Sitaramdas Omkarnath

Sitaramdas Omkarnath
File:SITARAMDAS OMKARNATH.jpg
Personal
Born	Probodh Chandra Chattopadhya (1892-02-17)17 February 1892 Keota Village, Hooghly district, West Bengal, India
Died	6 December 1982(1982-12-06) (aged 90) India
Organization
Philosophy	Sanathana Darma
Senior posting
Guru	Dasarathidev Yogeswar of Digsui Village

Sitaramdas Omkarnath (17 February 1892 – 6 December 1982) was an Indian saint from Bengal He preached the importance of chanting Nam, wrote more than 150 books to promote the essence of Indian scriptures, built more than 60 temples and ashrams all across India, and founded the spiritual organisation Akhil Bharat Jaiguru Sampradaya He started many groups, temples, mutts, both within and outside the Sampradaya—like local organisations, such as Delhi Jaiguru Sampraday, spiritual groups like Sati Sangha, Yuvak Sangha, Bidwat Sangha, Satya Dharma Prachar Sangha, etc. He was also the initiator of multiple magazines like Pather Alo, Devjan, JaiGuru, Arya Nari, Paramananda, and Mother.

Birth and childhood

Sitaramdas Omkarnath was born in an uncle's house at Keota village in Hooghly district, West Bengal, on 6 Falgun 1892. His given name was Probodh Chandra Chattopadhyay, and his parents were Pranhari Chatopadhyay and Mallabati Devi. Pranhari was a pious Brahmin and worked as a village physician in Dumurdaha, Hooghly district. The kuladevata (family deity) was Brajanath (Krishna).

In 1896, his mother Malyavati Devi died. His father then married Giribala Devi, and himself died in 1912.

Education

Omkarnath attended a village school but then determined that Dasarathidev Yogeswar of Digsui village should be his guru.Though he was admitted to the Bandel Church School for a quite of time to pursue Western Education, he left that school for is earnest interest in Indian Sankritised Education system. Thereafter he studied at Yogeswar's house, where he undertook daily chores as well as spiritual education. In 1918, Probodh was meditating at about midnight when he visualised the god Shiva along with the Durga, the Divine Mother.

Later, Omkarnath visualised his previous birth on the day of Saraswati puja. Through this he came to believe that he was a famous worshipper of the goddess Kali in previous life.

Spiritual quest

Guru Dasarathidev had named him Sitaram, the name Omkarnath was a divine revelation which was later formally conferred by Swami Dhruvananda Giri. Thus, Probodh came to be known as Sitaramdas Omkarnath. He had heard the Hare Krishna MahaMantra as a Divine Sound during his austere meditation in a cave at Ramashram, Dumurdaha, Hooghly. Later, he heard a divine voice say "O Sage, dive in". Still Sitaram was not ready for giving spiritual initiation to masses, and he waited for direct command. At Puri, Orissa, Sitaram visualised Jagannath in a halo and Jagannath gave the instruction — "Go, Go, Go and give the Name". Thereafter, Sitaram started spreading the Lord's name on a mass scale.

As a preacher/guru

After getting the alleged Divine instruction, Omkarnath began to preach Nam all across India. Temples were established and renovated, the poor were fed, clothes were distributed, help was given to the fathers of marriageable daughters, taking on the responsibility of lifetime maintenance of hundreds of poverty-stricken families, establishment of free schools for poor students, setting up 29 Akhanda Naam Kirtan centres across India, establishing temples and ashrams, and several other activities of the kind went on continuously.

Millions of men and women took spiritual initiation from Sitaram. His reputation spread and people gathered in large numbers wherever he resided. Sitaram was respected by contemporaries such as Anandamayi Ma, Mohanananda Brahmachari, Dalai Lama, Vilayat Inayat Khan, Swami Chidananda, Jain Muni Sushil Kumar and others.

Teachings

According to Omkarnath,

Nama meant Nama of God; Rama, Krishna, Shiva, Durga; but Nama had to be repeated constantly. Nama could reach the Sadhaka to Nada and Jyoti; Nada could bring Shakti i.e. Durga and Jyoti could bring Purushottam, i.e. Vishnu and ultimately Name could bring Onkar, the Anahat sound one could hear inside. So what the Rishis of the old days could not gain even after hundred of years of Tapasya in jungles, Nama could achieve even when a person lived his normal life and did his every day work.

The teachings of Omkarnath derive from his personal experiences, revealed in the course of a lifelong and continual spiritual practice. His teachings were compiled by Kinkar Omananda (alias Madhav Swamiji), his closest monastic disciple.

Miracles

Many of unexplained incidents associated with Omkarnath have been documented in books and newspapers by prominent personalities. Among these are:

• The writer Nabaneeta Dev Sen wrote of a 'medical miracle' she had seen. Her father, Naren Dev, was in coma for several days but when Omkarnath came and touched him, he opened his eyes and talked and within a week had begun walking.
• Many newspapers of Kolkata reported a revival from death at aCalcutta Medical College. Padmalochan Mukerjee was declared dead, Omkarnath arrived, touched him and revived him in front of Sister G. Wood, who was overwhelmed by the incident.
• General Sujan Singh Uban described that Omkarnath had foreseen the Indo-Pakistan war of December 1971 and that during the war a supernatural power of Omkarnath had given him an extraordinary victory. Besides the national issues, Uban had felt the powers of Omkarnath in many aspects of his personal life.

Death

Omkarnath died in the early hours of 6 December 1982. His body was placed at Sri Ramashram, Dumurdaha, so that people could pay their respects. He was cremated on a sandalwood pyre on 8 December.

References

Works cited

Books

• Omkarnath, Sri Sri Sitaramdas (2013). Madman's Jholi. Leadstart Publishing Pvt Ltd. ISBN 978-9382473688.
• Singh Uban, Sujan (1977). Gurus of India. East-West Publications (U.K.) Ltd. ISBN 978-0-85692-004-2.
• Supe, Raj (2010). Pilgrim of the Sky. Leadstart Publishing. ISBN 978-9380154442.
• Omkarnath, Sitaramdas (2010). Jai Jai Ram Krishna Hari. Leadstart Publishing. ISBN 978-9380154541.

Journals

• Murti, Dr. M.Srimannarayana (1998). "S.V.U. ORIENTAL JOURNAL" (PDF). Sri Venkateswara University Oriental Journal. 41 (Pts. 1 & 2): 188. ISSN 0081-3907. Retrieved 5 April 2015. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |last-author-amp= ignored (|name-list-style= suggested) (help)
• Banerjee, Professor Srikumar (1 July 1965). "Thakur Sri Sri Sitaramdas Omkarnath Maharaj By Professor Srikumar Banerjee". The Mountain Path. Retrieved 5 April 2015.

Further reading

• Chattopadhyaya, Jagannath (1998). "Bhagavan Maharshi As Seen By a Bengali" (PDF). The Mountain Path. 3 (1): 88. Retrieved 5 April 2015.

External links

• Akhil Bharat JaiGuru Sampraday
• Omkarnathdev
• Pather Alo
• Mother