Spiritual Lineage
India is the holy land with the great spiritual lineages from ancient times. There have been many sages and saints in these lineages, who taught the way of intense meditation and penances to reach the ultimate goal of human life. The great spiritual master Swami Shivanand Dadaji, a spiritual Guru and a preceptor, comes from the lineage of Shree Adi Shankaracharya & Shree Dhuniwale Dadaji.
To know more about this great lineage, we’ll have to go back to the historical era of Shree Adi Shankaracharya in the 8th century CE. Adi Shankaracharya was a disciple of Shree Govinda Bhagwatpada. He was a vedic scholar and a spiritual reformer of his time. He is most commonly known for his systematic reviews and commentaries on the ancient Indian scriptures and texts. He is regarded as the founder of Dashnami sampradaya in Hinduism. Adi Shankaracharya organized the Hindu monks of ten sects under four monasteries or mathas. These four monasteries were - Dwarka at the west, Jagannath Puri at the east, Sringeri at the south and Badrikashram at the north. Each of these monasteries were headed by his four chief disciples. These four chief disciples of Adi Shankracharya preserved and propagated the teachings of Adwait Vedanta. One of his chief disciples was Shree Totakacharya, who headed the Badrikashram monastery in the north. He composed the famous Totakashtakam in praise of his master Adi Shankaracharya. Shree Totakacharya initiated many disciples from the Badrikashram monastery. One of his disciples was Shree Acharya Kamal Bharti. Acharya Kamal Bharti reviewed & reinstated the ancient tradition of “Narmada Parikrama”, which means the circumambulation of river Narmada. He preached the spiritual significance of Narmada Parikrama. He was an ascetic and lived all his life on the bank of river Narmada.
Shree Gaurishankar Maharaj was one of the glorious disciples of Shree Kamal Bharti. Shree Gaurishankar Maharaj continued the tradition of Narmada Parikrama after Kamal Bharti. It was a period of mid 19th century when Shree Gaurishankar Manaraj lived on the banks of river Narmada along with thousands of ascetics circumambulating the river. He was blessed with a boon by Goddess Narmada and all his wishes & needs were fulfilled by the Goddess. He performed severe penances & austerities in river Narmada & achieved many superhuman abilities or “siddhies” through which he could do whatever he wished. His mystical powers were recognised by the British officials as well.
One day while meditating in the water of river Narmada, he saw a naked child aged around 6-7 years, walking on the water of Narmada and approaching towards him. He was stunned by this astounding sight. He enquired to that child about his parents, but the child didn't answer anything and kept silent. So, Gaurishankar Maharaj asked the child to live with him and accepted him as his disciple. The child was named as “Madhav” by Shree Gaurishankar Maharaj. In a very short time, Madhav became famous for his intellect and knowledge. Later on, Goddess Narmada revealed to Gaurishankar Maharaj that “Madhav” is the human incarnation of the Supreme Lord. Later on Madhav was known by the name Shree Dhuniwale Dadaji.
Shree Dhuniwale Dadaji lived with Shree Gaurishankar Maharaj till Shree Gaurishankar Maharaj left his body at Koksar in Madhya Pradesh. After that, Shree Dadaji came to Saikheda, a village in the state of Madhya Pradesh. He lived there for many years and performed innumerable miracles, which showcased his supremacy as the Lord. Even the British government officials at that time became devotees of Shree Dadaji. Shree Dadaji was not bound by any worldly relations with anyone & he used to be in “Digambar” state, meaning without any clothes on his body. He used to sit beside the holy fire called “Dhuni” in an ecstatic state, and therefore he was famously known as “Dhuniwale” meaning the bearer of fire. He blessed his devotees with ardent words and beat them with a stick. He brought back many from dead to life, merely by just hitting the corpses with his stick or throwing them in the holy fire (Dhuni). His ardent words worked like blessings for his devotees.
He shattered the fundamental concepts & laws of modern material science by his mystical abilities & miracles. He also initiated some of the greatest disciples like - Shree Harihar Bhole Bhagwan (Chhote Dadaji), Shree Revanand Sarkar, Shree Nityanand Swami, Shree Gangadhar Brahmchari, Shree Pujya Motaji, Shree Murlidhar Bade Bhaiyya, Shree Shivanand Maharaj, Shree Shankaranand Maharaj, Shree Ram Dayalji Maharaj, Shree Charananand Maharaj, Shree Pagalanand Maharaj, Shree Thanthanpal Maharaj, Shree Bhaskaranand Maharaj, Shree Chandrashekharanand Maharaj, Shree Dhaniram Baba, Shree Nepali Baba etc. These were Dadaji’s prominent disciples. All of them were blessed with the mystical powers & glories by Shree Dadaji. They all propagated Shree Dadaji’s name & teachings to different parts of India. Shree Dadaji left his material body and achieved the “Mahasamadhi” in 1930 at Khandwa in Madhya Pradesh.
After Shri Dadaji's samadhi Shri Harihar Bhole Bhagwan became the spiritual successor. Shri Hariharji, previously known as Bhawrilal. Bhawarilal left his home at the age of 18, in the search of a Guru (Spiritual Guide). While travelling in the train , he heard about Shri Dadaji and wanted to make him as his Guru. Shri Dadaji initiated him. He was a great devotee of Shri Dadaji. Once Shri Dadaji started hitting him hard on his head and locked him in a room for around 30 days. After 30 days Bhawrilal was bought outside the room. Again Shri Dadaji started hitting on his wound and miraculously all the wounds got healed. Shri Dadaji Named Bhawarilal as Shri Harihar Bhole Bhagwan. After the mahasamadhi of Shri Dadaji, Shri Harihar Bhole Bhagwan continued with the preaching of Dadaji. Many mircles were shown by Bhole Bhagwan. People with their affection towards Shri Bhole Bhagwan, named him 'Shri Chote Dadaji'. In 1942, he left his material body at Prayagraj in Uttar Pradesh and was buried in Khandwa near Shree Dadaji’s samadhi. It is only in Khandwa that a Great Guru's and his Great disciple's samadhi is together. Therefore, Khandwa became the holy place where the almighty Lord is resting & blessing his devotees forever.
Shri Revanand Sarkar was a disciple of Shri Dadaji Dhuniwale. He had great faith in Shree Dadaji. He propagated Shree Dadaji’s teachings in the North Maharashtra region. Shree Dadaji had exceptionally graced him with an ability to compose spiritual verses in various languages & dialects. He is famous for his immense devotion and eternal love for Shri dadaji. Due to his utmost dedication, Shri Dadaji used to call him as 'Reva Sarkar'. Shri Revanand Sarkar took samadhi in 1939 in Ambada village of Madhya Pradesh.
Shri Bhaktanand was a disciple of Shri Revanand Sarkar. Shri Bhaktanand was a well educated pesonality with relentless devotion for Shri Dadaji. Shri Dadaji ordered him to unite the world under the holy flag of truth and spirituality, else there would be an end of humanity. With Shri Dadaji's grace Shri Bhaktanand bought many people to Shri Dadaji's lotus feet. He wandered all across the country, addressed many people and persuaded them from the evil to the truth. In 1982, Shri Bhaktanand Maharaj took samadhi near the bank of river Tapi in Nimgavhan village, in Jalgaon, Maharashtra.
Shree Siddhanand Maharaj was one of the disciples of Shree Bhaktanand Maharaj. He was from the Gujarat state and he initiated Swami Shivanand Dadaji, who is the greatest epitome of this lineage and a master of the present time. Shree Siddhanand Maharaj kept wandering across India during his lifetime spreading the spiritual teachings of Shree Dadaji.
Om Shri Shivanand Dadaji was initiated by Shri Sidhhanand Maharaj.
This ends up the spiritual Linage of Shri Shivanand Dadaji
Swami Shivanand Dadaji was initiated by Siddhanand Maharaj in 1984. Since then he constantly performed severe penance through relentless meditation, chanting & yajnas. He was a householder, but still he always remained detached from the mundane bonds & relations. In 1999, he sat continuously for 18 months in the meditative state near the sacred fire - Dhuni. During this period of penance, he attained the ultimate state of self realization & other aspects of spiritualism. During this period, his legs got burn injuries from Dhuni’s fire, but still he persistently continued with his penance. After successful completion of 18 months, he left the house to awaken the world and preach the ultimate purpose of human life. He started to give discourses on subjects like Significance of Human Life, the Nature of Soul and the Supreme Soul, Third Eye Awakening, Kundalini Awakening, Activation of Chakras, Astral Projections etc. He not only preached these subjects theoretically, but also practically taught the methods to experience these phenomena. In today’s time, he has founded over 30 Ashrams (Meditation Centers) all across India, where thousands of his disciples and seekers are practicing meditation and mantra chanting to awaken their Third Eye & Kundalini awakening. There are hundreds of seekers, who have been able to awaken their Third Eye and achieve the Astral Vision through his able guidance & grace. Through this Astral Vision, Shivanand Dadaji’s disciples are able to perceive & communicate with the spiritual & subtle beings, which normally could not be perceived through the gross senses. Through these unique meditation techniques, seekers can astral project to different spiritual planes and experience the beauty of multi dimensions. Shivanand Dadaji’s sole objective is to guide & direct all human beings towards their ultimate purpose of life and that purpose is liberation from the transmigratory cycle of death & rebirth. Without knowing this ultimate purpose, there can not be peace and harmony in the world. His prime meditation center is located at Pimpalner in Dhule district of Maharashtra, which is the center of faith for all his disciples and followers. Thousands of lives have been saved by Shivanand Dadaji as a result of his preaching. Devotees are just eager to touch his lotus feet to attain enlightenment. Truely, Swami Shivanand Dadaji is a gem in today's world and a bliss to spirituality.