Swami Nityananda

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The Mountain Path

Vol. 2 - APRIL 1965 - No. 2

 

Swami Nityananda, Siddha and Avadhuta

by Pratibha Trivedi

 

 

Swami Nityananda of Ganeshpuri, who died as recently as August 1961, was one

of the great spiritual masters of our times. He was a Siddha, that is a man

of powers, of whom many miracles are recorded, an Avadhuta or wandering

solitary one outside the regular paths and schools. What sort of path or

sadhana he followed in his early life and whether he had a guru or not is

not known.

 

 

He became famous as the Lord of Gantshpuri, a township that sprang up around

him outside Bombay. Its very existence was a wonder. It was a desolate

jungle spot in which a sadhu wearing only a loincloth and with no

possessions took up his abode some twenty years back. Feeling the power and

grace that emanated from him, devotees flocked around and built houses there

so as to be near to him. Donations poured in and although he kept and wanted

nothing for himself, his advice was practical in worldly as well as in

spiritual matters and a complete township grew up around him with

electricity and water supply, hotels, shops, schools, dispensary,

rest-houses for sadhus, etc. As his fame spread ever wider such crowds

thronged there that queues had to be formed to have darshan of him.

 

 

His own life remained as simple and bare of possessions as ever. He sat on a

stone platform covered with an old blanket, clad only in a loincloth,

accessible to all who came, until towards the end the crowds grew too large

and had to be regulated. He wanted nothing, valued nothing. He would often

say, "All is dust". And yet he was supremely compassionate, moved by the

slightest suffering. Thousands came to him for help and protection. Some of

them were spiritual aspirants seeking his Grace; others sought his blessings

for worldly success - business or profession, employment, health, family,

all manner of human preoccupations; all he received with like compassion and

all alike knew him as Baba or Father. But even while giving advice on

worldly matters he never abandoned the standpoint of the One Self, bidding

the recipients of his Grace see all in the One and the One in all.

 

 

It was about half a century back that he first became known as a wandering

Swami. Before going to Ganeshpuri he stayed for some years in the district

of Mangalore, where he was known for his healing powers and the wide

profusion of miracles he performed. At this time he had an ashram at

Kanhangad which is now known as Sri Nityananda Ashram. About four miles away

from it there is a deep cave in a wild part of the forest in the hills where

he performed tapas, and this is known as Guruban.

 

 

During this period of his life Swami Ramdas has recounted the following

meeting with him. "Swami Nityanand, a great yogi, was residing in Hosdrug.

He made several improvements in the old, neglected Hosdrug fort. He was

attracting people from all parts of the South Kanara District and even from

far off places. His darshan was rightly considered by devotees to be of

immense spiritual benefit. Ramdas had the opportunity of meeting him once

when he was dwelling in the Panch-Pandava caves. He had no cloth on his body

except a kaupin.1 He was dark in complexion, but possessed a tall,

fully-developed, well-proportioned body. One of his characteristic features

was that his face was always suffused with most bewitching smiles. As he was

seen always sunk in divine bliss his devotees gave him the name Nityanand,

meaning 'everlasting bliss'. One day, towards the end of the second year of

the ashram,2 one of the ashramites, Krishnappa, brought him to us. We gave

him due honour and made him drink the cool water of a tender coconut. He did

not speak a word. After remaining with us for about ten minutes he Went

away."3

_________________________

1 - Loincloth.

2 - This means of Anandashram, the ashram of Swami Ramdas - EDITOR

3 - In the Vision of God by Swami Ramdas, p.450 of the 1962 edition.

Published by Bhavan's Book University, Chaupatty, Bombay-7.

 

 

Similarly when at Ganeshpuri, he was established permanently in the

Self-luminous and Self-existent state of Satchidananda,

Being-Consciousness-Bliss, beyond the duality of good or bad, high or low,

beyond even the apparent duality of knowledge or ignorance, liberation or

bondage. And yet, although all passed as a two-dimensional shadow before his

eyes, he did in fact see and hear and distinguish and could approve or

disapprove of what people did on the plane of good and evil on which they

were content to abide and bestow on them what were benefits on the level of

values to which they clung.

 

 

He did not teach in words. He had little use for books or theory. "Books are

for those who are not secure in knowledge. Stable, eternal and indivisible

is Knowledge," he said.

 

 

He did not teach dependence on any power outside oneself. "By one's own

thoughts one can be bad; by one's own thoughts one can be good also. God

does neither good nor harm to anyone."

 

 

He did not give initiation as usually understood and gave no mantra to

repeat, laid down no technique of spiritual practice. The power of his

presence was enough. His proximity would itself calm and purify the mind.

One sat before him and doubts and anxieties were smoothed away; questions

that had worried one did not seem worth asking. Parched souls felt coolness

near him and those in distress found peace.

 

 

He did not instruct his devotees openly in words but sometimes threw out

hints obliquely in a way that only the person for whom they were intended

would understand. Indeed, this was perhaps necessary since he never gave a

private interview to anyone but had to be approached and questioned openly

in the presence of others. But his real teaching did not depend on verbal

answers at all; it was an eloquent silent influence on the heart of the

seeker.

 

 

Nevertheless, he did in fact guide seekers on the path. He was not merely a

lamp to give light to others but to kindle their lamps also. He was a

Siddha-Yogi, a man of strange powers. If he looked inactive it was as a top

does when spinning at high speed, seeming the more stationary the faster it

rotates. Under the silent radiation of his power the dormant spirit of the

aspirant who approached him in true sincerity awakened and came to life.

This silent transmission of Divine Power from Master to disciple is known as

Shaktipata, about which the Vayavya Samhita writes: "When by the mere sight,

touch or word of a Guru divine consciousness is immediately opened in a

person it is known as Shambhavi diksha." When asked by a disciple he would

recommend some type of sadhana according to the needs of the particular

person who asked. In general he stressed the importance of meditation and

devotion to the Guru. However, his silent spiritual influence was the most

potent factor. Sometimes also he canalised the flow of power by the laying

on of hands. The effect of this could be tremendous. It often resulted in

awakening the dormant Kundalini in the disciple.

 

 

There are many still living who had the good fortune of being blessed by his

touch or presence and experienced the power and skill of his guidance. He

was a dynamo of energy and a powerhouse of shakti. He was a Satguru who took

full responsibility for the guidance of his disciples.

 

 

Although he taught mainly by silence, very little in words, the following

pregnant sayings of his may well be pondered:

 

 

"There is no contentment without purification of mind and no Liberation

without purification of consciousness by which one merges into Atman like a

piece of ice placed in water."

 

 

"One must live in the world like a boat on the sea - on it but separated

from it."

 

 

"It is not bhakti to give a man some money or a meal in charity. Bhakti is

universal love. Seeing God in all beings without the least idea of duality

is bhakti."

 

 

"Turn inwards. Without meditation the mind cannot be steadied."

 

 

"When the ego is completely destroyed the world is seen as a reflection."

 

 

"Detach yourself from the world if you would realize your true Self."

 

 

"Liberation means seeing, the One in all and all in the One."

 

 

"Hate and anger are signs of ignorance."

 

 

"If you have a pure heart and true urging God is not far away."4

 

 

In greatness and glory he can be compared with Sai Baba of Shirdi,5 and

indeed, there is a certain similarity between them, since he also taught his

disciples to seek through complete devotion and surrender to the Guru. The

greater the devotion and more wholehearted the surrender the more powerful

flow of Shaktipata does it evoke and the greater therefore is the disciple's

progress. He was like Sai Baba also in giving no formal initiation and no

mantra. And both alike discouraged theorising and excessive reading. Neither

of them wrote anything.

 

 

Although this great Master passed away in 1961, the atmosphere of Ganeshpuri

is still charged with his Presence. He is buried there and his shrine has

become a centre of pilgrimage for thousands. They feel the force of

Shaktipata and are silently strengthened and guided on the path as they were

in his lifetime.

________________________________

4 - From a collection of sayings noted down by a lady disciple and published

in Kannada under the title Chidakashgita translated into English by M. P.

Pandit under the title Voice of the Self.

5 - For whom see an article in our issue of July 1964. See also The

incredible Sai Baba by Arthur Osborne, published by Orient Longmans,

Calcutta, and Rider & Co., London.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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/join

 

 

 

 

All paths go somewhere. No path goes nowhere. Paths, places, sights,

perceptions, and indeed all experiences arise from and exist in and subside

back into the Space of Awareness. Like waves rising are not different than

the ocean, all things arising from Awareness are of the nature of Awareness.

Awareness does not come and go but is always Present. It is Home. Home is

where the Heart Is. Jnanis know the Heart to be the Finality of Eternal

Being. A true devotee relishes in the Truth of Self-Knowledge, spontaneously

arising from within into It Self. Welcome all to a.

 

 

 

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