The life of Śrī Karapātri Swāmi is an amalgamation of practice, propagation, and principle of Dharma, Bhakti, and Advaita Jñāna with the power of tapas, Dēśa Bhakti, scholarship, and sacrifice It is the duty of every Bhāratīya to reminisce this great soul every morning.
Dispassion towards mundane and concern for Motherland:
Born into the Ojha family replete with illustrious scholars on Sunday Śrāvaṇa Śuddha Vidiya in Batani on the banks of River Sarayu. Haranārāyaṇa (Given name before becoming a renunciate) demonstrated high intellectual..
capacity right from childhood. Though he was given admission into higher classes, he expressed interest to study Sanskrit, which the overjoyed father arranged. He had dispassion that arose out of pure discrimination towards the worldly aspects right from beginning.
Another aspect is his distress looking at fellow countrymen who were neither aware nor respectful towards the glorious culture and heritage of Bhāratadēśaṁ. He always wanted to transform the communities and inculcate veneration towards Dharma and love for Motherland.
Resolution to adapt Sanyāsa :
A common thing during his childhood is running away from home with detachment and his father bringing him back after great search. After multiple such instances, his father married him to a noble woman named Mahā Dēvi thinking he would remain stable.
However, when he did not change even after marriage, his father told him to stay at home till the birth of at least one child. Thus, after the birth of one daughter, he took the permission of his father, mother, and wife and resolved to take Sanyāsa at the age of just 19 years.
Brahmacharya - Scholarship in scriptures:
Having left home and roaming around many sacred places, he finally saw Śrī Brahmānanda Sarasvatī Swāmī in Vīrasimhapuraṁ in Madhya Pradesh and sought initiation into Sanyāsaṁ.
In order to attain even more pure intellect & obtain increase in thought process by comprehending the paths of many intellectuals along the path, Śrī Brahmānanda Sarasvatī sent him to the Gurukula of Jīvandutt in a place called Naravar where Rāmājñāyi Caturvēdi was the principal.
There, he took the name of Harahara Chaitanya and first learnt Vyākaraṇa in just eleven months, which otherwise would take four years, and all the six Darśanās from Viśvēśvara Āśram ji and later followed his Guru to Achyuta Muni to learn Vedanta.
Life as a Brahmacāri:
In Gurukula, Harahara Chaitanya used to get alms using his hand as the bowl. He used to take only 5 handfuls from 5 homes! (That's how he got the name as Kar+patri) He used write letters to Hanumān in Hanumān Gaḍi in Ayōdhya & leave the letters in river.
Adapting Sanyāsa at the age of 23 years:
After performing austere spiritual practice in the Himālaya Mountains for 3 years, he came back to Vāraṇāsi pushed by the divine inspiration which he heard quite distinctly. On his way, at a place called Sikar, he took Sanyāsa.
Later, he went to his Guru Śrī Brahmānanda Sarasvatī, who formally initiated him and gave the Sanyāsa name ‘Hariharānanda Saraswati’.
Dharma Yōddha - Dharma Sāmrāṭ :
Śrī Karapātri Swāmi began his travel across Bhāratadēśaṁ on foot. He observed the multiple differences..
..existing in the society such as Hindu-Non-Hindu, Brahmin-Non-Brahmin, untouchability, religion, society, lower status of women vs men etc. He thought all these dual feelings would vanish if people were made aware of Dharma, the true Sanātana Dharma.
Further, he also thought Dharma should be the basis for polity & political administration.
He noticed that Dharma in those days is hard hit in 5 ways (this is true even now!) 1. Non-confirmation or rejection of Dharma 2. A laid-back attitude without any concern for the happenings
3. Indolence 4. Opposing Dharma and acting against Dharma 5. Changing the form of Dharma under the guise of ‘Reformation’.
He aspired for complete and true independence of ‘Bhāratīyata’, not just Bhāratadēśaṁ, which then can really be termed as ‘Holistic Independence’.
He wanted to bring awareness in everyone about the grandeur, universal outlook, broadness and depth in thought existing in Bhāratīya Dharma. In 1938, he went to Mahā Kumbhamēla and aroused passion in many there with his scintillating speeches.
He met Śrī Kr̥ṣṇabōdha Āśram ji there, who later became his close associate.
Dharma Sanga - Chatussūtri :
Many commoners as well as intellectuals were inspired by the stimulating speeches of Śrī Karapātri Swāmi and thus began ‘Dharma Sanga’ in 1940.
The symbol of Dharma Sanga is ‘Swastik’. Its title song is in Sanskrit and very distinct.
Four cardinal principles are the basis of Dharma Sanga - 1. Dharmasya Jayōstu 2. Adharmasya Nāshōstu 3. Prāṇiṣu Sadbhāvanōstu 4. Vishwasya Kaḷyāṇamastu (A fifth one was added later)
Along with the propagation of Dharma, he also organized Japās, Pārāyaṇās, worship services etc. to invoke the power of God.
Yajñās organized by Dharma Sanga:
Being well versed in many scriptures and completely knowledgeable about what Yajñās should be organized for the..
welfare of the country, he organized many Yajñās in various places -
Never did he begin all the Yajñās with sufficient funds. They were just begun. Funds came in without any effort.
Establishment of Educational Institutions:
In Delhi, where 10 lakh people participated, a large amount was left unused after the Yajña. With that remaining funds, Karapātri ji established an educational institution in a place called Nigamabodhaghat, which is running even today.
Later, he also established many educational institutions in Vāraṇāsi, Brindavan, Hissar, Vittur, Muzaffarpur etc.
Books of Śrī Karapātri Swāmi
• Saṅkīrtana Mīmāmsa - This contains how one should do Saṅkīrtana and other related details.
• Bhakti Rasārṇavaṁ
• Varṇāśrama Maryāda - This explains the code of conduct for each Varṇa and Āśrama and how to co-exist without any differences leading to the progress of the nation.
• Vicāraṇa Pīyuṣaṁ - This expounds the true traditions enshrined in Vedas.
• Vēdasvarūpa Vimarśanaṁ
• ‘Marxism - Rāma Rājyaṁ’ - Rebutting Marxism & explaining the greatness of Rāma Rājyaṁ.
• ‘Rahul ji ki Bhranti’ (The hallucination of Rahul ji)- Rebutting the criticism of his above book
• Cāturvarṇa Sanskr̥tī Vimarśanaṁ
• Vēda Svarūpa - Prāmāṇya
• Śrī Bhagavattatvaṁ
• Śaṅkara Siddhānta Samādhānaṁ
• Rādha Sudha
• Bhakti Sudha
• Rāmāyaṇa Mīmāmsa
• Vēdārtha Pārijātaṁ - His magnum opus
• Vēdārtha Bhūmika - Voluminous explanation of about 2300 pages expounding all the four Vedas
• Śulka Yajurvēda Sanhitā Bhāṣyaṁ
• Sambhōgaṁ Samādhiyā - Rebutting the vulgar depiction of Sanatana Dharma by a Westerner
Magazines and Articles of Śrī Karapātri Swāmi :
• Rebuttal on the scandalous article on ‘Śrī Ādi Śaṅkara’, which was not published by the original magazine.
Śrī Karapātri Swāmi himself got it printed and circulated widely, after which he was called ‘Abhinava Śaṅkara’.
• A monthly Hindi magazine ‘Sanmārg’ - To provide information about Sanātana Dharma.
• A weekly magazine ‘Siddhānth’ - Inquiry about Sanātana Dharma with articles
on nature, form, and subtleties of Hindu Dharma.
• ‘Dharma Jyoti’ - Emphasizing that polity and Dharma should not be separated.
Protection of Cows:
While the country was about to obtain independence, a Hindu Law Committee was formed under the chairmanship of a Christian and
inclusion of other members who were not fully versed with the Hindu scriptures, Dharma subtleties, & other profound concepts of Sanātana Dharma. Śrī Karapātri Swāmi opposed this move by collecting lakhs of signatures and sending lakhs of telegrams.
Still, there were no efforts in the direction of protection of cows. Then, Śrī Karapātri Swāmi added another cardinal principle to the above four - ‘Gavām sanrakṣaṇamastu’ i.e., Cows should be protected. He wrote many articles about the significance of cow mentioned in Vedas
and its importance to the entire society and got them circulated them extensively. When many tried to misinterpret the statements in Vedas, Śrī Karapātri Swāmi shut their mouths with authentic references in public debates.
When devotees and followers wanted to carry out victory processions and facilitate him, Śrī Karapātri Swāmi always used to say that scholarship is only to establish the truth but never to insult others. Such was his nobility and generosity!
Many participated in the multiple movements he raised for the protection of cows. He pressurized the Govt with his speeches, essays, and multiple letters in which he mentioned -
• The interest of Dharma should be protected always
• No bill against Dharma should be introduced
• Bhāratadēśaṁ should attain complete independence and Pakistan formation should not happen.
• Killing of cows should be banned
• Cows should be protected
• The interests of farm workers should be protected.
Current generations should know the true history of Bhārat:
He was arrested in 1946 in Bangladesh when he went there to oppose the massacre of Hindus by the goons of Pakistan. He traveled all over the place, constructed colonies, fed 2000 people per day, motivated them
to do the chanting of ‘Rāma’ name, and converted many back into Hinduism with Ganga Jal and Rāma Nāma.
Later, in 1947 also, he was arrested again but was released later bowing to public pressure.
But many of his intimate associates such as Goswami Lakshmanacharya, Krishnanda Swami, Mukundasrama ji lost their lives.
Current generations do not even know this history.
Śrī Karapātri Swāmi cried at the time of partition of Bhārat:
Another aspect that deeply hurt Śrī Karapātri Swāmi was partition of the country. He was far-sighted. In fact, in 1940 itself, Śrī Karapātri Swāmi told that the danger of breaking the country is looming due to many so-called leaders who are against Dharma.
He also brought awareness about the wrong theories such as Aryan-Dravidian etc. which these pseudo-intellectuals have been propagating with vicious intentions. At the time when the then PM Jawaharlal Nehru was signing the partition, Śrī Karapātri Swāmi was put in jail.
He wept bitterly in the jail for his motherland.
Śrī Karapātri Swāmi arrested in independent Bhārat:
After Bhārat attained independence, in 1957, when Śrī Karapātri Swāmi performed Satyagraha for the closure of four cow slaughter houses in Madhura, he was arrested and kept in
jail for 6 months because he refused to stop the protest & leave the place. Later, the district collector had to bow to public pressure & Satyagraha of his disciples and devotees. With tremendous pressure, Government had to close 13 cow slaughter houses following which ..
many municipalities and Zilla Parishads in Uttar Pradesh also banned the killing of cow.
He was again arrested on November 7, 1966, for protesting against the killing of cows and was taken to jail hitting and dragging all the way to jail.
Whenever Śrī Karapātri Swāmi was in jail, he brought transformation in the inmates also & infused devotion and patriotism in them.
Later, under the banner of ‘Rāmarājya parishad’, his group also contested elections, but lost in many places except in some places in Rajasthan & MP.
Merger into the Divine:
After lecturing only for 5 out of 9 days on ‘Rāsa Pañcādhyāyi’ in Kanpur, He returned to Vāraṇāsi & remained in that state of Brahman for 21 days. He asked everyone coming to see him to chant Śrī Viṣṇu Sahasranāma, Chaṇḍi Saptaśati, Rāmāyaṇa etc.
On February 8, 1982, he had all the gods he worshipped on his chest, sipped little ganga water mixed with Tulasi, and merged into the Supreme chanting ‘Śiva’ three times. Lakhs of people came to see his mortal coil which was later dissolved in the waters of River Ganga.
वन्दे भारतदेश पुण्यपरिपाका कृष्ण बृन्दारकम् ।
वन्दे वैदिक धर्म रक्षण परं वन्दे सुधी वन्दितं ।
वन्दे पावन रामराज्य परिषद् सन्स्थापकं शर्मदं ।
वन्दे श्री करपात्रि सन्यमि वरं वन्दे तप: श्रीधरं ॥
While searching for Kr̥ṣṇa who was present in their midst till then but disappeared suddenly upon feeling arrogant within, Gōpīs found the footprints of Kr̥ṣṇa & another woman. Śuka Yōgīndra gives little unclear picture that the footprints belong to Rādhādēvī.
Here, Gōpīs are describing the tattva of Rādhādēvī in these Ślōkās -
Worshipping the ‘ONE’ Parabrahma propounded in Vēdās principally in six forms is postulated in our Vedic Sanātana Dharma.
They are Gaṇapati, Viṣṇu, Śiva, Sūrya, Śakti & Subrahmaṇya. As per the decree, ‘Ēkaṁ sat viprā bahudhā vadanti’ i.e., the ONE ‘Sat’ (Truth) present transformed into these different forms. While worshipping Gaṇapati, one should worship as that ‘One Sat’..
which is the Parabrahman that is the cause of creation, sustenance & dissolution. Such worship is called ‘Gāṇāpatya, which is one of the six forms of worship approved by Vēdās. Upaniṣads also confirmed that Gaṇēśa is the Parabrahma saying,
క్రిందపడిన ధాన్యాన్నంతటినీ చీపురుకట్టతో ఊడ్చి ఒకడు కుప్ప చేస్తున్నాడు. కానీ అంత కష్టపడి చేసినప్పటికీ ఆ ధాన్యాన్ని అతడు అనుభవించడం లేదు. మరొకడెవడో వచ్చి దానిని తీసుకుని వెళ్ళి భోజనానికి ఉపయోగిస్తున్నాడు. లోభియొక్క పరిస్థితి ఇలాగే ఉంటుంది. ఎక్కడెక్కడినుంచో తెచ్చి డబ్బును కూడబెడతాడు
తాను తినడు, ఒకరికి పెట్టడు. ఆ డబ్బంతటినీ అనుభవించేవాడు మరొకడుంటాడు. పూర్వకర్మవశాత్తు అది వాడికే లభిస్తుంది. వాడు దాన్ని లక్షణంగా అనుభవిస్తాడు. తాను తింటాడు, పదిమందికీ పెడతాడు.
లోభత్వము అనేది చాలా చెడ్డగుణము. తాను సంపాదించింది దాచిపెట్టడం కోసం కాదు. తనకు, ఇతరులకు ఉపయోగపడడానికి.
నది ఎల్లప్పుడూ తన నీటిని ఇతరులకు దానం చేస్తుంది కాబట్టి త్యాగం చేస్తుంది కాబట్టి నిత్యనూతనంగా శోభిస్తుంది. చెరువులోని నీళ్ళు అక్కడే ఉండి పాచిపట్టిపోతాయి. కనుక త్యాగభావన అలవరచుకోవాలి.
దానగుణాన్ని అభివృద్ధిపరచుకోవాలి. ఒకరికిచ్చి సంతోషపడాలి. ఇతరుల ఆనందం మన ఆనందంగా భావించాలి.
రేపు జ్యేష్ఠ పూర్ణిమ. జ్యేష్ఠ అభిషేకాలు అని మనకి ప్రసిద్ధి. తిరుపతిలో కూడా 3 రోజులు ఈ అభిషేకాలు జరుగుతాయి. జ్యేష్ఠ శుద్ధ చతుర్దశి, పూర్ణిమ మరియు పాడ్యమి రోజులలో జరుగుతాయి.
ఒరిస్సాలోనున్న పూరీ క్షేత్రంలో కూడా ఈ రోజు చాల వైభవంగా స్నానోత్సవం జరుగుతుంది.
జ్యేష్ఠ పూర్ణిమనాడు ఉదయం జగన్నాథ, బలభద్ర, సుభద్ర, సుదర్శన మరియు మదనమోహన విగ్రహాలను (మూల విరాట్టులను) రత్నవేది (నిత్యం వారు కొలువుదీరి ఉండే మండపం) నుండి స్నాన వేదికకు మంగళ వాయిద్యాల మధ్య ఊరేగింపుగా తీసుకువస్తారు. అక్కడ గల సువర్ణబావి నుండి 108 కలశాలతో జలాలను తెచ్చి వాటిలో పసుపు,..
చందనం, పువ్వులు, సుగంధ ద్రవ్యాలు కలిపి వేదమంత్రాలు, శంఖనాదాలు, కీర్తనల నడుమ అభిషేకం చేస్తారు. ఈ స్నాన వేదిక 76 అడుగుల వెడల్పు ఉంటుంది. వచ్చిన వారికి కనిపించే విధంగా ఎత్తులో పెట్టి ఈ అభిషేకం నిర్వహిస్తారు. ఆగమ శాస్త్రం ప్రకారం సంవత్సరం పొడవునా జరిగే/జరగనున్న వివిధ ఉత్సవాలలో తెలిసీ
Aṣṭāṅga Yōga finds mention not only in the Yōga aphorisms of Patanjali, but also in many other spiritual works. This is mentioned in Śrīmad Bhagavadgīta also.
Bhāgavata and other Purāṇās also propounded Aṣṭāṅga Yōga in spiritual practices.
During an informal discussion some time back in St. Louis USA, a researcher of medical sciences said, ‘After attaining independence, couple of leaders left Hindus without their own country’.
Though he is settled in USA for around 50 years, he is great person still intact with roots of Bhaarata.
This statement is thought provoking. Except those having hatred towards Hinduism, every individual endowed with positive vision, accepts this truth.
Before obtaining independence, every struggle for the freedom of this country was identified with the word ‘Hindu’
All the people in this country were declared as Hindus. Even to this day, some remember the slogan ‘Hindustan Hamara’ i.e. Hindustan belongs to all of us.