Bhagwan Gopinath

Bhagwan Gopinath was born in a Kashmiri Hindu family of Bhans, in a locality called Bhan Mohalla, in the city of Srinagar in Kashmir, on Friday 3 July 1898, which corresponds to Ashad, Shuklapaksh, Dvadashi (Ashada 19th, Vikrami 1955) per Hindu lunar calendar. His grandfather, Pandit Lachhman Joo Bhan was a wazir wazarat (deputy commissioner) of revenue department in the Dogra regime of the then-princely state of Kashmir. His father, Pandit Narayan Joo Bhan dealt in the business of cashmere wool and devoted much of his time to spiritual pursuits. He is known to have donated all his ancestral inheritance to his step-mother. Bhagwan Gopinath's mother, Haar Maal, was the daughter of Pandit Prasad Joo Parimoo who was an initiated disciple of a local saint. His brother disciples used to call him Jada Bharata. Hindu scriptures like Yoga Vasistha were regularly taught and discussed in religious gatherings at their house. Prasad Joo had initiated his younger daughter, Zapaer Ded, into Japa Yoga and eventually in her fifties, she was recognised as a saint. On one occasion, while Pandit Prasad Joo Parimoo was meditating at the shrine of the deity of Mata Kheer Bhawani in Kashmir, he is said to have had a vision of the deity who expressed her desire to be born in his family as his daughter. Soon thereafter, Haar Maal was born who eventually got married and gave birth to Bhagwan Gopinath. He had two brothers and two sisters. While his elder brother, Pandit Govind Joo Bhan, remained celibate throughout his life; the younger one, Pandit Jia Lal Kak, got married but remained issueless and would spend much of his time at religious services. Both his sisters lost their husbands at an early age. The elder one, Smt Deva Mali, after bearing two daughters and the younger one, Smt Janaki Devi, after bearing two sons and two daughters. For the most part, towards the later part of his life, Bhagwan Gopinath was looked after by his elder sister and her two daughters: Smt Kamla Ji and Smt Chanda Ji. ==Early years==

After having given up his ancestral home in favour of his step mother, Pandit Narayan Joo Bhan, along with young Gopinath who at that time must have been around 10 years old, started moving around, living at various rental accommodations. He completed his education till middle grade from a local Christian missionary school called Tyndale Biscoe School, which used to be situated at Fateh Kadal locality of Srinagar back then. Here he must have learnt languages like Sanskrit, Persian, Urdu and scripts like Sharda and Devanagari. Some of his close devotees, at times, had heard him speak English too. Employment Since his early years, he had expressed reluctance in taking up any form of employment. However, given their financial circumstances, his family insisted upon him to take up some kind of employment. To begin with, during 1912, for a brief while he assisted his maternal uncle in the business of Kashmiri wool (called pashmina in local language). He ran the grocery store for ten years till about 1925 before taking to his spiritual pursuits full-time. Yet another saint that he is known to have paid regular visits to was Swami Jeevan Sahib. He would regularly attend gatherings of these saints discussing spiritual and philosophical topics on vedanta, Yoga Sutras of Patanjali and Kashmir Shaivism. During his employment days at the grocery store, while manning the cash counter at the store, he would often be found engrossed in meditation. Sometimes he would spend whole night at the store while being absorbed in meditation. == Spiritual master ==

No one knows for sure as to who Bhagwan Gopinath's spiritual master (guru) was. Some of his relatives were of the opinion that he received spiritual initiation from his own father while his younger sister, Janaki Devi, was of the view that Swami Baalak Kaw was his spiritual master. However, few years before his death, a devotee enquired of him as to who his guru was. In response to this, Bhagwan Gopinath is said to have pointed towards Bhagvad Gita and remarked that any one its 700 verses can be considered as one's spiritual master. S. N. Fotedar, his principal biographer, who was associated with him for over two decades, tried to lay his hands on all the evidence he could in this regard and finally settled with the opinion that Swami Zanakak Tufchi was his spiritual master. This was later corroborated by the testimony of Pandit Baalji Wangnoo who was the younger brother of Swami Aftab Joo Wangnoo. Swami Aftab Joo Wangnoo was an initiated disciple of Swami Zanakak Tufchi. Although Mr Fotedar got convinced with this idea, he was not able to establish it conclusively as an accepted fact particularly amongst Bhagwan Gopinath's devotees at large. ==Spiritual practice==

Although Bhagwan Gopinath's family tried to convince him to get married and take up the worldly life, he chose to live a life of celibacy Based on some of his relics and hymns found written in his own handwriting, dedicated to Maha Ganesh, Hindu Mother Goddess, Lord Narayana, Lord Shiva and his spiritual master, his devotees believe that he had practised a form of spiritual practice called sanatana panchang upasana (also called panchayatana puja) in the beginning of his spiritual journey, which consist of worshipping these four deities and one's spiritual master. Hereafter, he is believed to have gradually veered towards the practice of meditating on God without a form (called nirguna upasana in Hinduism). Intermediate stage (1931–1937) During this period, he is known to have resorted to extreme measures of sense control which involve self-abnegation methods like fasting for months together (having just a cup of tea a day) while taking huge quantities of food at other times. During this time, he confined himself in a dark room with a lamp that used to be lit up at all times. He would often be found lying on bed while facing the wall. He did not allow very many people in his room during this period. Whole room and his bed used to be covered with a lot of dust and one could find cobwebs and spiders around the room but he wouldn't bother cleaning it or let anyone else clean it. A rat is said to have nibbled a hole into one of his heels during this time though he is said to have been oblivious to its pain. His only constant companion in the room besides the burning lamp was his pipe. During this time he would take intoxicants like opium and sometimes vomit a lot of blood. His whole body had swollen and had become weak. On one occasion his sister reminded him of the financial difficulties they were going through but he is said to have responded by saying (translated here into English) "our boat is in the middle of ocean right now, either we would reach ashore safe or drown". After seven such years of his spiritual practice, his devotees affirm that he had become, what they call in Hinduism, a siddha purusha (one who attains spiritual powers) as it was right after this period that people started flocking him to get their worldly problems solved. He regularly visited the shrines of the deities of Mata Sharika Bhagwati and Mata Ragnya Bhawani during this period. Sometime after 1957, on every Sunday afternoon, musical concerts were held at his place by known local musicians who would play local and Indian classical music for him. == Philosophy ==

Bhagwan Gopinath, being an introvert, was a man of few words and had a straightforward demeanor. He is known to have always shunned publicity and covered himself with anonymity. As such, various religious commentators along with his devotees have found it difficult to classify his spiritual journey into a particular school of Indian philosophical thought. Its widely believed that he must have followed the tenets of trika doctrine of advaita (non-dual) Kashmir Shaivism (in which, the Goddess Bhairavi-Aghoreshwari is enthroned above God Bhairava and is the main ideal of worship) with jnana (knowledge), iccha (will) and kriya (action) having had a dominating influence on him. Once, while explaining the inter-relation of various spiritual disciplines in realising God, he said: " think of Brahman (God without a form) as a tree and if one sits on any one of its branches (various spiritual disciplines), the same goal will be reached in each case." Once, while visiting the shrine of Amarnath, he is said to have remarked: "Shiva is dancing everywhere" and afterwards, was seen in a joyful mood the whole day. and as such didn't consider physical body as the end-all be-all of human existence. He wouldn't advise anyone to give up one's family and household in pursuit of self-realisation but guided people only if they practised celibacy. Gathering from various hymns written by him, it is evident that he had an inclination towards Bhakti tradition as well, which is also indicated by his fondness for Indian classical music and the pictures of Guru Nanak and Ramakrishna that adorned his walls. == Stature ==

In his own words, when enquired about his spiritual state by a saint from Banaras who had come to visit him in May 1957, he is known to have recited the 6th verse from chapter-15 of Bhagavad Gita, which reads as follows: and translates as "neither the sun illumines it, nor the moon, nor the fire. That is my prime abode (spiritual state), where having reached, one does not return". Some religious scholars have described his spiritual state as Shambhavi avastha (the state of being Shiva) while others have described it as Bhramastithi (the state of ever dwelling in Brahman). Other scholars have compared his spiritual stature to Ramana Maharshi, Ramakrishna Paramahansa and Aurbindo Ghosh. Many visiting monks would describe him as a rare siddha and an avadhuta. ==Disciplic succession==

Bhagwan Gopinath is not known to have made any formal disciples although he is said to have spiritually initiated a few seekers that would come to him seeking his spiritual tutelage. His method of initiation involved sharing his pipe or by transfixing his gaze on them (called drishtipat). He would rarely initiate anyone by word of mouth although that is believed to be the commonly invoked method of initiation in Hinduism. He is known to have guided seekers based on their spiritual aptitude and receptivity in worshipping either saguna Brahman (God with form) or nirguna Brahman (God without form) and sometimes also help them choose their ideal of worship or veer them towards worshipping guru as Parabrahma (the ultimate reality). Though he would recommend saguna upasana for the beginners, he would eventually veer them towards nirguna upasana. Once in response to a question by his devotee as to whether saints should render help to people in spiritual and temporal spheres, he is known to have remarked that unlike a muscular animal who can easily swim across the river, a small insect would drown without help so they have to be helped. As such, his devotees gave him the epithet Jagadguru (spiritual guide of humanity). == Reception ==

In December 1973, Satya Sai Baba, while receiving one of Bhagwan Gopinath's devotees at Puttaparthi, is said to have remarked that Bhagwan Gopinath was the greatest Kashmiri saint and a jivanmukta in real sense, although there is no recorded evidence to prove Satya Sai Baba ever having met Bhagwan Gopinath during his lifetime. Swami Kash Kak, a contemporary saint of Kashmir during his times, is said to have remarked that Bhagwan Gopinath was the recipient of special grace of Mata Sharika Bhagwati, the deity of Hari Parbat shrine in Kashmir and Swami Nand Bab, yet another contemporary saint of his times, is said to have described him as the shahanshah of saints of Kashmir. Bhagwan Ramji, a practitioner of Aghor Yoga from Kreem Kund in Varanasi, described his spiritual state as that of an Aghoreshwar. ==Reported miracles==

From around 1938, his devotees started recording and attributing various miracles to him like treating incurable diseases, blessing issueless couple with children, bringing back dead to life as the situation demanded, bilocation, mindreading, materialisation, helping people to see the deity of local shrines like Kheer Bhawani and Hari Parbat in human form and also in the form of their effulgence and many more, which have been meticulously documented primarily by his principal biographer and also by other devotees. His devotees have also reported miracles after his death. A similar sighting was reported by an officer of Indian Army during the 1947 war. ==Final days==

A couple years before dying he was often heard remarking that he had grown old and this to some of his devotees was him dropping hints about his final days being imminently close. On the morning of 28 May 1968, as a part of his daily routine, he washed his face, tied his turban and smeared his forehead with a saffron mark (called tilak in Hinduism). All throughout the day, many people had come to visit him. Later-on in the noon, some sadhus (wandering monks) too had come to visit him. He used to give alms to these visiting sadhus (some of whom he would call as mere jugglers in ochre robes) who, on their journey to Amarnath shrine, would stop-over at his place. On this day too, he gave these sadhus whatever money he had in his cloth purse. He is then said to have gone into a state of meditative trance (called samadhi in Hinduism) till about 5:30 pm when he asked for some water and was helped to drink a tumbler full of sweet water. He died at about 5:45 pm and his recorded last words were Om Namah Shivaya (the mantra of Lord Shiva). On his death, Swami Nand Lal, is said to have remarked that Kashmir was being rocked by an earthquake. He is also said to have predicted Bhagwan Gopinath's death a week in advance. ==Teachings==

Bhagwan Gopinath never taught in a formal way. However, he would, from time to time, make statement either in response to questions of devotees, or on his own while being amongst them. Being a man of few words, he would usually use short sentences and one had to lend a curious ear to decipher their contextual meaning. • One can consider Bhagvad Gita as ones spiritual master. ==In culture==

• Indian Postal Service, released a stamp titled Bhagwan Gopinathji on the occasion of his 100th birth anniversary on 3 July 1998 : • Doordarshan has made a documentary on Bhagwan Gopinath in the year 1996. ==Press releases==

• Bhagwan Gopinath Heritage Hall inaugurated in Jammu on 21 November 2010 • Chief Minister of Delhi releases biography of Bhagwan Gopinath in Hindi on 26 December 2007 ==Notes==