Samardha Sadguru
Sri Sri Sri Hanumath Kali Vara Prasad Babuji Maharaj
Bharat, our sacred motherland had always enjoyed and continues to enjoy the privilege of producing many seers and sages who are immortalized by the bliss of self-realization. While realizing the Self is one thing, to guide and help others realize it is another; and he that lends such guidance is reverentially referred to as GURU in Sanskrit. This word GURU has no synonym in any other language to convey its full meaning and effect. When elaborated, the first letter 'GU' means darkness, that is ignorance; and the second letter 'RU' means the dispelling of darkness and conferring of wisdom.
Thus 'GURU' is he that is light itself, the light of wisdom; the only light that can dispel the darkness of ignorance which the brilliance of a billion suns cannot. Sdadgurus like Sri Sankaracharya, Lord Buddha, Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, Swami Vivekananda, Swami Rama Thirtha, Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi and many others were born in this land. All these were great personages who richly enjoyed the absolute state of self-realization but were not contended. They came out of their seclusion and sacrifice everything to share the wealth of their experience with many thousands of their brethren.
Samartha Sadguru Sri Sri Sri Hanumath Kali Vara Prasad Babu is one of that clan, presently gracing with His divne presence, Sri Babu Vignana Mandir in Sri Kali Gardens. This is an ashram located at a short distance from Nambur Railway station in Guntur district of Andhra Pradesh. Sri Babu is an ardent advocate of Rajayoga, and a great Rajarishi himself. Though he has not taken up the traditional sanyasa ashram, he is a true sanyasi in the real sense of the word having shattered the shackles of mortal bondage and attained the state of supreme bliss (Nirvikalpa Samadhi) in his childhood itself.
As a young boy Sri Babu set out in quest of spiritual enlightenment and in the process spent many years in severe penance, deep meditation and constant touring across the length and breadth of the country. The deity of his earliest worship was Lord Sri Rama whose Sakshatkar (Darshan) he had on many occasions. Whenever he was wandering in forests or such other lonely places, he always used to have the experience of being accompanied and protected by Lord Hanuman. He had spent many a month in meditation at each of the sacred places like Srisailam, Tirumala, Sabarimalai, Uttarakasi and interior Himalayas. He had visited every place of pilgrimage and owned all spiritual experience that it could offer. Those who had the privilege of accompanying him during a more recent tour of north & South India, had actually seen how, at every place he used to spend many hours and even days in a state of identity with the presiding deity of the place.
Most part of Sri Babuji’s early life was spent in almost total seclusion. He was known to very few people during that time. Even those that knew him could get his darshan very rarely and that too at intuitively appointed places and timings. None dared to look straight into his brilliant and powerful eyes or even touch his feet. Due to the constant inward diversion of all senses (Antarmukhatva) his faculty of speech was affected (Now of course he speaks with the thunderous voice of the Divine Mother). His formal education came to a conclusion even before his learning the alphabet because, when he took up the slate and pencil to practice the letters of alphabet, He saw the Divine Mother Sri Kali there in the slate. In spite of these handicaps, he used to discuss many spiritual topics with the learned Pandits and correct and convince them. They were all arms down before his wisdom born out of practical experience.
It was during this period that he came into contact with the great sage and Rajayogi, Sri Kandarpa Parasuramayya. The two were so much drawn towards each other that the later used to regard Sri Babu as his only spiritual heir and divine gift. Sri Parasuramayya considered Sri Babu as his friend, philosopher and guide; and Sri Babu even to date refers, with moistened eyes, reverentially to Sri Parasuramayya as his father. It was this great man that could contain Sri Babu with all his soaring spiritual ambitions and attainments and persuade him to sacrifice his solitude and seclusion for the nobler mission of the emancipations and the upliftment of millions of mundane men and women. The divine direction and guidance of Sri Babu would not have been perhaps available to all his devotees today, but for the efforts made by Sri Parasuramayya and Sri Babu’s two most adherent devotees, Late Dr. Lanka Seahagirirao and the Late Mr. Mavuleti Chiranjeeviraju to keep him in our midst.
The presiding deities of Sri Babuji’s daily worship are the divine mother Sri Kali and Sri Hanuman. All the same the summem bonum of his preaching’s and practice is Advaita of the highest class. This rare and marvelous blending of the Saguna and Nirguna cults finds its paralleled only in Sri Ramkrishna Parmahamsa. Equally harmoniously blended in Sri Babu are the frank forthrightness of a child and the sparkling wisdom of a Brahmajnani.
People who have known Sri Babu even as a boy of fifteen narrate with astonishment and adoration how all the divine powers came to him automatically. There have been innumerable instances in which Babuji cured cases of disease declared hopeless by expert doctors, solved admittedly impossible family feuds and brought to reconciliation parties with mutually murderous intentions. But all these, he humbly claims, are the divine mother’s benevolent operations executed through "this instrument (Pointing to Himself)". "The great and kind mother has just chosen to put on this grab (Himself) for carrying out Her acts of mercy towards her suffering children" declares Sri Babu. He shuns the use off acquired powers for material gains and is convinced that they are a great impediment to one’s spiritual progress.