Ganapatrao Maharaj Kannur

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Sadguru Ganapatrao Maharaj Kannur
S S Maharaj.jpg
Kannur in 1989
Personal
Born
Ganapatrao Shivrampant Kannur

(1909-09-18)18 September 1909
Died20 September 2004(2004-09-20) (aged 95)
Religion Hinduism
Religious career
Guru Sri Siddharameshwar Maharaj
Quotation

Love everyone & Live in Happiness.

Shri Samartha Sadaguru Ganapatrao Maharaj Kannur (1909–2004) was an Indian guru in the Inchegeri Sampradaya.

Contents

Biography

Early years

Kannur was born on 18 September 1909 on the day of Ganesh Chaturthi (Bhadrapad Shukla Chaturthi), in a Deshastha Brahmin family [1] of Smt Saraswatibai & Shrimant Shivrampant Kannur, in the small village Kannur, [2] located in the Bijapur district of Karnataka, India.

He had his primary and high-school education in Bijapur. He graduated in 1932, earning a B.Sc. (mathematics and physics) degree from Fergusson College, Pune.[ citation needed ]

Sri Siddharameshwar Maharaj

Since his early childhood days, Kannur had a great inclination towards spirituality. At the age of 13 he was blessed and initiated by Sri S.S. Siddharameshwar Maharaj, who also accepted him as his disciple and guided him to the path of self attainment.

Maharaj had given stringent directives to few of his selfless disciples: to wear ochre robes, to be devoted towards sadhana and make it the sole objective of life, not to touch money, and live with only bare minimum necessities. The disciples chose the bank of river Krishna at Audumbar [3] and carried out tapas (penance) for a year, strictly as instructed.

Further study

Even being a graduate he decided not to take any service or job and wowed for the bow of celibacy throughout his life as not to get entangled in materialistic life. Maharaj died in 1936. After his death, Shri Ganapatrao Maharaj became firmly rooted in his doctrines, and studied the Shrimad Dasbodh, Bhagavata, Bhagavad-Gita Upanishads and other holy texts to attain the highest goal of his life - self liberation and self attainment.

Teaching others

He carried on the mantle passed to him by his Sadguru, and strived for the uplifting of common people for 60 years. To carry forward his spiritual work he founded the Shanti Kuteer Ashram. [4] At the age of 95, on Monday 20 September 2004, he died in Kannur House, Bijapur.

Shanti Kuteer Ashram

Shanti Kuteer Ashram Shanti Kuteer Mahadvar.JPG
Shanti Kuteer Ashram

Shanti Kuteer is a hermitage founded by Maharaj. [5] It is located near the village of Kannur, 25 km from Bijapur. This ashram was set up in 1951 and has gradually grown to consist of over 100 rooms for accommodation of the disciples. A temple of Lord Shree Dattatreya is located on the premises. [3]

Events and saptah

Various saptahs (spiritual fests) are held at Shanti Kuteer Kannur in a calendar year.

Sampradaja

Shri Samartha Sadaguru Bhausaheb Maharaj Sri Bhausaheb Maharaj.JPG
Shri Samartha Sadaguru Bhausaheb Maharaj
Shri Samartha Sadaguru Siddharameshwar Maharaj Siddharamphoto.JPG
Shri Samartha Sadaguru Siddharameshwar Maharaj
Sri Samartha Sadaguru Ganapatrao Maharaj Kannur S S Maharaj.jpg
Sri Samartha Sadaguru Ganapatrao Maharaj Kannur

Maharaj traces his sampradaya to the Navanath Sampraday. [6] It was started by Adiguru Shri Dattatreya, and was further carried by the Navanaths, the Holy Nine Gurus. [7]

One of those Navnaths was Adiguru Sri Revanatah, who initiated Kaadasiddheshwar Swami Maharaj. Kaadasiddheshwar founded the Kaneri Ashram in the 13th century, which became a Dnyan Peeth. Many solace seekers were initiated for centuries.

Nimbargi sampraday

In the mid-19th century, the then Shri Kaadasiddheshwar Swami Maharaj initiated Shri Gurulingajangam Maharaj, also known as "Nimbarji Maharaj". He founded the Nimbargi sampraday and initiated Shri Raghunathpriya Sadhu Maharaj.

Shri Raghunathpriya Sadhu Maharaj initiated Shri Samartha Sadaguru Bhausaheb Maharaj Deshpande, who was an ardent follower and a devoted disciple of Shri Gurulingajangam Maharaj. [8]

Inchegeri sampraday

Shri Bhausaheb Maharaj established the Inchegeri Sampradaya. He preached the principle of non-dualness, advait tatva, and used to give discourses on Srimad Dasbodh.

Sri Bhausaheb Maharaj had many followers, many of which further rose to the state of Gurupad, and practised and preached the Principles of Vedant and Advait throughout India.

Sri Siddharameshwar Maharaj was his disciple and ardent follower. Siddharameshwar professed the knowledge and basics of self-realization to the masses and became one of the most followed Guru of Inchegeri sampraday. Shri Maharaj was blessed and initiated by Siddharameshwar at the age of thirteen.

Publications

Maharaji's words came from the depth of his own experience. The acceptance of one being supreme and being one with the universe was the core of his discourses. Maharaj was ever vigilant about the welfare of his disciples, specifically about their spiritual progress. Hence he wrote a number of texts on the different aspects of spirituality. He also founded the publication Adhyatma Bhandar and all the books are published by it. Amongst them are:

Shantikuteer Sandesh is a quarterly periodical published by Shantikuteer Trust. The periodical is available in the Kannada and Marathi languages.

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References

  1. Dabade 1998, p. 99.
  2. "Biography". Archived from the original on 12 July 2009. Retrieved 14 February 2009.
  3. 1 2 Audumbar Sri Narasimha Saraswati, Shreeswami.org
  4. "Biography of Shri S S Ganapatrao Maharaj Kannur". Archived from the original on 12 July 2009. Retrieved 14 February 2009.
  5. "Biography of Shri S.S. Ganapatrao Maharaj Kannur". Archived from the original on 12 July 2009. Retrieved 14 February 2009.
  6. Cathy Boucher, "The Navnath Sampradaya and Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj" [ unreliable source? ]
    - R D Ranade, Mysticism In Maharashtra Indian Mysticism, PBISBN 8121510945, 2003
  7. Siddharameshwar Maharaj photograph at realization.org
  8. R.D. Ranade (1982), Mysticism In Maharashtra

Sources