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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. adadgurus like Sri Sankaracharya, Loed Buddha, Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu,
Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, Swami Vivekananda, Swami Rama Thirtha,J 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 jis divne presence, Sri Babu Vignana Mandir
is 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 it self.
As a young boy Sri Babu set out in quest of spiritual enlighnement and in
the process spent many years in severe penance, deep meditation and
constant touring across the length and breath of the country. The deity of
his earliest worship was Lord Sri Rama whose Sakshatar(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 darsan 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 effected. (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 day 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 me and women. The divine
direction and guidance of Sri babu would not have been perhaps available to all
his devotees to day, but for the efforts made by Sri Parasuramayya and Sri
Babu’s two most adherent devotees, Late Dr. Lanka Seahagirirao and the Late Mr.
Mavulrti chiranjeevirahu 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 Brahmagnani.
People who
have known Sri Babu even as 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 Hi Self) “ 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.
Material pleasures are nothing, when compared with the pleasure of
the realizing that you are not this mortal frame, but that you are
the immortal Self; the one and only one indivisible, omini present omnipotent and omniscient Self. But,
infinitely greater and beyond measure is the pleasure that such a realized
soul would in the faces of all those whom he could inspire, guide and help
to realize the Self as he himself did. A spiritual leader or Guru would
prefer such pleasure to personal bliss.
Sri Babu
does not preach any rigid dogmas. He only exhorts people to avail of the most
privileged human birth to extricate themselves from the cycle of births and
deaths by leading a simple, pure and spiritual life. According to him, leading
a spiritual life, does not mean renouncing the responsibilities towards one’s
family, vocation or society. In fact, one is advised to discharge all such
responsibilities sincerely and wholely heartedly, but only through righteous
means without harming others. In spite of one’s busy routine, one can still fine
time to spend few moments in fervent prayer and meditation, if only one does not
allow laziness to override him, because, laziness is Death.
Prayer coupled with
faith bestows mental poise and in ward purity Sri Babu assures that uni-pointed
devotion towards, and unsverving faith in, the lotus feet of the Lord that is
guru, provide the surest remedy for all sufferings and also lead us to the ultimate
goal.
The number of people coming into the fold
of Sri Babu’s divine spell has been ever on the increase. It was, therefore, found
necessary to bring up an ashramam and request Sri Babu to grace the same constantly
with his divine presence, so that all devotees could have his darsna to seek and
obtain his Vignana Mandir thus came into existence in 1972. there is absolutely no
discrimination on the basis of caste, cred or sex in this ashram. Disciples of all
communities live and dine together there. The nectar of spiritual messages flows
perennially from his divine centre of knowledge through the ringing voice of Sri babu,
to keep rejuvenating and enlivening all those blessed beings that come in to
his electrifying presence, get into his assuring looks and feel his curing touch.
Morning and evening prayers along ith the recitiation of the Upanishads and the
gita Sankirtan, critical commentary on the classics like, Ramayana, bhagavata
etc. and lectures on spiritual topics are some of the daily features of the
Ashram.
On almost all the festival days there will be Guru Pada
Pooja as also other special programmes. The Navratri celebrations in the Ashram
during the Dasara festival cannot be sufficiently described but can only be
enjoyed by personal participation and experience. It is no exaggeration to say
that every day is festival day in the ashram in the divine presence of Sri Babu.
Sri Babu never preached rigid dogmas. He advocated the path of Raja yoga for one
and all. Leading spiritual life did not mean renouncing the responsibilities
towards one's.
According to Sri Babu, intense and unswerving faith in Guru (that guru is himself
the God supreme) and implicit obedience to Guru's directions are enough for a
spiritual seeker to achieve his goal of self-realization. Sri Babu was
originally very much against publicity. His darsan was scarcely available and he
forbade his devotees from communicating with others about him. But as the number
of devotees swelled up, the urge among his devotees to have his darsan and
guidance became uncontainable. All the devotees implored upon Sri Babu to permit
them to bring up an Ashram where his gracious presence and divine guidance could
be made available to all desirous devotees
Thus came into being Sri Kali Gardens Ashram in 1972. And ever thereafter,
Sri Babu Vignana Mandir, that is Sri Babuji's cottage in the Ashram, became
perennial fountain -head from where the nectar of spiritual education springs
out eternally to reach and rejuvenate people in every nook and corner of the
world. Sri Babu repeatedly visited not only different parts of the country but
also many countries abroad like U.S, U.K, West Indies, France etc. and gave
invaluable spiritual discourses and guidance to many spiritual seekers.
Sri Babu gives people what they want in the hope that they will begin to want
what he wants to give them. Samardha Sadguru Sri Sri Sri Hanumath Kali Vara
Prasad Babuji Maharshi, enshrined in the hearts of his disciples as "Babu",
hails from such a clan of Gurus and graced this element of human habitation
with his divine presence of nearly seven decades of the twentieth century. |