Shree
Swami Samarth Maharaj
In a place
called Karanja Nagar (Karnataka State)
in Southern India, there lived a pious
Brahmin couple, Madhava and Ambabhavani,
in the 13th century.
To this
God-fearing & religious couple, was born
a son around 1275 A.D. This child was
the incarnation of Lord Dattatreya and
came to be known as the great sage
Shrimad Nrusimha Saraswati. The child
was unique in the sense that, he was
chanting only 'Aum' (the Hindu holy
chant) since his birth. The parents were
concerned about his dumbness till his 'Vratabandha'
(the sacred thread bearing ceremony),
when this child was merely eight years
old, he started reciting all the four
Vedas (the Holiest Hindu scriptures) to
the great astonishment of all the
learned people.
After
the aforesaid incident, the child left
for Kashi (Uttar Pradesh State, Northern
India) for Tapas [penance]. Pleased with
his rigorous tapasya [penance], a
learned ascetic named Shree Krishna
Saraswati Swami, initiated him into
Sanyasashram (Ascetism) and gave him the
name, Shrimad Nrusimha Saraswati.
The
biography of Shrimad Nrusimha Saraswati
"Shree Gurucharitra", gives us the
details of his work in guiding the
devotees and the various miracles he
performed to help the devotees. He
stayed at Ganagapur (Karnataka State,
Southern India) for a long time and then
gave his "Nirguna Padukas" to his
disciples and devotees, before leaving
for the Kardali forests to perform Tapas
[penance]. His disciples prepared a
floating seat of flowers for him on
which he sailed against the current of
the river Patalganga and disappeared.
He
performed rigorous tapasya [penance] on
the Shree Shail mountain in the Kardali
forests for nearly 150 years. After this
he took an extensive pilgrimage,
covering even places, now known as Jawa,
Sumatra, Indonesia, China, Japan,
Australia etc., relieved many people
from their miseries, and guided them on
the spiritual path. Finally, he came to
the ranges of Himalayas where he
enlightened many devotees. Later he sat
under a Deodar tree for tapasya
[penance]. This Tapasya [penance] in the
Himalayas lasted for nearly 250 years,
but a woodcutter unknowingly axed the
anthill enveloping the body of Shrimad
Nrusimha Saraswati. This resulted in the
break in Tapasya [penance] and Shrimad
Nrusimha Saraswati then left for an
extensive travel throughout the Indian
sub-continent guiding the devotees.
During
this travel, he became popular by
various names at various places. Thus at
one place he was known as Chanchal
Bharati and at another place he would be
called Digambar Swami. As he travelled
and stayed at various places, he became
the Guru (preceptor) of many great souls
like Shree Ramkrishna Paramahansa, Shree
Saibaba of Shirdi, Shree Shankar Maharaj,
Shree Gajajan Maharaj of Shegaon etc.
Finally he settled down at Akkalkot (Maharashtra
State) and stayed there for 24 years
from 1854 A.D. to 1878 A.D. and thus
came to be known as the Akkalkot Niwasi
Shree Swami Samarth Maharaj (the great
sage of Akkalkot).
Here he
enlightened many disciples, such as
Shree Dev Mamledar, Shree Balappa
Maharaj, Shree Cholappa Maharaj, Shree
Nrusimha Saraswati Maharaj of Alandi,
Shree Ramanand Beedkar Maharaj of Pune
etc.
On April
30, 1878 (Chaitra Vadya Trayodashi of
Hindu year 1800) after nearly 600 years
of the incarnation, the great sage
adopted MahaSamadhi [the last conscious
communion with God] under his favourite
Banyan tree.
Devotees still experience his divine
presence and feel reassured because of
his quote "I have not gone, I am still
present". |
