Gurudev Pt. Shriram Sharma Acharya's 3rd visit to Himalaya
Dada guru provided important guidance for sowing the seeds of rishi tradition. He said "You have to leave Mathura and shift to Haridwar and start the work of reviving the Rishi traditions.You will recall that when you came
here for the first time you had met
Risis living in this region in their astral
bodies and each of them had expressed distress at the extinction of their
traditions and you had promised that you would accomplish this task. This
time you have been summoned for this purpose.
"God has no physical form. Whenever something epoch-making is sought
to be achieved,
Risis who remain engrossed in
tapascharya bestow their
powers on
Devatmas, great personages and get the work done through them.
Vishwamitra took
Bhagvan Ram to his
Asram
(hermitage) on the pretext of
defending his
yagya
, trained him in
Bala (Gayatri) and
Atibala (Savitri) (spiritual knowledge)
and got the citadel of demoniac forces
demolished, thus paving the way for the establishment of
Ram-rajya (rule
of truth and righteousness). Shri Krishna had gone for studies to Sandipan
Risi and returned after he had been duly imparted the message of the
Gita,
his role in
Mahabharat epoch and in carrying forward the
Risi tradition of
Sudama. Ancient scriptures are full of descriptions how
Risis moulded great
personages and got important work accomplished through them, although
they themselves always remained engrossed in spiritual pursuits,
sadhana,
research etc. It is this work which you have to accomplish."
“The seer of
Gayatri mantra was Vishwamitra who had lived in
Sapta
Sarovar, Haridwar and had acquired mastery in the miraculous power of
Gayatri. That place is now reserved for you. You will be able to find it out
easily. Name it as Shantikunj,
Gayatri Tirtha and sow the seeds of all the
life transforming traditions which were established by the
Risis when they
lived in their physical forms. They need a physical medium to get their
work done. I, too, had felt a similar need, found in you a competent person,
contacted you and initiated you in this task. These other
Risi have also
similar aspirations. You have to sow anew the seeds of old
Risi traditions,
which is no doubt a difficult task but you will be getting patronage, blessings
and divine gifts of executing competence from me as well as from all these
Risis and you will proceed in carrying out the given assignments undeterred.”
Briefly describing the still incomplete work of the
Risis, I was asked to
acquaint people with the power of
Gayatri Mahamantra
according to the
tradition of Vishvamitra
Risi and to establish a
Siddhapitha Gayatri Tirtha;
to write books and eighteen volumes of
Pragya Puran in Vyas tradition; to
extend the science and philosophy of
yog-sadhana in Patanjali tradition; to
build up an atmosphere of refined and ennobling vibrations by eradicating
evil tendencies from the minds of the people according to Parashuram
tradition; to conduct scientific research and popularise use of medicinal
herbs according to Charak tradition; to heal and set right mental disorders
by holistic treatments of
yagyopathy in Yagyavalkya tradition; to establish
Sadhana-Aranyaks for promoting the growth of goodness and character
building in Jamadagni tradition; to lead wandering life of a religious
mendicant (
Parivrajak) with the aim of imparting true knowledge and
guidance for the spread of religious and spiritual consciousness in Narada
tradition; to provide guidance through the medium of ethics to the
administrative set-up in the tradition of Aryabhatta; to build up
Pragya sansthans at different places in Shankaracharya tradition; to promote allround
health with the help of proper dieting (
ahar-kalpa) according to
Pippalada tradition and to convene
Pragya sammelans from place to place
for educating the masses according to Soot-Shounik tradition.
Gurudev also
indicated the outline of establishing Brahmavarchas Research Institute for
conducting research on scientific lines according to the scientific traditions
of
Atharv Veda, as was done by Kanada
Risi.
I was explained, in detail, what I had to do at Haridwar and how difficulties
coming in my way were to be resolved. I assimilated each and every word
uttered by
Gurudev. Last time when I had visited the
Himalayas, I was to
act according to the directions given by
Gurudev alone. This time I was
assigned the onerous responsibilities of undertaking additional momentous
tasks. This poor donkey was to be more alert and more diligent. Without
elaborating,
Gurudev simply gave a hint that after doing all this, I will have
to pay a fourth visit to the
Himalayas and shoulder still greater
responsibilities and take steps to withdraw into the astral body.
I was informed that the work at Haridwar would be more difficult than that
at Mathura. The onslaughts of devilish elements would have to be faced
more resolutely and there would be several ups and downs. After explaining
where and how I had to live and perform my daily routine, I was told that I
should regard it as a joint programme of
Gurudev and all the other
Risis. I
assured
Gurudev that for me he was the representative of the Supreme Lord
and all the
Risis and
Devtas; and all his instructions would be complied
with till my last breath.
Our talks ended. After bidding farewell,
Gurudev disappeared. I was
escorted upto Gomukh by his
Virbhadra. It is not necessary to mention the
places where I was required to stay for about a year as they are inaccessible
places in the
Himalayas.
While returning, I stayed at the place indicated by
Gurudev in Haridwar. It
was the
tapobhumi of
Sapta-Risis, which was lying deserted and was for
sale. It was marshy. Ganga used to flow through this land in the past. I liked
it. The owner of the land was contacted, the deal was struck and reduced
into writing. I had to take the decision all by myself. The counsel of the
advisors was of no avail, as I failed to make them understand the mystical
significance of the place, the purpose for which it was being acquired and
the blue-print of the proposed construction. Even the supervisory work of
construction had to be done by me. Thus came into being the Shantikunj
Saktipitha at Haridwar.
Establishment of Gayatri Tirtha in Shantikunj, Haridwar
I returned from the
Himalayas in 1972 to Haridwar where I had already got
a small building named Shantikunj built earlier. It was sufficient for the
stay of
Mataji and
devkanyas who were living with her. More land was
purchased and construction work was started. The idea was to develop it
into a
Risi Asram. In the beginning living accommodation for myself, my
colleagues and guests along with a kitchen, was built.
This
Asram
symbolises
Devatma Himalaya and hence symbolic temples
of Ganga, Uttrakhand and seven
Risis, other important
Risis were built
here. Within two years the temple of
Adya-sakti Gayatri, wells and the
meeting hall were also built and Shantikunj was turned into a
tapasthali (a
centre for spiritual pursuits). A small room for installing the idol of
Gayatri Mata and the
Akhand Deep had already been built earlier.
Twenty-four
purascaranas of twenty-four lakhs each were to be performed
to awaken the dormant energy (
sanskars) of this land which was lying barren
since long. In the beginning nine virgin girls performed
jap for four hours in
the day and four hours in the night. Later, the number of these girls was
increased to 27. They were all trained and taught by
Mataji and after a
period of six years they all attained the standards of graduation and postgraduation.
All these girls were suitably married between the ages of twenty
to twenty-five years. Earlier, all these girls, numbering more than hundred,
were trained in music and in delivering religious discourses and were sent
throughout the country in batches of five for spreading the message of the
mission, especially in awakening of women all over the country.
The work of moulding and preparing vibrant and brilliant workers was
taken in hand at Haridwar and for this
Pran pratyavartan camps,
Yug-shilpi camps,
Vanprastha camps of the duration of one month each were
organised. The holy atmosphere of Shantikunj situated on the banks of the
holy Ganga in the lap of the
Himalayas surcharged with spiritual vibrations
attracted and inspired hundreds of persons who participated in the series of
small and big
Gayatri-purascaranas which were started here for general
category of
sadhaks. Side by side, the training of self-sacrificing
vanprasthis,
who had dedicated their entire life in the service of this mission, also
continued. All these
sadhaks were supplied with free food. The number of
such
sadhaks continued steadily increasing. The services of such selfsacrificing,
devout, full-time
sadhaks who were in conscious process of
spiritual awakening were needed to revive
Risi traditions by engaging them
in the spread of this momentous missionary task.
Two hundred and fifty quarters were built in Gayatri Nagar. A big hall to
accommodate about a thousand persons to listen to spiritual discourses and
a
yagyashala with nine
kunds were also built.
Yagya is performed at
Shantikunj in the morning for two hours to promote piety. It was so planned
that the permanent residents of the
Asram
and the visitors participating in
purascaranas may jointly perform a
purascarana
of twenty-four lakh
jap
daily. A small press was also installed for urgent work. In the meantime the
construction of the grand building of Brahmavarchas Research Institute
was taken in hand. The completion of all these works took about four years.
In the meantime other works which were necessary for the revival of
Risi
traditions were also taken in hand according to feasibility.