Swami Nigamananda
(18 August 1880[1]— 29 November 1935[2])
(Bengali: স্বামী নিগমানন্দ, Odia: ସ୍ବାମୀ ନିଗମାନଂଦ, Hindi: स्वामी निगमानंद), known honorifically as Shree Shree Thakur (श्री श्री ठाकुर), was born into a Brahmin family, in the hamlet of Kutabpur, a then sub-division of the Nadia district, (but now Meherpur district in Bangladesh), where the river Bhairab flows through this landscape bisecting the Mahakuma into two natural divisions. In past years, the English merchants were engaged in the trade of indigo on the banks of this river. Chaitanya Mahaprabhu was also born in that same district.
After his ordination as a sannyasi, Nigamandanda came to be known as Paramahansa Srimat Swami Nigamananda Saraswati Deva.[3]
Nigamananda was a sadguru (सदगुरु)[4][5] and a sadhu (saint) from India.[6] He was a yogi (a practitioner of yoga) and a Hindu spiritual leader, well known in Eastern India.[7] He was also an Indian Hindu guru,[8][9] a Hindu philosopher,[10] associated with the Shakti cult,[11] and was viewed as a perfect spiritual master for tantra and yoga[12][13][14]
Nigamananda's followers believe that he achieved siddhi (perfection) in four different sadhanas (spiritual disciplines): tantra, gyan, yoga and prema.[15][16][1] Based on these experiences, he wrote five books in the Bengali language: Brahamcharya Sadhana (ब्रह्मचर्य साधना), Yogi Guru (योगिगुरु), Gyani Guru (ज्ञानीगुरु), Tantrika Guru (तांत्रिकगुरु), and Premika Guru (प्रेमिकगुरु).[17][18][19][20] (These books are now widely available in Odiya, written by Durga Charan Mohanty). Nigamananda reportedly experienced the state of Nirvikalpa Samadhi.[21][22]
Childhood, studies and service life (1880 — 1901)At his birth, Nigamananda was named Nalinikanta[23] (নলিনীকান্ত, ନଳିନୀକାଂତ, नलिनीकांत - meaning in Hindi: Lotus or Water), per the wishes of his father, Bhuban Mohan Bhattacharya,[24] and the advice of his father's guru, Swami Bhaskarananda Saraswati. In 1893 (1300 BS) while Nalinikanta was studying in the village primary school his mother, Manikya Sundari, died of cholera causing him to fall into depression.[25][26] In 1894-95(1301 BS) he passed the student scholarship examination and studied at Meherpur High School for some time. In 1895 (1301 BS) he took admission at Dhaka Asanulla Engineering College for studying survey. In 1897(1303 BS), his father married him to a thirteen year old girl named Sudhansubala Devi of Halisahar. After completion of study in 1899 (1305 BS), to earn his sustenance, he joined a service in the District Board of Dinajpur, the estate of Rani Rashmoni.[27] At the end of Vadra, 1901 (1307 BS) (approximately five years after marriage) and while serving as the supervisor of the Narayanpur Estate (Zamindari),[28][1][29] in one night suddenly Nalinikanta saw the shadowy image of Sudhansubala Devi standing at the table glowering and silent while she was supposed to be away at Kutabpur at that time. He went to Kutabpur to inquire and came to know that Sudhansubala Devi had died just an hour before he saw her image at Narayanpur, again an emotional blow to Nalinikanta. He attempted to reach his wife through occult science, but in vain.[30]
Turning point
This incident further drew him inwards. Nalinikanta came to the conclusion that death is the ultimate end of an individual. He started believing that there must be life after death.[1] Nalinikanta became desperate to know all about the elusive phenomenons of life and death. These began to worry him all the time. This inquiry took him in Chennai to the Theosophical Society at Adyar.[31] He ascertained all the hypotheses and exercises that theosophy could offer and through a medium, was able to talk to Sudhansubala Devi. But Nalinikanta could not see her physically. With the experience, he was not satisfied at all. He came to know by a discussion with the members of the Society that the knowledge about the phenomena of "life and death" was the perquisite of the Hindu yogis. He dispensed with no time in looking for a true yogi or sadhu who could fulfill his desire to meet his dead wife and educate him the truth philosophy, "life after death".
Spiritual experience (1902 — 1905)
I had ramble like a mad chap caring little for bodily comforts for God and Guru. God never descended for a moment to assist me. The day I traced my Guru and received His blessings, things turned in my favour. Prior to that although I had undertaken various practices they did not yield any result. As soon as I come under the guidance of my Gurudev whatever practices I followed, I got success in each of them. It is therefore very importance that a blessing of guru is very essential for success in spiritual sadhana - SWAMI NIGAMANANDA [32] [33][1]
According to Nigamananda followers, one night in his dreams Nalinikanta saw a sadhu with a brilliant aura around him. He woke up to find the sadhu actually standing beside his bed. The sadhu handed him a leaf with a mantra written on it and then vanished. Nalinikanta asked many to understand the meaning of the mantra, at last, in the month of Falgun 1901-02 (1308 BS), he met Bamakhepa (बामाक्षेपा) of Tara Pitha, Birbhum dist. Bengal, the famous tantrik (ritualistic propitiator of gods and goddesses).[34][35][36] Nalinikanta took initiation from him and was directed to chant said mantra for 21 days.[37] Under his guru’s (spiritual master) guidance he had physical darshan (appearance) of Maa Tara Devi (God in woman form) in the form of "Sudhansubala Devi".[38] This darshan led him to another mystery. He saw Tara Devi coming out of his body and again mingling with him. To solve this mystery, Bamakshepa advised him to attain the knowledge of Advaita from a vedantic guru. In 1902 (Chaitra 1308 BS), he traveled for searching jnani guru.[39] At the holy place of Pushkar in the state of Rajasthan, India, he became a disciple of Satchidananda Saraswati (सच्चिदानन्द सरस्वती).[1][40] He instantaneously realized that Satchidananda Saraswati was the sadhu who had given him the tara mantra in his dream. Nalinikanta learned all the theories of Brahma (god as the formless one) and was initiated by the Satchidananda into renunciation and according to the principle changed his name to Nigamananda.[41] But could not get practical realization for this end, Satchidananda instructed Nigamananda to search a yogi guru (a master of yoga) to achieve this goal. Satchidananda further directed Nigamananda to undertake pilgrimages to the four institutions (Char Dham) of religious seats and realize for himself the significance of each. The Hindus held these places of worship as very dear to them for their sacredness. After pilgrimages, he arrived back to the ashram. Satchidananda reviewed Nigamananda’s pilgrimages and further directed to seek out a yogi guru now, who will provide Nigamananda the proper guidance and put Satchidananda'ss teachings in to practice.[42][43]
In 1903 (Joishtho 1310 BS), Nigamananda met his yogi guru - whom he called Sumeru Das Ji (सुमेरु दास) (otherwise know as Koot Hoomi Lal Singh or Kuthumi). Under Sumeru Das Ji's guidance he learned the secrets of yoga.[44] After requisite practice he attained the savikalpa samadhi and then the nirvikalpa samadhi - the highest point of yoga, in 1904 (Poush, 1311 BS).[45][1][46] In yoga he visualized and practically understood in his own body the Vedic knowledge he had learned from Satchidananda. He attained his nirvikalpa samadhi on Kamakshya, Nilachal Hill (in Guwahati Assam, India), reportedly he re-descended as a sadguru, carrying the wishes of universal guru (jagadguru) to spread "Brahama Jnana" (ब्रह्म ज्ञान) among mankind.[47][27]
In 1904 (Magh 1311 BS), it was Kashi (now known as Varanasi, U.P., India), It is said: that one night Goddess Annapurna appeared in his dream and said,[40] his knowledge is limited to formless God and not gone beyond that, hence he was still unfulfilled or incomplete. Nigamananda was awakened from his slumber and soon he became alive to the facts of the case as indicated to him by Goddess Annapurna.[1][27] So he went to Gouri Devi (गौरी देवी) (a great siddhayogini). She accepted him as a disciple and taught him bhakti or prem (eternal nature of divine love play).[46] As per his disciples' view, Nigamananda saw this physical world as the transformation of god in bhava sadhana (practices in divine love mode) and after bhava or bhakti siddhi,[48] Nigamananda realized himself as the "Complete One".
Recognition as paramahamsa (1904)
After having achieved siddhi, Nigamananda went to Allahabad to see Kumbha Mela, and learned that his master Sachidandand was in the area, staying with Sankaracarya of Sringeri Matha. Anxious to see his guru, Nigamananda went to Sankaracarya's camp, where he found the mahant (superior) sitting on an elevated throne surrounded by 125 sadhus, including his guru Sachidanand. Seeing him, Nigamananda went to first pay his respects to his guru, and only afterwards to the higher-ranking mahant. The sadhus were upset by this perceived disrespect in not honoring the mahant first, but in response Nigamananda quoted the scripture: "Manathaha Shri Jagannatha Madguru Shri Jagadguru Madatma Sarvabhutatma Tasmai Shri Gurave Namaha" (मनाथह श्री जगन्नाथ मदगुरु श्री जगदगुरु मदात्मा सर्वभूतात्मा तस्मै श्री गुरवे नमः) "My Lord is the Lord of the Universe. My Guru is the Guru of the whole world. My Self is the Self of all beings, therefore I prostrate to my Guru who has shown me this."[50] The quote further explains that on the basis of the Vedanta philosophy there was no difference between "Guru" (Shri Sachidanand Saraswati) and "Jagadguru" (Shri Jagadguru Shankarcharya).[51][52] Nigamananda further clarified that, If difference was to be there between them this would mean that we have no faith in the accepted Adwita philosophy and if it is to be considered that one of them was greater than the other, it would lead to a further conclusion that there would be still someone who would be greater than the latter. Thus there will be no end to controversy. Decisions of this kind are always misleading. My Guru had become one and the same with the Jagatguru when "gurudom" (गुरुडम) (the state of being a guru) was conferred on him by Jagatguru therefore one should no see any difference between them. The jagadguru endorsed this response and recognized him as one who had achieved enlightenment.[40] Jagatguru Shankaracharya called Sachidananda and told him that his disciple had already attained the state of paramahansa and he should be conferred with the title as such. Satchidananda then moved the proposition in the assembly of the Sadhus and honored Nigamananda with the title of paramahansa (परमहंस-ପରମହଂସ). He was thus named as Paribrajakacharay Paramahansa Shree Mad Swami Nigamananda Saraswati Deva (परिब्राजकाचार्य परमहंस श्री मद स्वामी निगमानंद सरस्वती देव).[40][46][53]
Death (1935)
Swami Nigamananda spent the last fourteen years of his life in Puri, Odisa.[54] He died in Calcutta on 29 November 1935.[55] His followers believe that he lives on despite his physical death, quoting his words: I have to renounce this body but will continue to remain Guru as ever for I am not liberated till you are not liberated.'[29][56]
Mission
Swami Nigamananda's mission was:
- (1) To propagate Sanatana Dharma, i.e. spiritual foundation of the Hindu religion, (सनातन धर्म प्रचार)
- (2) To spread the right kind of education among people (and publish spiritual literature with emphasis on character building), (सत् शिक्षा बिश्तार) and
- (3) To provide service to all created beings, in general, with the attitude of serving the indwelling God (नर देहे नारायण सेवा ).[60]
In order to realize these objectives he enjoined upon his devotees to:
- (1) Lead an ideal family life (Adarsha Grihastha Jeevan Gathan (आदर्श गृहस्थ जीवन गठन)
- (2) Combine the power of spiritual associations (Sangha Shakti Pratishta) (संघ शक्ति प्रतिष्ठा)
- (3) Sharing or exchanging of spiritual feelings (Bhava Binimaya) (भाव बिनिमय )[46][61][62]
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 (Sangha) of three or more for offering prayer and worship to the Guru, exchanging spiritual experiences, chanting of "jayaguru"(जयगुरु ଜୟଗୁରୁ)[46] (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 had advised his disciples that, the glory of God or Guru is experienced through the medium of these syllable, "Jayaguru" one can reach at God through this name since God is the Guru or Master of the Universe. People belonging to any sect or creed can accept this name without any detriment to their progress in the religious life.
Philosophy and teachings
The doctrines of the monistic school of Vedanta philosophy due to the great Shankaracharya had been thoroughly studied earlier by Swami Nigamananda after he was initiated as a Samnyasi of that Order. Later his experience of oneness of the individual and universal self in yoga Samadhi made him dispel all doubts and become fully realised and blissful like many others of his kind. However, unlike most others, he had to further learn the science and art, followed by the cultivation, of divine love and could experience uninterrupted ecstasy! Then alone he became qualified as an all round and perfect spiritual Master!
His followers believe that, as a Sadguru Swami Nigamananda was unique! He was able to enlighten and guide, with equal ease and efficiency, any aspirant, (whether a Tantrik ,a seeker of knowledge of the one supreme reality, a Yogi of any class, a mystic lover of God or just any simple minded seeker) with an appropriate package of practices that would benefit each class.[1]
- Avatar and Sadguru
Swami Nigamananda never admitted that he was God-incarnate or an Avatar(अवतार) although many of his disciples fancied to identify him as one.[1][64] He stated that an incarnation is an exclusive descent of God on earth to uphold spiritual order in a region, country or even the whole world. Although he could, the Avatar ordinarily does not enlighten or guide individuals, per se. Through his agency righteousness is established and demoniac forces are destroyed at large. Swami Nigamananda wanted that he should be treated as a Sadguru (a perfect spiritual Master, also one form of God) who, on account of his long quest over succession of births and deaths, attained to the knowledge of his Swaroop स्वरुप (true or potential nature, i.e., supreme universal consciousness). There is scriptural evidence to show that Gautam himself had to pass through many births before acquiring the qualities to realise the truth and become the great Buddha![65] Swami Nigamananda further pointed out that an "Avatar" does not always remain in the state of super-human consciousness so as to be able to take part in Leela i.e. divine play![66]
As we note in the Bhagavadgeeta(भागवतगीता): Sri Krishna said,
avajānanti māṁ mūḍhā ; mānuṣīṁ tanum āśritam ; paraṁ bhāvam ajānanto ; mama bhūta-maheśvaram: The fools who are ignorant of My potential over lordship deride Me - Bhagvadgeeta (9.11)[67][68]
A sadguru, however, remaining , always self conscious and benign, is rarely misunderstood![69]
- Sadguru as Personal God
The Gurus are indeed personal Gods. Swami Nigamananda declared that attaining spiritual knowledge and liberation is possible either by austere penance (as performed by Sanyasis) or through surrender (obey his orders) to a Bramhajnani Sadguru, which most of us can practice. Although they appear and act as ordinary humans and often misunderstood, the Brahmajnani Guru has no attachment for the body or material enjoyments.[70] They are always engaged in helping others irrespective of caste and creed including that for the well being of the environment. But their role as a Sadguru is most significant in as much as he can create a legacy to be handed down from generation to generation just as Lord Krishna has declared :
cātur-varṇyaṁ mayā sṛṣṭaṁ ; guṇa-karma-vibhāgaśaḥ ; tasya kartāram api māṁ ; viddhy akartāram avyayam: I gave this imperishable Yoga to Vivasvat (the sun-god); Vivasvat passed on the knowledge to Manu (the Hindu lawgiver); Manu told it to Ikshvaku (founder of the solar dynasty of the Kshatriyas). - Bhagvadgeet(4.13)[71][72]
Lord Krishna has specifically asked to surrender to Him alone.[73][74] Quote as;
sarva-dharmān parityajya ; mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja ; ahaṁ tvāṁ sarva-pāpebhyo ; mokṣayiṣyāmi mā śucaḥ - Bhagavadgeeta (18.66)[75]
But they lose sight of what Lord Krishna has also said; know that by prostrating thyself, by questioning and by rendering service to the wise (who have acquired "Brahmajnan"-self-realized soul) will instruct Thee in that knowledge. Quote as;
tad viddhi praṇipātena ; paripraśnena sevayā ; upadekṣyanti te jñānaṁ ; jñāninas tattva-darśinaḥ - Bhagavadgeeta (4.34).[76]
This indeed is also what Lord Krishna preaches by way of Bhagavadgeeta (18.66) that when the devotee or the disciple who surrenders to Him, i.e., obeys His orders wholeheartedly He expiates his sins. One may note that ignorance is the greatest sin or the source of all sins that can be dispelled by God only through instruction received from a living Sadguru as a personal God and by sustained spiritual practices including surrender to the Guru (vide Bhagavadgeeta (4.34)).
- Sadguru, Jagadguru and God[46]
According to Swami Nigamananda the disciple should take his Guru (a Sadguru, of course) to be the Jagadguru (or the World Master, the Purushottama) and not an ordinary human being, in tune with Lord Krishna's statement in the Bhagavadgeeta :
janma karma ca me divyam ; evaṁ yo vetti tattvataḥ ; tyaktvā dehaṁ punar janma ; naiti mām eti so 'rjuna : He who truely knows My birth and activities to be divine is not born again but attains to Me - Bhagavadgeeta (4.9).[77]
Also like in Patanjali's aphorism: "By contemplating on the form of one who has no attachments, concentration of mind is attained", Swami Nigamananda advised his disciples to meditate on his physical form such that all the admirable qualities and attributes in him would get automatically transferred into their beings and fashion their souls.[32] Further he assured that because he had, by triple modes of spiritual practice, simultaneously experienced the nature of Brahman(ब्रह्म), Paramatma(परमात्मा) (supreme universal self) and Bhagawan(भगवान) (Personal and universal Godhead) as the ultimate spiritual goals of the seekers, his true disciples also would simultaneously have such experience. That, he said, "was his only expectation from his disciples and he would love to wait for the day to see that fulfilled".[78]
- Order of Spiritual Attainments
Because the monistic theory of self realization requires expanding the individual self to the status of the supreme universal self, according to Swami Nigamananda it can be directly practiced only by the most competent among the aspirant Samyasis by means of precise intellectual inquiry, analysis and deep meditation, although the service to the Master holds the key to success in such pursuits as well. However, Swami Nigamananda pointed out that true transcendental divine love and ecstasy could be properly experienced by the most fortunate ones only after they had attained monistic realisation of the supreme as declared by Lord Krishna Himself in the Bhagavadgeeta:
brahma-bhūtaḥ prasannātmā ; na śocati na kāṅkṣati ; samaḥ sarveṣu bhūteṣu ; mad-bhaktiṁ labhate parām : Having realized the state of oneness with the supreme self or Parabrahman and attaining tranquility in spirit, the aspirant neither grieves nor desires and regarding all beings as alike he attains supreme devotion to Me - Bhagavadgeeta (18.54).[79]
And,Swami Nigamananda, further indicated :
bhaktyā mām abhijānāti ; yāvān yaś cāsmi tattvataḥ ; tato māṁ tattvato jñātvā ; viśate tad-anantaram : Through devotion he comes to know Me, what My forms are and who I am in truth and then he forthwith enters into Me - Bhagavadgeeta (18.55).[80](i.e. he is now in loving union with God Whose nature he knows and which he acquires himself and hence is now fit to act as a Sadguru, as it indeed came to pass in the life of Swami Nigamananda). Devoid of prior attainment to such spiritual experience, practice of informal love (Premabhakti-प्रेमभक्ति) for God by artificial means may be frustrating! However, those who already had such realizations in the past life may be able to attain to divine love quickly enough during the present life.
- Reconciliation of Monistic and Dualistic Pursuits
Unlike some other saints who recognized and preached a diversity of equally valid doctrines for self / God realisation and as many valid paths to attain to those, Swami Nigamananda suggested the realisation of oneness of self and the supreme universal self (or Parabrahman-परंब्रह्म) as the true and the highest goal of human life.[83]
And the path leading to it, in the case of most aspirants, is one of true devotion for the perfect spiritual Master (Sadguru) who initiates them. Rendering personal Service to the Master and invoking his grace through prayers, chanting and simple meditation are the chief modes of spiritual practice for them. They will thus, not only acquire non-dualistic realization knowing, for sure, that their Master is a realised soul (Brahmajnani-ब्रह्मज्ञानी) and trying to live up to his teachings, but also experience bliss due to intense love for him in course of time, when they are enabled to participate in his Leela (love play-लिला) for helping others to achieve self/God realisation.
As per Swami Nigamananda's followers, all his writings are dealt with the fundamentals of theory and practical methods of Sadhana or spiritual practice prevalent in Sanatan Dharma(सनातन धर्म)[1] in his ideological as well as methodological maxim Shankarer Mat(शंकरेर मत) i.e Gyan- the path of knowledge and Gouranger Path (गौरांगरेर पथ ) i.e Bhakti- the path of devotion (ଶଂକରକଂ ମତ ଗୌରାଂଗକଂ ପଥ).[1][84]
Swami Nigamananda pointed out that the path shown by Gouranga Mahaprabhu who practiced and preached unconditional devotion and love for God was rather narrow, in as much as it was directed to Sri Krishna as the only God. In order to broad-base that path, Swami Nigamananda suggested to take the Master as an embodiment of Sri Krishna (or any other deity whom the aspirant loved), in which case the guide himself becomes his goal.
In this way Swami Nigamananda convincingly formulated a reconciliation of the two apparently contradictory creeds, one due to the great Shankaracharya, the founder of the monistic school of Vedanta philosophy and the other due to Gauranga Mahaprabhu who advocated the principle and practice of apparent duality between the devotee and God. After all, Swami Nigamananda pointed out that in the path of devotion and love the aspirant has to subdue or tame his ego adequately and hence he attains to the same stage as that of the monistic aspirant whose ego loses its identity on attaining to his goal. In the former case, the individuality of the devotee is reduced to a trifling, overpowered by personal god-consciousness, whereas in the latter the aspirant loses his self-consciousness in the ocean of impersonal universal consciousness.
- Jnanachakra
Swami Nigamananda was greatly tolerant towards the various prevalent spiritual doctrines or philosophies, both Indian and foreign, and considered that each one of them fulfils a purpose and fits into the grand scheme of stratified spiritual realizations. He pointed out that although the doctrine of monistic vedanta philosophy treats the supreme reality in terms of oneness of individual and universal consciousness, it does not systematically explain the structure of the material creation which, on the other hand, is done by Samkhya philosophy. But this latter does not treat the supreme reality as well. Similarly, whereas Christianity emphasises on service and surrender as means to god realization, the Indian philosophy of Poorva Mimamsa prescribes various ritualistic actions for the attainment of personal and collective happiness despite cycles of birth and death.
By means of a Jnanachakra(ज्ञानचक्र)[85] chart (the spheres of spiritual cosmology) which he visualized and presented in a pictorial form, Swami Nigamananda identified different layers of human consciousness inter-woven in the microcosm (body) and the macrocosm (the universe) and pointed out the levels which the aspirants of different spiritual orders and sects may ultimately reach. In this chart he placed Sri Krishna and Sri Radha (or the Guru-गुरु and Yogamaya-योगमाया) in the transition between the non qualified (Nirguna) Brahman (निर्गुण ब्रह्म) and qualified (Saguna) Brahman (सगुण ब्रह्म),[86] which he called as the Nitya or the Bhavaloka (भाव लोक).[87] (Yogamaya is a form of divine power, which incessantly attracts the earth-bound souls and helps them realise their true blissful nature and participate in the divine play). This concept is considered to be a unique contribution of Swami Nigamananda towards the evolution of spiritual thoughts, based on his own insight and mystic experiences.
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