In his previous life, His Holiness Mahatapasvi Shri Kumarswamiji was in Gyanganj (Jnanganj) Ashram in the Himalayas. His name was Swami Kshemananda then and his Guru was Paramhansa Swami Nemananda Ji. In Jnanganj Ashram there are two branches – Yoga and Science. Swami Kshemananda Ji was a student in Yoga branch. In this life, as Shri Kumarswamiji, he was in close and continuous contact with Gyanganj Ashram. Gyanganj Ashram has many adepts working for the benefit of mankind and the whole universe. To mention a few names of the adepts of Gyanganj Ashram – Paramhansa Maha Tapa Ji Maharaj, Paramhansa Bhrigu Rama Ji, Paramhansa Nemanand Ji, Paramhansa Abhayanand Ji, Paramhansa Jnana-nanda Ji, Paramhansa Vishuddhananda Ji. There are many Bhairavis (women adepts) too – Uma Bhairavi, Shama Bhairavi, Jnana Bhairavi etc. While Paramhansa MahaTapa Ji Maharaj is head of Jnangang Ashram, Uma Bhairavi is head of medical unit of Jnanganj Ashram.
Paramhansa Vishuddhanand Ji Gandhababa is His Holiness Shri Kumarswamiji’s Guru-bandhu (brother-disciple) from his past life. Towards the end of his this life, Shri Kumarswamiji consulted with his Gurudeva and the adepts from Gyanganj Ashram; for his Sadhana (penance and spiritual practices) in this life was not complete and asked them what should be next course of action therefore. The adepts asked Shri Kumarswamiji to build a temple with his own money and place the spiritual power which he had accumulated in his 50-years long penanace. At the mandate of the adepts from Gyanganj Ashram, Shri Kumarswamiji built Divya Devalaya, the Divine Temple in 1995 at Tapovan, Dharwad. The Divine Temple does not have any image or idol or deity. It has 7 mantras written on the wall which holds Shri Swamiji’s spiritual power. The adepts also told Shri Kumarswamiji that they would send one of their adepts (Siddha-purush) from Jnanganj to reside in the Divine Temple. Accordingly Shri Kumarswamiji’s elder Guru-bandhu, Paramhansa Shri Vishuddhanand Ji Gandhbaba has come to stay in the Divine Temple at Dharwad in his subtle body.
The Divine Temple is maintained in strict accordance with the rules laid by the adepts from Jnanganj ashram.
As a Guru, Yogiraj Shri Vishuddhanand Paramahansadeva was soul personified, the over-soul-incarnate, while at the same time so graceful and surpassingly human – a quality that attracted us humans so much to him.
He combined an inscrutable mystery with an inexhaustible variety. He enchanted and haunted, soothed and sustained. His loving touch chastened and exalted, transmuted and exhilirated. He was simple as a child and baffling as the sphinx. He held eternity in the hollow of his palm. He raised creatures of dust to the heights of emphyrean. In him indeed, incompatibles automatically reconciled themselves. Such a one was Yogirajadhiraj Shri Vishuddhanand Paramahansadeva, popularly known as Gandha Baba, Perfume Saint, to the world and as ‘Baba’ to his disciples.
Yogis of his calibre have been very few in this world, who could transmit spirituality with just a touch or a look and convert even the most degraded amongst men into saints in a matter of moments. Such Yogis are the teachers of all teachers, the highest manifestation of God in man. We cannot see God except through them and hence we worship them. Since ages India has been the home of true Yogis, people who have transcended the lower self and have attained Siddhis (extra-sensory-perceptions) and psycho-kinesis, i.e., the power of man’s mind and will, to move objects at a distance, what in common parlance are called ‘mirracles’.
Paramhansa Abhayananadji from Jnanganj Ashram
His numberless miracles relate to subjects like travel through space; bringing back the dead to life; converting one form of matter into another; producing scents, sweets and fruits; seeing things far distant; multiplying small amounts of food etc. into large quantities; appearing simultaneously in several distant places at the same instant; healing the sick and deformed; telepathy; clairvoyance; precognition; power to read minds; to see through walls and go across them without hindrance; to foretell future events and even to mentally cause or change the motion of physical objects. These miracles go to prove to us mortals his super-human powers by which he infused ‘Confidence in Divinity’ for the upliftment of society and alleviated its sufferings.
According to Yogiraj, ‘Religion consists of realization; not of reason, theories, documents, doctrines, scriptures and rituals – which all are only aids to religion. We have to realize religion through constant practice and this realization is a long process. There are no jumping steps, we have to work up the ladder step by step. To attain ‘realization’ we have to pass through the concrete and then come to the abstract, like the children learn the alphabet through pictures.
From the age of fourteen, Baba spent the next twelve years under rigorous training in ‘Yoga’ and ‘Natural Sciences’ like Surya-Vijnan, solar science, Chandra-vijnan, lunar science,Vayu-vijnan, wind-science, Nakshatra-Vijnan, stellar science, Shabda-Vijnan, sound science and Kohana-Vijnan, Instant of Time Science, etc., in the very ancient secret Gyanganj Yogashram in Tibet, and attained excellence in all of them.
Shri Vishuddhanand was an exception amongst Yogis. Through his yogic power of Iccha-shakti, he planted grapes on the branch of a Jamun tree and that of a castor tree and transformed an old Jawa-flower-tree into one of rose. While enunciating the principle of Rishi Patanjali, ”Jatyantar parinamah prakrityapurat”, viz. that one thing can be converted into another by transplanting into it the deficient particles of the latter after attracting the same from nature, he practically demonstrated conversion of a rose flower into jawa, a jawa flower into a coral and a bela flower into a sphatik (crystal ball).
Paramhansa Vishuddhanand Ji’s Life-size statue (built during HIS life-time) at Kali-ghat, Kolkata
Baba shunned fruitless gossip. He would sit quietly for hours in the presence of his disciples, giving them time and opportunity for introspection and nam-japa. He was very kind, compassionate and generous at heart and helpful to one and all. He had developed the feelings of friendship and happiness (instead of jealousy) at seeing the prosperity of others, and indifference to sin instead of hate and repulsion. He had overcome his ego completely. He was never after name and fame and did not like making disciples indiscriminately. Baba was a great appreciator of fine qualities and good character in people. He particularly loved children and enjoyed their company. He played with them and showed them little tricks and miracles. He entertained them with jokes and funny stories with morals.
In effect, Baba’s greatness comprised of a combination of sweetness, affability, great super-natural powers to do things, supreme knowledge, compassion for all and assistance to the needy. Baba used to say, ”Attachment is the cause of unhappiness and this cycle of birth and death. Self-realization through the control of mind is the only way to salvation.”His main aim was to wake up his disciples and devotees from the slumber caused by the indriyas, which delude one first into thinking that they give one real happiness, to find later that the happiness was only transient and unreal.
Self-realization is possible only through constant practice of Yoga-kriya. Through constancy in Kriya, one can change even his destiny. One’s own sadhana (effort) and the Kripa (grace) of Mahashakti, both are necessary for success in God-realization. However, sadhana by itself will beget Kripa and provide the needed prop in the form of a Guru (preceptor). God himself descends in the form of a real Guru, takes hold of the ‘being’ and helps him in his salvation. One only needs to surrender completely to the Guru and act according to his instructions. This total unqualified surrender is the key to success.
Baba’s main stress was on Kriya-karma. He would say, ”Karmebhyo Namah‘ i.e., ”Do it ! Do it ! Keep doing it !”
Baba kept a constant vigil over his disciples. He knew from day-to-day nay moment-to-moment, what they were thinking, talking and doing, even when hundreds of miles away from them. In times of emergency he would even appear before them in physical or subtle astral form as appropriate and help them out of a difficult situation, e.g., in the form of a railway porter, a beggar or a mendicant, etc. Gurudeva had taken total responsibility for his disciples. He used to say, ”I place each one of you in the state and situation needed for your advancement. I also give you and do for you just as much as is really necessary. The sole aim of life is to get back to your real self and get established permanently in your own conscious self. Man is suffering because he has got torn away from his moorings – his real self, the supreme self. Once he is able to establish his contact with the self again, all his troubles and miseries will automatically come to an end.”
Yogis never die !
Shri Vishuddhanand Paramahansadeva passed away in July 1937, but he presents himself even today in different forms, at so many places simultaneously before his disciples and devotees, to cure them of their illnesses, protect them against accidents and help them out of their predicaments and troubles.
It appears only relevant to give here a few facts about Baba for a proper understanding of the personality of the great soul in the correct perspective.
1. Baba most frequently taught through actions and self-example what most preceptors tried to teach through words.
2. He could sometimes speak in parables, leaving his devotees to work out the answer.
3. He had the peculiar art of giving information to particular individuals in the midst of a group in a way that they alone could understand and not the other members of the group.
4. Another peculiarity of Baba was that instead of answering a question directly he would sometimes send the questioner to someone who is found to be reading the same very thing in a scripture and thus get an answer to his question.
5. Baba was living and operating in other worlds also besides this world in invisible forms.
6. Shri Baba had the power to guide the dead as well as those living.
7. He belonged to a hidden spiritual hierarchy. He travelled at will in subtle body and spoke of his travels over great distances of space and time to his disciples at times.
8. Even when in flesh in this earthly life, he was not confined to his physical body. It may truly be said of him that he is alive even now though he took mahasamadhi in 1937.
9. He never spoke untruth and meaningless jargon. Only those who were familiar with his ways could make out the meaning of what he said or did and that too only when it was intended for their understanding.
10. He had the most detailed knowledge of distant events and circumstances. Also, whether he directed the actions of some other person, or himself materialized in a distant place to play his part there, he could do so without interrupting his normal activities at his ashrams at Kashi, Burdwan or Calcutta.
11. Baba used to say, ”Having undertaken responsibility for you, I will never allow any of you disciples to escape from me. Only keep faith and I will do the rest. I will give you what you want if it be to your benefit and wish that you will in due time desire what I want to give you. Wherever you may be, think of me and I will be with you.”
12. Baba exerted a tremendous influence over his devotees, causing a remarkable change in their life-style for their spiritual upliftment.
The above information is taken from the book – “Yogirajadhiraj Swami VISHUDDHANAND PARAMAHANSADEVA, Life & Philosophy” by Nand Lal Gupta, an ardent disciple of Shri Babaji for the benefit of Babaji’s devotees across the world..