"The
call of the spirit proved irresistible"
by G.N.
Raina
Kashmir
Shaivism has penetrated to that depth of living
thought where diverse currents
of human wisdom unite in a luminous synthesis.-
Rabindranath Tagore
 Saivism
in Kashmir, as distinct from Southern Shaivism,
synthesizes essential things that are to be found
in almost all the six systems of Indian philosophy
and stamps it with the personal experiences and
observations of its exponents.
Right
from the founder of Shaiva system, Vasugupta who,
as revealed to him in a dream, found SIVASUTRAS,
(he later authored), inscribed on a rock called
SHANKER PAL (Shankar's rock) in the forest in the
lap of the sacred Mahadev mountain, through
Kallata Bhatt, Somananada, Utpaladeva and that
profound thinker, Abhinavgupta, down to Swami
Ramji and Swami Lakshman Joo, in our own times, an
attempt, and a successful one at that, has been
made at intelligent synthesis of all that is
abiding, universal and enduring in VEDANTA,
SANKHYA, NYAYA, VAISHESHIKA, VAISHNAVA and SHAKTA
and even in Buddhist teachings.
Little
wonder, therefore, Kashmir Shaivism has attracted
the attention of many eminent thinkers and
scholars who consider it more synthetic and
profound than all the other known works on
religious philosophies of the world. And for this
no small credit goes to Rajanaka Lakshmana (Swami
Ishwara Swarupji), popularly called Lakshman Joo
whose exposition of the Saiva texts was backed by
his personal experiences and, therefore, went home
to the scholars and students coming from all parts
of India and the world. We were fortunate to have
had an advanced Yogi like him walking and moving
amongst us as a living vibrating Truth.
It
is only when you met him, as I did for an
interview in 1971, that you would feel his
irresistible charm emanating from that sweet
child-like innocence which hid from our naked eye
his spiritual and philosophic attainments. As a
man, he was upright, humble and very generous.
Hundreds and thousands flocked to him for succor
and he was not found wanting in this respect. Many
an afflicted found solace in his presence.
Swami
Lakshman Joo was born on 9th May, 1907 (Vaisakha
Krishna Dwadasi), Thursday, at 4 p.m., in Srinagar,
Kashmir. His father, Shri Narayandas Raina, the
first man to have introduced house-boats in
Kashmir, and his mother, Shrimati Aranyamali, were
greatly devoted to Swami Ramji, who was their
family GURU and who had by then become their
Spiritual teacher also. Swami Ramji was the
greatest exponent of SHAIVA-AGAMA and he was also
a Siddha Purusha. Many stories are current about
his Siddhis. It is said that he had only to look
at or touch a person and he was bound to be a
changed man. Shri Narayandas had built a separate
house for him where he could carry out his Sadhana
and teach the Saiva texts to his pupils. This is
now known as Rama-Trika-Saivashrama, located in
Fatehkadal, not far from the ancestral home of
Swami Lakshman Joo.
As
soon as the news of the birth of Swamiji was
conveyed to Swami Ram, he literally danced in joy
and exclaimed: ''I am called Rama, let the child
be called Lakshman". How prophetic Swami Ram
was! Subsequent events proved that Swami Lakshman
Joo was to Swami Ram what Vivekananda was to Sri
Ramakrishna Paramhansa.
Lakshman
Joo did show his leanings towards the higher life
in early childhood. At the age of three, his play
consisted in making a Shiva-linga out of clay for
worship. At five, he would sit down for meditation
and in this condition, he would exhibit signs of
abnormal behavior which worried his parents. They
approached Swami Ram who said, 'This boy was a
great Yogi in his past life. His Yoga
would
be consummated in this life". Lakshman Ji's
childhood was spent under the spiritual care of
this great sage, Swami Ram who taught him the Japa
of Gayatri Mantra and also certain Yogic exercises
according to the Saiva discipline. Before Swami
Ram took Mahasamadhi, he entrusted his disciples
and the seven-year-old Lakshman to the charge of
his principal disciple, Mahtab Kak who later
taught Saiva Sastras to Swamiji.
In
school also, Swamiji used to go into Samadhi now
and then. One of his inquisitive teachers once
asked him what he noticed in the state of
absorption, to which he replied in Kashmiri that
he experienced "BADA BODA", the highest,
the supreme. Yet another teacher asked him to do
physical exercises. Instead, Lakshman collected a
group of students and sang Bhajans. Enraged, the
teacher inflicted 25 cane strokes on him for
defiance. Next day, it is said, the teacher fell
ill and had fever exactly for twenty- five days.
At
13, his parents thought of arranging his matrimony
(as was the custom those days of marrying quite
early). But Lakshman's reply in the negative was
firm and emphatic. When he was in
pre-matriculation, his father fell ill and he was
asked to look after his business. He had to give
up his studies. As he was now free from the
routine work of the school, he devoted most of his
time to the study of the Saiva Sastras from Mahtab
Kak. He devoted even greater time to the practice
of Yoga, for he did not want to confine himself
only to the theoretical part of the Saiva system.
He used to practice Yoga from two in the night to
dawn.
It
was at the age of 20, as he told me, that he had
the experience of self-realization for the first
time. And the time was 4 a.m. (Brahma Muhurat).
After this, he used to go into Samadhi even while
he was in his workshop. He now lost all interest
in business, for which he was reprimanded by his
father. Inner struggle ensued and finally the call
of the Spirit proved to be irresistible. He bowed
to the Inner Monitor, as it were, and left home
with only a lion's skin for sitting. A search for
him followed but without success. His brothers,
however, found on a piece of paper the following
note left behind by the boy Lakshman: "My
dear brothers, I am leaving in search of the
Supreme. Kindly take care of my parents".
After frantic telegrams and telephonic messages
and even report to the police about the missing
boy, his father received the following message
from a relative in Sopore:" This morning I
saw Lakshman going on foot to Sadhuganga
Ashram". The parents rushed to Sopore where
they found the boy seated on the lion's skin in
deep meditation near a spring in a jungle. When he
returned to normal consciousness, he told his
parents that he could no more live in the home.
His father promised to build for him an Ashram in
an unfrequented place in Srinagar itself.
Lakshman Joo, meanwhile, lived in a village, Danyahama in
Harvan, near Srinagar. Four months later, his
Ashram was completed and he moved into it. It was
here that Lakshman Joo made deeper study of Saiva
Sastras from the reputed scholar, Maheshwar Nath
Razdan, for seven long years. It was at this time,
Sharika Devi, daughter of Shri Jialal, approached
Lakshman Joo to accept her as- his pupil. She
practiced Yoga under his guidance and she was
lucky to have self-realization in a few year's
time. Overwhelmed by her experience, she lost
mental balance for a few years when she had to be
moved to her parent's house. Again, it was
Lakshman Joo who went to see her, gave her a grape
to eat, and then she started improving and in due
course, she regained her normal condition.
Lakshman Joo also initiated Prabha Ji, the younger
sister of Sharika Devi.
In
1934, Lakshman Joo built an Ashram for himself on
a site between Nishat and Shalimar Gardens. It was
named Isvara Ashram. Sharika Ji's father also
built a house for her on a plot of land nearby.
While Nature has bestowed picturesqueness on the
Ashram, the peace and harmony radiated from the
one who hallowed it by his presence, Swami
Lakshman Joo.
Swami
Lakshman Joo left his mortal frame and merged into
the Supreme, Shiva, on 27th of September,
Thursday, at Brahma Muhurat. The great master of
Kashmir Shaivism that he was, he has taught us
that Param Shiva or Supreme Reality is both static
and dynamic. The dynamic aspect of Param Shiva is
known as Shakti and the entire manifestation is a
play of his Shakti. The world is not an illusion
as held by Vedanta but an epiphany, an expression
of the Divine Shakti. For the average man, the
best means for ascent in the spiritual path is to
find out a competent Guru whose Grace will lead
the aspirant to the Supreme Bliss. And Swamiji has
summed it up thus in his own poetic form:
There
is a point twixt sleep and waking,
Where
thou shalt be alert without shaking:
Enter
into the new world where forms so hideous pass,
They
are passing, - endure, do not be taken by the
dross.
Then
the pulls and the pushes about the throttle,
All
those shalt thou tolerate,
Close
all ingress and egress; - yawnings there may be;
Shed
tears-crave-implore, but thou wilt not prostrate,
A
'thrill' passes, - and that goes down to the
bottom;
It riseth, may it bloom forth, - that is BLISS;
Blessed
being, Blessed being, - O'Greetings be to Thee.
Source:
Koshur
Samachar
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