Copyright © 2018 Manjula Rao.

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ISBN: 978-1-5043-1405-3 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-5043-1404-6 (e)

Balboa Press rev. date: 07/30/2018

Contents

Acknowledgements

About My Guru

Chapter 1 Seek Shelter In God

Chapter 2 The Need For Refined Interests

Chapter 3 Make Dharma And Paramartha-Chintana Your Resolve

Chapter 4 God Favours Dharma

Chapter 5 Solution Of The Mind

Chapter 6 Thoughts And Action

Chapter 7 Choose Sreya

Chapter 8 Dharma: The Only Solution For Preventing Decline Of Ethical Values

Chapter 9 The Welfare Of All Lies In Giving Up Buddhivad And Becoming Buddhiyogi

Chapter 10 He Who Introspectives Is A True Human Being

Chapter 11 The Success Of Spiritual Devotion Lies In Belief

Chapter 12 Only Can The Soul Help In Its Own Salvation

Chapter 13 Knowledge Of The Right Direction Is Essential

Chapter 14 The Necessity For Daily Self Inquiry

Chapter 15 The Strength Of The Means Of Realization Lies In Its Persistence

Chapter 16 Purity Of Purpose

Chapter 17 Make Lord Rama Your Ideal

Glossary

About The Author

Acknowledgements

When passion rules our senses, it leads to downfall. However, this same passion is required to strengthen our principles. A devotee should staunchly stand by his or her principles. I would like to thank all the divine souls who helped me on this wonderful, memorable spiritual journey.

Thank you to my guru, His Holiness Jagadguru Shankaracharya Swami Swaroopananda Sarasvati, who has been my guiding force and whose presence I feel every moment in my life.

Thank you to my family members, who supported me in my work—my husband, Sudhindra Rao; my daughters Priyanka and Pooja, my son-in-law Anuraag, my sister Sharmila, my mother Savitri as my first Guru, and my father Murugesan, who was my role model and taught me the lessons of life.

An additional thank you to all my team in Luxmy Furniture, Sydney, Australia.

About My Guru

Gurudev preaches Love, Joy, Abundance and Happiness which can be achieved by following the path of Righteousness. SANATANA DHARMA the eternal law, is about living a fulfilling and more invigorating lifestyle.

Pujya Gurudev is the present SHANKARACHARYA OF DWARAKA in the West and Jyotishpeeth in the North of India.

Gurudev had two sisters Kusum and Geeta and four brothers who were Ramnath, Ramraksha, Hargovind and Ahivaran.

He was called Pothiram as he was always interested in reading the scriptures. As a child Pothi used to sit and read scriptures when his brothers used to play. Pothi left the house at the age of thirteen and studied till then in Dighori which was his birth place.

He met Swami Shivanand in the year 1938 and Swamiji had a great impact on Pothi. Swamiji predicted that Pandit Dhanpati Upadhyay and Shrimati Girija Upadhyay will have a son who will be a great saint one day whose name and fame will spread in the entire universe. Both his parents were pious, religious, loving, and very caring. Pothi used to listen to the Bhagavad Geeta, Ramayana from his parents and he would then go and relate the stories to his neighbours. This became a habit and very soon he became a well versed KATHA VACHAK one who can relate from the scriptures and in this way he used to revise the scriptures he heard from his parents.

Dhanpath Upadhyay died when Pothi was very young. He did not shed a tear and this worried his mother. He used to sit under a Neem tree and contemplate on Birth and Death. He would say mother why are you crying? Father has gone to heaven where you too will go and so will my brothers and sisters and later on I too will join all of you. Gurudev also said You should not have the Desire to Live or the Desire to die.

Gurudev’s Discourses are DIVINE and listening to them takes you to another planet straight away. He relates every Shloka from the Bhagavad Geeta with a story that has a moral. His Shishyas are spell bound and not one of them wants to leave the place where Gurudev has his discourse. He makes every shishya feel very special and thus the bond between the Guru and the Shishya becomes stronger. He has till now initiated more than 5oo million Shishyas. His Shishyas come from all over the world. Gurudev indeed is the incarnation of ADI GURU SHANKARACHARYA.

Gurudev discovered the cave in which GURU GOVINDPADACHARYA gave Danda Diksha to Shankara who then became Adi Guru Shankaracharya. Govind Vanam is in Sakal Ghat on the banks of the river Narmada.

Pothi met Dandi Swami Muktanand Sarasvati ji, at the age of fourteen. He wanted to study further so he left for Mughwani with his brother Ramraksha who joined the police force. He met Swami Muktanand in Mughwani when Swamiji came to Mughwani for Chaturmaas. Pothi was very happy as he could now go for satsangh and hear swamiji’s pravachan, everyday for two months. He wanted his mother to come for Chaturmaas. Ramraksha advised him to write a letter inviting his mother for chaturmaas. Ramraksha the elder brother of Pothi took Danda Diksha from him and now at the ripe age of 96 he lives in Varanasi. Both the brothers have the same loving look and have a great sense of HUMOUR which is hard to find among Sanyasis of such a high order.

Pothi studied for five years in a Sanskrit Pathshala in Narsinghpur. Later he studied in Rampur Sanskrit Pathshala, Ichval gram, Ghazipur Zilla, U P, for two years under Bhola Singh who was his teacher, who soon became very attached and fond of Pothi, for whom he built a house which he named as Mukti Kutir.

In the year 1942 he met Hariharanand later known as Karapartri ji. Both of them spent a lot of time together. Pothiram and Hariharanand observed Chaturmaas from 1942 in Varanasi for fourteen years at Karapartri Dham Dharm Sangh.

Karapartriji got Gurudev to take Diksha for Danda Sanyasa from Shankaracharya Swami Brahmananda Sarasvati ji of Jyothirmath in Calcutta at Lekhram Kothi, on 31st December 1949.

Gurudev took Shri Vidya Diksha from Karapartriji. Later Gurudev learnt KUNDALINI YOGA from Pritam Das, Phulwari Ashram, Jhalon Zilla, U P.

In 1942 he was once again imprisoned for cutting the telephone lines of the British Government. The British Officials were quite afraid of Gurudev as he was a very Fierce Young Dynamic Sanyasi.

Gurudev did Bhagavad on the banks of the Bain Ganga River.

Gurudev was a young revolutionary MONK, Sanyasi, As a Freedom Fighter at the age of 26 he was jailed in Varanasi for 9 months.

Guruji achieved his SIDDHI POWERS from BRAHMA KUND which is on the banks of the River Narmada close to Sakal Ghat.

After achieving SIDDHI POWERS he wanted a serene, quite, place nestled in the lap of nature to do his SADHANA and TAPASYA. He soon found VICHAR SHILA with all the wild animals and having found all that he was looking for he did his Tapasya for 12 continuous long years and achieved REALISATION.

Pothi met Hariharanand (Karpartriji) in 1942.

On 7th December 1973 at, Shankaracharya Bhavan, Krishna Bodhashram, Kothi No 7, New Delhi. Gurudev was annointed as the Shankaracharya of JYOTHIRMATH.

Gurudev’s ABHISHEK was done by Swami Hariharanand Sarasvatiji (Karapartriji) Shankaracharya Swami Niranjandev Tirth and Dwaraka Sharadha peeth Shankaracharya Swami Abhinav Sachidanand Tirth, Representatives of Shankaracharya Of Sringeri Sharadha Peeth, Chala Laxman Shastri and Vasant Gargil. Central Minister Chaudhary Neetraj Singh.

On 27th May 1982 at Dwaraka, Gurudev was annointed as the Shankaracharya of Dwaraka Sharadha Peeth. In the Shankaracharya Parampara after Adi Guru Shankaracharya, Gurudev is the only Dandi Sanyasi to be annointed as Shankaracharya of two seats. He was chosen by Shankaracharya Swami Abhinav Sachidanand Tirth of Dwaraka, as it was written in his will that after he leaves the physical body Gurudev should be the next Shankaracharya of Dwaraka as he is qualified, educated, experienced, and the incarnation of Adi Guru Shankaracharya. For the ABHISHEK Shankaracharya Swami Abhinav Vidya Tirth, and his shishya Bharti Tirth, the present Shankaracharya of Sringeri were present along with the minister of Gujarat.

Tolaram Nema a resident of Shridham was present at this auspicious occasion and he carried Gurudev’s Padukas.

On 27th May 1982, Gurudev was annointed as