The Monk Who Lived India - Kanchi shankaracharya, Jayendra Saraswatiji

It was 1992. In the wake of the Ayodhya movement, I met the Kanchi seer Jayendra Saraswatiji for the first time.

I asked him: "People say a lot about the way Hindu sanyasis work. They don't help the so-called lower castes, they don't serve people, but only preach. What do you have to say?"

I was the editor of Panchjanya at that time and perhaps he didn't expect a question like this.

He paused and said: "We don't have to answer everyone. Ask them what they have done and tell them to find out what we are doing. Then you may repeat this question."

Then he laughed -- a very innocent, child-like, laugh.

I again asked: "Isn't it a reflection on Hindus that even after centuries they have not been able to get back the Ram temple?"

He smiled and said, "Why do you forget the centuries of resistance and success in protecting Dharma? It's a long struggle and soon the temple will be there. I have full faith."

On both counts, the Kanchi seer was right, and so perfectly.

Not only have I found hundreds of educational and medical centres of excellence run by Hindu monks in various parts of the country -- serving wonderfully, with humility to all, without discrimination -- I also discovered they were helping to erase caste-based hatred and apartheid.

As far as the Ram temple in Ayodhya is concerned, I think the Kanchi seer saw it coming in his last days -- and we all feel more hopeful now, more than ever before.

The Kanchi shankaracharya, Jayendra Saraswatiji, started India's best eye hospital, the Sankara Nethralaya.

Described as 'Temples of the Eye', the Sankara Nethralayas serve all -- Hindus, Muslims, Christians -- in huge numbers, from down south to Punjab and up to the north east.

It is Kanchi Shankaracharya Jayendra Saraswatiji's great vision and commitment to serve the people, providing world class medical service at minimum cost.

He was an embodiment of Dharma -- in the footsteps of the living legend, Paramacharya, the 68th Shankaracharya, Chandrasekharendra Saraswati.

He inspired and saw to it to have the best schools, colleges and medical centres across the country.

He established temples with such finesse and grace that they serve Hindus in a great, harmonious, manner, showcasing the best and brilliant in Dharma traditions.

The Sankara Nethralaya Web site tells us: 'It was in 1976 when addressing a group of doctors, His Holiness Sri Jayendra Saraswati, the sankaracharya of the Kanchi Kamakoti Peetam, spoke of the need to create a hospital with a missionary spirit.'

'His words marked the beginning of a long journey to do God's own work.'

Strangely, often, the secular Hindu class attacks the saints and priests of Hindu Dharma, but never highlight their services to humanity, provided without discrimination, given to everyone.

The Kanchi seer was ahead of his times.

He began training Dalit archakas (priests) years earlier. He visited their temples and consecrated those centres of faith. He joined Kumbhabhishekams organised by them.

His special attention on the north east -- by establishing schools, hospitals and centres of Vedic studies -- is exemplary and an inspiration to all those who want to serve India and protect Hindu Dharma.

When we started the Sindhu Darshan festival in Leh in 1996, he was happy, saying this would bring the glory of the Indus back to the nation. He wanted it to be a collective event of Hindus and Buddhists.

In spite of being a harsh, cold, climate, he visited Sindhu and performed a special Sindhu Pujan, which he never forgot and always mentioned whenever I met him.

When the Kanchi seer was invited to Rashtrapati Bhavan, Colonel Ashok Kini -- President A P J Abdul Kalam's ADC -- tweeted today: 'Dr Kalam made the saint sit on his chair. When I asked, why was this honour. His reply: "I want this chair to get blessed and whoever sits on this chair in future must get blessings of this saint".'

Jayendra Saraswatiji virtually lived India.

He lived Dharma and served all with the great ideals and incorrigible faith in Advaita in his heart.

He will always live in the hearts of the millions of children who have studied in schools and colleges established by him and the faithful Hindus to whom he was a symbol of the invincible spirit of glorious Hindu Dharma.

He represented an era and his passing has left a blank that will be difficult to be filled.

(C) Tarun Vijay / Rediff

http://www.rediff.com/news/special/the-monk-who-lived-india/20180228.htm

Remembering Swami Shraddhanand

A Newspaper Ad in Dainik Jagran, 25-Dec-2017 by MDH, remembering Swami Shraddhanand

Swami Shraddhanand - Wikipedia

Swami Shraddhanand (1856–1926), also known as Mahatma Munshi Ram Vij, was an Indian educationist[clarification needed] and an Arya Samaj missionary who propagated the teachings of Dayananda Saraswati. This included the establishment of educational institutions, like the Gurukul Kangri University, and played a key role on the Sangathan (consolidation) and the Shuddhi (re-conversion), a Hindu reform movement in the 1920s.

Meeting Dayanand

He first met Dayanand Saraswati when Dayanand visited Bareilly to give lectures. His father was handling arrangements and security at the events, due to the attendance of some prominent personalities and British officers. Munshiram attend the lectures at his father's request. He originally went with the intent of spoiling the arrangements, then claimed to be strongly influenced by Dayanand's courage, skill, and strong personality. After completing his studies Munshiram started his practice as lawyer.[1][2]

Schools

In 1892 Arya Samaj was split into two factions after a controversy over whether to make Vedic education the core curriculum at the DAV College Lahore. He left the organization and formed the Punjab Arya Samaj. The Arya Samaj was divided between the Gurukul Section and the DAV Section. Shraddhanand headed for Gurukuls. In 1897, when Lala Lekh Ram was assassinated, Shraddhanand succeeded him. He headed the 'Punjab Arya Pratinidhi Sabha', and started its monthly journal, Arya Musafir.[3] In 1902 he established a Gurukul in Kangri, India near Haridwar. This school is now recognized as Gurukul Kangri University.

In 1917, Mahatma Munshi Ram took sanyas as "Swami Shradhanand Saraswati".

Shraddhanand established gurukul Indraprashtha in Aravali near Faridabad, Haryana.[3]

Activism

In 1917, Shraddhanand left Gurukul to become an active member of the Hindu reform movements and the Indian Independence movement.[2] He began working with the Congress, which he invited to hold its session at Amritsar in 1919. This was because of the Jalianwala massacre, and no one in the Congress Committee agreed to have a session at Amritsar. Shraddhanand presided over the session.

He also joined the nationwide protest against the Rowlatt Act. The same year he protested in front of a posse of Gurkha soldiers at the Clock Tower in Chandni Chowk, then was allowed to proceed.[2] In the early 1920s he emerged as an important force in the Hindu Sangathan (consolidation) movement, which was a by product of the now revitalised Hindu Maha Sabha.[4]

Swami Shradhanand was the only Hindu Sanyasi who addressed a huge gathering from the minarates of the main Jama Masjid New Delhi, for national solidarity and vedic dharma starting his speech with the recitation of ved mantras.[2]

He wrote on religious issues in both Hindi and Urdu. He published newspapers in the two languages as well. He promoted Hindi in the Devanagri script, helped the poor and promoted the education of women. By 1923, he left the social arena and plunged whole-heartedly into his earlier work of the shuddhi movement (re-conversion to Hinduism), which he turned into an important force within Hinduism.[5]

In late 1923, he became the president of Bhartiya Hindu Shuddhi Sabha, created with an aim of reconverting Muslims, specifically 'Malkana Rajputs' in the western United Province. This brought him into direct confrontation with Muslim clerics and leaders of the time.[3][6]

Assassination

On 23 December 1926 he was assassinated by a Muslim named Abdul Rashid,[7] who entered his home at Naya Bazar, Delhi, by posing as a visitor.[8][unreliable source?] Upon his death, Gandhi moved a condolence motion at the Guwahati session of the Congress on 25 December 1926.[9] An excerpt from the speech in relevant part reads "If you hold dear the memory of Swami Shraddhanandji, you would help in purging the atmosphere of mutual hatred and calumny. You would help in boycotting papers which foment hatred and spread misrepresentation. I am sure that India would lose nothing if 90 per cent of the papers were to cease today. . . Now you will perhaps understand why I have called Abdul Rashid a brother and I repeat it. I do not even regard him as guilty of Swamiji's murder. Guilty indeed are all those who excited feelings of hatred against one another. For us Hindus the Gita enjoins on us the lesson of equi-mindedness; we are to cherish the same feelings towards a learned Brahman as towards a chandala, a dog, a cow or an elephant." [10]

Today, the 'Swami Shraddhanand Kaksha' at the archeological museum of the Gurukul Kangri University in Haridwar houses a photographic journey of his life.[11]

A statue of him was placed in front of Delhi Town Hall after independence, replacing a statue of Queen Victoria.[12] This location in Old Delhi is termed ghantaghar because the old clock tower stood here until the 1950s.[13]

Personal life

Shraddhanad and his wife Shiwa Devi had two sons and two daughters. His wife died when Shraddhanad was only 35 years old. His granddaughter Satyavati was a prominent opponent of the British rule in India.[14]

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swami_Shraddhanand 

References

1. ^ 
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   ^a b c Autobiography http://www.vedpedia.com
2. ^ 
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   ^a b c d G.S. Chhatra. Some Indian Personalities of the Time: Swami Shraddhanand Advanced Study in the History of Modern India Lotus Press. 2007. ISBN 81-89093-08-8 p. 227.
3. ^ 
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   ^a b c G. R. Thursby. Controversy Hindu-Muslim Relations in British India: A Study of Controversy, Conflict, and Communal Movements in Northern India 1923–1928, BRILL, 1975. ISBN 90-04-04380-2. p. 15.
4. Jump up
   ^ Chetan Bhatt. Shraddhanand Hindu Nationalism: Origins, Ideologies and Modern Myths Berg Publishers, 2001. ISBN 1-85973-348-4. p. 62
5. Jump up
   ^ R. K. Ghai. Shuddhi Movement in India: A Study of Its Socio-political Dimensions, Commonwealth Publishers, 1990. p. 43.
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   ^ Kenneth W. Jones. Socio-Religious Reform Movements in British India: Socio-Religious Reform Movements in British India, Volume III-1 Cambridge University Press, 1987. ISBN 0-521-24986-4. p. 194
7. Jump up
   ^ Joseph Lelyveld. Great Soul: Mahatma Gandhi and His Struggle with India, Knopf, 2011, pp. 171-172
8. Jump up
   ^ 23 December is the Shardanand Balidhan Divas Arya Samaj.
9. Jump up
   ^ Jagdish Saran Sharma. Indian National Congress: A Descriptive Bibliography of India's Struggle for Freedom, S. Chand, 1959. p. 502.
10. Jump up
    ^ http://www.mahatma.org.in/mahatma/books/showbook.jsp?id=17&link=bg&book=bg0013&lang=en&cat=books
11. Jump up
    ^ Archaeological Museum Gurukul Kangri University
12. Jump up
    ^ "Stories in stone", The Hindu, 20 October 2014
13. Jump up
    ^ Clock Tower Chandni Chowk, Delhi, early 1900s
14. Jump up
    ^ Forbes, Geraldine (28 April 1999). Women in Modern India, Volume 4. Cambridge University Press. p. 148.

Bangladesh Hindus celebrate Holi festival

As elsewhere in the world, Bangladesh Hindu community also Wednesday celebrated Holi, the festival of colors, fun and frolic.

The festival has brought more Hindus to the temples in old part of capital Dhaka than at almost any other normal day of the year.

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2016-03/23/c_135217102.htm

Hinduism Thrives - October 2015

Spouses of African leaders to visit Akshardham temple

Spouses of African delegates will be treated to a diverse mix of Indian heritage and culture starting with a visit to Swaminarayan Akshardham temple on Thursday.

They will also interact with "solar grandmothers" who light up homes in Africa using solar energy.

Ruchira Kamboj, India's ambassador to Unesco, told mediapersons here that the nearly four-hour programme for 17 first ladies will be a "very diverse mix" and it attempts to show Indian heritage and culture."

http://news.webindia123.com/news/articles/India/20151028/2713139.html

Hinduism Thrives - August 2015

Hinduism Thrives - July 2015

Harvard, MIT touch to Kumbh planning

TNN, Jul 29, 2015

PUNE: The state government's effort to ensure a smooth Kumbh Mela at Nashik has received a tech boost from researchers at Harvard and Massachusetts Institute of Technology. A team from Harvard is offering tips for effective public health management, while the MIT experts have groomed young innovators from Nashik to develop the official Kumbh app, apart from solutions for potential problems. 

Read complete article at: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/pune/Harvard-MIT-touch-to-Kumbh-planning/articleshow/48259025.cms