1. Jagadguru Shankaracharya. (509-477 BC)
adi-shankaracharya
He was borne in South India on the fifth day of the increasing moon in Vaishakh (which could be May) in 509 BC. The western historians and also their follower Hindu writers have fully tried to confuse the issue of Shankar’s birth and tried to bring it to the eighth century AD. But all of their efforts and manipulations in the historic descriptions fall short with the most authentic evidences which some of the maths of Shankaracharya possess, and they are the complete date-wise list of all of the Shankaracharyas of 2,500 years who sat on that throne that goes back to the original Shankaracharya. The records 0f both, Kanchi and Dwarika Math, show that he left this earth planet in 477 BC. Shankaracharya lived for 32 years. He was the descension of God Shiv.
Philosophy and teachings: The philosophy of Shankaracharya is called advait vad (absolute monism), which means the presence of only one kind of single absolute Divine power. Both, technically and philosophically, this theory is incorrect, because, although God is one and only one. He has a number of amazing Divine powers and virtues, and also He has a lifeless external power maya which appears in the form of this universe.
The period in which Shankaracharya was bom was such a time when non-Vedic preachings were in abundance in the country. The so-called followers of Nyay and Sankhya Darshan, instead of practicing meditation and renunciation, were involved only in intellectual debates; and the Jain and Buddh monks, instead of practicing their own religion had become fully involved in criticizing the Vedas like an enemy. To suppress and to quiet such anti-Vedic and non-Godly propagations Shankaracharya picked only one aspect of the Divinity where: (a) The infinitesimal soul of a being is substantially synonymous with the absolute Divinity, and (b) all the attractions of the mayic world totally disappear without a trace after God realization.
That aspect of God was enough and most suitable to fight with the situation. He campaigned an India-wide project of re-establishing Sanatan Dharm and, while travelling around India, he debated and gracefully convinced all the great scholars of that time. This was called the Shankar Digvijay, which means the all-round religious victory of Shankaracharya.
Shankaracharya knew that his advait philosophy was incomplete, so, after his India-wide tour and at the end of his propagation, he wrote his last book the Prabodh Sudhakar in which he gave the true view of the philosophy and his teachings.
He accepted that maya is a power of God (P.S. 105) and said that God has two eternal forms, personal and impersonal (169). The path of the impersonal form of God is very difficult (170). The supreme form of God is all-beautiful and all-kind Krishn, Who, out of His Graciousness, had appeared in Yadu dynasty (200). Further he says that, without the selfless bhakti of Krishn, the heart of a devotee cannot be fully purified(167) ;
when a devotee, in this way, wholeheartedly proceeds with his devotion, listening to the leelas of Krishn, he begins to experience the sweetness cf Krishn love and he feels the extreme closeness of Krishn(168) .
Shankaracharya then gives a description of Krishn’s decorations and says that it is the ill luck of a spiritual practitioner if he is not attracted and attached to the soul-enticing leelas of Krishn (191-193).
His important writings: Bhashya on prasthan trayi (prasthan trayi means the prime Upnishads, the Gita and the Brahm Sutra), Vivek Choodamani, Aprokchanubhooti, Dash Shloki, Saundaiya Lahri, lots of Prayers and homages to the personal form of God, and Prabodh Sudhakar.
2. Jagadguru Nimbarkacharya.
Borne in Maharashtra, period is not available .
nimbarkacharya
One thing we must know is that all Jagadgurm as well as the acharyas are the descended Divine personalities who especially come to establish the Bhagwat dharm (bhakti) in the world. The descension time of Nimbarkacharya is not exactly known.
His bhashya on Brahma Sutra is called “Vedant Parijat Saurabh” which concisely explains the philosophy of soul, maya and God. It is logical to believe that he appeared shortly after Shankaracharya to remove the philosophical confusion which advait vad had created and to establish the supremacy of Radha Krishn and also to give a correct view of soul and maya. He was bom near the river Godavari (South India).
Philosophy and teachings: His philosophy is called dvaitadvait vad (mono-dualism) which means that between soul and God there is perfect duality, yet there is perfect substantial oneness, that’s why it is called mono-dualism. Soul and maya are the subordinate powers of God. God has many powers with their own qualities so there is a duality, but they all reside in one God so there is a perfect non duality.
He said that Radha Krishn are the supreme form of God. He introduced Their selfless devotion.
His important writing: Vedant Parijat Saurabh. (His main disciples wrote; Yugal Shatak, Adi Vani and Mahavani.)
3. Jagadguru Ramanujacharya. (1017-1137)
ramanujacharya
He was borne in South India in 1017. He was married. He studied Vedant from Yadav Prakash, took Vaishnav initiation from Goshthi Pum, but later he accepted Yamunacharya as his true Spiritual Master.
His religion originates from God Vishnu and Lakchmi. Although he propagated the bhakti of God Vishnu as he was an eternal Saint of the Vaikunth abode, he also said that bhakti of any of the three forms of God, Vishnu, Ram and Krishn, could be done. For his whole life, spreading the Divine message of bhakti he blessed the world, and in 1137 he left his body and entered the Divine abode.
Philosophy and teachings: His philosophy is called vishishtadvait (qualified monism) which means that God is only one but the soul and maya are the two eternal affiliates of absolute and supreme God .Maya is a lifeless power having the three gunas: sattva, raj and tam. Souls are infinitesimal and unlimited. God is the Soul of all the souls. Chit souls are eternally under the veil of maya called karan sharir which is destroyed only with the Grace of God and not by any amount of yogic practices, austerity or any other spiritual practice. Soul is an eternal servant of God. He becomes happy and Blissful only when he meets his Divine beloved God in His Divine personal form. There is no other way. He contradicted the advait vad of Shankaracharya and wrote a detailed bhashya on Brahm Sutra called the Shree Bhashya which is quite popular among the Sanskrit scholars.
His important writings: He wrote several books. His bhashya on Brahm Sutra, called “Shree Bhashya” is most famous. He wrote bhashya on the Gita. He also wrote Vedarth Sangrah, Vedant Sar, Vedant Deep, Ram Rahasya and many more books.
4. Jagadguru Madhvacharya. (13th century)
madhvacharya
He was borne in the early thirteenth century in South India near Udipi. At the age of eleven he took the order of sanyas, studied Vedant. Travelling throughout India he debated with many scholars and impressed them with his scriptural knowledge. Thus, promulgating the importance of bhakti and gracing the world for about 80 years he left this earth planet.
philosophy and teachings: His philosophy is called dvait vad (dualism) which means perfect dualism between God, soul and maya. He says that God is absolute, supreme, Gracious and omniscient, while soul is infinitesimal, under the bondage of maya and sinful; and maya, although totally lifeless, creates the factual world which is not an illusion as it is said in the advait vad of Shankaracharya. So, all the three maintain their own specific individuality, and are totally different from each other. God is totally independent and soul and maya are totally dependent. Ignorance is eternal and it exists as a reality. It can never be broken without the Grace of God, and His Grace could only be received through bhakti. It is only the causeless Grace of God that makes a soul equally Blissful as Him.
His important writings: He wrote several books. His bhashyas on Brahm Sutra and Gita are important.
5. Jagadguru Shree Krlpaluji Maharaj (1922-2013)
It was the night of Sharat Poomima in 1922 when Mangarh village (near Allahabad) was filled with the Divine radiance with the descension of Shree Kripaluji Maharaj. Sharat Poomima is the famous full moon night of October when Shree Raseshwari Radha Rani revealed the true Vrindaban Bliss about 5,000 years ago that enticed the heart of God Shiv. Shree Kripaluji Maharaj is lovingly called Maharajji by his devotees.
Since childhood his extraordinary virtue were noticed by the people. (As a custom of the family his elderly people got him married at an early age of 8 years). At the age of 16 he finished his school and college studies.
He then resumed to his natural Divine nature, and at that time, whoever had seen him, would have glimpsed the true form of Radha Krishn love appearing in its full charm of highest ecstatic excitement… Remaining in that state for some time he moved around and Graced the deserving souls in Chitrakoot, Sharbhang and Vrindaban etc. During those days people used to call him as Paramahansji. Being always engrossed in the ecstatic states of Radha Bhao it was hard to communicate with people.
So for the good of the souls, he subsided his Bhao state and then started to give sankirtan programs at the houses of the devotees His sankirtan programs of those days were like the vivid glow of Radha Krishn love that touched every heart, inspired everyone who was there and thrilled every soul who desired Krishn love.
Devotees have witnessed the supreme Bhao of Radha Rani’s love in him, so he was called Mahaprabhu. During those days a number of non-stop nam sankirtan programs were also arranged.
In 1955 he organized a religious convention in Chitrakoot. Over 200+ prominent religious leaders, Jagadgurus, Matadheshs from allover India were invited to the convention with over 2 lakh audiences. Being the host on the first day Kripalu Ji Maharaj put up 3 questions to the religious leaders and invited them to speak on them. When the invitees started speaking their views got deviated from the topic and couldn’t able to answer the questions. In spite of repeated remainders when they couldn’t able to answer. The leaders came to the conclusion that these questions are totally absurd that cannot be answered. All the scriptures and philosophies are aimed for different goals and cannot have a single destiny (which was one of the question), So these questions are totally irrelevant. They asked the host himself to resolve these questions and they are willing to give all their allocated time for the next 2 weeks for him to talk. Maharaj Shree spoke for 2 weeks continuously and resolved those questions. During his discourse he provided evidences of various philosophies with Sanskrit quotations of scriptures (although he never read those scriptures). The religious leaders and audiences were incredibly amazed and were so overtaken with the unparalleled scriptural wisdom of Maharaj Shree.
A similar kind of convention was organized in 1956 in Kanpur with over 250+ religious leaders across India. In the Kanpur convention the chief secretary of ‘Kashi Vidvat Parishad” who was a great learned person and a popular figure of Varanasi happened to come and listen to Maharajji‘s speech. When he went back home, he invited him to Grace the scholars and the pandits of Varanasi with his Divine speech, and thus, Shree Maharajji went over there in 1957.
(Kashi Vidvat Parishad: A body of 500+ scholars, where each scholar had spent vast number of years in study and mastery on any one particular Hindu Scripture. In those days the pandits of Kashi Vidvat Parishad were considered experts of all Hindu scriptures.)
A landmark in the history of Varanasi: It was an example of ‘Na Bhutho Na Bhavishayati’ which means that an event which is Divinely so special that it had never happened in the past, and it is so extraordinary that it is not likely to happen in the near future. When Maharaj Shree began his discourse in Sanskrit there was a mixed feeling of curiosity, admiration and anxiousness in the hearts of the audience. He began his discourse by stating that the Vedas, Bhagavad Gita and other Hindu scriptures are the worst and most contradictory books ever produced. He bought out the contradictions across the scriptures and also contradictions with in the same scripture. At the end of his 1st day discourse he asked the scholars to resolve on those contradictions prevailing in them, otherwise he will resolve on them from next day onwards. He covered the critical topics of the bhashyas and the Brahm Sutra that invariably coordinate with the tenets of the Gita, Upnishads and the Darshan Shastras. A sereneness prevailed in the hall, and the audience went home with their minds full of exciting thoughts and their hearts full of affectionate admiration.
The next day even the elderly pandits, who seldom used to go to anyone’s speech, came earlier to get a better location to sit and the hall was full before Maharajji’s arrival. On the second day Maharajji began the speech stating that Vedas, Gita, Scriptures are the Best books ever given to the mankind. He spoke on Vedas, Upnishads, Sutras, Upvedas, Vedangas, Darshan Shastras, Puranas, Itihas, the philosophies of the Jagadgurus and the writings of the rasik Saints etc. The speeches went on for six days. The seventh day Maharajji briefly summarized the main topics of the last six days and gave an extraordinary discourse reconciling the philosophies of all the Jagadgurus and representing the Blissful theme of bhakti yog, which is explicitly described in the Bhagwatam and which is the integral message and the soul of all the scriptures.
The congregation, that contained almost all the scholars of Varanasi and also many others who came from other provinces of India, had never seen such a Divine personality who is absolutely well versed in all of the scriptures and at the same time he is humble, kind and absorbed in Radha Krishn Bhao which radiated from his personality.
It was such an event in thousands of years that created a landmark in the Divine history of Varanasi and glorified the glorious Puri of God Shiv, because, when Shankaracharya or Ramanujacharya or Madhvacharya debated and established their philosophy, they did it mostly on one-to-one basis and with the prominent scholars of that town wherever they went, and the other people simply listened to them. But this time all the learned pandits and the scholars were assembled together in Varanasi and among them Maharaj Shree propounded and reconciled the theory of the scriptures.
Now the learned pandits of Kashi Vidvat Parishad took the privilege of honouring Shree Maharajji with the flowers of their appreciation and praised their luck to worship him as the Supreme Jagadguru of this age (Jagadguruttam – Best of all Jagadgurus).
He is thus the fifth Jagadguru of last 5 000 years. The Bliss of nam sankirtan that he gives is that Chaitanya Mahaprabhuji gave five hundred years ago, so he was entitled “Bhakti-yog rasavatar” (the descension of Radha Krishn love).
Philosophy and teachings: He did not write his separate philosophy. He accepts the Shat Sandarbh of Jeev Goswami and says that Bhagwatam is the complete and final scriptural authority. But the most important thing which he did is the reconciliation of the differences and contradictions that appear in the philosophies of other Jagadgurus, various Saints and the Darshan Shastras and established the true theme of the scriptures. Thus, he removed all the philosophical controversies that prevailed for hundreds of years, and for that reason the learned pandits of Kashi also called him “NikhilDarshanSamanvyaCharya” which means the supreme acharya of this age who has reconciled the philosophies of all the Darshan Shastras.
His writings: About five hundred years ago when the great Masters wrote their books, Sanskrit was the common scholarly language. But nowadays the social situation has changed and fewer people learn Sanskrit. So, for the convenience of the majority of the people, Shree Maharajji has revealed his philosophical and devotional books in Hindi language. They are; Prem Ras Siddhant (the philosophy of Divine love), Prem Ras Madira (1,008 Kirtans/leela songs of Radha Krishn), Bhakti Shatak (the concise philosophy of the Upnishads, Gita, Brahm Sutra and the Bhagwatam), Radha Govind Geet (Eleven thousand one hundred and eleven couplets/dohas of Radha Krishn leelas and the devotional philosophy). Braj Ras Madhuri and many more.
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