Swami Maheshwarananda

Sri Alakhpuriji

There are many references to Sri Alakhpuriji in Holy Scriptures. In the Shiva Puranas, he is known as one of the greatest Siddhas (divine incarnations) who was felicitated at the time of creation of our planet. In the epic Mahabharata, the Pandavas are advised to seek his blessings prior to departing for their heavenly abode.
In the middle of the inaccessible mountain range of Sambu Panca Atala Akhara, there dwells the Omnipresent Supreme Brahman in the form of the hermit ascetic, Sri Alakh Puriji Maharaj.

Lord Shiva of Kailash went to meet him at Badrinath-Dhama in the Himalayas. This meeting of both Divine manifestations was a blessing for the whole universe.
In order to rescue and liberate souls from the illusion of maya, Lord Shiva wished to embody himself in human form. Adhering to sacred law, he sought the consent of his Guru, Sri Alakh Puriji.
"Brahman himself you are, Lord of the Cosmos," Lord Shiva said to him. "I worship you as my Guru."
The great yogi blessed him.
"Shiva you are, the Supreme, Omniscient and all-powerful. From this day forth, you shall be known as Sri Devpuriji Maharaj."

Sri Devpuriji

In the middle of the inaccessible mountain range of Sambu Panca Atala Akhara, there dwells the Omnipresent Supreme Brahman in the form of the hermit ascetic, Sri Alakh Puriji Maharaj. Lord Shiva of Kailash went to meet him at Badrinath-Dhama in the Himalayas. This meeting of both Divine manifestations was a blessing for the whole universe.
In order to rescue and liberate souls from the illusion of maya, Lord Shiva wished to embody himself in human form. Adhering to sacred law, he sought the consent of his Guru, Sri Alakh Puriji.
"Brahman himself you are, Lord of the Cosmos," Lord Shiva said to him. "I worship you as my Guru."
The great yogi blessed him.
"Shiva you are, the Supreme, Omniscient and all-powerful. From this day forth, you shall be known as Sri Devpuriji Maharaj."
Sri Devpuriji settled in the Abu Mountains of South Rajasthan, where he lived for some time in silence as a Sannyasi, unknown to those around him.

At a military post of the British Government at Mount Abu there was a duty officer who had always been quite hostile to the Hindus. It was here that Sri Devpuriji first appeared in public.
One evening when the British officer was strolling by Lake Nakki, he happened to pass the temple of Sri Duleshwar Shiva at the time of prayer when the sound of songs, drums, bells and cymbals resonated from the temple. As this officer detested the exotic sounds of Indian worship, he angrily entered the temple and interrupted the prayer.
"Why do you make such unbearable noise?" he barked at the priests. "Your God must be either deaf or asleep if you need to make so much noise to wake him. You disturb the peace of the entire area, therefore I order that this spectacle come to an end at once! If your God really wants to hear such music, he should seek my permission. Whoever violates this order to play any instrument without my personal approval, shall be arrested!"
With a view to make them realize that he meant what he said, he immediately took into custody a few of the brahmins.
The priests and sadhus were rightly afraid that this was the end of their freedom to practise their own religion, but knew it was not wise to defy the British officer. In despair they began to fast - praying night and day to Lord Shiva, so that he might appear to make the officer rescind his order and release the brahmins.
The British officer came to know of the activities and prayers of the Hindus and decided to poison the sadhus. For this purpose he obtained bottles of nitric acid and had them brought to his house.
During those days Sri Devpuriji was living a life of seclusion in dense forests of the Mount Abu range. Only rarely did someone glimpse him tending his cows. Otherwise he remained virtually unnoticed. His transcendent and all-embracing awareness heard the distressed calls of the sadhus and priests, so in order to help his devotees, he decided to reveal the presence of Lord Shiva himself to the tyrannical British officer.
Proceeding to this man’s house, loudly and clearly he shouted, "Englishman, come out! Here is a sadhu who has come to drink the poison you have prepared for the Hindu priests and brahmins."
The officer heard Sri Devpuriji and was alarmed at this unusual request, for how could anyone know that he had such poison? Assuming that the fearless swami was leader of the rebellious priests, he commanded a servant to bring a bottle of the acid.
Sri Devpuriji drank the poison, emptying the bottle in one draught, but it had no effect.
"As you can see, I am still alive!" he said to the officer. "Do you have more such bottles? If so, then bring them here!"
Six more bottles were brought and Sri Devpuriji drank them all, one after the other. The officer and all present stood in speechless in amazement, unable to believe their eyes. Finally, Sri Devpuriji shattered all seven bottles and swallowed the glass. He then lay on the ground and withdrew his breath to the brahma randhra, whereupon his pulse became imperceptible. The relieved officer concluded that the poison had finally taken effect and the impertinent swami was now dead.
He called servants to carry away the lifeless body, but just at that moment Sri Devpuriji sat up and smiled.
"What do you think? I am still very much alive and was only taking a little rest!"
Then he appeared in his true Divine form and grabbing the frightened officer, carried him bodily to the banks of Lake Nakki. Sri Devpuriji walked out over the water of the lake as if it were dry land and on reaching the deepest point, he stopped and spoke to the wretched officer.
"As I have heard, you too have some requests to make of Lord Shiva. Now you have the opportunity to express them personally, as he truly stands before you!"
Trembling with fear, the officer began to pray, "Sri Devapurisa Mahadeva, rescue me!"
He recited this mantra five times and Sri Devpuriji graciously nodded to him.
"You have found the right words. This mantra will most certainly save you from the world that you know, from this ocean of suffering and pain."
Encouraged by these compassionate words of Sri Devpuriji, the officer continued to repeat the mantra and was permitted to touch the lotus hands of the Divine Master. Instantly he was purified. There was a great change in him and his mind was filled with Divine richness.
With folded hands he begged for Sri Devpuriji's blessing.
"Lord, grant us your mercy. We of the Western world possess education, science and art. We have money and food in abundance yet we lack true yoga - wisdom, knowledge of God and inner peace. Therefore I request that you bless us with your presence and grant us your wisdom and mercy."
Sri Devpuriji always satisfies the pure wish of his devotees and so he replied, "Your desire will be fulfilled."
He prophesied that God Himself would appear on this earth in the form of Bhagwan Sri Deep Narayan Mahaprabhuji.
"A great and luminous soul from satya loka will be sent to spread the message of peace and the Divine teachings of Vishwa Deep throughout the whole world. (Paramhans Sri Swami Maheshwarananda) I myself, in the form of blessing and light, will always accompany him. The radiance of Vishwa Deep, the universal Divine Light, fills the entire cosmos. This messenger to come is part of him and all who are devoted to him shall be liberated from ignorance and delusion and will attain enlightenment and inner peace."
After Sri Devpuriji had bestowed his blessing and made this prophecy to the officer, he delivered him safely to the shore. Immediately the officer ordered the release of the brahmins and priests, begged their forgiveness for his errant ways and showered them with gifts. In the meantime, thousands of faithful devotees had gathered around the shores of Lake Nakki. Overjoyed at the sight of him, they all praised Shiva, Lord of Kailash. Everyone tried to get closer to Yogiraj Sri Devpuriji, but he vanished as suddenly as he had appeared.
The news of this miracle quickly spread and the people felt assured that benevolent God Shiva had heard their prayers and was sending them a Divine protector, just as was prophesied. Materially poor Indian people may be, but they are rich in spirituality, their faith in God is strong. Regardless of poverty, in their faith they are certain that God watches over everything and that in His inexhaustible mercy, He sends them His help.
This story was told to me by the old sadhus and brahmins of Mount Abu, as well as by Mahaprabhuji himself.

Sri Mahaprabhuji

The Divine child grew and blossomed like the bud of a lotus. He emanated light like the waxing moon, much to the joy of his parents and village folk. His charm was such that the villagers didn’t allow a day to pass without seeing him. He was different from other children as he never wept. His face was always lit with the glow of a serene smile. Before he could speak, he intoned the Holy mantra OM in such a way, that all those who heard him were deeply moved.
Everyone loved to hear the sweet sound of OM from his lips. His parents and others desired for him to one day speak to them in that same melodious voice.
On the festival of Shiva-Ratri, when Lord Shiva is expected to grant the wishes of his devotees, Mahaprabhuji's parents decided to pray for the fulfilment of their desire. They prayed to Lord Shiva for the wellbeing of their son and for Shiva to grant him the faculty of speech.
Suddenly two white roses slipped from Lord Shiva's lingam on the altar and fell at the feet of the parents. This was a sign to them that their prayer had been heard. Five more roses fell at the feet of Mahaprabhuji and from this moment on he spoke fluently, even though at that time he was only fifteen months of age.
Mahaprabhuji raised his face to the altar picture of Lord Shiva and chanted OM. For more than one hour he repeated this Holy mantra and then spoke in the presence of all:

SO HAM - Brahma Satya Jagat Mithya
(I am That - God is the Truth, the world is illusion)
He went on: "This world is a confused vision, a subject of transience, full of grief, sorrow, suffering and affliction. Although apparently real, it is unreal. This unreality or ignorance is the game of maya, the power of illusion. The world is nothing but an idea, a thought. Nothing belongs to you. Hold onto this Truth and become aware of God!
“In reality, the human being is purely of a mental nature. Only due to ignorance does he consider mortal physical existence to be Reality and thus he becomes involved in the cycle of virtue and sin, joy and pain, birth and death. The world is a prison in which souls undergo affliction. Only the Satguru, the true Master, can liberate them from this bondage.
“I am the Light of the cosmos, the eternal Master. I am with form and formless, at one and the same time. Whichever path one may follow, all genuine spiritual aspirants will ultimately gain the Light of the universe. In that Light of knowledge the Truth is revealed.
"I am this Light. Only through me will my devotees experience Self-realization. I have no beginning, I am unborn and Eternal, the pure immutable witness of all existence, Omnipresent and Omniscient, beyond maya. This maya, which has hold over all creatures, is dominated by me. In every era I manifest and appear, to help devotees cross the ocean of this illusory world.
“I know all, but no-one has knowledge of me. For I am beyond speech and mind, beyond nature and attachment, beyond the three gunas, beyond the five tattvas and their twenty-five manifestations. I am the Origin, the source of all knowledge and to recognise me is paravidya (the highest knowledge), which liberates all creatures from unreality. For me the creation of the universe is like the delightful play of a child.
“I am ever new, ever young in my Omni¬potence and yet because there existed nothing before me, I am also the oldest and most ancient. It is for this reason that I often appear in the form and guise of a wise old man.
“Those bhaktas who renounce all worldly thoughts, pleasures and desires of maya, who devote themselves unto me, who meditate on me and direct their mind only to me, I shall free from all karmas and grant moksha. Only by thinking of me shall they acquire the highest bliss, perfect peace and ultimate Realization. In the end they will unite with the Supreme, that is me. You, oh great souls who have incarnated as my parents, recognize me in yourself!"

On hearing these words uttered by their son, Mahaprabhuji's parents became absorbed in that divine bliss. Diving into the depths of their own hearts, they beheld Mahaprabhuji within and in him witnessed the whole Universe - the creation, preservation and destruction of all three worlds. In him they saw many forms. They shared the same experience as mother Yashoda when Krishna revealed to her the entire cosmos in his wide open mouth.
Astonished and filled with immense joy, they became submerged in the contemplation of his wonderful, Divine appearance. They bowed to Mahaprabhuji with great reverence.
"Today, our lives have been fulfilled, as we have seen the Lord with our own eyes!"
Mahaprabhuji replied: "In the age of satya yuga, through spiritual asceticism and prayer, you both requested my mercy that I incarnate as your son and grant to you God-realization by revealation of the supreme knowledge, of atma and paramatma. As I promised, this has been done."
The Divine words falling from Mahaprabhuji's lips were a blessing for all mankind. His words pervaded the entire cosmos with Love and Light. Such knowledge is revealed only by those great souls who are able to awaken Universal Consciousness within themselves. This Divine secret is beyond the reach of ordinary people, who are still enveloped by ignorance, fear and anxiety.
Mahaprabhuji's words were also a great blessing for all siddhas, devas, rishis, munis and beings of the astral worlds. On hearing the celestial voice of Vishwa Deep, the Lord in human form, these beings experienced deep inner fulfilment, the ultimate reward for all good karmas performed in earlier lives.

part from book Lila Amrit by Paramhans Svami Madhavananda

http://www.yogaindailylife.org/author/lilaamrit/table-of-content