mahaavadhaar babaji

Who is Babaji ?
Babaji is a great master of yoga living today in the Himalayas who is sometimes called Kriya Babaji Nagaraj, Mahavatar Babaji or Shiva Baba. His body has not aged since the age of sixteen when he conquered death and attained a supreme state of enlightenment.
Adi Shankaracharya (788 A.D. – 820 A.D. ), in a famous poem describes Babaji, his guru : “ Behold, under the banyan tree are seated the aged disciples around their youthful teacher ! This is strange indeed ! The teacher instructs them only trough silence, which in itself is sufficient to solve all their doubts (Sri Ramakrishna Math, 1969, p. 25 – 26 ). More than sixty – five years ago the Theosophists, the Reverend C.W.Leadbeated and Dr. Annie Besant, also described an extraordinary being who may be none other than Babaji:
There he stood, ‘the Youth of sixteen summers’, sanata kumara, the ‘ Eternal – Virgin – Youth’, the new ruler of earth, come to his kingdom, his pupils, the three Kumaras, with him, his Helpers around him; thirty mighty Beings there, great beyond Earth’s reckoning, though in graded order, clothed in the glorious bodies they had created by Kriyashakti, the first occult hierarchy, branches ot the one spreading Banyan tree, the nursery of future Adepts, the centre of all occult life”.(Leadbeater, 1969, p. 299 )
During the past forty years, several books, beginning with the Autobiography of aYogi by Paramahansa Yogananda, written in 1946, have referred to the great spiritual master, Babaji, who for centuries has lived in the Himalayan mountains, appearing occasionally to a fortunate few. Sri Yukteswar, Yogananda’s guru, said that Babaji’s attainment was so great that it could not even be conceived of (Yogananda, 1969, p.305). yogananda has started that Babaji is a “ Maha avatara”, or great avatara (Yogananda, 1969, p. 305 – 306 ). “ Avatara” is a Sanskrit word which means “descent” or incarnation of the Godhead in human form. He also characterized “Siddhars” as having attained mastery over death. He referred to Agastyar as being an avatar of South India, a miracle worker who has lived from the pre-Christian era right up to the present time, and for whom a considerable Tamil language literature exists (op cit. p. 305 –306 ). Agastya belongs to the “Eighteen siddha tradition”, which is famous among Tamil speaking people of southern India.
Some writers have indicated that Babaji has taken different forms. Baba Hari Dass identified him with Herekhan Baba who appeared in Ranikhet, Uttar Pradesh, India, in the latter part of the 1975). Leonard Orr (1980 and 1983 ) identified him with a youth who appeared in Ranikhet, in about 1970. he was visited by many Westerners up until his sudden death in (1984) has written about his incredible encounters with Babaji. The reader is often left feeling incredulous upon reading of the experiences described in these books. At their best these books have inspired many to take up these books. At their best these books have inspired many to take up the practice of yoga. Unfortunately, without understanding the ancient tradition and context from which Babaji brought his Kriya Yoga not the rigors of the discipline, most seekers have put it aside after some time when their own experiences failed to measure up to those related by such authors.
These authors have not furnished any details regarding the life of Babaji nor about how Babaji attained enlightnment and immortality. More importantly, none of these authors have been able to adequately express the purpose for which Babaji has remained in an immortal state and its relevance for our own lives.
Babaji’s birth :
Gautama Buddha, near the end of his life, in the 5th century, B.C., predicted that his teachings would be distorted and lost within 500 years following his leaving the moral body. He also said that his teachings would be rediscovered in 800 years and preserved by one “naga” has been commonly associated with the great buddhist reformer “Nagarjuna” who did appear 800 years later. It has become evident, however, that Gautama Buddha, for reasons related to his next advent as the Maitreya or world teacher, may have in fact foretold the birth of a child named Nagaraj, who subsequently blossomed into the great Siddha Yogi known today as “Babaji” (Leadbeater, 1969, pg. 274, 279).
In the year 203 A.D., on the 30th day of November, in a small village now known as Parangipettai, in Tamil Nadu, India, near where the Cauvery River flows into the Indian Ocean, a child was born. “Parangipettai”, means “ place of the foreigners”. The Portuguese named it Porto Novo. They ruled it form the beginning of the sixteenth century to the beginning of the cighteenth century when they were defeated by the British in a major sea battle there. A majority of its inhabitants are now Moslem. This seaport was known since ancient times. It was an important trading center for many foreign merchants who came there seeking herbs, spices and silk. The name Nagaraj was given to this child by his parents. Nagaraj means “King of the serpents”, to honour the great primordial force “Kundalini Shakti”. Stone images of such serpents arising are worshipped in every village, typically undr spreading banyan trees throughout Tamil Nadu.
The child’s birth coincided with the ascendancy (Nakshatra) of the star Rohini, and was in the Wadala Gotra (blood group). It is the same star under which Lord Krishna, the Avatar or incarnation of God had been on July 20, 3228 B.C. (Satya Sai Baba, 1977,p. 90). The birth of the child took place during the celebration of Kartikai Deepam, the Festival of Lights. This festival occurs on the night before the new moon during the month of Kartikai. The Festival of Lights celebrates the triumph of the forces of Light over the forces of Darkness. The devotees celebrate the victory of their po;ular deity, Murugan, over the demons who threatened to overrun the world. Lord Murugan is the son of Lord Shiva according to the puranas. In northern India the festival is celebrated on the anniversary of the return of Lord Rama to Ayodhya and the trimph of the forces of good over evil is remembered as well. The auspicious time for the child’s birth could not have been chosen more wisely by the one who, subsequently, was to progressively manifest the greatness of both Lord Krishna and Lord Murugan.
The father and mother of this child were descendants of families of Nambudri Brahmins who had immigrated to this seacoast village and trading center hundreds of years earlier from the Malabar coast, now in the state of Kerala. Nambudri Brahmins have been renowned for their dedication to priestly duty and scholarship. The priests of the famous Himalayan temple, Badrinath, have come from this same Nambudri Brahmin caste, since the temple’s establishment by the Adi Shankaracharya – 788 to 820 A.D. (fonia, 1987, pg. 115 –117 ). Near this temple, the child Nagraj blossomed into a great siddha, now known as Babaji. As will be seen below and in subsequent chapters, Nagaraj was to also manifest a great capacity for scholarship and service.
Ngaraj’s father was the priest of the village’s principal temple, or “Koil” in Tamil. This temple was dedicated to Lord Shiva. At some point in time, the image in the sanctam sanctorum was changed from a Shiva Lingum to an image of Lord Murugan , also known as Kumaraswamy. The change in the principal deity may have occurred during the period when the village became subject to invading Moslems or Portuguese forces, who were responsible for the destruction of many Hindu temples in India and Sri Lanka. The temple still exists and is known as Kumaraswamy Devasthanam.
Nagaraj, being the son of the village’s chief priest in his early formative years, must have been greatly influenced by the personal religious practices of his parents and the public ceremonies and celebrations associated with temple life. Every act in the daily life of a pious Brahmin priest, including bathing, food preparation, study and ceremonies, is associated with spiritual practices. The effect which these practices must have on Nagaraj during his childhood can be estimated by visiting the home of Manigurukal, the present priest of this temple in Parangipettai. Manigurukal has a sweet child like nature and a melodious voice. The chanting of the mantras and Thevaram hymns to Lord Murugan by him, in surroundings which have not changed for thousands of years, reveral to this day the culture in which Nagaraj took root and blossomed into a siddha.