Mahavatar Babaji; Great Avatar
is the name given to an Indian saint and yogi by Yogiraj Lahiri Mahasaya, and several of his disciples,
who reported meeting him between 1861, 1935 and 1980. Some of these meetings
were described by Paramahansa Yogananda in his book Autobiography of a Yogi,
including a first-hand report of Yogananda's own meeting with the yogi. Another
first-hand account was given by Sri Yukteswar Giri in his book The Holy
Science. According to Sri M's
autobiography (Apprenticed to a Himalayan Master), Babaji was Lord Shiva. In the second last
chapter of his book, he mentions Babaji changing his form to that of Lord
Shiva. All of these accounts, along with additional reported meetings, are
described in various biographies. According to Yogananda's autobiography,
Babaji has resided for at least hundreds of years in the remote Himalayan
regions of India, seen in person by only a small number of disciples and
others.
Again, according to his autobiography,
shortly before Yogananda left for America in 1920, Babaji came to his home in Calcutta,
where Yogananda sat deeply praying for divine assurance regarding the mission
he was about to undertake. Babaji said to him: "Follow the behest of your
guru and go to America. Fear not; you shall be protected. You are the one I
have chosen to spread the message of Kriya Yoga
in the West."
There are very few accounts of Babaji's childhood. One source of
information is the book Babaji and the 18 Siddha Kriya Yoga tradition by Marshal
Govindan. According to Govindan, Babaji was named Nagarajan (king of
serpents) by his parents. V.T. Neelakantan and S.A.A. Ramaiah founded on 17
October 1952, (they claim – at the request of Babaji) a new organization,
"Kriya Babaji Sangah," dedicated to the teaching of Babaji's Kriya
Yoga. They claim that in 1953 Mahavatar Babaji told them that he was born on 30
November 203 CE in a small coastal village now known as Parangipettai,
Cuddalore district of Tamil Nadu,
India. Babaji's Kriya Yoga Order of Acharyas Trust (Kriya Babaji Sangah) and
their branch organizations claim his place and date of birth. He was a disciple
of Bogar
and his birth name is Nagarajan.
In Paramahansa Yogananda's Autobiography of a Yogi, many references are
made to Mahavatar Babaji, including from Lahirī Mahasaya and Sri Yukteswar. In his book The Second Coming of Christ,
Yogananda states that Jesus Christ went to India and conferred with
Mahavatar Babaji. This would make Babaji at least 2000 years old.According to
Govindan's book, Babaji Nagaraj's father was the priest of the village's
temple. Babaji revealed only those details which he believed to be formative as
well as potentially instructive to his disciples. Govindan mentioned one
incident like this: "One time Nagaraj's mother had got one rare jackfruit
for a family feast and put it aside. Babaji was only 4 years old at that time.
He found the jackfruit when his mother was not around and ate it all. When his
mother came to know about it, she flew in blind rage and stuffed a cloth inside
Babaji's mouth, nearly suffocating him, but he survived. Later on he thanked
God for showing him that she was to be loved without attachment or illusion.
His Love for his mother became unconditional and detached."
When Nagaraj was about 5 years old, someone kidnapped him and sold him
as a slave in Calcutta (now Kolkata). His new owner however was a kind man and he freed
Nagaraj shortly thereafter. Nagaraj then joined a small group of wandering
sannyasin due to their radiant faces and love for God. During the next few
years, he wandered from place to place, studying holy scriptures like the Vedas, Upanishad,
Mahabharata,
Ramayana,
Bhagavad Gita.
According to Marshall Govindan's book, at the age of eleven, he made a
difficult journey on foot and by boat with a group of ascetics to Kataragama,
Sri Lanka. Nagaraj met SiddhaBhogarnathar and became his disciple. Nagaraj
performed intensive yogic sadhana for a long time with him. Bhogarnathar inspired
Nagaraj to seek his initiation into Kriya Kundalini Pranayam from Siddha Maharshi Agastya. Babaji
became a disciple of Siddha Agastya. Nagaraj was initiated into the secrets of
Kriya Kundalini Pranayama or "Vasi Yogam". Babaji made a long
pilgrimage to Badrinath and spent eighteen months practising yogic kriya taught to him by
Siddha Agastya and Bhogarnathar. Babaji attained self-realization shortly
thereafter.
It is claimed that these revelations were made by Babaji himself to
S.A.A. Ramaiah, a young graduate student in geology at the University of Madras
and V.T. Neelakantan, a famous journalist, and close student of Annie Besant,
President of the Theosophical Society and mentor of Krishnamurti. Babaji was said to have appeared
to each of them independently and then brought them together to work for his
Mission in 1942.
The first reported encounter with Mahavatar Babaji was in 1861, when Shyamacharan
Lahiri (called "Mahasaya" by disciples, devotees, and admirers) was
posted to Ranikhet
in his work as an accountant for the British government. One day while walking
in the hills of Dunagiri above Ranikhet, he heard a voice calling his name. Following
the voice up the mountain, he met a "tall, divinely radiant sadhu." He was amazed
to find that the sadhu knew his name. This sadhu was Mahavatar Babaji.
Mahavatar Babaji told Lahiri that he was his guru from the past, then
initiated him into Kriya Yoga and instructed Lahiri to initiate
others. Lahiri wanted to remain with Mahavatar Babaji, who told him instead that
he must return to the world to teach Kriya Yoga and that "Kriya Yoga sadhana
would spread through the people of the world through his (Lahiri’s) presence in
the world."
Lahiri reported that Mahavatar Babaji did not give his name or
background, so Lahiri gave him the title "Mahavatar Babaji." Many
sadhus in India are called Babaji, and sometimes even "Babaji
Maharaj", which has caused confusion between Mahavatar Babaji and other
sadhus with similar names.
Lahiri had many meetings with Mahavatar Babaji, recounted in several
books, including Paramhansa Yogananda's Autobiography of a Yogi, Yogiraj Shyama
Charan Lahiri Mahasaya (Lahiri's biography), and Purana Purusha: Yogiraj Sri
Shama Churn Lahiri, among others.
There are references to Sri Lahiri Mahasaya in Sampoorna Sripada
Vallabha Charitam as guru to Sri Shirdi Saibaba, who initiated him to kriya
yoga.
Several disciples of Shyamacharan Lahiri also reported having met
Babaji. Through discussion with each other, and the fact that some of these
encounters included two or more witnesses, they confirmed that the person they
saw was the same sadhu that Lahirī called Mahavatar Babaji.
At the 1894 Kumbha Mela in Allahabad, Yukteswar
Giri, a disciple of Lahirī, met Mahavatar Babaji. He was struck by
the resemblance between Lahirī and Mahavatar Babaji. Others who met Babaji also
commented on the resemblance. It was at this meeting that Mahavatar Babaji
instructed Sri Yukteswar to write the book that was to become Kaivalya
Darshanam, or The Holy Science. Yukteswar had two more
meetings with Mahavatar Babaji, including one in the presence of Lahiri
Mahasaya.
Pranabananda Giri, another disciple of Lahirī, also met Mahavatar Babaji
in the presence of Lahiri, at Lahiri's home. Pranabananda asked Mahavatar
Babaji his age. Mahavatar Babaji responded that he was about 500 years old at
that time.
Keshabananda, a disciple of Lahiri, tells of meeting Mahavatar Babaji in
the mountains near Badrinath around 1935, after he became lost wandering in the
mountains. At that meeting, Pranabananda reported that Babaji gave him a
message for Paramahansa Yogananda, that "I won't see him this time, as he
is eagerly hoping; but I shall see him on some other occasion."In his book
Autobiography of a Yogi, Paramahansa Yogananda wrote that Mahavatar Babaji
visited him before his journey to America and addressed him saying, "You
are the one I have chosen to spread the message of Kriya Yoga in the
West."
Other disciples of Lahiri who reported meetings with Mahavatar Babaji
include Kebalananda Giri and Ram Gopal Muzumdar, who recounted meeting Mahavatar
Babaji and his sister, whom he called Mataji. In addition, a disciple of Trailanga
Swami, Shankari Mata (also called Shankari Mai Jiew) met Mahavatar Babaji
while visiting Lahiri Mahasaya.
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