Guru
Dev parampara (lineage)
- Guru
Dev -
Shankaracharya
Swami Brahmananda Saraswati
Guru
Dev met his guru, Shri 108 Shri Dandi Swami
Ji Krishnananda Saraswati, in about
1883.
According to the Hindi biography of Guru Dev, published by his own ashram :
उत्तरकाशि के शृंगेरीपीठ ले शिष्य परम
तपस्वी बाल ब्रह्मचारी योगिराज दण्डी संन्यासी श्री स्वामी कृष्णानन्द सरस्वती जी
महाराज की शरण में गये और अखण्ड ब्रह्मचर्य की दीक्षा लेकर उन्हीं के समीप रहने
लगे। गुरुदेव ने आप का नाम " ब्रह्म चैतन्य ब्रह्मचारी " रखा।
<'At Uttarkashi he sought refuge from Dandi
Swami Shri Swami Krishnananda Saraswati Ji Maharaj, a lifelong celibate yogi and
great disciple of Shringeri Peeth. There he took initiation wholly as a
monk. And Gurudeva gave you the name ‘Brahma Chaitanya Brahmachari’.>
If this is correct, that Swami Krishnananda Saraswati was associated with Sringeri Peeth, then it is likely he had close contact with Sri Vruddha Nrisimha Bharati (Sri Nrisimha Bharati VIII), said to be one of the greatest saints India has ever produced.
Sri Sri Vruddha Narisimha Bharati Mahaswami (Sri Nrisimha Bharati VIII) 1798-1879
Shri
108 Shri Dandi Swami
Ji
Krishnananda
Saraswati
His guru [Swami Krishnananda] later
inducted him [Brahma Chaitanya Brahmachari] into sannyas
at the Kumbha Mela festival of 1906 in Prayag
(Allahabad), giving him
the monastic name Shankaracharya
Swami Brahmananda Saraswati.
Shankaracharya
Swami Brahmanand Saraswati
In 1936 Swami
Brahmanand Saraswati set up an ashram,
temple and school in Varanasi, which are still administered under the aegis of the Swami Krishnanand Trust.
"It is to be remembered
that back in
1936, before being offered the post of Shankaracharya, Maharaj Shri had
had built the Shri Brahmavidya Niketan and the Shri Brahmanandeshwar
Mahadev Ji Mandir (a temple) in Choti Gaibi, Varanasi, in rememberance
of his own venerable Shri Gurudeva. The beautiful appearance of the
ashram and mandir (temple) etc, was made on account of the management
and another major ashram in Siddhi Giri Baag, Varanasi, was built by
the name of Shri Brahma Niwas. This, the two other buildings and one at
Bahadur Ganj, Prayag (Allahabad) were all connected, and these
properties were placed under the protection of the Shri 1008 Swami
Krishnanand Saraswati Trust, whereof mention is made in Maharaj
Shri’s final will." (excerpt from translation by Paul Mason of
Hindi biography of Guru Dev).
Swami Krishnanand had many disciples, amongst them Yoganand
Saraswati, some years senior to Guru Dev.
Shankaracharya
of Jyotirmath
Apparently,
it was first suggested in 1908 that Swami Brahmananda take the position of
Shankaracharya of Jyotirmath, but it was not until
April 1941 that he finally accepted the post which had been
vacant for over a century. Prior to 1776 Jyotirmath appears to have had
an unbroken succession of Shankaracharyas going back to at least before 1500.
In more recent years the names of the Shankaracharyas before Guru Dev
are recorded to have been:-
Vikram date Gregorian date
Acharya
Shivanand Swami
1696-1703 [1639-1646]
Acharya Balkrishna Swami
1703-1717 [1646-1660]
Acharya Narain Updendra
Swami 1717-1750 [1660-1693]
Acharya Harishchandar Swami
1750-1763 [1693-1706]
Acharya Sadanand Swami
1763-1773 [1706-1716]
Acharya Keshav Swami
1773-1781 [1716-1724]
Acharya Narain Tirtha Swami
1781-1823 [1724-1766]
Acharya Ram Krishna Swami
1823-1833 [1766-1776]
- vacant -
1776-1941
–
quoted from ‘Jyotirmathasya
Guruparampara’,
Shree
Jyotishpeetha Shankaracharya Sevak Sangh, Allahabad, c1995
Succession to the title of Shankaracharya of Jyotir Math has been
heavily disputed since Swami Brahmanand's death in 1953. There was an
article printed on Swami
Brahmanand Saraswati's, published in his ashram newsletter, detailing
his Will and the resultant controversies. The article has been
translated into English and posted online, with additional
comments, link
to article on Guru Dev's 'Last Instruction(s)'
*
additional
notes
It is noted that at a website
connected to the late Leon McLaren an
image of Guru Dev's guru
is displayed labelled "Paramahansa Krishnanand Swami". An article there
states he was a disciple of "The thirty
second Acharya of Sringeri, Jagadguru Sri Narasimha Bharati VIII, was
Pontiff from 1817 until 1879." But, as Sri Narasimha was of
the Bharati Dashnami Sampradaya and Swami
Krishnanand was of the Saraswati Dandi Dashnami Sampradaya, it is
doubtful they were linked as guru
and disciple, though it
is reasonable to assume Krishnanand did have connections
with Sringeri Peeth
Through
meeting Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, Dr Roles in turn became close to Swami
Shantanand Saraswati, successory to Swami Brahmanand Saraswati as
Shankracharya of Jyotirmath.
There is a webpage detailing the importance of these meetings to those followers of Ouspensky and Gurdjieff.
It has also been suggested
that Swami Brahmanand Saraswati's guru was also the guru of
Shri Dada of Aligarh (1854-1910) who in turn was the master of Hari
Prasad Shastri (1882-1956), founder of
Shanti Sadan in London. As evidence attention is drawn to the Prologue
of 'The Heart of the Eastern Mystical Teaching' (Hari Prasad
Shastri, Shanti Sadan, 1948), wherein is described a meeting in the
Himalayas at
Dharuli in1855
[Dharuli is identified as Dharali, a village some way
north-west of Uttarkashi, near Gangotri, lying on what is now NH-108]
attended by the Rishi Vyasa and Shri Swami Krishnanandji.
Shri Vyasa adresses the gathering of sixteen young men and women; 'Holy Guardians of Dharma!
Illustrious Rishis! A new sub-cycle in this
Yuga is ending. A new light of the torch of Eternal Truth is to be
ushered into the world. The West has to live according to the Law which
the Lord gave her nearly 2,000 years ago. Optimism and activity,
ambition and love of power have stifled the growth of the spirit of the
West. Now let a new era open. A tributary of the holy Ganga of the Gita
is winding its way to Angala Desha [England]. Thus it has been
decreed. This holy and venerable Sage, this representative of the great
Shankara, this saint is undertaking the great task. Give your
blessings, holy Sages.”
In an issue of a quarterly
published by Shanti Sadan, 'Self-Knowledge'
(Issue Vol.43 No.3), there is a description of Krishnanandji by Hari
Prasad Shastri. In it he tells that Krishnanandaji was a wandering monk
of the Saraswati order, thus he was known as Swami Krishnanandaji Saraswati.
It is stated that Krishnanandji never answered questions about his
life,
though he is thought to have come from southern India. A few sayings of
Krishnanandji's are offered:-
"The
glory of the Upanishads lies in the teachings on non-duality found in
their pages."
"Every man in the street can talk on duality;
it is only a God-favoured man who studies the doctrine of non-duality."
"Those who serve their Guru when his body is ill or his mind is
anxious, are the true and holy pilgrims."
"Purification of the self must precede service of man."
There is a problem in reconciling the identities of Guru Dev's guru and that of
Shri Dada, in that it is believed that Guru Dev's guru died circa
1936, whereas a representative of Shanti Sadan is
of the opinion that Shri Dada's guru had
likely died by 1890 (which figures if he was already advanced in years
when he attended the meeting in 1855).
If anyone
has further information regarding Swami Krishnanand or indeed
about any aspects of this parampara,
please email
(Acknowledgement: thanks for your very helpful assistance Declan!)