Swami Sri Lilashahji Maharaj
Encyclopedia
Swami Sri Lilashahji Maharaj is the guru of Sant Sri Asaramji Bapu
and Sant Sri ManohardasJi Maharaj (Ajmer). He practiced celibacy throughout his life.
in March 1880. His father's name was Topandas and his mother's name was Hemibai. Swami's birth name was Lilaram. At the age of ten, his parents died; he was susbsequently raised by Lakhumal. Swamiji was religious during his childhood. He refused to marry and opted to live like a sant
and pray to God. He decided to work in favor of the people living in Laad, south of Sindh, for they were illiterate and living in poverty. Lilaram was made president of Bhagat Ratan Darbar, but he left the post in search of truth. He learned Hindi, studied religious and Vedic books, and lived amongst sants. He became a disciple and student of Vedic Acharya Sant Shri Keshavaram, who named him Lilashah.
Thereafter, Swami Lilashahji Maharaj travelled in North India and visited Haridwar
, Rishikesh, North Kashi, Kashmir
, Tibet
and the Himalayas
. During these travels, he lived in caves, meditated, and did bhakti
(devotion and practise). Swami had started publishing a religious monthly magazine called Tatwa Gyan. After the partition of India
in 1947, he assisted the Sindhi community by going to places in India such as Ahmedabad
, Alwar, Jaipur
, Jodhpur
, Agra
, Bombay, Baroda, and Gandhidham
.
He established schools, dharmshalas, gaushalas, hospitals, vridhshrams, libraries, and satsang halls. By the initiation of swamiji, a religious book was started on Atama Darshan from Ajmer
. He propagated against the dowry system and encouraged group marriages. Swamiji's capital was religious book and a bed of Tat. On 4 November 1973, he died at the age of 93 years. Sant Lilashahji's Samadhi is situated at Adipur.
He studied Vedanta
and was the editor of a philosophical work named "Atmadarshan".
is among the disciples of Swami Sri Lilashahji Maharaj. Bapu was inspired to go to the ashram of the guru Swami Sri Lilashahji Maharaj, at Nainital.
Sant Sri Asaramji Bapu
Sant Shri Asharam Ji Bapu , also endearingly called "Bapu", is a self-realized Hindu Spiritual Guru from India. Bapu preaches the existence of One Supreme Conscious in every human being and represents a confluence of Bhakti_yoga, Gnana_yoga and Karma_yoga...
and Sant Sri ManohardasJi Maharaj (Ajmer). He practiced celibacy throughout his life.
Biography
Swami Lilashahji was born in Hyderabad, SindhHyderabad, Sindh
is the second largest city in the Sindh province of Pakistan. It is the seventh largest city in the country. The city was founded in 1768 by Mian Ghulam Shah Kalhoro upon the ruins of a Mauryan fishing village along the bank of the Indus known as Neroon Kot...
in March 1880. His father's name was Topandas and his mother's name was Hemibai. Swami's birth name was Lilaram. At the age of ten, his parents died; he was susbsequently raised by Lakhumal. Swamiji was religious during his childhood. He refused to marry and opted to live like a sant
Sant
Sant is an Indian term derived from a Sanskrit verb that means both "to be good" and "to be real". From the fifteenth century the term has often referred to those who sing the name of God and worship Him, particularly the bhakti poets of Marathi...
and pray to God. He decided to work in favor of the people living in Laad, south of Sindh, for they were illiterate and living in poverty. Lilaram was made president of Bhagat Ratan Darbar, but he left the post in search of truth. He learned Hindi, studied religious and Vedic books, and lived amongst sants. He became a disciple and student of Vedic Acharya Sant Shri Keshavaram, who named him Lilashah.
Thereafter, Swami Lilashahji Maharaj travelled in North India and visited Haridwar
Haridwar
Haridwar is an important pilgrimage city and municipality in the Haridwar district of Uttarakhand, India...
, Rishikesh, North Kashi, Kashmir
Kashmir
Kashmir is the northwestern region of the Indian subcontinent. Until the mid-19th century, the term Kashmir geographically denoted only the valley between the Great Himalayas and the Pir Panjal mountain range...
, Tibet
Tibet
Tibet is a plateau region in Asia, north-east of the Himalayas. It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people as well as some other ethnic groups such as Monpas, Qiang, and Lhobas, and is now also inhabited by considerable numbers of Han and Hui people...
and the Himalayas
Himalayas
The Himalaya Range or Himalaya Mountains Sanskrit: Devanagari: हिमालय, literally "abode of snow"), usually called the Himalayas or Himalaya for short, is a mountain range in Asia, separating the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau...
. During these travels, he lived in caves, meditated, and did bhakti
Bhakti
In Hinduism Bhakti is religious devotion in the form of active involvement of a devotee in worship of the divine.Within monotheistic Hinduism, it is the love felt by the worshipper towards the personal God, a concept expressed in Hindu theology as Svayam Bhagavan.Bhakti can be used of either...
(devotion and practise). Swami had started publishing a religious monthly magazine called Tatwa Gyan. After the partition of India
Partition of India
The Partition of India was the partition of British India on the basis of religious demographics that led to the creation of the sovereign states of the Dominion of Pakistan and the Union of India on 14 and 15...
in 1947, he assisted the Sindhi community by going to places in India such as Ahmedabad
Ahmedabad
Ahmedabad also known as Karnavati is the largest city in Gujarat, India. It is the former capital of Gujarat and is also the judicial capital of Gujarat as the Gujarat High Court has its seat in Ahmedabad...
, Alwar, Jaipur
Jaipur
Jaipur , also popularly known as the Pink City, is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Rajasthan. Founded on 18 November 1727 by Maharaja Sawai Jai Singh II, the ruler of Amber, the city today has a population of more than 3.1 million....
, Jodhpur
Jodhpur
Jodhpur , is the second largest city in the Indian state of Rajasthan. It is located west from the state capital, Jaipur and from the city of Ajmer. It was formerly the seat of a princely state of the same name, the capital of the kingdom known as Marwar...
, Agra
Agra
Agra a.k.a. Akbarabad is a city on the banks of the river Yamuna in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh, India, west of state capital, Lucknow and south from national capital New Delhi. With a population of 1,686,976 , it is one of the most populous cities in Uttar Pradesh and the 19th most...
, Bombay, Baroda, and Gandhidham
Gandhidham
Gandhidham is a city and a municipality in the Kachchh District of Gujarat state of India. The town was created in the early 1950s for the resettlement of the refugees from Sindh of Pakistan in the aftermath of the partition of India....
.
He established schools, dharmshalas, gaushalas, hospitals, vridhshrams, libraries, and satsang halls. By the initiation of swamiji, a religious book was started on Atama Darshan from Ajmer
Ajmer
Ajmer , formerly written as Ajmere, is a city in Ajmer District in Rajasthan state in India. Ajmer has a population of around 800,000 , and is located west of the Rajasthan state capital Jaipur, 200 km from Jodhpur, 274 km from Udaipur, 439 km from Jaisalmer, and 391 km from...
. He propagated against the dowry system and encouraged group marriages. Swamiji's capital was religious book and a bed of Tat. On 4 November 1973, he died at the age of 93 years. Sant Lilashahji's Samadhi is situated at Adipur.
He studied Vedanta
Vedanta
Vedānta was originally a word used in Hindu philosophy as a synonym for that part of the Veda texts known also as the Upanishads. The name is a morphophonological form of Veda-anta = "Veda-end" = "the appendix to the Vedic hymns." It is also speculated that "Vedānta" means "the purpose or goal...
and was the editor of a philosophical work named "Atmadarshan".
Disciples
Sant Sri Asaramji BapuSant Sri Asaramji Bapu
Sant Shri Asharam Ji Bapu , also endearingly called "Bapu", is a self-realized Hindu Spiritual Guru from India. Bapu preaches the existence of One Supreme Conscious in every human being and represents a confluence of Bhakti_yoga, Gnana_yoga and Karma_yoga...
is among the disciples of Swami Sri Lilashahji Maharaj. Bapu was inspired to go to the ashram of the guru Swami Sri Lilashahji Maharaj, at Nainital.