory philosophy, thus, studying the scriptures under the guidance of those who lack practical experience of God would not provide any clarity or deliver practical divine experiences. On the contrary, it would add to the confusion of the mind.
4. He also realized that the only way for devotees to protect themselves from wrong associations (see Beware of Kusang), that could lead to a spiritual downfall, was by having a sound knowledge of philosophy and a firm resolve to follow the path of righteousness.
5. The majority of so-called saints presented a very wrong concept of religion. In addition, they condemned the teachings of real saints.
6. He also knew that He could not successfully accomplish His mission of Jeev-Kalyan (benediction of the public at large) until He would explicitly prove that the philosophy he was propagating, was irrefutable even by the top-most scholars.
Moved by the pitiable condition of the masses Shri Maharaj Ji was determined to provide them with true spiritual guidance. In one phrase, the reason for providing guidance was - His graceful nature. And in one sentence, the only purpose for revealing his divine knowledge as Jagadguruttam was - To make us pause-long-enough to listen to His words attentively to know the higher-purpose of life, beyond what the contemporary popular beliefs were.
Shri Maharaj devised this plan to ensure that people would be forced to take note and listen to his philosophy, which was backed by evidence from our scriptures as opposed to the religious practices prevalent at that time.
Shri Maharaj Ji hosted a summit in Chitrakoot in the year, 1955 wherein he invited 72 scholars from all over India and presented to them questions containing 12 sets of contradictory statements written in our scriptures. He urged the invitees to reconcile the contradiction with each set. When none of the invited scholars even attempted to clarify or reconcile the contradictions, Shri Maharaj Ji took it upon himself to do so. He answered those questions by speaking 3 hours per day for 12 consecutive days. His discourses attracted a large audience. He had gained everyone’s attention. This was disconcerting to the scholars, for this could lead to them losing their clientele and thus their livelihood. Moreover, it was a huge blow to their pride.
Realizing that one convention alone was not enough to get His message across, on the heels of the Chitrakoot convention, Shri Maharaj Ji conducted another convention in Kanpur in 1956.
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In this convention he invited only the most distinguished philosophers and scholars like Shri Hanuman Prasad Poddar, Shri Jaidayal Goyandaka, Dr. Sarvapalli RadhaKrishnan (1st Vice President of India), Shri Sampoornanand Ji (Chief Minister of U.P.), Shri K. M. Munshi (Governor U.P.), Dr. Baldev Mishra (D. Lit and Guru of Dr. Rajendra Prasad the 1st President of India), Shri Akhandanand Ji, Shri Hari Sharnanand Ji, Shri Gangeshwaranand Ji etc.
The subject of discussion at this convention was Spiritualism versus Materialism. The topic was geared towards establishing the idea in the minds of the listeners that a balance between these two is indispensable. Shri Raj Narayan Shastri, the formidable scholar of all 6 darshan shastra and Vice President of Kashi Vidwat Parishad, the highest assembly of topmost Sanskrit scholars in the country arrived at the convention unannounced with several other pundits to validate the assertions about Shri Maharaj Ji made by other scholars. After listening to Shri Maharaj Ji, Shri Raj Narayan Shastri changed his opinion. When it was his turn to speak, instead of speaking on the topic given to him, Shri Shastri, took the time to sing glories of Shri Maharaj Ji, imploring the audience to listen to the lectures of Shri Maharaj Ji and follow his teachings, to attain a blessed life. Filled with resentment against Shri Maharaj Ji, the other scholars of Kashi challenged Him to a scriptural debate (शास्त्रार्थ), with the intent to defeat and insult Him, thereby closing the curtain on the contradictory philosophy proposed by him. |
Hanuman Prasad Poddar
Dr. Baldev Mishra (D. Lit and Guru of Dr. Rajendra Prasad the 1st President of India)
Shri K. M. Munshi (Governor U.P.)
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Dr. Sarvapalli RadhaKrishna
(1st Vice President of India)
Shri Jaidayal Goyandaka
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But, after listening to His extraordinary reconciliation of all the scriptures and philosophies, the apex body of the opposing scholars were forced to accept the authenticity of His knowledge. Impressed by His divine knowledge, they honored him with the unique title of Jagadguruttam or the best of all-original-Jagadgurus. By doing this they sent a loud and clear message to all seekers of God to pay attention to and practice the teachings of Shri Maharaj Ji - even though His viewpoint was contrary to contemporary popular beliefs.
Shri Maharaj Ji could have declined the title, much like other saints like Shri Vallabhacharya Ji Maharaj, Mahaprabhu Chaitanya, Hit Harivansh, Haridas etc. who didn’t have the title. But He accepted it for the greater good of generations to come. As an analogy, after completing medical studies, a doctor gets a medical degree which is an endorsement that he is qualified and authorized to practice medicine. Similarly, Shri Maharaj Ji’s title did not increase his knowledge or bliss, instead it was an endorsement of His exceptional authority on the knowledge hidden within our scriptures and his qualification to guide us on the spiritual path. |
Mahaprabhu Chaitanya
Shri Vallabhacharya
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Hit Harivansh
Haridas
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We follow a methodical process for finding a medical doctor for e.g. we first check whether he has a medical degree, then check for references and once we are satisfied, we consult with the doctor and start the treatment. Similarly, for us who seek a spiritual guide, this historical moment established Shri Maharaj Ji’s credibility as a supreme scholar of divine knowledge. It also eased our fears of being deceived by an imposter (see Saint or Imposter). Now, we could confidently follow His teachings, thus allowing Him to treat our bhavrog (desire and attachment to the material world).
Since that day, Shri Maharaj Ji, has been in a tireless pursuit to enlighten all inquisitive souls with the true knowledge leading to achieving the ultimate aim of life. Shri Maharaj Ji has delivered thousands of discourses on the theory of devotion and led countless satsangs to practically demonstrate how devotion should be done. Thus, Shri Maharaj Ji graced us and the entire universe on this day. Remembering the immense grace showered on humankind on Jan 14th, 1957 and ever since fills our hearts with great reverence and increases our devotion, helping us realize more grace. We celebrate this day to express our deepest gratitude to God for giving us the greatest of all saints Jagadguruttam, as our Master. There has never been anyone like Him in the past, nor will there be anyone in the future. Before being exposed to this incredible philosophy, recall what were we doing – following the superstitions propagated by misleading imposters or following the whims of our own mind? We need to understand that the true aim of life is to attain eternal bliss. Human form of life is precious and transient (see Human form: boon or bane?). We don’t have time to engage in unproductive activities. We must realize His abundant grace. Thank Him wholeheartedly and celebrate this day ostentatiously to express our gratitude to God for giving us such a capable Master who can lead us in the right direction and help us reach the ultimate aim of our life - God Realization. |
We follow a methodical process for finding a medical doctor for e.g. we first check whether he has a medical degree, then check for references and once we are satisfied, we consult with the doctor and start the treatment.
For us, who seek a spiritual guide, this historical moment established Shri Maharaj Ji’s credibility as a supreme scholar of divine knowledge.
Click on the image to watch the meaning of this poerty
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- जगद्गुरूत्तम स्वामी श्री कृपालु जी महाराज
It is only by the grace of God that one meets a genuine Guru. And it is only by the grace of that Guru that one meets God.
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