Paramahansa Srimat Swami Nigamananda Saraswati Deva


Om Brahmanandam parama sukhadam kevalam dhyanamurtim
Dvandatitam gagana sadrisam tattvamasyadi laksyam
Ekam nityam vimalamachalam sarvadhi saksibhutam
Bhavatitam trigunarahitam sadgurum tam namami.

Sri Sri Thakur Nigamananda Saraswati Paramhansa Dev borned on Gamha Purnima (Rakhya Bandhan). I wish all of you on Janmoschav of Sri Sri Thakur.

Short Life Sketch of Sri Sri Thakur Nigamananda Paramahamsa

Birth Place, Time and Parentage
Sri Sri Thakur Nigamananda Paramahamsa Dev was born of father Bhuvanamohan Bhattacharya and mother Manikyasundari Devi, in the village Kutabpur of erstwhile East Bengal, India in the year 1880. His name at birth was Nalinikanta. Not yet well known to the world at large, he was a famous Sadguru (spiritual Master) of India, a great Tantrik, (ritualistic propitiator of Gods and Goddesses), realised Brahmajnani and Siddhayogi (an adept Yogi who experienced oneness of the individual and the universal self in Niirvikalpa samadhi), a Premik (mystic who was imbued with love of God) and, above all a theosophist or theoscientist all rolled into one. Spiritual experiences and preaching of Sri Sri Thakur were as unique as the course of events of his life as shown in the following brief narrative.

Spiritual Pursuits
Like most other materialistic and non-believing friends, while he was a student of the high school and later on as a Land Survey Unit Supervisor in a feudal estate, though a sincere and kind humanist in heart, Nalinikanta did not believe in the existence of the soul after death. When he was barely twenty and had been married he was once astonished by the appearance of his young wife's shadow-image standing close to his office table in a room illuminated by a kerosene lamp. He was then camping at a long distance from his home where, he later knew, his wife had passed away about an hour before her appearance in the astral body. In those days theosophists in Madras, India, were calling spirits. Nalinikanta came in contact with the theosophists, but was not satisfied despite his efforts to have another astral contact with his wife through planchet calls and mediums. He was, however, consoled by a Samnyasi, Swami Purnananda Saraswati, that if he could please the universal mother Goddess she may materialise as his wife as was his desire.

Tantrik Sadhana
In the meantime, surprisingly he received a monosyllable formula or Mantra (Word) from a Sadhu (Monk) during his dream state. Mentally repeating the Mantra with one pointed attention, seated on the cremation ground at midnight under the guidance of the then great Tantrik Master, Vamakshepa of Bengal, not only he was able to get the darshan (vision) of the divine mother, but through her grace the vision of his wife as well whenever he wished. However, he observed that the vision appeared from and disappeared into his own being. This was greatly intriguing for Nalinikanta who, then, with the permission of his Tantrik Master, set out in search of yet another spiritual Master who would be able to help him solve the mystery.

Initiation into Samnyas
After a long and tedious travelling from place to place he finally met and chose Swami Satchidananda Saraswati of Pushkar in Rajasthan as his new Master. Swamiji (honorific title) initiated Nalinikanta into Vaidantik (based on the rules of Vedanta) Samnyas order and renamed him as Swami Nigamananda Saraswati. Under the guidance of the new Master he studied and deliberated on the Vedanta (literally the terminal portion of the Vedas: the system of Indian philosophy that deals with spiritual knowledge as a means of liberation) philosophy of the monistic school due to the great Sankaracharya and then traveled to the four corners of India as a part of his spiritual exercise. This was intended to help him discover the identity of the individual with the supreme universal self, the Parabrahman (Existence-consciousness-bliss absolute). However, his first-hand direct realisation of it was yet to come by means of meditation in Yogic Samadhi. Later, directed by his Master, he thus had to again set out in search of a Yogiguru or a Master of Yoga.

Search for a Yogiguru
This search was as tedious, frustrating and risky as it had been earlier. Finally as luck would have it, Master Sumerdasji (who also happened to be the original Master of the theosophists round the world) was seen deliberately waiting for him under a tree within the cave of whose large trunk Nigamananda had to spend the previous night having to avoid the attack of wild animals in the dense forest of the North-Eastern Himalayan ranges in Assam. It was to Nigamananda's astonishment and delight, the new Master invited him and taught him the theory and practice of Yogic Samadhi for a few months within his cave-residence. The Master then directed him to get back to a suitable family house, eat the right kind of food and practice while remaining under good care and in solitude.

Yogic Practices and Nirvikalpa Samadhi
It was in Gauhati, Assam Nigamananda found the required household retreat and excellent fostering service of the housewife. Having done and practiced the preliminary cleansing processes for a few months, Nigamananda was able to soon master the Savikalpa Samadhi, the trance in which the Yogi loses his body consciousness and acquires a transcendental consciousness while his individual identity is still retained. Soon after, Nigamananda desired to experience the state of Nirvikalpa - the most advanced of Yogic Samadhis. He did enter by way of this Samadhi the all pervading state of eternal consciousness and experience the supreme state of bliss from the first hand realisation of Aham Brahmasmi (I am superconsciousness) with the total loss of duality between the individual and the universal self. But as providence would have it, he was returned into his body with the residual consciousness of "I am the Master or Guru", although he had originally resolved not to return in as much as, there appeared to be no need for it and he had not appointed any assistant to help him return.

Cultivation of Divine Love
Even having had such extreme form of yogic feat and super-human experience, it appeared that Nigamananda was still not having the ultimate fulfillment. By now he had already traversed the path to the first hand experience of the universal self but the mystery of the created world, the worships offered to personal Gods and Goddesses as if they are located in specific places known to be pilgrimage centres, may come as incarnations to the earth, and above all, the nature of ignorance of the human soul, Avidya, still remained to be unraveled. He then remembered the call of Gauri Mata, a great Siddhayogini whom he had met during his earlier trip to the Himalayas. Mataji had suggested Nigamananda to meet with her if ever he succeeded in experiencing Nirvikalapa and returning from that state. Sometime later Nigamananda met Gauri Mata who, by means of transcendental induction process, helped him experience the eternal nature of divine love-play, which is the motive behind the apparent and ephemeral creation. The mysterious divine forces at work, Nigamananda realised, sustain the creation along with the diverse biological relationships that operate between husband and wife; father, mother and the children; master and servant, and between friends etc. Despite being mundane these can be treated as quasi-divine only by one who has had the experience of the supreme reality (or Parabrahman) with that of His sporting or playful nature such that He is titled as God (or Bhagawan). The master creator multiplying Himself in the form of the created universe and then withdrawing back in succession, continues to enjoy His own divine play. Having obtained such insight into that mystery through the gracious mediation of Gauri Mata, Nigamananda came back to the Garo hills in Assam and remained engrossed in this new mode of Sadhana (known as Bhava Sadhana or practices in divine love mode) inside a hamlet. During this period he remained surcharged, day and night with bliss and ecstasy out of the experience of yet another dimension of the mystic relationship with God as taught by many earlier sages e.g. Ray Ramananda and Sri Krishna Chaitanya (Gauranga Mahaprabhu) among others. During this period of Sadhana Nigamananda frequently lost his external senses, wept and laughed and remained deeply merged in transcendental love usually of the romantic type that operates between the lover and the beloved, due to which people there-around mistook him as a lunatic:

One ever absorbed in the whimsical beloved
In reality only he is wise, my friend!
The world knows not of that intoxication
Eyes open or closed find the light everywhere,
On all sides in this universe or beyond.

Paramahamsa Status
Swami Nigamananda, once in the presence of his preceptor (principal Master) of Vedanta philosophy, Swami Satchidananda Saraswati, was publicly examined for his maturity of spiritual experience by one of the contemporary senior Shankaracharyas who was presiding as the representative Jagadguru (World Master) at the Kumbha Mela (the great congregation of monks and ascetics). Pleased with his answers, the Shankaracharya recognised him as a Paramahamsa (one established in the Parabrahman), the ultimate stage attainable by a Samnyasi. Although unbelievable it is a fact that the span of Nigamananda's checkered Sadhana career described in the foregoing was not more than four years at the end of which he had already acquired fame as Sri Sri Thakur (Godman or Master). At this stage Sri Sri Thakur was a young man aged about thirty years.

Publications and Institutions
Soon afterwards he wrote and published within a short time his famous Bengali books: "Brahmacharya Sadhan, Yogiguru, Tantrikguru, Jnaniguru, Premikguru, and Vedantavivek which dealt with the fundamentals of theory and practical methods of almost all the modes of Sadhana or spiritual practice prevalent in Sanatan Dharma based on his first hand experience and not merely on textual sources. He also published Arya Darpan, a monthly magazine intended for disseminating non-sectarian spiritual knowledge among the masses who are apt to be misguided by narrow religious faith lacking in a rational basis. In his several letters written to his hundreds of disciples and in the discourses and gospels delivered to his inquisitive devotees a vast treasure of spiritual message is contained and those are also available in books published in Bengali. An English translation of his gospels has been recently published (Vide end of narrative for complete address).

Sri Sri Thakur established his well known principal Math, the Assam Bangiya Saraswat Math having the altar for the Gurubrahma (Guru the supreme) at Kokilamukh in Assam and then several Saraswat Ashrams in different zones of Bengal, of which the one known as the Dakshin Bangla Saraswat Ashram at Halisahar, 24 Parganas assumed greater importance during the later years owing to its location on the bank of the river Ganga near Calcutta and also due to the temple built on his grave within its premises. Sri Sri Thakur initiated ten of his devout disciples into Samnyas in the tradition of the Saraswati order due to the great Sankaracharya, the juniormost among whom were Swami Nirvanananda Saraswati (an erudite scholar, philosopher and writer who became famous as Anirvan later on) and Swami Prajnananda Saraswati. Swearing in Swami Prajnanandaji as the Mahanta and Trustee of the Saraswat Math and Ashram establishments, Sri Sri Thakur retired and resided in Neelachal Kuteer in Puri for several years until he cast off his physical body in November, 1935 in Calcutta.

Sri Sri Thakur's Mission
Sri Sri Thakur Nigamananda's mission was:

• To propagate Sanatan Dharma, i.e. spiritual foundation of the Hindu religion,
• To spread the right kind of education among people (and publish spiritual literature with emphasis on character building), and
• To provide service to all created beings, in general, with the attitude of serving the indwelling God.

In order to achieve the above objectives he initiated several thousand interested men and women of all walks of life and taught them his unique spiritual practices devoid of any sectarian bias in the form of a complete package of worship, prayer and meditation. He encouraged his disciples to meet periodically in groups (Samgha) of three or more for offering prayer and worship to the Guru, exchanging spiritual experiences, chanting of "Jaiguru" (a non-sectarian Word meaning "Glory due to the Master", which he invented), reading spiritual books and dwelling on the ideas therein, devising ways and means for the management of the Math and the Ashrams and pledging to lead the life of a spiritually inspired ideal householder. He also called upon his devotees, both householders and Samnyasis, to annually meet in a conference (Bhakta-sammilani or congregation of devotees) in order to strengthen the various prayer groups, discuss the need for having the Guru in one's life, review the well-being of Samnyasis living in the Ashrams, help solve problems pertaining to them and the Ashrams as a whole, provide welfare services, such as schools, if any, for the communities and finally to organise spiritual meetings in order to hold lectures by enlightened speakers on contemporary problems of public spiritual life. All these activities are intended, Sri Sri Thakur pointed out, to help in the spiritual advancement of the disciples such that they will be able to attain peace and true happiness in life.

Other important teachings of Sri Sri Thakur Nigamananda Paramahamsa

1. To be able to get spiritually liberated one needs the help of a liberated person (a Master Sadguru or simply Guru). In the Hindu scriptures that person is known as the Guru. Without his grace or favor none can make any progress in the path leading to liberation. Also he who has attained the ultimate reality (Paramatman or Brahman) as one and the same as himself (the Atman) is the Guru.
2. The Guru who helps in getting one liberated cannot be equated in importance to formal learning, pilgrimage or divinity. If we do not offer our deep devotion and love to Him, who else then is fit for getting our utmost respect?
3. The Guru indeed is the embodiment of the essence of what the Vedanta teaches the individual self (the Atman is one and the same as the cosmic self (Paramatman or Brahman).
4. A Sadguru never curses anyone. Even if He appears to be angry, that too is going to do good to the disciple. The advantage of depending on a Sadguru is unique. One doesn't have the same advantage depending even on God because God never materializes to give instructions. The Guru in practice provides the required guidance leading the disciple to the ultimate goal.
5. The Guru and the disciple are inseparable in a way. The Guru cannot exist without being a part of a true disciple's personality or character.
6. There are two pathways to attain spiritual liberation: one is by initiation into and observing the austerities of samnyas yoga and the other by service rendered to a Sadguru Who has had realization of Brahman. The former is extremely arduous a path the disciple must die in a sense even while he remains in his body. In other words, he has to loose his body consciousness. But if one unconditionally loves the Guru by way of rendering service to him sincerely, spiritual liberation may be obtained relatively easy.
7. Nothing substantial can be achieved without Guru's grace. I (Sri Sri Thakur) have been wandering far and wide like a bird as if with its voice box mutilated but have not had God coming and helping me. But the day I was able to have the grace or the benefit of the Guru (Who is God in human form), I started making real progress.
8. The Guru, the mantra that he gives during initiation and the disciple's choicest divinity (or Ista) are one and the same. Unless the Guru becomes the choicest divinity the mantra received from Him looses its power.
9. Acquisition of disciples through initiation is not Guru's profession; it is the inspiration of His heart. The Guru initiates takes care and guides the disciple hoping that one day the disciple will get spiritually enlightened.
10. The Guru is the embodiment of both the monistic (or non-dual) ideology due to the Great Shankaracharaya and love divine as preached by Sri Sri Gouranga Mahaprahbu. If the disciple submits himself to the Guru his latent characteristic attitude is bound to unfold. Spiritual life based on such a universal (non-sectarian) and sweet relationship between the Guru and the disciple can help harmonize the diverse faiths in the world.